| Show I A MEXICAN TOWN Many of the People are Yet Mere Nomads NOTHING IF NOT PATRIOTIC The Superstition Among the Lower Classes Women at the ConfessionalThe Snake and the Eagle LL PALOMAL Mex via Deming K M Tune 20 1891 Correspondence of THE HEIULF However one may consider it Mexico is an interesting country Whether the topic is the people or tha government there is something about it altogether unique Owing however to the continual strife both foreign and domestic in which the country has been involved settlers have taken a tempesous political condi ion to be an offset to all the advantages an equable temperature and unbounded Agricultural and mineral resources could otTer But since 1SG1 all the conteniton has ceased and the country is now in thrace th-race for the preferments political greatness great-ness against all the world Many of the people are yet in a nomadic state living in the mountains to the south and west but the greater part of them even of the native races live in towns These settlement in northern Chihuahua at least seem all to have been built after the same pattern The Mexican houses are built right up to the narrow streets on either side in a solid row from end to end of the block presenting present-ing but for the doors and an occasional window the appearance of a solid wall there being not a roof in sight This describes de-scribes tne ordinary Mexican town throughout with the exception of the plaza or public square always provided and usually aoout the centre of the place A whole olock is set off for this purpose and around its edges are erected benches formed of adobes plastered and whitewashed white-washed From each corner wide gravelled walks lead up between rows of such benches or fancifully arranged flower beds to the center of the block where a circular canopied music stand indicates the use to which the plaza is dedicated In the business busi-ness portions of town some of the storefronts store-fronts are clustered painted and quite fantastically fan-tastically lettered but it is common in other points to see only the dead bare auobe walls On the interior the bare ground sometimes however covered in places with skins or hides serves as a floor Topping the music stand on the plaza a piommcnt feature of the place is tile liberty pole where the national colors maybe may-be seen fiyingon any of the numerous holidays holi-days 1 ue flag of Mexico is made up oC three upright bars of red white and green of equal widths and in the order named counting from tho staff On tho middle i bar of white is mounted the national emblem an eagle standing with one loot on H cactus holding a writhing snake in the other talon With this emblem there goes an interesting legend When the Aztecs in their wanderings from tho far north reached the lake situated in the valley of Mexico they saw so tradition has it an eagle flying with a snake in his talons wan island away out in the water Alighting on a cactus the bird make short work of the reptile and so gave to the worn pilgrims pil-grims the assurance of triumph over every adversity To realize the happy omen the little band located their capital on that island and there the City of Mexico stands today while tho eagle holds the place ol honor in everything Mexican for tho Mexicans arc patriotic to the last degree t their national hymn reminding one of the Marseillaise of Prance Two stanzas run us follows Oh may the olive branch of peace Dear ratherlm1 wae over thee For writ in Heaven by Gods own hand I Is thine eternal destiny And if the foe with loot profane Invade thy soil O sacred land Each son of thine a soldier born The fierce Invasion shall withstand tt CUOUDS Mexicans haste to fight and bleed Make ready frard and forid ed need Lei the earth tremble to its core Exulting in the cannons roar tt Behold them plunged in bloody strife The love which animates each heart liaref them on to give their life And eer count death the better part Tue former exploits of thy son O Fatherland remcmbr now 4 Once again immortt crowns Of laurel shrill adorn thv hrntt n And Mexican patriotism has ample opportunity op-portunity for exercise for the political celebrations cel-ebrations numoer nineteen cno of them being the 2id of February the anniversary of the birthday of Washington wbilo among the lower classes the religious holidays holi-days occur about every week of the year Indeed the great unwashed of Mexico except those who have masters do little else than follow the religious observances of Catholicism The superstition of the lower ten thousand Is just such as one would expect to find if he were set down iu tbe time of the Inquisition At Paso del forte one may see on any Sabbath day the rituals of old Spain over again As one + r approaches the church there said to be about three hundred years old ho notices that all who pass the house raise their hats People are passing in and out all the time Inside are thirty or forty people men women and children all with uncovered beads Tnere are no seats and the people are kneeling in line about thirty feet from tbe door Fifty