IOWA. 



IRELAND. 



399 



panies control more than four fifths of the 

 railway in Iowa, as follows : 



Miles. 



Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 756' 94 



Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 848 '90 



Chicago and Northwestern 574- 26 



Illinois Central 402-06 



Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 975 ' 99 



Burlington. Cedar Kapids and Northern 463' Tl 



Total 4,026-8(3 



According to the records of the State Audi- 

 tor's office, there are in Iowa 1,745,149 cattle, 

 valued at $18,445,957; 694,797 horses, valued 

 at $20,247,884; 356,846 sheep, valued at $423,- 

 886 ; and 2,466,985 swine, valued at $4,652,601. 

 Real estate to the value of $4,960,224 is exempt 

 from taxation on account of tree -planting. 



Tho school statistics of the year show that 

 there were 10,590 ungraded public schools and 

 2,209 departments in graded schools in opera- 

 tion an average of 7*4 months. There were 

 7,254 male and 14,344 female teachers, em- 

 ployed at average compensation per month of 

 $31.16 for males, and $26.28 for females. The 

 number of children between the ages of five 

 anl twenty-one years was 586,456, of whom 

 42!>, 057 were enrolled in the public schools. 

 The average attendance was 259,836. The 

 average cost of instruction per month for each 

 pupil was $1.56. The whole number of school- 

 housss was 11,037, valued at $9,227,943. The 

 receipts and expenditures balance at $1,390,- 

 442.79 for the school-house fund, $1,453,970.14 

 fur the contingent fund, and $4,841,872.56 for 

 the teachers' fund. 



On the 30th of September there were 378 

 inmates in the State Penitentiary, an increase 

 of twenty-five for the year. The average ages 

 of the convicts was twenty-seven years, seven 

 months, and thirteen days ; average sentence, 

 one year, ten months, and seven days. 



IRELAND, AND THE IRISH QUESTION. As 

 Ireland is an integral part of the United 

 Kingdom, the former volumes of the "Annual 

 Cyclopaedia" have treated of the condition and 

 current history of Ireland under the head of 

 Great Britain. During the year 1880 the 

 affairs of Ireland have attracted the attention 

 of the world to an unusual degree, and the 

 Irish question has become one of the great 

 complications of European politics. We there- 

 fore devote this year a special article to Ire- 

 land, giving a full account of the proceedings 

 and the progress of the Land League, and such 

 Irish statistics as will aid in understanding the 

 present situation of the country. 



The population of Ireland, according to the 

 last official census of 1871, was 5,402,759. In 

 1861 it was 5,798,624; in 1851, 6,514,473; in 

 1841, 8,199,853; in 1831,7,767,401; in 1821, 

 when the first complete census was taken, it 

 amounted to 6,801,827. These numbers show 

 a decrease during the period from 1841 to 1871 

 of more than 2,700,000, a fact without parallel 

 in the recent history of civilized countries. 

 Between 1841 and 1851, the decrease amount- 

 ed to 19-79 per cent, of the population; from 

 1851 to 1861, to 11-79 per cent.; from 1861 to 

 1871, to 6-67 per cent. Since 1871 the de- 

 crease has continued, though at a much less 

 rate. At the middle of the year 1880 the pop- 

 ulation was estimated at 5,327,000. 



The number of large towns in Ireland is 

 much smaller than in England and Scotland. 

 Among the fifty-six towns of the United King- 

 dom which in 1871 had a population of more 

 than 40,000 inhabitants, only three belonged 

 to Ireland: Dublin with 246,326 inhabitants, 

 Belfast with 174,394, and Cork with 78,642. 



The number of births, deaths, and marriages 

 in the years 1877, 1878, 1879, were as follows : 



The great loss of population which Ireland 

 has suffered from emigration will be seen from 

 the following table : 



a better description. The following table shows 

 the house-accommodation in 1841, 1851, 1861, 

 and 1871 : 



YEARS. 

 1851-1872. 



1878 



1874 



1875 



1876 



1S77 



1878 



1879... 



No. of cmizrants. 



.. 2,162.596 

 90,149 

 73,184 

 51,462 

 87, ^7 

 83,503 

 41,124 

 47,065 



Total from 1851 -1S79 2,541,670 



The Census Commissioners of 1841 divided 

 the dwellings of the people into four classes. 

 The fourth class comprised all mud-cabins 

 having only one room ; the third class consist- 

 ed of a better description, built from mud, but 

 varying from two to four rooms, and windows ; 

 the second were good farm-houses, or, in towns, 

 houses having from five to nine rooms and 

 windows ; the first class included all houses of 



The total number of persons, five years old 

 and upward, in 1841, who were unable to read 

 and write, was 3,766.066, or 53 per cent. ; for 

 1851 the proportion had fallen to 47 percent. ; 

 in 1861 it was further reduced to 39 per cent. ; 

 and in 1871 to 33 per cent., showing a decrease 

 during the period between 1841 and 1871 of 

 20 per cent. Those who could read only were 

 in the same proportion in 1861 as in 1851 20 

 per cent., which was an increase of 1 per cent. 



