NEW MEXICO 867 



the amendment, to become operative. The requirements for franchise and sections in the 

 article on education providing for instruction in Spanish can be amended only by a three- 

 fourths vote in the legislature and at the general election. Within 25 years a constitutional 

 convention may be called by a three-fourths vote of the legislature; thereafter by a two- 

 thirds vote, if approved by popular vote. The draft of the convention is not valid until 

 ratified by the people. 



A state corporation commission of three members, elected for six years, charters and regu- 

 lates corporations other than municipal, and is empowered to fix rates of public service 

 charges. The constitution contains an employers' liability clause; forbids the lease of con- 

 vict labour; and makes eight hours a day's work on state, county or municipal jobs. Statutes 

 of 1912 forbid blacklisting, limit continuous hours of service on railways to 16, and include 

 a coal mining code, providing for a state inspector of mines to be appointed after examination. 



The first regular session of the legislature was held from March n to June 8, 1912. It 

 urged the United States Congress to allot and open the Navajo and other Indian reservations 

 to settlers; to restrict making reservations by executive orders and to modify the law in rela- 

 tion to the Pueblo Indians which puts them on the same footing as "tribal Indians" and 

 overlooks their treaty rights as former citizens of Mexico. 



The 1 2th of October, Columbus Day, was made a legal holiday. 



Finance. The constitution provides for a revenue tax of four mills on the dollar, other 

 state taxes may not be more than ten mills (12 mills for the first two years). The governor, 

 travelling auditor, state auditor, secretary of state and attorney-general form a state board 

 of equalisation. The state may borrow no more than 200,000 to meet casual deficits or for 

 necessary expenses. The legislature of 1912 created a board of loan commissioners to deter- 

 mine the Territorial debt and to arrange for the issue of refunding bonds by state and coun- 

 ties; the commission agreed to an issue of state bonds for 1,125,000 in December 1912 to 

 take up railway bonds of Grant and Santa Fe counties, which had been declared invalid by 

 the Federal Supreme Court but were later validated by Congress. Provision was made for 

 a uniform system of accounting, auditing and reporting for all public officers under 

 administration of the travelling auditor and bank examiner. 



The balance in the treasury on November 30, 1911 was 568.199 and on November 30, 

 1912 $655,376; the receipts during the year were $2,382,275 and the expenditures, $2,295,098. 



Education. The constitution provides for a state board of education, and requires school 

 attendance of every child of school age ("of sufficient physical and mental ability"). By 

 statute the public school curriculum must include the study of the nature of alcoholic drinks 

 and their effect on the human system; and a course of industrial education is prescribed. 



For the school year 1911-12 the school population was 100,045; the enrollment 57,436; 

 average daily attendance, about 41,000; length of the average school year, a little over 6 

 months; total expenditures $997,891 ($265,766 for new buildings and improvements). Of 

 the population 10 years and over 20.2% were illiterate in 1910 (33.2 in 1900) 



Penal System. The Territorial mounted police has been continued as a state force. 

 Convicts who work as mechanics, foremen or 'trusties,' or outside of the penitentiary, re- 

 ceive ten days a month additional good time. Prisoners using explosives or deadly weapons 

 in an attempt to escape from confinement are liable to imprisonment from 25 to 50 years. 



History. The state election of November 7, 1911, resulted in the defeat of the 

 gubernatorial candidate of the Republicans (who had been uniformly successful in the 

 Territorial elections) by a combination of Democrats and Progressive Republicans. 

 William C. McDonald (b. 1858), who had been chairman of the Democratic Territorial 

 Committee, was elected governor by 3,000 votes plurality. The state senate contained 

 1 6 Republicans, 7 Democrats and i Progressive Republican (term ends Jan. 1917), and 

 the house of representatives, 28 Republicans, 17 Democrats, 3 Progressive Republicans 

 and i Independent (term ends Jan. 1915). The state was formally admitted to the 

 Union January 6, 1912. On March 27, 1912, the legislature chose Thomas Benton Ca- 

 tron and Albert Bacon Fall, both Republicans, to be United States senators. Fall 

 drew the short term (one year) and was again chosen for 1913-19, by a joint session, 

 June 6, 1912, in which, after divided counsels, 22 members of the lower house (out of 

 49; including the Democrats and Progressives) refused to vote, and 'the election pro- 

 ceeded amidst much disorder. Governor McDonald doubted the legality of Fall's re- 

 election and refused to sign the election certificate. 



In the November 1912 election there was no vote for state officers. Woodrow Wilson 

 carried the state, receiving 20,437 'votes to 17,733 f r Taft, 8,347 for Roosevelt and 

 2,859 for Debs. A Democratic representative in Congress was elected. 



Bibliography. R. E. Twitchell, Leading. Facts of New Mexican History (2 vols., Cedar 

 Rapids, Iowa, 1911-12); L. B. Prince, New Mexico's Struggle for Statehood (Santa Fe, 1910). 



