ing rural parishes. But in the case of large towns the 'canton' consists of a section of the town itself; Lyons, Marseilles, Bordeaux, and other great cities are divided into several cantons, each of which returns separately a member to the conseil général,' although for municipal purposes the city retains its unity, and is a single 'commune’ with its mayor and municipal council. The 'canton' is a very important, perhaps the most important, element in the French territorial system, and lies at the basis of all the administrative arrangements. Each canton' has a justice of the peace, 'juge de paix,' who resides at the chief town or village, and administers once a week cheap and paternal justice; he is paid by the State, and discharges a variety of more or less important functions, connected with the police of the district, the investigation of crime, the formation of the jury lists, and so forth. In each canton' there is a detachment of 'gendarmerie,' or military police, either mounted or on foot, never less than four men and a corporal, but frequently more. Besides their duties as police they have to carry out a number of details connected with the recruiting and mobilisation of the army; they are a very fine body of men, all old soldiers, and are much respected by the peasantry. The other local functionaries are the receivers of different taxes, the agent-voyer,' or county superintendent of roads, and last, not least, the 'doyen,' or dean of the parochial clergy of thecanton,' something like an English rural dean. These various officials are the only representatives of authority which the vast majority of the French peasantry know or have any dealings with. Except during his term of military service, a French peasant has little contact with the outside world; before and after, his horizon is limited to his commune and his canton, with an occasional trip to the 'chef-lieu d'arrondissement,' generally the principal market-town within his reach.

I have given these details in order to show what an important element the canton is in French country life; it has a regular organisation of its own, with an independent little life of its own, and distinct local interests; the electors know perfectly well the candidates who canvass their votes, and therefore only choose men who live among them and whom they can trust, and that is the reason why the 'conseils généraux' as a whole are more conservative, more steady, than the parliamentary representatives returned by the same electors; consequently, although parliamentary institutions are often violently attacked in France, no one ever thinks of calling in question the efficacy of the conseils généraux,' or the excellence of the work which they perform.

The number of cantons into which a department is divided ranges from a minimum of 17 to a maximum of 62; but in the great majority of cases the number is between 35 and 40.

The next territorial division is the arrondissement, which comprises a certain number of cantons, five or six on an average; at its

chief town, or 'chef-lieu,' we find a 'sous-préfet,' who represents the executive, a 'tribunal de première instance,' which, speaking broadly, combines the functions of English magistrates and county courts; besides these there are officials of the financial order, and others, who have, however, very little to do with the 'conseil général.' Each arrondissement has a district council of its own, limited to nine members, who are named by the same electors as return the 'conseillers généraux,' in the ratio of one or two members for each canton. They represent the local interests belonging specially to each arrondissement; their powers are very small, but they are required by law to give their opinion on a good many questions before they are discussed and settled by the conseil général.' Of late years there have been several attempts to suppress the conseils d'arrondissement' as being of very little use, and to replace them by 'conseils cantonaux,' one for each canton; but it is very doubtful whether the latter would work well, or would be of much more use than the conseils d'arrondissement,' for it would be difficult to entrust them with any effective powers. It has also been decided recently to diminish the number of sub-prefects, and of the tribunaux de première instance,' and to link together some of the smaller arrondissements for judicial and administrative purposes.

When the present system was organised, about a century ago, communications were long and difficult, good roads were scarce, and it was absolutely necessary that the representative of the executive and the lower courts of justice should be within comparatively easy reach of the people. The system has worked well; it is suited to the habits of the country, and a number of vested interests have grown up around it; so that the proposed changes have met with considerable opposition. On the other hand, it has been proved that many of the tribunaux de première instance' have very little to do, and it is argued, moreover, that the roads and railways which intersect the country in every direction make it easier nowadays for a suitor to reach the chief town of the department than it was fifty years ago to get to the 'chef-lieu d'arrondissement.' In the same

way, the sub-prefects, who are the lieutenants of the prefect, are in constant telegraphic communication with their chief, as well as with the local mayors and other subordinate officials, and could manage in many cases two arrondissements with greater facility than they could a single one in former days. However, this reform, which can be defended on excellent grounds, does not appear to be popular, and there is still considerable hesitation on the subject both in Parliament and at the Home Office; the more so, as the 'arrondissement' was for a long time, and may become again, the unit for the parliamentary representation of the country.

We now come to the 'département,' which is the equivalent of the English county. There are 86 departments in France, varying, of course, very much both in wealth and population. At the top of

the list we find the Seine, which contains Paris and the neighbouring towns and villages, with a population of nearly three millions; then the Nord, with considerably over a million and a half; while at the other end of the scale there are the Alpine and other mountain departments, which have not much more than a hundred thousand inhabitants, and the territory of Belfort, with eighty thousand. The general average lies between four and five hundred thousand inhabitants.

Leaving aside the Seine and Paris, which have a special administration, all the other departments are organised on a perfectly uniform system. The State or executive is represented in each department by a 'préfet,' whose primary function is to enforce obedience to the laws of the land, and to carry out all decrees or regulations emanating from the central government; he is appointed or dismissed by the Minister of the Interior, and is responsible to him alone, but he corresponds directly with the other ministers on all matters belonging to their respective offices, and he has power to make such bye-laws and local regulations as are required to carry out the general purposes of the State and the special instructions he has received. The prefects are essentially political functionaries, and are expected to represent and further the views of the ministry of the day; the consequence is that they are frequently changed, and either shelved altogether or sent to some other 'département,' where they may turn over a new leaf. These frequent changes, together with the growing importance of the 'conseil général' and of its permanent committee, have considerably diminished the influence of the prefects. Under the Empire they played the part of petty viceroys, and often carried things with a high hand; they disposed of all the local patronage, which in a centralised government like that of France is very considerable; they were the channel of all official favours and honorary distinctions; and in all elections they were expected to use, and did use without stint, all their influence on behalf of the government candidates.

