IDAHO TERRITORY.

Organized by act of Congress approved March 3, 1863.

Area, 86.294 square miles. Population, (United States census of 1870,) 14,886.

From the report of the Hon. Daniel Cram, superintendent of public instruction, for the years 1867-63, it appears that in the latter year the number of school districts

were..

Number of school-houses.

Number of schools..

Whole number of children between five and twenty-one years..

Number of scholars attending school...

Number of children not attending school..

Amount paid teachers...

Total expenses....

Number of libraries and volumes.

24

12

15

926

345

581

$4,603

5,799

None.

Many of the settlers do not seem to appreciate the necessity and advantages of education, and the superintendent therefore makes the following recommendations:

"In the absence of a school-house in districts entirely able to provide suitable school buildings, I would suggest the propriety of such legislative action as will secure to the trustees the means of school accommodations in these several districts; and were said boards authorized, in the exercise of a sound discretion, to levy, collect, and expend a ' reasonable tax for such buildings, or for repairing the same, it is believed that such a law would be beneficial to the district thus taxed, and would be approved by the people of the Territory.

"The absence of school-houses in some districts is not founded on the want of means or ability to build them; they are evidences of selfishness or ignorance wherever they are found. Hence a law of the kind indicated would not be regarded as oppressive. "There is a commendable spirit manifested throughout the Territory, and the county superintendents seem alive to the cause. Briefly, then, our needs are money and teachers.

"That which Idaho needs most, in order to educate her children, is to foster her general school fund, and increase it in every possible way."

A letter from the superintendent of public instruction of Idaho Territory, Hon. Daniel Cram, contains the following information:

"It is impossible," he states, "for me to visit the different counties personally, as there is no money in the territorial school fund applicable for that purpose, and the expense of traveling in this Territory is no small item, and more than I am willing to expend personally, although I have a heart and interest in the cause, and am willing to do all I reasonably can to advance it. The month of October is the end of the fiscal school year.

"Our school law is ambiguous, and no material changes have been made in it of late only to confuse the operations of the same.

"Our Territory is in much need of congressional aid; at the same time this aid should be met by, and through the legislature of the Territory, in conjunction with the Government, by a reasonable tax or appropriation.”

THE THIRTY-SIXTH SECTION EXCLUDED BY THE LEGISLATURE FROM SCHOOL PURPOSES.

The United States school law provides that sections 16 and 36 be reserved in each township for school purposes. The territorial school law excludes the thirty-sixth section; this only gives the proceeds of the 16th section for school purposes.

ARTICLE I-SCHOOL FUND.

SECTION 1.-Money from sale of congressional land grants, with the EXCEPTION of the proceeds of the sale of the thirty-sixth section of the public lands, &c., &c.

A citizen of Idaho, writing on the subject, makes the following comment upon this action of the legislature:

"The law reserving the sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections for school purposes, you will see in section 1 of this act partly ignored; but really it does not amount to anything, for all the lands of any value were taken up before the survey, and unless there is some special provision made, I doubt whether there will be any school lands in the Territory. There is no way of getting any lands, in lieu of those previously claimed, to survey, unless it might be timber in the mountains, and that is not now surveyed. Í would suggest a special survey for that purpose, not allowing persons to claim the timber until the school lands should be selected."

21 E

MONTANA TERRITORY.

Organized by act of Congress, May 26, 1864.

Area, 143,776 square miles. Population, (United States census of 1870,) 20,422. Montana Territory, with a breadth of latitude equal to the distance from Long Island Sound straight north to the St. Lawrence, stretches its monster proportions along tho northern national boundary for nearly 700 miles-from the twenty-seventh to thirtyninth meridian degrees of longitude, or one-thirtieth the circle of the globe on the forty-ninth parallel of latitude. Much of her land is of excellent quality, and the climatic influences among the best of a continent. She will have, when surveyed, 5,112,055 acres for school purposes.

