IRRIGATION, POLITICS, AND SECTIONALISM 79 



powers of self-defence. Unfortunately, be- 

 hind the commission there are still the courts 

 to be parleyed with, and the law takes a course 

 even more roundabout and endless on this 

 side of the water than it does on the other. 



For the maintenance of the main ditch, the 

 property-owners are taxed both in money and 

 work, according to the number of acres held 

 by them. The first and second mayordomos 

 receive salaries, and are elected annually by 

 the community of water-tax payers ; it is 

 their avowed business to see to it that the 

 ditch is kept clean, and that the water is dis- 

 tributed fairly. The cross-ditches, or contra- 

 acequias, are governed by the same laws, 

 each having its own mayordomo invariably 

 a Mexican, who almost as invariably makes 

 the law of the acequia a by-word in the 

 market-place. Taken all in all, the water- 

 taxes in money and work on a thirty-acre 

 ranch amount to from $32 to $40 per annum 

 (6 or ^8, more or less). Naturally, those 

 who give bribes and corrupt the innocent (?) 

 native pay considerably more or less. 



But it is not alone the Mexican who is 

 responsible for the farcical application of our 



