legal-tender notes, and for payment of the public debt in either silver or gold or both; it condemned the issuance of interest-bearing bonds in time of peace, and declared that public expenses should be reduced, especially fees, salaries, and perquisites of officials, that dealing in futures should be prohibited and trusts and monopolies discouraged; and it favored an income tax, a limit to the term of Federal judges, and "an American Government for American citizens." On State matters these resolutions were included:

Believing the ballot box to be the palladium of liberty, we favor the enactment of laws to guarantee fairness and honesty in elections. We arraign the former and present Democratic administrations for squandering 2,700,000 acres of public-school lands, and we favor, Årst, the abolition of the office of Land Commissioner and, second, the enactment of laws to prohibit the acquisition of land in this State by a nonresident alien and requiring the dispossession of lands now held by such aliens within a given time. We favor a reduction of at least 20 per cent. in the salaries and fees of all public officials.

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A legislative committee in 1892, composed of Democrats, ordered by that body to investigate the Auditor's office, reported that it had not had time to make more than a cursory examination of the office, and that they had not been able to do anything. To make such thorough examinations of the books, vouchers, and warrants as would warrant an exhaustive report would, in your committee's opinion, require several months of diligent work," and the same committee at the session of 1894 " asked leave to say that owing to the limited time and other duties more urgent on the floor of the Legislature, they are not prepared to say they have been able to give that strict examination which alone can make this report accurate." It is inconceivable how a public office could be so conducted as not to show whether or not it was indebted to the Levee Board more than $12,000, or has to be given until Sept. 1 to prove whether or not it owed the money, keeping up its forfeit in the meantime.

The Hemingway and Ferguson defalcation, together with those of numerous sheriffs and county treasurers, is the logical result of ring rule and life tenure.

Debates between the candidates for the office of Governor and others were held through the State. At the election the entire Democratic ticket was successful. The total vote polled was 64,339, of which the Democrats cast 46,873, and the People's party 17,466.

MISSOURI, & Western State, admitted to the Union Aug. 10, 1821; area, 69,415 square miles. The population, according to each decennial census since admission, was 140,455 in 1830; 383,702 in 1840; 682,044 in 1850; 1,182,012 in 1860; 1,721,295 in 1870; 2,168,380 in 1880; and 2,679,184 in 1890. Capital, Jefferson City. Government. The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, William J. Stone, Democrat; Lieutenant Governor, John B. O'Meara; Secretary of State, Alexander A. Lesueur; Auditor, J. M. Seibert; Treasurer, Lon V. Stephens; Adjutant General, Joseph A. Wickham; Superintendent of Education, John R. Kirk; Attorney-General, R. F. Walker; Commissioner of Labor, Henry Blackmore; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Theodore Brace; Associate Justices, Thomas A. Sherwood, Shepard Barclay, James B. Gantt, Gavin D. Burgess, George B. Macfarlane, Walter M. Robinson.

Finances. The Auditor's report for the year ending Dec. 31, 1895, showed: Balance on Jan.

1, 1895, $719,725.43; receipts from all sources, $3,805,977.49; disbursements for all purposes, $4,191,666.77; balance, Dec. 31, 1895, $334,014.15. Of the $2,746,478.50 appropriated from the revenue fund for the general expenses of the State in 1895-'96, $1,687,279.60 was drawn in 1895, leaving $1,061,198.93 to be paid out in 1896. The principal items of appropriations were: Pay of General Assembly, $121,744, and contingent expenses of the same, $92,310.52; civil officers, $232,884.65; costs of criminal cases, $466,351.50; assessing and collecting revenue, $171,746.60; and payments on debt, $527,000. The bonded debt on Jan. 1, 1895, aggregated $6,016,000, and on Dec. 31, $5,489,000, comprising $5,086,000 in 3-per-cent. bonds, redeemable at the pleasure of the State at any time before 1907, and of $403,000 in 6-per-cent. bonds. Of the last class of bonds, $55,000 was payable on Jan. 1, 1896, and $337,000 on July 1 following, leaving only $11,000 to be paid in 1897.

