590 



MEXICO. 



elude hereafter any that may attempt to secure 

 homes anywhere in the republic. Since Con- 

 gress, at its last session, granted John Taylor, 

 the head of the Mormon Church, large tracts 

 of public lands in Sonora, Chihuahua, and oth- 

 er northern border States, for purposes of colo- 

 nization, a systematically organized movement 

 has been started to have the grant annulled. 



Hostile Indians. In 1885 hardly a month passed 

 by without an encounter with these Indians, 

 who are not inferior to the Mexicans in prow- 

 ess. In one of these encounters the latter were 

 worsted ; it was with the Yaquis, a semi-inde- 

 pendent tribe of Sonora. These hold the title 

 to their lands from the King of Spain, and do 

 not recognize the Republic of Mexico. No 

 taxes or imposts are levied on them. They are 

 a hardy, agricultural race, living on small patch- 

 es of fertile soil on the borders of Yaqui river. 

 Cajeme, their chief, is a man of fair education 

 for Mexico, and a stern ruler. They number 

 over 15,000, of whom at least 5,000 are adult 

 males. Their principal arms are bows, arrows, 

 spears, and a three-cornered bludgeon made of 

 iron-wood. The trade of the Yaqui Indians 

 with the port of Guaymas averages over $2,000 

 monthly. 



What the motive of the Mexican Government 

 was for attacking these Indians it is difficult 

 to say ; probably it had a bearing on our own 

 frontier interest, but the result was a crushing 

 defeat in an encounter during the latter part 

 of June, in which Gen. Garcia and 400 Mexi- 

 can soldiers were killed. Simultaneously the 

 Government was preparing for a campaign 

 against the Apaches of the Sierra Madre. Op- 

 erations against them continued with varying 

 success during the latter half of the year. 



On Nov. 10 the agreement providing for the 

 crossing of the international boundary-line by 

 the troops of the United States and of Mex- 

 ico, in pursuit of hostile Indians, was extended 

 until Nov. 1, 1886. 



Natural Phenomena. Mexico suffered severely 

 in 1885 from inundations, water-spouts, and 

 drought, alternately, and (the usual acornpani- 

 ment of the latter) grasshoppers. A nauseat- 

 ing stench infested Mexico, Puebla, and Yera 

 Cruz in March, and this gave rise to the opin- 

 ion that it did not proceed from the lakes and 

 dead fish, but was of volcanic origin, reaching 

 Vera Cruz from the Orizaba, Puebla from the 

 Malinche, arid Mexico from the Popocatapetl 

 and Ixtathihuatl volcanoes. It was supposed 

 that some violent combustion of gases occurred 

 in these mountains, which escaped through 

 the craters and spread over the land, and earth- 

 quakes were predicted for Mexico. The phe- 

 nomenon had been preceded, on Feb. 8, at 

 Tequisixtlan, in Oajaca, by a sharp earthquake 

 lasting several seconds, and a more violent 

 shock was felt at Niltepec, in the same State, 

 buildings swaying and one house falling. 



Polities. In March and April interest was 

 concentrated on the invasion of Salvador by 

 Gen. Barrios, President of Guatemala, and the 



active share in the quarrel which Mexico was 

 about to take by sending an army to the front- 

 ier, and at the same time reviving certain 

 claims against the neighboring State. Fortu- 

 nately for Mexican tax-payers, Gen. Barrios 

 fell at the very outset of the campaign, and 

 Guatemala withdrew from the attempt to force 

 a union on her sister republics in Central 

 America, and, so far as Mexico was concerned, 

 the matter ended. In May the election of State 

 Governors kept the country excited, and a 

 rupture occurred between the President and 

 his predecessor in office, Gen. Gonzalez. Early 

 in July the students in the city of Mexico made 

 an attempt at revolution against the Govern- 

 ment, using as a plea the President's debt- 

 consolidation decree of the previous month, 

 which recognized the English debt. But the 

 Government promptly quelled the disturbance, 

 and arrested the youths and the editors of 

 newspapers that indulged in too severe criti- 

 cism of the measures resorted to. In October 

 pardon was granted to all except seven of them, 

 the editors, Seflores Chivari and Carrillo, con- 

 demned to four, and live to three months' im- 

 prisonment. 



On Oct. 19 the Liberal deputies got a vote 

 through the lower house requesting the Gov- 

 ernment to render an account of the recent 

 sales of national lands. The Minister of Pub- 

 lic Works appeared and presented a written 

 statement of the contracts made, and imme- 

 diately the President of the House of Deputies 

 declared the house adjourned. The Opposition 

 deputies protested. On Oct. 20 the police had 

 to clear the galleries of the excited supporters 

 of the Opposition. Deputies Viflas, Duret, 

 Mizon, and others were in the galleries. The 

 crowd made such a noise that they interrupted 

 the proceedings of the House, and the leading 

 Opposition Congressmen declared that they 

 would consent to have the demonstrations of 

 applause stopped. Still, they demanded a ver- 

 bal explanation of the land-sales. On Oct. 30 

 there was another tumultuous scene in Con- 

 gress. The Liberal Opposition deputies pre- 

 sented a signed proposition, in which articles 

 of impeachment of ex-President Gonzalez, for 

 misuse of public funds, were drawn up. Dep- 

 uty Duret handed the paper to the President 

 of the Chamber, and supported the proposition 

 with a speech. He was interrupted by the 

 members of the Chamber, while the spectators 

 in the galleries wildly applauded. Sefior Du- 

 ret said he wanted the case sent to the national 

 grand jury. The House was finally declared 

 adjourned. In November the resolution ac- 

 cusing ex-President Gonzalez was sent by Con- 

 gress to the grand jury section of that body. 



The struggle between the Administration 

 party and the Opposition in reality hinged o 

 the question of the advisability of Congress 

 giving special power to the Executive. The 

 Government was asked authority for the Presi 

 dent to reorganize the army, but the Opposi- 

 tion contends that Congress should do the 



