Total for U. S. 8,572 1 in every 73 $190,669,936

Canada

On

$21,491 1,892 1 in every 30| $25,523,903 | $13,490 FLORIDA. Peace and quiet have reigned in Florida since the completion of proceedings relating to the result of the election of 1876, a full account of which, appeared in the previous volume of this work. The Legislature continued in session until the 1st of March. There were several contested election cases, turning on allegations of fraud in the election returns of 1876; but all were decided in favor of the the sitting members. A committee of five was appointed in the Assembly "to investigate the rumors being rife throughout the State reflecting upon the honor and dignity of certain members of this body, to wit, the members from Alachua, of bribery, forgery, and corruption during the late elections and connected therewith." Charges in a somewhat specific form were made against two members, L. G. Dennis and W. K. Cessna. the 7th of February, the committee made a report in the case of Mr. Dennis, to the effect that there was "not sufficient evidence to sustain the charges." In the case of Mr. Cessna the majority of the committee reported on the 17th of February, that the evidence was "pointed and conclusive as to the guilt of the said W. K. Cessna, who, with every opportunity to do so, has failed to successfully invalidate such evidence." The minority of the committee, after discussing the nature of the evidence, concluded that, as the testimony came from a person who was "known in the community in which he resides as a common liar, utterly unworthy of belief or confidence," the report of the majority was unwarranted and the accused should "stand fully exonerated before this Assembly." A resolution was adopted by a vote 29 to 12, declaring that "the evidence adduced against W. K. Cessna, a member of this Assembly, charged with bribery, perjury and fraud during the late election, is not sufficient to convict him of such charges." Early in the session the following resolution was adopted by the Assembly:

Whereas, It is published that Hon. R. B. Archibald, Circuit Judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of this State, as a witness before a committee of the United States Senate testified as follows:

"The State Senate stood twelve Republicans to twelve Democrats, and Johnson was selected because his district was a close one, and deliberately murdered for the purpose of giving the Democrats the ascendency in that branch of the

Legislature. The evidence against Richard, the assassin, was clear, connected, and amounted to a certainty of mathematical demonstration, and yet the jury refused to convict him. The moment he was arrested the whole Democratic bar of Jacksonville, and nearly every Democratic lawyer in the State, volunteered their services in his defense, while every

was also made into the conduct of William

Bryson, Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, to ascertain whether he had "done any acts or been guilty of any conduct that would warrant this Assembly in preferring charges of impeachment against him." The Committee of Investigation reported

ing Judge Bryson with reprehensible rulings as a That there was information filed before us chargjudge in cases before him in the county of Suwan

nee of his circuit; that some of the above gentlemen were engaged in those suits as attorneys, and while they differed from him in some of the judicial conclusions reached, they fully exculpated him from corruptly and intentionally doing or intending to do wrong. The evidence before us has impressed your committee favorably as to his administration of the criminal law in his circuit; that crime has decreased since he commenced his ridings in that circuit. We herewith file an answer made by Judge Bryson before your committee, vindicating himself the charges made, and the evidence before us sustains his answer very fully. We have been unable to find that his honor W. Bryson is other than a just and upright judge, and fully acquit him of all intention to do otherwise than to faithfully perform his duties as judge.

om

Several attempts were made to have acts passed amending the constitution of the State in respect to elections and sessions of the Legislature, but they failed. The general legislation of the session was unimportant.

No State election took place this year, and as there was no session of the Legislature in 1878, official reports on state affairs are wanting. There was no action taken by political parties; but a convention of colored men was held at Tallahassee on the 4th of July. An address to the colored people of the State was adopted, setting forth the importance of education, of acquiring homesteads, and of fostering habits of industry and sobriety. The address concluded as follows:

We are aware that recently in our own State, as well as throughout the whole South, a political revolution has taken place, and it is our hope that now the race issue in politics, with all its accompanying evils, will pass away, and that intelligence and integrity will now dominate without regard to color or The policy of pacification is previous condition. right then, and President Hayes's course was inevitable-public opinion in the North as well as in the South demanding such a course.

