IDAHO. 



34:5 



Gold, silver, copper, antimony, and lead are mined. 

 The imports in l s '.l^ were valued at sl,36S,310 and 

 the exports at !?l.S73.0<iU. The chief exports were 

 live stoek of the value of *636,277, bananas for 

 $211.940. coeoanuts for $91.990, tobacco for | 

 169, coffee for $36,393, sarsaparilla for $19.sv;. 

 silver worth $652.500. and gold worth X25.000. In 

 ls:i2 there visited the 5 ports of the republic 94:! 

 Is, of 2U7.023 tons. 001 of the vessels belonging 

 to the I'nited States and I'M to Great Britain. More 

 than half the export and import trade is with the 

 United Stair-. A railroad. 37 miles long, connects 

 Puerto Cortes with San Pedro Sula. A company 

 has undertaken to build one from Tegucigalpa to 

 the Pacific. 93 miles. 



Political Conspiracy. The signs of a revolu- 

 tion against the administration of Policarpo Bonilla 



were so apparent in March. l^'.Mi. that the entire 

 territory of the republic wa* placed under martial 

 law. In June l>r. Juan A. Ar : a- .Min- 



ister of the Interior. President Bonilla at tli> 

 ginning <>f August proclaimed absolute annuity to 

 all political olTenders. civil and military, but this 

 did not remove all danger. A movement was on' 

 foot to place in his stead Senor Arias, and. in prep- 

 aration for a rising, munitions of war were smug- 

 gled into the country. The Government was siif'i- 

 ciently on the alert, however, and confiscated *0.- 

 000 cartridges that were concealed in bales of hay 

 shipped from New Orleans to Puerto Cortez. Out- 

 ward tranquillity wa< preserved, and the conclusion 

 of the treaty uniting Honduras with Salvador and 

 Nicaragua in the Greater Republic of Central Amer- 

 ica strengthened Bonilla's position. 



IDAHO, a Northwestern State, admitted to the 

 Union July 3. 1890 : area. 84,800 square miles ; pop- 

 ulation, according to the census of 1890, 84,385. 

 Capital. Boise City. 



Government. The following were the State of- 

 ficers during the year: Governor, William J. Mc- 

 Connell. Republican ; Lieutenant Governor, Vin- 

 cent Bierbower ; Secretary of State, Isaac W. Gar- 

 rett : Treasurer, C. Bunting ; Auditor, Frank C. 

 Ramsey: Attorney-General, George M. Par- 

 Adjutant General. A. H. Capwell ; Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction, C. A. Foresman : State En- 

 gineer. Frederick J. Mills; Chief Justice of the 

 Supreme Court, John T. Morgan : Associate Jus- 

 tices. J. W. Huston, I. N. Sullivan: Clerk of the 

 Court. Solomon Hasbrouck. 



\>M's>ment. The assessment of the various 

 counties for 1896, as reported in August, amounted 

 to x22.r,os.iir,9.25. against $22,878,500.50 in 1895. 

 For several years it has been urged upon the coun- 

 ties to increase the valuation of property and de- 

 crease the tax levy : but Cassia County is the only 

 one that has done this, its valuation last year being 

 $736,310, and this year ss'.)*.4sn. 



The railroad assessment was made the same as 

 last year, the conditions and number of miles of 

 road being the same. All main lines w 

 at $6,500 a mile, and all standard-gauge branch 

 lines at $5,000. There are over 900 miles of rail- 

 road in the State. 



Banks. According to the report of the United 

 States Comptroller of the Currency, on July 14. 

 1896, Idaho had 11 national banks, whose combined 

 capital was $725,000, and the combined resources 

 of which amounted to s3.1 s ?.:!"7. the loans and 

 discounts aggregating $1. 265.434. The total lia- 

 bilities were $2,925.382, and the average reserve 

 held was 27'16 per cent. 



Idaho has no State banking law. Incorporated 

 banking associations are governed by the general 

 corporation laws. There is no restriction as to 

 classes or kinds of banks, except that a special 

 partnership can not be formed for the purpose of 

 banking. Banking business is done by private 

 parties without incorporation and without capital. 

 There is no law regarding the organization of 

 ings banks, and there are none in the State. 



Appropriations. The river and harbor appro- 

 priation bill, passed in April, carried $25.000 for 

 the improvement of the Clearwater and $5.000 for 

 the Kootenai between Bonners Ferry and the Brit- 

 ish boundary, and directs that a survey and esti- 

 mate be made of Pend d'Oreille river. 



The appropriation for the Boise City public build- 



ing was increased from $150,000 to $200.000, and a 

 building site costing $17,500 has been selected. 



The Mineral Land Commission, consisting of 12 

 members, whose duty is to examine and classify 

 lands within the limits of the Northern Pacific 

 grant in Idaho and Montana, was continued by an 

 appropriation of $25.000. 



Education. In the semiannual apportionment 

 of school money to the counties, made in July, $7,- 

 265.03 was apportioned. As the number of school 

 children in the State is 39,288, the amount per cap- 

 ita was about \S\ cents. The State normal schools 

 at Lewiston and Albion, established by the Legisla- 

 ture of 1893. were dedicated in June. " 



Penitentiary. At the Penitentiary a building 

 to "be used as a schoolroom and chapel has been 

 put up, in which the better-educated convicts will 

 instruct those who are under twenty years of age. 

 A hospital, a laundry, and additional cell room are 

 needed. In May there were 40 prisoners for whom 

 there were no cells. 



There is a law in the statute books of Idaho giv- 

 ing the State board authority to enter into contract 

 with some responsible person for the maintenance 

 of the prisoners in the Penitentiary, the contractor 

 being given the privilege of working the prisoners 

 for his own benefit. To test its constitutionality, 

 the board, under the law. in December advertised 

 for bids for the care of prisoners. 



Insane Asylum. Gov. McConnell reported in 

 May that the increase in the number of inmates at 

 the Idaho Asylum for the Insane was so rapid that 

 the extra accommodations provided for by the last 

 Legislature will be crowded before the next session. 



Soldiers' Home. The number of inmates in 

 July was 57. as many as can be properly cared for. 

 The expense is about $15 a month per capita, and 

 toward this charge the General Government pays 

 $100 a year for each inmate. 



Irrigation. The first biennial report of the 

 Kngineer to Jan. 1. 1897. estimates the acreage 

 in the State cultivated by irrigation at 315,000 

 acres, and the total area under ditch, or that can 

 be covered by laterals and distributaries from exist- 

 ing canals, at 1.250.000 acre-. 



The first withdrawal of land under the Carey act 

 was made in January. It consists of 66.430 acres 

 on Snake river, which are to be reclaimed by means 

 of a canal leading out of it. water rights to be fur- 

 nished for $10 an acre, the payments to extend over 

 a period of nine years. 



Metal Output. During 1895 the production of 

 gold was 125.517 fine ounce-, valued at $2.594.666; 

 of silver. 4.033.180 fine ounces, valued at $5.214.- 



