(JREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



451 



The value of the principal articles of import and export was as follows in 1878 : 



The movement of shipping in the foreign and colonial trade was as follows (in tons) : 



The following table gives the postal statistics for the year ending March 81, 1879 : 



The railroad statistics for 1878 were as fol- 

 lows: 



England 



Scotland 



Ireland 



Total, 1878. 

 " 1877. 



MUet 



in 

 operation. 



2,846 

 2,260 



17,836 

 17,077 



Capital. 



87,189,000 

 82,276,000 



7nn.:.r,-.>..>oo 

 674,059,000 



6,618,000 

 8,770,000 



60,486,000 

 60,644,000 



::.:U-.MMIO 



29,116,000 



The number of telegraph offices in 1878 was 

 5,816, of which 1,555 were private and railway 

 stations. The length of the government lines 

 was 25,040 miles, of wires 108,110 miles. The 

 number of dispatches sent, exclusive of press 

 and official dispatches, was 22,477,921. 



The table on page 452 shows the finances, 

 commerce, and movement of shipping of the 



British colonies in 1877, according to the " Sta- 

 tistical Abstract for the Colonial and other Pos- 

 sessions of the United Kingdom in 1863-'77" 

 (London, 1879). 



The session of Parliament was resumed on 

 February 18th. In the Lords, Lord Beacons- 

 field stated the measures to be proposed by the 

 Government, which included, among others, 

 the substitution of a permanent art consolida- 

 ting the whole body of military law for the an- 

 nual Mutiny Bill, a Bankruptcy Bill, a Criminal 

 Code Bill, a County Boards Bill, a Workman 

 and Employers Bill, and a Public Works Bill. 

 The leader of the Opposition, Lord Hartington, 

 had previously, while addressing a meeting of 

 Liberals at Liverpool on February 7th, inti- 

 mated the programme of the party in the ensu- 

 ing session, specifying support of the Burial 

 Bill, extension of the suffrage hi counties, elec- 



