The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-05-26
THE LAND OF The MONDAY
SUN--MEXICO IN MID WINTER.
From Arena for April)
BY JUSTICE WALTER CLARK, LII, D.

Ice OF the HSaC0 It's Oup614OL VA
Circuit Courts, and it's Supreme Court.
Then the Federal government has It's
District Courts, its Circuit Courts, an d
it's Supreme Courts; the latter is dI-
vided into three divisions, and meets
as a whole only for the decision of GER
tain important questions. The law Is
codifed, the Code Napoleon, with some
notifications, being adopted. AS IN
France, the court renders decisions,
but flies no opinions. Hence there are
no shelves filled with volumes Of law
reports az with us, and the decision of
a case, more or less similar, by another
court, or by the same court on a pre-
vious occasion, cannot be cited as a
precedent. This is equally the rule IN
all countries having the Code Napoleon
for the basis of its law, and has at least
this advantage, that an erroneous or
unjust decision is not perpetuated as a
rule to be always thereafter observed.
All civil actions are tried by the
judges without the intervention Of a
jury. In criminal cases, the right Of
trial by jury is guaranteed by the o
stitution. A jury consists of nine,
and six must concur to ind a verdict
of guilty. If as many as eight !rors
agree to a verdict the judge cannot set
it aside. The constitution prescribes a
mode in which its provisions can be
suspended, and the guarantee of trial
by jury has been suspended as to per
sons guilty of throwing trains eff the
track, burning railroad bridges, and
shooting into cars. In these cases the
ofendes are tried by court martial aud
if found guilty are shot within twenty
four hours. T, g brigand element was
prone to this offence as they felt they
were being destroyed by means Of the
speedy communication by train and the
rapid concentration of troops. The
brigands have been broken up, and
this offence is now almost unknown.
One great defect has been the want
OF education among the masses. But
this is being remedied. Schools are es
tablished by law and are to be foun0
everywhere. They have not only com
mon schools and high schools, all secu
lar, and maintained out o. the public
funds, but there is compulsory aUten
dance. Not infrequently a policeman
may be seen collecting a squad of tru
ant children and marching them off tc
the schoolroom.
The signs over the stores rarely swing
out across the sidewalk as with US.
but the European mode of pu- ting al
signs fat against the wall is usually
followed. Tuis alone makes a marked
difference in the appearance Of the
streets. Then, too, instead Of the sign
reading 'J0hn Smith & Co, each
store has, quite in Chinese fashion, g
title, more or less fanciful. for example
The p Paradise, -" ''Tne G arden of Eten,'
"Aladdin's Lamp" The Fifth of May"
a national celebratioD), The Sacred
Heart of Jesus" and the like.
IL SpCAhAIS VI VIC 1CuSCS. IL may DC
ADDED that they, especially the resi-
dences, look very plain from the street,
for they have on tie lower floor usu
ally only a door, strong and substan
TALLY built, on the street side, and if
there are windows always heavy iron
gratings to them. This originated
doubtless in the p~recarious and turbu
lent times OF yore, but il is kept up in
part Tor the reason that by excluding
the light the rooms are kept cooler.
On the upper floors, before each apar9
ment, is a narrow balcony, and on
these the family, especially young
ladies, sit in the cool OF the evening to
see the world passing along beneath
them and to reward their friends with
a smile. But the interior of these res
licences belle their exterior. They are
invariably built around an open court
yard, and around this courtyard runs
q porch with fl )ors for each story.
Thus each room has it's door opening
on the porch, and the courtyard with
its fount ain and its fOwers which
bloom the year round presents a scene
Of color and life. The houses are built
of stone, or ''adobe," i. e, sun dried
brick; if the latter, usually succeed
The walls ere always very thick, and
the pi'ch of the rooms very high and
the f)ors tiled. This and the custo
mary absence Of windows keep the
rooms cool and pleasant in summer and
warm in winter, This mode of build
ing also gives the most complete pr
vacy. Evidently these people under