at 6 and 5 per cent., but more than half of the interest-bearing debt is now at 4 per cent., and the rest at 3 and 4 per cent.

Besides the above there exist local debts in nearly all the states, amounting in 1883 to 56,854,800l. If to this be added the debts of counties, townships, towns, &c., it would raise the entire local debt to 250,000,000l. sterling. The national debt of the United States amounts to 51. per head of population, and the annual interest to 3s. 6d. per head. There is practically no direct taxation for national purposes, though personal and real property are taxed in the several states. The total value of the exports in 1883-4 is equal to more than one-third of the principal of the debt, and the excess of exports over imports in 1883-4 amounts to more than the annual interest of the debt. The assessed valuation of the real property in the States is returned for 1880 at 13,036,766,925 dollars, or 2,607,553,3851., and personal property 3,866,226,618 dollars, or 773,245,3231., being a total of 3,380,598,7087.

Army and Navy.

1. Army.

By the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution of the United States, Congress is empowered in general 'to raise and support armies;' and by the second section of the second article, the President is appointed commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and of the militia when called into the service of the United States. On August 7, 1789, Congress established a Department of War as the instrument of the President in carrying out the provisions of the constitution for military affairs.

By Acts of Congress, approved July 28, 1866, March 3, 1869, and July 15, 1870, the number of land forces constituting the standing army of the United States was strictly limited. It was subsequently enacted that from the year 1875 there shall be no more than 25,000 enlisted men and 2,155 commissioned officers at any one time. The actual enlisted strength of the army in the end of 1883 was 25,478, distributed as follows:

Of the officers of the regular army, there are 66 colonels and

85 lieutenant-colonels, 243 majors, 603 captains.

The 9th and 10th regiments of cavalry, and the 24th and 25th regiments of infantry, are composed of negro soldiers, but with white officers.

Besides the regular army each State is supposed to have a militia in which all men from 18 to 45, capable of bearing arms, ought to be enrolled, but in several States the organisation is imperfect. The organised militia numbers 9,059 officers and 118,172 men. The number of citizens who in case of war might be enrolled in the militia is upwards of 6 millions. In 1880 the males of all classes between 18 and 44 years of age numbered 10,231,239, of whom 7,000,000 were native-born whites and 1,242,354 coloured.

The territory of the United States is divided for military purposes into nine departments, and these are grouped into three military divisions, namely, Division of the Missouri, composed of the Departments of Dakota, the Platte, Texas, and the Missouri; Division of the Pacific, composed of the Departments of Columbia, California, and Arizona; Division of the Atlantic, composed of the Departments of the East and the South. The United States has a military academy at West Point.

2. Navy.

The naval forces of the United States have been gradually decreasing since the termination of the Civil War, and although successive Secretaries of the Navy have represented strongly the weakness of the fleet, nothing was done towards its actual reconstruction until August 1883. At that date 3 new protected cruisers and a despatch-boat were authorised to be built by contract at a total cost of nearly half a million sterling. In his Report dated December 1, 1884, the Secretary of the Navy stated that the available cruising war-vessels included only one first-rate, eleven secondrates, and nineteen third-rates. Of these no less than four vessels were considered not worth repair, and six others were expected to become ineffective within six years. The remaining 18 wooden vessels had an estimated durability of ten to fifteen years, and the Secretary stated that at the end of that period, of ships now on service only 3 small iron vessels would remain on the effective list. During the years 1883-4 no less than 38 monitors and unarmoured ships, and 8 tugs had been struck off the list as being beyond repair, a considerable number of these having been left on the stocks since the end of the Civil War and never launched. Besides the effective cruising ships above referred to there also remain afloat a number of the monitors of the Canonicus and Passaic classes, which did good service during the Civil War. These vessels are not seagoing. The Miantonomah and Monadnock, Terror and Amphitrite, are four iron-built double-turreted monitors of 3,815 tons displace

ment and 1,600 horse-power, having an estimated speed of 12 knots. They are to have 7-inch side armour, and to be armed with 4 10-inch or 11-inch rifled guns. These four vessels have been undergoing the process of 're-building' during the last six or seven years, and they are still incomplete. The armour for the Miantonomah has been ordered in Sheffield, and she is much more advanced than the other three ships. Three other vessels appearing on the list are of the Colossus class, which have been on the stocks nearly twenty years, and are not likely to be completed. The Dictator is the largest monitor completed; she is of 4,500 tons displacement, and carries 2 15-inch smooth-bore guns in her turret; her armour is 6 inches thick on the sides and 15 linches (laminated) on the turret. The Puritan is another monitor, re-designed and partly built, but left standing on the stocks for several years past. It is recognised by the highest American authorities that monitors are only useful for coast and harbour defence, and that there is absolutely no seagoing vessel amongst them.

