The migration of farming population to the northeastern part of Maine has widened the settled area to a marked extent, probably more than has been done during any previous decade. The vacant space in the Adirondack region of northern New York has been lessened in size, and its limits reduced practically to the actual mountain tract. The most notable change, however, in New England and the Middle States, including Ohio and Indiana, has been the increase in density of population and the migration to cities, with the consequent increase of the urban population, as indicated by the number and the size of the spots representing these cities upon the map. Throughout the Southern States there is to be noted not only a general increase in the density of population and a decrease of unsettled areas, but a greater approach to uniformity of settlement throughout the whole region. The unsettled area of the peninsula of Florida has decreased decidedly while the vacant spaces heretofore seen along the upper coast of Florida and Louisiana have entirely disappeared. Although the Appalachian mountain system is still distinctly outlined by its general lighter color on the map, its density of population more nearly approaches that of the country on the east and on the west. In Michigan there is seen a very decided increase of the settled region. Settlements have not only surrounded the head of the lower peninsula, but they leave only a very small body of unsettled country in the interior. In the upper peninsula the copper and the iron interests, and the railroads which subserve them, have peopled quite a large extent of territory. In Wisconsin the unsettled area is rapidly decreasing as railroads stretch their arms out over the vacant tracts. In Minnesota and in eastern Dakota the building of railroads, and the development of the latent capabilities of this region in the cultivation of wheat, have caused a rapid flow of settlement, and now the frontier line of population, instead of returning to Lake Michigan, as it did ten years ago, meets the boundary line of the British possessions west of the 97th meridian. The settlements in Kansas and Nebraska have made great strides over the plains, reaching at several points the boun

dary of the humid region, so that their westward extension beyond this point is to be governed hereafter by the supply of water in the streams. As a natural result, we see settlements following these streams in long ribbons of population. In Nebraska these narrow belts have reached the western boundary of the State at two points: one upon the South Platte, and the other upon the Republican River. In Kansas, too, the settlements have followed the Kansas River and its branches and the Arkansas nearly to the western boundary of the State. Texas also has made great strides, both in the extension of the frontier line of settlement and in the increase in the density of population, due both to the building of railroads and to the development of the cattle, sheep, and agricultural interests. The heavy population in the prairie portions of the State is explained by the railroads which now traverse them. In Dakota, besides the agricultural region. in the eastern part of the Territory, we note the formation of a body of settlement in the Black Hills, in the southwest corner, which, in 1870, was a part of the reservation of the Sioux Indians. This settlement is the result of the discovery of valuable gold deposits. In Montana there appears a great extension of the settled area, which, as it is mainly due to agricultural interests, is found chiefly along the courses of the streams. Mining has, however, played not a small part in this increase in settlement. Idaho, too, shows

The small settle

a decided growth from the same causes. ments which, in 1870, were located about Boisé City, and near the mouth of the Clearwater, have now extended their areas to many hundreds of square miles. The settlement in the southeastern corner of the Territory is almost purely of Mormons, and has not made a marked increase.

Of all the States and Territories of the Cordilleran region Colorado has made the greatest stride during the decade. From a narrow strip of settlement, extending along the immediate base of the Rocky Mountains, the belt has increased so that it comprises the whole mountain region, besides a great extension outward upon the plains. This increase is the result of the discovery of very extensive and very rich

"

