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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1913)
TTTTC OMATTA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL 6, 1913. 5-B t Mexico Menaced by Big Land Monopoly M KXIOO OITY-Outslde the luVu lutlon proper. President Huerta and his administration huve bis questions to df al with. The Madf.ro policy hns awakened the common people, nnd con gress Is divided anions their friends and those of the his land monopolists. The Breat trust here Is the land trust. Some thins like t,0C9 families bwn the bulk of the rood landi of Mexico, and for gen erations they have bten ruling the coun try. They haVo hall their lobbyists hfre at the capital, and when they have piped the statesmen have had t? dance. The power of this land trust was well known to Torflrlo Diaz, and the opposition to It brought about the downfall of his ad ministration. President Dins know that the time had como to divide up the lands, and he. was plantiltis to tax them with a view of o doing-, nut the power of tho liaclcndado In the federal consress and tho stote legislature was more than ho could overcome, nnd he failed. He tiled to tax he bis estates which were hot In cultivation, and to thus lirlns about their division. But he was balked nt every turn, and the result was his down' fa'!. "Willi 1'rpalllr.nt fmlnrn Tlf.t. It was upon promises to brlns about ! a and division that Madero ' made his cnmpalsn for thn presidency. Ho tt mped tho country, saying that If he boi-iimn president he would so tax the biff estate that the owners could not afford to keep1 them. He also said that ho might compel the hnclendados or (arse handtiolders.' tft Klve farms to men who were working 'fof them. He told the peons that thlf wages would soon so up to U a day. HM said they would have a chance to hllv land, and that he would create a class of small farmers. It was these tilk' laudholdotti that largely aided In bringing about the de feat and death of Mndero, and President Huerta and his party are Indebt ;d . o them. The common people, however, have learned too mi)cli and gollo loo far to recede. The government knows hat there can be no permanent peace wltHollj R movement toward a dtvls'bn nf the lands, and congress Ih ndw trying 'to brlns forth some scheme which will , re sult In such a division. One plan which is agitated la the restdratlon of the con1. munal lands about the towns to the In dians who formerly owned thfm. XM there are other plans to wlpo out ,tho feudal system, which now gives tew families this great land monopoly and makes them the ruling aristocrats cf the. country. The fight Of th6 future Is to be between the landless and tho small landholders and the land monopolists, and It will go on in one form or, a :ot)ier until Mexico, belongs to the many instead of to the few. Among the Lnnil IlnrOn How would you like to have 5,000 fami lies own the whole United States. isUcti a division would be somewhat the same as that which exists. In Mexico today. There are men who own millions 'of acres of farming and grazing, . landr .and -who In addition have mines, houses and gold galore. Let me give you a few. Instances. .The biggest landowner of all ' is Uoii Luff Terrazas of the Btate of ChlhuaKua. ii and his Immediate relatives own outright over 7,000.000 acres of the most lertlle lands of northern Mexico. They keep :t In big tracts and the most of It Is em ployed for stock raisins only. Xtrrazas brands 60,000 calves every yca, and he has on his place enormolis droves of horses and mules and flocks of sheep and goats, lie owns nearly all of the land' bctweeft Chihuahua and the United States boundary, and you may ride further man from New York to Washington on tne railroad In crossing his farms from nortn to south. They are wider from east to west than the distance between Baltimore and Mew York, and, Indeed, the boundaries are so poorly defined that no one knows just where they end. The people here say that Terrazas does not know how much land he has and that he could lose 1,0W beef cattle and not feel th,e loss. He. Is without doubt about the richest man 'n Mexico. He Is worth something like $100,000,000 and Is the autocrat of the state of CHhuahua. Another man who has millions In this same state is Enrique C. Creel, who waH formerly the Mexican ambas-'udor at Washington. He Is a son-in-law of Ter razas, but Is said to be worth