Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-03-07
A.FE In YOUCATAN
Strange Country With Strange In.
duStrieS.
PRODUCER OF SUPPLY OF SlSAL hemp
onco Home of Wonderful Civiliza-
tion, Now Vanished, and Often Re.
ferred to as the Egypt of the New

|
i World. ....
How political and economic changes
in one country often depend upon con-
ditions in a distant land are brought
out in a bulletin issued from the
Washington, d. c., headquarters OF
the National Geographic Society on
Yucatan, which dispatches from Mex
leo describe as now being "a little
Russia"
"The story of Yucatan in recent
times" says the bulletin, "is the story
of henequnn fiber. Offhand that
doesn't seem to affect the average
American to any great extent. But 1t
does affect him every time he buys a
loaf Of bread. The story might be
framed like that Of the house that Jack
built. Henequen means reasonably
cheap and plentiful binder twine;
binder twine makes possible, the use
Of harvesting machines;. harvesters
cheaper grain production; cheap grain
means cheap bread; and so henequen
the arid Yucatan-play important
world.
Wealth From the American Farmer.
"The other side of the story-the
rapid development of the henequen in
dustry and the pouring of wealth into
Yucatan-chiefly from the grain belt
Of North America-undoubted play
ed it's part in swinging the political
pendulum from extreme feudalism to
a close approach to socialism.
"Henequen, which is a sort of cactus
not unlike the century plant or the
'pulque cactus in appearance, had
been grown in Yucatan since prehis-
toric times and it's fiber was used in
local plantation and village industries
But there was no outside market Of
considerable magnitude for the fiber
until the increasing use of harvesting
machinery in the United States created
demand for larger quantities of
binder twine.
Americas Land of Feudalism.
Before what may be called the
henequen era in Yucatan q traveller
in the country might have imagined
with q few concessions to race and
climate-that he was in the heart Of
Europe's old feudalism. Some of the
principal land owners had truly bar
onial estates through which one could
travel for days. On the most extern
sive estates were scattered half O doz-
en- or more great stone castle like
haciendas in the care of major domos.
In these sumptuous dwellings men,
bers Of the owners family might not
spend a night year for they lived
for the most part in state in the capt.
tai, Merida, or spent their time travel
ing in Europe or the United States
In those days cattle raising was the
chief industry in Yucatan and pros
perity never reached below the few
members of the propertied class.
Climate and physical conditions
gave Yucatan it's feudalism. The sur
face Of the country consists of only
the thinest Of soil and underneath is
porous limestone. The climate Is dry
and hot half the year but there Is a
reasonable amount of rainfall during
the other six months. Yucatan is one
of the few areas in which there Is an
appreciable rainfall but no streams or
even stream beds. AS fast as the rain
falls during the rainy season it seeps
through the thin soil and soaks into
the limestone. The lack of surface
water and the fact that hardly any
food crops can be grown on much Of
Yucatan's poor soil made 1t practi-
cally impossible for the poems to exist
except under the wings of the great
landholders.
Peonage Through Waterworks
"The latter constructed capacious
reservoirs at their haciendas in which
enough water was stored during the
rainy season to supply all their retain
ers through the six months dry per-
led. The situation was helped out,
too, by the cenotes, the unique water
holes of Yucatan, apparently formed
by a falling in of the roofs of subter-
| ranean lakes. In most cases these
queer natural reservoirs were owned
by the landed proprietors.
Toward the close of the nineteenth
| century henequen production should
cred out cattle production from the
place of first Importance, and before
many years the fiber dominated the
life, of the country. The old feudal
system remained unchanged, however,
and the landowners became extremely
wealthy. But some of the prosperity
inevitably filtered down to a growing
middle class and even to the planta-
ton laborers. and soon Yucatan gave
indications of a political turbulence
unknown in the older feudal days.
Super prosperity From the War
when the World war came pros
pcrity reached it's peak in Yucatan
with henequen fiber selling for as
much as IS cents 4 pound. Thesfew
landowners were no longer able to
dominate the state government and
the laborers and their friends who