And whereas, the bonded indebtedness was incurred before the passage of the said Springer Act by congress.

And whereas, the said floating debt is a source of great annoyance and the cause of vexatious litigation and it is the desire of the commissioners of said Taos county and the people of said county to recognize as legal, and to pay the said floating debt, and not to repudiate any portion of any legal obligation of said county.

And whereas, it is the desire of the people of the County of Taos to refund the entire bonded indebtedness of said county into five per cent. bonds, and to refund the floating debt of said county into five per cent. bonds, and thereby place the County of Taos upon a sound financial basis and without increasing the annual interest charge.

And whereas, it is the desire of said County of Taos and the people thereof to have this bonded debt legalized beyond any question of doubt on account of the said limitation placed upon the indebtedness of counties by the Springer Act in view of the fact that it is the desire now to refund the bonded debt at a lower rate of interest, so that the value of the said refunded bonds may not be injured.

And whereas, it is the desire of the people of the County of Taos to pay all of their debts in full and the people are fully able to meet all their obligations provided they are given the right and authority to bond the floating debt of Taos county; and it is the earnest desire of the said county to reduce the interest rate upon the present bonded debt which said bonds have now reached optional maturity.

And whereas, the annual interest charge upon the entire bonded debt of said county, including the floating debt, at the rate of five per cent. would not be in excess of the present annual interest charge upon the present bonded debt at the rate of six per cent.

And whereas, the present interest charge is being promptly met and discharged by the said county upon the basis of the present taxable valuation.

And whereas, the valuation of the County of Taos is now greatly increased by the addition of many land grants to the taxable valuation, which land grants have been lately confirmed and the official surveys thereof have been approved by the court of private land claims; and the valuation of the said county is being rapidly increased by the rapid development of the mining resources of the county, and the reclamation of much arid land by irrigation enterprises.

Now, therefore, your memorialist, the 35th legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, earnestly prays for the passage of an act by congress authorizing and empower

ing the County of Taos to fund its floating debt of seven thousand dollars ($7,000.00) and its bonded debt of forty-two thousand and four hundred dollars ($42,400.00) six per cent. bonds into five per cent. bonds. And,

Be it resolved, by the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, that the chief clerk of the council of the legislative assembly of the territory be and he is hereby directed to certify copies hereof to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and to our delegate to congress, Honorable Bernard S. Rodey.

JOINT MEMORIAL 5.

REQUESTING THE PASSAGE OF H. R. 17,087 INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 27TH, 1903, TO PERMIT THE ERECTION OF DRIFT FENCES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS IN NEW MEXICO AT PLACES WHERE SUCH LANDS ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY NEEDED FOR SETTLEMENT OR

OTHER USES. H. J. M. No. 2; Approved March 4, 1903.

Memorial to the Congress of the United States:

Your memorialist, the 35th legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, now in session at Santa Fe, most respectfully represents that:

Whereas, the cattle interests of New Mexico are threatened by tick-infected cattle which drift from fever-infected districts in the State of Texas across our east and south territorial lines, and,

Whereas, the said country covers a distance of over four hundred miles, which cannot be adequately protected by the cattle sanitary board of this territory, and whereas said H. R. Bill 17,087 introduced by Hon. Bernard S. Rodey, delegate to congress, will permit the cattle men to erect fences, thus preventing the invasion of fever-infected cattle into our territory from the State of Texas.

Therefore be it resolved, by the legislative assembly as the representatives of the people of the Territory of New Mexico, that we ask for, and urge upon the congress of the United States that they pass said mentioned bill.

Be it further resolved, that the secretary of the territory be, and hereby is directed to make, and transmit four copies of this memorial to our delegate in congress, one for himself and three to be transmitted by him to the chairmen of the proper committees of the senate and house of representatives.

JOINT MEMORIAL 6.

RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF AMERICAN CITIZENS, TEMPORARILY RESIDING IN MEXICO. H. J. M. No. 3; Approved

March 9, 1903.

To the President:

SIR: Your memorialist, the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, respectfully represents that there are a large number of American citizens, residing in the Republic of Mexico, who are engaged in the train service of the various railroad companies operating lines of railway and other occupations in that country.