about $20, 000,000" in his own right, much of It being in land and cattle. Mr. Creel "Was burn In Chihuahua. His father was a Kcii tucklan who canto to this country during the Mexican war and later t.ottle'1 hero. He had a family of seven, end Enrique C, his oldest boy, was named after Henry Clay. , (irrntor Than Jolt, Just across the border of Chihuahua Is the state of Coahutla, where t'm Madero family owns Its vast estates, which Pie now liable to confiscation, and a llttU to the southward. In Saij Luis Potost, In Kncarnnctau Iplna, who holds more than 1,700.000 acre. Iplna liu8 live sto-j1 v.hlch exccila In number many times that of ill the cattlu, camels and sheep owned; by Job, the famed monopolist of the Land of Jx. Htul h hIvi rnlie corn, wheat, beans nnd potntoes. Nevertheless, hot qne twentleth of his lands are under cultiva tion, nnd his Indian workmen cannot huy an acre to lioltl lr fee simple. Another big owner in the Kamfr State Is Mr. Sarrfli H. De t.ee. She hhs dvlr 1,0)0,000 acra. nnd of these she rrtllttvJUs only so.OfiO. In the state of Tlaxcala. which Is about hnl? thr size of -flonnectlput, thlrty-nlh" persons or families own all the land, anil Its notwithstanding the population Is a. most iflOOO. In the te-rltory of .Tfblc, vhloli haw over 17.000 Inhabitant, the country 1 practically owned by thirty . it fnml! es, and In TapiHullpiui lll'o ManiuM QonzalfB, who owns three and m-?tiilr million acres, ur an area wltltll ih iilmtt-t two-thirds hs lilc'ns til-BaciU-ttv pverthelesti. 'CnnrMuM rUltlviili'f miv urn- hciv in fvtjty too mill, hu n4t li"df i'f ren n not ii b, tho lahd iIIh'U ulildi Itilr ruilt- hitmii Hit- built Smut- 111k T".' f.i I'limit). " I lie flat ot Vt-pi toi ls lai'iill. mijlfr v ( of tropical luwliiml and Its. pro; errjei ta about the most nul-dlvldi-.rt of nil the Mexican states. Nevfthvlr (here kre many landholder tliHe pm'sesilng from fuO.OOO to KO.OOrt acref rattt. iinH 'it named li rani fr, who Is of British ihd Spanish descent, has. ti.iU ucrs plafiUU to wheat and many square mile? devoted to Cittle. He has thirty acres? 6f liwH In Ms home grounds and he lltes llkS:a lord. His hacienda employs ),6to njta. and It takes a population of more than 6.0(0 to care for It Tea thousand" catllg feed t'pen its pastures, and anion t rhera are some of the bst nlmal which fight In the bullring of .Mexico City. This plantation has large Irrigated areas, and Its owner has erected dams nnd canal at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The plantation" has railroads upon It and a flour mill worked by clec triclty. In Yucatan there ' are also large es tates, some of 'them exceedingly profit able, owing to the cultivation of hemp. Thn same larso holdings might be cited In other parts of the republic, but this will show you how the lands are tied up nnd kept out of the hands of the peoplo who would cultivate thein. Kxtrnvuuam'cft of (he lllcli. ThesQ haclendadoes, as the plutociat landholders are called, nave money be yond the dreams of aval Ice. They usually live magnificently upon their estates, but Just now. while the rebels and bandit arc moving about over Mexico, a large number of them have come here To the capital, whllo others have left for Madrid and Paris. In some cases tho fighting Is going on upon their haciendas and they want their families to be away from the danger of mobs. On this account, not a few of them have, rented or bought houses here, and for tho last two years have kept off their farms. It Is on some of the biggest estates that most of the fighting soes on. Take that of Terrazas. The rebels of Chihua hua have torn up the toilroads and the Mexican Central line, which soes south from EI Paso, has been long out of run ning. The trouble there has larscly come through Torrazas himself, who Is said t be as autocratic as the czar of Russia He Is now an old mart, but his sons rule and it Is they who are trylns to protect the property. Don I.uln Terrnsns. I have heard a great deal about tin Terrazas family since I came here. Out side the land the old man owns the mos of the public utilities of his nclghborhooc and he also loans money at' high rntes o Interest. He controls the banks nnd lib income is enormous. He lives like a lore" and entertains royally on his great ha- cienua. lie can nouso loo guests at u time, and he keeps up an establishment of servants fit for a king. Some tiffin ago he