We hope that throughout the South we shall now have peace, order, confidence, more tolerance of opinion than ever before, and better protection to life, liberty and property; and we believe that a political organization founded upon such principles as these, without regard to the past, without regard to color, to nationality, race or previous condition of servitude, or former residence, or place of birth, will do honor to our State and the nation, and promote the best interests of our country; and such an organization, and such only, will be entitled to, and will hereafter receive, our support.

The following resolutions were also adopted: Whereas, It is reported that unauthorized colored men from this State have recently called upon President Hayes, as a delegation from Florida, consulting with him upon matters appertaining to the interests of the colored people of this State; and, whereas, such persons were unauthorized by the colored people to act as such delegation: therefore, be it

Resolved, That this convention hereby denounces the action of such gentlemen, they having no authority from the colored people of this State, and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the President.

Whereas, The press of the country is an educator of the people, and in this particular the colored race of this State is deficient: therefore, we suggest to the colored people the importance of starting and maintaining a newspaper for the purpose of diffusing knowledge as to agriculture, etc., and the fostering of morality and education.

Whereas, Education is the one great need of the colored people of the South, and any one coming to our State and devoting his time and energies to the material culture of our race is entitled to our highest encomiums: therefore, it is

Resolved, 1. That we do herein record our cheerful appreciation of the efforts of all true friends who willingly devote their time and means to raise the standard of moral and social culture by means of education among the youth of our race in this State. 2. That among the institutions of learning, none has challenged our admiration and emulation more than the Cookman Institute and Staunton School of Jacksonville-the former showing the truly Christian efforts of Prof. S. B. Darnell, and the last the philanthropic feeling actuating Rev. J. C. Waters-and each harmonizing into glorious results for the future. 3. We look upon the establishment of an Agricultural College in this State as the great industrial medium which is to aid largely in the material development of our race, and recommend all to take advantage of its provisions.

4. That we hope the day is not far distant when the Seminary Fund of our State may be opened to the enjoyment of our race without the necessity of forcing its trustees to recognize our rights.

5. That all we ask is an equal recognition of all our rights to a place in the great race of life, and, if distanced, will feel that "to the victor belongs the spoils."

The town of Fernandina was visited by a severe epidemic of yellow fever, beginning about

the middle of August and lasting until the end of October. A census taken on the 28th of September showed a population of 1,632, of whom 518 were whites and 1,114 colored; 1,073 adults and 559 children; 814 males and 818 females. At that time 293 were sick with the fever, and 853 had been sick. The number of deaths from August 21st to October 31st was 94, or about 5 per cent. of the population.

The death-rate among the whites was about

16 per cent., only 10 negroes having died. The town was forced to appeal for outside assistance, and for some weeks all business was at a stand-still. Physicians and nurses were obtained from other parts of the country, and contributions for relief amounted to $17,000, which left the Sanitary Committee $2,000 in debt at the end of October. The suffering of the people during the epidemic was terrible, and it left them in an almost destitute condition, with all business and industry, which

had depended chiefly on the shipping of the port, utterly prostrate.

FORREST, General NATHAN Bedford, the Confederate cavalry officer, died in Memphis, Tenn., October 29, 1877. He was born at Chappel Hill, Tenn., in 1821, and when he was 13 years old went with his father to Mississippi. Here, at the breaking out of the war, he was a wealthy planter. He entered the Confederate service as a private, but soon afterward raised a regiment of cavalry, which he commanded at Fort Donelson in February, 1862, from which he escaped with Generals Floyd and Pillow, after the Confederate defeat on the 15th. Forrest joined General A. S. Johnston in his retreat from Bowling Green, Ky., and took a prominent part in the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded. In July, 1862, he made a bold and successful attack on Murfreesborough, Tenn., for which he was made a brigadier-general. When General Bragg advanced from Chattanooga to Kentucky, General Forrest rendered important service in Middle Tennessee; but on August 30th, his brigade was routed by a Union force near McMinnville. In December he made a bold raid in West Tennessee, but was again routed near Parker's Cross Roads. In March, 1863, General Forrest repulsed an attack made by General Greene Clay Smith, and soon after followed Colonel Streight in his raid into Alabama and Georgia, and compelled him to surrender after several days of severe fighting. Forrest was now assigned to the command of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Tenessee, and took part in the battle of Chickamauga. In March, 1864, he led a cavalry force 5,000 strong from Mississippi into Tennessee, occupied Union City and Hickman, made two unsuccessful assaults on Paducah, Ky., and in April, captured Fort He continued his active operations Pillow. during the summer and autumn; in November attacked and destroyed Johnsonville, a Federal depot for supplies on the Tennessee river, and was afterward engaged in the fighting around Nashville. General Forrest was made a majorgeneral at the close of 1863, and a lieutenantgeneral early in 1865.