That, under the peculiar laws and institutions of that republic, a person charged with any infraction of its laws is compelled to prove himself innocent, the burden of proof in any case resting upon the individual to prove his innocence rather than upon the government to prove his guilt.

That there are at present confined in the jails of Mexico a large number of American citizens whose occupation is that of railroading, who, while in the conduct and operation of locomotives and trains of cars in various parts of the republic, have been so unfortunate as to meet with accidents resulting in the death of some Mexican citizen, for the death of whom no one is criminally or otherwise liable or chargeable with blame or neglect.

That many such unfortunate trainmen have been unable to secure a trial upon the charges on which they have been incarcerated and have likewise been refused the privilege of giving bond for their appearance at any trial therefor.

That citizens of other nations, notably England, France and Germany, are always speedily released upon bond or given a trial within a reasonable length of time when charged with similar infraction of law.

Now, therefore, your memorialist, most earnestly requests that the government of the United States of America, through its state department may institute such proper proceedings or undertake the prosecution of such diplomatic relations with the government of the Mexican Republic as will speedily terminate the wrongful detention of American citizens charged with infraction of Mexican laws as in this memorial represented and prevent the recurrence thereof, thereby affording to our citizens the same protection as is given to the citizens of other governments temporarily residing in Mexico and pursuing the vocations herein stated. And your memorialist will ever pray, and,

Be it resolved, that the chief clerk of the house of representatives of the 35th legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, be, and he hereby is directed to transmit a copy of the foregoing memorial to the president of the United States.

JOINT MEMORIAL 7.

REQUESTING THAT THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR SEGREGATE CERTAIN LANDS IN SAN JUAN COUNTY. H. J. M. No. 4: Approved March 16, 1903.

The 35th legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico:

To the Honorable, the Secretary of the Interior:

Whereas, there are thousands of acres of public lands situate on the Rio Las Animas and the Rio San Juan, in the County of San Juan, in the Territory of New Mexico, which lands are of unrivalled fertility and productiveness when supplied with water for irrigation purposes, and,

Whereas, said streams of water have a never failing supply, being fed by the snow falls in the lofty ranges of the Rocky Mountains in the State of Colorado where these streams have their source, and,

Whereas, there are a number of suitable reservoir sites and more especially one very desirable site within six miles of the town of La Plata in said County of San Juan, and,

Whereas, if the government of the United States, under the act of congress, would build said reservoir and other reservoirs at suitable places in said County of San Juan, there could be thousands of acres of the public lands reclaimed and. made desirable for settlement and occupation by American families in a section of the country which has the most salubrious climate and the most productive soil of any section in the world.

Now therefore, your memorialist respectfully requests and most earnestly solicits that under and pursuant to the provisions of said act which authorizes your department to make investigations, that you at the earliest possible opportunity order that an investigation of the possibilities of said sections be made and that as soon as the reservoir sites may be located that the lands thereunder and which can be irrigated from said reservoirs be segregated from the public domain and held for actual settlers as contemplated by the terms of the act of congress.

Be it resolved, that certified copies of this memorial be

transmitted by the governor of the Territory of New Mexico to the president of the United States and to the Honorable, the Secretary of the Interior.

JOINT MEMORIAL 8.

REQUESTING THE PASSAGE BY CONGRESS OF HOUSE BILL NO. 15369, KNOWN AS THE GOOD ROADS LAW. H. J. M. No. 5: Approved March 17, 1903.

Whereas, it appears that there is now pending in the congress of the United States, a measure introduced by Honorable Walter P. Brownlow in the house of representatives which seeks to establish a policy to be pursued by the United States government in reference to the public improvement of the public highways of the country, and,

Whereas, the said bill appears to be a good and wholesome measure for the establishment and maintenance of public highways in the country.

Now, therefore, your memorialist, the 35th legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, respectfully requests the congress of the United States to pass said bill at its next regular session, believing that the same will be of a great and lasting benefit to the people of the country, Now, therefore, Be it resolved by the 35th Legislative Assembly of the Territory of New Mexico:

That the foregoing memorial be and the same hereby is adopted, and that the secretary of this territory be and he is hereby requested to certify copies thereof to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives of the United States, and a copy to our delegate in congress, the Honorable B. S. Rodey, and to Honorable W. P. Brownlow, at Washington, D. C.