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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



years engaged in running "yellow con- 

 traband" from the Mexican west coast, 

 using speedy motor-boats and landing 

 their hidden passengers as far north as 

 Oakland. As much as $600 a head is 

 sometimes collected on these smuggled 

 immigrants. 



BORDER TURMOIL HAS BROUGHT FORTUNES 

 TO MANY - 



The ill winds that have wasted Mexico 

 have enriched many residents of Amer- 

 ican border towns. Hundreds of wealthy 

 Mexican families have removed, to the 

 border States, depositing their wealth 

 in our banks and business industries. 



Banks in certain Yankee border towns 

 have paid as high as from 80 per cent to 

 200 per cent dividends. Sensational 

 profits have been made on quick cattle 

 deals and fluctuations in Mexican ex- 

 change. 



Much money was made and lost, too, 

 in the time of the "billumbiques," or fiat 

 money, issued by various factions during 

 the early years of the Mexican revolu- 

 tion. Some of this paper money, origi- 

 nally supposed to be worth two for one 

 (two pesos to one American dollar'), 

 finally fell in price until it was quoted at 

 50 for I, 100 for 1, and even T.000 for I. 

 A tale is told of a poor long-haired In- 

 dian at Agua Prieta who went crazy in 

 a barber-shop trying to figure out how 

 many billumbiques it would cost him to 

 pay for a hair cut ! 



Mexican Government purchasing agents 

 come in a constant stream to these fron- 

 tier towns to buy supplies. They bring 

 suit-eases of money and buy by the car- 

 load — buy not only animals, uniforms. 



provisions, motors, vehicles, harness, 

 guns, ammunition, etc., but they also buy 

 school supplies, machinery, tools, and 

 furniture for use in various government- 

 owned institutions. 



In towns like Calexico, El Paso, and 

 Nogales, certain shrewd Americans 

 (mostly born in Poland and Syria), who 

 were mere peddlers or "shoe-string" mer- 

 chants ten years ago, now own handsome 

 homes, send their children to fashionable 

 schools in the East, and motor out to the 

 California beaches each summer with 

 their almost incredible, but highly de- 

 lighted, wives. 



Border brokers make cash advances to 

 speculative traders, who go into Mexico 

 and buy herds of cattle, cargoes of gar- 

 banzos and tomatoes, hides and ores. 

 These imports become ready money, once 

 they reach the American side of the line, 

 and the handsome margin of profit stays 

 in the border towns. No part of the 

 United States has seen more prosperity 

 in the last decade than some of these 

 small border ports of entry. 



Commission agents, customs brokers, 

 import and export houses, and mining 

 and plantation machinery agents thrive 

 here. The regions of Arizona and New 

 Mexico that crowd against the line are 

 not in themselves particularly rich except 

 in minerals : yet some firms here handle 

 tremendous volumes of goods each year, 

 most of which is sold in Mexico. 



X' 'gales and Douglas have trebled their 

 populations in the past decade, and thou- 

 sands of Mexicans have moved across 

 the line, increasing the already high per- 

 centage of Mexicans residing in our 

 border States. 



TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 



THE Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society calls attention to 

 the increase in dues for all members elected after July I, 1920. This increase 

 has become necessary owing to unprecedented increases in everything pertaining 

 to publication since January 1st : for example, of 50 per cent in the cost of printing, 

 and of 8S per cent in the cost of the special quality of paper upon which The 

 GEOGRAPHIC is printed, and which cannot be cheapened without materially impair- 

 ing the clarity and beauty of illustrations which have made your magazine unique 

 in periodical literature. As noted on the Recommendation for Membership blank, 

 the annual membership dues in the United States are now $3.00; annual member- 

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