The Mexican Oil Wells.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14980, 9 June 1914, Page 6

The Mexican Oil Wells.

The news in yesterday morning's cabl«s, to tho effect that tho United States, the Netherlands, and Great Britain had agreed to preserve tho status quo in Mexico, so far as tho ownership of oil properties is conr cerned, naturally recalls to mind tho suspicion, more than onco referred to in theso columns, that the oil wells were the original causo "of the Civil war, whilo not a few well-informed authorities believe that American interveniion was due, not so much to the series of insults rehearsed by President Wilson in his message to Congress, as.

to a desire to protect, tho oil properties and plant, valued at many millions sterling, in tho Tampico district. " So long as theso properties wore out- " side tho area of tho war," says the '.'. Economist," "Washington, on this ",tbcory. was ready to remain nontraj," But a decided change of tone was

manifest as soon as news was received, on April 9th, to tho effect that valuable oil plants at Tampico had already boen destroyed and other properties, valued at millions, were, threatened by Mexican Constitutionalists and Federal shells. According to the "Mexi"can Year Book," the Mexican production of oil roso from 4,351,000 barrels (1.38 of the world's production) in J9lO to 16,588,000 barrels (4.71 per cent.) in 1912, while tho estimate for 1913 was no less than 26 million barrels. Tampico, on account of its harbour and communications by rail and waterway, is the centre and distributing point of tho oil region. A recent number of the "Oil News" contained an interesting account of a visit of an American to Tampico fields, which he described Vis being, in his opinion, the greatest oil fields in the world, and he had visited all of them except those in Russia. Ho thought it not. an exaggeration to expect Tampieo to be shipping and marketing half a million barrels of oil a day in tho course of two or throe years. He had heard, on what ho considered very good authority, that intervention would take place before July Ist, unless a settlement of some, kind was made in Mexico, And ho him/ self was convinced that there was no possiblo solution of the Mexican problem by tho Mexican people themselves. Tampico ho describes as a very clean, up-to-date city, with some very fine buildings either completed or in course of construction. Perhaps the finec was the Pearson's (Mexican Eagle Oil Co.). Wo need hardly remind our readers that this is the company with which Lord Murray of Elibank is co- , aected. The Standard OiJ Company.of America, and several other American companies, and the Dutch Shell Company, also have very large interests i> the district. Indeed, the writer already quoted, tells us that "all the big ." people in the world," i.e., €be oi world, are represented at Tampico. As showing tho disastrous effect of the present state of unrest, it pay be mentioned that Mexican Eagle 8 per cent, preference shares, which touched £2 7s 6d in 1913, were down to £1 16 on April 24th, 1914. Estimates of the amount of British capital invested in Mexico vary from a hundred millions to two hundred millions. All Mexican securities have fallen heavily, so that the outlook is very depressing to a large number of British investors. .

Tho real offence of Lord Gladstone, who, according to one of to-day's tele- | grams, has been violently assailed by tho Labour Party i Q * ne South African Uzuon Parliament, is that he acted as a constitutional Governor, and spoke the, truth in his, -despatches concerning the strike. In summarising the facts for the Colonial Office he described £h» strike as "a purely artificial" one, "designed to disorganise the Government, apd tQ make the Trades Ball paramount at the expense of tho qountry. ,. New- Zealanders are, per» better able to realise the tmth of this than most people, but th.c fasts, must have convinced everyone that the position was aa stated by the Governor,. General. -

It ii 9 natural .that-the South -African Labour Party, should be angry with Lprd Gladsioue for his p]»in and simple account of the affair. But what \m probably chiefly exasperated them is the Governor-General's *byipug ap* proval pf of martial lavr. JJis despatch on ■ this point is printed in English paper? to hand by the mail yesterday:

Tho Government (ho s&fei) having' ipade uo their mind that tho strike mepnt in foot civil war aguinst them, decided to act jnVtwsh a, decisive manner that no arrno'd 'collision should take place and no occasion te giveii for tho use of firearms. The declaration o! martial law, co far from causing exa&perition, undoubtedly brought relief and eat:efact4on not oniy to people who had no direct connexion with' tho striken, but to a large number of tho workmen who had. prom that instant the strike collapsed like a pace of : cards; no life wae lost, no pereon vw injured .... -Whatever iheprwts may cay, tho effect of martial law was to rel:e-o the whole country from actual peril and a. state of tension which iv iteelf wae a peril.—