asked tho archbishop of thn Ro man Catholic church to dedicate a' new house of worship on one of his ranches. The holy father came with a great corps of guests and Don Luis kept them for more than three weeks, making up hunt ins parties and- excursions of various kinds. During this time the guests had white horses orily, the old haclendado having picked out of his thousands of animals those of that color and had them trained for the purpose. Thirty Thousand Hired Men. Don Luis' big estate came largely from a grant which his father obtained for his services In the war ot Mexico's inde pendence, and in 1S63 .hu sot other grants for his own work in holding the state of Chihuahua against the army of Max! mlilan. He has, I am told, something like 20,900 peasants working for him, and some of them are engaged in the present re bellion. Many of the buildings on the Terrazas estate were put up long ago. They are surrounded by stone walls twenty feej. high, with square towers at the corners, upon which there are cannon. The houses are of Mexican style, the flooring of the patios being of diamond-shaped tiles of different colors. In tho niches of the wall stand statues Imported from Italy, and the patio Itself is filled with all the plants of the tropics, while a fountain plays in its center. The rooms are large and they face the patio, the windows being barred with Iron so that they make you think of a prison. Some of the quarters are beau tlfully furnished from Europe. When Terrazas went to the St, Louis expost tlon he carried sixty members of his fanv ily with )ilm, and he took a special train for the Journey. The Vay of, Siunll Kiirinx. It is believed here that the day f moderate sized farms is already at its beginning. The agitation as to te subdi vision of the big estates Is increasing, nnd besides there are numerous othor movements under way to give lands to the people. Thn government owns about J2.0C0.C00 acres of public lands, scattered throughout the various states and terri tories, nnd it y reclaiming millions more from the concessionaries who have failed to live up to the terms of their contracts a to colonization nnd development. Most nf the public lands heve been taken off Ih market, wltb n. view to resurveylng them and to tho gathering of statistics hh to thuir character "arid soli. It is tho tf.tyjitlou to plat the farming lands Into iinall tract, which will be offered to mtives on long-time payments at a low eoi t per ncte. The government is also backing a de velopment bank with large capital, arid this Institution has been authorized to Issue IHAOOOOM) worth of bonds for the Improvement and progress of agriculture. Much of this will be let out to the native farmers at reasonable rates and on lolls (line. Some ot It will probably be used (or the purchase of lands, and a great deal will go Into Irrigation enterprises and Into buying tools and live stock. Money In Parnitng, There Is no doubt but that there will $e eventually a great deal of money made In Mexico farming, and that, riot only through selling to Mexico, but In ex- fortlng farm products to the Unlt?d (ates and elsewhere. This should be one of the best corn-raising countries of the It stands In the midst ot tho cltndc) surrounded by barracks nlul officers' quarters, and Is not far from the great arsenals And the manufactories of war Implements. Directly about It Is 11 small cleared square which gives Just enough room for the movements of tho small company which dots guard duly there. The tower I cylindrical and Is built of heavy masonry with nothing to rolleve Its massive effect. It rises about thirty 'Ive or forty feet from the ground and Is almost as thick through as It Is tall. Entrance to the tower Is mule through triple steel doors, each guarded bv a "sys'lertl - of "simultaneous keys" held by different Individuals, nnd hy p constantly changing bnnd of sentries One st of keys N with the chancellor of the ein'plre and the other with the president of the committee for tho debtr of the empire. The ich guardian o' the treasure was mndo curator by n decree of 1&71, under orders from the chnncel'or. Tho gold that uviKcs up this "Itclchs krlrgsschataz" li In twenty franc pieces the very snmo that were paid ns the French war" Indemnity. Tho 1;old coin Is stored nwny In bais In a dozen -small cabinets or s.tfes built Into thn walls These nre on various levels and are reached by a