The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-30

country out of the hands of the whites.
There are, of course, a few whites who
own the bulk of the property. but this
is also gradually changing. The mixed
bloods are by far the most aggressive
race in the country at this time.
1.-The mass of the people look upon
Diaz as their god, and with them his
word is law, and this is probably the
best thing possible, for they are too
illiterate to be trusted with the most
trivial things. Among the upper classes
there is a decided tendency to initiate
American customs and methods, with
one exception. I was very much sur
prised to find little or no interest mani
tested in the Cuban situation. This
struck me as very odd, owing to the
fact that they achieved their own indie
pendence from Spain, and one would
naturally think that they would have
a great deal Of sympathy for the in
surgents but they seem to care little
or nothing about the outcome of the
present strife.
THE two most notable drawbacks to
the future of Mexico are the great mass
of illiterate poems and the lack of
water to irrigate the soil. This last
is most deplOrable condition because
there is vast amount Of land that
would be exceedingly fertile if it could
be watered. There is no large body
of water in Mexico from which to draw
supply and nc means Of establishing
system of irrigation, AS it is, the
people have to depend largely on the
rains, and, in many years, this is not
sufficient
I'm business circles there is consid-
cradle agitation just now over the
Dingley tariff bill. During the last few
years the United States has furnished
a market for the larger portion Of the
| fruit and cattle output of Mexico, and
! if this bill is passed, this trade will
be cut off, and they will be compelled
| to cast about for another market
| which will, in itself, prove quite disas-
| trOus to the trade 81 the country The
! general feeling of the middle and up
per classes is, however, one Of great
friendliness to the people of the Unit
! ed States, and Americans who go there
| are most cOurteOusly received and are
| treated to the best that the land af-
| fords.'
The return Of Judge Mitchell closes
up the gap of abSenteeS on the Su-
| preme bench, and all are now in the
| city ready for the opening of the April
term of court. The judges will find a
! peculiar state of affairs when they
! assemble and examine the docket, for,
/ according to Clerk Oar" Reese it con-
| tains fewer cases than for many years
] past There are in fact not more than
! half the usual number, and this in
I face of the fact that there is a great
cry for additional district judges, ow-
| ing to the crowded condition of the
! district court dockets. Mr. Reese ac-
! counts for this condition of affairs
! by advancing two theories The first
! is that some two years ago there was
! comparatively little going on in tho
! district courts, and this lull is just
now becoming apparent in the su-
! preme court. The other is that it costs
! money to carry cases into the supreme
| court, and, during the present finan-
cial depression, people do not feel that
! they can carry on law suits without
! first consulting their pocketbooks, and,
| after such consultations are held, they
! generally find that they cannot afford
/ the luxury of a supreme court deci-
| sion. This is the case now, where, in
! years gone by, they would not have
! given the matter a second thought,
! but would have ordered their lawyers
| to carry it up" no matter what the
! expense might be.