Los Angeles Times, September 1, 1907, page I13:
Molokane to go to Mexico
City Life Not to Liking of Russian Colonists
Their Representatives Now in the Southern Republic for the Purpose of Selecting Future Home for the Entire Sect, Thousands of Whom Will Come from Europe.
Within a short time, the exodus of Russian Molokane from this city to Mexico will begin, according to Glen W. Hack, a resident of this city and a heavy investor in Mexican land. Hack arrived in the city yesterday and returns to Mexico tomorrow. He was in personal charge of the three Russian delegates of the Molokane, who were on a tour of inspection of the most desirable locations for their future colony.
“I was obliged to leave the Russians before any decision was made as to location,” said Hack yesterday, “but I left them in charge of H.C. Archer, an experienced man in such matters. Since I left Guadalajara I have received several telegrams from Archer to the effect negotiations were progressing favorably. The delegates had full power to close any deal without reporting to the local Molokanes and it is probable that they will make a decision soon.”
There are about 2,000 Molokane at present living in this city. They have wearied of city life and its limitations and many temptations for the young people of the colony. For months the dream of the Russians has been a tract of land in the sister republic, where they could worship according to their peculiar tenets and live a semi-community life. Philip H. Shubin, Abraham G. Desatoff and Efim A. Urin, three patriarchal elders, went to view the promised land. Tracts on the east and west coast were surveyed, but according to Hack, no immediate decision was made.
Fifteen thousand Molokane are still in Russia, anxiously awaiting the decision. When once the tract is settled upon, there will be a flood of colonists from the land of the frozen steppes, to the semi-tropical climate of sunny Mexico.
“On my way back to this State,” said Hack, “I met J. H. Clagg, superintendent of the Mexican Central. He was kind enough to invite me to accompany him in his private car over the line. He showed the vast improvements which have been made. The Mexican Central compares favorably with any railroad in this country. With the exception of a few miles, the rails are heavy, seventy-five-pound steel; the roadbed is rock-ballasted and the cars run with great smoothness. Superintendent Clagg is an American who worked his way up to his present position from a brakeman running on the Southern Pacific.
“For a man with moderate capital, Mexico presents more advantages than are to be found in this country. I am a loyal American and love Los Angeles, but I believe the opportunities of a lifetime are to be found in our sister republic.”
Hack says the people received him with great cordiality all through Mexico. In Mexico City he discovered that the proprietor of a stationery store where he went to purchase a copy of The Times was a Los Angeles boy whom he formerly knew. Hack came to this city to see about the purchase of fixtures for a bank in which he is interest. It is to be established at Tampico on the eastern coast, one of the few American banks in the section. Hack was formerly a member of the well-known firm of the Simpson-Hack Fruit Company, but now his interests are mainly centered in Mexico and especially in and about Tampico.
