OH, SHOOT! 



work and profit to many. To-day, one travels 

 miles without seeing a herd of stock; vast 

 reaches that were under ditch have grown up 

 to brush; and mining, for the most part, is 

 carried on in a desultory, furtive sort of way. 

 On our train were a number of Americans 

 with property interests on this coast. They 

 were considerably discouraged, decidedly re- 

 sentful, and a bit bewildered. 



"We don't know where we stand," one of 

 them told me. "We're neither Mexicans nor 

 Americans. Under the terms of the new 

 Mexican Constitution, we foreigners can't take 

 title to lands situated within the frontier and 

 coastal zones, and only by waiver of citizen- 

 ship may we acquire property in the interior. 

 It comes hard to renounce one's citizenship, 

 and yet our own government treats us like 

 outlaws. 



"This west coast is wonderful. We came 

 here in time of peace, put in our labor and 

 money, brought our families it was our prom- 

 ised land. Then came the revolution and 

 most of us had to get out with whatever we 

 could lay our hands on. Some few Americans 

 stuck and got through, but the rest of us are 

 just beginning to come back. We don't know 



226 



