The Washington times., 1919-12-25
BELIEVES MEXICO
LAND OF PLENTY
Prominent Banker, Here On
Commercial Mission, Tells
OF Record Crops.

NEW YORK. Dec. .s.-Mexice ss
today the land of pieuty and oeS-~s
more than ever TO establish caes~~
business and financial relations viz
the United states, according 20 Jose
Riojas. a nephew Of Gen. Pablo Ger
zales, who Is in this country on an
tmportan. commercial mission.
Mr.. Riojas denounced as -suhliu,>tx
iidiculous' rumors that hls severn
ment wishes 10 force the United States
into war, and pointed TO the fact thA4
Mexico has large surplus Of mary
staple articles which it hopes 20 afs-
pose Of In the United States 20 d4s~
prove belligerent news oispstches
from the border.
Mexico has reaped this year one Of
the largest harvests IN its history
he declared. Heavy rains have fallen
Tor the nrst time In seven years and
the result Is surplus of products
which should help relieve stringent
food conditions IN the United States.
Corn is more abundant than ever and
the government has granted permits
for the expectation OF several hun
dred cars OF this product from the
states of Coahuils and Tamaulipas TO
America
Cotton Industry.
The cotton Industry in MEXICO has
grown 10 such an extent that many Of
the mills have been considerably en-
larged and our cotton INDUSTRY has
grown at corresponding rate. Most
OF our cotton crops will probably be
used at home. You can understand
something OF the sire OF our cotton
crops when you take into consioers-
ton that around 100000 bxies are
raised in the district OF Torreon alone
each year
The United states is suffering
from lack OF coal because the miners
refused to work. But DO you know
that Mexico is in a position 10 export
coal TO this countryf Mines in the
Coahuila district are now working
of them, but the water has been
pumped out and they are producing
at capacity rate.
American business houses shOc,d
open branches In Mexico without de-
lay. There is q tremendous field for
America south Of the Rio Grande. but
your financial leaders are permitting
European leaders to get IN first That
is bad. You should send to Mexico
representatives who understand the
Latin character.
Must UnAerstanl SpaaasA.
Il have seen many young men try
ing to sell American gooda in Mexico.
but they usually do not understand
the Spanish language Still they get
orders, even though they talk to peo.
pie they have never seen before and
do not understand. Just imAxtne.
though. now much larger the business
would be = those salesmen knew the
nA hA oh A
Of Mexicans.
Two months ALL was At ouaAa,
lajara- representative OF Q large
American agricultu,s>.. impassncrs
had just NSceivod an
order for several hundred< wooden
plows. He had to wait three dass.
though. before his firm wired Rack
that they would send the kind OF ~ :.
plement the Mexican concern wanted.
The salesman lost the order because
his company insisted upon making
the buyer take steel plows instead Of
wooden ones. When European
salesman is told plows must be paint
ed red. there Is no cabling or dicker-
ing-the plows are painted red. or
any other color the customer may 1e-
sire.
Poor packing Ia another thing that
costs American houses much FOOD
business in Mexico. Recently q Chi
cago packer filled an order for canned
goods worth about $4,000. The Gus
toner expected to receive his goods in
hrst-class condition. When the order
arrived most of IL had been ruined
shipped from New York to Mexico
need almost as much handling a. that
from Europe. And the Eu-
ropean exporters are careful to pack
their goods well at a moderate price"
Two Prestte.ttaI Ca.AiAstsa.
when asked about the forthcominx
presidential campaign in 4exico Mr..
Riojas said the two most important
now are General Pablo
Gonzales and General AlvarAdo Obre-
gon- Other candidates may present
themselves later, he said.
who will win 1 cannot say he cor
but the elections will be held
in June and you may rest assured
that the government will maintain
a strict vigilance at the polls to zee
that the ballotins is lawful
II am in this country 20 interest
American capital in large Agricultural
and grazing lands in Mexico. Some
Of these lands produce much cotton
and corn, but more capital is needed
to run them at their full capacity. Up
TO the present time my plans have not
produced satisfactory results because
Of the Jenkins case, but I hope this
is almost over now and that our gov
ernments will be in complete accord
soon
But above all, ] want 20 tell the
people that Mexico does not
want war. or any trouble. Mexican
business men are out for more bust
ness than ever before and they hope
most of their transactions will be
with AmerIcau housas"