The morning news., 1897-07-29
THE AMERICAN IN MEXICO.
A Good Country for Foreigners 10 DO
Business In.

A Good Country for Foreigners 10 DO
Business In.
Charles Dudley Warner In Harpers Mag
azine.
With a bountiful nature, and a popula-
tion accustomed to work for pay that
would only support them In conditions OF
squalor, il can be seen why the citizens
Of the United States, who is always look
Ing for a place to invest his capital"
(meanlng often only his Wits, finds Mexico
attractive. SO long as wages are low. and
the peon is content to live as he does, and
the American dollar can be changed into
two Mexican dollars for the purchase OF
land or the pay Of labor, the prospect
seems dazzling one for the adventurer.
The government invites Investments by
the most liberal concessions, and encour-
ages in every way the building of rail-
ways and the development of productive
lands. / doubt If there is another country
where foreigners are so much encouraged
and so well protected by the authorities
as in Mexico. And this invitation to for
eigners will continue so long as the gov
ernment Is administered In its present
spirit, until the Mexicans are educated
and have learned to live better and to de-
mand adequate wages. Meantime the gov
ernment. while holding out Inducements
to foreign capital, is multiplying it's
schools, both for common and industrial
education, and adopting new educational
methods, from the colleges down to the
kindergartens. In this transitional period
the American sees an opportunity for
making fortune. II would sound strange
In England, and II begins to be rare in
the United States, to hear of fortunes
made by agriculture. But cases of 1t are
said TO be common here. / was told that
IN the little, clean, healthful, delightful
satf .,F AL
ty-seVen millionaires mo one OF them
worth more than 3.0O0, 900, who have near
ly all made their money from the product
or their haciendas. Many of them are
from the lower ranks. and began with no
capital a few years ago.
some OF these lucky people are foreign
ers who have married Mexican women and
adopted the manners of the country
could fll this paper with instances have
heard or, OF foreigners who came here pen
niless and In a few years have risen 10
positions OF trust and ownership I'm banks.
railways and plantations. But these sto-
ries are common the world over These
profitable haciendas. where sugar coffee
and cereals are grown, both the old and
the new, are really feudal principalities
In extent and In authority In the center
OF tract OF tens OF thousands OF acres.
only a small proportion of which Is culti-
waited, Is the owners residence II ne Is n
are owned by foreigners) there Is
church with tall splre or tower near the
house-a landmark for every dusty visitor
"a store, and, grouped around, the mud
novels OF the poems, who are the feudal
dependents. The hacienda residence may
be surrounded by "A high adobe wall and
within are the various offices, courts with
tropical treca.plants and flowers and foun-
tains. The large and poor population OF
this domain are absolutely dependent upon
The proprietor Their dwellings are
wretched. even for this climate: their
wardrobe would make a rag market In any
ghetto, ana they are apt to be in debt
20 the proprietor, who gives them their
wages In store pay al a handsome proht.
And yet, 80 FAR az i can see, ~ is con-
tented and cheerful population, both IN
country ana city. There Is an air Of lels-
ure everywhere church festivals and hol-
days are frequent; every one has hts
siesta in the middle OF the day. in small
cities tho shops close from ~ 20 o. the
tramways take "a rest then also and there
is no appearance that labOrers are driven
In their tasks. You cannot hurry any
thing or anybody. For Tomorrow" is az
ways coming. II Will thus be seen that Il
is good country for the laborlng men.
who can wear anything that will hold
together eat anything thai a cent will
buy. sleep on a mat on the ground wrap
ped in his scraDc. and who has not been
taught that if he has piece OF silver
worth 20 cents II ls his right to take it
20 the mint and have Il coined into q doll
lar.