WEALTH OF NATIONS.

The population of the civilised countries of the world has doubled since the beginning of the present century, the United Kingdom and colonies having, in 1801, 17,000,000, whereas to-day they have 43,000,000. The European Continent then had 170,000,000; to-day it has 275,000,000; and the United States, then with a population of 5,000,000, to-day has upwards of 50,000,000. Thus have these nations increased from 192,000,000 to 368,000,000. The population of Great Britain and the United States combined has risen from 22,000,000 to 93,000,000, an increase of 323 per cent, while the population of the European Continent rose only 63 per cent. During the last sixty years no less than 16,000,000 of people have left the Old World for homes in America and the British colonies, of whom nearly 11,000,000 have landed on the shores of the United States. This migration, combined with the opening up of new countries, the great changes brought about by the application of steam, the extension of ra lroads, the improvements of ocean navigation, the connection of continents by telegraph, and the spread of knowledge in schools and by the daily press, has made the present the most progressive of all centuries to the Anglo-Saxon race. People are better fed and better clothed, and, with the advance of science and the extension of knowledge, opportunities on all sides increase.

In the food supply of the world there has been notable progress within less than half a century, not only by reason of the introduction of railroads and steamers, but also by the removal of arbitrary laws against grain. Forty years ago Great Britain paid famine prices for bread sooner than repeal the Corn Laws; while the moujiks of the Don had such abundant crops that wheat was to cheap to pay the cost of freight to the nearest port. Forty years ago, owing to the want of roads, the price of grain in Western Russia was double that which ruled in the eastern part of the kingdom. Before the epoch of railroads and the repeal of the Corn Laws the price of wheat ruled 150 per cent higher in England than in Hungary. The English and the Americans are the best-fed people of the present age, and therefore they are able to accomplish the greatest amount of work. The United States, it is said, consumes 120 lb. of meat per inhabitant; the United Kingdom, 110lb.; France, 66 lb.; Switzerland 51 lb.; Germany, 481b.; Scandinavia, 45 lb.; Russia, 44lb.; the Low Countries, 40 lb.; Austria, 39 lb.; Spain, 291b.; Italy, 28 lb.: Portugal, 201b. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia consume each eight bushels of grain per inhabitant; France and Germany, each seven bushels; Austria, the Low Countries, and Spain, each six bushels; Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Portugal, each five bushels. The world consumes 38,500,000 tons of wheat yearly, and the wheat lands of the world make up 105,000,000 acres. The supply and the demand are shown as follows:

It is estimated that the annual income of the United States of America

from agricultural industries is nearly 3,000,000,000 dols.; that of France about 1,900,000,000 dols.; of Russia, 1,850,000,000 dols.; of Germany, 1,700,000,000 dols.; of the United Kingdom, 1,325,000,00 dols.; of AustroHungary, 1,315,000,000 dols.; of Italy, 710,000,000 dols.; of Spain and Portugal, 650,000,000 dols.; of Scandinavia, 390,000,000 dols.; and of the Low Countries, 375,000,000 dols. ; total, 13,215,000,000 dols. The total area of forest wealth of the United States, Russia, Germany, Austria, Canada, Scandinavia, France, Brazil, and El Gran Chaco is 2,760,000,000 acres, the total annual product from which is 780,000,000 dols., of which the United States produces over 50 per cent, or 385,000,000. M. Michel Chevalier estimates that at the period of the discovery of America the total amount of gold in Europe was only 60,000,000 dols., and of silver 140,000,000 dols. A new epoch occurred with the discovery of gold in California and Australia. The progress of this form of wealth is summarised as

Date.

Gold.

The United States stands first of all countries in the yield of precious metals and in the product of its manufactories. By a strange coincidence, the annual yield in California and that of Australia have averaged the same amount-namely, 45,000,000 dols.; and in each case the highest year reached 75,000,000 dols., the number of diggers being also nearly equal, and their gains averaging from 500 dols. to 750 dols. per man per annum. These are the changes of eighty years.

The following Table shows the wealth industries of the United States are greater in amount than those of any other country :-

THE CENSUS OF FRANCE, 1881. The official returns of the Census taken throughout France, December, 1881, differs slightly from those given out hurriedly soon after the operation. The total population of France, according to the Iresent statistics, is 37,672,040, being an increase of 766,260 since 1876. This increase compares unfavourably with that effected in the four years preceding, which amounted to over 800,000. It is furthermore worthy of note that, to the increase of population during the five years from 1876 to 1881, the fortyseven large towns of France, baving a population of over 30,000, contribute no less than 561,869. Six of these places show a decrease in their population. The city of Paris has increased the number of its inhabitants by 14 per cent since the last Census, the population now being 2,269,028.