Valuations.-The State Board of Equaliza tion fixed the values of real and personal property for taxation in 1895 as follow: Acreage property, returned by assessors, $337,676,032; net decrease by the board, $30,952,498; value as fixed by the board, $306,923,534; town lots, returned by assessors, $410,693,363; net decrease, $3,493,697; value as fixed, $407,199,666; and personal property, returned by assessors, $218,048,473; net decrease, $1,513,448; value as fixed, $216,535,025. The items summarized show: Aggregate returned by assessors, $966,617.868; net decrease by the board, $35,959,543; and aggre gate as fixed by the board, $930,658,225. The board reported fully on the results of the assessors' convention of 1894, called by the Governor at the request of the board to remedy the inequalities in the assessment of property. The convention adopted resolutions recommending the assessment of property at its true value. The expectations of the board were not realized, as efforts to assess according to the statute were made in 15 counties only, thus creating greater discrepancies than before. The board was therefore compelled to equalize the aggregate returns by reducing those in the 15 counties and increas ing those in others where the valuations were manifestly too low.

Banks.-The State banks, on April 3, 1895, numbered 482, and had a combined capital of $20,070,040; loans and discounts, $60,913,434; total resources, $102,867,688; deposits, $68,312,358; surplus, $8,722,890. The loan-and-trust companies numbered 7, and had aggregate capital of $6,150,000; loans and discounts, $4,164,011; total resources, $16,367,807; deposits, $6.687,974; and surplus and undivided profits, $1,413,766. There were also 94 private banks with reported capital of $1,191,860; resources, $8,258,390; deposits, $6,053,389; loans and discounts, $4,591,729; and surplus, $418,056. The State had an aggregate banking capital of $46,526,900, and the banks had deposits of $127.935,200, loans and discounts of $122,043,328, and surplus of $13,689,797.

Education.-The annual statement of the United States Commissioner of Education, Sept. 1, 1895, reported an enrollment of 657,505 pupils in the public schools, an average daily attendance of 469,846 pupils, and an expenditure for

public education, exclusive of payments on debts, of $5,816,634. There were 5,567 male teachers and 8,954 female teachers—total, 14,521. For superior education there were 30 universities and colleges of liberal arts, with 528 professors and instructors; 7,219 students (4,968 males and 2,251 females); and 147,551 volumes in the libraries. The value of grounds and buildings was $4,203,200, of scientific apparatus and libraries, $201,050. The institutions had productive funds aggregating $2,955,958, and a total income in 1893-'94 of $542,472.

Taxable Manufactures. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, the collections of internal revenue in the two districts into which the State is divided aggregated $7,830,900.70. There were 878 cigar factories, which in the calendar year 1894 used 1,196,040 pounds of tobacco in the manufacture of cigars and 3,880 pounds in that of cigarettes, and had an output of 65,420,772 cigars and 1,194,800 cigarettes; and 92 other factories, which used 45,253,659 pounds of leaf tobacco, 2,236,759 pounds of scraps, and 1,587,739 pounds of stems, 11,967,951 pounds of licorice, 6,999,406 pounds of sugar, and 2,605,570 pounds of other materials, and had an output of 51,948,338 pounds of plug tobacco, 85,057 pounds of fine cut, 5,569,077 pounds of smoking tobacco, and 26,012 pounds of snuff. The revenue stamps required for the sale of the different kinds of manufactured tobacco cost $3,461,653.14. During the year 53 out of 76 grain distilleries and 16 out of 18 fruit distilleries were in operation. The production of fruit brandy was 5,606 gallons from apples and 192 gallons from grapes, and of fermented liquors, 2,132,743 barrels. The amount of spirits rectified was 2,760,364-16 gallons, and amount of distilled spirits gauged, 8,598,080 gallons. Oleomargarine was manufactured to the amount of 1,013,544 pounds.