feet farther on toward the pulpit are two upright boxes having something of the appearance of bookcases axiod up against tbe wall on either a aide A woman kneeling at the side of each on a little step and apparently speaking f speak-ing to some one inside That is the confessional F con-fessional As the performance is concluded con-cluded and the confessors pass out others L from the line take their places The women L f Mem to do most of the confessing Those i i a in line who do not go forward rise and 2 y w Y J kneel again and again all the time speaking speak-ing in a low tone for eight or ten minutes I I at the close of which the body the forehead fore-head and the lips are crossed with the I linger and the devotee goes out but not without crossing himself over again after passing the strangers just inside the door One traveler gives a statement of account for a peon of Mexico as follows Weeks wares S3 CATo CA-To priest Jl 45 To pulque 50 To family support C5 Total 5 00 2 OJ In disposition the fullblooded Mexicans are peaceable and goodintentioned but an admixture with the whites seems to make them quarrelsome and vicious generally In about the same degree that the lower I I classes of Mexico are superstitious the educated ed-ucated people are irreligious it being a favorite expression with them that Uno i Mexican of intelligence believes in anything i i I any-thing Wiling to let the old world jog on I at its own pace they often quote eEL quc He meta a redtmttor sale crucincado He that enters as a redeemer comes out crucified I cruci-fied The attitude of the state too toward to-ward the Catholic following anything but friendly antl ever since the establishment of the constitution of 1557 under President I Beneto Juarez every effort has been made I to free the common people from the domination i i I domi-nation of the church Tbe laws provide I that no ecclesiastical body can hold anymore any-more land than their building stands upon The ringing of church bells for more than three minutes at a time is prohibited bylaw j j I in some cities and they may not bo rung any oftener than once in a half hour Protestants i I Pro-testants however are encouraged to establish estab-lish churches in the public the state allowing labor to be expended in the erection erec-tion of houses of worship free of charge The idea of convicts building houses of worship bas for grotesqueness its counterpart I counter-part in almost everything one sees hereIn here-In the laws for instance tho constitution itself provides for a civil debt and yet the prisons are full of men for just that cause and this in all good conscience and seriousness serious-ness Contrary to tho constitution 1 Of course not Tbe debtor is tried before the court judgment had againstjhim and the judge orders him to have the amount of the judgment in court by a certain time The time comes the money is not produced in court and the man goes to prison For the debt Certainly not Simply because he didnt do as the judge told him to The national constitution is framed almost exactly after that of the United States and the laws are intended to be patterned after ours but in the enforcement of them there is a great deal of difference dif-ference In the first place the decision I I de-cision of a controversy depends almost entirely en-tirely on the Influence brought to bear on the judge Another cause of uncertainty 1 c I I is the great amount of discretion with which the officials are invested For example ex-ample a colonist is allowed to take into I tbe country free of dutv household roods proportionable to uhfs social position in the I opinion of the administrator of the particular particu-lar custom house As a result ono colonist colon-ist will pass tbo custom house with no trouble at all taking twice the amount of goods that another will have a great deal of anoyanjo in getting through and that for reasons not related to the social position posi-tion of either The lands of Mexico have nearly all been disposed of in grants For public service or on condition of securing a stated number of colonists but more often on account of influence the public land has been given away till none but the least desirable is left to the government The real estate is therefore in the hands of a few men comparatively many of whom own millions of acres in abstract Under the laws relating to haciendas the owner of a large estate is civilly the equal of the feudal lord of mediaeval times A great part of the real estate Is held in this way but the institution is confined mainly to the southern part OL the country in practice prac-tice On entering Mexico duty must be paid on all goods except a team and wagon household house-hold furniture provisions wearinc apparel and machinery A partial list of custom dues is as follows Mares 20 geldings f4U stallions 20 mules 2 cattle of all i kinds o I The heads of the government are very i kindly disposed toward all incomers of good I moral character and especially toward tao Mormon people I I As to business ventures it is not too much to say that with equal