Report of business transacted in the district court of the fifth_judicial district of the Territory of New Mexico for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901.

The protection of life and property has never been more secure in any of the old-established States than it is to-day in New Mexico. In verification of this declaration I invite perusal of the appended reports, covering the five judicial districts of the Territory, by the prosecuting attorneys thereof, and in connection herewith I may add that, taken as a whole, New Mexico at this time is enabled to boast a system of laws second to no State in the Union. The legislative

assemblies have of late years taken advanced position on all subjects relating to the public weal, with the result that New Mexico is now reaping the benefits thereof in a most substantial manner.

REPORTS BY DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.

SANTA FE, N. MEX., June 30, 1901.

SIR: In obedience to your request I beg leave to submit the following report of the criminal business in my hands as district attorney for the first judicial district of New Mexico:

In the above summary it appears that there are 5 murder cases pending, whereas all 5 indictments arise out of one murder.

The murder cases shown in the above summary are cases of several years' standing, in which the accused can not be found. In one case the accused is in the penitentiary and will be tried at the next term. There were no murder cases in Rio Arriba County during the past year.

The indictment in the murder case shown in the above summary was returned in 1898, and the accused can not be found.

The robbery, burglary, and larceny indictments grew out of a single hold-up, for which the defendant was convicted at the April term.

In the cases that have been dismissed in the respective counties of the first judicial district the witnesses have removed from the Territory, making it impossible to secure evidence, or the defendants have never been found.

The foregoing report covers the criminal business of the first judicial district for the year ending June 30, 1901, with the exception of the September term of district court for Santa Fe County of 1900, during which time my predecessor was district attorney. Court has been held in the other three counties, namely, Taos, Rio Arriba, and San Juan, once each during the year.

By comparison with the report of the district attorney for the first district for the two years ending December 31, 1900, it is shown that crimes of a serious nature are rapidly disappearing. There have been but two murders within the