tile Apaches, until the last one is subdued. It will be necessary to adopt a militia system, by which an organization can be perfected as our population increases. Companies of rangers are the only force that can at present be made effective, and an Adjutant-General, who may also be Acting Quartermaster-General, is the only officer requiring to be compensated.

"The legislature and the Governor are also required to locate the permanent capital of the territory. Your superior knowledge of the territory and of the wishes and interests of the people, will enable you to determine that question satisfactorily. I can only urge that no considerations of local advantage, or sectional feeling and jealousy, should be suffered to control a question of so great public importance, but that a point should be selected which will become the centre of population, and aid the development of the Territory.

"The claims and advantages of the different sites should be carefully weighed, and a location be made that will not require an immediate change. The advantages to the territory of a permanent settlement of this question are too obvious to require enumeration.

"One of the most interesting and important subjects that will engage your attention is the establishment of a system of common schools.

"Self-government and universal education are inseparable. The one can be exercised only as the other is enjoyed. The common school, the high school, and the university, should all be established, and are worthy of your fostering The first duty of the legislators of a free state is to make, as far as lies in their power,

care.

education as free to all its citizens as the air they breathe. A system of common schools is the grand foundation upon which the whole superstructure should rest. If that be broad and firm, a symmetrical and elegant temple of learning will be erected. I earnestly recommend that a proportion of the funds raised by taxation be appropriated for these purposes, and that a beginning, though small, be made.

"The act organizing the territory of New Mexico provides, that when the lands in this territory shall be surveyed under the direction of the government of the United States, preparatory to bringing the same into market, sections numbered sixteen and thirty-six in each township are reserved for the purpose of being applied to schools in said territory, and in the states and territories hereafter to be created out of the same. It does not seem to me that any portion of this donation can be made immediately available.

"It is for you to determine what legislation, if any, the interests of Arizona require under this donation, or what further legislation in that direction should be asked of Congress.

"The act of July 2, 1862, the operation of which has been extended by an act of the present Congress, has provided for the establishment of an agricultural college in every state or territory that shall avail itself of its provisions, and comply with its conditions. I recommend that you take the necessary steps to enable the territory to accept this donation. The only school which I have visited in the territory, though doubtless there are others, is one at the old Mission church of San Xavier. If any such insti

tution be recognized by an endowment I suggest that some aid be given to this school. A small donation at this time would materially assist an ancient and most laudable charity of the church to which a large proportion of our people belong, and would encourage it in preserving one of the most beautiful remnants of art on the continent.

"The most extensive and important interest of this territory is the mineral wealth. Its development will be greatly promoted by well considered and liberal legislation. The miners may with propriety be permitted to adopt regulations for the placer mines, which are soon exhausted, under such restrictions as will prevent a monopoly of claims. The interests of those engaged in silver, gold, and other mines worked by machinery, as well as the advancement and prosperity of the territory, require the adoption of a mining code, and, if practicable, one that has received judicial interpretation. Moreover, if the mining states and territories regulate the possessory rights to such mines, as they may legally do, by laws which are equitable, adapted to their peculiar situation, and calculated to secure the development of the mineral, one argument for the interference of the federal government is removed. The people of these communities have regarded with the greatest solicitude the propositions which have recently been made for the taxation, sale or exclusive possession by government of the mineral lands. That abuses now exist which should be remedied by legislation is very apparent. Mining districts in this territory are created and divided by the votes of a few persons, records are imperfectly

kept, and the regulations of adjacent districts differ in material points, without any sufficient reason for the variance. This state of things must produce, in this as it has in other countries, under similar conditions, protracted and ruinous litigation whenever the claims become valuable. Uniformity in the ordinances, and a legal authentication of titles, should as far as practicable be secured.

"The scheme of taxation and seigniorage proposed in Congress would effectually drive the people from the mineral lands, without expressly providing for their exclusion. The whole country will be vastly more benefited by encouraging by its policy the discovery and constant working of the mines, thereby permanently increasing wealth and the sources of revenue, than it would be by any sum which might be realized by the present or prospective sale of the mineral lands. Moreover such sale would result in monopoly-it would put this important interest beyond the control of Congress, and would drive from the frontier the prospector and the pioneer-the vanguard of that army of occupation which has built up an empire on the shores of the Pacific. The mining law of Mexico gives to the discoverer of a mine the right to open and work it, and makes his title absolute and perfect so long as it is worked. If this policy be adopted I believe that the discovery and development of our mineral wealth will be assisted and secured. It gives full scope to the enterprise and energy of our people, and would have fully vindicated its wisdom in Mexico, but for the distracted condition of that unhappy country. The ordinance is liberal, equi

table and just. I recommend that you make it the basis of a code, confirming to the proper extent the rights previously acquired under the laws of mining districts, and making their records evidence in the courts. A majority of you are miners, and have the experience and practical knowledge which will enable you to make such modifications in the details as our laws and conditions require. I suggest that you make the decision of mining rights as summary as is consistent with the administration of justice, and in the nature of proceedings in equity. It is for the interest of litigants and joint owners that there should be a speedy determination of conflicting claims, and the territory cannot afford that the development of its resources should be suspended while the time and money of its citizens are consumed in unprofitable litigation, and in order to furnish information to our citizens of what property is claimed and has been conveyed, all conveyances of mines or real estate, made since the country was acquired by the United States, and all grants, should be recorded within a specified time, in the county in which the subject of the grant is situated. I advise that such record be required to be made within one year from the time fixed in your law, and that it shall operate as notice, and the conveyance, though defective in form, be received in the courts as evidence of title and transfer.

"Persons during the past few years have acquired mining claims and possessory rights to real estate, which if continued and improved should be recognized. Many have abandoned their interests on account of Indian difficulties, the rebellion, or because they believe them to be