Agriculture.—The United States Department of Agriculture reported as follows on the principal crops of the calendar year 1895: Corn, 6,613,118 acres, 238,072,248 bushels, value $47,614,450; wheat, 1,541,664 acres, 18,499,968 bushels, value $9,434,984; oats, 1,102,805 acres, 30,547,699 bushels, value $5,498,586; rye, 20,183 acres, 246,233 bushels, value $96,031; potatoes, 98,764 acres, 10,765,276 bushels, value $2,691,319; and hay, 2,329,731 acres, 2,725,785 tons, value $18,535,338; total value, $83,870,708. The department's estimate of the average farm price of the principal products, on Dec. 1, 1895, was as follows: Corn, 20 cents per bushel; wheat, 51; rye, 39; oats, 18; barley, 48; buckwheat, 58; Irish potatoes, 25; sweet potatoes, 42; hay, $6.80 per ton; cotton, 74 cents per pound; and leaf tobacco, 8.7 cents per pound.

Live Stock.-In January, 1895, the United States Department of Agriculture estimated the number and value of farm animals in the State as follows: Horses, 998,277, value $27,031,442; mules, 249,123, value $8,096,916; milch cows, 753,447, value $14,014,114; oxen and other cattle, 1,794,670, value $28,036,872; sheep, 860,820, value $1,401,587; and swine, 3,561,136, value $16.050,041; total value, $94,630,972. Mineral Productions. The eleventh report of the United States Geological Survey on Mineral Resources of the United States," which was issued at the close of 1895, covers the calendar

year 1894, and shows a considerable decrease in amounts and values of many of these products in Missouri, largely caused by the business depression and local labor troubles of that year. The most important of these industries is coal mining, which had a product of 2,245,039 short tons, valued at $2,634,564, a decrease in quantity of 652,403 short tons and in value of $928,193 from the output and value of 1893. Of the total product, 1,955,255 tons were loaded at the mines for shipment, 242,501 tons were sold to local trade and used by employees, and 47,283 tons were used at the mines for steam and heat. The average number of men employed was 7,523, and the average price per ton at the mine was $1.17, a decrease of 6 cents from 1893. There were 3 coking establishments in the State, operated exclusively for the zinc-smelting works, which had 10 ovens, used 3,442 short tons of coal, and produced 2,250 tons of coke, valued at $3,563. The quarry products were granite, $98,757, a decrease from $388,803 in 1893, principally taken from Iron, Wayne, St. François, and Madison Counties; sandstone, $131,687, an increase from $75,701 in 1893; and limestone, $578,802, a decrease from $861,563 in 1893 and $1,859,960 in 1890. Of manufactures of clay products, reports from 242 establishments showed an output of 258,922,000 common and pressed brick, valued at $1,541,553; ornamental brick to the value of $47,933; fire brick, $202,722; vitrified and paving brick, $190,220; drain tile, $172,220; sewer pipe, $150,000; tile other than drain, $24,679; and miscellaneous articles, $286,026; total value, $2,615,578. Iron mines yielded 64,601 long tons of red hematite and 17,325 of brown-total, 81,926; and the production of pig iron declined from 32,360 long tons in 1893 to 6,522 tons. Of ocher there was a product of 1,800 short tons; value, $23,160.

Commerce.-During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, the receipts of imported merchandise at the interior ports of delivery of Kansas City, St. Joseph, and St. Louis aggregated in value $3,358,148, an increase of $1,091,187 over the total of the previous year.

Defense of the Ballot. In April the Supreme Court of the State rendered an important decision in connection with the new ballot law. At the elections in November, 1894, gross frauds were alleged to have been committed in Kansas City and in Jackson County, and the grand jury called on the recorder of voters to produce the ballot boxes for inspection. The recorder demurred, and the case went to the Supreme Court, which denied the right of the criminal court to compel the recorder to produce the ballot boxes, and held that to give the grand jury the right to inspect the ballot boxes would be a violation of the secrecy of the ballot, as well as an infringement of the Constitution. In summing up, the court said: "The considerations which induced the States of this Union to adopt the secret ballot not only continue to exist, but others have been added. The timid voter today it not only protected from his opulent employer, but from the aggressive spirit of his own fellows and the dominations of brotherhoods

and unions."

