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The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, August 21, 1913, Image 24

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-08-21/ed-1/seq-24/

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THE WONDERFUL GAME OF GRAB IN MEXICO
It beats all how foreigners have
gone after the riches of Mexico.
Industry after industry, business
after business, natural resource after
natural resource, have been gobbled
up and exploited by foreigners.
sOf the $1,640,000,000 of foreign
investments, Americans hold about
$1,058,000,000; British, $321,000,000;
French, $143,000,000, and other na
tionalities, with Germans leading,
$119,000,000. It will be seen that
American interests are greater than
all others together.
These holdings are divided among
rich Americans in many cities. New
York naturally leads in amount, but
Pittsburgh, Boston, St. Louis, Cin
cinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Duluth,
San Francisco, Los Angeles and other
cities have big investments.
Railroads are the most impressive
item. American railroad holdings
total $644,000,000, chiefly in bonds
of the National Railways, financed by
New York banking houses, with
Speyer & Co. playing a leading part
Wall street controls the railroad sys
tem of the country. J. P. Morgan
& Co. have had much to. do with the
railroads, especially the "independ
ent" Southern Pacific extension,
which cost $50,000,000.
Americans have over $253,000,000
in mines, $30,00.0,000 in oil and rub
ber, $8,000,000 in timber, $10,000,000
in factories of various sorts, $12,000,
000 in. ranches and cattle, $4,000,000
in general stores, and numerous
other unclassified investments.
The active development done by
Americans has been mostly in min
ing. The country is inconceivably
rich in minerals and has naturally at
tracted rich exploiters. One small
district has yielded $1,000,000,000 of
gold since the days of Cortez, and the
silver output from 1900 to 1910 was
$600,000,000. There are also great
deposits of copper.
At the head of our 'mining exploit
ers stand the American Smelting &
Refining Co (a Guggenheim con
cern) and Phelps, Dodge & Co., of
whom Cleveland H. Dodge is the
dominant figure. The Montezuma
Copper Co., controlled by Phelps,
Dodge & Co., is one of the largest
properties, handling 500,000 tons of
copper ore a year.
Other big mining concerns are the
San Toy Mining Co., in Chihuahua, a
Pittsburgh corporation of which
Donald B. Gillies is president; the
Guanajuato Reduction & Mines Co.,
owned by Cleveland, Cincinnati, Day
ton and Columbus people, with C. C.
Kurtz president; the Mines Co. of
America, headed by W. B. Thompson,
operating the Creston, Colorado,
Dolores, El Rayo and La Dure Mill &
Mining companies; the Pacific Smelt
ing & Mining Co., western owned;
the Greene-Cananea Copper Co., a
Duluth corporation, with over $60,
000,000 invested; the Batopiles Min
ing Co., which owns the city of Ba
topilas; the San Carlos mine, owned
by Illinois and Missouri railroad offi
cials; the Zapoteca Mining Co. in
Oaxaca, owned by St. Louis and Chi
cago men; the Cuautlemoc Mining
Co., a Pittsburgh enterprise of which
James McKay is president, and many
hundred other corporations linked
with American manufacturing, rail
road and banking interests. '
Americans also own nearly all the
breweries in Mexico and control the
grocery business, and have a dozen
shoe factories in Mexico City.
The International Rubber Co., cap
italized at $30,000,000, of which W.
C. Potter of New York is president
and former Senator Aldrich is a large
stockholder, has 2,000,000 acres of
rubber-producing land and controls
2,000,000 more.
There are heavy interests, too, in
forest and agricultural lands. Vast
tracts have been taken up and colon
ized or held for speculation. W. R.
Hearst and members of his family
have large interests of" this sort. Tho

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