Since the establishment of the Republic all this has changed very much for the better; the electors have become much more enlightened and independent, they are less inclined to take their 'mot d'ordre' from the 'préfecture,' and they yield much more freely to their own impulses, good or bad, and to the political direction of the great parties in the State. Nevertheless the 'préfet ' remains a person of considerable importance in the 'département,' on account of the large share of patronage still in his hands, and because there is in almost all Frenchmen a deeply rooted habit of looking to the representative of the central government for the solution of all difficulties. The influence of the 'préfet' is still very strong in the poorer and less enlightened parts of France; but even in the wealthier and manufacturing departments, if he is a man of tact and discernment, and particularly if he is left long enough in

office to become well acquainted with the population he administers, he may exercise considerable influence and materially assist the ministry of the day. Besides representing the Executive of the State, the prefect is also the executive officer of the 'conseil général' and has to prepare all the measures which will be laid before it during its sessions. To give an accurate idea of his powers, I cannot do better than quote the very words of the law (article 3): 'Le préfet est le représentant du pouvoir exécutif dans le département. Il est, en outre, chargé de l'instruction préalable des affaires qui intéressent le département, ainsi que de l'exécution des décisions du conseil général et de la commission départementale, conformément aux dispositions de la présente loi.'

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All the branches of the State administration are represented in each department by special officers who reside at the chief or county town; but they are not much in contact with the conseil général,' except when called upon to give information or advice; for their work is simply a local branch of the general work of the State, which is carried on with the money of the State, and therefore is not under the control of the conseil général.'

Having given this brief sketch of the department and its subdivisions, and of the method by which the general administration of the country is carried out in each of them, I will now show what are the special attributes of the conséils géneraux' and of their permanent committees, and what are their finances.

Their most important function is the management and maintenance of the wonderful network of roads of different classes which is spread all over France, and which, I have no hesitation in saying, is superior to everything of the kind I have seen, either in England or on the Continent.

All over France the roads are divided, according to their importance, into the following categories :

1. Routes Nationales.-These are the great highways which lead from Paris to different points of the frontier, or which join two great provincial towns, such as Lyons and Bordeaux, or again which connect the different fortified towns along the frontier. At the beginning of the century these high roads were almost the only ones which were kept in good repair, and for many years they were the main arteries of traffic and of travel all over France. But since the establishment of railways, which generally run parallel to them, they are much less used, and in some places I have seen the grass beginning to grow upon them; they are, however, still kept in good order all over the country. This class of roads is entirely maintained by the State, and is under the management of State engineers, 'ingénieurs des ponts et chaussées,' whose chief is the Minister of Public Works.

2. Routes Départementales. These connect the different towns of a department with each other and with the towns of the

neighbouring departments. They are not quite so broad as the 'Routes Nationales,' but are kept in admirable order, and bear more traffic than any other class of roads. They are maintained entirely out of the funds of the department, or, as would be said in England, out of the county rates; they are under the direct management of the conseil général.

3. Chemins de grande Communication.-These are considered as nearly equivalent to the 'Routes Départementales,' but are almost all of more modern construction; in most cases they were only begun when the network of the 'Routes Départementales' was completed. In many departments the 'Routes Départementales' and the 'Chemins de grande Communication' have been completely amalgamated; in others they are are still managed by different staffs, but always under the authority of the conseil général. The original difference between the two sets of roads was mainly that whereas the Routes Départementales' were maintained entirely out of the county rates and managed by State engineers, the 'Chemins de grande Communication' were constructed and kept up partly out of the county funds, partly out of the contributions of the different parishes interested, and managed by county officials.

4. Chemins d'intérêt commun.-These are country roads, of less width and less solid construction than the preceding, and connecting together the principal villages of a canton with each other and with their chef-lieu,' or with that of a neighbouring canton. They have been generally made up out of old village roads, which have been repaired, widened, and straightened under the direction of the county officers; they are of the greatest use for the local circulation, and it is always an object of ambition for a country parish to get one of its village roads comprised in a ligne d'intérêt commun.' These roads are mainly kept up out of parochial coutributions, but the county gives considerable help, in the form of annual grants, which are variable, and are voted every year.

5. Chemins vicinaux ordinaires.-These are the purely parochial roads, connecting together one village with another, or the different hamlets of one parish. They are maintained out of the resources of the 'commune,' but in the case of the poorer parishes, when a new road is to be constructed, both the State and the county contribute a certain grant in aid, which is distributed according to certain fixed rules. Before obtaining any external aid, the commune' must undertake to maintain the road, once it is completed, out of its own funds, and must furnish proof that it is able to do so. Parish roads are under the supervision of the mayors of the communes; but the county officials always lend their assistance or advice when required, and draw up the plans for the construction of new roads.

The supervision, the repairing of all these roads, and the construction of new ones, require of course a considerable staff of officials, which the conseils généraux' are free to organise as they think fit.