in trees to an 80-acre homestead, or, if ten acres, to a homestead of 160 acres, and a free patent for his land is given him at the end of three years instead of five. Up to the middle of 1884, there were 1,814,965,179 acres of public lands in the States and Territories, of which 938,940,125 had been surveyed. Of the total area of the United States, 1,400,000 square miles, or 896,000,000 acres were unoccupied at the census of 1880. Upwards of 88 million acres of land are settled under the Homestead and Timber-Culture Acts. In 1883-84, there were 7,831,510 acres taken up under the Homestead Act, and 4,084,464 under the Timber-Culture Act. Besides these 6,317,847 acres were sold for cash, and the total number of acres of public lands disposed of during the year was 27,531,170, the money received being $11,713,833. Of the public lands in 1884, 369,529,690 acres were in Alaska. It is provided by law that two sections, of 640 acres of land in each township,' are reserved for common schools, so that the spread of education may go together with colonisation. The power of Congress over the public territory is exclusive and universal, except so far as restrained by stipulations in the original cessions. Immigration. From 1775 to 1815 immigration into the United States was very small, on account of the American Revolution and the European wars, not over 3,000 or 4,000 a year arriving during this period. When peace between England and America was re-established, in 1815, immigration took a fresh start. The famine of 1816 and 1817 gave the first powerful impulse to a larger immigration from Germany, and after the year 1820 a never-interrupted stream of population kept flowing into the United States. It has been estimated that the total number of aliens arriving in the United States from 1789 to 1820 was about 250,000. Between 1820 and 1879, a total of 9,908,799 immigrants arrived in the States; of these 894,444 were from England, 3,065,761 from Ireland, 159,547 from Scotland, 17,893 from Wales-the total from the British Islands being 4,698,098; from Germany 3,002,027, France 313,716, Sweden and Norway 306,092, Switzerland 83,709, Italy 70,181, Austria-Hungary 65,588, Russia 53,147-the total from Europe being 8,746,921. From British North America the total number is given as 568,941. The total number of immigrants from 1820 to 1882 (June 30) was 11,597,181. The following statement shows the number of immigrants arrived in the United States from the leading foreign countries during the decade June 30, 1876, to 1885, with the total number of immigrants during that period: 63,310 518,592 41,159 395,346 1884 129,294 179,676 52,728 16,510 17,226 3,608 1885 109,508 124,443 40,704 13,599 20,243 3,493 The total number of Chinese immigrants between 1855 and 1882 was 266,071, but the total number reported in the Census of 1880 was 105,465. Many are supposed to have returned. By a law passed in 1882, Chinese immigration has been prohibited for ten years. With regard to immigrants from Canada, a report of the Canadian Department of Agriculture (1882) mentions that the number is much exaggerated, and includes a large number of emigrants passing through Canada from European countries, and of ordinary passengers, and that the real number of immigrants is probably not more than one-third of the reputed number. According to the United States authorities 38,291 immigrants came from British North America in 1884-85, but no account has been taken of those arriving by railway. Trade and Navigation. The subjoined table gives the total value, in dollars, of the imports and exports of merchandise in each of the ten fiscal years, ended June 30, from 1876 to 1885: The following table gives the total value of the gold and silver bullion and specie imported into the United States, and the value of that exported, being the product of the States, in each of the ten fiscal years ended 30th June, from 1876 to 1885: 1876 1877 1878 Dollars 110,575,497 Dollars 14,226,944 1879 1880 42,472,390 43,480,271 Dollars The following table shows the value of the chief exports of domestic merchandise for the two years ending June 30, 1884, and 1885 : 1884-5 : Dollars 197,015,200 201,962,458 11,885,210 11,836,591 75,026,685 72,933,097 51,139,695 52,146,336 27,648,135 28,003,863 Meat, eggs, butter, and other provisions Petroleum Tobacco. 20,483,355 24,767,305 The following table classifies the exports of home produce for 1881-5 according to their origin : The leading imports into the United States were as follows in 1884 and 1885: Considerable duties are levied on the bulk of these imports into the United States, only 31.3 per cent. in 1883-84, and one-third in value in 1884-85, being free of duty. In 1883-84 the customs duties amounted to $190,282,836, and in 1884-5 to $178,151,601. The following table shows for the year 1884-85 the value of the exports of domestic merchandise to and the imports from the following countries, according to the United States returns: Thus, in the year ending June 30, 1885, 54 per cent. of the exports of the United States went to Great Britain alone, while 23.6 per cent. of the imports come from that country. The commercial intercourse of the United States with Great Britain and Ireland, according to the Board of Trade returns, is shown in the subjoined table : The value of the total imports from Great Britain into the United States in 1883 was 36,732,5067., and in 1884, 32,738,5331. The two staple articles of export from the United States to Great Britain and Ireland are grain-including breadstuffs of all kinds under the name-and raw cotton. The total quantity and value of the corn exports were as follows in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884 : : The most valuable of the corn exports is that of wheat and wheat flour, which amounted to 21,630,6917. in 1883, and 16,662,3897. in 1884. The value of the maize exports to Great Britain in 1882 was 1,726,3421., in 1883 6,860,3891., and in 1884 2,595,1687. The exports of raw cotton from the United States to Great Britain and Ireland were of the following quantities and value in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884: : |