Senator WADSWORTH. If they have taken your plantation, how can you sell the sisal from it? Mr. EVIA. My attorney in the management of the plantation. Mr. EVIA. For the Government. Senator WADSWORTH. Oh, for the Government. Mr. EVIA. Yes; he does all the business as if my plantation belonged to me, but he has no right to deliver whatever he sells. The CHAIRMAN. He delivers it to the Government? Mr. EVIA. He delivers it to the Government, and the Government has charge. Senator WADSWORTH. Does the Government pay you for the amount of sisal which your attorney sells to the Government? Mr. EVIA. Yes. Senator WADSWORTH. Then, in fact, although perhaps the titleMr. EVIA. The Government pays to my attorney the same price that he pays to everybody else; all the transactions, as well as if I had stayed there. The only thing that I can not use that money. Senator WADSWORTH. You can not use the money? Mr. EVIA. I can not use the money; that is right. Senator WADSWORTH. Who does use the money? Mr. EVIA. Nobody; the Government holds it. Senator WADSWORTH. To your credit? Mr. EVIA. Yes. Mr. FISHER. That is the question. Mr. EVIA. I suppose so; I hope so. [Laughter.] Senator WADSWORTH. You have not been back to Yucatan since you came up here to purchase the arms? Mr. EvIA. Oh, yes; I went back in January. Senator WADSWORTH. In January? Mr. EVIA. Yes, sir. Mr. MAYER. Of this year? Senator WADSWORTH. Of this year? Mr. EVIA. I went back on the 13th of January. Senator WADSWORTH. I wanted to be clear on that gold reserve in the bank matter, and just have in my mind the history of that transaction. That is all I have to ask. The CHAIRMAN. Did I understand you to say that Arguemedo took all of that gold? Mr. EVIA. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. The whole 1,100,000 pesos? Mr. EVIA. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And retained it-did not put it back into the bank? Mr. EVIA. Retained it. Senator WADSWORTH. Mr. Evia, who has it now? Mr. EVIA. He has it. Senator WADSWORTH. Where is he? Mr. EVIA. That I do not know, because we did not see him after he had it. [Laughter.] The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions to be asked of this witness? Dr. RENDON. May I be allowed to ask one or two questions of the witness? The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Go ahead. Dr. RENDON. In the year 1907, at the time of those speculations which Mr. Fisher referred to, was he the only one that was speculating at that time? Mr. FISHER. Oh, no; far from it. Dr. RENDON. I want to ask the question. The CHAIRMAN. Let him ask. Dr. RENDON. I want to ask if he was the only firm speculating? Mr. EVIA. Oh, no; of course, Mr. Montes did. Dr. RENDON. That is all I want to bring out. Mr. FISHER. And not only Montes, but a lot of other people besides him? Mr. EVIA. Other people, I do not know. We know of these concerns because they are big concerns. Dr. RENDON. Mr. Chairman, here is the brief Mr. Fisher wanted me to produce that was presented to the Department of State, the Department of Justice, and the Comptroller of the Currency. The CHAIRMAN. Has this been offered in evidence? Dr. RENDON. No, sir. (The brief here submitted by Dr. Rendon is as follows:) IN THE MATTER OF THE COMISION REGULADORA DEL MERCADO DE HENEQUen, of YUCATAN. Yucatan, one of the States of the Republic of Mexico, is located on the Gulf of Mexico, about 800 miles due south of the port of New Orleans. Its area is 22,455 square miles, or about one-half of that of the State of Louisiana. The population of the State of Yucatan is about 315,000. Merida is its capital, having a population of 60,000, and Progreso is its only port. It is connected with New Orleans by one direct steamship line, the Caribbean & Southern, and by two other lines touching at other Mexican ports-viz, the Woolvine Line, operating under the flag of the United States, and the Mexican Navigation Co., under the flag of Mexico. The chief industry of Yucatan is the growing of henequen or sisal grass. Other industries are the production and exporting of chicle, a native gum-from which chewing gum is made-mahogany, dye woods, and hides. Sisal constitutes seven-eighths of the total exports, and three-fourths of the entire population is engaged in and obtains its livelihood from the sisal industry. The fiber, known as henequen, or sisal grass, is produced from a plant (closely resembling the century plant) the botanical name of which is "Agave Americana." It derives its name of sisal because of having been formerly shipped from an ancient port of that name. It is cultivated in the Mexican States of Yucatan, Campeche, Chiapas, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas, and also in Cuba, in the Bahamas, and South Africa. It requires a hot climate and a well-cultivated limestone soil. In Yucatan both soil and temperature are favorable. It is propagated chi fly from suckers, which grow from the root stalks, which are set out in rows and require constant cultivation. Only the outer leaves are cut, the others being left to ripen and develop. Much labor is required in the cultivation, harvesting, decorticating, drying, baling, and handling, From sisal grass and similar fibers is manufactured the binder twines used to tie into sheaves or bundles the small grains and corn produced throughout the civilized world, the ordinary grass ropes used in commerce, industry, and agriculture, and all kinds of twines used in