Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1878.djvu/45

Rh The difficulty of securing conviction in criminal cases is referred to, and, in the opinion of the governor, is due to the defective jury law in force. Certain suggestions are made looking to the proper remedy, which should receive the consideration of Congress.

The governor of Montana gives a glowing account of the present condition of the Territory. Its climate is represented as mild and healthy; its water courses, of purest water, frequent and convenient; its soil rich in all the elements of productiveness; its mines of precious metals rich and profitable, and its educational facilities, considering the means at the disposal of the Territory, equal to those of the most favored State. The average production of wheat to the acre is claimed to be larger than any of the great grain-producing States of the Northwest. Agricultural lands are abundant in all the valleys, and, for fertility, are represented to be unsurpassed. The development of the mineral resources of the Territory is still in its infancy. The absence of railroads makes the transportation of machinery and ores very expensive, and thus retards the growth of one of the leading industries. The product of the gold and silver mines for the present year is estimated at $7,000,000. The completion of the Utah Northern Railroad, running from Ogden, Utah, to Helena, Mont., and now in course of construction, will lead to a much larger development of the mining interest. Coal abounds in paying quantities, and timber of fair quality and of commercial value is found in nearly all parts of the Territory. Stock-raising is a growing industry, Montana offering advantages possessed by few sections of the country. The grass is abundant and of good quality; the winters mild; the valleys are protected by the high mountains, and water is found where needed. Since the settlement of the Territory the loss of stock from the severity of the winters has not exceeded 3 per cent. per annum. The governor says, “It is believed that the bunch grass is worth more to the Territory than its mines of gold and silver. This peculiar grass starts up early in the spring, reaches maturity in July, and cures where it stands, thus affording a ready supply of food for stock during the autumn and winter months.” The exports from the Territory are gold and silver bullion, cattle, wool, robes, hides, and furs. The wool-clip for the year reached 1,000,000 pounds. In speaking of the people of Montana, the governor says, “They are mainly from the Middle and Western States, are energetic, enterprising, intelligent, law-abiding, liberal, and patriotic, and are of the right kind of material to found the leading commonwealth of the great New Northwest.”

The present school law provides for the levy of a tax of from three to five mills upon all the taxable property of the counties. The money collected is apportioned among the various school districts by the county superintendents of public instruction, and drawn from the treasury on order of the district trustees, countersigned by the clerk of the district. Each district is empowered to levy special taxes for building school-houses or extending the school term after the public money is exhausted.