Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-08-30

men will become as much a part of Mexico as
any men in it. They will support the Mexican
government. to which they are indebted for their
land, and the Mexican people, with whom many
Of them will have intermarried.
In addition to these Germans who have bought
a block of land, there are numerous small groups
and individuals from Germany coming into the
country in search or farms. These young Ger
mans usually first obtain employment on some
Of the large estates for a year. They learn the
language and the country. Then they buy farms.
Americans Poor CoIonizers.
Some Americans are going INTO the country
and buying farms too, it is reported, but they
are few compared to the Germans and other
Europeans. Furthermore, the Americans form
small groups and keep to themselves. They sell
dom i~ntermarry with the Mexicans, and often
they do not even learn the language. This man
was surprised to find many Americans VINO mad
been in Mexico for years and could not speak
Spanish.
In a word, while, the United States holds a
political club over Mexico's head, by reason OF
the Monroe Doctrine and the great American
investments in Mexico, Europe is really taking
possession of the country, and 1t Is European
ICED Mexic" that we Will have to deal with with
in a few years.
The opportunities for obtaining rich land in
Mexico, provided you are willing to take your
chances with unstable political conditions, are
probably not rivalled anywhere in the world. In
the first place, the Mexican government well
comes the bona fide settler and provides MIN
land on extremely attractive terms. In the Sec
ond place, the owners of the great land grants
who are being dispossessed of their lands by the
Mexican government under the new Mexican
constitution, are ready to sell for a song. me
man whom we are quoting obtained options on
two million acres of land at a dollar an acre.
He asked the officials of the present Mexican
administration whether, if these lands were
bought by Americans, the titles would De consid.
cred good. The reply was that the government
would hold the titles good. This land in ques-
ton was wild land covered with forest, but rich
in soil and we'll watered. The timber on it alone
was worth many times the purchase price.
There was a scattering of mahogany of which
single trees would be worth six to eight hundred
dollars each laid down in New York.
This mans clients did not buy on the options
which he obtained. And the reason they did not
buy was a few days after he returned from Mex
leo there was a great radical demonstration IN
Mexico City. More than 5000 men marcned IN
a parade bearing the red flag of Bolshev1sm.
Should a Bolshevist revolution overthrow the
present government, it is doubtful whether any
titles to large areas of land held by non-resl-
dent investors would be good. THESE areas
would probably be divided among the landless
poor. The small land owner living on his land
would probably not be molested.
Reds Are Strong.
This growing strength of the Red element In
Mexico is the unknown factor in the SITUATION
to our informant. He says that the
strength of this element has never been reallzed
IN this country. He points out that when a Red
demonstration can get 5000 men in line,and when
the demonstration is carried out, red flags and
all, without molestation, the Reds are q poHtlcal
force to be reckoned with. On the other hand'
the great estates are rapidly being broken UP,
and the land distributed in small tracts among
the poems. No doubt each peon who gets a good
farm ceases to be a Bolshevist forthwith and be-
comes a Constitutionalist. When all who want
land have been given land, the extreme radical
ism will be confined to the industrial workers In
the large cities, and in Mexico they are a small
fraction of the population.
The trouble is, according to our informant,
that the breaking up of the big estates IS peins
carried out clumsily and in a way that dlsrupts
the economic life of the country. The great lano
owners are being dispossessed of their lands with
out any compensation. They move away, taxing
their livestock and tools. The poems VINO are
given the land have neither animals nor ma
rhinart with which TO work it. The result is
confusion and idle land. ;,
An instance is related of a man who owned
5000 acres of land. He employed all OIL tne
several hundred inhabitants of a village, mostly
Indians. His land was taken away from MN ana
given to the Indians. He gathered up ms pos
sessions, including his horses and cattle and
prepared to move. A delegation from the IN
dams waited upon him, hat in hand. They
begged him not to go away, pointing out tnat
they had no means Of cultivating the land. An
agreement was finally reached by which he fur-
nished seed, tools and livestock while the Indians
furnish the land. 1t is farmed on shares. Every
thing goes on much as before. The former land
lord is now the renter, and the former renters
are now the landlords. But the difference IS
Everyone had plenty to eat before and
everyone still has plenty to eat.
In other instances the adjustment mas not
been made so easily. Lands have been left idle.
Dispossessed landlords have sold out and have
left tho country.
It would seem to be this REIMBURSEMENT of the
land tenure which threatens the stability OF the
country. Once it is over, the country VIII prop,
ably settle down to an era of production ana
II IL Is not disturbed from Withou''
For it will be a land of contented agriculturists
owning their. own land. Such men furnish no
stuff for revolution. Mexico's ten years OF re"o-
tuition have been caused by political opportu-
nists leading bands of land-hungry poems. With
the land hunger appeased, the force which the
professional revolutionists manipulated VIII De
gone. And the average of intelligence and OF
education in the Mexican electorate Will be
raised by infusions of high7class European I'M
MIGRATION. For good land draws men. The
United States drew a high class of Immigrants
just az long as it had a good grade of land to
offer them. And when it had nothing but q
shovel in a ditch or a needle in a sweat shop
to offer them, it began to draw a poor class of
immigrants. Mexico is a land of unused natural
brain and Drawn to it..