13 “ their moral and material prosperity—and that the essential “ condition of their mutual happiness, is the maintenance of “ peace and good will among each other. Let them then be “ rivals, but rivals in the noble race of social improvement, in 11 which, although it may be the lot of one to arrive first at the “ goal, yet all will equally share the prize—all feeling their own “ powers and strength increase in the healthy competition.” The compend of the census of 1860, and other official documents now submitted to the International Statistical Congress, will establish the following cardinal facts, in respect to the territory,. population, and progress in material wealth of the United States of America: I. The territorial area of the United States, at the peace of 1783, then bounded west by the Mississippi river, was 820,680 square miles, about four times that of France, which is stated to be 207,145 exclusive of Algeria. The purchase from France of Louisiana, in 1804, added to this area 899,680 square miles. Purchases from Spain and from Mexico, and the Oregon treaty with England, added the further quantity of 1,215,907 square miles; making the total present territory 2,936,166 square miles, or 1,879,146,240 acres. Of this immense area, possessing a great variety of climate and culture so large a portion is fertile, that it has been steadily absorbed by the rapidly increasing population. In May last, there remained undisposed of and belonging to the Government of the United States 964,901,625 acres. To prevent any confusion of boundaries, the lands are carefully surveyed and allotted by the Government, and are then granted gratuitously to actual settlers, or sold for prices not exceeding a dollar and a quarter per acre to purchasers other than settlers. It appears by the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, a copy of which is herewith furnished,
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