During the past year the trades of shoemaking, tailoring, and carpentering have been successfully carried on; a sewing room was started when the school opened; a steam laundry is in successful operation. The industries of brick-making, harnessmaking, and blacksmithing have been authorized and will be established in the near future.

With a hospital, storerooms, and sufficient school room, the capacity of the school may be increased to 300.

The school has been attended by children from the Pueblos, Jicarilla Apaches, San Carlos Apaches, and Navajoes.

There are a large number of contract schools carried on by religious bodies and institutions, who receive a stated sum per annum from the United States for each scholar. Part of these are boarding schools and part day schools.

The Roman Catholics have charge of the following: St. Catharine's boarding school, at Santa Fe, with about 100 pupils; boarding school at Bernalillo, for girls, 80 pupils, and the following day schools in the pueblos themselves:

They also carry on two schools without Government aid, one in the pueblo of San Felipe, with 40 pupils, and another at Cochiti, with 25. The Ramona school, at Santa Fe, is under the auspices of the University of New Mexico (a corporation existing long before the Territorial institution of the same name). Prof. Elmore Chase, superintendent, reports as follows:

The past year has been one of the most successful in its history. The school was made one year ago a school for the Pueblo Indian girls, and this seems to have met with great favor with the parents. The better class of Indians prefer a more select companionship for their girls than is to be found in the Government schools, where less than one-third of the pupils are girls. Some families desire the brothers to attend with the sisters, and in special cases this is admitted. The average for the school year has been over 49, the contract number being 50.

Farming to a considerable extent has been added to the boys' industrial training. In this work the school has very good facilities and a promise of very excellent work for the coming year. With the irrigation privileges now in progress the school will raise most of its feed for the stock. Aside from the working team the school will keep cows and poultry, and instruct the boys and girls in their care. Raising and curing alfalfa has been an important work, and already some 15 tons have been put into stack.

I believe that farming for boys who are to live in New Mexico is the most important work that can be given them. They take to it readily. Gardening is another very useful industry. In most pueblos chickens can be kept, and that industry will give the families money. The school has done a little in this line and has made arrangements for better opportunities.

The results of making this a school for girls have been most gratifying. The school greatly needs additional buildings to meet the demands of the Indians.

I must again call your attention to the working of the Jicarilla and Pueblo Agency as now conducted.

It has been impossible for the agent to attend to the duties of the Jicarilla Apaches and attend to the office work of the Pueblos. Only once during the fiscal year has this school been able to get its vouchers and papers signed so as to get its money on time. At other times it has been compelled to wait as long as thirty days or more. If the Department will not make the Jicarilla an independent agency there seems to be but one way to conduct these two agencies. The agent should live with the Apaches. They have had the land given to them in sev

eralty much too soon, but if the agent should give all his time to these Indians and hold them to their farms he can hasten the day when they will cease to wander from the reservation.

The Pueblo Indians can be much more satisfactorily managed by a good clerk and interpreter, who may either report to the agent or, better, to the Indian Office. Or, what would be better, put this agency under a special agent. The work among the Pueblos can mainly be done in the office. They need a little encouragement in farming and raising vegetables, and seeds and tools should be supplied.

STATEHOOD.

In my former reports I have insisted that New Mexico was entitled to immediate admission as a State and have briefly chronicled the steps being taken in that direction.

At the opening of the last session of Congress, in December, 1891, Hon. Antonio Joseph, our delegate, introduced an enabling act, which was generally satisfactory in its provisions. This passed the House of Representatives on June 6, 1892. On arriving in the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Territories and remained in that committee almost to the end of the session. Finally it was reported to the Senate, but with a number of amendments which we considered illib eral and unfair. At the time of the report assurances were made that the bill should be considered and acted on very promptly on the reassembling of Congress next December.

While the bill was in the Senate committee, I addressed a letter to Hon. O. H. Platt, chairman of the committee, briefly stating the arguments in favor of immediate admission. This letter is inserted here as being a concise statement of the facts involved and the views of our people on the subject:

Hon. O. H. PLATT,

EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
Santa Fe, June 25, 1892.

Chairman Committee on Territories, United States Senate: DEAR SIR: On June 6, 1892, House bill No. 7136, being "An act to enable the people of New Mexico to form a constitution and State government," passed the House of Representatives, and on being received in the Senate was referred to your committee.

This is a matter of the most vital importance to the people of this Territory, and I therefore take the liberty of addressing you on the subject and submitting, as briefly as possible, some of the considerations which seem to me to render a longer continuance of territorial government in New Mexico improper and in violation of the rights of our people as American citizens.

RIGHT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT.

Self-government is an inherent right of American citizenship; in fact it is inseparable from the fundamental principles of republican institutions. The right to a representative voice in the legislative body which enacts the laws which he is to obey and imposes the taxes which he is obliged to pay is one dear to every American, and the right to take part in the selection of the national Chief Magistrate and of the local governor and similar officials is likewise one of which he will not willingly be deprived.