care larger I I returns can oe had from an investment in Mexico than any other country in the i world The country is at peace has unbounded un-bounded resources and the people will bail with pleasure the advent I among thorn of tradesmen miners and agriculturists Perhaps the most natural undertaking to sucgest itself to the observer ob-server would be the raising of cattle or I sheep Hero are vast stretches of plain land covered tho year round with some one of the interchanging grasses ready to hand for the ranchman without money and without with-out price This is not to say that tha land Is not owned by some one and H often the owner has cattle roaming at large on his land but objection Is seldom made to cattle ranging where they will and when free range is not given by the owner the charges are merely nominal Along the streams in somo places a rental would be asked perhaps but by digging a well and I erecting a windmill pump out on the open i plain or in an indented vale of the low hills I a stockman would have his herds right in i he midst of the range and bo entirely 1 independent The tariff on fleece wool Is 12 cents on carded 20 cents The local price of wool ranges from 20 to 1J5 cents per pound The native cattle of the country are the well known Texas breed and the horses are of the pony I typo but the Mormons have as a rule brought with them the horses used at home so > that the tendency In horses is toward a much batter stock The cattle too are bong bo-ng improved James S Emmett formerly of southern Utah having recently shipped cvaral car loads of holstein and durham jerseys to the people of Diaz and Casas Grandes But quite as good investments may be had in other directions From Casas Grandes to within fifteen miles of the International in-ternational line on the north a distance > of 100 miles the Casas Grandes river traverses tra-verses a well nigh level plain from twenty to sixty miles in width upon which theater the-ater of the river may be conducted by constructing canals and tbe water may be tad in abundance byboiding it in reservoirs I I from the wet season The country bears srr J < indications of having been made fertile by just such a process and there i is no doubt but it will be so I again in the not distant future The mating mat-ing of dams reservoirs Dud ditches presents I pre-sents an opening for the investment of large capital not surpassed anywhere while settlers with small capital cia take apart I a-part with the smaller companies now at work at Diaz and Casas Grandes For larger capital an investment of the I first importance can be found in the erection erec-tion of cotton and woolen mills Cotton Is now largely grown at Casaa Grandes and promises in time to become one of the staple products of tho Mo mon commonwealth common-wealth while cotton goojs aro among the most highly protected of any in the republic re-public Without at all interfering with the vested rights of any ono almost unlimited water power can be had at Juarez where the indications are that the manufactories of this character will be located I ToouRh the Mormon people are traditionally tradi-tionally opposed oa general principles to mining the prospects are that the settlers here will find one of the greatest sources of tho unprecedented prosperity awaiting them In Mexico in that branch of industry Not perhaps in digging the precious metals from the earth but in refining and shipping it after the natives have mined it If with a capital of 52000 a company were to secure a waterpower water-power at Casas Grandes and build a four or tenton smelter at a cost of from 750 to 1000 the surrounding country would gladly furnish more than enough ore to keep It running the year round If however one is desirous of removing to Mexico and is without capital there is still an opening for him In the construction construc-tion of the Mexican Northern Pacific railway rail-way by Honorable John W Young there is plenty of work to be done at fair prices under the orders of General Manager William Derby Johnson Jr the contractor Ammon M Tenney employs Mormons and Mexicans exclusively at the following prices contract scraper work from 1012 to 11 cents per yard at day labor man and team 5 per day expeuses about r 2 50 per day single hand board furnished 5 1 50 per day Mr J Fewson Smith chief of construction construc-tion is now at Chihuahua to start work on the spur from that point to Guerrerro or Conception to the main line and men and teams will be wanted there at once Indeed there is not a Mormon in the north of whatever calling or craft but can find in Mexico a home and employment and in ten years from now comforts and plenty not enjoyed by the most favored inhabitants in-habitants of tnose regions today The management of the lands and railway here is entirely Mormon and it has been tbe avowed purpose > of Bishop Johnson from tbo time he first presented the matter to the consideration of Hon John W Young to give to the Mormons and Mexicans ol this section all the employment and benefits bene-fits the enterprises could afford L A WILSOX |
