El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-01-10

WITH the opening Of the border to unrestricted COM
" ere between the United States and Mexico and with
the ALLEGATION Of an adequate number Of ships to handle
Mexican trass there wiz be great revival Of business re-
lstions between the two countries ana corresponding
thriving Of border cities and towns How much of it these
border cities and towns get depends Of to eOnsid
cradle extent UPON the acumen Of their CITIZENS.
Tboss who think that Mexico is prOstra>e economically
bauss Of the minor bandit and revolutionary activities
which undoubtedly persist in many parts Of the country
have mistaken idea there is truth in the latest avail
able trade statistics furnished from which should
have authentic information.
cvste figures for 1918 are lacking because, under the
.t regime in Mexico the fiscal year corresponds to the
calendar year and 1t win time in the spring be
fore the 1918 records are complete.
while the war as q matter Of necessity, had depreSs-
ing efeot upon Mexican commerce with the OUTSIDE WeIo
r va s good as the embargoes and the shipping stua-
lion would allow This Is point which cannot ne zoo
strongly emphasized It means that the removal o. mos
restrictions win open broad field for American business
II would be still better field If the Mexican government
world remove some Of the taxation and other handisaPs
which foreigners find repressive to industry :.
From IS to 60 percent Of Mezicos external tsee Is
With the United States an5 the reports so lar as
show a steady and gratifying increase IN ceIl.e-oe
tween the countries since the end Of the mexican "
Tbrs IN 1915 the value Of Mexican exports to the
75 states tofaled sg7676514 In 1917 the total "as
7S ss 81 and in 1918 it s140so1eo according @
- so;Is5 from various sources by the Mexico Olty
--e-srserf Of the New YORK Evening Post On me sup
position that the trade with the United states ~
cent Of Fszcos total the total foreign coeISs ol ina
rrrfrz for 1efs should amount 10 about Sl55O0oUOO
mai This estimate represents considerable increase =
.t, nv oopsrison with the 1910 figures on totai Mex
en n5ts Mexico was then admittedly at its pest me
-1-Fio.srv ,=-ios had not yet come to parayze the
country Tie exports to all nations oI that year sggr
asted sfsoO251s5 In 1909 they totaled slloo2osOS
American experts TO Mexico from 1915 to lsls were a.
foIio1-r. ISIS s47e455fs; 1917, s7sOo4597; 1915
sfos se465s Al the above figures are for tisa years
from Tuas 50 to June 80 Of each year and are IN AIsI
The balance Of trade is thus to be largely in favor
Of s7ioo while the traffic with the United States alone
exceeds that Of former years with al me countes CON-
bined
rorfasce are copper silver and other metals in which II
Pzso DOUGLAS and Nogaes very considerably inter
ested beTz petroleum and its products hides and SKINS
in which also the border ports normally have very large
t-affic, ard coffee.
me petroleum business has occupied the attention Of
The foreign public more than any other branch Of Meeos
EXPORT trade yet It comes only third IN importance me
steady growth Of this business is attested by ofa n
mes showing that in 1901 it amounted to 1895 barrels
and il 1917 to 552o277o barrels considerable increase
for 1918 is expected to be shown when the figures are
available The Mexican treasury department has an
that for the months Of September and october
alone the oil exports about 1928 barrels
The only reason It is declared that experts from Mex
m have not been larger in the past year that ships have
been available to carry them and enbargoss at the
border have acted additional handicap
The outlook for the future IS most encouraging The
border restrictions viii be removed soon-how soon VII de-
pend the somewhat slowly revolving wheels at WASH
ngton The shipping situation viii be greatly in
proved During the most Of the ships engaged in Mex
lean traffic were diverted Now that the war
many Of these ships being released from gov
srament service and viii return their former routes
The French Transatlantic company and the Spanish
Transatlantic lire viii soon, il is promised, their
s5hedules Of saings and from Mexican ports direct
line with England is being established while various Nor
egau Danish and other vessels viii again engage in this
traffc line from Veracruz, PTogreso azd other