MESSING AROUND IN MEXICO 



try where ener~ r and ability reap their just reward; perfect 

 security for person and property; transportation facilities of 

 the first order. The titles to all land in the valley (Yaqui) 

 are clear, and there have never been any lawsuits in connec- 

 tion therewith. The form and process of transfer of real 

 estate in Mexico are much the same as in the United States. 

 Small thievery is unknown property interests are safe. 

 Mexican taxes are never excessive. Mexican laws are just 

 and equal, and are much better administered than in the 

 United States. 



Aside from the kind words about climate, 

 the above statements make humorous reading 

 these days, and therein lies the appalling 

 lesson. 



With the world on short rations, and the 

 price of foodstuffs, even here in the United 

 States, up to a mining-camp level, no region 

 offers a greater example of wasted oppor- 

 tunity, of criminal extravagance, than this 

 west coast of Mexico. 



A marvelous climate, abundant water, a 

 soil bursting with every growing thing, ac- 

 cessibility to the world's markets, ample labor 

 all this the west coast has, and yet, for the 

 most part, it lies fallow, weed-grown, with its 

 farms deserted and its ditches caving in. 

 Carranza said, "These foreigners must quit 

 making money out of Mexico," and that state 

 of affairs has come to pass. But the Mexi- 



231 



