The Philippine commission has completed its report and dispatched it to the public printer. The report is voluminous and will be divided into several volumes. One of the interesting features will be a splendid atlas of the Philippine archipelago, especially prepared for the commission by the Jesuits. The first volume will be brought out immediately. It is devoted to the political issues involved in the acquisition of the Philippines, followed by chapters on various subjects—government, currency, the Chinese question, naval requisites, etc. The Second volume is devoted to the resources of the island. Other volumes contain the great mass of testimony taken by the commission in pursuance of the President's instructions.

The sixteenth annual report of the United States Civil Service Commission shows that in the classified service there are seventy-five thousand positions, and in the unclassified one hundred and seven thousand positions. The salaries of the entire service amount to about $104,000,000 per annum. During the year 47,956 persons were examined for all branches of the service, and 35,682 passed. The total number of appointments made during the year was 9,056. Of the 17,073 employees in Washington 1,416 are over sixty years of age, 288 over seventy, and 40 over eighty.

F. Cook of the Department of Agriculture says that the United States is paying two hundred million dollars for tropical products, a large part of which can be furnished by Porto Rico and the Philippines. Coffee has been the chief product of Porto Rico, over thirteen million dollars worth of coffee having been exported from the island in a single year, even though the methods of cultivation are of the most primitive character. Sugar lands are receiving attention from American capitalists, and large factories with the most modern facilities are being built.

The Attorney-General has filed an answer, in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the proceedings brought by Admiral Dewey for prize money for captures at Manila. The Attorney-General asks that the case be referred to a commissioner. According to his opinion the vessels that were sunk were not prizes and should not be considered as such.

A similar answer was filed in the case of Admiral Sampson and Cervera's fleet.

According to the latest news received from the Transvaal General Buller has succeeded in crossing the Tugela River and is slowly pushing his way toward Ladysmith. The Beers offered stubborn resistance, but were slowly driven back. In the mean time the Beers had succeeded in placing in position some new guns and were vigorously bombarding Ladysmith. It is generally conceded that the critical point of the war has been reached.

Secretary Long and Rear Admiral Bradford submitted to the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs some interesting figures on the proposed Pacific cable. The report shows that the cable can be constructed for about ten million dollars. It also shows that the Navy Department has spent about twenty-six thousand dollars for messages, and the average expense of the War Department is about one thousand dollars a day.

John B McDonald's bid of thirty-five million dollars for constructing New York's great underground rapid-transit tunnel has been accepted. It is expected that work will begin about February 15, and will be completed inside of three years. The construction of the tunnel will furnish employment for about twelve thousand men. When completed there will be permanent employment for at least three thousand men.

The unveiling of the statue of Daniel Webster, which Mr. Stilson Hutchins gave to the nation, took place January 18. The exercises were held in Lafayette Square Opera House. President McKinley, members of the Cabinet, and Supreme Court were present. Secretary Long accepted the statue on behalf of the United States. The presentation address was made by Senator Lodge.

The men who took the census in Cuba arrived in New York January 14 with forty-four iron-bound cases containing the records of the census. No exact statement of the population of Cuba could be given, but it will approximate 1,600,000. The taking of the census was begun October 16, and finished November 30 at a cost of four hundred thousand dollars.

Secretary Root has ordered another stay of six months in the foreclosure of mortgages in Porto Rico. A bill has been introduced in the Senate giving Porto Rico free trade in the United States. This measure will give the relief that is needed. as it will provide a market for her products. It is expected the bill will become a law within two months.

It is reported that Pittsburg. Pa., has offered to contribute two hundred thousand dollars to the Republican campaign fund if President McKinley will visit that city on April 27, the anniversary of General Grants birth, and make a speech which will be regarded as the formal opening of the Republican campaign for 1900.

During the year 1899 the United States mint at Philadelphia coined 241,314 silver pesos for San Domingo; twenty-five thousand twenty-colones pieces, fifty thousand ten-colones pieces, and one hundred thousand five-colones pieces for Costa Rica The coinage for Costa Rica was gold, and valued at $698,025.26.

Of the one hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants in Hawaii but three thousand are American. Forty thousand are Japanese; twenty-one thousand Chinese; and thirty-one thousand Hawaiian aborigines. Various other nationalities comprise the rest of the population.

A handsomely bound petition signed by thirty-two hundred colored persons asking for such legislation as will protect colored men of this country from the "barbarous practice of lynching and burning colored men." has been introduced in the United States Senate.

It is reported that New York City has agreed to furnish the site and build the foundation of the permanent Dewey Arch. This will be about half the expense, and it is thought there will be no difficulty in raising the amount necessary to complete the work.

Sir Thomas J. Lipton, who last year endeavored to lift the American cup, has applied for membership in the Chicago Board of Trade. For several years he has owned and operated a meat preserving and pork packing plant at the Chicago stock yards.

The Pacific publishes a memorial to Congress asking it "to amend the Chinese restriction law, so that Chinese Christian converts may be permitted to bring their families into the United States and here enjoy the blessings of a Christian home."

Written pledges that American interests in China will be protected have been received at the State Department from four of the six countries from whom pledges were requested. The answers of the other two are expected shortly.

Capitalists are planning to erect an immense hotel structure in New York City. It will be twenty stories high and the handsomest hotel in the world. The amount of capital involved will be about ten million dollars.

The last shipment from California to the Paris Exposition was made January 5. The display of native woods consists of over five hundred specimens. The exhibit of minerals will be the best made outside the state.

The committee appointed to investigate the case of Brigham H. Roberts of Utah, agreed as to his polygamous status, and seven out of nine favor his permanent exclusion from the House of Representatives.

Beginning April 1 the Philippine postal service will be placed on an independent footing. Money orders can then be drawn upon points in the islands, and registered letters sent between postoffices there.

It is reported that General Joseph Wheeler has resigned his position in the army, and immediately after his return from the Philippines he will resume his duties as Congressman from Alabama.

The orange crop of Southern California this year is estimated at more than fourteen thousand carloads or nearly 4,500,000 boxes. The crop is worth about $4,600,000 to the growers.

Fifty thousand dollars has been pledged by one person to the fund which is being raised to carry on the work of Dwight L. Moody. The name of the donor has not been made public.

Pasadena, Cal., has the most famous rose shows in the world. About a million were exhibited at that place January 1, and witnessed by more than fifty thousand people.

A unique experiment is to be tried in Chicago. Buffet cars will be placed on both the surface and elevated street car lines in the city.

It is estimated that nearly fourteen thousand persons from the United States have become residents of Canada the past year.

January 17 the gold fund of the treasury stood at $400,102,275, the highest point reached in the history of the Department.

The Congress of the Argentine Republic is considering a law which provides for the reading of the Bible in the public schools.

During the year 1899 the foreign trade of the United States was as follows: Imports, $799,834,620; exports, $1,275,486,641.

The State Supreme Court of Delaware has decided that no woman lawyer can practise her profession in the State.

Miss Helen Gould is said to have given fifty thousand dollars for a new building for the Brooklyn Y.M.C.A.

The first religious paper in Porto Rico has been issued in Ponce. It is called El Ideal Catolico.

Secretary Gage advocates the extension of the metric system to the Treasury Department.