Missouri at Chickamauga.-The State will be represented on this historic battlefield by 4

monuments, 2 commemorating the Bledsoe and Barrett batteries of the Confederate Army, and 2 in honor of the Second and Fifteenth Regiments of Missouri Infantry that served in Laibold's Brigade of the National Army.

Immigration. During 1895 a large number of wagon trains of settlers passed through Ozark, going southward. Douglas and Taney Counties have attracted most of the immigrants, and the Government lands in the White river country have become popular with people of limited means from the more crowded States. Among the new settlers are many experienced farmers, anxious to escape the cold winters of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.

Political. The Free-silver Democratic members of the Legislature held conferences in Jefferson City, May 1 and 2, and adopted resolutions declaring that the vital question before the country was the money question, and that the Democratic party from its organization had always been a party of bimetallism, claiming that the redemption money of the country and the basis of all currency and paper credits should be both gold and silver, and that these metals should be coined at the ratio of 16 to 1. The resolutions also asked the Democratic State Committee to call a convention for the purpose of enabling the Democratic party of Missouri to declare its views on the subject. A convention was held at Pertle Springs, Aug. 6, and Congressman R. P. Bland was chosen chairman. The convention decided to reorganize the State Democratic Central Committee by adding 19 new members, 1 from each congressional district and 4 from the State at large, and authorized calls for a State convention to elect delegates to the National Convention not later than April 15, 1896, and for another to nominate candidates for State offices, to be held after the National Convention. A platform was adopted which contained the following resolutions:

That we, the Democratic party of Missouri, in convention assembled, demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold into primary or redemption money at the ratio of 16 to 1, without waiting for the action or approval of any other nation; and

That we are irrevocably opposed to the substitution for metallic money cf a panic-breeding corporation credit currency based on a single metal, the supply of which is so limited that it can be cornered at any time by a few banking institutions in Europe and

America.

That we are opposed to the policy and practice of surrendering to the holders of the obligations of the United States the option, reserved by the law of the Government, of redeeming such obligations in either silver coin or gold coin.

That we are opposed to the issuing of interestbearing bonds of the United States in time of peace, and especially are we opposed to placing the Treasury of the Government under the control of any syndicate of bankers, and the issuance of bonds to be sold by them at an enormous profit, for the purpose of supplying the Federal Treasury with gold to maintain the policy of gold monometallism.

MONTANA, a Western State, admitted to the Union Nov. 8, 1889; area, 146.080 square miles; population, according to the census of 1890, 132,159. Capital, Helena.

Government. The following were the State officers during the year: Governor, John E. Rickards; Lieutenant Governor, Alexander C.

Botkin; Secretary of State, Louis Rotwitt; Treasurer, Frederick W. Wright; Auditor, Andrew B. Cook; Attorney-General, Henri J. Haskell; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Eugene A. Steere: Adjutant General, C. F. Lloyd -all Republicans; Game and Fish Warden, C. S. Taylor; State Examiner, D. D. Bogart; Register of the Land Office, S. A. Swiggett; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Y. Pemberton, Populist-Democrat; Associate Justices, W. H. De Witt and W. H. Hunt, Republicans.

Finances.-The assessed valuation of all the counties is $124,076,585.50, and the total indebtedness is $2,798,030.82. The tax levy in the counties varies from 14 mills in Lewis and Clarke County to 274 in Custer. The railroads are assessed at $10,522,354, which is included in the above total. In 1894 they were assessed at $10,062,457. The live-stock assessments were increased in all the counties by the State board. In providing for the bounties to be paid for wolves, coyotes, or other stock-destroying animals, the legislative act named two sources of supply for the fund-one the State and county licenses, of which 5 per cent. is devoted to the purpose, and the other a tax of 14 mill on the assessed value of live stock throughout the State. It is estimated that the percentage of licenses will amount to about $20,000, and $30,000 more will be raised by the tax. The assessed value of horses in the State is $3,391,571; of cattle, $11,446,888; of sheep, $4,135,987.

