Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-03-11
SONORA WILL NOT BE ANERJoAN1zED


 Few people, comparatively, have any thing like a correct idea Of the future oN Sonora. As a rule, prospectors and mining men are not the best ones to ap ply to for information. Their bushes. liesin a special direction entirely, and il matters not how desolate the country may be, if they can only find a good mIne, with wa.er and wood within req sonable distance to proftably work 8 mlne, the country is good for sthem 1 Give them a two, or four feet ledge oi ! free ore that will yield SGO a tor, and ! they will never tige os praising up the country. But, on She contrary, if they pass through and fail to find anything that suits them in the mining line, they will condemn the country. We often hear conflicting reports as Co the future ! prospects of Suuord from this class of men, and 1t is not to be wondered at. for | they do not go there Co examine the 1 country with view of determining its worth for anything save. in the special line iu which they are engaged. True, there are observing men among all classes. but 1t IS often hard to discrimi- nate between the casual, and observing man, and especially SO, If the former is the better talker of the two, as IS often the case. When We first visited Sonora, We knew as little ot it, and its possibili- ties from what we had heard, as though it had been 2000 instead of 200 miles away. We had been led by the idle stories ot thoughtless men to believed that the state would soon become Ameri- cauized. and then annexed to the United States, either peaceably or by force. But, on visiting the country We found that there was no r ssonable grounds for any such conclusions.
 We found every foot of land on the Altar r.ver taken mp that was available for irri yatIon; the same state Of affairs exists on the Souoisa. m the north western portion Of the State, and the Maglaleua river as well as the Sonora river upon which tie large towns of Ores and Hermosillu are built. There are no vacant lands along any of these streams to be taken up, and none to sell, therefore how is 1t possible for Americans to get hold of agricultural lands? It is a well known fact that Mexicans build larger towns iu propor- ton to the population of a country than Americans do. Their towns are even now full grown, and there is no room for any considerable number of Ameri- cans there. Even though they may possess capital they cannot invest it with any prospect of fair returns at preseut, for the simple reason that ev- cry branch of business is occupied by intelligent Nexicans who cannot be eafi,y displaced. How then, will Ameri- cans gain any permanent foothold al present in Sonora? IL does not seem possible. Not long since the statement was made through tue press that 1409 Americans lad settled at Hermosillo; this statement may be true. but We do not believe It. One year ago there were not 30O Americans in that city, and nne-teuths of these were rail road employees. There was not q single commercial house at that date under the control of Jews. and where they fail ,o End au opening for traffic there is not much Use of others trying.
 The only hold it Is possible for the Americans to secure at present, is in mining. which is temporary and Uncer- tain. IT tLe country was free from In liaus on the southeastern slope Of the Sierra Madre mountains, large cattle range could be opened mp, and to a cer- tam extent might be controlled by American capital, but at present there is no security for that business there. The central and western portion of the State does not begin to compare with Arizona as a cattle producing country; water is very scarce and the grass, except near the ArlZola line, ls poor.
 Those Americans who are so confident Of controlling Sonora in the near future have not thoroughly looked into the question. ''the wish, with such men, lis father to the thought There are no grounds for such conclusion, and 1t will be a long time before Americans will cut much Of a figure in shaping the afalrs of Sonora, if ever.