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 District of Columbia. A Superintendent
of Public Documents looks after the receipt, distribution, and sale of
government publications.

The most important subjects of recent legislation concerning this
department have been the dependent pension act, the act providing for
the survey of Western lands suitable for irrigation, and the land
forfeiture act. By this act over 8,000,000 acres of lands were forfeited
by the railroads for failure to fulfill the conditions under which the
land was originally granted to them.

_#The Post Office Department.#_--The Post Office Department was