The balances on hand in the following funds, Nov. 3, 1895, were: Escheated estates, $5,773.20; permanent school fund, $156,498.04; school income fund, $47,972.47; University fund, $9,850.10; Normal School bond fund, $2.321.90; State Capitol building fund. $4.745.22; Reform school building fund, $1,546.58; Agricultural College bond fund, $176.97: general fund, $32.415.95; stock inspection and detective fund, $353.55; stock indemnity fund, $2.481.94; sheep inspection and indemnity fund, $5,676.41; State bounty fund, $2.53; beautifying State Capitol grounds, $3,220; total, $273,034.86.

Education.-Under the new law the State school fund was established, and $51,044.50 received from the sale and lease of school lands was in the treasury at the end of the year, to be divided among the counties at $1.30 per capita. The number of children between the ages of six and twenty-one is 39.265.

The State University, at Missoula, was opened for the first time in September, with Oscar J. Craig as president. Missoula gives the use of a new school building for the university until the State shall have erected one.

The Agricultural College, at Bozeman, had an enrollment of 120 the first term of the year. It has a farm of 160 acres, and a building site of 20 acres. Contracts have been let for buildings. A building has been finished for the experiment station, and several farm buildings. Temporary accommodations are provided for the classes.

Contracts have also been let for building the State Normal School at Dillon.

State Institutions.-The report of the State Prison, at Deer Lodge, for the year ending Nov. 30, 1895, shows a total of 321 convicts. 2 of whom are sentenced for forty years, and 18 for life. The current expense for the year was

$46,726.20. The prisoners have built a massive stone wall around the grounds, and assisted in the work on the new building, the cost of which was $19,427.51 in addition to their labor, which, at the rate of $1 a day, amounted to $39,623. The completion of the building, which has taken two years, was celebrated Dec. 5 and 6 by musical and dramatic entertainments, the performers being inmates of the prison. A school was opened in the prison Dec. 12. Both instructors and pupils are convicts.

The legislative committee appointed to inspect the Insane Asylum at Warm Springs commended the management in every particular. The plant is not owned by the State.

The first annual report of the State Orphans' Home, at Twin Bridges, shows that the institution is in good running order. There are 5 employees, including the superintendent, and 21 children. The average cost of each for one week is $5.29.

The Asylum for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Children, at Boulder, had only 13 in attendance in February-all that could be accommodated while there were 40 applications for admission. The Legislature of 1895 made provision for suitable buildings.

The Reform School, near Miles City, had in February 37 inmates, of whom 6 were girls, of ages from eight to twenty. Of the land given to the school by Miles City, 35 acres were put under cultivation in 1894, and 5 left for pasture. The crop raised was worth about $2,200.

Railroads.—A suit of one railway corporation against another, involving the right of the one to condemn lands already condemned by the other, but not in use by them, was decided by the Supreme Court in favor of the new road, the court holding that the land could be recondemned if not in actual use.

The Montana Railroad Company has bought the Montana Midland. The articles of incorporation state that the line of the road is to be extended through Lewis and Clarke, Jefferson, Meagher, and Gallatin Counties. The capital stock is $3,500,000.

Banks. The following summaries show the resources and liabilities of the 2 savings banks on Oct. 7, 1895: Loans and discounts, $662,101.82; overdrafts, $66,059.90; stocks and bonds, $515,273.80; due from other banks, $272,640.88; banking houses, furniture, etc.. $80,221.15; other real estate, $89,525.61; current expenses and taxes, $4,250.26; cash and cash items, $331,319.21; total, $2,021,392.63.

The liabilities are: Capital stock, $200.000; surplus, $55,000; undivided profits, $57,360.12; deposits subject to check, $528,955.26; individual deposit on interest, $887,374.90; demand certificates on deposit, $94,831.07; time certificates of deposit, $185.609.02; cashiers checks. $9,919.76; due other banks, $2,342.50; total, $2,021,392.63.

