to enable the new States to meet, so far as possible, their existing obligations.

This grant to each of the proposed States may at first appear to be large, but from the information which your committee has been able to obtain from residents and officials in the Territories and from the Interior Department, it is believed that if this land were to be placed upon the market it would not bring an average of more than 25 cents an acre. Some estimates are lower and some slightly higher. If these lands are sold without delay, as the States may desire to sell them so as to relieve themselves of further interest charges, it is believed they will not bring over 25 cents an acre, or $750,000 for each State.

A proviso has been added to the section making the grant to the effect that if any of the lands granted, or any of the proceeds of the sale or lease thereof shall remain after the payment of the debts, such remainder shall become a part of the permanent school fund of the State, the interest from which only can be expended.

If this proviso shall prove to be an incentive for the conservation and improvement of these lands, and their careful management shall provide a larger fund than is needed for the payment of debts, any remainder will be devoted to the excellent purpose of maintaining the common schools of the State.

The grant is a grant to the people for commendable public purposes. The Secretary of the Interior, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, says in reference to this grant of lands for the payment of debts:

I also suggest that special attention should be given by the committee to the 3,000,000-acre grant for payment of debts, and to the class of debts to which this grant should be made applicable. Three million acres is an immense tract. It would probably be selected in large blocks, and since the suggested minimum price in sections 11 and 29 applies only to grants for educational purposes-in other words, grants which are supposed to be permanent funds-the States might find it necessary to sell this land for prices as low as, or lower than, 25 cents per acre.

Arizona is given 300,000 acres more than New Mexico because New Mexico has heretofore had much larger grants for territorial institutions than Arizona.

Each State, as is usual, after admission is to receive 5 per cent of the cash realized from the sale of public lands within the State, to form a permanent fund, the interest of which only can be used for the maintenance of its common schools, and the usual restrictions, requirements, and safeguards are thrown around all of these donations to each of the States.

An appropriation of $100,000 for the State of New Mexico and of $100,000 for the State of Arizona, or so much thereof in each case as may be necessary, is made for defraying the expenses of the conventions provided for in the bill, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior.

It is provided that until the admission of the proposed States the territorial officers shall continue to perform their duties as at present in the respective Territories.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR STATEHOOD.

Article IV, section 3, of the Constitution of the United States provides that "new States may be admitted by Congress into the Union," but the Constitution nowhere defines the qualifications of Territories

for statehood. Congress therefore has discretion as to what conditions shall be required of Territories seeking admission as States, and in exercising that discretion Congress ought to take into consideration not only the number and character of the population and the resources of Territories, but the question of the probability of increase in both.

ARIZONA.

Arizona was a part of the territory acquired from the Republic of Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, and by the Gadsden purchase of December 30, 1853, and was a part of the original Territory of New Mexico, from which it was separated and organized into a Territory in 1863.

It is 378 miles long by 339 miles wide and contains 112,920 square miles, or 73,000,000 acres. By the census of 1900 it had a population of 122,931, of whom 26,480 were Indians, being 1.1 persons to the square mile.

The census of 1900 has always been declared by the people of Arizona to have been inaccurate in that it did not give the Territory as many people as it was claimed were there, it having been impossible for enumerators, because of great distances and lack of time, to completely cover the ground. When the question of statehood was under consideration three years ago, representatives from the Territory asserted well-supported claims that the population was not less than 175,000.

There having been no census since 1900, the committee has been compelled to rely on the estimates of citizens and officials having knowledge of conditions.

A comparison of the vote cast in 1900 with that cast in 1908 at the election for Delegate in Congress, coupled with the fact that great distances tend to a light vote; a similar comparison of the census of school children in 1900 with that in 1908; the more rapid settlement. on agricultural lands, particularly in the vicinity of irrigation projects; the development of mining camps into permanent communities; the increase of 168 per cent in the receipts of post-offices in the Territory since 1900, and the fact that as conditions have become more settled and permanent communities have been established the percentage of women and children has constantly increased, lead to the conclusion that Arizona has a population of not less than 200,000.

The governor estimates the population to be 69 per cent American, 13 per cent Mexican (native and foreign born), 11 per cent Indian, and 6 per cent other foreign nationalities.

There is no reason to suppose the percentage of illiteracy is any greater than it was three years ago when it was estimated by the governor to be not more than 1 per cent.

The Territory has two normal schools with buildings and property valued at approximately $300,000.

It has a university (in connection with which are various other schools such as a military institute, college of mines, and agricultural and mechanical college) with buildings and other property valued at $245,000, an insane asylum with buildings and other property valued at $222,000, a territorial prison with buildings and other property valued at $136,000, and an industrial school (reformatory) with buildings and other property valued at $35,000. The capitol building with the land upon which it stands is valued at $160,000.

There are published in the Territory 18 daily and 54 weekly newspapers (3 in the Spanish language), and 3 periodicals issued monthly. The total assessment of property for taxation for the year 1908 was $80,637,541.49. It is difficult to strike an average of the ratio of assessed value to actual value, but the governor estimates the actual value of property in the Territory to be $450,000,000.

While the lands of the Territory are mainly valuable for agriculture only when irrigated, no reason is known why methods of dry farming employed in various parts of the United States will not be employed in Arinoza. The soil, when once irrigated, is invariably of great fertility.

