142 



COLORADO. 



vin Edwards; State Treasurer, Fred. Walsen; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. 0. 

 Shattuck; State Auditor, John C. Abbott; At- 

 torney-General, B. F. Urmy. Supreme Court : 

 William E. Beck, Wilbur F. Stone, and Joseph 

 0. Helm, Justices. 



Legislative Session. The Legislature convened 

 at the beginning of January, and remained in 

 session about two months. After a prolonged 

 contest, Thomas M. Bowen (Republican) was 

 elected United States Senator for the long 

 term, and H. A. W. Tabor (Republican) for 

 the short term. Among the measures that be- 

 came laws were the following: 



An act to secure the collection and publication of 



r 'cultural and other statistics ; an act to submit to 

 people at the next general election for members of 

 the Legislature, amendments to the Constitution re- 

 lating to the compensation of members, the length of 

 sessions, and the conduct of business ; appropriating 

 $318.000 for the ordinary expenses of the executive, 

 legislative, and judicial departments for the years 1883 

 and 1884; submitting to the people at the election in 

 November, 1883, the question of creating a bonded in- 

 debtedness of $300,000 toward the erection of a Capitol; 

 to regulate the working and inspection of coal-mines ; 

 creating Delta, Mesa, and Montrose counties from 

 Gunnison ; Eagle and Garfield counties from Summit, 

 and Uncornpahgre county from Ouray ; changing the 

 name of Uncompahgre county to Ouray, and of Ouray 

 county to San Miguel ; to enable counties to refund 

 railroad-aid bonds; to provide for the drainage of 

 lands for agricultural and other purposes ; to regulate 

 primary elections ; to establish a State Bureau of 

 Horticulture ; and to establish an insurance depart- 

 ment and regulate the insurance companies doing 

 business therein. 



Finances. The reports of the Auditor and 

 State Treasurer show that the financial affairs 

 of the State are in a more satisfactory condi- 

 tion than at any previous period. These re- 

 ports represent the condition of the State 

 Treasury, Nov. 30, 1882, to be as follows: 



Warrants outstanding: 13g 551 28 



Certificates of indebtedness '..'.'. 95,'l3T 00 



Totaldebt $288,688~28 



Deduct cash in Treasury 188,616 65 



Indebtedness over cash in Treasury $45,071 63 



Amount due State on taxes payable Jan. 1, 1883.. $41T 762 73 

 Deduct outstanding indebtedness 45,071 63 



Balance due above indebtedness $372,691 10 



The above amount, representing what is due 

 the State on taxes payable Jan. 1, 1883, does 

 not include delinquent taxes of former years, 

 from which a large sum will be collected. 



The following is a more recent statement : 



The assessed value of property in 1881 wa 

 $96,135,305; in 1882, $104,440,683. 



State Institutions. The number of convicts in 

 the Penitentiary, Nov. 30, 1878, was 146, and 

 on the 30th of November, 1880, there were 226, 

 being an increase of nearly 55 per cent, in the 

 two years. The reports of the officers of the 

 Penitentiary show that the number of convicts 

 on the 30th of November, 1882, was 332, an in- 

 crease of 42 per cent, during the two years. In 

 January, 1883, there were 329, of whom 36 were 

 life-convicts. So long as there continues to be 

 such a large accession to the number of con- 

 victs, requiring frequent enlargement of the 

 institution for their accommodation, the Peni- 

 tentiary must continue to be a burden to the 

 tax-payers. During the last two years 114 new 

 cells have been constructed, making, in the 

 aggregate, cell accommodations for only 284 

 prisoners. The erection of a new cell-building 

 has been begun. Several large and substantial 

 buildings have been constructed during the 

 two years. These buildings have all been the 

 work of convict-labor. 



The commissioners have estimated the ex- 

 penses for the years 1883 and 1884 as follows: 



Material for two cell buildings $50,000 



Material for building for convicts under contract 5,000 



Material for remodeling a building for State work- 

 shops 10,000 



Appropriation to pay for land already purchased 2,500 



Appropriation to pay for more lime-land 3,000 



Material for gates, etc., for extension of wall 1,000 



Maintenance and expense of prison 223,380 



$304,880 

 Earnings estimated for two years 100,000 



Appropriation asked $204,880 



An additional building for the Mute and 

 Blind Institute has been erected at a cost ot 

 over $20,000. The number of inmates at the 

 beginning of the year was 44. A new building 

 for the Insane Asylum at Pueblo is in course 

 of erection. When this is completed, there will 

 be accommodation for 125 patients. 



During the two years ending Nov. 30, 1882, 

 57 patients were received and 46 discharged, 

 making a net gain of 11, which, added to the 

 number on hand at the beginning of the term, 

 38, makes 49. The percentage of recoveries 

 has been about 53. 



The Legislature, in 1881, provided for the es- 

 tablishment of the State Industrial School at 

 Golden. Its purposes were to educate and re- 

 form young persons who have fallen into the 

 ways of crime, rather than to confine them in 

 jails. The large number who have been sent 

 there by the various district courts and police 

 magistrates throughout the State, shows that 

 the greatest necessity existed for such an insti- 

 tution. The report of the officers of the school 

 shows that 81 pupils had been sent there at 

 the close of 1882 ; that the terms of five had 

 expired, and that there were then 75 pupils at 

 the institution. 



Education. The rapid increase in population 

 during the past two years has occasioned the 

 organization of many new schools. About 100 