spiral staircase. Twenty-four men usually compose ( the guard. Of these eight am continually on duty, the guard changing every two hours. The patrol Is made about the buro of the tower, within the tower and on the top. Once a year the amount of tho gold Is certified to by an official reckoning. The coins nre not 'counted. Instead the gold Is weighed In bulk nnd minute fractional differences dun to dampncs and other atmosphere conditions are noted. The ninount of gold In tho Jollui .tower has never varied, nnd there has been but one nttempt nt robbery. This was by a drunken cobbler of Spundau. who In rome mysterious way, according to tho story, mnnaged to get by tho guards. When he was half way up lm fell and broke his neck. Robert W. Polridoxtcr of Los Angeles Is the Ameri can who got Into trouble with the Rpmidnu authorities because ho got too near the Oerinan treasure. Sir. Polndexter told the sentinel that he wanted to see tho commandant, nnd mnrched into the tower while the sol dier's back was turned. He was de tained until the police could bo sum moned, and then taken before the nil- In thontles, whom he had difficulty oonv'.-iclng of his purpose. Tho Julius tower was first used by Frederick the Great as tho Prussian "war chest." The reserve held there was turned over to tho cmplro when It was founded and the tower Itself used for the storngo of tho $.'),000,OOJ, tho small fraction of tho billion dollar Indemnity pM by France. The money has been kept In reservo to defray the expenses of the quick mobilisation of the Ocrmnn army In enso war should break out. It would pay for the horses and mll'tnry supplies which are nlready contracted for In such un emergency. It has been figured that tho present iao.000,000 would bo exhausted in a day and a half In oltse a wnr was declared. Spandatl Is ah Island, at tho confluence of the Spree and the Havel rivers. A greater part of It Is made land. New York Sun. Alivnyw tlmt Wnr. "There's a difference In time, you know, between this rountry and Kurope. said a man In New York to a newly arrived Irishman. "Kor Instance, your friends In Cork nre In bod and fast asleep by this time, while wo are enjoying ourselves in the early evening." . . . . "Thafs always the way," exclnlmfd Pat, "Ireland nlver got Justice ylt. Now York Telegraph. Over-Night Relief for Constipation IhxjtxL Village ja the Tropical ZowJaszds world. Nevertheless, tho government re port for last year shows that some 11,- 000,000 pesos were sent abroad for corn alone, and very large amounts for cotton nnd other crops which can bo falsed here. I am told thut the prices of corn, wheat and beans, which are tho staple foods of the country, have become about double those of tho United States and that tho land, If propertly cultivated, will yield !ust as much as our land per acre. In many" places two crops can bo raised In x year, but -the farming is so rudely done that the total output, ns a rule. Is much smaller than oUrs. I see pIowb drawn y oxen which look for nil the world llko hose of Palestine and Egypt. They are ho same as those used In the days of tho rlpturcs. I see them threshing wheat by driving horses around a ring to tramp out the grain, 'and tho corn Is shelled with tho J hands or by rubbing the ears over n. rough stone. A common means of farm transport Is by ox carts with wooden wheels, each of which weighs 100 pounds jr more, and everything Is done In tho most extravagant wny. Wages, are low. Knrm hands lecelve 20, 30 and iO cents a day, and for this they labor from day light to dark. A great deal of the work Is done by tho "piece, and not a Ilttlo Is on the share, half tho wages being paid in money and hf.lt in crops,' 3Iexlco' Onr Future Ment IlnHket. With thlB subdivlon of the- ranches, Mexico Is bound to become the breeding ground for our beef supply 'of the future. In tho northern part of 'the republic are millions of acres adapted to cattle, but on account of the long dry season, tho feed Is'not sufficient throughout the year to fatten the beasts for the 'market. The present plan Is to breed the stock here, and then drive thein acrpss.tll9Jopndivrjr for fattening. Mexico Is a good breeding ground. The losses of calves are small and already many' yearlings and 2-year-olds are sent to the United States to be fattened.