The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1899-03-31
49,. 9.
ENGLISH IN NEW MEXICO



federal census of 1890 total population
of $4,000, had by the same census the
-unenviable distinction Of having high
er ratio of illiteracy among the white
population than any other civil division
in the United States. OF the totalnum-
Der of white inha bitants in New Mex
leo over the age of 10 years. Al per cent.
were returned as illiterate, though in
the country at large the ratio is only
Z per cent. Moreover. the ratio Of illit-
eracy among the colored population
was higher $50 per cent? in New Mex.
leo than in any other state or territory.
The number of Spanish-speaking resi-
dents of New Mexico was higher than
in any other civil division of the coun-
try In proportion to the whole popula-
ton. The industrial and educational
backwardness of New Mexico is her
itage of Spanish rule and Spanish meth
DDS, which has been further perpet-
uated by physical conditions of the
territory unfavorable to immigration.
The last report of the interior depart
ment shows, however, that the intro
duction of American notions and the
acceptance of American methods are
bringing about a radical change in New
Mexico, the present population of
which is put by the territorial governor
at $4,000, due in chief measure to the
influx of new immigrants.
The educational institutions of the
territory are now reported to be in a
fourishing condition. The enrolment
in public schools is given as 150,327;
average daily attendance, 105. s19; num-
Der of schools, 1885; receipts, 81 1884,
613.ss; expenditures, $1,000, 376.16. Sew
enty-nine per cent. of the present pop
ulation are able to read and write, leav-
ing only 81 per cent. of illiterates.
There has been marked change since
1890. ., ~
1t is. estimated that the percentage of
the Inhabitants unable to speak Eng
lish will not, in 1900, exceed IS per cent,
as against Gill per cent. as shown
by the census of ten years ago. The
chief bar to the admission of New Mex
leo as state has heretofore been not
the dearth of population or lack of ma
terial resources, but the fact that the
ratio of illiteracy was so high and the
influence of foreign methods and GUS
toms so great. By the census of 1890,
as before stated, the total population
of New Mexico was 153, 900 and by the
same census Wyoming had population
of $4,000 and Idaho of $4,000, collective
ly less than New Mexico, but both have
been admitted into the union with all
the rights of states and with two. SEN
ators each. Nevada. which has been a
state since 1864. had, by the last census,
a total population of only $4,000, and
Montana had when admitted popula-
ton of only 10000. North Dakota
when admitted as state had a pop
ulation of only 100000, and the popu-
lation of New Mexico nine years ago
was very little less than that of Del
aware. The large number of illiterate
inhabitants in New Mexico, however,
has been a bar to the favorable con-
sideration of its desires for statehood.
but this bar, it would seem from the
reports of the interior department, is
being rapidly removed. An encourage
ing evidence of the spread of Amer
lean ideas in the territory is referred
to by the secretary of the interior in
his report. quoting the territorial gov
ernor: "More men in New Mexico re-
sponded under each call than were re-
quired to fill our quota, and in their
eagerness to serve their country it is
estimated that $50 enlisted in the regu-
lar army and in the regiments from
the states, some of whom are now with
the army in the Philippine islands.
Thus New Mexico has furnished 1859
soldiers for the late war, and would and
could have furnished many more had
the opportunity been afforded" Y.
Sun.