The Washington herald., 1917-03-18


Zealand there have not been enacted any
more drastic agrsrian laws than those
deereed by Governor Salvador Alvarado
Of Yucatan.
\ Decree was issued about q year ago,
the commission formed to carry It out
ana all the other necessary preliminary
steps taken. A few months ago the
law became operative and the free dis
trioution Of land was begun. Naturally
every one b Yucatan was interested IN
watching the Developments, and while It
- probably the most sweeping land dis
tribution ever undertaken, little has been
heard OF II In other countries. owing to
fucatan's geographical isolation. 1t is =
problem OF great Importance 10 any one
VINO cares rap about social economics.
The distribution has now been going on
long enough to give the principal Of the
thing . pretty fair tsst.
There IL no question but that 1t has
proved to be Q success. Practically every
body In the State admits that now.
whether or not they were opposed to
the idea In the beginning. And. by the
way, . great many people were opposed to
IL and asserted that Gen. Alvarado was
taking altogether too radical q step. They
have changed their tune nov. Even some
OF the great land holders approve OF the
scheme. They ind they were more scared
than hurt.
This agrarian law, while seemingly
rather voluminous and complex, Is really
very simple 1t SINNERS right down 10
this, that the government will give a par
Gel Of land to any one more than II years
Old, native or foreigner, who wants 1t
and will live on 1t and work II. The
recipient cannot sell the land. nor
mortgage II, nor give II away. II Is only
his in trust to get a living out Of and
thsreby an effort Is to be made to develop
the country, abolish poverty and eliminate
discomfort,
Every one gets the same amount, an
amount large enough to make the owner
incependent and self-supporting. At each
distribution the applicants draw lots for
nrst choice OF location, as some parcels
are considered more desirable than
others, although owing to the nature of
the country there is really very little
difference. This land is not subject
to attachment for debt or any other kind
OF Hen II can be willed to heirs on the
same condition that the owner holds II,
SO that farms may pass from father to
son without any upsetting of conditions
In case of death,
There Is a fixed tax imposed on il by
the government OF 21-2 per cent Of its
yielding value. As said. foreigners are
given this land just as freely as are
Mexicans and on exactly the same con-
ditions. But nobody. be he native or
foreigner. has the slightest chance to
speculate in it or to acquire vast tracts,
for. as every one knows who know. any
thing about Mexico, the holding Of enor-
nous estates by single individuals has
been the main curse of the country and
directly been the cause of all the suffer
chAA
undergone.
When every peOn in Mexico owns his
own farm and works II for his own profit
instead of lahoring like a slave for a
nulti-millionaire landholder, there will
De no more uprisinss and brigandage will
have become thing OF the past. For
tnat matter II never has been a good
laying occupation there. Nest of the
poems took it up without much choice in
the matter. 1t was q case Of turning out
law starving TO death or becoming d
slave for life. That was before the revo-
luton changed the order OF things and
upset social and economic conditions
down there as they never have been be-
fore.
great deal of land has already been
distributed and the work is steadily going
on. For that matter it will keep going
on until everybody who wants farm is
supplied, for there is land enough and to
spare. even without infringing to any ex-
tent vested rights. II so happens thai
a great deal of land. which was original
ly communal land and belonged to the
villages. has been grabbed by greedy
landholders to extend their haciendas-a
proceeding that has been winked at. of
course. by corrupt government officials,
This land the government is taking away
from the people who stole it and giving
1t back to the common people who really
own it.
In his decree Gov. 7Alvarado asserts his
belief that no one Is the exclusive owner
OF the land any more than any one ear
be the exclusive owner Of light and air.
In response to the cry of land and lib
erty,' he says. "a flag was hoisted which
today. more than ever. needs to be up-
held by firm hand and an upright iudg-
meat, since to defraud popular aspira-
tions would be 10 raise a new protest a
national clamoT that would be all the
more energetic because it would be all
the more justified,
This law bears the stamp Of approval,
like a halo, the splendor of a thousann
combats and the bright red stain of the
bleod shed by many q wounded hero in
defense Of his rights among which the
eliminating one, seen with the clarity
of truth, is the reclamation OF the land
for the people,
1T will be necessary for the large land
holders to relinquish something In order
te alleviate the necessities OF the ma,
jOPlty, since II, by virtue of this decree
which has to be executed at any cost.
they continue in their inveterate selfish
ness, the revolution will sweep away for
MS all difficulties, because it Is not to be
stopped by obstacles of mean conserva-
tism, just as the strtdent cry of France
was not stified in spite Of the giories of
Lafayette sung over the vast expanse of
ocean. by the sun that shone over two
continents and by the soul of two streng
and brave nations.
Fundamentally. the right to the land
Of certain people, when there are thou
sands that have been organized like
herd to till II, obtaining only the crumbs
of production. Is from every point of view
iniauitous, and the greatest imposition
that has existed in the world In order to
sustain the chosen ones at the expense
Of the ignorant. inevitably spreading ia
natieism among them.
There rises finally the clear concep-
tion that every man has the right to OBJ
tain by means Of work that which sig
nihes his well-being directly from natural
sources. This means that every man has
a right to a piece of land. In which by
cultivation and by all the forms of work
which modern economy teaches he may