mineral deposits about Leadville, producing a "stampede second only to that of '49 and '50 to California. Miners have spread over the whole mountain region till every range and ridge swarms with them. New Mexico shows but little change, although the recent extension of railroads in the Territory and the opening up of mineral resources will, no doubt, in the near future, add largely to its population. Arizona, too, although its extent of settlement has increased somewhat, is but just commencing to enjoy a period of rapid development, owing to the extension of railroads and to the suppression of hostile Indians. Utah presents us with a case dissimilar to any other of the Territories, a case of steady, regular growth, due almost entirely to its agricultural capabilities, as was noted above. This is due to the policy of the Mormon Church, which has steadily discountenanced mining and speculation in all forms, and has encouraged in every way agricultural pursuits. Nevada shows a slight extension of settlement, due mainly to the gradual increase in the agricultural interest. The mining industry is probably not more flourishing at present in this State than it was ten years ago, and the population dependent upon it is, if anything, less in number. In California, as the attention of the people has become devoted more and more to agricultural pursuits, at the expense of the mining and cattle industries, we note a tendency to a more even distribution of the inhabitants. The population in some of the mining .regions has decreased, while over the area of the great valley, and in the fertile valleys of the Coast ranges, it has increased. In Oregon the increase has been mainly in the section east of the Cascade range, a region drained by the Des Chutes and the John Day rivers, and by the smaller tributaries of the Snake, a region which, with the corresponding section in Washington Territory, is now coming to the front as a wheat-producing district. In most of the settled portions here spoken of irrigation is not necessary for the cultivation of crops, and consequently the possibilities of the region in the direction of agricultural development are very great. In Washington Territory, which in 1870 had

been scarcely touched by immigration, we find the valley west of the Cascade Mountains tolerably well settled throughout, while the stream of settlement has poured up the Columbia into the valleys of the Walla Walla and the Snake rivers and the great plain of the Columbia, induced thither by the facilities for raising cattle and by the great profits of wheat cultivation.

The length of the frontier line in 1880 is 3,337 miles. The area included between the frontier line, the Atlantic and the Gulf coast, and the northern boundary is 1,398,945 square miles, lying between 26° and 49° north latitude and 67° and 102° west longitude. From this must be deducted, for unsettled areas, 89,400 square miles, leaving 1,309,545 square miles.

To this must be added the isolated areas of settlement in the Cordilleran region and the extent of settlement on the Pacific coast, which amount in the aggregate to 260,025 square miles, making a total settled area of 1, 569,570 square miles. The population is 50,155,783, and the average density of settlement 32 to the square mile.

[1890.

"The population of the United States, exclusive of all persons in Indian Territory and Alaska, and Indians on reservations, according to the Eleventh Census was 62,622,250; including these persons the entire population of the country was 62,979,766. In 1880 the population for the states and recognized territories was 50,155,783. The absolute increase of the population in the ten years intervening was 12,466,467 and the percentage of increase was 24.86.

1900.

The population of the United States, including that of Alaska, Hawaii, Indian Territory, and Indian reservations, according to the Twelfth Census was 76,303,387. The total population in 1890, with which the aggregate population of this census should be compared, was 63,069,756, as Hawaii with a population of 89,990 in 1890 was annexed August 12, 1898. The increase of the population during the decade between 1890 and 1900 was therefore 13,233,631, or 21 per cent."]

THE FACTORY SYSTEM.

FROM WRIGHT'S REPORT ON THE FACTORY SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES, TENTH CENSUS, VOL. II. PP. 537-541.

AT the time of the agitation of their independence the desire to plant the mechanic arts in this country became almost a passion, certainly a feature of the patriotism of the day. Hon. Edward Everett, in an address on American manufactures, in New York, in 1831, stated:

"The first measures of the patriots aimed to establish their independence on the basis of the productive industry and laborious arts of the country. They began with a non-importation agreement nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence. That agreement, . . . with the exception of the Address to the People of America and Great Britain, was the only positive act of the first Congress."

In this country, as well as in England, the germ of the textile factory existed in the fulling and carding mills; the former, dating earlier, being the mills for finishing the coarse cloths woven by hand in the homes of our ancestors; in the latter, the carding-mill, the wool was prepared for the handwheel. At the close of the Revolution the domestic system of manufactures prevailed throughout the States.

The first attempts to secure the spinning machinery which had come into use in England were made in Philadelphia early in the year 1775, when probably the first spinningjenny ever seen in America was exhibited in that city. During the war the manufacturers of Philadelphia extended their enterprises, and even built and run mills which writers often call factories, but they can hardly be classed under that term. Similar efforts, all preliminary to the establishment of the factory system, were made in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1780. In 1781 the British Parliament, determined that the textile machinery by which the manufactures of England were