COLORADO. 



which it ia composed have increased in num- 

 ber. The Governor, alluding to this subject, 

 says: "The present assessment is about one 

 thinl of what it should bo, and the State is 

 therefore placed in a false light abroad, as the 

 rate of taxation is just three times what it 

 should be. The city and county tax of Denver 

 is about 3& per cent. Under a proper assess- 

 ment it would be about one." 



The public schools of the State are rapidly 

 increasing in number, and those in the city of 

 Denver are particularly commended for their 

 excellence. The State University is located in 

 the vicinity of Boulder. It consists of a new 

 and extensive building, on an eminence, sur- 

 rounded by finely cultivated and ornamental 

 grounds. In the interior it is arranged for the 

 accommodation of a large number of students 

 of each sex, with their officers and instructors. 

 The number of students is about one hundred, 

 of whom one half are in the preparatory de- 

 partment. There is also a college attached to 

 the State Agricultural Department, in which 

 much interest is manifested. An Institute for 

 the Mute and Blind is not only well established, 

 but it is crowded with pupils. The School of 

 Mines contains twenty-two students, some of 

 whom were attracted from other States to 

 Colorado on account of the special advantages 

 it offers for the study of certain branches of 

 natural science. At the previous session of 

 the Legislature the office of Commissioner of 

 Mines was created, but no appointment has 

 been made. The law directs the appointment 

 of a deputy and also an assistant Commission- 

 er. The aggregate salaries of the three officers 

 would be $4,900, which sum, together with 

 their contingent expenses, is required to be 

 paid out of the fund for the School of Mines. 

 As this fund is less than $4,500, the appoint- 

 ment of these officers would have closed this 

 institution. 



The State Penitentiary has been a source of 

 expense to the State. There is a deficiency of 

 $27,463. The appropriation required from the 

 State for the period of two years is $89,425. 



Of the public land entered by the State, 

 29,146'33 acres have been approved by the 

 President of the United States for the public 

 building fund, 25,226-83 acres for the peniten- 

 tiary, and 44,844-43 for the university. There 

 is a deficiency in the number of acres con- 

 firmed to the State, and the number donated 

 by the enabling act, which can be settled only 

 by an act of Congress. The State lands were 

 made subject to sale after March 1, 1879. The 

 arid lands of the State are so extensive that 

 it has been proposed to obtain a donation of 

 them from Congress, ofFer them for sale for 

 grazing purposes, and devote the proceeds to 

 the irrigation fund. 



The prosperity of the State during the past 

 two years has greatly increased. Agriculture 

 has succeeded beyond the most sanguine ex- 

 pectations, so that a part of its products can bo 

 exported. The flocks of sheep and herds of 



cattle show a large increase, with only a slight 

 decrease in their market value. Probably no 

 kind of investment in the country has proved 

 more profitable during the past ten years than 

 that in the stock business in Colorado. Dur- 

 ing the entire year both cattle and sheep thrive 

 upon the graooea of the valleys and the plains, 

 the former requiring no hay or grain, and the 

 latter only in cases of severe and unusual 

 snow-storms. The losses by death up to the 

 present time have been very small, not usually 

 exceeding two per cent, of cattle, and not a 

 much larger percentage of sheep. As the ex- 

 penses of herding and caring for the stock are 

 very light, the natural increase in the herds 

 and Socks is mostly profit. No counties in the 

 State are in a more prosperous condition than 

 those which are chiefly devoted to stock-rais- 

 ing. The cattle-herding was in 1878 steadily 

 prosperous. The following winter of 1878-'79 

 was one of great severity, but the losses were 

 light. The yearly increase was above the av- 

 erage. The increase in the number and value 

 of cattle has been rapid during the past eight 

 years, as shown by the assessor's returns of 1871 

 and 1878. For the latter year the number of 

 cattle was returned as 483,278, valued at $4,- 

 928,147 ; for 1871, 145,916, valued at $2,692,- 

 440; the increase in number being 337,362, 

 in value $2,335,707. The figures do not prop- 

 erly represent the number or value of cattle, 

 which are estimated to be about a third more. 



New discoveries of rich mines are constant- 

 ly made, and towns spring up in localities 

 where a few months previous there was scarce- 

 ly an inhabitant. The increased production of 

 ore creates a demand for the construction of 

 furnaces and smelting and reduction works. 

 The shipments of bullion and ore for 1879 are 

 expected to exceed $12,000,000. The closest 

 estimate for the year ending June 30, 1878, 

 was $8,908,566. The product for the six 

 years ending December 30, 1878, was as fol- 

 lows: 1873, $4,070,000; 1874, $5,362,000; 

 1875, $5,486,742 ; 1876, $6,191,908 ; 1877, 

 $7,365,284; 1878, $9,820,743. 



An election was held in the State to fill a 

 vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court. 

 A Republican Convention to nominate a can- 

 didate assembled at Denver on September 19th. 

 J. W. North was elected chairman, and William 

 E. Beck was nominated for Associate Justice. 

 The following resolutions were adopted: 



Resolved, That as Republicans we reaffirm the prin- 

 ciples upon which the party was founded, in support 

 or which it has achieved such victories as have fallen 

 to the lot of no other party, and to the perpetuati'>n 

 of which we once more pledge our best efforts and our 

 every vote. 



tiesolved, That it is the duty of Congress at its ap- 

 proaching session, by appropriate and -judicious legis- 

 lation, to restore silver as money metal to its equality 

 with gold ; and to this end we demand that it enact a 

 law providing for unlimited coinage of the silver dol- 

 lar on such terms as shall secure to the people the 

 benefits of gold and silver as a circulating medium. 



JResolved, That the Republicans of Colorado, in con- 

 vention assembled, hear with profound gratification of 



