Administrative Reform in France

For some years prior to the outbreak of the great war the proposed reorganization of the administrative system of France occupied a leading place among the questions of French internal politics. It provoked a flood of discussion in parliament; it was the subject of investigation and report by various parliamentary, extra-parliamentary and inter-ministerial commissions; it was dwelt upon regularly in the annual reports on the budget; it was a standing subject of discussion by the functionaries in their associations and by the political parties in their annual congresses; it was responsible for a vast output of literature in the form of books, brochures and articles; and it occupied a conspicuous place in the declaration of each incoming ministry upon taking office. In the parliamentary election campaign of 1910 no other question, except proportional representation, was so widely discussed by the candidates.