FRANCE.

The French system of telegraphs comprised, in 1866, 20,628 miles of route, 68,687 miles of wire, and 1,209 stations open to the public. The number of messages amounted to 2,842,554. The gross receipts for the year were 7,707,590, and the expenditures were 8,983,460, showing a loss for the year of 1,275,870.

The receipts are divided as follows:—

301	stations collect less than			200	francs each.
179	stations collect from	200	to	500	francs each.
185	stations collect from	500	to	1,000	francs each.
354	stations collect from	1,000	to	5,000	francs each.
84	stations collect from	5,000	to	10,000	francs each.
63	stations collect from	10,000	to	30,000	francs each.
17	stations collect from	30,000	to	50,000	francs each.
12	stations collect from	50,000	to	100,000	francs each.
6	stations collect from	100,000	to	200,000	francs each.
4	stations collect from	200,000	to	300,000	francs each.
2	stations collect from	300,000	to	400,000	francs each.
1	stations collect	527,000
1	stations collect	620,000

1,209	total.

These stations are situated in 89 departments, viz.:—

1.	Départment	de la Seine,	collecting	2,822,367	francs.
2.	„	Bouches de Rhone,	„	747,228	„
3.	„	Seine inférieure,	„	608,737	„
4.	„	Rhone,	„	348,514	„
5.	„	Nord,	„	265,705	„
6.	„	Gironde,	„	260,615	„
7.	„	Loire inférieure,	„	139,797	„
8.	„	Haut Rhin,	„	135,483	„
9.	„	Hèrault,	„	134,388	„
10.	„	Alpes Maritimes,	„	101,183	„

Nine other departments collect annually between 90,000 down to 50,000 francs, the remaining seventy from 49,000 down to 4,653 francs.

Paris (Départment de la Seine) has forty-six stations within the fortifications. The gross receipts amounted, in 1866, to 2,794,768.40 francs, being more than one third of the total receipts of the whole empire.

The receipts in Paris are divided as follows:—

Place de la Bourse,	527,906	francs.
Rue de la Grenelle,	283,972	„
Grand Hotel,	271,880	„
Rue Lafayette,	250,967	„
Rue J. J. Rousseau,	198,465	„
Rue St. Cécile,	139,916	„
Aux Champs Elysées,	131,059	„

Six other stations collect from 85,000 to 50,000, six from 50,000 to 20,000; the remainder from 19,000 down to 2,123 francs.

The telegraph system of France constitutes a distinct department of the government service under Viscount A. de Vougy as Director-General. Under him are five general inspectors, forming a kind of council, nine division inspectors, seventy-five inspectors, thirty-eight sub-inspectors, and one electrical engineer. There are altogether 3,708 persons on the staff.