Irrigation. Work has been going on during the year on the Tongue river irrigating canal in Custer County; but two or more seasons in addition will be required to finish it. A canal in Park County was completed in July after three years' work. It taps the Yellowstone about a mile above Fridley and is 12 feet wide on the bottom. It winds around on the bench land

and has a length of 13 miles. The canal has a capacity for carrying water sufficient to irrigate about 2,500 acres.

State Lands.-The office of State Land Register was created by the last Legislature. This officer has charge of all lands in which the State is interested. The Government gave 72 sections to the Territory in 1881, amounting to 46,080 acres; and in 1889 it gave 622,000 acres for public institutions. Sections of land aggregating 235,510.06 have been selected. When land is sold outright it is sold at its appraised value, provided it brings $10 an acre. No land is sold for less than that sum. When property is sold the money derived from the sale goes into the permanent school fund, while the interest and rentals go into the general school fund.

Industries and Products.-The wool clip of 1894 was 6,527,469 pounds, and the quantity in 1895 was estimated as considerably larger. A State Wool-growers' Association was organized in November. The chief inspector for the Montana Stock-growers' Association, reported the number of Montana cattle received at Chicago this season as 215,534. During the season he forwarded $135,358.31 to the secretary of the association for estrays.

The dry season was unfavorable not only to the farmers and stock men, but also to those engaged in placer mining. Many rich strikes and valuable finds have been reported from the mining districts during the year. One of these is the finding of valuable ore in a "belt lead" running east and west through Helena, which had been theoretically located by Prof. F. Carr. Lump Gulch is a silver camp which has been largely developed in the past year. A strike of very rich gold ore at Whitehall, in the Pipestone district, was reported in June. A rich gold strike is said to have been made on Deer creek above De Borgia, and the Monitor Gulch district, beyond Rimini, has been attracting attention this season, also the Ontario district west of Helena, while the Marysville district north of Helena, one of the oldest in the State, has been brought into fresh notice, and valuable properties have been opened up. Other localities where rich deposits of gold have been reported are St. Louis, Birch creek, in Meagher County, Belt creek, near Neihart, and the Little Rocky, Beaver creek, Curlew, and Prickly Pear districts.

A rich strike of copper was made at Meaderville in May, a ledge of copper glance 16 feet in width. The copper works at Anaconda have a capacity for turning out 50 tons of refined copper a day.

The discovery of a large deposit of asbetos 12 miles from Dillon was reported early in the year. It was traced 2,500 feet and is over 100 feet wide. A company has been formed to work the gypsum deposits at Kilby.

A new discovery of valuable lead ore, showing an average of nearly $60 a ton, has been made in Park County.

According to the figures given out from the Government assay office at Helena, the values of metals produced in the State in 1894 are as follow: Gold, fine, $3,868.428.87; silver, fine, $17,634,219.78; copper. $17.233,718.66; lead, $730,551.82; total, $39,466,919.13.

The silver is estimated at the coinage value of $1.29 an ounce.

Fort Harrison.-The new military post was established at Helena in September, when 2 companies of infantry arrived from Fort Assiniboine to garrison the fort. The site comprises 1,040 acres, of which 200 acres are hilly and will in time be used for bomb-proof cellars. When all the buildings are up they will form almost a complete circle. Appropriations amounting to $300,000 have been expended upon them.

The Cree Indians.-Several hundreds of these Indians formerly living in British territory, but expatriated in the Riel rebellion, are roaming about the State, perfectly lawless and a terror to the people in the sparsely settled districts. The Legislature adopted a memorial to Congress asking that they might be returned to their own country or settled on some of the reserved land. This was vetoed by the Governor on the ground that the only proper course was to insist upon the removal of these foreign Indians from the State. The veto was sustained. Legislative Session.-The Legislature convened Jan. 7, and adjourned March 7. On joint ballot, the Republicans had 56 members, the Democrats 7, the Populists 15, the Fusion and Populists 3, the Independent Republicans and Populists 1. Representative Swett was Speaker of the House.

