Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-04-10
FROM GUAYMAS.
GUAYMAs, March 30.

approaching election, would not pre- sent much animation. The Liberal candidate for Governor is Maytouna. at present Preefct of the Guavmas District, in which he is very we'll
 liked. The other night, at an open air meeting, one of his orators came near getting into trouble, owing to a stump speech which cut some of the
 other sides supporters to the quick.
 am happy tO record that, though revolver was shown, no bloodshed en- sued. The Government candidate is Sig. Carlos Rodrigo Ortiz, very fine man also, and at this tune representative to Congress for the State of Sonora.
 rather think that his chance for sue cess is the greatest, owing to the pe- culiar manipulatiOns of ihe election officers at the polls and afterward. 1 am unwilling to say whom public opinion considers most fitted for the place, but l will say that everybody conveTsant with Mexican politics is already satisfied that Ortiz will carry
 off the Gubernatorial chair, and this is the opinion even of his admirers in his strunghold-Gusymas. Open-air meetings are now in order, and will succeed each other Tn succession. In the United States speeches are gener- ally proceeded by the burning of old,
 useless barrels, to the great joy of grOcers, whom such litter incOmmodes very much in the back yard. Here.
 where wood is scarce, they burn fire crackers, as the Chinese do on New Years day, to the peril of the by islanders eyes.
 The track laying of the railroad has not yet been resumed. Thirty-one miles is still the extent of what has been laid down. The last ships which arrived brought ties 10 lay about fir- teen miles of the road, but it is Col. Robinson's, the general managers, intention to await the arrival of sUffi- cient ties tO be able to proceed with the building of the road only when it can,be done without any further inter- rupfion 10 HeImosillo. As soon as this can be done we can expect the track-laying to go on from one 10 Oue and half miles per day. Chef En- gineer Morley and staff have removed 10 HermoSillo and surveying 10 the American border is going on.
 Since the last two days the mall carrier from Hermosillo hands over his bag at Noria del Vale to the railroad company, and it comes thence by rail to Hermoslllo.
 My main object in this letter is to speak about matters concerning the taking up of land in this State, which fn ha mic fr.n1 ,nv by Americans, but even by the Mexi- can authorities in the northern dis tricts of Sonora. All pubic lands are to be denounced by law before the District Judge, who resides at Guay- mas.
 Ii must be recollected that accord ing to the laws of MexIco public lands ia the belt Of twenty leagues, bordering on the United States, can not be denounced or claimed, or even bought, by any foreigners; and in the southern belt, adjoining Guatemala, the regulations are similar. There is, however, an act Of the Mexican Government which gives the President the right to allow foreigners to de- nOunce land in this belt, when the proper representations are made to him in regard 10 the matter by re- spected and valued foreigners, but there is no record of such favor ever having been accorded a United States citizen in the northern belt, though several fOreiPners of other countries have been granted the privilege of de- nouncing lands in their own name by the President.
 Where the great mistake occurs, however, both amongst Americans and Mexicans is the idea that an American or Guatemalean citizen, outside of this twenty league belt, can denounce land just the same as citizens from other nations. In the States border ing on the United States or Guate- mala, the law states distinctly that none of the citizens belonging to the countries which adjoin them can de- nounce lands in theIr own name in the border States; and 1 would here remind American readers who think 1 that thls restriction was made pur- posely to prevent them denOuucing | land there, that the United States is 1 not even mentioned in jhe said law, l but that it plainly says tha. the citi- zens of the countries adjoining the ! border States of Mexico (and this is | as much Guatemala on the south as | the United States Co the nOrth) are | prohibited from denounciug land | therein. In any of the other States l (border States exCepted) Americans | and other foreigners enjoy the same | rights in regard to land as the natives | of the country.
 Though Americans are through this f law precluded from taking up or de- noUncing land in Sonora, and the | other border States of the north, they | are in no way prohibited from buying | land from prlvate individuals, and | some United States citizens when they | know of any public lands in the bor- der States which tLey wish tO take | up, get some trustworthy Mexican or foreigner of any other nation to de- nounce the land, and obtain from | them a title deed in the course of | time.
 Though these things may beknown 10 few of your readers and the cit izens of the United States, yet we see so many cases of the ignorance con- corning the Mexican land laws here on the subject that l have il Of interest to make few about the same, which l have no doubt will be valuable tO persons intending to settle here.
 In the United States l believe that DO foreigner unless he has made known his intention of becoming a | United States citizen, can take up land; the Mexican Government is more liberal in that point since it al- lows foreigners of all nations to take up land, excepting with the restric- tion 1 have mentioned before.
 A Gusymas mushroom paper. 8 sheet which appears only at election time, the Elector, has taken eXcep- ton at the remarks made by the CIT ZEN in regard to the postal service here, and advises Americans who have occasion to go to the postOffice