WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 



779 



WASHINGTON. Territorial Government. The 



following were the Territorial officers .during 

 the year: Governor, Watson 0. Squire; Sec- 

 retary, N. H. O wings; Auditor, T. M. Reed; 

 Treasurer, T. N. Ford ; Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, R. C. Kerr. Judiciary, Su- 

 preme Court: Chief-Justice, R. S. Greene; 

 Associate Justices, John P. Hoyt, A. G. Lang- 

 ford, and George Turner. The Legislature 

 met on Dec. 7, and was in session at the close 

 of the year. 



General Condition. On this subject, the Gov- 

 ernor, in his report to the Secretary of the In- 

 terior, dated Nov. 1, says : " Although specula- 

 tion has been temporarily checked, the entries 

 or public land less numerous, and the influx of 

 immigrants less rapid, yet the important basi- 

 lar industries of the country, such as wheat- 

 raising east of the mountains, and lumbering 

 and coal-rnining on the western coast, have 

 moved forward with increased momentum, so 

 that the aggregate production has far surpassed 

 that of any former year in the history of the 

 Territory. The new population has largely 

 betaken itself to the country. An immensely 

 increased acreage of wheat has been tilled and 

 an unparalleled crop has been realized. Im- 

 mense new lumber-mills have been constructed, 

 and the forest has been penetrated with iron 

 tramways for procuring timber. The most 

 valuable veins of coal yet worked have been 

 reached by railway, and their production has 

 been shipped in great quantities to the sea- 

 board. Many miles of railway have been built 

 by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Com- 

 pany, running into the wheat-fields of eastern 

 Washington, and the Northern Pacific Railroad 

 Company has been almost constantly at work 

 on its Cascade division, which now lacks less 

 than 80 miles of grading to complete it." 



Financial* The assessed valuation of property 

 in the Territory for the year 1884 was $50,- 

 508,484, and for the year 1885 it was $50,484,- 

 437. The decrease is caused by the shrinkage 

 in property valuation and by the non-listing 

 and non-as<essment of railroad property. 



The rate of taxation for Territorial purposes 

 is 2 mills on the dollar. The total cash reve- 

 nue derived from the tax on property for the 

 twenty-one months ending June 30, 1885, is 

 $181,450.58 ; the disbursements during the 

 same period amounted to $137,166.44, leaving 

 a net excess of receipts over expenditures of 

 $44,284.44, to which may be added the cash 

 in the treasury, Sept. 30, 1883, leaving on June 

 30, 1885, a cash balance in the treasury of $72,- 

 597.27, exclusive of the sum of $8,503.83, col- 

 lected under a special tax levied for building a 

 new Territorial Penitentiary. 



The following statement shows the number 

 of acres of land assessed, the total amounts and 



assessed value of all property returned by the 

 several counties, and the taxes levied thereon, 

 in kind and totals, for 1884 and 1885: 



For 1885 the taxation returns are not com- 

 plete. 



Population. The total population in 1880 was 

 75,116. The population in 1885 was 129,438, 

 of whom 78,738 were males, 50,700 females, 

 123,089 white, 104 black, 75 mulattoes, 57 Ka- 

 nakas, 3,276 Chinese, 2,786 Indian half-breeds, 

 36,172 married (three counties missing). Citi- 

 zens of the United States over twenty-one 

 years of age (four counties wanting), 32,499 

 males and 16, 174 females. The Governor thinks 

 the census of 1885 imperfect, and that the 

 actual population is 175,000. 



The largest town is Seattle, with a popula- 

 tion, of about 12,000 ; Tacoma comes next, with 

 6,936 inhabitants. Walla Walla is the chief 

 town of eastern Washington. Other towns are 

 Vancouver, about 3, 000 inhabitants; Olympia, 

 2,500 ; and Port Townsend, 2,000. 



Railroads. The Oregon Railway and Navi- 

 gation Company operates 259*5 miles of rail- 

 road within the Territory as follows : Main 

 line, standard gauge, 227*7" miles; sidings, 23*4 

 miles; narrow-gauge line, 6 miles; narrow- 

 gauge sidings, 2'4 miles. It is extending its 

 branches into the wheat regions of the eastern 

 part of the Territory ; has completed its branch 

 from Colfax to Moscow, and is now building 

 from Starbuck to Pomeroy. 



The Northern Pacific Railroad Company now 

 operates 455-9 miles of railroad within the Ter- 

 ritory. During the year it completed 62 miles. 



The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad 

 Company (narrow gauge) now has in opera- 

 tion 44-6 miles of main line and 5*25 miles of 

 sidings. The line from Seattle to Franklin, 

 33'6 miles, was completed in January, 1885. 

 The branch from Renton to the New Castle 

 mines, eight miles, has been operated for sev- 

 eral years. 



The Puget Sound Shore Railroad Company 

 operates a standard-gauge road from Seattle to 

 Stuck Junction, 23'5 miles, in connection with 

 the Northern Pacific Railroad, from Stuck 

 Junction to Tacoma. 