These principles of self-government are so fundamental in our institutions that no citizen should be deprived of the right except under such peculiar circumstances as render its exercise impossible or dangerous. When a population is so sparse that it is not able to support a local government or that elections are impracticable, one of these exceptional cases occurs and such a population has to be ruled in some other way and is deprived temporarily of its right to self-government; but the moment the peculiar conditions are removed the disability should vanish with it and the citizen should regain his inherent right.

To apply this practically, while in a section of country the people are so few or so poor as to make self-government impossible, they can be temporarily organized under a territorial government, in order to protect life and property; but the moment they are able to become self-governing they are entitled to that right. A territorial condition is an exceptional one, only intended as a temporary expedient, and is in derogation of the civil rights of all the citizens affected thereby; and, as the normal condition of an American citizen is one of self-government, the burden of proof is upon those who desire to continue the abnormal form, and not upon those who insist on the organization of a State.

We submit that no circumstance now exists in relation to the people of New Mexico which justifies their being longer deprived of their full rights under a State government. If one of them moves into Colorado or into Texas, he is immediately invested with the full rights of American citizenship; if he moves back, he loses them. This is improper and absurd. He is no more intelligent or honest or patriotic because he has crossed an imaginary line, nor does he lose any good qualities when he recrosses it.

Lack of sufficient numbers, or property, or intelligence might cause from necessity a temporary suspension of full civil rights to the inhabitants of a district of country, but I will endeavor to show, briefly but plainly, that neither of such conditions exists in New Mexico at present.

SPECIAL OBLIGATIONS.

Apart from the obligation which the nation owes to each of its citizens to secure to him the right of self-government, except where special exigencies prevent, specific promises were made to the people of New Mexico at the time of its acquisition, which have hitherto been disregarded. When Gen. Kearney made his peaceful entry into Santa Fe, he issued a formal proclamation on August 22, 1846, assuming the government of the entire Territory, and containing this statement: "It is the wish and intention of the United States to provide for New Mexico a free government, with the least possible delay, similar to those in the United States." The people were satisfied with the pacific sentiments of the American commander, relied on the promises of the proclamation, and offered no opposition to the occupation of the whole area of New Mexico. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, executed February 21, 1848, confirmed this promise.

ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN STATEHOOD.

Relying on these pledges and anxious to possess all the rights of American citizenship, the people, early in 1850, held a convention, adopted a constitution, elected State officers, a legislature, and William S. Messervy as member of Congress. In July the legislature elected R. H. Weightman and F. C. Cunningham as Senators, and they, with the member of Congress, proceeded to Washington. While on the journey they were met by the intelligence of the passage, on September 9, of the famous "compromise measure," which admitted California as a State and relegated New Mexico to the condition of a territory.

From that time to the present, attempts to secure admission have constantly been made. The Territorial legislature has repeatedly memorialized Congress on the subject, the Delegates have introduced enabling acts, and the people have never rested contentedly under their deprivation of the rights of citizenship. Congress has not entirely failed to respond to these appeals. Both Houses of the Forty-third Congress passed an enabling act, the House by a vote of 160 to 54 and the Senate by 32 to 11. The bill was slightly amended in the Senate and failed because it was impossible at the end of the session (it passed the Senate February 24) to bring it up for concurrence in the House. In the succeeding Congress a similar bill passed the Senate by a vote of 35 to 15, was reported favorably in the House, but failed to be reached. If it was proper to admit New Mexico in 1874 or 1876, before it possessed a mile of railroad, a single public building, a developed mine, a matured orchard, or an alfalfa field, what reason can now be given for delay, when its population has greatly increased, its condition vastly improved, and its resources of all kinds are being developed into sources of wealth?

POPULATION.

In this respect the claim to statehood is indisputable. No Territory at the time of its admission, with the exception of Dakota, has contained the population now in New Mexico. By the census of 1890 it had 153,076 inhabitants, without counting the Indians on the reservations. The real population, as has been conclusively shown in public documents and is practically unquestioned, was between 180,000 and

185,000, the difficulty of full enumeration where the area is so vast and the population so scattered accounting for the difference. But, taking the census figures, the above statement as to other Territories is correct. The following table shows the date of the admission of each Territory, with its population according to the next preceding census. Of course, in some cases, there had been considerable growth between the census and the date of admission, but there is likewise an increase in New Mexico since 1890.

+ Included with Mississippi.

By census of 1890. The population of both Dakotas in 1880 was 195,177.

The lesson drawn from this table becomes more marked when we remember that in many of the Territories mentioned a large fraction of the population was made up of slaves who were not citizens and had no vote and further that in nearly all of them the proportion of aliens was far greater than in New Mexico. Thus, in Missouri there were over 10,000 slaves; in Florida, over 25,000, and in Louisiana over 34,000. When these numbers are deducted, it reduces the self-governing population quite materially.

So it is evident that there is now no reason, on the score of lack of sufficient population, for depriving the people of New Mexico of the ordinary rights of citizens. On the contrary it has more population than Idaho and Wyoming combined, considerably more than Montana, nearly or quite four times as much as Nevada, and really 15,000 more than Delaware.

FINANCIAL STRENGTH.

