The Washington herald., 1917-04-08
SEEN AND HEARD BY GEORGE MINER.
Shaking Out the Middleman
Some Facts Concerning the Present Conflict Over the Old
. Time Problem Of Supply and Demand as 1t Relates
to Sisal and Binder Twine -

tone cent Of profit from this operation
All the sisaI growers Of Yucatan and OF
the adjoining state of Campeche are
members of the organization and particl.
pate In its benefits In the exact proper
! ton to the number of pounds OF fiber
each delivers to the association for mar
keting. After deducting the expenses OF
operation. federal and state taxes. cost
Of transportation and warehouse charges
the remainder OF the proceeds OF sale Is
divided among the farmers at the end
! of each commercial year. The sisaI Is
/ sold to American manufacturers. large
and small direct, at the same price. thus
saving them the commissions heretofore
/ Paid to the middlemen.
| Tropical fibers have been used ever
since people began 10 tie and weave. Ger
tainly they have been in use for 4
couple Of thousand years. Yucatsn has
been the suppiier of these strong threads
for at least 500 years for Industrial use
! During the days of Spanish control every
Mexican product Of value went to Spain
and only In the last hundred years has
this wonderful region traded with the
world at large. The fiber OF the agave
plant goes all over the world in the form
| of rope and what is known as binder
twine-a heavy cordage used for tyinE
bundles OF grain. Eight per cent of Yu-
| Catan's fiber Is used annually for this
purpose. and while farmers could harvest
their grain without it the elimination OF
| Yucatan sisal would very largely in
crease the cost of binder twine.
! These agaves-known as century plants
ifamiliar rly-are common to many parts OF
the tropical and subtropical world
where hLt sun shines on an arid soil.
You cannot grow these spiky. hard fiber
yielding leaves on a good, rich moist soil
They despise ordinary nutrition and. like
the cocoanut and cactus, live where
scarcely anything else in the plant world
could survive.
| The cost Of production OF sisal fiber in
Yucatan has more than doubled in the
past eighteen months. In consequence oi
the admirable social reforms inaugurated
| by Gov. AIvarado peonage has been abol'
ished and the field laborer Is now q free
man and must be paid a living wage. In.
| stead Of working for a pittance, as these
! laborers did previously, they now receive
from $50 to 50 a day, American gold
The days labor is limited by law to eight
hours and the working week to five days
Child labor is prohibited female labor Is
strictly regulated and working conditions
have been improved at considerable cost
to the planters. Public schools have been
established on each sisal plantation al
the expense Of the farmers and the labor
law provides compensation to laborers
for accidents and sickness. besides COM
pelling the farmers to provide old-age
pensions and otherwise safeguard and
protect the health OF the laborer.
Hundreds OF Americans are now going
TO Yucatan because OF these improved
labor condltions-the good wages. the
equitable laws and just treatment.
For this reason, of course, the price OF
slSal has gone up, but it has not gone up
anywhere in proportion as the necessariei
Of life which the Yucatan farmers have
to purchase have gone up. Since the
European war nearly every material un'
der the sun has risen in price. Silver, for
instance, which brought 4s cents an ounce
ounce in September. 1915, is selling for Il
cents an ounce today; copper has risen
from II to 10 cents;, potatoes are up from
H.75 per barrel to 81; cotton which plan
ters sold from to s cents a pound direct
ly after the European war began il
bringing more than II cents and for q
time SCARED above 20 cents.
Now. despite the fact that binder twine
has risen from 10 to is cents a pound. the
American farmer got a far greater In
creased price from the products of his
farm. The increased cost OF binder twine
to the American farmer in 1916 was {
cents per acre, yet his increased revenue
from his grain crops was several dollars
per acre over 1915.
Copyright 1917