MEXICO THE MARVELLOUS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 178, 18 July 1908, Page 3

MEXICO THE MARVELLOUS.

A CHAT WITH MR. C. J. CUTCUFFE HYNE. Mexico, in my opinion (said the famous creator of " Captain Kettle " to a representative of Pearson's Weekly), is incomparably the land of the future for the adventurous Briton with a little money, a little knowledge, of 'though the latter is not essential, and average health, strength, and " grit." Most people, even if they had not read their Frescott, have heard of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the fabulous mineral wealth Cortez and the couquistadorcs found there. TJicre is, however, f imagine, a general impression that the I Spaniards took out of Mexico pretty w'jll everything in the way of gold, silv and other precious metals that th was to be got. But this is entirely . mistaken idea. i

Cortez & Co., and their successors, did no more than scratch the surface of the country. The wealth in sight, nipping on tlie surface, was enough . . „f ß n their avarice, and to-day, so far as its real mineral resources are concerned, Mexico is practically virgin territory. 1 am almost afraid to speak of what I have seen there, lest 1 be put down as a hopeless—romancer. And, indeed, the richness of the silver mines, in which I am particularly interested, namely, those of Ocotlnn, near Oaxaco, baffles description. For instance, we are at present only shipping ore that is worth over £2O a ton. All poorer than that goes on the dump. It 'Was Cortez, by the way, who, when asked by Ferdinand and Isabella what

reward lie desired for his conquest of Mexico, replied, "Give nie the valley ot Oaxaca." The rest of the country, immensely rich though it was, was nothing to him if he could have that splendid bit, the valley amongst the Sierra Madrc mountains. And, as 1 have said, Cortez did no more titan scratch the surface.

However, it may give you some idea of tile richness of the Mexican silver mine when f tell you that gold running three to four ounces a ton of quartz is looked upon as a subsidiary product barely worth the trouble of recovery. Think of it! On the Hand, quartz carrying one ounce of gold to the. ton would be considered great; in Mexico it would be thrown away as waste. Moreover, in addition to silver and gold, there are rich veins of copper, iron, lead, antimony, bismuth, and other precious metals but scarcely touched as yet, so plentiful and so easily worked is flie silver. Then, apart from mining, there are splendid agricultural and manufacturing prospects in the country. In short, it would be impossible to exaggerate the potential and actual wealth of Mexico.

As to the social conditions, they are excellent, thanks to that wonderful old man, (President Porlirio Diaz. When one looks.round and thinks things over, it is easy to decide that Diaz is the biggest man now alive in this world.

A splendid despot, brooking no nonsense. Sbme time ago mail robberies were rife on tlie Mexican railways. There was little doubt the train officials were iu the game, if not the actual robbers themselves,

Don Porlirio arranged a trap by which thu mail train vas stopped en route by his soldiers, who, as was expected, found the mail-bags already tilled. Ten minutes later every ollicial on that train had been shot. There arc now no train robberies in Mexico. A wonderful man Porfirio Diaz. From chaos he lias evolved order, from bankruptcy solvency, and life and property in -Mexico are now as safe as, and, in. regard to the latter, perhaps than in England. 1 have said that Mexico is the country of the future for Britons, and 1 will tell you why. The Mexican dislikes all foreigners, or " gringoes," as die calls them, but he dislikes the Englishman least, just as he most hates the American.

Americans woke years ago to the pos-' sibilties of Mexico, and the country is | overrun with them. But they will never do much good I here, for the Mexican won't have them at any price, or, rather, only at a price which almost handicaps the American out of the race. This little story will explain what I mean: A friend of mine was buying a mine from a Mexican who .asked 50,000 dollars, whereupon a Yankee standing by exclaimed: ''Why, you scoundrel, you told me you wouldn't sell under IOOJWJO dol- j lavs." "Quite so," said the Mexican;! ,; to an American my price is 100,000 dollars, to an Englishman 50,000." And for everything in Mexico the American has to pay double the ordinary market rate. \'ou see, the majority of Americans who go to Mexico do so for reasons not unconnected with the laws of their own country, and if an American finds America too hot for him, you may be sure he is a very warm customer indeed. The Mexican, though incorrigibly lazy, is no fool, and lie argues the matter out this way: "This utterly lost and condemned American is certain to ' do' me sooner or later, so 1 am not taking any risks, and I'll charge him double for anything he wants. The Englishman, on the other hand, 1 know may be, and often is, an honest man, and 1 can afford to deal fairly with him." it is sound philosophy. Therefore, in Mexico the Englishman will get a fair Held, and even a certain amount of favour, whereas the American finds every obstacle thrown in his way. As to climate, except on the eoas r ., where the mines are not, it is admirable. . ••■;.

Of course, there arc some drawbacks, but none very serious, the chief being, perhaps, the labour question. Skilled drillmen draw cighteenpence a day, but then as they can live comfortably and bring up a'family on two shillings a week, it is hard to convince them of the beauty of regular toil. The' peon will work hard enough while he is at it, but saints' days are a sore trial to the mine-owner or manager. To each day in the Mexican calendar is allotted a saint, and the man born on any day is named after the saint who belongs'to it. When his name-day comes round it is incumbent on him to "chuck" work and to invite his dearest friends to a fiesta, said friends responding in kind when their name-days come round. And it is not only a case of the celebrants losing one day's work, but it invariably takes tliem two days to recover from the fiesta.

However, to an Englishman who can command, say, £I,OOO, and will lie content during iiis first few months in the country to bide his time, learning the. language and the "ropes" in general before investing in mining or oilier proposition, Mexicu oilers, not only a healthy, thoroughly enjoyable life, but a probability amounting almost to a certainly of amassing a fortune.