51,655,000,000

Lyons is the second city of the Republic, with over 376,000 inhabitants, Marseilles coming next, with 360,000; then Bordeaux, with over 221,000. Lille has over 178,000; while Toulouse, Saint Etienne, Nantes, Havre, and Rouen all register six figures without exceeding 150,000. The increase in the population not living in the forty-seven principal towns is lamentably small, being only, as shown by the above figures, 204,391 for nearly 32,000,000 inhabitants.

COIN AND BULLION.

The total value of the registered imports of gold and silver coin and bullion in the year 1881 was £16,864,408, and, the value having been £16,253,883 for 1880 an increase is shown of £610,525.

Bateman. Benjamin, late of White Lion-court, Cornhill, Oct. 15
Inman. William, late of Upton Manor, Upton, Oct. 15
Dodd, Henry, late of The Hall, Rotherfield, Essex, Oct. 15
Miller, William, J.P., late of Hillside, Herts, Oct. 22

157,000

1871

103,215,409

11,999,652

7,532,920

122,747,981

111,000

193,000

1875

10,346,400

159,039,231

1878

102,000

263,000

1880

1881

8,878,935

158,877,633

15,424,021

131,000

Cox, Mrs. Catharine Amelia, late of 39, Gordon-square, Oct 22, Hibbert, William Tetlow, late of Prince's-gate, Hyde Park, Oct. 29 Hatherly, the Right Hon. William Page, Baron, late of 31, Georgestreet, Westminster, Nov. 5... Bruxner, Michael Fred., late of 5, Hyde Park-terrace, Nov. 5 Airey, General Richard Joseph, Baron of Killingworth, late of 7, Lowndes-square, Nov. 12...

Bebb. Horatio, late of 13, Gloucester-place, Portman-square, Nov. 12

Long, Lieut -Colonel Samuel, late of Bromley Hill, Kent, and of Earshall, Fife, Nov. 19

Evans, William, late of 70, Cornwall-gardens, Kensington, Nov. 19 Home, the Right Hon. Cospatrick Alexander, Earl of, Nov. 26 Thorpe, John, late of Elston Hall, Notts, Dec. 3

Griffiths, Miss Anne, late of Tillington Court, Herefordshire, March 18

Macfarlane, James, late of Gloucester-road, Regent's Park, April 1 Hartnell, John. late of Blomfield-street, April 1

Pechell, the Rev. Horace Robert, late of Moorlands Bitterne, Southampton, April 8...

Robartes, Lord, late of Lanhydrock, Bodmin, Cornwall, April 15 Ford, Charles, late of Russell-square, April 15

Roberts-West, James, late of Alscote Park, Gloucestershite, April 15

Cohen, Lewis, late of Gloucester-place, Portman-square, April 22
Kitching, Alfred, late of Darlington, Ápril 22

Serimgeour, Alexander, late of Whispers," Sussex, April 22
Roundell, William, late of Gledstone, Yorkshire, April 22
Hodgson. John, late of Gilston Park, Herts, April 29
Ryder, William Henry, late of Telford Lodge, Streatham, April 29
Hutton, Henry, late of The Lawn, Colnbrook, Bucks, May 6
Rothschild, Baron Nathan James Edward de, late of 38, Avenue

Friedland, Paris, May 20

Schwann, Frederick, late of Gloucester-square, June 3
Newton, Henry Charles, late of Rathbone-place, June 10
Wilton, the Right Hon. Thomas Egerton, Earl of, late of Heaton
House. Lancashire, June 17

Darwin, Charles Robert, late of Down, near Beckenham, June 17
Morris, James, late of Cadogan-place, June 24
Hanbury, Osgood, late of Holfield Grange, Essex, June 24
Bentinck, Lady Margaret Harriet Cavendish Scott, late of Brook-
street, Grosvenor-square. July 1

Wells, Arthur, late of Nottingham, July 1

Bevan, Charles James, late of Bryanston-square, July 8
Brooks, Robert, late of Woodcote Park, Epsom, July 15
Heath, Robert Amadeus, Baron, late of Croydon, July 15
Trotter, Miss Margaret, late of Upper Brook-street, July 15

Dr. Charles Wells, £50, in recognition of his services in connection with Oriental Languages and Literature.

