770 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (NEW MEXICO.) 



by the fact that, while the normal Republican 

 majority of New Mexico is not more than 3,000, 

 Mr. Rodey was elected by a majority of almost 

 10,000 out of a total vote of only a little more 

 than 38,000, and over a man who was personally 

 very popular. 



Finances. The financial standing of the Ter- 

 ritory is excellent. Careful and competent man- 

 agement of the public business has made it possi- 

 ble to accumulate a surplus in almost every fund 

 in the treasury, enabling all obligations to be met 

 promptly, leaving a handsome surplus to be used 

 in the reduction of the interest-bearing debt. 



The bonded debt of the Territory outstanding 

 at the beginning of the fiscal year, June 1, 1902, 

 was $1,123,300. Since that time sinking-funds 

 have been accumulated sufficient for the redemp- 

 tion of the bonded debt in the sum of $89,246.26, 

 leaving the net bonded indebtedness at this time 

 $1,034,053.74. For more than a year endeavors 

 have been made by the Territory to buy unma- 

 tured bonds without success. Many orders have 

 been filed to take up any bonds the Territory 

 might issue, and there has been a wide demand 

 for county and school-district bonds. The Terri- 

 torial tax levy for all purposes is 13.99 mills, 

 which is below the average in the Western States. 



Banks. There are 14 national banks in the 

 Territory, an increase of 4 during the year. In 

 addition there are 12 banks operating under the 

 Territorial laws, a total of 26 banking institu- 

 tions, having resources aggregating $10,000,000, 

 with deposits of more than $7,500,000. 



New Corporations. The records of the Secre- 

 tary's office show that the number of corporations 

 chartered during the year was 205, and the aggre- 

 gate capitalization was $100,480,000. Of the cor- 

 porations so organized, 110 were for the purpose 

 of mining, milling, and smelting, having a com- 

 bined capitalization of $73,017,630; 63 were for 

 manufacturing and other industrial pursuits, 

 with a capitalization of $4,796,500; 6 were bank, 

 building and loan associations, with a capital of 

 $4,830,000; 6 were railway companies, with a cap- 

 ital of $15,825,000 to construct 834 miles of new 

 road; 10 were irrigation and land-improvement 

 companies, with a capitalization of $2,011,000; 

 and 10 were benevolent and charitable associa- 

 tions. In 1901 there was a gain of 41 in the num- 

 ber of industrial corporations chartered over the 

 previous year, and 1902 shows a gain of 55 over 

 1901. Among the important industries that have 

 been operated during the year are the smelting of 

 copper and lead ores, with a product valued at 

 nearly $1,000,000; flour-milling, with a product 

 valued at $551,108; the scouring of wool, with 

 $77,875 as the receipts for last year's work. The 

 flour and grist mills number about 20, and there 

 are numerous fruit-canneries, distilleries, and 

 wineries in operation. There are 21 saw-mills in 

 the Territory, with an invested capital of $160,- 

 798, employing 243 men, earning $80,851 a year, 

 whose annual product is worth $290,527. There 

 are 13 planing-mills, employing 41 persons, which 

 turned out work in 1902 valued at $'?00,000. 



There were but few failures in any of the indus- 

 trial lines, the only one worthy of note being that 

 of the C'ochiti Gold-Mining Company. 



Railroads. The era of railroad building in 

 New Mexico, which began in 1901, continued with 

 unabated vigor through 1902. About 350 miles 

 of new road have been added to the total mileage 

 in operation, and work is now in progress on 

 other new lines, which cover in the aggregate more 

 than 800 miles. 



Nearly all the immigration during the past year 

 has been to points along the line of the newly 



opened railway, running diagonally through the 

 southeastern portion of the Territory. That sec- 

 tion of New Mexico, a district a little larger than 

 the State of Ohio, and embracing valuable nat- 

 ural resources, has remained practically unsettled 

 because of the lack of communication with the 

 outer world, but since the opening of the Rock 

 Island Railroad last spring a large number of 

 home-seekers have made homesteads upon the 

 public lands, a score or more of new villages have 

 sprung up in the district, and 23 new post-offices 

 have been established. 



Lands.- A little more than a million acres of 

 the public domain in New Mexico was taken up 

 by settlers under the United States land laws in 

 1902. Under the act of Congress, June 21, 1898, 

 giving a limited area of the public lands to the 

 Territory for the benefit of educational and other 

 purposes, the United States Commission has se- 

 lected, located, and entered for the various insti- 

 tutions 820,026.58 acres, including 79,693.25 acre* 

 of saline lands. 



The United States Court of Private Land Claims 

 practically completed in 1902 the duty assigned 

 to it by the act of Congress under which it was 

 created, and its term will expire by limitation in 

 the summer of 1903. Since its organization thia 

 court has adjudicated the title to tracts of land 

 in this Territory aggregating a little more than 

 26,000,000 acres, all of which, except about 1,000 - 

 000 acres, was found to be public land, and waa 

 restored to the public domain, thus adding 25.- 

 000,000 acres (the best lands in the Territory) 

 to the area that will some time be open to entry 

 under the United States land laws. At present 

 all the lands of this great sum total are out of 

 market that is, they have not been surveyed and 

 platted, and therefore can not be entered by home- 

 seekers. 



Immediately after the organization of this 

 court one of the judges spent a year in Spain, and 

 another spent an equal length of time in Mc\ !<<>. 

 examining the archives of those countries from 

 the time the first grant of land in this Territory 

 was made by Spain down to the time the country 

 was acquired by the United States, and during 

 their absence the other 3 members employed the 

 time gathering testimony and examining the 

 early records in this country, and when the court 

 began to adjudicate the cases coming before it, 

 its 5 members undoubtedly possessed a more com- 

 prehensive and accurate knowledge of the history 

 and character of Spanish and Mexican land 

 grants in New Mexico than any other 5 men in 

 the world, and a good idea of the thorougl 

 and correctness with which they did their work 

 is to be gained from the fact that none of their 

 decisions has been reversed by the Supreme Court. 



A large number of the pretended grants wer? 

 found to be spurious and were thrown out in their 

 entirety; and nearly all those that had - 

 foundation in law or fact to rest upon had beni 

 so egregiously inflated by having their boundaries 

 extended from time to time at the will of thJ 

 grantee that some of them had come to claim 

 greater number of square miles than they hail 

 originally of acres. 



Education. The educational interests of N 

 Mexico made gratifying progress in 1902. Thj 

 .school census for the year shows tin- <rli<>l popu- 

 lation to be 62.864: "increase over the previoui 

 year, 9,856. or 18.6 per cent. The enrolment if 

 pupils in all schools was 42,925; average daily at- 

 tendance, 29,825; number of schools. 7-20: teach- 

 ers employed, 1.046; number of higher Territorial 

 institutions, 7; city high schools. 7: kindergar- 

 tens, 4; private schools, 6. The average number 



