Page:A Study of Mexico.djvu/110

100 communities of the early ages, on the Eastern Continent, than is exhibited by the more northern tribes of North America, Thus, the inhabitants of each village—living in adobe-&ensp;or cane-built huts—own and cultivate all the lands under their control, in common with all the other members of the tribe or community, "divide the proceeds according to laws which antedate the Spanish conquest, and use the same primitive tools and methods of irrigation that were used by their ancestors in the days of the Montezumas." One noticeable peculiarity of the Mexican laborer is the strength of his local attachments, and it is in rare instances only that he voluntarily emigrates from the place of his nativity. This circumstance found a curious illustration in the experience of the recent railroad constructions in Mexico, where the builders found that they could rely only upon the labor in the immediate neighborhood of their line of construction; and that, generally, neither money nor persuasion would induce any great numbers of these people to follow their work at a distance from their native fields and villages. In those instances where temporary emigration was effected, the laborers insisted on carrying their families with them. The Government also recognizes to a certain extent this peculiarity in their army movements; and, whenever a company or