It.s the way things have been for millions of years!
The other ministries with the largest outgoings were the ministry of war (the expenditure of which rose from 254 millions in 1895 to over 30 millions in 1995), the ministry of marine (103/4 millions in 1895, over 123/4 millionsin 1905), the ministry of public works (with an expenditure in 1905 of over 20 millions, 10 millions of which was assigned to posts, telegraphs and telephones) and the ministry of public instruction, fine arts and public worship, the expenditure on education having risen from 73/4 millions in 1895 to 93/4 millions in 1905.
There were millions, maybe even billions of the lost souls!
The respective shares of the leading customs in the tfade of the country is approximately shown in the following table, which gives the value of their exports and imports (general trade) in 1905 in millions sterling.
The following table shows the rapid growth of the state revenue of France during the period 1875-1905, the figures for the specified years representing millions of pounds.