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Show MEXICO DENIES JAP JWASE No Foreigners Given Rights to Large Extensions of Land in Lower California. POLICY OF NATION Only Small Land Holdings With Object of Favoring Natives Allowed. MEXICO CITY, Tuesday April 1 (By The Associated Press) Salvador; Gomez, chief of staff of the depart ment of agriculture and development.1 officially denied tonight reports that Japanese subjects have bought lands In Lower California. His statement i was issued on behalf of the department depart-ment in the absence of Pastor Roualx, m the secretary of commenc, labor and agriculture. It reads as follows: "I can say thai up to the present 1 there has been no sale of lands in Lower California to Japanese sub-' ijects: neither has the department of I development authorized anything giV: ing foreigners rights to large exten-. exten-. sions of lands in that section ".Moreover, since our constitution i prohibits the sale o,f national lands, j this department, In accord with President Presi-dent Carranza. is giving special at-I at-I tntion to all matter- referring to Lower California. Concessions of ter rltory in that part of the republic) , which have been authorized, have been for a reduced number of hec tares and to residents of various small villages ol thai territory, following the policy I of creating small land holdings with I ithe object of favoring the natives' J-Tp Minister Denies Big Purchases-Union Purchases-Union Eugitaro Otori, Japanese min-; lister to Mexico, tonight issued the ' following Btatemeni regarding the discussion over alleged attempt- by Japanese interests to purchase lands in Lower California "A tempest in a teapot has been i .. a led mid 1 think the importance the , American press has given this que-tion que-tion is due to some political maneuver caused by the nearness of the next presidential campaign It may be de- I clared that there are no concessions In Lower California that favor the iu-i forests of my country. Only near the; I town of Mexicali exists a small Jap-janese Jap-janese agricultural colony that culti-, vates rice, but this is absolutely lacking lack-ing In importance. "The only paying exploitation that, jean be made in that part of Mexico is for the development of mineral de- I posits, and this is beyond the modest resources of the only Japanese colony colo-ny located in that region. 1 am sure that if the American department of state had asked its embassy here for information, the embassy must declare that there are no concessions in Lower California favoring Japanese interest inter-est s " |