The officials by whom the administration of State affairs is carried on (secretaries, treasurers, members of boards of commissioners, &c.), are usually chosen by the people at the General State elections for terms similar to those for which governors hold office, the party in power appointing its own adherents.

These

In 4 of the 6 Territories (including Hawaii) there are local legislatures, the form of which has been prescribed by the Federal Government. bodies have powers similar to those of the States, but any of their acts may be modified or annulled by Federal statutes. The Governor of each of the Territories is appointed for 4 years by the Federal President to whom he makes an annual report. The President appoints also the Territorial secretaries and other officials, together with the Territorial judges. Porto Rico, although not designated as a 'territory' in the technical sense, is self-governing. Its government is organised on a system almost identical with that of the territories. The Philipine Islands are governed by a civil commission, appointed by the President; but the disturbed districts are virtually under martial law.

Alaska and Indian Territory have no power of self-government. Alaska is governed like a British crown colony, by a Governor who is not assisted by a legislature.

In Indian Territory the native tribes are under the direct control of the Department of the Interior, but the civilised tribes, with the support of the national Government, maintain local governments of their own with elective legislatures and executive officers, whose functions are strictly limited to the persons and personal property of their own citizens (Indians).

The District of Columbia is the seat of the United States Government, provided by the State of Maryland for the purposes of government in 1791. It is co-extensive with the city of Washington, and embraces an area of 60 square miles. The district has no municipal legislative body, and its citizens have no right to vote either in national or municipal concerns. By an Act of Congress of 1878, its municipal government is administered by three commissioners, appointed by the President.

The unit of local government in the North, especially in the New England States, is the rural township, governed directly by the voters who assemble annually or oftener if necessary, and legislate in local affairs, levy taxes, make appropriations, and appoint and instruct the local officials (select men, clerk, school-committee, &c.). Where cities exist the township government is superseded by the city government. Townships are grouped to form counties, each with its commissioners and other paid officials who have charge of public buildings, lay out highways, grant licences, and estimate and apportion the taxation necessary for county purposes. In the South the counties are themselves the units, though subdivided for educational or other special purposes. Their officials have in general additional functions, as the care of the poor and the superintendence of schools. In the Middle and North-Western States the two systems of local government are mixed. In the West all the public land is already divided into townships six miles square.

Area and Population.

I. PROGRESS AND PRESENT CONDITION.

The following table gives the population of the United States, at each of the twelve censuses from 1790 to 1900. Residents of Hawaii and Alaska are not included in the figures of this table. The residents of Indian Territory and of Indian reservations are not included prior to 1890.

There are also included in the total for 1860, 34,933 Chinese and 44,021 Indians; for 1870, 63,199 Chinese, 55 Japanese, and 25,731 Indians; for 1880, 105, 465 Chinese, 148 Japanese, and 66,407 Indians; for 1890, 107,488 Chinese, 2,039 Japanese, and 248,253 Indians; for 1900, 90, 167 Chinese, 24,610 Japanese, and 237,224 Indians. The population of Continental United States in 1903 was estimated at 79,900,389.

The following table shows the population at the censuses of 1890 and 1900, and the land area and population per square mile in 1900 of the States and Territories arranged by geographical divisions. The dates indicate the year in which the constitution was ratified by each of the thirteen original States, the year of the admission of each of the other States into the Union, and the years of organisation of Territories :

States and Territories

·

1 Including both the land and water area of Alaska and Hawaii.

As regards sex, the total population of the States and Territories at the census of 1900 comprised 39,059,242 males, and 37,244, 145 females.

At the first census of the Union, in 1790, there existed only 13 States and 4 Territories, the most populous of the States, as then constituted, being Virginia, with 747,610 inhabitants. In 1800 there were 16 States and 4 Territories, Virginia having then a population of 880,200. In 1810 the same State, with a population of 974, 600, took the lead of 17 States and 6 Territories. In 1820 there were 23 States and 3 Territories, New York standing first with a population of 1,372,812. In 1830 there were 24 States and 3 Territories; in 1840, 26 States and 3 Territories; in 1850, 30 States and 5 Territories; in 1860, 33 States and 8 Territories; in 1870, 37 States and 9 Territories; in 1880, 38 States and Territories; in 1890, 44 States and 4 Territories (including Oklahoma); in 1900, 45 States and 4 Territories, neither Alaska, the District of Columbia nor the Indian Territory being included in these numbers.

In February, 1905, the Senate passed a Bill admitting Oklahoma and Indian Territory as one State to be named Oklahoma, and New Mexico as another.

In 1900 the numbers engaged in the various classes of occupations were returned as follows for the mainland of the United States, which includes Indian Territory and the Indian reservations, but not Alaska or Hawaii :—

The total area of Indian reservations in the United States, exclusive of Alaska, was in 1902, 117,420 square miles (in 1890, 162,991 square miles), with an Indian population in 1903 of 263,233 (in 1890, 243,534). The most extensive reservations are in Indian Territory, 30,489 square miles, population 76,886; Arizona, 26,397 square miles, population 43,746; South Dakota, 13,424 square miles, population 19,477; Montana, 13,532 square miles, population 9,911; Oklahoma, 5,705 square miles, population 13,799. In 1904 the United States spent 10,438,350 dollars on the Indians. There are 56 agencies throughout the States.

Of the population of the States and Territories comprising the mainland of the United States (including 91,219 persons in the military and naval services abroad) in 1900, 65,729,150 (or 86.4 per cent.) were natives and 10,356,644 (or 13.6 per cent.) foreign born; in 1890, 53,698,154 (or 85.3 per cent.) were natives, and 9,249,560 (or 14.7 per cent.) foreign-born. In 1880 there were 43,475,840 natives and 6,679,943 foreign-born (13.3 per cent.). In 1870 the population was 14'4 per cent. foreign-born; in 1860, 13.2 per cent. ; in 1850, 9.7 per cent.

The following table shows the origin of the foreign-born population at the census of 1900 for the mainland of the United States ;

Thus of the foreign-born population 269 per cent were from the United Kingdom (15.6 per cent. from Ireland, 90 per cent. from England and Wales, and 2.3 per cent. from Scotland); 25 8 per cent. were from Germany; 114 per cent. from Canada and Newfoundland; 10.3 per cent. from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; 10 per cent. from France; and 246 per cent. from all other countries.

II. MOVEMENT OF POPULATION.

There is no national system of registration of births, deaths, and marriages in the United States. The birth-rate estimated for 1890 by the Census Office was 26.9 per 1,000 of population; but this is acknowledged to be too low. Death-rates are computed from returns for certain areas, where local registration records are kept. These areas are the New England States, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, the District of Columbia, and the principal cities in the remaining States. The combined population of these areas in 1900 was 28,807,269, and the number of deaths reported in the year was 512,669, or 178 per 1,000 of population. In the non-registration areas the population numbered 47,187,306, and the deaths reported in the year 526,425. Under a law of July 1, 1898, the Commissioner of Labour compiles and publishes annually, among other statistics relating to large cities, an abstract of official statistics concerning the movement of population in 137 American cities.

The following table shows the number of marriages, divorces, births, and deaths (exclusive of still-births), with the births and deaths per 1000 of population as estimated for January 1, 1902, in 40 of the larger cities so far as these are published: