the north, Minnesota on the east, South Dakota on the south, and Montana on the west. It is situated about half-way between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and midway between Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Its average extent from north to south is about 210 miles, and from east to west about 360 miles. It has an area of 74,312 square miles, or 47,569,680 acres.

11. The enabling act provided that the governor of the Territory should issue a proclamation on April 15, 1889, ordering an election to be held on the Tuesday after the second Monday in May, 1889, at which election the qualified electors of that part of the Territory which it was proposed should form the State of North Dakota should choose delegates to a constitutional convention to be held at Bismarck, and the electors of that part of the Territory which it was proposed should form the State of South Dakota should choose delegates to a constitutional convention to be held at Sioux Falls.

12. The act stipulated that these conventions should declare, on behalf of the people of the proposed new States, that they adopted the Constitution of the United States. They were then authorized to form state constitutions and state governments, which should be republican in form and which should not violate the Constitution of the United States or the principles of the Declaration of Independence. It required that they should provide, by ordinances irrevocable without the consent of the United States and the people of said States, "for the perfect toleration of religious sentiment and freedom of worship; that the people should disclaim all right and title to unappropriated public lands within the boundaries of the proposed States; that all debts and liabilities of the Territory should be assumed by the proposed new States; that provision should be made for establishing and maintaining a system of public schools which should be open to all children of the State and free from sectarian control; that the constitutions formed by

the conventions should provide that property belonging to non-residents should not be taxed at a higher rate than that belonging to residents; that property within the States belonging to the United States should never be taxed; and that a commission should be appointed by the conventions to make an equitable division of the property of the Territory, of its records, and of its debts."

13. The act provided that the constitution framed by the conventions should be submitted to the people on the first Tuesday in October, 1889; that a governor and all other state officers, members of the state legislature, and a representative to Congress might be elected on the same day, the officers elected to remain in abeyance until the State should be admitted into the Union; that if the constitution should be adopted by a majority vote of the electors, the governor should report the result, with a copy of the constitution, to the President of the United States, who should examine the same, and if it was found that the provisions of the enabling act had been complied with, and that the government of the proposed new State was republican in form, the President should issue a proclamation declaring the result, and the State should be deemed admitted to the Union on and after the date of the proclamation.

14. The constitutional convention of North Dakota met at Bismarck July 4, 1889. The number of delegates composing the convention was seventy-five, fifty-six of whom were Republicans and nineteen Democrats.

15. It is interesting to note what different States and nations contributed to the constitution-making body: 13 delegates were born in Wisconsin, 10 in New York, 5 in Iowa, 4 in Ohio, 3 each in the States of Maine and Pennsylvania, 2 each in the States of Indiana, Minnesota, Vermont, Illinois, and Connecticut, 1 each in the States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Michigan, making 52 born in the United States; 23 were born

in other countries-10 in Canada, 5 in Norway and Sweden, 3 in England, 3 in Scotland, and 2 in Ireland.

16. There was a difference of opinion as to whether many things should not be embraced in the organic law of the State which in most of the older state constitutions had been left to the legislature.

Governor Mellette, who was then governor of the Territory, and not a member of the convention, in a brief address said: "If you know the proper things to embrace in the constitution, the more there is in it the better. One of the greatest evils is excessive legislation-the constant change of the laws every two years, and the squabbles and debates over the different questions that constantly arise."

17. Judge T. M. Cooley of Michigan also addressed the convention, and his ideas of constitution-making differed somewhat from those of Governor Mellette. He said: "Do not, in your constitution-making, legislate too much. Leave something for the legislature. You have to trust somebody in the future, and it is right and proper that each department of government should be trusted to perform its legitimate function." Evidently the convention inclined to the advice of the governor rather than to that of the judge.

Among the questions on which there was a difference of opinion and which elicited discussion may be mentioned conditions of elective franchise; township organization; one or two houses in the legislature; prohibition; and the location of state and educational institutions.

18. An amendment providing for the registration of all legal voters was proposed and lost.

There are many who would like to see such a law on the statute-books. The purity of the ballot cannot be too watchfully and sacredly guarded.

The convention completed its work and adjourned on the forty-fifth day of its session, August 17, 1889. The constitution was submitted to the people October 1, 1889,

and was adopted by a vote of 27,441 votes in its favor against 8107 opposing votes.

19. A statement of the result of the election, and the vote showing that the constitution formed by the convention had been adopted by the electors, together with a copy of the constitution, were sent by Governor Mellette to President Harrison, who, in a proclamation dated November 2, 1889, announced the admission of North Dakota as a State into the Union.

20. The officers chosen by the electors October 1, 1889, the day on which the constitution was adopted, were: Governor, John Miller; lieutenant-governor, Alfred Dickey; secretary of state, John Flittie; state treasurer, Lewis E. Booker; state auditor, John P. Bray; superintendent of public instruction, William Mitchell; attorney-general, George F. Goodwin; commissioner of insurance, A. L. Carey; commissioner of agriculture, H. F. Helgesen. J. A. Percival was appointed public examiner.

The first representative in Congress was Henry C. Hansbrough.

The first judges of the state supreme court were Guy C. Corliss, chief justice, Joseph M. Bartholomew, and Alfred Wallin.

21. One of Governor Miller's first official acts was to call together the state legislature, the members of which had also been elected October 1, 1889, the day on which the constitution was adopted. The first legislature of the State of North Dakota met November 20, 1889, at Bismarck, and elected Ex-Governor Gilbert A. Pierce and Lyman R. Casey the first United States senators from the State of North Dakota.

22. North Dakota is an agricultural State, wheat being the staple product; but diversified farming is receiving more attention every year. All the small grains and vegetables are successfully grown, and it would not be surising if some day the southern portion of the State

should claim to be in the corn belt. Stock-raising of all kinds is on the increase, and it is believed that North Dakota will eventually rank high as a wool-producing State.

23. Manufacturing interests are receiving considerable attention, and if the problem of fuel can be satisfactorily solved these industries will add materially to the prosperity of the State.

24. The undeveloped resources of the State are an important factor in solving the problem of its future growth. Among these are to be classed the culture of the sugar-beet, the development of the coal-beds, and the utilization of clay products. Careful investigations and analyses already made are encouraging and worthy of attention. Among the reports on these subjects is one made to the commissioner of agriculture and labor by Prof. E. J. Babcock, professor of chemistry in the University of North Dakota. As a result of analyses of soils and of samples of beets raised in different parts of the State, Prof. Babcock says: "So far, experiments have shown the soil and climate of North Dakota to be well suited to the culture of sugar-beets, the yield being good and the quality rich. . . . The immense beds of coal which exist in this State will afford a cheap and abundant supply of fuel, while the factories (for making the sugar) will in turn help to make a market for coal."

25. The large area in the northern and western parts of the State covered by deposits of lignite coal shows that the quantity is abundant; as to quality, Prof. Babcock says: "For general heating purposes the value of coal can usually be approximately estimated by the amount of fixed carbon it contains. The fixed carbon in North Dakota coal analyzed averages 44.71 per cent.; that of Iowa, 45.42 per cent.; that of Indiana, 51.20 per cent.; and that of Ohio, 58.10 per cent." This, in connection with the small percentage of sulphur and the character