IDAHO. 



435 



pletion of the lines of railway, now building and pro- 

 jected, our facilities for economical mining will be 

 equal to those of any other section of the country. 

 Polygamy. On this subject the Governor says : 

 Among the numerous subjects discussed in my first 

 biennial message was that of polygamous Mormon- 

 ism ; but my recommendations in 'regard to the sup- 

 pression of this evil were not b ceded by your prede- 

 cessors. I then believed the evil to be a dangerous 

 and formidable one, and undertook to show how it 

 was reaching out hi all directions, with the avowed 

 purpose of seizing political power in this country 

 made plain, I thought, the fact that its strides toward 

 the attainment of that end in Idaho were altogether 

 too rapid, and too near realization, to justify us in 

 longer ignoring the situation. But, as potent as I 

 then depicted this unseemly power, the sequel proved 

 that I had underrated its strength. The adjournment 

 of the eleventh session of the Legislative Assembly, 

 without the adoption of a single measure to suppress 

 polygamy, proved conclusively, to my mind, that it 

 was able to dominate that body, in so far at least as 

 to prevent the passage of laws prejudicial to the prac- 

 tice. Once more it becomes my solemn duty to warn 

 the legislative power against further toleration of a 

 practice so fraught with woe to all that we, as Ameri- 

 cans, hold dear ; for I feel certain that the complete 

 realization of the scheme of the Mormon priesthood 

 means the entire subversion of all those rights and 

 privileges enjoyed under our free institutions. The 

 verdict returned in the recent election shows that my 

 confidence in the people was not misplaced. They 

 demand the complete extirpation of polygamy within 

 our borders. You are here to give effect to their man- 

 date, and it is with infinite satisfaction that I now sug- 

 gest the adoption of some such measures as the follow- 

 ing : That the law of evidence be so framed that no 

 person shall be excluded from testifying, in any pro- 

 ceeding in prosecution for polygamy, on account of 

 marriage relations with defendant ; that cohabitation 

 with more than one wife constitutes a continuous of- 

 fense, and that to preach in favor of the doctrine of 

 polygamy, or publicly or privately to advise, counsel, 

 or encourage others to commit polygamy, or know- 

 ingly to aid or assist others to enter into "polygamous 

 relations, be made a crime punishable as severely as 

 the crime of polygamy itself, and that Congress be 

 memorialized to amend the present anti-polygamy 

 laws, to the end that the now well-recognized defects 

 in the same may be remedied, so as to render pos- 

 sible the conviction of the guilty, by giving United 

 States and Territorial courts' co-ordinate jurisdiction. 

 I also desire to direct attention to an act of the last 

 session of Congress, known as the " Edmunds bill." 

 By that act all polygamists are disfranchised and dis- 

 qualified for ofhce ; but the machinery for enforcing 

 the provisions of the law apply to Utah only. It is 

 no exaggeration to say that in "two or more counties 

 in this Territory polygamists vote and hold office pre- 

 cisely as though no such law were upon the statute- 

 books. This is a state of affairs which requires a 

 remedy at your hands. 



Education. The educational system of Idaho 

 has not been well organized. The provisions 

 relative to superintendence were imperfect, 

 and the means of collecting statistics inade- 

 quate. The table in the next column gives 

 the latest and fullest statistics accessible. 



There were no returns for Ada county in 

 1881 or 1882. In 1881 Idaho county returned 

 an enrollment of 239, and proportional at- 

 tendance of 155. 



With a few exceptions, the salaries paid 

 teachers range from $75 a month in the cen- 

 tral and mining counties down to $20 and 

 even $10 a month in the agricultural counties. 



Resources. Idaho has an area of 55,228,160 

 acres, of which 18,400,000 are classed as mount- 

 ainous. There are about 600,000 acres of 

 lake area. The principal ones are Lake Pend 

 d'Oreille, 120 miles long and from 5 to 10 

 miles wide, navigable throughout; Lake Cceur 

 d'Alene, 36 miles long and 3 to 5 miles wide; 

 and Kanisku lake, 10 by 20 miles; all noted 

 for their scenery and abounding in fish. 



Alternating with the mountain-ranges are 

 many valleys, large and small, affording a vast 

 area of agricultural lands not exceeded in fer- 

 tility by any in the world. The most exten- 

 sive are Boise, Snake, Payette, Clearwater, 

 Lemhi, Weiser, Blackfoot, Malad, Palouse, 

 Potlach, and Bear. The arable portions of 

 these valleys lie from 600 to 5,000 feet above 

 the sea, and they range in size from one to 20 

 miles in width, and from 20 to 100 miles in 

 length. In the northern portion of the Ter- 

 ritory excellent crops of cereals are raised 

 without artificial irrigation. In the central 

 and southern parts irrigation is essential, al- 

 though there are occasional small tracts lying 

 near the level of the streams on which grain- 

 crops may do well without. 



Traversing Southern Idaho is the extensive 

 volcanic belt, or basin of Snake river, fit only 

 for grazing. Upon its nutritious grasses and 

 sage are fattened thousands of cattle annually. 

 The forest area is 9,000,000 acres, much of 

 it being included in the mountain-region above 

 described. Throughout the central, northern, 

 and eastern parts of Idaho the woodlands pos- 

 sess a heavier growth than in a majority of 

 the timbered States east of the Rocky mount- 

 ains, while in the remaining sections the tim- 

 ber-supply is not inferior to that of the most 

 of our prairie States. Along the Clearwater, 

 in Northern Idaho, and in several other sections, 

 white-pine logs one hundred feet long and five 

 feet in diameter, and red and white cedar-trees 

 two to five feet in diameter, are common. 



The minerals are gold, silver, copper, iron, 

 lead, coal, plumbago, quicksilver, and others of 

 minor value. There are also mountains of sul- 

 phur, productive salt-springs, quarries of the 



* Estimated. 



