Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/176

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148
Mexico of the Mexicans

for better commercial relations between the countries, but probably for the preferential treatment of Great Britain. It is clear that Mexico has got over the worst of her internal confusion, and that under the wise régime of those who now have her fortunes in their hands, and because of the common sense of her people, who are absolutely weary of revolt and unrest, conditions will, within a reasonable time, return to a pre-revolutionary standard. Then will the fruits of such a sowing as is here proposed be reaped by the British manufacturers and the British workman. The attempted exploitation of Mexico by certain American and British firms has been the cause of much heartburning, simply because of the manner in which these ventures have been carried out. The American "drummer" quickly found his methods of little avail among Mexican tradespeople and business men; and British representatives discovered that catalogues in English, which give the weight of goods and their bulk according to British standards and their prices in British currency, are not the best mediums for capturing trade among a Spanish-speaking people. These pioneers, too, found that before they could do business with Mexican customers that they must know something of the Mexican's psychology. They concluded, after gaining this experience, that prospective Latin-American clients must be treated in a manner totally distinct from that in which people of the Anglo-Saxon race are usually dealt with. The Mexican cannot be "bounced," and he will not be hurried. He is in every way a shrewd business man; but, as a rule, if he be of the better class, he has a keen dislike for haggling or bargaining of any sort, and a polite coolness on his part in the midst of a commercial negotiation should be an index to the foreign trader that he is in danger of over-stepping the limits of prudence and thus of losing his order. The Mexican merchant may talk upon every description of topic, save that of business, for hours together; and if the Anglo-Saxon will only tactfully bear with him (as does the