CHERAN: a sierra TARASCAN village — BEALS 



105 



barrio III. Cheranastico, when classed as 

 barrio V, apparently never filled either office. 

 Similarly, if the even-numbered barrios elect, 

 the mayor will be from barrio II, the sindico 

 from barrio IV. The following 2-year period 

 the situation will be reversed. Although the 

 mayor is elected for 2 years to the ayuntamiento, 

 he serves only 1 year as mayor. The second 

 year he is merely an ordinary municipe or 

 regidor, that is, an ordinary member of the 

 ayuntamiento. 



The mayor has the most important duties in 

 the government, for upon his ability and initia- 

 tive depends most of the success of an adminis- 

 tration. It is he who initiates most activities, 

 the sindico who carries them out. Not only 

 does the mayor preside at town meetings or 

 juntas and meetings of the ayuntamiento, but 

 he settles minor disputes and levies fines of less 

 than 1 peso, orders temporary imprisonment, 

 supervises and orders most municipal expendi- 

 tures, appoints most of the comisionados, and 

 sees that public works are initiated. The 

 mayor alone of all the officials must be present 

 daily in the vmnicipio. If not present, he must 

 have his suplente present. (In 1940, the mayor 

 rarely was in the mimicipio, leaving adminis- 

 tration to the suplente. If anything of crucial 

 importance arose, however, the mayor would 

 be called in.) 



As a minor judicial official, the mayor settles 

 many small cases involving thefts, drunkenness, 

 minor assault, rape, debt, or fraud. In some 

 cases, brief jail sentences are imposed ; in 

 others, fines are assessed, all fines below a peso 

 going into the pocket of the mayor as his only 

 salary. The mayor also gives orders about 

 minor improvements, such as cleaning the plaza 

 or painting the benches. In case expenditures 

 are involved, he may advance money out of his 

 pocket for supplies or labor, later getting a 

 receipt which he presents to the treasurer for 

 payment. 



Sindico. — The sindico supervises most public 

 works and may initiate minor work. He is in 

 charge of streets and the repair or reconstruc- 

 tion of bridges, and sees that many undertak- 

 ings ordered by the mayor are carried out. 

 With the help of a veedor, he oversees com- 

 munity affairs, such as the adequacy of the 

 water supply and clandestine illegal activities. 



He is in charge of the slaughterhouse ; the col- 

 lection of proper taxes and prevention of "black 

 market" slaughtering are his responsibility. 

 He supervises all questions of inheritance and 

 the properties connected therewith, seeing that 

 the heirs receive their due share of property. 

 In cases of quarrels over inheritance, wounds 

 inflicted with knives or pistols, and murders, 

 the sindico makes the initial investigations and 

 prepares the papers for submission of the cases 

 to the judge. The sindico receives no pay. 



Secretary. — The secretary is named by the 

 mayor with the approval of the ayuntamiento 

 without a fixed term being set. His duties 

 are to make all classes of documents and to 

 maintain the municipal archives. These in- 

 clude the birth, death, and marriage records 

 of the town. The secretary is paid $1.50 a day. 

 He may augment this sum by preparing private 

 documents for a fee. The office is fairly new; 

 in the childhood of fairly young men there was 

 no secretary. The present incumbent is not a 

 native of the town. 



Veedor. — The veedor is named by the sindico 

 with the approval of the mayor. He is sup- 

 posed to see that the water supply is function- 

 ing properly and to report any illegal acts. 

 Apparently he receives no pay. 



Treasurer. — The treasurer receives all the 

 town funds from various sources, including 

 fines above 1 peso, taxes, assessments, and 

 funds from State and Federal sources. He is 

 responsible for the collection of the small tax 

 on vendors at the markets. He pays all bills 

 of the municipio and must keep detailed ac- 

 counts which are inspected by State officials. 

 The office of treasurer is also new. His pay is 

 25 percent of the income. There is no term to 

 his office. 



Judge. — The judge and his suplente are 

 usually elected every 2 years but if the office is 

 satisfactorily filled, the election may not be held 

 for 3 or 4 years. The j udge hears all cases certi- 

 fied to him by the sindico. He may order brief 

 imprisonment or fines, which are paid to the 

 treasurer, but all serious cases are referred to 

 the district court at Uruapan after a prelimin- 

 ary hearing. This is particularly true of 

 murder cases or serious crimes. The judge 

 reviews all cases of inheritance in which quar- 

 rels arise, and all land sales must be authori-'.ed 



