366 



IDAHO. 



by the direct popular vote. Dr. Poliearpo Bonilla 

 was elected constitutionally for the term of four 

 years beginning Jan. 1, 1895. Gen. Manuel Bo- 

 nilla was Vice-President for the same term. The 

 Cabinet in the beginning of 1899 consisted of 

 the following members: Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs and Acting Minister of Justice and Public 

 Instruction, Dr. C. Bonilla: Minister of Public 

 Works, Dr. E. C. Fiallos; Minister of the Inte- 

 rior, Gen. D. Gutierrez; Minister of War, Gen. 

 J. M. Reina. 



Area and Population. The area of Honduras 

 is estimated at 45/250 square miles, with a popu- 

 lation in 1897 of 398,877. consisting mainly of 

 pure Indians, with a small proportion of whites 

 of Spanish descent. Tegucigalpa, the capital, has 

 14.000 inhabitants. 



Finances. The foreign debt, contracted be- 

 fore 1870. amounted with arrears of interest to 

 17,371.5-29 on July 1, 1898, no interest having 

 been paid from the beginning. There is an in- 

 ternal debt of $6,000,000. 



Commerce and Production. The chief com- 

 mercial product at present is bananas, which are 

 exported to the United States. Tobacco, sugar 

 cane, Indian corn, and coffee are cultivated, and 



to a less extent rice, coffee, and wheat. Cattle 

 are raised in large numbers in the elevated parts 

 of the country. The mineral resources of Hon- 

 duras are enormous, but they are even less de- 

 veloped than agriculture, owing to a scarcity both 

 of capital and labor. From $150,000 to $250,000- 

 worth of gold is annually washed from the beds 

 of rivers. Platinum, silver, copper, lead, zinc^ 

 iron, antimony, and nickel are also found, be- 

 sides coal. The Government encourages the in- 

 vestment of foreign capital, granting facilities for 

 the acquisition of land for agricultural or mining 

 purposes to either individuals or companies. 



The total value of imports in 1897 was $3,260,- 

 575, against $1,322,418 in 1896; the value of ex- 

 ports, $2,647,248, against $3,125,000. The exports, 

 of precious metals in 1897 were $1,075,000 in 

 value; of cattle, $705,000; of bananas and other 

 prbduce, $839,000. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. A railroad, of 

 which 60 miles have been built, runs from Puerto 

 Cortez, the principal harbor on the Atlantic coast,, 

 and under contracts that have been concluded it 

 will be carried through to the Pacific coast, and 

 one built from Puerto Cortez to Trujillo. The 

 length of telegraph lines in 1897 was 2,732 miles.. 



IDAHO, a Northwestern State, admitted to 

 the Union July 3, 1890; area, 84,800 square miles; 

 population, according to the census of 1890, 84,- 

 385. Capital, Boise City. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Frank Steun- 

 enberg; Lieutenant Governor, J. H. Hutchinson; 

 Secretary of State, Mart Patrie; Auditor, Bart- 

 lett Sinclair; Treasurer, Lucius C. Rice; Attorney- 

 General, S. H. Hays; Superintendent of Schools, 

 Permeal French; Mine Inspector, Jay A. Czizek 

 all fusionists; Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Court, I. N. Sullivan; Associate Justices, J. W. 

 Huston and Ralph P. Quarles; Clerk, Solomon 

 Hasbrouck. 



Finances. The Auditor reported the total re- 

 ceipts of the treasury for 1897-'98 as $718,992.26, 

 derived from the following sources: Revenue, 

 $454,909.63; wagon-road taxes, $28,450.67; uni- 

 versity taxes, $2,021.84; licenses, $27,479.20; poll 

 taxes, $21,304.77; insurance, $4,543.43; attorneys' 

 fees, $1,400; docket fees, $3,228.90; interest on 

 school lands, $24,014.79; principal on school lands, 

 $12,092.47; rental of school lands, $14,368.42; in- 

 terest on school-fund loans, $12,014.84; principal 

 on school-fund loans, $37,770.10; university lands, 

 $3,360.49; Soldiers' Home endowment fund, $11,- 

 943.75; fees of Secretary of State, $5,769.85; fees 

 of Supreme Court, $2,191.65; university endow- 

 ment fund, $47,000; 5-per-cent. sale of Federal 

 lands, $3,750.63; miscellaneous items, $1,376.83. 

 In his biennial message, at the beginning of 1899, 

 the Governor reported that there had been no 

 increase of the bonded debt of the State in the 

 two preceding years, as no bonds had fallen due 

 or become payable within that period, leaving 

 the debt as follows: Refunding bonds, drawing 

 6 per cent., $108,000: wagon-road bonds, 1889, 6 

 per cent., $50,000; wagon-road bonds, 1893, 5 per 

 cent., $135,000; asylum improvement bonds, 5 per 

 cent., $25,000; normal-school bonds, 5 per cent 

 $75,000; total, $339,000. The warrant indebted- 

 ness of the State on Dec. 31, 1898, amounted to 

 $204,469.64; the appropriation accounts for the 

 different departments showed an unexpended bal- 

 ance of $31,854.17. In only one department that 



of the Land Board was any material expense in 

 excess of the appropriation incurred, and that re- 

 sulted from a protection of the State's interest 

 in the timber districts of Latah and Shoshone 

 Counties, a controversy with certain alleged set- 

 tlers having resulted in expensive litigation. 



Valuation. The assessed valuation by coun- 

 ties, exclusive of railroad, telegraph, and tele- 

 phone property, exceeded that of 1898 by $12,- 

 857,757.91, and was as follows: Ada, $4,836,136; 

 Bannock, $2,188,102; Bear Lake, $959,035; Bing- 

 ham, $2,360,003; Elaine, $1,081,740; Boise, $654,- 

 867; Canyon, $2,792,162; Cassia, $1,601,748; Cus- 

 ter, $632,003; Elmore, $890,116.61; Fremont, 

 $1,692,310; Idaho, $1,737,251.80; Kootenai, $1,- 

 160,406; Latah, $3,213,396; Lemhi, $1,200,238; 

 Lincoln, $469,715; Nez Perces, $2,834,155; Oneida, 

 $1,516,088; Owyhee, $1,522,837; Shoshone, $1,782,- 

 382; Washington, $1,772,449.50. The railroad, 

 telegraph, and telephone assessment amounted to 

 $46,548,413.33, as against $30,423,671.95 in 1898. 



Mineral Yield. The total mineral production 

 for 1898 was $13,591,278, showing a decrease, com-, 

 pared with 1897, of $138,607. The decrease in 

 the gold production amounted to $229,767, while 

 the increase in silver production was $306,780; 

 the increase in lead amounted to $397,940. 



The report of gold shipments from the assay 

 office in Boise City for the fiscal year ending in 

 1899 shows an increase of about $175,000 over 

 that of 1898; it also shows that the business done 

 in 1899 was nearly double that of 1894 and nearly 

 treble that of 1890. The latter half of the fiscal 

 year shows an extraordinary increase oven the 

 first part. The total regular deposits for 1899 

 amounted to $1,549,902.45, while $82,962.26 was 

 taken in " buttons," or amounts less than 5 

 ounces, only deposits of more than 5 ounces being 

 counted in the government's statement for pub- 

 lication. The amount shipped to the mint July 

 1, covering deposits for the last ten days in June, 

 was $68,024.21, an increase of about $14,000 over 

 the same period in 1898. The shipments of gold 

 by years since 1890 are interesting as showing 

 the rapid growth of Idaho as a gold-producing 

 State, and are as follow: 1890, $607,669.60; 1891, 



