Lower California Rich In Minerals.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 19, 1912:
But Gold Deposits and Onyx Quarries Are Almost Wholly Undeveloped.
BOTH OWNED BY AMERICANS
Three Million Dollars in Mining Interests Held Near Ensenada Alone — Trade at Low Ebb.
    In view of the recent suggestion that the United States remove all temptation to other nations by the purchase and annexation of Lower California, Consular reports, which have just been made to the Bureau of Manufactures at Washington on the value of the mineral and commercial products of the Peninsula are of more than ordinary interest.
    Writing from La Paz, Consul Lucien N. Sullivan says the principal industrial establishment in his section is a tannery, the output of which is valued at more than $600,000. About 300 sides of leather (150 hides,) he says, are turned out a day, the greater part of which is shipped to the interior points of Mexico. There are also at La Paz two shoe factories in operation, each employing about twenty-five hands, all Chinamen. "There has been," observed Mr. Sullivan, "considerable agitation by the people of the community for free pearl fisheries, with the result that the Government investigated the matter with especial reference as to whether or not the concessionaires had complied with the provisions of the concessions. The committee of Government experts sent out to examine the pearl oyster beds reported adversely to the holders of the largest concession, so that the native residents are confidently expecting to sea the concessions withdrawn.
    "The assurance that a branch of the Sonora Banking Company of Hermosillo was to be established in La Paz reduced the rate of exchange, and it is expected that the banking facilities will greatly improve commercial conditions in the district.
    "The company organized to develop the marble deposit near Todos Santos has made little progress. Several samples of the stone were shipped recently to San Francisco.
    "The imports into La Paz from the United States during 1911 were valued at $67,860, a decrease of $19,320, compared with the previous year. Detailed statistics covering the imports into the district are not yet available. The value of the articles invoiced through the La Paz Consulate to the United States during 1911 was $285,082, a gain of $20,370, compared with the previous year."
    Giving a report of the situation in Ensenada, Consular Agent Frederick Simpich says:
    "Trade conditions were at a low ebb in the Ensenada district during last year, due to disturbed political conditions. Many merchants shipped their merchandise to San Diego, Cal., for safekeeping. Cattle for the June markets could not be safely driven to the international boundary, and much live stock and other property was stolen or destroyed.
    "Of the 27,845 square miles embracing this Consular district, less than 100,000 acres are under cultivation. Cattle raising, fishing, mining, and farming are the chief industries. About 200 Americans are settled in the district, whose holdings approximate $3,000,000 exclusive of mining interests.
    "No extensive development work was done at the gold mines in this district in 1911, and no additional American capital was invested. Less than $5,000 in gold bullion was exported. An American company continued its development of an onyx quarry near the west coast, below San Quentin, and exported $67,003 worth of rough slabs to the United States during the year.
    "Just prior to the acceptance of the wharf constructed at Ensenada last year, on which American capital amounting to about $60,000 was invested, a storm destroyed the structure.
    "As a class the people in this district are poor, and, therefore, their purchasing: power is low. There are no railroads and few wagon roads. Practically all land is owned by a foreign colonization company and by a few large ranchers, inside a twenty-league zone parallel with the international boundary foreigners can buy land only after securing a special permit from the Central Government. Land is held at $2.50 to $20 per acre. Climatic and soil conditions are practically the same in the northern part of this district as in Southern California.
    "According to customs statistics. $180,-292 worth of foodstuffs, clothing, machinery, drugs, textiles, &c., were imported into the port during 1911. Almost all the necessities of life are imported from the United States and are subject to high duties.
    "In 1911 the Mexican Post Office at Ensenada issued money orders amounting to $174,500 and cashed orders valued at $30,850. About $72,000 of the outgoing orders were in payment for Merchandise bought in the United States. The people of this district buy extensively from American mail-order houses. The local Post Office also dispatched 192,000 pieces of mall and received 168,000.
    "The statement of declared exports to the United States in 1911 shows an apparent increase of $26,323 over 1910, but the shipment of $33,039, worth of merchandise in bond sent out for safekeeping during the disturbances accounts for this increase.
    "The American goods returned during last year were valued at $9,694, compared with $7,611 in 1910."