Mr. Charles Patrick O'Conor, £50, in consideration of his merit as a Poet, and of his narrow means of subsistence.

Professor Thomas Wharton Jones, £150, in recognition of his services to Medical Science.

The Rev. John Jones, £50, in consideration of his literary services in 213,000 Wales.

114,000

100,000 153,000

Mrs. Anne Lucy, £70, in consideration of the services rendered to Art by her late husband, Mr. Charles Lucy.

Mrs. Katherine Burton, £80, in consideration of the valuable contributions to literature of her late husband, Dr. John Hill Burton, especially in connection with the History of Scotland.

Miss Marianne Alice Aline Burke, £400, in consideration of the high 330,085 character and distinguished services of her brother, Mr. T. H. Burke, and in view of all the circumstances of the case.

464,000 Marian Fairman Lady Cole, £150, in recognition of the great services rendered by her late husband, Sir Henry Cole, in the advancement of Science 261,000 and Art in this country.

678,900

287,000 123,000 100,000

130,000

Mr. Edwin Waugh, £90, in consideration of his literary merit. Mrs. Alice Callaghan, £50, in recognition of the excellent public service of her late husband, Mr. J. F. Callaghan, C.M.G., Governor of the Bahamas, and of her narrow circumstances.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES OF NATIONS. 120,000 The march of civilisation has been, in the present century, to some degree 103,000 identified with the progress of manufactures. The industries that now 359,000 occupy 12,500,000 workmen in Europe were in their infancy at the period of Waterloo, and since that time the countries most advanced in manufactures 193,000 have been the most prosperous. The United States, if the manufacture of flour is included, stands first of all countries in the world. The annual pro158,000 duct is nearly 4 billion dols, and it is not improbable that nearly 3,000,000 operatives are employed in its various industries. The product per ope121,000 rative, owing to the greater intelligence and skill of American artisans, is 890,000 higher in the United States-namely, 1560 dols. for each; in the United 170,000 Kingdom, 1120 dols.; in France, 1100 dols.; in Germany, 515 dols.; in Russia, 530 dols.; in Austria, 600 dols.; in the Low Countries, 500 dols. ; in 165,000 Spain and Portugal, 595 dols.; in Italy, 540 dols. ; in Scandinavia, 450 dols.; 570,000 in the Colonies, 500 dols. for each. The textile manufacturers employ 353,000 3,500,000 workmen. England, of course, stands first in this regard; but the United States holds the second position, and, as estimated, 135,000 produced in 1880 a combined product of cotton and woollen goods 623,000 valued at 420,000,000 dols., the total product for the world being 354,000 2,435,000,000 dols. The United States manufactures about one sixth 338,000 of the entire textile product of the world. More than two-thirds of the 140,000 world's cotton crop is grown in the United States, the product, according to 688,000 the census of 1880, being 5,730,968 bales. The world's product of silk is 128,000 estimated at 400,000,000 dols., and something over 500,000 operatives are 114,000 employed in this industry. France leads with 170,000 operatives and a product of 240,000,000 dols. According to the report of Special Census Agent 530,000 Wyckoff, 34,440 persons are employed in the United States in the manu280,000 facture of silk, and the total value of the product is 34,410,463 dols., thus 125,000 producing about 8 per cent of the total production of the world. In 1850 the iron-producing countries of the world manufactured about 4,360,000 tons 230,000 of iron, of which but a little over 500,000 tons was produced by the United 146,000 States. The construction of railways and the building of iron vessels have 162,000 caused the production of iron to quadruple within thirty years, and to-day 111,000 these countries produce upwards of 18,000,000 tons. 7,265,140 tons of which are produced in the United States. In 1880 the United States produced 141,000 741,475 tons of Bessemer steel rails, while the total product of the United 140,000 Kingdom was only 732,910 tons. The United States to-day makes one238,000 fourth of the world's iron and one-fifth of its steel. The total production of 378,000 the iron and steel works of the United States in the Census year 1880 was 161,000 7.265.140 tons; in 1870 it was 3,655,215 tons; increase, 3,609,925 tons, or 110,00 98 76 per cent.