Two United States Senators were to be chosen, one for the regular term beginning March 4, 1895, and one to fill a vacancy caused by the failure of the third Legislative Assembly to elect. The Republicans nominated Lee Mantle for the vacancy and Thomas H. Carter for the full term. Before the vote was taken a communication was sent into the House from the A. P. A. headquarters in Butte, protesting against the election of Mr. Carter, who is a Catholic. When the reading had proceeded far enough to show the tenor of the remonstrance its reading was interrupted, and by unanimous vote the House directed that it be returned as unopened. All the Republican members voted for the nominees.

The radical work of the session was the adoption of the new code, which had been prepared by the Code Commission. It was not merely a codification of existing laws of the State, but involved some changes, especially in the code of civil procedure, where the code prepared for New York by David Dudley Field was mainly followed. The House committee to which were referred the 4 codes-viz., the code of civil procedure, the penal code, the civil code, and the political code-reported that they should be adopted at the earliest day possible.

The codes were enrolled and passed as recommended, and amended in various particulars, especially the political code. A bill to prevent corrupt practices at elections and requiring published statements of election expenses by candidates became a law, and one to regulate the holding of caucuses and primary elections. An act relative to the marking of ballots was vetoed and passed over the veto.

The law on the sale of property for delinquent taxes was amended.

Bills were introduced for the creation of 4 new counties, but only 2, Carbon and Sweet Grass, were formed.

A bill was passed authorizing the construction of a Capitol at Helena, to cost $1,000,000. One previously passed provided for a commission to buy a site. The money is to come from the sale of lands given to Montana by the Government for such purpose.

A law was made forbidding all forms of gambling. Heretofore games of chance have been licensed; the revenue from this source in 1894 was $34,894.44, of which the State treasury received one fourth. The new law, placing Montana in line with most of the other States in this respect, was to go into operation July 1, and at that time gambling places were closed. But it was claimed that the law was not properly passed, owing to an erroneous title, which made it an amendment to a section in the code which contained no reference to gambling. Test cases were brought before two district judges, who decided that the law was void, and their decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court.

The game laws were amended. Fishing is allowed throughout the year, but can be done only with a pole, hook and line, or a spear. Bison, buffalo, quail and Chinese pheasant, female moose and elk are protected indefinitely. The open season for bull moose and elk is from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15. The open season for deer, mountain sheep, Rocky Mountain goats, and antelope is from Sept. 15 to Jan. 1. During that time no person is allowed to kill more than 8 animals of each kind. Prairie chicken, grouse, fool hen, pheasant, or partridge can be killed between Aug. 15 and Jan. 1, and during the open season no more than 100 birds of each kind may be killed. Ducks, brant, and geese may be hunted between Aug. 15 and May 15. All kinds of singing birds are protected forever. A Board of Fish and Game Commissioners was created.

Later in the year the Attorney-General decided that the law of 1893, which was not repealed or amended, is still in force. That law makes it illegal to kill any elk or moose for six years.

Several bills were introduced providing for the establishment and maintenance of a soldiers' home, each naming a location. They were referred to the Committee on State Institutions, and it reported a substitute which was passed, providing for the location of a soldiers' home, but leaving the selection of a site to a committee of 5 veterans, to be appointed by the Governor, no more than 2 to to be from the same Grand Army post. Appropriations of $10,000 for a building and $13.000 for support for two years were made. The committee decided upon a site at Columbia Falls, 50 feet above Flathead river, and about half a mile from the Great Northern Railway. Other acts of the session were:

Providing for a State examiner.

Creating a free State employment agency in connection with the Bureau of Agriculture, Labor, and Industry.

Providing for the payment of bounties on certain stock-destroying animals and to create a bounty

fund.

To provide a floral emblem for Montana.

To protect associations and unions of workingmen and persons in their labels, trade-marks, and forms of advertising.

Providing for the erection of buildings for the State Normal School.