The next question is whether the value of taxable property is sufficient to support a State government. If not, that might be a valid reason for longer delay. But we find that the assessed valuation of property in 1891 was $45,329,563. This is much larger than that of many other Territories at the time of their admission. The valuation of the last two States, for example, was as follows: Idaho, $28,000,000; Wyoming, $31,000.000. The credit of New Mexico is excellent, notwithstanding the prejudice against Territorial securities in the financial centers. The only bonds issued during the last four years were $25,000 for the completion of the insane asylum, and although there was some question as to their being in excess of the limit established by Congress, yet they sold for 105. Since July, 1889, the Territory has been gradually redeeming and canceling its outstanding penitentiary bonds, to an amount between $40,000 and $50,000. These were bought at the lowest offers, after thorough advertising, and yet we have been compelled to pay from 107 to 117 per cent for them.

RESOURCES.

The resources of the Territory, as the foundation of its ability to sustain its own government permanently, are properly a matter for inquiry. And on this subject we may make the broad assertion that New Mexico is endowed with greater natural resources, and in greater variety, than any other State or Territory of the Union. This probably sounds extravagant, and may be considered as a specimen of Western hyperbole, but while it is a bold statement, it is made with an entire appreciation of its full significance, and is well considered and deliberate. Let me repeat it. No single State or Territory embraces within its borders the variety and extent of natural resources which exist in New Mexico. Only one approaches it, and that is California; and the possession of almost limitless beds of coal, both bituminous and anthracite, give New Mexico a superiority even over that favored State. If space

permitted it would be easy to show the truth of this general statement. As it is, I must refer to more extended documents, which will be supplied with pleasure, for the particulars.

PUBLIC PROPERTY.

No Territory has ever erected so many public buildings, or possessed so much public property as New Mexico. Without the slightest aid from the National Government, it has built a most beautiful capitol, a substantial penitentiary, and more recently an insane asylum, university, agricultural college, and school of mines. All these latter structures are more than creditable, they are sources of pride and gratification; and they are paid for from taxation without the incurring of any indebtedness, except the sum of $25,000 to complete the insane asylum. In nearly every Western State the institutions of a similar character have been erected wholly or in part by grants of land made at the time of their admission, but New Mexico has not waited for such assistance. In addition to the above, more than half of our counties have erected commodious and elegant court-houses of stone or brick within the past ten years.

It seems strange that with all these facts in her favor, New Mexico should have been so long deprived of statehood. It would be foolish to ignore the fact that there has existed in the Eastern mind a prejudice against her on account of the supposed

CHARACTER of the popuLATION.

By many the people are looked upon as foreign and not in harmony with American institutions. It is strange that this objection should arise in a land which absorbs half a million of foreigners every year, and which manages to assimilate the very worst elements of continental Europe. It should be remembered that New Mexico was acquired in 1846, that all of its inhabitants except the oldest were born on American soil, and that its people belonged to a sister republic with institutions similar to ours, and so needed no new education in free government. For almost half a century they have been electing their legislatures, making their laws, and carrying on their local government under the American system.

The people have shown themselves as loyal as any in the nation. During the rebellion out of her total population of 93,567 she sent 6,561 into the army. Her volunteers fought at Valverde, Peralta, and on other fields; and at Glorieta, together with their comrades of Colorado, defeated the enemy and turned back the column which was advancing northerly from Texas with the intention of cutting off the Pacific Slope from the remainder of the country. The value of that service to the Union cause can scarcely be overestimated. The total number of volunteers from the Territories now composing the six new States of North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming was 1,170. Colorado sent but 4,903, and Nebraska, Oregon, and Nevada, taken together, did not contribute but 6,047, being 500 less than New Mexico alone.

If we look at the foreign element in the population we will find it smaller in New Mexico than anywhere in the country except in certain Southern States. A comparison with Territories recently admitted is instructive in this regard. The figures are those of the census of 1880, which are the latest on this point.

New Mexico contained 7,219 foreign-born inhabitants to 100,000 native-born, or 7 to 100.

Washington had 26 foreign to 100 native.

Wyoming had 39 foreign to 100 native.
Montana had 41 foreign to 100 native.

Idaho had 44 foreign to 100 native.

Dakota had 62 foreign to 100 native.

Even in the older States, New York and Michigan had 31 to 100; Massachusetts, 33; Rhode Island, 36; Wisconsin, 44; California, 51, and Minnesota, 52. So that New Mexico looms up as a specially native American community.

But to the uninformed the large number of voters of Spanish descent is looked upon as a grave misfortune. There could not be a greater mistake. It is the possession of that conservative element in connection with the energetic and enterprising American from the East which gives New Mexico her special advantages as a selfgoverning community over most other Territories. Every one familiar with the far West knows that the principal danger in new communities arises from the unsettled and irresponsible character of much of the population.

They have energy, general intelligence, vigor, and enterprise, and we recognize them in those respects as good State-builders; but at the same time they have some characteristics not so desirable. One is that they are continually "on the move." The number of men through all that region with whom two years is a long residence in any one place is astonishing. The habit of moving is upon them, and they are always looking for some new place to which to migrate. Of course there are