Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-08-07

their pueblos Is fact and that this
Is eleyating them ls true, Neverthe.
less the Job Of civilizing the Puehlos
according. 10 our ideas and standards
is very slow and In many instances
II kills estimate the number Of
Pueblo towns at nineteen and the
number OF Inhabitants at about 5000,
"They are not retrograding, but the
Improvement Is slow, and there Ia
much hope for them. The children
at the various schools are generally
found 10 be gentle, docile and tract.
able. They are none too bright, and
II takes many years 10 drill an aver.
age common school education into
them. There are exceptions, how
ever; there are a number Of bright
young men and women among them
now who are practically civilized &C.
cording TO American ideas and are
striving TO attain n higher elevation.
Upon the whole. I should say that the
Christianization and civilization ac-
corded them by our government has
done them good. Had II not been for
these two powerful agencies ! believe
they would have dwindled away very
rapidly and would be among the ex-
tinct races very soon. believe that
had II not been for the care and watch.
ful attention given them bv the fed.
eral government great numbers of
them would have died OF disease, such
as smallpox, diphtheria and typhoid
fever. From TIL; fate the supervis.
ion, regulation an! care given by the
officials OF the government has. savet
them 10 a great extal'. although even
row, Under the mo-r careful rules ard
regulations. eped.in.cs will appear a.j
ctrry off the aged and the children
N tco great numb9's."
What is the increase of population
in the territory"
"The increase Of population has
been great. The census of 1900 gave
us less than 100000 people. The
latest and best estimate obtainable
gives us nearly 100000. We polled at
the election in November 1904, total
OF 43,007 votes out OF registered
vote of 64,422. Many new towns have
sprung up since the census and many
hamlets are now found where at one
time there was not a house or even a
sheep camp. The number Of children,
according to the school census of
1904, is steadily on the increase.
The latest annual report Of the super
intendent of public instruction shows
6S,400 children Of school age in the
territory and 52.S26 enrolled. We have
found It necessary in the past five
years TO create six new counties and
a large number of precincts and school
districts. The number has increased
by twenty-five per cent.
Take 1t all in all, do not hesitate
to claim for New Mexico about 300,-
600 people--rather more than less
and these are people either native
born or who have come here to make
permanent homes. One thing to
IL sSs' 'fsEssTna7@sssr, E
sus Of 1900, sNsw Mexico has the
largest number of native-born citizens
Of any commonwealth in this great
country"
is New Mexico self-supporting?"
/ asked.
"The people of New Mexico, con-
trary to all reports. are self-support-
ing" said Governor Otero with en-
phasis. THE flour, groceries, manu-
factured articles, furniture and lux
uries they import and purchase are
paid for with what they raise and pro-
duce-sheep, cattle, horses. goats,
fruits, precious and base metals. coal,
wool, hides, pelts and lumber What
ever they import in the way Of flour.
groceries and the necessaries of life
they pay for, dollar for dollar, and
give the people from whom they pur-
chase a handsome profit. That being
the case, New Mexico must be called
selfsupporting, and more than self
supporting.
you know perfectly well that the
beef trust. for instance, could not sell
us pound Of meat Of any kind unless
We paid for it. The clothing and dry
goods, boots and shoes, blankets, gro
ceries, furniture and machinery and
everything we import we pay for, and
Concluded on Page Two.)