which stamped farming as an occupation not unworthy of men of the highest rank. The remainder of the ground belonged to the temples and the different tribes, and was worked in accordance with strict regulations. These not only set forth the inalienability of the land given to communities for the benefit of their members, but provided that every one of the latter should receive a lot of such extent and quality as his necessities and rank entitled him to. Possession was subject to liberal conditions, and although given only temporarily, it could, through prudent conduct on part of the holder, be transmitted to his heirs. Thus a peculiar system was created, which for wisdom challenges comparison with the best among old-world institutions. And while land belonging exclusively to communities could not pass into other hands, full scope was given to the industrious member to improve his share, and draw the greatest possible advantage from his labor.[1]
It would have been prudent and beneficial for the Spaniards to maintain in force so admirable a system, and it would certainly have been just to do so. Cortés did indeed allow certain forms of native government to remain, but this policy was not observed in the distribution of land. The greater number of conquerors disliked the humble sphere and toil of a farmer, and preferred the possession of an encomienda, where they might play sovereignty and king-craft a little on their own account. Fertile as the soil might be, it had little attraction if they were to till it by their own labor, and thus agriculture in the early times after the conquest was carried on only where the work could be done by slave labor. But Cortés on his first stay in Mexico, when a guest of Montezuma, had sent exploring expeditions in a southerly direction, with orders to establish plantations of maize and cacao, and was not inclined to leave undeveloped the resources
- ↑ For details concerning the various systems in force before the conquest, I refer to my Native Races, i. 625, 652-3; ii. 223-30, 342-50, 445; iv. 429-31.
