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Show " ‘ Cwatirel iHyT Peae FA ’ BY ee et PELL Pee a ye ayes * AU od eee et oom tatoo, eeeaE E LEADING 14 HISTORY MEXICAN OF NEW FACTS TERRITORY ad * na Se ye See | ee) eee a ae elt he A om Pare) e -& i nl rs ee rE rer great part in the constitutional development of her colonies. The Fueros maintained the ecclesiastical and military authorities in com. plete independence of the courts; in fact the civil was for all prac. » tical purposes subordinate to the other two. It had no jurisdiction over them, and the lay plaintiff in the privileged tribunals was lia. ble to have judgment entered up against him, a consequence that could never follow the suits of the ecclesiastical or military orden before the civil tribunals. The judgments of the latter, in such cases, were void. According to Gregg, imprisonment was the only sort of punish. ment resorted to in New Mexico. For debt, petit larceny, highway robbery, and murder, the usual sentence was ‘‘A la Carcel’’ (to jail) where persons were likely to remain about as long for it ability to pay dos reales as for the worst of crimes; always provided Pe Mexico was asesor or legal adviser il for several years. but one execution for murder in New Mexico, since the declaration of indepel dence. The most desperate and blood-stained criminals escape with impunity, ap) ey eit? eee Fo ey . after a few weeks of incarceration, unless the prosecutor happens to be a persdl : fects. of great influence; in which case, the prisoner is detained in the calabozo at will, even when the offense committed has been of a trivial character.. Notwith standing this laxity in the execution of the laws, there are few murders of al] kind committed. “Tn ease of debt, as before remarked, the delinquent does not operate, however, upon the higher classes, yet it acts with terrible Severity upon the unfortunate poor, whose condition is but little better, if m0! worse indeed than that of the slaves of the South. They labor for fixed wages, _ 18 true; but all they can earn is hardly sufficient to keep them in the coarse _ and pay their contingent expenses. Men’s wages range from two tl ve dollars per month, and those of women from fifty cents to two dollars; » on of which, they a apparel and other rarely receive any money; but instead thereof, articles necessaries at the most exorbitant prices. The const a ae 18 pee the servant soon accumulates a debt which he is unable to pa) ae oe eing often engaged for a year or two in advance. Now, accotl ne © usages, if not the laws of the country, he is bound to serve er until all arrearages are liquidated; and is only enabled to effect exchange of 3 fa racic ‘Capital to crimes engaging and another to pay his debt, to whom he every movable piece of iron, and even quently winking at crime, rather than at Santa Fé in 1846-1847, republic, No ™ been carried away. of to War, the barbarous pp. 23-24. to ascertain expedients Lieutenant the pre- Abert, population of decrees the following: ‘“ Division of the Department. ‘‘ART. 1. The Department of New Mexico, conformably to the 4th article of the constitution, is hereby divided into three districts, which shall be called the Central, the North, and the Southeast. The whole shall be divided into Seven counties, and these into three municipalities. The population, according to the statistics which are capital of this Department presented is Santa for this purpose, Fé. is 100,064. The ““Central District. ‘‘ArT. 2. called Santa This district is hereby divided into three counties, which shall be Fé, Santa Ana, and San Miguel del Bado. The capital of these three counties shall be the City of Santa Fé. ‘‘ArtT. 3. The first county shall comprise all the inhabitants of Santa San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Cieneguilla, Agua - is Santa Fé. ‘ART. The stolen. resort in endeavoring 4. The Nambé, Cuyamungue, county seat is Tesuque, Rio Tesuque, Fria, Galisteo, El Real del Oro, and Tuerto. The number of inhabitants is 12,500. The second of county shall comprise Chilili, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Angostura, and Algodones. s being immediately have New Mexico, found among the archives the following, which gives the information as to population, districts, and counties, as follows: ‘*MARIANO MARTINEZ DE LEJANZA, brevet brigadier general and Constitutional Governor of the Department of New Mexico, to its inhabitants sends greeting, that the Assembly of the Department has agreed to decree the folowing: ‘‘The Assembly of the Department of New Mexico, in discharging the powers which are conceded by the 134th article of the organic law of the Cochiti, Pefia Blanea, Nothing, indeed, can be left expat! the wheels ‘‘The impunity with which delinquencies of this description are every day committed is perhaps in some degree the consequence of those severe enactments, such as the Leyes de las Indias, which rendered many thefts and robberies punishable with death. The magistracy contracted the habit of fre- become h 15 bandman would think of leaving his axe or his hoe, or anything else of the slightest value, lying out over night. Empty wagons are often pillaged of is sent to jail — pr vided the creditor will not accept his services. If he will, however, the debtot becomes nolens volens the servant of the creditor till the debt is satisfied; and, serving as he does, at very reduced wages, his expenses for clothing and other necessaries but too often retain him in perpetual servitude. This system MEXICO The prefect was a very important officer and his duties, in while Barreiro OF many respects, combined those now within the jurisdiction of boards of county commissioners and probate judges. In 1844, by a decree of the Asamblea, and published by the governor, the department was divided into three districts and seven partidos.*® istration of justice in New Mexico. REPUBLIC As has been stated, instead of the alcaldes mayores of Spanish times, under the Mexican rule there were aywntamientos in the larger settlements, with alcaldes in the smaller. There were also pre- scribed by the letter of the law.’’ 18 Abert, Report of the Secretary 12 Gregg, Josiah, Commerce of the Prairies, i, pp. 235-238: ‘‘I never heard 0 auren THE he had not the means to pacify the offended majesty of the law.” New i qT | a OF fixed at the inhabitants Fé, Cienega, county Rayado, Cubero, San Felipe, Jemez, Cia, The number of inhabitants is 10,500. Algodones. ‘Art. 5. The third county shall comprise the inhabitants of Pecos, Gusano, Rio de la Vaca, Mula, Estramosa, San José, San Miguel del Bado, Pueblo, |