-, a Tho .ordinary.. Jiloxlcan.. cattle are undersized, ami when full grown sel dom welfeh more than 1,200 founds. This standard can be Increased by crossing the stocks with our larger animals, The cciiiUry U excellent for sheep and goats, and it has millions -of'tlrcm. The Mexlcens ato ,fond ot gon.t meat, and there are scmu runchcb' which kill ns many as1 SO.000 pdats' In a year, W or 900 being killed In one night.' A g'cat many kids tiro sold and a com mon sight of the cities Is the peddler wjlo goes from house to house with u half dozen )idx flung over his shoulder. He pinches the kids to make them cry and their baby-like shrieks, nre the sign of his trade. Ou my way to Mexico City I stopped at a station where 200 kids were unloaded, for the market. They wete dear! Jlttle things, 4 or b months old, and wou!d?;,sll,' I was told, f for about ;U aplcciCv". Mexico'" Cotton I'lnnotloiiN. One p our agricultural experts has said that Mexico hta cotton areas almost equal to those of the United Stales, This is a question. I have Just had' n talk with . an American who is Interested Hi a big plantation near Torreon, '11 the central , part of tho plateau. He says that tho Irrigated' lands of the Nartt river,' la the region known as tho Lagunu district,,. Have the only soli that wlil pro- duco cotton in comparison with our cot ton belt. Thero are patches of country around the edges of the high plateau where the plants will grow and there are somo south of the Rio Grande near Drownsvlllo and also about Tampico and along tho Pacific coast. ' But ns it is now 90 per cent of all tho cotton grown comes from the Laguna district, and tho most of this is from the plantation J have referred to. Trj lnir to Suuecse the Amerlcnnn. Tho big plantation of the Laguna dU trict is owned by nn American syndicate, whoso president Is Mr. James Brown Pot ter. ' It Is said to be tho largest cotton plantation of tho world under one owner ship. , Its lands cover, about 200 square miles, and when In full bearing the estate hns more than 100,000 acres of cotton. Just now the revolution and .the disputes "asto the water rlshtB have affected the cultivation of this . property,, but, never tholess,tho .amount of' land under crop Is enormbus... , The estate covers the ' site of what sixty years ago was the -second lprgest lake of Mexico. This lake was ted by the Naza river, which. Is subject to tor rential flows. During one of these flows the- river changed' Its course-and left this lake basin dry. The Amerlcnl com pany redeemed the land and made hun dreds of miles of canals to Irrigate It. It has spent more than $5,000,000 in'.lts de velopment and has -made 'the property worth ' altogether something' like' JlslooO.OOO or $20,000,000. It'has'dlvidedrtneHahaj.nto great farms, has constructed 1 forty .mlloa of railroads, has built 200' miles of auto mobile roads and : established a town for Its -laborers. It was raining' cotton by the thousands ot bales and the plantation h&ds.cinjcthlng Hk,o,a,jotep.tlalkoijtP.ut of 70,000 to 100,000 bales, when a scheme was conceived by some Influential Mexicans to' dam the Naza river and dlvort much' of ' tho .water which was going 'to this plantation- 1 This, 4 the .'Americans 'claim, ls a violation of, fhclr concession and they havO brought Jhjs matter' before the government of .Mexico ahd'havo also ap pealed from the decisions of the Mexican courts to tho United States. Tliejnatter irpY6B'ab1y'bVsnbmlVtedto tho tribunal at Tho Hague, where It Is likely that the American claims will be ' sustained'. FRANK'.G. CARPENTEK. A Small Dose on Retiring and You Are Well and Huppy by Morning. It is only natural that tho simplest of aliments should bq thu most genotul, and to wo have a whole nation sutforlng li-om constipation and Indigestion, tor they 1110 closely allied. Hut common as constipation is many peoplu do not ssont to know they hno It. They will com pluln of headache, drowsiness or bil iousness, nil unconscious of thu cause ot tho trouble. You should havo a full und free movu- nieiit at least once a day. If you pass u duy you tlto constipated, und tho retull will be that you will catch a cold easily or havo a more serious ailment, 'to cure the constipation mid forcttall Jtlll graver trouble tuko u dose of Dr. Cald well's Syrup Pepsin at nlsltt before re tiring and by morning icllct will come, without disturbance from sleep or tiny Inconvenience. Legions of people use It regularly in such emergencies, Bomo of thuiil former ly chronic Invalids who have suf