The record-union., 1895-08-03
Special Correspondence of the REcoRD-uN1oS.

completed Guadalaj ara enjoyed the dis
tinction of being the largest city in either
North America or Europe not reached by
q railway. The founders of this town
appear to have had difficulty in finding
for themselves q permanent place OF
abode The present site is the third Sc
lected and occupied. The first settlement
was made in 1920. A few years later the
place chosen was found to be unsatisfac-
tory, and in 1911 the town was finally es-
tablished where it now stands.
In book called q Geographical De-
scription of the Indies" which was writ
ten more than three hundred years ago,
and which has lain in manuscript until
printed last year, the author makes the
following reference to the region of which
this town is the commercial center:
1.-THE temperature of this province" so
runs the description, lis rather cold than
hot and is thus a healthful region. 1t
rains and thunders much in the months
of June and July. and there are severe
EARTHQUAKES. The soil of the province is
sandy, and thus it is never muddy.
There are many springs and rivers and
the land is rather uneven than level; and
there are also great mountains of porous
rock not suitable for the purposes of
building; there is much limestone but
no gypsum. There are in the province,
as in other parts of the Kingdom, mines
of silver, although all poor; there Is
much pasture and meadow land, some OF
which is irrigated, and there is DISPOSE
tion to extend this; and thus 1t is very
fertile and productive OF corn and wheat
and all the grains and vegetables OF
Spain.'' Since this brief description was
written, three hundred and twenty years
ago, there has been time to write better
one, but it has not yet appeared.
In the beginning the growth of Guada-
lajara, as it was the center of an agri-
cultural region, was necessarily slow.
But Zacatecas, founded later in rich
mining district. grew much more
rapidly. In the course of time, how
ever, Guadalajara became political capt.
tai. 1t was the seat Of the judicial and
administrative body known as the
4adiencia, and thus the center OF the
ancient kingdom OF New Galicia. This
advantage Is has retained; since the es-
tablishment of the Republic of Mexico it
has been the Capital OF the State OF
Jalisco. But something more than poll
tics has been necessary to make it the
rich and prosperous city of to-day. The
source of this wealth is the fertile land of
the adjacent region, which will produce
in abundance almost everything that has
ever been cultivated. Hitherto the
amount Of the production of this region
has been limited especially by two
things: By the difficulties OF reaching
market, and by the possession of land in
very large tracts free from taxation.
Before the railway penetrated this part
of Mexico, certain things which might be
produced here In practically unlimited
quantities were cultivated only to very
limited extent The orange is perhaps
q good illustration of this. The con-
siderable and increasing shipments that
have already been made in the last few
years furnish no indication OF the ca
pacity of the province in this respect;
they are scarcely more than the surplus
which was wasted under previous condi-
tons. AS long as it was very difficult or
impossible to ship the portion of any
product that was not demanded for local
consumption, there was certainly no in
6ucement to increase the amount of the
production. The railway has relieved
this condition of things TO a certain ex-
tent: but there are still needed in this
part of the country branches of the ex-
listing railway from twenty-f five to hun
dred miles in length to bring better
means of transportation to rich and ex-
tensive lands which at present are only
imperfeotly cultivated.
The other hindrsnce to the agricultural
development of this most favored region
is the existence of very large estates. the
land of which is free from taxation, only
the products, bearing a tax. This him
drance exists not merely in the neighbor-
hood of Guadalajara, but throughout the
territory of the republic. Although there
may be large estates in all parts of the
country. yet the magnitude of the evil in
different places varies with the different
kinds Of cultivation. The high lands be-
tween Puebia and the City of Mexico.
which appear to be especially useful,
and perhaps only useful, for the pro-
duction of pulque may be most adj
vautageously managed in large tracts.
In the profits of the business there ia
sufficient incentive TO keep the territory
FULLY planted. But this is not true in
some other kinds OF production, where
the expenses are nearer the gross returns,
particularly where the land is owned not
for the sake of the maximum revenue,
but as family endowment that may be
held from generation TO generation as
Nf TO hn fo Ilxyi fc
ent economic and social standing.
One observing these vast estates which
embrace from twenty to five hundred
square miles, large parts of which may be
neither increasing in value nor bringing
an annual return from cultivation, natur-
ally thinks of the advisability of selling
them or parts of them, and SO investing the
money that il may bring an income. He
may, perhaps, expect to see this result
speedily brought about; for he sees in
this course abundant gains for the owner
instead of the comparatively meager
gains of the present, and he relies upon
what he calls the economic forces to effect
this change. If be has faithfully accepted
the one-sided political economy some
times taught, he will conclude this must
be. since there is great pecuniary adj
vantage in this line of action. But it is
tho rare man who moves in the line
traced by the earlier economists, and it is
particularly not the medieval man who
survives in the person of the great land
holder of Mexico.
A student of the conditions of rural