Two irrigation projects now in construction, on the Colorado near Yuma and on the Salt at Roosevelt, will cost in the aggregate about $9,000,000 and will irrigate nearly 300,000 acres. It should be remembered that this irrigated territory will support a dense population.

There are in Arizona 32 territorial and 13 national banks with a capital and surplus of $3,555,781.64, deposits of $13,849,214.67, and loans and discounts of $9,358,647.95.

Stock raising is an important industry, the value of live stock being estimated at $18,000,000.

The forest area is said to be the largest in the United States, and the national forests cover something over 13,000,000 acres.

The chief industry is mining, and while great mineral wealth has already been developed, it is asserted that the mineral resources of Arizona, so far as developed, are small as compared with its possibilities. The governor states that the "prediction of three years ago that Arizona would lead the world in production of copper has been fulfilled."

The Territory has within its limits approximately 1,900 miles of railroad, as against 1,400 miles three years ago.

The bonded indebtedness of the Territory on June 30, 1908, was $3,113.275.29, which includes the indebtedness of the various counties which has been assumed by the Territory, the counties reimbursing the Territory for the interest paid.

NEW MEXICO.

New Mexico was acquired from the Republic of Mexico by the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, and by the Gadsden purchase of December 30, 1853.

It is 360 miles north and south by 346 miles east and west and contains 122,580 square miles, or 78,451,200 acres, on which, by the census of 1900, lived a population of 195,310, being 1.6 persons to the square mile.

Relying in part upon the same sources of information upon which the population of Arizona has been estimated, and in addition upon records of land entries and upon immigration statistics obtained from the territorial bureau of immigration and from railroads, the gov ernor of New Mexico is of the opinion that the population of the Territory is not far from 450,000. The committee feels entirely safe in saying that New Mexico has a population of not less than 400,000.

The outstanding bonded debt of the Territory on January 1, 1909, was $1,023,000-$305,000 of this amount having been issued in the past year for the improvement of territorial institutions. The sinking fund is $61,680.82.

The aggregate bonded indebtedness of the counties in the Territory is stated by the governor in his last annual report to be $2,795,089.91. The Territory has a university with buildings and land valued at $175,000; agricultural college, $300,000; military institute, $125,000; reform school, $25,000; penitentiary, $300,000; normal schools, $245,000; insane asylum, $125,000; deaf and dumb asylum, $7,000; miners' hospital, $20,000; school of mines, $25,000; blind asylum, $35,000; capitol (old and new capitol bonds), $370,000.

The assessed valuation of property for the year 1908 was $52,526,

295.01.

As in the case of Arizona, it is difficult to fix the ratio of the assessed valuation to the actual value, but the percentage is low, and the governor's estimate that the Territory has over $300,000,000 worth of property is probably not far wrong.

In addition to this actual value of property, subject to taxation, there are many homesteads under cultivation, and many mining claims, where patents have not yet issued, and which are still exempt from taxation. There are probably 400 miles of railroad recently constructed and exempt from taxation for six years. It is estimated that there are 9,000,000,000 tons of coal in the Territory. The value of these resources, not yet subject to taxation, and of other undeveloped resources, is estimated to be not less than $500,000,000.

The Territory has an excellent school system, the buildings alone being estimated to be worth $2,000,000.

The school census taken in August, 1907, showed 84,942 children of school age.

It is stated that there are over 50 sectarian schools conducted by various religious denominations, with an enrollment of over 6,000 pupils.

All the territorial institutions and the public school system of New Mexico have been built and sustained by the Territory without the aid of the Federal Government except by the usual grant of sections 16 and 36 for common-school purposes and by grants of land for territorial institutions.

New Mexico has eight daily and probably nearly a hundred weekly newspapers.

Agriculture in New Mexico is mainly conducted by irrigation along the river valleys of the San Juan, Rio Grande, the Mimbres, the Canadian, the Cimarron, the Gila, the Pecos, their tributaries, and some smaller valleys, although dry farming has developed extensively in the eastern counties of the Territory.

In his annual report for 1908 the governor states;

Irrigation projects now in course of construction will add over 500,000 acres to the area of agricultural lands. These irrigation plants will cost in the neighborhood of $15,000,000.

On January 1, 1909, there were 28 territorial banks in the Territory, with a capitalization of $819,500, combined resources of $4,240,038.88, and deposits of $3,223,132.

On July 15, 1908, New Mexico had 41 national banks, with an ag gregate capital of $2,020,000; surplus, $593,145; undivided profits, $360,219; deposits, $9,995,422; and loans and discounts, $8,570,493.

It is safe to say that the Territory has 3,000 miles of railroad, of which probably 2,600 miles are subject to taxation.

CONCLUSION.

New Mexico and Arizona-particularly New Mexico-have repeatedly applied for admission. Bills for their admission as separate States have many times passed the House, and sometimes have passed both Houses and failed in conference.

In the last six years the Committee on the Territories has devoted much time to the question of statehood, and bills have been fully considered in the House and Senate.

The Republican national platform for 1908 declared as follows:

We favor the immediate admission of the Territories of New Mexico and Arizona as separate States in the Union.

The Democratic national platform for 1908 declared:

The National Democratic party has for the last sixteen years labored for the admission of Arizona and New Mexico as separate States of the Union, and, recognizing that each possesses every qualification successfully to maintain separate state governments, we favor the immediate admission of these Territories as separate States

The pending bill has been prepared with the utmost care, with proper regard for the interests of the people of the proposed States and of the United States, and the committee recommends that it pass.