Page:A Study of Mexico.djvu/128

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118
A STUDY OF MEXICO.

inherited tradition from Old Spain, the wealthy Mexican seems to be prejudiced against investing in co-operative (stock) or financial enterprises—the railways, banks, and mines, in both Old Spain and Mexico, for example, being to-day mainly owned and controlled by English or other foreign capitalists. Under such circumstances, there is no influx of immigrants into Mexico with a view to agriculture, and settlements, such as spring up and flourish in the United States almost contemporaneously with the construction of the "land-grant" and other railroads, are unknown, and are not at present to be expected; all of which clearly works to the great disadvantage of all Mexican railway enterprise and construction. It is also interesting to note, in connection with this subject, that it is the immobility and uncertainty of these same old Spanish or Mexican land-grants, which cover a vast portion of New Mexico, that constitute at present the greatest obstacle in the way of the growth and development of that Territory.

Statutes offering great inducements for permanent immigration—such as a bonus to each immigrant, the right to purchase public lands at moderate prices and on long terms, the right to naturalization and citizenship, and the like—were enacted by the Mexican Congress as far back as 1875, but