have been advanced by the government. From 1850 to 1872 the various
railroads received a total of 155,504,994 acres of lands, and
$147,110,069 proceeds of bonds and interest paid by the United States.
The roads have repaid of this amount $36,723,477, leaving at the present
time due from the roads to the United States the sum of $110,386,592.
This they will be unable to pay upon the maturity of the bonds, and a
bill has been before Congress for several sessions looking towards a
better adjustment of this debt. The Commissioner of Railroads was
originally styled the "Auditor of Railroad Accounts." The office was
created June 19, 1878.

_Geological Survey_.--This branch of the Interior Department was
established in 1879. Its work is the investigation and determination of
the geological structure of the various sections of the country, the
composition of soils, the reclamation of waste lands, etc. In this
bureau are made topographical surveys and irrigation surveys of arid
regions of the United States. The publications connected with this work,
number ten Annual Reports, thirteen Monographs, fifty-eight Bulletins
and five Statistical Papers. In these there is a discussion of the
geological structure of every state and territory, and information
concerning the occurrence and production of each great metallic and
mineral staple of the country. The bureau comprises one geographical,
twelve geological, six paleontological and four accessory divisions. A
division of mines and mining publishes an annual report on the mineral
resources and production of the United States.

_The Superintendent of the Census._--The Superintendent of the Census is
appointed each decade for the purpose of taking the regular decennial
census. The Eleventh Census has just been taken. The first was taken in
1790. Each census has shown a tendency to be more elaborate and to
embrace a greater number of subjects than any preceding. There were
employed in the taking of the Eleventh Census 42,000 enumerators, 2,000
clerks, from 800 to 900 special agents, 175 supervisors and 25 experts.

In addition to these eight bureaus, the department has charge of various
other branches of government. All of the territories come under the
Secretary's supervision, and look to him in case of any difficulty. The
Secretary also has charge of the Yellowstone National Park, the Hot
Springs Reservation in Arkansas, and of certain hospitals and
eleemosynary institutions in the