The following is a summary of the above table for each of the three divisions of the United Kingdom : Textile Factories— Scotland. Ireland. United Kingdom 675 6,189 49,464,414 636,015 317,675 460,028 777,703 2,674,609 66,769 37,347 98,866 136,213 963,505 22,920 19,177 42,453 61,630 241 7,105 53,102,528 725,704 374,199 601,347 975,546 Of the spindles, 47,388,072 were spinning and 5,714,456 doubling. Of the total number of persons employed there were 51,186 male, 59,399 female children under thirteen years of age; so that the total numbers of ' half-timers' employed was 110,585. There were 71,986 males between thirteen and eighteen years of age, and 541,984 females over thirteen. Of the whole persons employed in the three kingdoms, the proportion of men was 38 per cent., and of women 62 per cent. In England alone it was, men, 41 per cent.; women, 59 per cent.; in Scotland-men, 28 per cent.; women, 72 per cent.; in Ireland-men, 31 per cent.; women, 69 per cent. Comparing the return of 1879 with that of 1874 we find a decrease in the number of factories of 189, but an increase in the number of spindles of about two millions, and of power-looms of 58,000. There is a decrease in the number of children employed of 15,300, and of the whole number of persons employed, of 30,000. the date of the last return 254 factories were entirely closed. 7. Railways. But at From the opening of the first railway, in 1825, till the end of 1850, a period of a quarter of a century, 6,621 miles of lines were constructed in the United Kingdom, being at the rate of 265 miles per annum. At the end of 1860, the length of lines opened for traffic was 10,433, showing an increase of construction at the rate of 381 miles per annum; at the end of 1870, it was 15,537 miles, showing an increase at the rate of 510 miles per annum; at the end of 1880 it was 17,933, or at the rate of 240 miles per annum; at the end of 1883 there were 18,681 miles open for traffic, the increase presenting an average of 249 miles per annum during the last three years. Of the total length of lines open at the end of 1883, there belonged to England and Wales 13,215 miles, to Scotland 2,964 miles, and to Ireland 2,502 miles. The following table gives the length of lines open, the capital paid up, the number of passengers conveyed, and the traffic receipts of all the railways of the United Kingdom in each of the ten years from 1874 to 1883 : 1874 16,449 1875 16,658 1876 16,872 1877 17,077 1878 17,335 1879 17,696 609,895,919 478,316,701 24,893,615 32,005,883 59,255,715 630,226,942 507,532,187 25,714,681 33,268,072 61,237,000 658,214,776 538,681,722 26,163,551 33,754,317 62,215,775 674,059,048 551,593,654 26,534,110 34,109,947 62,973,328| 698,545,154 565,024,455 26,889,614 33,564,761 62,862,674| 717,003,469 562,732,890 25,915,585 33,479,697 61,776,703 1880 17,933 728,316,848 603,885,025 27,200,464 35,761,303 65,441,625 1881 18,175 745,528,162 622,423,000 27,461,645 36,446,592 66,557,442 1882 18,457 767,899,570 654,838,295 28,796,813 37,740,315 69,377,124| 1883 18,681 784,921,312 683,718,137 29,508,733 38,701,319 71,062,270 To the total capital in 1883 England and Wales contributed 650,945,8347., Scotland 98,531,3157., and Ireland 35,444,163l. In the division of the receipts of 1883, England and Wales took 60,521,588., Scotland 7,685,4937., and Ireland 2,855,2391. The working expenditure amounted to 37,368,5627. on all the railways in 1883, being 53 per cent, of the total receipts. The following tabular statement gives the total length of railways open for traffic in the British Empire on the 1st January, 1884 : Miles 18,681 A Parliamentary paper issued in the session of 1884 states that on June 30, 1884, there were, in the United Kingdom, 762 miles of street and road tramways open, from which, during the year 1883-84, 2,420,7657. had been received, and upon which 1,852,0397. had been expended. This left a balance of receipts of 568,7167. Total capital expended, 10,989,5521. The total number of passengers who travelled during the year on the tramways was 330,794,405. The number of horses was 21,784, of locomotive engines 207, and of cars 3,038 on June 30, 1884. 8. Post and Telegraphs. The number of Post Offices in the United Kingdom at the end of March 1884 was 15,951; there were besides 15,749 road and pillar letter boxes. The staff of officers forming part of the Post Office department was 46,000 at the end of March 1884 (including 2,731 females), besides 45,000 persons who do not hold permanent posi tions. The following tabular statement gives the number of letters, in millions, delivered in each of the three divisions of the United King dom, and the average number for each individual of the population, in the ten years from 1875 to 1884 : : The following are the statistics of post-cards, book-packets, and newspapers delivered in 1883-4, showing increase per cent. on the previous year :— The number of money orders issued by the Post Office during the same year, in the whole of the United Kingdom, was 16,663,635, of the aggregate value of 27,629,8791. Of these orders 13,790,732, of the aggregate value of 25,012,1177., were inland orders, the remainder being for the colonies and abroad. The inland orders were at the rate of 38.7 to every 100 of the population. The total number has gradually declined from 18,770,967 in 1878, and the total amount from 29,153,4521. in that year; there has been an increase in the amount since 1881-2, when it was 25,393,574l. In addition to money-orders, there were, in 1881-2, 4,462,920 postal orders issued, of an aggregate value of 2,006,9187.; in 1882-3, 7,980,328, of an aggregate value of 3,451,2847.; and in 1883-4, 12,286,556, of an aggregate value of 5,028,6631. In England and Wales, the number of inland money orders was 11,664,711, of the value of 21,484,880., being at the rate of 43 orders to every 100 persons; in Scotland the number was |