Napoleon's Policy

"To Napoleon is due the creation of Chambers of Commerce and Manufactures, of the Conseils de Prudhommes or mixed juries of the most skillful operators and masters for settling industrial disputes, workmen's certificates, and the institution of a property in trade marks. He constructed and repaired ten thousand miles of roads, crossing in some instances mountains by highways worthy of the Romans, built bridges and canals, and beautified Paris."

One of the beneficial effects of the Revolution was the change in the tenure of land in France. Prior to that event enormous estates were held by the nobility and aristocracy, which had descended from generation to generation without division. It was ordained that thereafter estates should be equally shared by all the children of a proprietor dying intestate. This soon resulted in dividing the soil into numerous small allotments, as it is to-day, resulting in better cultivation of the land and a more thrifty and better contented peasant class.

After the battle of Waterloo and the final abdication of Napoleon, it was hoped that France would see a return of peace and a revival of commerce, but for several years in succession her harvests were poor, taxes to defray the expenses of the previous wars continued heavy, and the country seemed politically and commercially exhausted. Its foreign trade had been so long lost that it had to be built up anew, and this proved a slow process, for other nations had secured possession of the markets. Meanwhile machinery had greatly improved in England, and its exportation being strictly prohibited by Parliament, England was able to undersell France. But the French bent their energies with vigor to the task of building up their industries, and soon so distinguished their wares by the excellence of their quality, that in ten years they were abreast of their rival, England, in many lines of manufacture and in bleaching and dyeing they far surpassed her. In 1825 the prohibition against the exportation of British machinery was repealed, and this left the French free to profit by English inventions. A general desire for industrial improvement seemed to pervade France, and capital returned to the channels of industry and commerce. Silk and cotton weaving, paper making, carpet weaving, tanning and kindred arts, all became prosperous. Agriculture, however, failed to show a corresponding degree of improvement, owing, no doubt, to adverse or indifferent legislation. Although 53 per cent, of the French people depended upon the cultivation of the soil for their subsistence, wooden plowshares, harrows with wooden teeth, and in the southern provinces, the Oriental mode of oxen treading out the grain, still remained in use up to the time of Napoleon III.

The policy of Napoleon III was favorable to agriculture and commerce. He encouraged the rearing of fine draft horses and the introduction of improved implements and methods of agriculture, thus raising the tillage of the soil to a place befitting the dignity of his empire. Unlike his predecessors, he did not regard the use of foreign products by his people as prejudicial to home industries, but rather as a stimulus to better skill on the part of the mechanics and artisans of France. Accordingly he reduced the duties on foreign goods and especially on foreign machinery, with a view to encouraging its importation from England and the introduction of improved processes of English manufacture. The rapid extension of the use of machinery in France under "Napoleon III, the introduction of steam power and the invention of the Jacquard loom* for weaving all kinds of figured goods, gave a great impetus to the industries of the country. In ten years, 1858-1868 the exports of France increased from 1,750,-000,000 francs to 3,000,0000,000 francs, the effect largely of the so-called Cobden treaty with England made in 1860, which greatly reduced the duties on foreign imports.

*Jaquard was mistreated, his looms destroyed and he finally exiled for his invention, but he lived to be regarded as the father of modern French industry. - Yeats Vicissitudes of Commerce.

In 1867 a grand Universal Exposition was held in Paris by which France showed to the world what excellent progress she had made in the arts of peace. The intelligence, ingenuity and enterprise of her inhabitants were here wonderfully displayed, and it was apparent that in the production of fine silk and woolen goods, wines and brandies, furniture, glass, clocks and artistic wares, as well as in art and matters of taste and education, France stood second to no nation, if indeed she did not surpass all others. Three years after the Exposition (1870) the Franco-Prussian war broke upon the country, resulting in the defeat of her armies, the capture of the Emperor, Napoleon III, the loss of her valuable provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and the payment to Germany of an indemnity of 5,000,000,000 francs.

Notwithstanding these disasters, the trade and industries of France quickly revived and resumed their former prosperity. The wonderful natural productivity of France again manifested itself, and the war indemnity, enormous as it was, was quickly paid. There were in 1872 more than 200,000 hand looms besides 80,000 power looms at work in France, giving rise to a secondary but very important industry in the construction of their machinery. Lyons and the south of France produced large quantities of silk goods, and woolens were woven extensively in the north, while Rheims and Amiens turned out Cashmere shawls and other textures of long-fibered wool, exceeding in beauty the famous fabrics of India. Rouen on the Seine became the seat of the cotton industry, and received the title of the "Manchester of France," while Havre at the mouth of the same river corresponded to Liverpool as the depot for the importation of raw material and the place of export for the manufactured article. Agriculture, stock raising and wine growing flourished, and glass, porcelain, and fancy articles of jewelry and furniture were produced in considerable quantities and found a ready market. The Bank of France, established in 1803, became the great central financial agent of the country second only in consequence to the Bank of England, while the Paris Bourse took rank as one of the great Stock Exchanges of the world.