Mutatis mutandis, this pithy summary of the situation in South Africa might bo applied to tho situation in New Zeq]and during tho strike

last year. Tho Leader of tho Opposition has sought to defend his un-

fortunate speech "on the riot in Poet Office square by claiming that it "prevented tho recurrence of similar incir dents," or something to that effect. What cveryono knows is that the speech did not prevent, but rather encouraged, subsequent displays of atrocious ruffianism, culminating in the attack, which nobody notv remembers without shame, upon the "specials" in Featherston street. Just «s in South 'Africa,, the Government's decisive step caused the strike to cqllapso like- a pack of cards, so our own' Government's mobit

lisation of a powerful force of special constabies smashed tho syndicalist rising hero. As tho writer in the "Round Table," whom wo quoted some time ago, put it: "The display of organised force had so effectively done its work that tho" actual exercise of force prove 4 to bo unnecessary. The Strike Committee's ten daj-s' reign was at an end." And to-day the public is enjoyiug a sense of security it never enjoyed before, and the general body of work-

ingmen are really thankful that they arc freo from tho risk of being forced to go on strike.

History renoats iteelf in the case of the intruder who managed to enter several of the servants , bedrooms of Buckingham Palco and alleges that he only intended to prove how easy it was to enter the Palace despite the police and military precautions that are being taken on account of the suffragettes. In tho early part of Queen Victoria's reign, not long after her marriage, a chimney sweep not only managed to enter the Palace, but to conceal himself tmder a sofa in one of the Royal apartments. Hβ was found to be of weak intellect, and vre fancy be was committed to a mental hospital. It remains to bo

seen whether the parallel works out to tho end in the present caso. The prophecy of Sir Conan Doyle, mado a shgrt timo ago, to tho effect •that the long-suffering British public would not stand tho outrages of tho suffragettes much longer, but would take tho law into their ov.ti hands, seems to. be coming truo. Our cablo messages to-day record an estraordinary sceno both inaido and outside tho Brompton Oratory. Some suffragettes who had disturbed the service were very roughly handled by women members of the congregation. "When wo find their own sex turning against them in this i wav the folly of supposing that tho cause of women's suffrage can be advanced by brawling in church, and even burning down churches sanctified by centuries of •worship, becomes moro than ever apparent. We adhere to tho opinion we expressed at a very early stage of the movement, namely, that most of the "militant" women are insane and ought to be so treated.

The Stock. Exchange seems to bo Buffering from a very bad timo just now. The threatened war in Ireland, chaos in Mexico, and a great slump following tho boom in Canada, are the main factors in bringing about a serious state of , depression.. Towards the oud of April Messrs Blyth and Teesdale. one of tho most important firms in the foreign market, woro "hammered"—in other words, were announced as unable to meet their engagements. This morning's cables tell us that Messrs Chaplin Milno, Grefejl and Company, merchants, have suspended .payment. Mr Arthur Morton Gronfcll, who lately withdrew from the directorate, was concerned in a movement on the £/ock Exchange affecting £5.000.000 worth of Canadian stocks, but got beyond his depth. There has been a heavy declino in Canadian securities, even in such well-secured stoic as that of the Cana-dian-Pacific Railway. Trade in tho Dominion has fallen off and tho Government Commissioners have ordered a reduction in freight rates in tho West, thus further curtailing tho revenue of tho big railways..

The death of Theodore Watts-Dunton breaks one of tho last few remaining links with tho literature of the middle and lata Victorian periods. It is not so very many years ago when we were all reading Morris, and Tennyson, and Swinburne, and Rossotti, and Mr Watts-Ehinton's death will rather sharply remind those of us who are no longer young that tho places of these Victorian giants, if not filled, are yet occupied by men, who wore, children when Watts-Dunton and his friends had long done their best work. WattsDunton himself, was not an obtrusive figure in literature; he was tho author of "Alywin," but ho was chiefly known as the friend of Swinburne, Ilossetti, Morris, Tennyson, and Browning. He was nevertheless a poet of note —many of his sonnets are of the first rank in tho rich Pre-Raphaelite way, and much of his musical and noble work will survive. •

If Australians can spare remembrance and gratitude for the poets of England, they-'owe a little debt to Watts-Dun-ton. It is a very general delusion that the modern, spirit of British Imperialism was voiceless until Kipling came. Before Kipling had become widely famous as the bard of Empire, William Wateon had written his noble "England, and Her Colonies." And, years before, the raising of the Australian Contin-: gent for the Soudan inspired WattsDunton to a. sonnet oF vigorous Imperialism.. His text was the statement by a German newspaper that "England stwde alone, without an ally." The eostet ran: ■ "Europe." fiailh England, "hath form*, my Forgot heir tull, in ypntkir golden zone '2faath Aiistral ekiee, my youngest"'born liave grown (Bearers of biiyoneta now and sworde for teye>-r-Forgot 'n>i<i boltlesa thunder—harmless npjee-rr , The eons wjlh wh*m old England 'etswide alone.'.". ~~ Ar poetry this is not of the highest, but tho spirit is notable. , '' i