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Show RED CROSS AGENT TELLS OF EFFORTS TO FEED MEXICANS WASHINGTON Ju y 21 In a report to the wa department oday on effor s to re eve fam ne cond t ons n Mexico Br gad er General Devo genera man ager of the mer can Red Cross dec ared that wh le non comba an, were suffer ing from want of food m 1 tary leaders of both the V 11a and Carranza fact ons had eaped a harvest from export taxes on Mex can grown food products sh pped Into the Unl ed S ates Cost Almost Trebled Both General Hernandez and General " ilia said the report proh b ted the purchase of food supp es n Mexico for re ef of the Mexican peop e s at ng that any such supp es must be purchased outside of Mexico The reason g ven is that the food in Mex co s requ red to feed the Mex can so d ers The rea rea son in my op nlon Is that there is a m Itary export tax or In other words a chaige on all exportatlons amount ing on the northern border to $400 to $o00 for each car that crosses the bor der Th s money Is paid d rect to the , m ary leaders For ns ance at the time supplies were being purchased for Monclova, three carloads of corn could have been pur chased on the Mexican a de for 36 cents per bushel the actual supply cost the Red Cross 94 cents per bushel. The d fference In the price per bushel indi cates the amount of revenue accruing to the nulltarv authorities from export products Re atlvely the same difference app es as regards beans There are still large quantities of food supplies assemb ed In var ous parts of Mexico and held by the mi tary au thor ties and not perm tted to reach the peop e Can Subsist on Cactus j At the present time there ma not be any actual cases of starvation In Mex ico The Mexican people can live on i little or nothing and when driven to it, can subs st for some time on cactus and other p ants There is in nearly every : part of Mexico destitution and constant m sery People outside the military fac . tions subsist only by sufferance and only when permitted to do so by the military leaders It Is evident that not , 50 per cent of a crop has been planted generally throughout Mexico Continual suffering obtains and Is growing worse from day to day The methods of exaction used by the leaders of all factions appear to be iden tical. H commercial supplies and In i dustr es are exploited for the benefit of the military Owing to the political and phy cal cond tions in Mexico there ap pears to be no way for adequate re ef even If the American peop e would contribute for this purpose This how ever they have only done to a very Urn ited extent to this date. Miss Mabel T Boardman of the Red C osa wrote today to President Wl son asking for an- appointment for a confer ence with him on the question of Mexl can re ief W C Cox of New Tork treasurer of the National Mexican relief commitee of the Red Cross was appointed today as s stant treasurer of the American Red j Cross to faci Itate the work of the Mex I lean committee I |