tent.[1] German enterprise was represented by a large number of wholesale and retail dealers in hardware, chemicals, and small commodities. The transactions in these lines brought them into closer contact with the Mexican public than any other class of foreigners except the Spaniards. They, like the Spaniards, were not conspicuous as developers of the great natural resources of the country and prejudice against them seems to have been less than against any other foreign element, especially after it became evident that the United States would be drawn into the World War on the side of the Allies. To the Germans, too, the revolution brought less percentage of loss than to the Americans and British. Mercantile stocks can be adjusted to changing political conditions more easily than can public services, mines, and similar enterprises.
What the total amount of foreign capital in Mexico is and what is its relation to the total national wealth must, like the individual items, be matters of estimate. The American consular report of 1912 put the total value of all the enumerated properties at $2,432,000,000 and those of Mexican ownership at $793,187,242. It appears that the comparison must understate the value of Mexican holdings. An article published by a former member of the United States consular service at the close of the revolution makes an estimate of $1,875,000,000 as the total foreign investment divided as follows: American, $665,000,000; British, $670,000,000; French,
- ↑ Anonymous article, "German Efforts in Mexico," World's Work, vol. 35, p. 208, December, 1917.
