The creation of the first high-roads in F. is referred to Philippe Auguste; and their more perfect organization in the 16th and 17th centuries, to Henry IV. and Louis XIV. Under Napoleon I. there were 125 high-roads, extending in all over 30,000 kilometres; and at the present time there are upwards of 600 national roads (35,000 kiloin.), 265,000 departmental roads (45,000 kilom.). gitized by ileircrosc Postal Service. —The postal service in F. goes back to the year 1464, when Louis XI. placed it under the direction of the state. Since 1848, a system of low prepaynient for letters has been established. At the present time, letters weighing from under 10 to under 100 grammes require stamps from 15 centimes to 1 franc, 20 centimes, according to weight. The whole receipt of the postal service was for the year 1874, 110,416,000 francs; while, for 1869, before the war, it was 94.199,359 francs; the expenses in the mean while have risen from 63 million francs in.1869, to nearly 72 millions of francs in 1874.
Electric Telegraph. —The first electric telegraph was constructed in F. in 1844, and F. is now intersected by a close net-work of wires, which flash communications between Paris, as the central focus, and every part of the empire. At the beginning of 1878, there were 35,445 m. of lines, comprising 89,522 m. of wire. , The number of tele graphic messages sent in 1877 was 8,518,013, of which 1,037,730 were international.
Constitution, Sept. 4, 1870, the emperor, Napoleon III., was declared to be no longer the head of the state, and France was proclaimed a republic. At the close of 1872, the supreme power was vested in a national assembly, with whom rests the nomination of the chief officer of the state, bearing the title of "president of the French republic;" and nominated for seven years. This officer, as chief of the execu tive power, but under responsibility to the national assembly, is authorized to promul gate and insure the proper execution of all laws and ordinances transmitted to him by the president of the. assembly. By the law of Feb. 25, 1875, the national assembly is to consist of two bodies—the chamber of deputies and the senate. The members of the former are elected by universal suffrage; the senate consists of 300 members, of whom 225 are elected by the departments and colonies, and 75 by the national assembly. The budget for 1876 was charged 8,557,000 francs for the administrative expenses of the national assembly and the authorized indemnities of the deputies. To the president of the republic belongs, in accordance with the principles that have regulated the respec tive domains of legislative and executive power in F. under all forms of government, the right of appointing the judges, commanding the forces, and maintaining relations and settling treaties with foreign states, in respect to which acts he is responsible to the assembly. He appoints and dismisses the ministers of state, who are also respon sible to the assembly, and he may reside at the seat of the national assembly, and, pro vided he gives notice of his intentions, may take part in its deliberations. His salary was fixed in 1873 at 600,000 francs (£25,000), with an extra allowance of 162,000 francs for household expenses. The office of president was held till 1873 by M. Thiers; from
1873 till 1879, by marshal MacMahon; and thereafter by M. Grevy.
The ministry is presided over by nine ministers of state, each of whom has a defi nitely limited sphere of administrative duty and authority; and in addition, the presi dent is assisted in government by a council of state, " conseil d'etat," which, accord ing to a decree of the national assembly, is to consist in all of 43 members, 15 of whom may be nominated by the president, while the remaining 28 are selected by the assembly. The functions of this body are restricted to giving advice on bills presented to the national assembly by the president or the ministers.
Departments, etc.—F. is at present divided into 86 departments, comprising 362 arrondissements, 2,865 cantons, and 35,985 communes. Each department is presided over by a prefet, nominated by the president of the republic on the presentation of the min ister of the interior; each arrondissement by a sub-prefet; each canton by a member of the general council of the departement, which meets annually for whatever period may be decreed by the head of the state; and every commune has its maire and municipal council. Every chief town of a canton has its commissary of police; in the larger towns, there must be one of these officers to every 10,000 inhabitants. The adminis tration of justice is presided over by a special minister of state, who is keeper of the seals. A supreme tribunal serves as a court of appeal from the lower courts. The tribunals of commerce and police, together with those of the several departments, take cognizance of the various civil and criminal cases specially falling within their several spheres. There are 357 tribunals of the arrondissements, or trauma= de premiere instance, which are divided into six classes; 2,681 police courts; 216 tribunals of commerce; 26 courts of appeal, divided into four classes; a cour de cassation, divided into three chambers, which confirms or annuls the sentences of the police and assize courts; and a haute cour de justice, which gives final judgment in all cases of offense against the state. Assizes are held every three months in 59 towns; and, independently of the ordinary judicial magistrates, the courts of assize are composed juries of twelve men, chosen in accordance with certain prescribed regulations. In the maritime and commercial towns there were, under the empire, 85 councils of prud'hommes (experi enced men), with summary jurisdiction in matters to the amount of 200 francs. These councils, which are composed of master-workmen elected annually, decide on causes of dispute, chiefly in regard to questions of wages, and differences between masters and men. The state is charged 33k- millions of francs annually for the expenses incident to the ministry of justice, according to the budget for 1876. There are 387 depart mental prisons, 21 central houses of detention, 2 political prisons at Doullens and Belleisle, and numerous penitentiaries and reformatories for the young. All these prisons, excepting the two for political offenders, are in part pelf-supporting. The only hulks, bagner, still remaining. are at Toulon, where convicts of a certain clan undergo their sentences, but the principal penal settlement is in French Guiana (q.v.).