feted from constipation all their lives. Mr. A. . Danncr, aid ltilcy St., Ilnrrlsburg. Pa., says; "Dr. Caldwell'H Syrup Pepsin gave mo utmost Instant relict from stom ach and bowel trouble I now cat any thing I want nnd slcop well." Many othi'rs will tell you that they havo tiled most things recommended for this pur pose but .havo found Syrup Pepsin tho only ono nlwn)s reliable. A bottle cun be obtained at any drug store for fifty MB. A. B. DAKWEB cents or ono dollar, the latter slzo bolus bought by families already familiar with Its merits. Syrup Pepsin Is mild, pleasant-tasting nnd non-grlplng. Mothers give It to tiny Infants, und yet It Is effective In grownups. It Is for everyone wno sui ters from any form of Monlach, liver or bowel trouble, constipation, dyspepsia, biliousness, etc. Its action will so de light you that you will forever avoid hursh cathartics, purgatives, pills and suits. If no mombor of your family has over used Syrup Pepsin and you would like to make a personal trial .of It beforo buy ing It In tho regular way of a druggist, send your nddrcss 11 postal will do 10 Dr. W. U. Caldwell, 417 Washington St., Montlccllo, III., nnd a frco sample bottle wll be mailed you. vt "You have tried the rest Now you can relish the best" GERMANY'S PILE .OF GOLD . . ., . . ltonril of "War Treaanre Gnnrded In Julius Tower . nt Spnmluu. ' The report from Berlin that the Ger man government In the course ot its new war program plans to triple the treasure It has stored away In the famous Julius Tower at Spandau has caused a revival of tho speculation regarding this great secret horde of 120,005,000 marks (34,WO,O0O), which will now be increased to tM.000,000. An officer of the German reserve, who at one time was stationed In the for tress of Spandau, but who Is now living In this country, told The Sun recently something about the tower and the treas ure It holds. The tower Itself Is not Impressive. GENUINE BOCK BEER FOR 1913 On draught and in bottles on and after April 11th. We guarantee our BOCK BEER to he 6 months old. Only a limited amount of this famous beer has been brewed. Be sure and order a case sent to your home. WM. J. BOEKHOFF, Phone Douglas 119. ' METZ BROS. BREWING CO Omaha, Nebraska V2 iS" . - a im T$1iy Women Are Not RICH." M0 is t millionaire many times over in the possession ot blood cells. Worn an ii.tlot quite so rich, tor scientists livc proVen that the normal mm has five nil. lioc-4the woman only four and a hslt million to cubio millimetre ot blood. , A deorcaie in number of red blood corpuscles and person " looks pale "In faot, Is anaemic, the blood does not itt the rifbt food and probsblr the stomach is disordered. Dr. R. V. Pierce found years ago thst a glyccrio extract of golden seal and Oregon grape roots, queen's root and bloodroot with black cberrybark, would help the tulmilition ci the food In the stomach, correct liver ills and in Nature's own way increase uie reo Dtooa corpuscles. inis meaicine ne called Dr. Pierce's (jolden Medical Discovery. IJv assimi lating the food eaten the system is nourished and the blood takes on a rich red color. Nervousness is only " tie cry of the starved fiervea for food," and when the nerves are fed on rich red blood the person looses those Irritable feel Inis, sleeps well at niht a4 Is refreshed in the morning. - "I was itUcksi with, a Saver nerreoa disauc, which was canitd by a dWd4 ttomaeh aaa UTsr. writes Uju Ja. D. Lively, ef Wub burn. Twin., Roata Z. Bo tt. AD tax frkotto thoucfat I would dU snd th- brat phirsleitjis save bm nt, I was adriMd to try Dr. Ptarea's OoMsa ModlesJ Discovery, sad dsrlrsd nnuh bnat from sum. Mjr et had ran so loaf, it had bcSM so ehronls ttiat rwthtnr would effect a Mrciaiunt cure, but Dr. Piered's tnwIWne he dene much for me and I ilsbly recommend it. I beartjlr advise its mee as a sprta tonic, and further advise ailing' people to take Dr. Pierce's medlsinee before their diseases have run ka lon: that there Is no chance to be cured. Dr. Pierce's Medical Adviser, 31 stamps, to pay for wrapping and mtiling only. J.D.Lrm.T. &o. Ueja ET..MMS4.. Sa S 0 1 Tl 1 I Vtf 1 1 1 ruillllUI W OMAHA 20 BELOW OMAHA PRICE Not One Day But Every Day Get Our Rug Prices 6x9 Seamless ftr Pft Brussels at I0U.UU 9x12 Seamless Brussels at 9x12 Seamless Velvet Rug nt 9x12 Axminster Rug at $9.75 $15 $17 See Our Large Line of Body Brussels and Wilton Kugs Much Beltw Omiluj Pricts