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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



before the judge. In such cases he may dis- 

 cover falsified documents, and will levy fines 

 against the guilty party. Disputes over land 

 ownership may come before him also and usu- 

 ally will be settled without reference to higher 

 authorities. An example of the latter type of 

 case occurred where a person occupied lands 

 belonging to Aurelio Ceja S., which the latter 

 had registered for 20 years. The intruder was 

 sentenced to return the land, pay the owner 10 

 percent of the value, and all costs of the 

 litigation. 



The judge receives no pay, but he is assisted 

 by a secretary who is paid $1 a day by the 

 ■mnnicipio. The secretary may collect fees for 

 preparing private documents. More detail on 

 judicial cases will be given later. 



Police. — Two (later three) men were em- 

 ployed as police in 1940-41. Their main duties 

 were not actually police functions, however, but 

 rather the running of errands and carrying 

 messages for the mayor, sindico, and judge. 

 Most real police functions are carried out by 

 the sindico, vcedor, and the ronda. The police 

 receive 75 centavos daily; all are persons in- 

 capacitated in some way for heavy work. 



Comisionados. — There are many kinds and 

 classes of comisionados. Perhaps most impor- 

 tant are the four barrio chiefs, the jefes de 

 cuartel, appointed by the mayor each year. 

 These men, together with the previous officials, 

 are exempt from any other service during their 

 year of office. The barrio chief commands the 

 block chiefs and also the ronda. He transmits 

 instructions of the aytintamiento to the block 

 chiefs when necessary. 



The block chiefs are also appointed by the 

 mayor for 1 year, and they have no other duties. 

 On instructions from the barrio chief, the block 

 chiefs notify the residents in their block if any 

 communal labor is necessary, such as repairs to 

 the water system, road or bridge work, clearing 

 of town boundaries, or work in connection with 

 a fiesta etc., and they see that each person does 

 his duty. Special block chiefs may be named 

 for unusual events such as the taking of the 

 census. Such special block chiefs serve only 

 for the time necessary to complete their special 

 assignment. 



The ronda is a "voluntary" night watch. The 

 town is patrolled every night by a group of 8 to 



12 men under the orders of the harrio chief. 

 The latter has the duty of notifying individuals 

 when they are to serve. Each harrio provides the 

 ronda for a week in turn, and each individual 

 serves a week every time he is called. Theoreti- 

 cally, every adult male is expected to perform 

 this service, but the men over 40 or 50 years and 

 persons of some distinction are seldom if ever 

 asked. One of the assistants in the project, 

 member of the committee in charge of com- 

 munal property and a school teacher, had not 

 been asked to serve for several years. Neither 

 do the storekeepers serve ; instead, they give a 

 package of cigarettes or some 10 centavos to 

 those who do serve. There is no obligation, 

 nor any regularity, about this gift. The average 

 man who is asked to serve probably is called 

 on four or five times a year. 



Comisionados may also be named if funds 

 are to be raised for some special municipal 

 purpose. The purpose may be to send a delega- 

 tion to Morelia or Mexico City to look after the 

 interests of the town in some affair, or to pur- 

 chase material for some public work for which 

 funds are not available in the treasury, such 

 as the materials for the water tanks. This may 

 happen twice in a year or may not occur at all. 

 The comisionados are charged with collecting 

 the money in their barrio or whatever area is 

 designated. 



There are many comisionados in connection 

 with fiestas. For the fiesta of the patron saint 

 in October, some 70 comisionados are named 

 to raise funds for music, fireworks, and other 

 expenses of the fiesta. A group is named by 

 the mayor for each barrio, and it has the re- 

 sponsibility of raising money through taking 

 up a collection (or members paying out of their 

 own pockets), conducting negotiations with 

 musicians or fireworks makers, and seeing that 

 the work is completed. In addition, four men 

 are commissioned each to provide a moro 

 dancer. The comisionado has to seek out a 

 dancer, pay for his food and costume, and take 

 care of him during the fiesta. Finally, at least 

 40 young men (10 or more from each barrio) 

 are commissioned to provide poles for building 

 the bull ring. The total for this fiesta is not 

 less than 114 comisionados. 



For the fiesta of Corpus, eight comisionados 

 are named for each barrio for each occupation 



