MONTANA. 



531 



two-thirds of the whole nnmher. The court 

 held, in the Bates County case, that the law 

 was unconstitutional, and the bonds void, be- 

 cause the issue had not received the approval 

 of two-thirds of all the voters of Mount Pleas- 

 ant township ; but in the Cass County case it 

 was decided that the words of the constitu- 

 tion have the same meaning as those of the 

 statute, " the qualified voters of a township " 

 meaning "the qualified voters of a township 

 voting at the election." The ground of the 

 decision was that the Supreme Court of the 

 State had uniformly held that there was no 

 way of ascertaining the number of qualified 

 voters in a county or township, except by an 

 examination of the poll-books, which take no 

 cognizance of those who do not vote. Chief- 

 Justice Waite said, in concluding his opinion : 

 " It follows that our decision in Harshman vs. 

 Bates County, in so far as it declares the law 

 to be unconstitutional, must be overruled." 



MONTANA. Governor Potts, in his message 

 submitted to the Legislature on January 8, 1877, 

 uses the following language : " The year that 

 has just closed, brought the people of the Ter- 

 ritory a reasonable degree of prosperity. In- 

 dustry in every calling of life has pursued its 

 legitimate objects with varied success. Edu- 

 cation, which is the first concern of an intelli- 

 gent and prosperous people, has steadily ad- 

 vanced, preparing the youth of the Territory 

 for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. 

 The ravages of the ' insect ' diminished the 

 yield of the harvest, but the labor of the 

 husbandman has been crowned with plenty. 

 Neither pestilence nor famine has entered our 

 borders, and almost unbroken health has 

 blessed our homes." 



In view of the rapid increase of county in- 

 debtedness, and the decline of county credit, 

 the Governor recommends that the counties 

 Bhonld be prohibited by law from contracting 

 debts beyond their annual revenues. The 

 remedy for the existing condition of things, 

 he urges, is reduction of expenses and increase 

 of revenues. "This can be accomplished by 

 consolidating county offices, as heretofore rec- 

 ommended, and reducing fees and salaries. 

 The revenues can be largely increased by 

 placing all classes of property on the tax-list, 

 removing all exemptions, except public prop- 

 perty; by imposing a special tax of twenty- 

 five cents on every gallon of spirituous liquors 

 consumed in the Territory, and increasing the 

 license-tax of dealers in spirituous and malt 

 liquors and tobacco." 



Some provision for the care, maintenance, 

 and treatment of the insane is urged, and a 

 new apportionment for legislative purposes is 

 recommended. The Historical Society of the 

 Territory has made commendable progress in 

 the labor of preserving the incidents connected 

 with its early history. The first volume of the 

 contributions to the Society was published 

 about the close of 1876. The following are 

 the educational statistics for that year: 



Whole number of children of school age 4,271 



Number ol school districts 09 



Number of children attending school daring the 



year 2,734 



Per cent, of children enrolled, attending school.. . 61 



Number of teachers employed . 110 



Average length of schools in days 100 



Number of children not attending any school 



during the year 1,587 



Total amount appropriated for school purposes 



during the year $35,287 06 



The following table exhibits the assessed 

 value of property for two years : 



The total revenue from all sources during 

 1876 was $50,589.08 ; current expenditure, 

 $27,821,35. The net indebtedness of the Ter- 

 ritory, December 31, 1876, was $117,584.19. 

 The total indebtedness of the several counties, 

 March 1, 1876, was $491,318.76. 



The financial officers of the Territory (says Gov- 

 ernor Potts) have conducted ita financial affairs 

 with BO much fidelity and ability, that the Treasurer 

 on the 1st day of July last was enabled to place on 

 the market at par the 10 per cent, bonds, authorized 

 by your predecessors, redeeming all the 12 per cent, 

 bonds ot 1872; making a saving of $1,824 of annual 

 interest on the bonded debt. 



As no part of the bonded debt can be paid, ex- 

 cept at the option of the holders, before July 1, 1878, 

 I recommend that the Territorial Treasurer be au- 

 thorized to use the money in the Sinking Fund, ap- 

 plicable to the payment of bonds, to purchase out- 

 standing bonds at not exceeding their par value. 

 But in case the Treasurer can not purchase any of 

 the outstanding bonds, before the option of the 

 holders expires, then he should be authorized to ap- 

 ply the money in the Sinking Fund, and all that may 

 accumulate therein, before January 1, 1878, applica- 

 ble to thepayment of bonds, to the payment or out- 

 standing Territorial warrants. The amount now in 

 said fund, applicable to the payment of bonds, is 

 about $8,000, and will probably reach $20,000 before 

 the close of the present fiscal year. 



The following table givea the number and 

 value of live stock in the Territory as returned 

 by the Assessors for 1876: 



The returns for the year include also 194,- 

 815 bushels of wheat, 11, 185 of barley, 802,918 

 of oats, 112,157 of potatoes, 88,948 ton* of 

 hay, 885,867 Ibs. of batter and cheese, 105,982 

 of wool, 80 quartz-milla, 10 grist-mills pro- 

 ducing 50,599 sacks of flour, and 82 saw-milla 



