The Washington herald., 1917-02-18


are wont to get the cream of the profits.
as witness recent comments in the press
of this country. Middlemen are, in
large measure, responsible for the high
cost OF living in the United States, ac-
cording to the declaration of many promi-
nent citizens, including PI esident Wilson.
THE Comision Reguladora del Mercado
de Henequen, of which Gen. Salvador AL
varado is president, has already ACHE wed
a brilliant success In it's adherence to the
Ideal plan of distributing one of the
worlds most solicited commodities direct
from producer to consumer. In this
country there is on foot a movement
tending toward the same end; and. il we
are led by recent comments in the press
of the United States. If success is
achieved by the proponents of this high
ly beneficial plan. unquestionably YuCa-
tan will have many imitators in this
country, and the people will be the bene-
f1ciaries
''Yucatan has succeeded In taking sisal
out OF the gamble, and, naturally, the
old middlemen eliminated, We know
where the shoe pinches, and the howl
starts about monopoly.
'Criminologists. say, Find the motive
and you will find the criminal Thus I
say that there is a reason for these nu-
inerous bitter. and frequently unfounded,
attacks upon the Comision Reguladora.
Hunt for the motive and you will find
that It leads to the eliminated middleman
and speculator, who seek vengeance.
"The producers OF the green gold of
Yucatan,' who have been pictured as
formerly living in great luxury and
spending their money for limousnes and
for trips to Paris and London and New
York, had for years been heavily in debt
n
sisal who virtually controlled the local
banks. In fact, the Indebtedness of the
henequen producers amounted to many
millions of dollars, represented by mort
cages on their real estate and liens on
their crops; for be It known, these men
who did the buying for American corpor-
ations1 loaned money freely to the plant
ers, stipulating that the payment of the
debt was to be made. not in cash. but In
fiber at price to be fixed by the pur-
chaser. And these prices were fixed by
the buyer in accordance with those pre-
vailing in the United States, which were
fixed by his principal
For these reasons the farmers could
not market their product solely through
their own organization. It was nearly a
year after General Alvarado took charge
OF affairs in Yucatan before the farmers
were relieved OF debt. in consequence OF
the beneficial effects OF the revolution.
and 1t was then. in October. 1915, that
they were enabled finally to band together
effectively for the plan Of cooperative
selling from producer to consumer. which
is being done so extensively and sue
cessfully today.
The Yucatecans are proud Of the fact
that while they were in debt to the rep
resentatives of the American buyers Of
hemp they kept their word and delivered
the goods, accepting whatever price the
buyer, not themselves, fixed for the prod
ucts Of their farms.
Never in the history OF the henequen
industry in Yucatan prior to October,
1915. has the seller fixed a price for his
goods. The incredible and abnormal sys-
TEN of having prices fixed by the buyer
existed for more than thirty years. and
challenge anybody. here or in Yucatan,
to deny this.
When General Alvarado took charge
of affairs in Yucatan the operating fund
of the Reguladora, which should have
amounted to several million dollars, rep
resenting the proceeds of taxes collected
since its organization, had disappeared
Some of it had been loaned to the Huerta
administration and the balance had been
lost as the result Of two destructive fires
that occurred in 1918 and 1915, when all
of its large stock of sisal was burned.
So the Reguladora had to start again
empty handed under General Alvarado's
presidency.
Some criticism has been made of the
fact that the planters signed a con-
tract to deliver their hemp to the
Reguladora for a period of FIVE years.
That there was no compulsion about this
contract is proved by the fact that all
the farmers OF the adjoining state of
Campeche also signed these contracts
became of no
That these farmers, including Americans
and other foreigners, signed these con-
tracts Of partnerships shows that they
appreciated the benefits to be derived
from the system of cooperative selling
"As regards division OF the profits for
the first commercial year, which ended
last November. the Reguladora began the
distribution to the planters of s., 3,500, 900
in gold. which sum represents a part
Of the difference between the total sum
realized for the crop and the total sum
previously advanced to the planters, thus
proving that the laws had been COM
piled with and that Gov. Alvarado's
promises had been made good to the
letter. The remainder Of the net proceeds
of the sale of sisal will be refunded to
the associated planters in the form of
bonds equivalent to 70 per cent of the
total amount held as an operating fund
A SluOy OI SldllsliCdl udtd respecting
all fibers will demonstrate that, for
the past three years, Yucatan sisal has
been the cheapest hard fiber obtainable,
and is still the cheapest. The selling of
Yucatan sisal at a price below the prices
of competitive fibers favors the we'll
fare of Yucatan in the view Of the Of
ficials, who not only regard it as their
duty to safeguard its present interests,
but to insure its future prosperity. At
present, when all fibers are scarce and
difficult to obtain. and all command
higher prices than sisal, manufacturers
are induced to utilize sisal for other COM
modities than binder twine, and Yucatan
has reason to hope for the permanent
extension OF the use of its product"
WY n