The superintendent reported, in 1868, that the condition of her schools was not favorable; that circumstances and influences have opposed the practical workings of a system, moreover, not perfectly adapted to the territorial condition. Indeed, he says that four years' experience has demonstrated "its utter inadequacy to meet our demands." In every community a general interest was manifesting itself, but the reports of county superintendents were not sufficiently full.

Madison County reported herself able to maintain, with her then population and school tax, "about ten schools, a majority of them for the greater part of the year." Her schools were considered efficient and her people quite interested.

The superintendent of Meagher County reported, that though he had "districted this county soon after his appointment, he had not succeeded in having a single district organized." His report shows nothing beyond the amount of money in the treasury belonging to the school fund.

The county of Deer Lodge gives a more flattering report. In the organized districts, schools are well sustained, and the people are generally showing a lively interest in the subject of education.

The report from Gallatin was merely statistical, but the territorial superintendent inferred from it "that the valley county is not behind in her educational facilities, and that her schools are in a healthy condition."

"Lewis and Clarke County has only three organized districts, two of which, in the Prickly Pear Valley, sustain good schools during the winter months. The Helena district has now three common schools, with an aggregate attendance of 181 pupils." Much interest was manifested, and zeal and energy displayed, by the Helena board of school directors. A select school of more than twenty pupils was also in existence. At Helena there are also two denominational schools, Catholic and Methodist.

The territorial superintendent says of the Sunday schools: "They are springing up in every town of note, and are becoming a power in the land.”

SCHOOL FUND AND CONGRESSIONAL AID.

"We have no permanent school fund in the Territory, nor have we any legislation tending to the establishment of such a fund. The sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of land given by the United States for schooling purposes are generally reserved to the townships in which they are located, or to the counties, and never, so far as I have been able to learn, enter into a State or territorial fund.

"It seems to me of paramount importance that we should have some nucleus established, around which we could form a territorial fund, the interest only of which should be appropriated annually for school purposes. How to establish such a point, from what source to create such a fund, are questions to which I have given much thought and investigation, without reaching any very satisfactory conclusion. Would not that spirit of liberality which has ever characterized the policy of the general government in matters of education, warrant the legislature in memorializing Congress on this subject -vital alike to the interests of the nation as to the prosperity of the Territory-asking that a portion of the United States revenue collected in the Territory, for a limited period, be set apart for this purpose?

"I trust I shall be pardoned for this suggestion, for it is the only feasible plan that presents itself to me for the accomplishment of the desired end. The government could well afford to make such an appropriation. The hardy and adventurous pioneer has opened up a wilderness to civilization, from the bosom of which he has extracted millions of dollars in gold, which he has thrown into the circulating wealth of the nation. The lands, only a few years ago valueless, are now sought for with eagerness; and the land office in this city is becoming the repository of thousands of our hardearned treasure."

From an interesting letter from a well known citizen of Montana, whose opinions are entitled to consideration, the following is taken:

"In 1864 there were some 10,000 people, from all parts of the country, assembled at Virginia City, attracted by the marvellous accounts of the wealth of the placer mines in Alder Gulch. That portion of this population from the East was largely composed

of disbanded soldiers of Price's army, while the emigration from the West contained some of the worst characters of the Pacific State. For three years, or until the commencement of 1867, crime was punished by a vigilance committee, said to have embraced all the best men in the Territory, whose executions were frequent and summary. During this period many families from the Western States, and some from New England, settled in the Territory, and society began to improve. A school was established and well attended. The legislature, at its first session in 1864-'65, passed a school law. Though no general interest was felt in schools, a few kept the subject alive, a superintendent was elected, and, since 1865, most parts of the settled portions of the Territory have been supplied with schools, some of which are said to be very good, though no graded school has been yet established.

"While the interest in education is increasing, some of the best citizens of Montana complain that unfortunate political collisions between parties give to legislation a partisan character, and withhold the legislature from giving proper attention to school laws and school funds. This leads some of the better classes to seek schools in the States for their children."

Number of school

25

787

572

15

704

† Included in column of males.