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The railroad statistics for 1876 were:

COUNTRIES.

Scotland

Miles

in

Operation.

of the press, the Government, and the "news" messages.

The British Army is filled up exclusively by Capital. Gross Receipts. Net Receipts. recruiting. The term of service is 12 years,

England..... 11,989 £544,832,000 £50,504,000 £24,010,000 2,726 82,717,000 6,677,000 8,367,000 Ireland...... 2,157 80,665,000 2,737,000 1,803,000 Total, 1876 16,872 £658,214,000 £59,918,000 £28,680,000 1875 16,658 630,228,000 58,988,000 28,016,000

The number of letters sent in 1876 was 1,019,000,000. Of these 856,000,000 were in England and Wales, 91,000,000 were in Scotland, and 72,000,000 in Ireland. The number of newspapers and printed matter was, in 1876, 299,000,000. The number of postal-cards in 1876 was 93,000,000. The number of moneyorders sent and received in 1876 was 18,100,000, amounting to £28,661,000. The number of post-offices in 1876 was 13,447. The number of registered letters delivered in 1875 in the United Kingdom was 4,300,000, and the number of returned letters 4,350,000. The number of post-office savings-banks, on December 31, 1875, was 5,260; the number of deposits, 3,132,433; the amount of the deposits, £8,783,852; the number of accounts open, 1,777,103.

The length of the telegraph-wires, at the close of 1876, was 176,353 kilometres (1 kilometre 0.62 English mile), and of the lines 38,858 kilometres. The number of stations was 5,602. The number of dispatches, in 1873, was 17,294,334; in 1874, 19,116,634; in 1875, 20,766,277, and in 1876, 21,575,207, exclusive

after which a soldier can serve for 9 years the reserve, one year in the regular army bemore. At the end of 3 years he can also enter ing counted as three in the reserve. By the reorganization of 1872, the United Kingdom is divided into 68 military districts. In each district there is one brigade depot of 182 men, two battalions of the regular army, which alternately serve abroad, two battalions of militia, and the volunteers of the district. According to the army estimates for the year 1877-'78, the army was to be composed as follows:

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The Navy consists of 60 iron-clads, about 360 steamers, and 125 sailing vessels. Of this number 245 were in commission on September 1, 1877, 118 being at home, and 127 abroad. The Navy is manned by 46,560 seamen, 14,000 17,247 marines, and 20,840 men belonging to the Royal Navy reserve.

Colonies. India. Total.

Artillery..

19,706

8,570

Engineers..

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4,821 12,099 485

Infantry (148 battalions).

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Colonial corps..

2,481

Army service corps..

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Army hospital corps..

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Reserves..

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Miscellaneous establishments..

Total...

85,875

5,711

3,014

2,192

146,185 25,085 62,652 233,872

128,757 In 1876 the number of schools inspected by 2,481 the Government inspectors was 14,875 in Eng1,595 land and Wales, including the Isle of Man and 87,500 the Roman Catholic schools for Great Britain, and 2,912 in Scotland, exclusive of the Roman Catholic schools. These schools had accommodations for 3,483,789 children in England and Wales, and 462,986 in Scotland. The average attendance was 2,007,732 in England and Wales, and 332,545 in Scotland. In Ireland there were, on December 31, 1875, 7,104 national schools, with 1,011,799 pupils enrolled, and an average daily attendance of 389,961. In England the number of paupers relieved in 1876-'77 was 728,350. Scotland in 1876 had 100,105 paupers. In Ireland the number of paupers was 78,528.

Besides the above, there are the following organizations: In Ireland there is a police force, under military discipline, consisting of 13,000 men and 4,000 horses; the Channel Islands have a militia of 300 officers and 8,000 men, subsidized by the British Government; India has a native army of 140,000 men, and a police force, under military discipline, of 190,000 men, the officers of both of which are Europeans; the colonies all have a militia, a volunteer corps, of their own. The home Government stations troops only at fortified places, except in the Cape Colony, where peculiar circumstances exist, and in places where policy demands it, as in Hong-Kong.

