REPORT.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION,

Washington, D. C., November, 1881.

SIR: I have the honor to submit my twelfth annual report, covering the year 1881. During the year the annual report and the following circulars of information, in addition to reissues of former publications, have been distributed:

No. 1. Construction of library buildings. 26 pp.

No. 2. Relation of education to industry and technical training in American schools. 22 pp.

No. 3. Proceedings of the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association in 1881. 80 pp.

No. 4. Education in France. 144 pp.

No. 5. Causes of deafness among school children and the instruction of children with impaired hearing. 48 pp.

No. 6. Effects of student life on the eyesight. 30 pp.

The following bulletins have also been prepared and distributed:

Comparative statistics of elementary education in fifty principal countries.

Fifty years of freedom in Belgium, education in Malta, &c.

Library aids.

Recognized medical colleges in the United States.

The discipline of the school.

Education and crime.

One hundred and thirty-one thousand documents have been sent out, or nearly double the number of the previous year. For the purpose of obtaining statistics for the annual report 8,093 blank lists of questions have been mailed. A large number of similar forms have been sent out to secure data required in special publications issued during the year. There is a strong desire that this report should appear earlier, and nowhere is it stronger than among those engaged in its preparation. It would be more convenient to the Office to close the report the 30th of June, and complete it for publication at the time of the assembling of Congress, and thus bring so much of the work of this Office into conformity with other offices of the General Government; but this Office performs a part only in the great voluntary system of statistics, embracing the entire country and all systems, institutions, and phases of education, and has felt obliged, at whatever inconvenience, to accommodate itself to the wishes of the more than 8,000 collaborators who furnish voluntarily and without pay the data on which its reports are based. The first report of the present Commissioner was made and presented to Congress at its opening substantially as above noted, but the wishes and necessities of many of the contributors seemed to enforce the surrender of that method and the adoption of the present plan. On a moment's reflection it will be observed that this report, comprehending such a vast variety of facts from so many States, cities, and institutions, cannot be made with the promptness of a report embracing only a single point of observation. It cannot be made like a newspaper report. It is of course obvious that the time covered by the report of any institution must have elapsed and the record be complete before this local report can be concluded and forwarded. Any one who knows by experience the difficulties in the way of making a State report will understand how much time is required to collect the material from all the towns, counties, and institutions and satisfactorily compile it. After this, time must be allowed for its publication before this

V

central clearing house at Washington can begin, much less complete, its work. It should be stated that, late as this report has ever appeared, there have come data for insertion after its publication from those who have been most earnestly laboring to get their material into shape and send it forward; it should be added, to the credit of those who supply the Office with its data, that their unpaid work is done with alacrity and that there is a growing desire among them to furnish their statistics, accurate and complete, in time for this annual statement. It should be remembered also, in this connection, that this Office has never been furnished with the clerical force sufficient to do its work, according to the judgment of those administering it or of those acquainted with the demands upon it. The preparation of the annual report is only one item of the vast amount of work performed in it.

AMERICAN OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENTS OF THE OFFICE WHO FURNISH STATISTICS.

The following summary gives the number of correspondents of the Office at the head of systems and institutions of education in our country who furnish the information. contained in these reports:

Statement of educational systems and institutions in correspondence with the Bureau of Education in the years named.

The letters written number 4, 190. Many of these furnished statistics and facts to educational writers and school officials, the results of extensive research and patient labor. About 4,000 letters and 2,549 documents have been received; 1,000 volumes and 1,200 pamphlets have been added to the library. The card catalogue of the contents of the library, which has been in preparation, is making fair progress, and is already of incalculable service in the work of the Office and aid of those who come here to study educational subjects.

Statistical summary of institutions, instructors, and students, as collected by the United States Bureau of Education, from 1872 to 1881.

a 326 cities were included in 1872; their total population according to the census of 1870 was 8,036,937. b 533 cities, towns, and villages were included in 1873, which had a population of 10,042,892.

c In 1872 this class of schools was included in the table of institutions for secondary instruction. d127 cities, containing 10,000 inhabitants or more, were included in 1874; their aggregate population was 6,037,905.

e 177 cities, each containing 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1875; their aggregate population was 8,804,654.

Pupils.

Schools.

Teachers.

Pupils.

Pupils.

Schools.

Teachers.

Pupils.

Statistical summary of institutions, instructors, and students, &c.—Continued.

a 192 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1876; their aggregate population was 9,128,955. ¿ 195 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1877; their aggregate population was 9,099,025. c 218 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1878; their aggregate population was 10,224,270. d 240 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1879; their aggregate population was 10,801,814.

Pupils.

Schools.

Teachers.

Pupils.

Statistical summary of institutions, instructors, and students, &c.—Continued.

a 244 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1880; their aggregate population was 10,700,800. b 251 cities, of 7,500 inhabitants or more, reported in 1881; their aggregate population was 10,757,645.

It may be hardly necessary to call special attention to the totals here and elsewhere appearing in this report, save to conform to the purpose that pervades the report in all its parts, to leave no reasonable opportunity for misunderstanding its facts. Whenever columns are added it will be seen that the totals only include the figures inserted and that references and cross references are so made 10 the sources of information and the details from which generalizations are drawn that there can be no justifiable ground for erroneous conclusions. There is, perhaps, no other report made in the country that embraces the work of so large a number of intelligent and critical contributors or that so uniformly attaches to its statements the name of a person or a place, which subjects whatever facts are inserted or statements made to direct personal and local observation and criticism. If there is an error or just ground for complaint the Office is sure to learn of it, and from year to year it is a just ground of satisfaction to those engaged in the preparation of the report that so few errors have occurred.

By the appearance of the Compendium of the Census before the completion of this report and by the courtesy of General Walker and Colonel Seaton, Superintendents of the Census, in furnishing additional data, this Office has been put in possession of valuable material with a view to the study of the population of the country as regards (1) its distribution by nativity, sex, and race; (2) the minor population, and the population of school age, its sex, race, and age; and (3) the illiteracy of the minor population, for the purpose of showing the extent to which all instrumentalities, public and private, come short of the obligation to teach all the youth of the country the art of reading and writing. This study has been made under my direction by Dr. Charles Warren, and so much of it is inserted here as adds value and completeness to the statistics of education annually presented by this Office. The more full and complete statement, it is hoped, will be issued at an early day as a separate publication.

Schools.

Teachers.

Pupils.