600 



NEW MEXICO. 



Tlie British Annual Conference met at Ac- 

 crington, August 14. About 120 delegates were 

 present. The Rev. Kichard Sterry presided. 

 Reports were received from the Students' and 

 Ministers Aid Committee, of New Church work 

 on the Continent, and concerning the support 

 of " Weak Societies." 



The seventy-eighth annual meeting of the 

 Swedenborgian Society was held in London, 

 June 12. Mr. Samuel Teed presided. The in- 

 come for the year had been 1,155. The 

 report of the committee represented that 2,854 

 volumes of the society's publications had been 

 delivered during the year, and 700 volumes had 

 been presented to free libraries and other in- 

 stitutions and individuals. 



NEW MEXICO. Territorial Government. The 

 following were the Territorial officers during 

 the year: Governor, Edmund G. Ross; Secre- 

 tary, George W. Lane; Treasurer, Antonio 

 Ortiz y Salazar; Auditor, Trinidad Alarid ; 

 Attorney -General, William Breeden ; Com- 

 missioner of Immigration, Henry C. Burnett; 

 Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court, Elisha 

 Van Long; Associate Justices, William H. 

 Brinker, William F. Henderson, and Reuben 

 A. Reeves. 



Population. As estimated by the Governor 

 in his annual report, the number of people in 

 the Territory in October was about 175,000, 

 an increase of 10.000 or 12,000 during the 

 year preceding. Fully one quarter of the im- 

 migration has been to the southeast portion of 

 the Territory, and largely from Texas. 



Finances. At the convening of the twenty- 

 seventh Legislative Assembly, Dec. 27, 1887, 

 the funded debt of the Territory was $350,000, 

 and the amount of outstanding warrants or 

 floating debt $203,117.92, making a total of 

 $553,117.92. Since that date the public debt 

 has increased to $762,192. The face value of 

 warrants issued during the same time was 

 $512,162.72, and the cash receipts of the Treas- 

 urer (general fund) $357,162.72, leaving a defi- 

 cit of $155,631.09. 



In 1887 the total expenses of the Territory 

 were $265,255.42, of which the expenses for 

 courts alone amounted to $164,384.25. In 

 1888 the expenses, up to Dec. 15, 1888, were 

 $247,538.39, and the expenses at the courts 

 amounted to $156,042.64. 



Assessments. The rate of taxation prescribed 

 by law for Territorial revenue is one half of 

 1 per cent, for ordinary revenue, one fourth 

 of 1 per cent, for county revenue, and for 

 school purposes three mills on the dollar. The 

 assessments for 1838 show an aggregate valua- 

 tion of taxable property of $43,151,920. Of 

 this amount $15.37*1,900 is on live-stock, $7,- 

 466,869 on lands, and $6,858,350 on houses 

 and improvements. These amounts are ex- 

 clusive of $300 exemption to each property 

 owner, of poll-taxes, and of a specified extent 

 of tree-culture. The proper aggregate of taxa- 

 tion is greatly diminished by the ineffective- 

 ness of the revenue system. Large areas of 



land pay little or no taxes for lack of proper 

 definition. Another serious source of loss of 

 revenue is in the fact that 7,000,000 acres of 

 taxable lands are included in Spanish and 

 Mexican grants, patented and unconfirmed. If 

 these lands were assessed, the tax rolls would 

 be increased by several million dollars. 



Penitentiary. The only public building of the 

 Territory, besides the Capitol, is the Peniten- 

 tiary, constructed in 1884-'85. The number 

 of prisoners confined there has steadily in- 

 creased since it? opening, and in March of this 

 year had reached 114. In consequence of de- 

 fects in its construction a large number of 

 guards are needed, thereby increasing the cost 

 of its maintenance. 



Railroads. The only railway construction 

 during the year was the Denver and Fort 

 Worth, about eighty miles across the northeast 

 corner of the Territory. The construction of 

 this line has been the means of establishing 

 three thriving towns in eastern Colfax County 

 Folsom, Clayton, and Texline. The addition 

 of this line makes the aggregate mileage of 

 railway in operation in the Territory 1,130 

 miles, 182 of which is narrow-gauge. 



Stock-Raising. This industry was not as pros- 

 perous during the year as previously, losses of 

 cattle during the winter and low prices con- 

 tributing to this condition. As a result of 

 low prices, the appraisement for taxation was 

 reduced, at the request of cattle owners, 

 from $12 to $10 a head for the year ; so that, 

 though the assessment rolls for 1888 show an 

 increase of 135,000 head over the rolls of 1887, 

 the assessments show a diminution of $1,200,- 

 000. The assessment rolls of the sheep-stock 

 of the Territory show 1,750,000 for 1887, and 

 1,500,000 for 1888, a loss of 250,000, with a 

 corresponding reduction on the tax rolls, they 

 being uniformly assessed for taxation at $1 a 

 head each year. 



Mining. The gold-product of the Territory 

 was greater during 1888 than in any previous 

 year. In addition to the old mines, an im- 

 portant gold deposit recently discovered is be- 

 ing operated at Elizabethtown, in the mount- 

 ains of Colfax County, with a fair output ; 

 another valuable lead in central Santa F 

 County is developing into a producing mine ; 

 while in the Jioarilla mountains in Lincoln 

 County, in the Organ mountains in Doila Afia 

 County, and other portions of the Territory, 

 gold finds have been numerous. 



Iron-ore has lately been discovered in large 

 quantities in the Guadaloupe and Sacramento 

 mountains, in Lincoln County. It is found in 

 considerable quantities in different portions of 

 the Territory ; but this latter discovery is very 

 extensive. The total mineral product of the 

 Territory for 1886 is estimated at $3,821,871, 

 and for 1887 at $4,229,234. 



An indication that the great mineral wealth 

 of this district was known to the early Span- 

 ish colonists is the discovery within the last 

 few years of fully developed silver-mines con- 



