This publication makes available an interesting yet relatively little known report that provides a wealth of information on the Cuernavaca district, which eventually became the state of Morelos. I looked at the notes and bibliography of five historical studies of Morelos, and none cited the Orellana report; nor did Peter Gerhard, in his Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain (rev. ed. 1993). This report, completed in July 1826, brings together information collected by the alcaldes on the size, age, and gender structure of the population; the occupational structure; public health and public education; the number of haciendas and ranchos; the status of municipal and communal lands; and tithes and other sources of public revenue. The narrative sections of the report, moreover, contain valuable information on agriculture, trade, mining, and even the lingering disruptive impact of the independence wars, particularly in Cuautla de Ampillas.
The author of the report was influenced by Alexander von Humboldt’s earlier study of New Spain, and tried to bring greater accuracy to the document. Ignacio Orellana went so far as to include his estimates of the longitude and latitude of each district, both in the text of the document and the map appended to it. In what was still a prestatistical period, however, the figures he reports, especially for the population, should be handled with care. People used to being taxed (and also to finding ways to avoid being taxed) would be suspicious of any population count, which potentially could be used for taxation or conscription for military service. One common response might be to try to avoid being counted.
The difficulty of collecting reliable population figures is highlighted in the report by the inclusion only of population summaries for several municipalities, not the detailed age and gender distribution recorded for the bulk of the Cuernavaca district. The alcaldes, Orellana reports, could provide only the totals. Orellana also makes numerous errors in adding the figures in the statistical tables appended to the report. Fortunately, Rene García Castro, who prepared this volume for publication, has appended notes with the corrected figures.
These concerns aside, the Orellana report is an invaluable source of information on the Cuernavaca district shortly after independence. I was personally interested in the details of land tenure and the agricultural economy, the population figures, and even a report that allowed for a fairly accurate calculation of morbidity and mortality rates during a severe measles epidemic in 1825. I would hope that in the future, more such nineteenth-century statistical reports would be published. But I would hasten to add that similar reports have previously appeared in print. For example, in the early 1980s, the Jalisco state government sponsored the publication of a series of censuses and reports dating from the 1790s to the 1860s, including one document similar to the Orellana report and prepared at about the same time.
