The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-01


X ANY of the plans which were orig
/" mated by President Madero have
l been adopted by his success. This
Is especially so as to the new movements
for building up Mexico. The department
of public works and that of agriculture
are being carried on along the same lines,
and the gradual subdivision of the lands
and the giving them back to the people
has been put forth as one of the policies
of the Huerta administration.
Lands at Few Cents an Acre
A short time before President Madero
was killed I called at the department of
public works and had a long talk with
senor Rafael Hernandez. who was then
a member of the cabinet. He is a rel
ative, by marriage, of the Madero fam
fly, is a man of great ability and has
had largely to do with the origination of
the movements here as to the public and
other lands. When I called upon him
he was making plans for the reclamation
of such lands which had been ceded by
Mexico to certain foreigners, who had not
complied with their concessions Said
he:
Mexico has awarded tens of millions
OF acres of excellent land to outsiders at
q few cents per acre. We have given
concessions to companies and private par
ties to survey our public lands and to
look into the rights of the suuatters. In
some cases the reward for this trouble
has been one-third OF the waste lands
RMS work has extended over number of
states, and in connection with it. the
To mil 1frr. s.f
the government. AS a consideration for
surveying 100000 acres In Lower Cali
Iornla, one American company got the
title TO 100000 acres and it had also the
right to buy the remaining 100000 acres
at cost OF about cents gold per acre
payable on time without interest That
company now owns something like a.
100000 acres, which is fitted for coloniza.
tion. It's lands are some of the best In
Mexlco. They are already worth a vast
sum, and their value will be increa sed
by the completion of the Panama canal
after which the lands will probably be
colonized.
Other concessions of great value have
been granted in other localities" Mr.
Hernandez continued, "and so much of
our best lands have been lost What we
are doing, however, is to go over the con-
cessions and see whether the concession
aires have complied with the terms upon
which they took over the lands. If they
have not done so we are able to get the
lands back and We are doing so. We
have already been able to recover rs or
30 million acres and we shall probably
get back as much more. This will make
something like 60000,0O0 acres, or consid-
erably more than two states the size of
New York or. Pennsylvania"
But that must relate only to the lands
forfeited by companies which have not
rQr nf fha h
Yes" replied Senior Hernandez. 1T
Is only where the companies have not
carried out their contracts Where they
have complied with the laws and regula-
tons their property is as safe as it would
be anywhere in the world and we would
not have it otherwise We are ready to
stand by our contracts, although they
may have been bad ones at the time they
were made"
Millions in Chewing Gum
How about other concessions outside
1ands?"
Many concessions have been granted
for almost nothing, covering property
which ought to give a great revenue to
the government" Senior Hernandez said.
Take. for instance, chice, the chewing
gum which is now working the jaws OF
millions of United States citizens. That
comes from here. 1t oozes out of a tree
found in our public forests and is gath
cred, based upon a tax assessed on a
value of the gum at IS pesos, or SO, per
ton. The actual value of the chce at
the seaports is at least $500 a ton, and
when it is landed in New York 1t is
worth at least $500 in gold. That conces-
sion is still in force, but we shall change
it as soon as it's term has expired"
Another concession Is connected with
guayule, a plant which grows upon our
IL -1,t>
making rubber. According to the terms
of the concession the government should
have one-third of the net profits. In some
recent returns our share of a sale of a
half million tons of this stuff was about
$500, whereas it should have been $780,
900 or more. 1t is easy to figure the
actual value of a ton of guayue.
should say the stuff is worth s125 ton
and that that half million tons was prob
ably worth s625000 in gold, of which the
government should have had full third.
Nevertheless the company sent us in
1900 pesos, or $500. We objected and
they finally paid over $4,000, but they
should have paid more"
But does Mexico want American cap
ital?"
Yes replied the secretary. I'VE are
glad to have you people como to Mexico.
and we think we can show you oppor-
tunities to make more money, perhaps,
than in any place else on this continent.
We want bona fde immigrants and we
want foreign capital, to dsvelop our
mines, our farms and our industries AS
it is now we have already hundreds of
millions of dollars worth of United
States money invested here. and when
conditions become a little more settled
we have no doubt but that we shall have
hundreds of millions more. There is no
antagonism between Mexican and Amer
lean interests, and believe that the re-
lation of the two countries will be closer
and more cordial as times goes on"
Big Reclamation Schemes
The conversation here turned to the new
irrigation schemes which the government
has under way, and Senior Hernandez
said:
I'VE expect to do a great deal In re
claiming our government lands and in
the introduction of irrigation works which
Will water not only them, but those of
private parties as well Agreat part of
this S>untry is high and dry. but we