viously had never produced a dollar, has been made to yield great crops of cotton and forage. This one enterprise alone has added millions in value to the permanent taxable property of Mexico and it is to-day paying taxes to the extent of more than a hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually to the territorial government in which the land is situated. While the taxes are high, the owners of this particular investment are somewhat consoled by the fact that the territorial government, in marked exception to the general rule, has at its head an honest and efficient executive who sees to it that these revenues are used in maintaining order, constructing highways, maintaining public schools, and for other public improvements.
Since early in the Diaz régime and during its continuance, Mexico had a system of land laws which provided, as do similar laws in our country, for the sale of public land at prices and upon terms named therein. After these laws were enacted and until they were set aside by the Carranza government, it was never possible for Diaz, or any one else, to make a grant or gift of any public lands to any citizen or foreigner. A somewhat careful investigation has failed to discover a single instance in which land in Mexico is held by a citizen of the United States by virtue of any public grant or concession in the nature of a gift. As in the case of mining and oil properties, what lands have been
