asphalt may be easily broken into blocks and floated down the river to the seacoast, where it may be collected and laden on ships.

Crude petroleum springs running freely are to be found on the banks of several rivers, the oil flowing into these and covering their surface for some distance. When samples of this oil were assayed in Pennsylvania, they were reported to be of a quality equal to the crude products of that state. Some of these springs have a natural flow of three inches in diameter.

Deposits of bituminous coal of the class known as "Grahamite " are also found in the regions named. This was an important discovery, since the value of this article is much greater than that of anthracite coal, owing to the superior qualities it possesses for the manufacture of gas. One deposit is situated a few miles up the river from Tampico, and the amount of the coal in sight proves it to be an important field.

Almost all of the oil springs and asphalt and coal deposits are situated in localities favorable to their being worked profitably and their products easily transported.

Under a law of 1887, coal, iron and quicksilver mines and their products were made free from all taxes and duties for 50 years.

CHAPTER XX

LAND LAWS OF MEXICO

Land in Mexico may be divided into three regions, which have been called respectively, the hacienda country, the pueblo country, and the free country.

The first-named comprises the greater part of the central plateau, many of the temperate valleys situated on the slopes or terraces of this plateau, nearly all of the gulf coast, and many points on the Pacific.

The pueblo or community holdings lie toward the southern part of the country.

The free country, or pueblo lands, so called because of the fact that few if any haciendas or pueblos exist there, is situated in the north of the Republic.

As regards the central plateau, it is really marvelous that its lands retain their fertility, considering their great productiveness for hundreds of years. The only way this can be accounted for is that the system of irrigation there in vogue yearly resupplies the soil with natural fertilizing matter.

Previous to the conquest this very land had to provide food for at least twice the existing population of the country and was producing for more than six centuries unceasingly and without fertilizers. Strange, indeed, then, that it has not become sterile. But it is said that the day is fast approaching when the fecundity of this soil will vanish. Dryness and barrenness are already becoming evident in certain portions of the table lands.

The almost virgin land and that which invites the energetic arm of the careful husbandman lies on the east

and on the west, towards the coasts, and when the railroad system is complete and has united one and the other points, many fertile valleys will be in a position to bring forth two and three crops a year to gladden the eye and fill the purse of the tiller of the soil.

THE PUBLIC LANDS

The free or public lands are situated mostly in parts of the States of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sinaloa, and Sonora. Immense tracts are here almost uninhabited, and in the western Sierra Madre the plains reach down to the tropics. These lands were formerly settled upon by religious orders, or were held by officers of the Spanish crown. After the war of independence and the escheating to the state of ecclesiastical holdings they became public lands, and are what are now called terrenos baldios. The nation, under a law to that effect enacted, has had most of the lands surveyed and measured, giving to the companies doing the surveying onethird of the land surveyed, and disposed of the rest to private parties and companies. About 100,000,000 acres have thus been disposed of, and the government still retains in the neighborhood of 25,000,000 acres.

The land in the north is generally laid out in squares containing from 4,000 to 6,000 acres.

The climate of this section greatly resembles that of the south of Europe, and is well adapted to colonization. As has been said, the pueblo system prevails nearly everywhere in the south of the country, and the government will require some three or four years more to complete the reclamation of public lands in that quarter. The southern railroad system will not be completed before that time, and the country must wait some time before the fertile valleys of the States of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca can be opened up to immigration and settlement. Land may, however, be bought there at very low prices, but organized immigration, compelled

to produce and sell quickly, should look elsewhere for a few years.

The great question in Mexico is water. The country, excepting the lowlands of the gulf is dry, and has been likened to Algeria and Egypt.

TERMS OF THE LAW

The law concerning the occupation of public lands (terrenos baldios) was promulgated on July 22, 1863, and, with amendments afterwards enacted, is in substance as follows:

All lands in the Republic are considered as public (baldios) which have not been utilized for public purposes nor ceded to individuals or corporations authorized to receive them.

Every inhabitant of the Republic has the right to denounce or enter upon public land to the extent of 2,500 hectares (about 6,177 acres), and no more, excepting natives or naturalized citizens of bordering nations, who can not, except by express authority of the president of the Republic, acquire land in any state or territory bordering on their country situated within 20 leagues of the boundary line or within 5 leagues of the coast.

(Aliens desiring to acquire property within the prescribed limits must apply to the department of public works (of Mexico), accompanying the application with a report of the government of the state, district, or territory wherein the land sought to be acquired is situated.)

The denouncing of public lands must be made before the judge of the federal court in the judicial district wherein the land is situated.

This step taken, the survey and plat of the land denounced will be made by the government surveyor, or, in default thereof, by a surveyor appointed by the court.

After the survey and platting, inquiry will be made at the land office if the land is in the possession of the government. Should this be the case the patent is issued to

the denouncer without further proceedings; but in the event of an adverse claim the case between the claimant and denouncer is tried in the courts, the government also being a party thereto.

THE DENOUNCER'S RIGHTS

In case the government is not in possession of the land the denouncement shall be published three times, at intervals of ten days, in the newspapers, and by notices displayed in public places. If no claimant presents himself, no patent shall issue, but a possessory title shall be decreed to vest in the denouncer; but should a claimant intervene, the case shall be tried, with the government as a party.

A judicial decree granting a patent or possessory title shall not have effect without the approval of the department of public works, to which end the record and copy of the map shall be forwarded to said department by the governor of the state wherein the land in question is situated, accompanied by the report he may deem it advisable to make.

The approval alluded to having been obtained, and the party in interest having filed the certificate and having deposited in the proper office the value of the land, in accordance with the biennial price list, or the requisite installment when time payments are allowed, the judge will deliver to him the patent, or possessory title.

The expenses incident to measurement, survey, or procuring of title and all other necessary expenses shall be borne by the denouncer, but he is indemnified in case an adverse claimant is successful against whom costs shall be decreed.

LONG LEASES TO FOREIGNERS

By act of June 7, 1886, the government, evidently intending to favor the introduction of foreign capital into Mexico, decreed, among other provisions, that for