Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-09-14

Santa Fe, the capitol of the Territory of
New Mexico, is a town of about 5000 in
hahitapts and situated in a valley, sur
rounded by bare mountains, which gives
the scenery neither a romantic nor attract
i've appearance. There are about three or
four two-story houses, the rest being about
+ ten or twelve feet high, and made of adobes
for want of stone aid wood. In this whole
region, where the winds are very high in
winter and spring, 1t would indeed be dam
gerous to erect high buildings. liable to de-
struction through the effects of the gales
prevailing at that time of the year. Thepal-
ace. or residence of the Governor, is much
improved now and presents comparative
ly decent appearance; but was in decided
ly dilapidated condition when we first laid
our eyes on it. and the fact of the matter is
that an eastern country town looks more
stylish and its buildings more cheerful and
substantial than any construction of Mexi-
can taste or origin. Due allowance must
necessarily be made to the difficulty with
which transportation can be obtained for
anything contributing to comfort and the
expense connected with it, bat when New
Mexico once becomes filled with a popula-
tion of ofAnglO-Ssxons, these comforts which
the Mexicsns fail to acquire, for want of
energy, will be introduced and the territory
may, in course of time. become one of the
wealthiest districts OF Western America
There is quite an extensive business car
ried on in Santa Fe by American and Ger
man merchants and also by a few
territory to the frontier of Arizona and of
Texasis is provided with eastern and foreign
manufactures, groceries, ETC., though the
G capital and large fortunes have been made
= by the merchants Uf Santa Fe, who have
had the means, the opportunity or the cour-
age to struggle against the numerous odds
8 which impede the progress of business
Mi n rp . Il A. Snplal
e. view, the capital offers little or no attrac-
ftion :, the American merchants differ so
much in taste from the habits Cf the Mex
leans, that paratively little intercourse
exists between the two natioDallties; the
military and civil officers stationed there
have no other amusement but to go to the
hotel and play billiards and drink whisky at
the rate of twenty-five cents drink, tor an
article which you would return under pro-
test to the bar keeper, if he had the audac-
ity of offering it to you and calling it whls-
KY. Santa Fe has nothing of the attractive,
nothing of the romantic, which are apt to
reconcile man to his fate of living in a
= wilderness. There is monotony prevail
ing which is worse than that on the prai-
ries, because on them at least you expect to
= be isolated and abandoned to your own
mental resources. Santa Fe, with one
wo1d, is not the most desirable place in the
world to live in, and was not sorry to turn
Mexico, Albuquerque Is probably the pret-
tiest; it is situated on the Rio Grande, and,
as it has been repeatedly recommended as
a starting point for southern branch of
: the Pacific railroad, that place may and
@ probably will acquire importance in course
of time. There are in the whole territory
but few MeXicans belonging to what we
I call the better class of society; the major
ity of them are poor, ignorant and too in
dolenU for working their way up to wealth
and in Il psnderce. stzis+ -lI
You meet therefore with SO many poems,
that is, persons who are indebted for q
larger or smaller sum of money to land
owners, who have advanced money to
them, their fathers or even their grand
fathers and who, according to the law of
the country, have right to pay them
selves off by the manual labor of those
men together with their wives and chill
dren. The institution is nothing but an
other form of slavery, with the only diff
ference that the poems cannot be actually
sold and forcibly removed, tut their SER
vices can be hired out, and as this system
brings in a large sum OF money to the
wealthy class, the latter look out to keep
the poems constantly indebted to them by
advancing them small sums and charging
high interest. or selling the necessaries of
life to them on credit, with benefit of
one or two hundred per cent, or py assign
ing piece of land to them for cultivation
and taking the crop In payment of the an
nual interest due thereon. Many poems are
satisfied with their fate, because they are
too ignorant to know better, because they
have seen their ancestors in the same con-
dition, and because they lack as nation,
that energy requisite for man in almost
every condition of life to extricate himself
from difficulties by activity and persever-
ance. One day, when New Mexico will
become more thickly settled by Ameri-
cans, this system OF slavery will probably
he abolished. for it casts an unfavorable
iiobt on the Territory, especially since me-
gro slavery has been done away with in the
South. AS necessary consequence of the
low degree of civilization in New Mexico,
the lite Of man is not valued as high as in
q highly civilized community; when
first came here and had to travel alone
or with but lew computations, L would
occasionally enquire whether any Indians
We're apprehended here or there, so as to
take the necessary precautions, and was