Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19
Yankee Invasion of Mexico

reappear. We ask-it is always an adj
venture-for butter The waiter beams.
He brings q large platter of delightful
yellow morning glories, but before 1t
reaches the table we are aware that the
adventure has not been successful.
Limitations to Comfort.
Sheets are clean, towels are supposed
TO last a week. there are never enough
blankets on cold nights. and no bell Is
ever answered-provided 1t Is technically
capable Of ringing-after 10 pm. Nor
Is water or light to be had Nights are
for sleeping, not for gallivanting around
In each room there will be q wardrobe
about 90 feet high. with no coat hang
ers. There Is never q waste basket nor
an ash tray. To attempt to read in bed
by the single dim bulb somewhere I'D
aloft would send one to the oculist
There may be toilet, washstand and
cold shower partitioned of the corner
OF the room-and there may not. II
there Is, part of the impedimenta will
be chronically out Of order. There will
certainly be a motherly Indian cham
bermaid calling the lady of the party
Nina" Child, and smiling so beauti-
fully that 1t becomes impossible to rep
rimand her for neglecting more mate
rial attentions. She will take ones
laundry and return most Of II in "a
hours, admirably done. The missing
articles invariably reappear sooner or
later; nobody ever steals in Q country
hotel
The uncounted staff is willing, help
full, graciously polite and marvelously
inefhcient. The food is good and
served In enormous quantities. The
prices are ridiculous, 50 to So a day in
Guiding more than one can possibly eat
Tips are often not expected. and II they
are, amount to nothing One is as
likely to be undercharged as over
charged on the final bill. This is not a
pecuniary civilization. Repeatedly I
have called the proprietor's attention to
kilograms, laundry baths, which he had
overlooked-in itself strange phenom-
enon, quite contrary to my behavior
north Of the Rio Grande. One takes no
pride in getting away with something"
in land where money is not God.
OF all the 100000 900 worth Of goods
imported into Mexico each year the
United States supplies two-thirds or
, more. BY far the largest item on the
import list is machines and accesso-
ries" This does not include automo-
biles, which rank second. More than
SO per cent Of Mexicos $4,000 motor
vehicles were manufactured in the
United States: they are now being
shipped in at the rate Of about 10000
;
5000, 900 people Is not many. There
are more than 100000 people in the
States of New York and Massachusetts,
and 100000 motor cars. I should esti
mate. however. that more than half of
all Mexicos cars and trucks are located
in the capital. Forty thousand cars for
a million people Is an advance, but De-
troit, with somewhat greater popula-
ton, has six times as many. There Is
one car for every four persons in the
United States and one for every 200 In
Mexico.
Huge American Investment.
The invasion of American capital
stands at something under a billion dol
lars, q total less than it used to be.
More than s200,0oo.000 has been
squeezed out of oil investments alone in
the last 10 years. Mining and smelt-
ing now come first, with $3.50 1000 900
controlling 30 per cent of Mexicos gold
and silver. Oil is second, with $780,
600, 900, half of what 1t was in the peak
Of 1922. The investment in public
many companies recently taken over
from British capitalists. 1t includes
light and power. telephone and tele-
graph, street railways, water works
The hacienda investment reaches S64,-
600, 900. sugar plantations first. followed
by livestock, fruit and rubber From
here we drop long distance to the in
vestment in manufacturing and selling
establishments.
Americans own some per cent of
the land Of Mexico, a little more than
half of all foreign holdings, according
to Tannenbaum. Next come the Span
iards and then the English. Spaniards
own a fertile belt in the central States
American holdings run to range lands
L., y III
acre.
There are four kinds of Americans in
Mexico:
Tourists-Like tourists anywhere, ex-
cept possibly little harder. They do
not like Mexican hotels, and their con-
versation turns mainly on indignities
suffered therein; that and their Gus
toms grievances.
Students-We might term them the
popular arts boys land girls. They are
tough, intelligent. enormously enthusi-
astic, little mystical and in various
stages of going native. Mexico has got
them, and it is doubtful If they can
ever break loose. On their right flank
march the more stolid battalions of
Psychologists, investigating scientists, and
even lonely economist or two. like my
self. They seldom have a settled place
of residence.
ResidentS-A very small and select
group which loves the country, likes the
Indians and associates freely with gov
eminent officials and other white Mexi-
cans, They may be identified readily by
the excellent display of native handi-
crafts in their houses.
The American colony-A larger group,
representing primarily commercial in
terestS, and oriented about the Country
Club. Vestiges of it will be found in all
the larger cities, but the prime exhibit
is in the capital. 1t has little or no
handicraft work in its houses; all mem
bers sigh for the good old days; all have
the DiaZ reflex, dependable as the knee
jerk; all dislike Mexicans in any form.
and are interested in indians only In
conjunction with the servant problem.
This they discuss interminably.
American Women Socially.
They hold that an American woman
who associates with Mexicans Is no bet
ter than she should be. They conceive
it sometimes inevitable, but no part of
their duty, to learn Spanish. They try
to keep their children spotless from
local contamination. They move in a
close, unventilated circle Of club, din
ner, bridge, golf and tea
In brief, I am not proud of what I
have seen or the reports have had Of
the American colony in Mexico. I am
afraid, as an item in the Yankee inva-
sion, it will have to be classified as on a
level with signboards and patent medi-
cineS.
My criticism may be made somewhat
palmer II we swing the picture around.
Suppose there were a group Of Next
;ans resident on Park avenue. New York,