The largest of the new cruisers recently begun is of 4,500 tons displacement, 5,000 horse-power, and has an estimated measured mile speed of 16 knots. She is to be armed with 4 8-inch breechloaders and 8 6-inch. A protective steel deck, 14-inch thick, is to be built over machinery, boilers, and magazines. The design is obviously based on the Leander class of the British navy, but the vessel is of greater length and displacement than the Leander. It is proposed to build the vessel of steel.

Two other cruisers, also steel built, are in progress; the displacement of one, the Atalanta, is 3,000 tons, indicated horsepower 3,500, speed 14 to 15 knots, and armament 4 8-inch and 6 6-inch breechloading guns; the displacement of the other is 1,500 tons. In them, also, there is a protective deck of steel 11⁄2 inches thick.

These vessels will constitute a most valuable addition to the fleet when they are completed; but the conditions of their design are so novel, and the construction of their guns and mountings is so different from anything yet done in America, that a considerable time is likely to elapse before they are ready for service. Altogether there were in the service in 1884 92 vessels of all kinds, of which only 31 were considered available—1 first-rate, 11 second-rate, and the rest third-rate; the first-rate and 5 second-rate were considered not worth repairing.

The gradual extinction of the Navy has at length reduced its force so seriously that public opinion has been roused, and it is extremely probable that other new ships of the cruiser type with modern guns will be ordered. Considerable attention is also being devoted to the manufacture of rifled ordnance.

The United States possess ten navy-yards and stationsnamely, Portsmouth, Charlestown, Brooklyn, League Island, New London, Washington, Norfolk, Pensacola, and Mare Island. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has an area of 63 acres; Charlestown, near Boston, of 80 acres; Brooklyn, of 80; Philadelphia, of 15, and Washington of 42 acres. Norfolk, Pensacola and Mare Island are used only for temporary repairs.

The navy of the United States was commanded, in January 1884, by 1 admiral, 1 vice-admiral, 7 rear-admirals, 21 commodores, 45 captains, 87 commanders, and 78 lieutenant-commanders. The body of commissioned officers comprised besides, at the same date, 366 lieutenants, 97 ensigns, 103 junior ensigns, and 309 cadets. The Navy Appropriation Act for 1884 provided for 7,500 enlisted men and 750 boys, besides a marine corps of 2,028 officers and men. The United States has a naval academy at Annapolis.

Area and Population.

The land surface of the United States was reported at the census of 1880 to embrace 3,095,245 square miles.

The population of the United States has been ascertained at all times with great accuracy. The census is taken in the States in obedience to Article 1, section 2, of the Constitution, which provides that Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included in this Union according to their respective numbers;' and the same section directs that the actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years.' Under these provisions, and the laws passed in pursuance of them, the census of the United States has been taken ten times-viz., in 1790, in 1800, in 1810, in 1820, in 1830, in 1840, in 1850, in 1860, in 1870, and in 1880. The following table gives the total white and coloured population of the United States, at each of the ten enumerations from 1790 to 1880:

These figures do not include Chinese (105,613), and Indians (339,098), whose numbers bring the whole population at last census up to 50,526,222, excluding the Indian territory and uncivilised Indians.

The subjoined table gives, in alphabetical order, the area and population of each of the States and of the 8 Territories of the Union, and the district of Columbia, of the Territory of Alaska, of the Indian Territory, both not yet organised, and the unsettled Indians at the census of June 1870, together with that at the census of 1880. At the date of the census of 1870 there were only 37 States, but Colorado was subsequently admitted, and its area and population are, therefore, here included among the States composing the Union.