[ay 1, 1919.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



Cotton and Guayule in Lower California. 



THE controversy that has raged in the daily press for the 

 last few weeks concerning developments in Lower Cali- 

 fornia is an indication that matters may be coming to a 

 head regarding this vast tract of practically undeveloped terri- 

 tory. It is a country of illimitable possibilities and it may 

 eventuate into considerable importance to the rubber industry. 

 Already large crops of cotton are being harvested annually, and 

 it remains to be seen whether the country is also to be planted 

 with guayule. It is declared that an3^hing that can be raised 

 in Arizona can be raised in the watered part of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, and it is said that plans for trying out guayule on a large 

 scale have already been discussed. 



Briefly the question which has stirred California and which 

 that state is trying to get the rest of the country excited over, 

 is whether there is to be a large Japanese colony located on 

 the immense holdings of the California-Mexico Land & Cattle 

 Co., consisting of 800,000 acres, more or less, in the northern part 

 of Lower California. The west line of the property runs almost 

 due south of Calexico, thence east across the head of the gulf to 

 the original bed of the Colorado River which forms the eastern 

 boundary of the tract. The north line is the international 

 boundary. The whole tract comprises the Mexican portion of 

 the Imperial Valley, which valley is practically all under irriga- 

 tion canals and susceptible to intensive cultivation. 



It is admitted that there have been negotiations with a Japa- 

 nese syndicate to take over the property, which is valued in 

 the millions, some say as high as $50,000,000, and that these 

 negotiations have been submitted to the State Department to 

 determine whether such a deal would be in violation of the 



is above tilling the soil and the source of the anti-Japanese 

 agitation in California can generally be traced to this clement. 



A few facts concerning the remarkable status of Lower Cali- 

 fornia are interesting. While nominally a part of the Mexican 

 government under Carranza, since the overthrow of Madero 

 the country has been almost an independent principality. It is 

 governed by Esteban Cantu, whose headquarters are at Mexicali, 

 just over the American border. In fact, the other side of the 

 main street of Mexicali is Calexico, the American town, the 

 dividing line being the middle of the street. Calexico is dry, 

 orderly and run according to the laws of California. If you 

 want excitement, step across the street into Mexicali, and you 

 can have ail the excitement that saloons, gaming houses, dance 

 halls and other modes of entertainment afford. Needless to say 

 the sporting element makes the most of this situation. It is 

 reported that Mexicali and other Mexican towns along the 

 border are preparing to reap untold harvests from the situation 

 in the LInited States, and that sites for breweries, distilleries, 

 wineries, etc., are at a premium. 



Governor Cantu's policy toward the paternal government in 

 Mexico City is simple. He has an independent army, well paid 

 at the end of each month in gold, armed to the teelh, well 

 equipped, capable and willing of giving the hungry and ill-paid 

 armies of Carranza the fight of their lives if they ever succeed 

 in getting into his domains. President Carranza is said to be 

 much peeved when he thinks of Governor Cantu reigning in 

 affluence in Lower California with money rolling in from im- 

 posts and taxes. About every so often Carranza feels he should 

 have a share in it, and sends an emissary to confer with the 



Typical Scene on the C. & M. Ranch in Lower California. 



Monroe Doctrine. The mention of anything connected with 

 Japanese is sufficient to set all California aflame, and politicians 

 who have capitalized this feeling to their political advantage 

 for years are makng the most of it. Meanwhile it is admitted 

 that the Japanese, once located there, would undoubtedly make 

 the property bloom like a rose, as they have done the desert 

 lands all over California, wherever they have been permitted to 

 obtain a foothold. 



Your true native son of the Golden West, however, would 

 prefer to see the arid lands remain arid and the agitator and 

 soap-box orator orate instead of working, to allowing the indus- 

 trious Japanese make use of the idle lands. The true I. W. W. 



Governor on the subject. The emissary is always treated very 

 politely, given plenty to drink, and in the morning finds himself 

 aboard a train with a return ticket to Mexico City. Cantu is 

 the President, Lord High Executioner, and Board of Educatiort 

 of Lower California, and it is commonly reported his stipend is 

 $.S0,000 a year, with a few perquisites on the side. Just now he 

 is engaged in building a highway to Enseiiada, the capital of 

 the lower peninsula. It is impossible for Carranza to get an 

 army over into Cantu's realms without going through the United 

 States, which the United Slates, in the interest of peace and 

 harmony, would not countenance. It is reported, however, that 

 Carranza is now contemplatin,^ a railroad into Lower California,. 