Presi

FRANCE, a republic of Europe. dent, Marshal Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta, elected May 24, 1873. Chief of the cabinet, Colonel Robert; Secretary of the President, Viscount d'Harcourt; Vice-President of Council of Ministers, at the close of the year 1877, Jules Armand Stanislas Dufaure.

The legislative body consists of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consists of 75 life-members, elected by the late National Assembly (see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1875 for a complete list and the biographies of the life-senators), and 225 elected for 3, 6, and 9 years respectively, by a direct vote of the people. The President of the Senate in 1877 was the Duke d'Audiffret-Pasquier. The Chamber of Deputies consists of 532 members.

The President of the Chamber of Deputies in 1877 was François Paul Jules Grévy.

The area of France, according to the official report on the census of 1872 (Statistique de la France"), was 204,092 square miles. The population, according to the census of 1876, was 36,905,788.

The table on page 300 exhibits the area of each department, its population according to the new census of 1876, and the movement of population during the year 1874.

The census of 1876 has, moreover, given the following figures: there were 362 arrondissements, 2,863 cantons, and 36,050 communes. The cantons have decreased two, owing to the regulation of the frontier with Germany. The total population has increased 802,867, or 2.17 per cent., since 1872. According to sex, the population was divided as follows: males, married 7,587,259, widowers 980,619, single 9,805,761; females, married 7,567,080, widows 2,020,683, single S,944,386. The increase has been greatest in the departments of Seine, Nord, Loire, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Gironde, Finistère, and Marne; a decrease showed itself in 20 departments, principally in the BassesAlpes, Calvados, Eure, Gers, Lot, Manche, Orne, and Vaucluse. The population of the principal cities was as follows in 1876 and 1872.

The relation of marriages to the total population from 1869 to 1874 was as follows:

The interest on the public debt, according to the budget of 1877, was as follows:

Consolidated debt..

Capital that may be called in.. Dette viagère...

Total..

On January 1, 1873, the new Army law of August 16, 1872, went into operation. Its first article enacts universal liability to military service. Every Frenchman capable of bearing arms must serve for 20 years, namely, 4 years in the standing army, 5 years in the reserve of the standing army, 5 years in the territorial army (Landwehr), and 6 years in the reserve of the territorial army (Landsturm).

The recruiting in 1875 showed that the number of the young men registered in the military lists as becoming 20 years old in 1874 (" class of 1874") was 283,768. In addition to these there were 21,355 properly belonging to the class of 1873. Of these numbers there were:

MEN.

1. Declared fit for service..

5. Put back for one year...

6. Rejected on account of bodily infirmities.

Totals..

Of the 8,769 men of the class of 1872, put back for one year in 1874, 2,041 were declared fit for service.

Of the men declared fit for service in 1875, 7,040 were assigned to the Navy for a service of 5 years. The remaining 133,823 of the class of 1874, the 6,304 of the class of 1873, and the 2,041 of the class of 1872, were divided into 2 sections:

SECTIONS.

1. For five years' service in the standing army (class of 1873 four years, class of 1872 two years). 2. Embracing all those who may be furloughed after a service from six to twelve months.....