trade. The principal kinds of binder twine sold in the markets of the United States are the following: (a) Pure manila, 600 feet to the pound, made of a good quality of abaca fiber. (b) Manila, 600 feet to the pound, made of abaca with a mixture of other fibers. (c) Standard manila, 550 feet to the pound. Made of mixed abaca and henequen fiber. (d) Standard, 500 feet to the pound. (e) White sisal, 500 feet to the pound. with a mixture of other fibers. Made of sisal (henequen). Made of sisal (henequen) fiber; sometimes Abaca. commonly called manila hemp. and henequen, known as sisal in the trade, are used for binder twine more than all other fibers combined. The best and highest priced grades of binder twine are made of abaca (manila). This plant is cultivated extensively in the Philippines. Java, and New Zealand. Different grades of abaca are quoted on the market, the differences resulting chiefly from the greater or less care in cleaning and preparing the fiber. These grades vary in price, but the average maket price for abaca (manila) in the United States during the last 10 years has been about 8 cents per pound, and at the present time is 10 cents per pound. The difference in market price in the United States between abaca (manila) and henequen (sisal) is 3 cents per pound. The average difference in the United States during the last 15 years between the two fibers has been about 2 cents per pound. The following is a table trom 1903 up to and including 1914 of the yearly exports of sisal (henequen) from Yucatan and manila (abaca) from the Philippines into the United States: Each bale contains 375 pounds; substantially all of said manila and sisal is manufactured in the United States into binder twine and rope. The following is a table of the monthly market price in the United States from 1900 to 1914, inclusive, of sisal and manila: Hemp-Monthly average prices of sisal and manila from 1900 to 1915. It will be noticed that the importation of sisal into the United States was, in 1900, 469,217 bales and in 1914, 967,107 bales, or about 100 per cent increase, while that of manila has varied between the years 1900 and 1914, in 1900 being 409,623 bales and in 1914, 402,918 bales. In 1909 the importation into the United States of manila reached its highest point, viz, 766,949 bales. The Philippines export to the United States one-half as much fiber as Yucatan sends to this country. In addition, Java and New Zealand export to the United States varying amounts of fiber. Furthermore, henequen, or sisal, is indigenous to all of southeastern Mexico, which includes the States of Campeche, Chiapas, Sinaloa, and Temaulipas; it is also now being grown in Cuba, Bahamas, and German South Africa. The cost of manufacture in the United States of sisal, or manila, into binder twine is 1 cent a pound, and the cost of transporting and handling sisal from Yucatan to the United States is one half cent a pound. If the entire Yucatan sisal industry were destroyed, its place would be taken by an increased cultivation of fiber in other of the southeastern States of Mexico. Furthermore, the Philippines, New Zealand, Java, the Bahamas, Cuba, and German South Africa would supply all the needs of the United States, though at a higher price. Of the sisal imported into the United States from Yucatan, the International Harvester Co. buys an annual average of from 50 per cent to 60 per cent and the Plymouth Cordage Co. 15 per cent to 20 per cent. Of the sisal imported into the United States during the years 1903 to 1914 by the International Harvester Co. and the Plymouth Cordage Co., those companies have, respectively, resold the raw material or unmanufactured sisal as follows: There are now engaged in the United States about 35 parties that manufacture sisal into binder twine, which does not include a number of small manufacturers making other twines, ropes, etc. It will be noticed from the above table that the International and Plymouth companies have sold the raw material (sisal) in the United States to other binder-twine manufacturers to the extent at times of as high as from 50 per cent to 75 per cent of their original or direct purchases. In other words, the International and Plymouth companies, instead of manufacturing all their sisal purchases into binder twine, have themselves been venders in the United States to other manufacturers of a large part of the sisal which the International and Plymouth companies purchased, and, as will be seen later on, purchased in Yucatan through their agents located there; or, to put it in a different way, the International and Plymouth companies bought sisal in Yucatan, imported it into the United States, and then resold the sisal in its raw state to other manufacturers who have been dependent for the supply of sisal upon the International and Plymouth companies. These other or outside manufacturers did not and could not obtain in Yucatan a supply of sisal, but had to rely entirely for the supply of their needs upon the International and Plymouth companies. The International Harvester Co. was originated in 1902 with a capital stock of $As an illustration of the effect of the formation of the International Harvester Co. we submit a table of sisal purchased in Yucatan beginning with the year 1900, or two years before the harvester company was formed, and continuing thereafter down to 1914. The table also shows the number of buyers, the quantity absorbed by the |