Ot1r Catliolic Heritage in Texas
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February 14, 1805, relative to grants of realengas (royal grazing lands), which had inaugurated a new policy. Until the issuance of this royal decree, the policy had been -to give to prospective cattlemen for prac- tically nothing immense tracts of land along the thinly populated northern frontier of New Spain. Against this practice the settlers in this isolated region had complained bitterly, because it hindered normal development. Protests were made to the king, who finally instructed the Council of the Indies to investigate the matter and make recommenda- tions for royal action. The Council of the Indies had then requested the governors of Nuevo Santander, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Texas to furnish the desired information, and express their views on the policy which they considered best to adopt. The first to reply was the governor of Nuevo Santander. He was of the opinion that large tracts of land should not be granted or sold to persons who did not intend to establish homes thereon and would not undertake their immediate development. The tenure of vast stretches obtained for practically nothing by absentee stock raisers was seriously impeding the growth of the country through settlements and conse- quently was imperilling its very defence. He suggested, as one means of correcting the evils of the wasteful policy in force, the adoption of price scales for the various kinds of land. In his opinion, a fair price would be 25 pesos for nonirrigable, 50 pesos for irrigable, and 100 pesos for fluvial lands per sitio de ganado mayor (one square league). A comparison of the documents reveals that the opinion of the governor of Nuevo Leon was in agreement with that of the governor of Nuevo Santander that the practice of gratuitously granting immense tracts to absentee stock raisers produced evil effects. He advocated, however, not a graduated price scale, but a uniform rate of 30 pesos per sitio--a fair price, he thought. This policy would tend to bring about a decrease in the number of large ranches held by absentee stockmen, and at the same time would encourage cattlemen of little means to start ranches on the frontier, especially if they were permitted to make payment in ten installments, each of 3 pesos per sitio. The governor of Coahuila was even more liberal. He recommended that the prices range from IO to 30 pesos for the three kinds of land described by the governor of Nuevo Santander. As a result of these conflicting opinions, a special Junta had been called to meet in San Luis Potosi to discuss the whole matter and make
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