NEW MEXICO. 



609 



Finances. The finance act known as the 

 " Perea bill," passed at the session of 1889, has 

 caused improvement in Territorial finances. The 

 contrast in expenses before and after March 4, 

 1889, when it went into effect, was striking. 

 Under the old system the Territorial expenses 

 from Dec. 16, 1886, to March 3, 1889, were $595,- 

 134.37, or an average of $269,947 yearly. Under 

 the new system the expenses from March 4, 1889. 

 to Dec. 3, 1890, were $271,665.26, an average of 

 $155,237 yearly. In the latter figures the amount 

 paid to the new Territorial institutions, $3,000 in 

 1889 and $18,050 in 1890, is not included, as 

 there was no such expense before March, 1889. 

 The court expenses show the greatest decrease. 

 They were $351,558 from Dec. 16, 1886. to March 

 3, 1889, and only $90,560 from March 4, 1889, to 

 Dec. 3, 1890. The total Territorial expenses 

 during the fiscal year ending March 3, 1890, 

 were $149,430.39. During 1889 Territorial bonds, 

 to the amount of $39.000, issued in aid of the 

 Penitentiary, were redeemed and canceled. The 

 Territorial debt, thereby reduced, stood as fol- 

 lows in September, 1890 : Outstanding warrants, 

 $150,960.94; Capitol-building bonds, $200,000; 

 Penitentiary-building bonds, $120,000; Capitol 

 contingent ' bonds, $50,000 ; current-expense 

 bonds, $150,000 ; provisional indebtedness bonds, 

 $200,000 ; total, $870,960.94. 



Valuation. The assessed valuation of the 

 property in the Territory in 1887 was $45,462,- 

 459, in 1888 it was $45.690,723, and in 1889 

 $46,041,010. Included in the assessment for 

 1889 were 50,552 horses, 4,339 mules, 1,254,649 

 cattle, 1,820,735 sheep, 54,133 goats, 4,127 burros, 

 and 5.636 swine. The rate of taxation for Ter- 

 ritorial purposes in 1890 was 86 cents on $100. 



County Debts. The total debt of New Mexico 

 counties is $1,650,837, an increase of $1,565,- 

 965 in ten years, $1,559,271 being bonded and 

 $91,566 floating. Of the counties reporting only 

 1 has no debt. 



Education. The report of the Territorial 

 Auditor presents the following public-school 

 statistics, based on returns from county officers, 

 covering the year ending Dec. 31, 1889 : Pupils 

 of school age, 43,864; number enrolled in the 

 public schools (4 counties wanting), 11,638 ; aver- 

 age daily attendance (3 counties wanting), 11,- 

 456 ; teachers employed (3 counties wanting), 

 male 239, female 152 : receipts for school pur- 

 poses, $123,895.53 ; expenditures (2 counties 

 wanting), $79,185.95. Private schools in the 

 Territory reported 2,107 pupils 1,069 males and 

 1,038 females. The Territorial Governor pre- 

 sents the following figures for the same period, 

 based partly on returns and partly on estimates : 

 Number of public schools, 508 ; number of school- 

 houses, 130; male teachers, 354; female teach- 

 ers, 176; pupils enrolled, 27,052; average daily 

 attendance, 17,018. The English language is 

 used entirely in 164 schools, the Spanish in 139, 

 and in 184 both languages are used. The Gov- 

 ernor says : " English is taught in a large major- 

 ity of the schools, and as the desire of every 

 Spanish-speaking New Mexican is that his chil- 

 dren should understand English, it would be 

 taught in all if English-speaking teachers could 

 be found for the small salaries which can be paid 

 in remote districts." 



The Legislature of 1889 provided for the es- 

 VOL. xxx. 39 A 



tablishment of a university at Albuquerque, an 

 agricultural college at Las Cruces, and a school of 

 mines at Socorro ; but the tax devoted to their 

 use is not yet fully available, and only the agri- 

 cultural college has been opened, being sustained 

 by an appropriation from the United States. 

 The first term at this institution began on Jan. 

 21, and the second on Sept. 1. Before the close 

 of the year 77 students had been admitted. A 

 three-story brick building is in course of erec- 

 tion. More than 200 acres of agricultural land 

 have been given for the use of the college by 

 the people of Las Cruces and La Mesilla. 



Penitentiary. The Territorial Penitentiary, 

 at Santa Fe, contained 108 male and 6 female 

 prisoners on Sept. 1. - Considerable revenue is 

 derived from the manufacture of bricks, of which 

 about 8,000 are produced daily. 



Mining 1 . The product of precious metals in 



the Territory for 1890, as reported by Wells, 



. Fargo & Co., was $1,658,991, of which $376,034 



was the value of the gold product, and $1,282,- 



957 of the silver product. 



Railroads. The railroad mileage of the Ter- 

 ritory in 1890 was as follows : Atchison, Topeka 

 and Santa Fe, 690-20; Atlantic and Pacific, 

 192-26; Southern Pacific, 167-22; Denver and 

 Rio Grande, 160-47; Denver, Texas and Fort 

 Worth, 83-30 ; Santa Fe Southern, 39 ; Arizona 

 and New Mexico, 32 ; total, 1,364-45. Of actual 

 railroad building there has been very little dur- 

 ing the year. 



Land Titles. For thirty-six years the plan 

 of adjudication contemplated by the act of July 

 22, 1854, has been in operation, and yet but little, 

 comparatively, has been accomplished toward 

 the settlement of land titles. Down to July 1, 

 1890, 213 grants have been presented to the sur- 

 veyor-general for action ; in 162 cases he has 

 taken testimony and made reports to the Interior 

 Department. Previous to 1870 Congress acted 

 on 44 of these cases, during the next decade it 

 acted on only 1, and since 1879 it has not at- 

 tempted to consider any cases whatever. The 

 House of Representatives has several times passed 

 a bill for the creation of a commission similar to 

 that which existed in California, to settle these 

 titles, only to be met by the objections of the 

 Senate, which insists that they should be ad- 

 judicated by the existing courts. Several bills 

 are pending before Congress designed to settle 

 the difficulties. 



Constitutional Convention. Pursuant to 

 authority conferred by the Constitutional Con- 

 vention that met in September, 1889, its presi- 

 dent, J. Francisco Chavez, on June 15, issued a 

 call reconvening the convention at Santa Fe on 

 Aug. 18. At this meeting several important 

 changes were made in the instrument as adopted 

 in 1889. Among other amendments, the date at 

 which the Constitution should be submitted to 

 the people was changed from Nov. 4, 1890, to 

 Oct. 7, of the same year. The convention ad- 

 journed sine die on Aug. 21. For various 

 reasons, the Constitution in its amended form 

 did not commend itself to the Democrats of the 

 Territory, but was generally supported by the 

 Republicans. Its adoption or rejection became 

 largely a question of party policy. At the elec- 

 tion on Oct. 7 the vote was 7,943 in favor of the 

 Constitution, and 16,180 against it. 



