IDAHO. 



373 



813 



216 



322 



10,G07 



10 



1,221 

 18,506 



hay, or other products of farmers is ever on 

 the assessment rolls. 



There are 893-63 miles of railroad in the Terri- 

 tory, owned by the following companies: Ore- 

 gon Short Line, 550-33 miles ; Utah and North- 

 ern, 206-49 miles; Idaho Central, 19-5 miles; 

 Oregon Kailway and Navigation Company, 3 

 miles; Northern Pacific, 88 miles; Cceur 

 d'Alene, 13'33 ; Spokane and Idaho, 13'5 

 miles. 



The grain-crop for 1887 is reported at 2,374,- 

 325 bushels, a considerable increase over for- 

 mer vears. The hay-crop was 342,914 tons. 

 There were 132,922 horses, 442,363 cattle, 312,- 

 248 sheep, and 60,411 hogs, reported by the 

 county officers as assessed for this year. 



Education. The Territory supports a system 

 of common schools designed to give all chil- 

 dren a knowledge of the elementary branches. 

 The school officers consist of a Territorial Su- 

 perintendent of Public Instruction, a county 

 superintendent of schools in each county, and 

 a board of three trustees in each district. The 

 following table gives a summary of the reports 

 of the county superintendents for 1887: 



School districts 



School-houses 



Schools 



Pupils enrolled 



School libraries 



Volumes in libraries 



Children of school age 



Received in 1886 $147,253 45 



Expended in 1886 $185,318 21 



Estimated expenditures for 1887 $170,000 00 



Estimated receipts for 1S87 $165,01)0 00 



Estimated value of property .' . $279,500 00 



In the past five years the school population 

 has nearly doubled. In addition to the com- 

 mon-school districts, there have been created 

 by special enactment, at Boise City, Lewiston, 

 and Emmettsburg, independent school-districts, 

 in which graded schools with advanced courses 

 are supported. Several of the larger common 

 schools are nlso graded. There are 7 sectarian 

 schools, holding property valued at $55,000, 

 and numerous private schools. By an act of 

 the last Legislature, every parent or guardian 

 is required to send his child to school for at 

 least twelve weeks in each school year, eight 

 weeks of which must be consecutive. The act 

 applies only to children between eight and 

 fourteen years of age, who reside within two 

 miles of a school-house. A penalty of not less 

 than $5, or more than $50, is imposed for vio- 

 lation of this law. There are some exceptions, 

 and the board of trustees for each school dis- 

 trict is permitted to excuse any parent upon 

 sufficient cause. 



Much trouble has been experienced, and 

 more is apprehended, from the attitude of the 

 Mormons toward the school laws of the Terri- 

 tory. These laws require that one of the 

 school trustees of each district shall be elected 

 or appointed in September of each year, and 

 that he shall take the official oath against po- 

 lygamy before discharging his duties. In por- 

 tions of Bear Lake, Bingham, Cassia, and Onei- 



da counties, there are school districts in which 

 there are no Gentiles eligible either for elec- 

 tion or appointment as trustees. The entire 

 community is Mormon. No Mormon can take 

 the official oath. Hence but two trustees re- 

 main in office in such districts. Next year 

 there will be but one trustee, and where there 

 is but one trustee the schools can not be car- 

 ried on. The school superintendents of the 

 above-named counties (except of Bear Lake), 

 have, in the discretion given them by law, 

 held that a person who belongs to an organiza- 

 tion that teaches things defined by the statutes 

 to be crimes, is not a law-abiding citizen or a 

 person of good moral character, and therefore 

 they refuse to license any member of that or- 

 ganization to teach in the public schools. The 

 Mormon leaders, on the other hand, have given 

 notice that, where Gentile teachers are em- 

 ployed, they will not permit their children to 

 attend the public school. 



Charities and Prisons. The Territory has re- 

 cently erected a large three-story building as 

 an asylum for the insane in the town of Black- 

 foot, Bingham County, and has brought thither 

 the patients it formerly supported at the Ore- 

 gon Insane Asylum. The asylum opened July 

 2, 1886, with 26 male nnd 10 female patients. 

 During the year there were admitted 19 male 

 and 12 female patients. The whole number of 

 patients under treatment during the year was 

 45 males and 22 females. The daily average 

 was 44. The sum of $34,904 was expended 

 during the first year in furnishing and main- 

 taining the institution. 



The prisoners of the Territory are kept at 

 the United States Penitentiary, and about 

 $18,000 annually is paid for their support. 

 There are 64 convicts so supported, of whom 

 6 are sentenced for life and 19 for periods of 

 from ten to twenty years. The accommoda- 

 tions at this prison are very inadequate. 



Capitol. The Capitol building at Boise" City, 

 for which the Legislature of 1885 appropriated 

 $80,000, was completed and occupied this year. 

 It, stands in the center of a large block of land 

 given by the city, and is equipped with the 

 most modern furnishings. Offices are provided 

 not only for the Territorial officials, but for 

 the Governor, Secretary, United States Attor- 

 ney, United States Marshal, Clerk of the Su- 

 preme Court, and United States Surveyor- 

 General and other Federal officials. 



Mining. The product of Idaho's numerous 

 and extensive mines is one of the great reasons 

 of her present growth and prosperity. The 

 production of gold, silver, and lead for the 

 year ending Sept. 30, 1887, is estimated as fol- 

 lows: Gold, $2,417,429; silver, $4,633,160; 

 lead, $2,195,000; making a total of $9,245.- 

 589. The production of the same metals for 

 1886 was $5,755,602, and for 1885 $5,486,- 

 000. Regarding the effect upon this industry 

 of the alien land law passed by Congress, the 

 Governor says: " The mines in this Territory 

 are mostly undeveloped, and ars in the hands 



