El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-25
Of
AMERICANS
DECEIVED
Men With Small Means
Find Difficulty in Making
Living.
EXPECT TO MAKE
FORTUNES QUICKLY
By F. J. Haskin).

TERRA, Blanca. Mexico, March Is
While Mexico, with its wonderful d.
versity Of climate and it's splendid
richness of soil. offers a pleasing pros
pect for the man with means and an
ability to buy ntelligently. to the
man with little means and a DISPOSE
ton to accept as trutE everything a
land agent tells him. 1t Is place to be
Stunned For one must. have money
TO begin with, and he must know ex-
actly what he is doing. else he will
start in the direction of failure
The fraudulent American land COM
panies operating here are doing more
to injuTe the reputation Of Mexico as
a land of opportunity for the pioneer
ing farmer than any other instrument
tally. Not only are they doing much
TO injure the reputation of Mexican
farming lands, but they are bringing
down thousands Of Americans and IN
loading all but worthless land at
prices that are comparatively high.
and leaving. the would-be investors
financially stranded One hears OF the
misfOFtunes of credulous American
farmers at almost every turn Many
had comfortable homes in the States,
but. filled with the desire to leave
richer patrimony TO their children, sold
all and came to Mexico, where they
self denial accumulate a larger for
tune.
Some Honest Companies
OF course there are honest land COM
panies from the United States operat-
Ing in Mexico, and thousands OF farm
ers have come here under their guild
ance and are prospecting In this land
of perennial sunshine. but even the
Mexican railroad officials condemn the
policies of many of the companies and
declare that they will be glad If the
public of the United States is warned
to proceed cautiously when making in
Vestments.
Schemes OF the Fake Companies.
The methods by which people are
induced to buy from these fraudulent
companies are many and varied To
begin with, the lands which they have
to sell are usually almost worthless
On the Isthmus Of Tehauntepec thou
sands of acres have been bought by
these companies at the rate Of about
SO cents an acre This land usually is
sold at prices ranging from $40 TO $40
per acre People are brought down by
the trainload, and there are always
people on board who are Just return
ing from their vacations and who are
making enormous profits from well
considered investments in Mexico" The
said investments consist OF a fine line
are going to visit are capable OF pro-
ducing, and WHAT wealth lies ahead OF
those who buy When the territory Of
operations is reached. everybody is
taken out in automobiles. driven to
some fine hacienda, and taken over it.
being told that the company's lands
join 1t They are shown plats and Of
ten a number OF ringers are on the
job ready to buy every good PROPOSE
ton in sight Seeing such enthusiasm
it often happens that someone proposes
that the party shake dice to see who
gets first pick
Land Is Mfsrepresented.
1t is frequently represented that a
tract OF land is suited for a certain
kind Of crop. when really it IS impos-
sible TO grow it there. In one instance
a large quantity Of land was sold as
suitable for growing rubber trees.
when there was no chance for success
in such a venture. Another land COM
pany represented that it had thousands
OF acres OF sugar land. and that the
sugar mills in the vicinity would buy
all the cane. Some time afterward the
city editor of a Mexican newspaper re-
ceived a letter from the sugar mill
owner asking that some steps be taken
to advise prospective settlers that his
mill was crowded to its capacity with
his own crop and that he had never
geSt such an arrangement
One Company Comes to Grief.
Sometimes the plans OF the exploit
ing land companies go awry and they
themselves lose money. A year or two
ago a company was engaged in ex-
plotting a plantation about midway OF
the Isthmus Of Tehauatepec. They put
up a sugar mill. but were not able to
realize ready cash in time to save the
property. and it was afterward sold to
one of the men who had been duped-
He still was able TO command enough
money to take charge of the property
and did so. Now he is giving farmers
their rent free for as much land as
they desire, on condition that they
plant three-fourths OF it IN sugar cane
and sell him the product at a stipulated
price.
Many of the people who have been
duped by the land companies return
home sadder and wiser. An old c. 4
R. veteran invested his back pension
money. together with what other
money he had. in tract near Toloosa- .
He could not make ends meet and had =
TO borrow money to carry him back
home. Others try to stick it out, and