Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/166

154 and probably to a considerable extent uncertain. Some came from the old Spanish Government, through its viceroys; some from Mexico, through its governors or political chiefs; while over a not inconsiderable part of all the good land of the country, the titles of the Church, although not recognized by the Government, are still, to a certain extent, respected. Added to all this, there is a marked indisposition on the part of the large owners of real estate in Mexico to divest themselves of such property; and this for various reasons. Thus, in the heretofore almost permanently revolutionary condition of the country, the tenure of movable or personal property was subject to embarrassments from which real estate, or immovable property, was exempt. Under the system of taxation which has long prevailed in Mexico, land also is very lightly burdened. And, finally, from what is probably an inherited tradition from Old Spain, the wealthy Mexican seems to be prejudiced against investing in co-operative (stock) or financial enterprises—the railways, banks, and mines, in both Old Spain and Mexico, for example, being to-day mainly owned and controlled by English or other foreign capitalists. Under such circumstances, there is no influx of immigrants into Mexico with a view to agriculture, and settlements, such as spring up and flourish in the United States almost contemporaneously with the construction of the "land-grant" and other railroads, are unknown, and are not at present to be expected; all of which clearly works to the great disadvantage of all Mexican railway enterprise and construction. It is also interesting to note, in connection with this subject, that it is the immobility and uncertainty of these same old Spanish or Mexican land-grants, which cover a vast portion of New Mexico, that constitute at present the greatest obstacle in the way of the growth and development of that Territory.

Statutes offering great inducements for permanent immigration such as a bonus to each immigrant, the right to purchase public lands at moderate prices and on long terms, the right to naturalization and citizenship, and the like were enacted by the Mexican Congress as far back as 1875, but as yet do not appear to have been productive of any marked results.

On the other hand, the Mexican land laws discriminate very rigorously against the acquirement of land by foreigners who do not propose to become Mexican citizens, and seem to be especially framed to prevent any encroachments on the part of the United States. Thus, no foreigner may, without previous permission of the President of the Republic, acquire real estate in any of the border States, within twenty leagues (sixty miles) of the frontier; but such permission has of late been freely given to citizens of the United States for the acquirement of ranching property on the northern frontier. The ownership of real estate by a foreigner in either country or city, within fifteen miles of the coast, is, however, absolutely forbidden, except on the condition of a special act of Congress granting it. It is only,