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shows the amount at the end of the year to have been £742,073; credited during the year, £324,810; and debited during the year, £158,422. The trade accounts set forth "goods" paid for in the year, £14,070,559; cash received for goods in the year, £16,176,570; and the average stock-in-trade, £1,856,397. The total expenses in the year were £714,604, and the interest on share loans and other capital, £216,218. Under the head of "liabilities and assets," the entire liabilities were, in the year,

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£5,659,035; reserve fund, £220,011; and the entire assets, £6,199,266. The value of buildings, fixtures, and land, £1,894,646; capital invested with other industrial and provident societies, £636,400; and the capital invested with companies incorporated under the Companies' Act, £538,140. The disposable net profit realized from all sources during the year was £1,248,602; the declared dividends due to the members during the year, £1,117,870; dividends allowed to non-members in the year,

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LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS.

£18,555; and the amount allowed for educational purposes during the year, £10,454. Parliament was opened on February 8th, by the Queen in person. The following is the speech from the throne:

MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN: It is with much satisfaction that I again resort to the advice and assistance of my Parliament.

The hostilities which, before the close of last session, had broken out between Turkey on the one hand and Servia and Montenegro on the other, engaged my most serious attention, and I anxiously waited for an opportunity when my good offices, to

gether with those of my allies, might be usefully interposed. This opportunity presented itself by of whieh was ultimately entertained by the Porte. the solicitation of Servia for our mediation, the offer In the course of the negotiations I deemed it expedient to lay down and, in concert with the other Powers, to submit to the Porte certain bases upon which I held that not only peace might be brought about with the Principalities, but the permanent pacification of the disturbed provinces, including Bulgaria, and the amelioration of their condition, might be effected. Agreed to by the Powers, they required to be expanded and worked out by negotiation or by conference, accompanied by an armistice. The Porte, though not accepting the bases, and pro

posing other terms, was willing to submit them to the equitable consideration of the Powers. While proceeding to act in this mediation, I thought it right, after inquiry into the facts, to denounce to the Porte the excesses ascertained to have been committed in Bulgaria, and to express my reprobation of their perpetrators. An armistice being arranged, a Conference met at Constantinople for the consideration of extended terms in accordance with the ori

ginal bases, in which Conference I was represented by a special envoy, as well as by my embassador. In taking these steps, my object has throughout been to maintain the peace of Europe, and to bring about the better government of the disturbed provinces without infringing upon the independence and integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The proposals recommended by myself and by my allies have not, I regret to say, been accepted by the Porte; but the result of the Conference has been to show the existence of a general agreement among the European Powers, which cannot fail to have a material effect upon the condition and government of Turkey. In

the mean time, the armistice between Turkey and the Principalities has been prolonged, and is still unexpired, and may, I trust, yet lead to the conclusion of an honorable peace. In these affairs I have acted in cordial cooperation with my allies, with whom, as with other foreign Powers, my relations continue to be of a friendly character. Papers on these subjects will be forthwith laid before you.

My assumption of the Imperial title at Delhi was welcomed by the chiefs and people of India with professions of affection and loyalty most grateful to my feelings. It is with deep regret that I have to announce a calamity in that part of my dominions which will demand the most earnest watchfulness on the part of my Government there. A famine not less serious than that of 1873 has overspread a large portion of the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay. I am confident that every resource will be employed, not merely in arrest of this present famine, but in obtaining fresh experience for the prevention or mitigation of such visitations for the future. The prosperity and progress of my Colonial Em

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pire remain unchecked, although the proceedings of the Government of the Transvaal Republic, and the hostilities in which it has engaged with the neighboring tribes, have caused some apprehensions for the safety of my subjects in South Africa. I trust, however, that the measures which I have taken, will suffice to prevent any serious evil.

GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: I have directed the estimates of this year to be prepared and presented to you without delay.

MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN: Bills relating to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and for amending the Law as to Bankruptcy and Letters Patent for Inventions, will be laid before you.

Your attention will be again called to measures for promoting economy and efficiency in the management of the Prisons of the United Kingdom, which will, at the same time, effect a relief of local burdens. Bills will also be laid before you for amending the Laws relating to the Valuation of Property in England, for simplifying and amending the Law relating to Factories and Workshops, and for improv ing the Law regulating the summary jurisdiction of Magistrates.

Legislation will be proposed with reference to Roads and Bridges in Scotland, and the Scotch Poor Law.

You will be asked to constitute one Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland and to confer an equitable jurisdiction on the County Courts in that country.

I commend to you these and other measures which may be submitted for your consideration, and I trust that the blessing of the Almighty will attend your labors and direct your efforts.

In the House of Lords the address was moved and seconded respectively by Lord Grey de Milton and Lord Haddington, after which Earl Granville criticised the conduct of the Government with respect to the Bulgarian atrocities, and declared that Turkey should be required to do justice. Lord Derby maintained that the Conference had not been a failure, as the prospects of peace were certainly not diminished. The Duke of Argyll made a sharp attack upon the Government, to which Lord Beacons

field replied, Lords Cardwell and Salisbury also making brief speeches. In the Commons, after the address had been moved, Lord Hartington made some general remarks, and, referring to the Eastern question, spoke severely of Earl Beaconsfield's speeches as opposed to the sense of the country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer vindicated the policy of the Government, which, he said, had been consistent throughout, and Mr. Gladstone contended that it had been shaped by the feeling of the country caused by the Bulgarian atrocities, and he insisted that Turkey could not be allowed to govern her European provinces free from European control.

On February 20th, the Duke of Argyll made a bitter attack in the House of Lords on the Gov

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON.

ernment. In the course of the debate he pointed out that the object of the Marquis of Salisbury's mission had been to secure peace in Europe and reform in Turkey. Neither of these objects had been attained. Turkey was not reformned, and there was no prospect of peace in Europe. He deprecated the unreasonable suspicion of Russia, which actuated English policy up to August last. He admitted that England had a great interest in the neutrality of Egypt and in preventing Constantinople from falling into the hands of any great

European Power. But except on these points he could conceive of no injury to Great Britain by any transfer of power from the Turkish Empire. He pointed to the various instances where European Powers, while professing to respect the independence guaranteed to Turkey by the Treaty of Paris, had interfered in Turkish affairs in a way that showed they regarded Turkish justice as utterly unworthy of confidence. It was necessary to carry this argument further in the sense indicated by the Marquis of Salisbury, when he declared the independence of Turkey might at the present time be interpreted so as to be consistent with the joint military and diplomatic action of the guaranteeing Powers. The speaker concluded with an eloquent appeal to the Earl of Bea

consfield to mark the close of his career by procuring some measure of liberty for the Christians in Turkey.

Lord Derby, who followed the Duke of Argyll, argued that the Conference could not be called a failure, since it had undoubtedly been the cause of considerable changes. The Conference was summoned, first, to maintain the peace of Europe, and, secondly, to improve the Turkish administration. "It cannot be said that the peace of Europe bas been broken." Whatever might be the value of the respite which the Conference had given in this respect, the friends of the Turkish state, among whom the allied Governments must be reckoned, might be allowed to hope something from the promises of reform which had been again made, this time under circumstances which would insure an attempt to fulfill them.

On the 26th of February Lord Stratheden moved an address to the crown, praying for the observance of the treaties which, in his view, bound Great Britain to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire. The motion met with no support from either side of the House, and, after a short debate, was negatived. In both Houses the opposition continued to question the Government on the Eastern question. The negotiations with the other Powers finally led to the signature, on March 31st, of the Protocol (see TURKEY). On April 26th, Earl Granville, in

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