diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-06-11 10:21:16 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-06-11 10:21:16 -0700 |
| commit | 84cf8c8e3763ba54487c0d7711742750a9fbd69e (patch) | |
| tree | c252c8cd5f937eb182fa1120ff37541c5ee76df4 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76272-0.txt | 11666 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76272-h/76272-h.htm | 12466 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76272-h/images/001.jpg | bin | 0 -> 253571 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76272-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 864607 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 24149 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/76272-0.txt b/76272-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb6d89e --- /dev/null +++ b/76272-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11666 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76272 *** + + + + + + THE FIVE REPUBLICS OF + CENTRAL AMERICA + + [Illustration: CENTRAL AMERICA] + + + + + UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA + + THE FIVE REPUBLICS + + OF + + CENTRAL AMERICA + + THEIR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC + DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR RELATIONS + WITH THE UNITED STATES + + BY DANA G. MUNRO + + A THESIS + + Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial + fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of + Philosophy. + + NEW YORK + OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + AMERICAN BRANCH: 35 WEST 32ND STREET + LONDON, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, AND BOMBAY + 1918 + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1918 + BY THE + CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, + WASHINGTON, D. C. + + THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS + RAHWAY, N. J. + + + + + AUTHOR’S PREFACE + + +By many persons in the United States, Central America is conceived of +chiefly as a land of revolutions, bankrupt governments, and absconding +presidents, and a haven for fugitives from justice from more settled +countries. The progress of the people of the Isthmus since their +declaration of independence, and the significance of this progress +in view of the difficulties with which they have had to contend, are +rarely recognized. The fact is too frequently overlooked that the +greater part of the people of the five republics, except in Costa +Rica, are descendants of the semi-civilized aboriginal tribes whom the +_Conquistadores_ enslaved in the sixteenth century, and that these +Indians still remain, for the most part, in a condition of dense +ignorance and economic dependence. Even the white upper classes were +prevented for three centuries from making any advance in civilization +by the restriction of intercourse with other countries and the +centralization of authority in the hands of foreign officials under +the Spanish colonial system; and they were unable to set up a stable +political system when they obtained their independence, because of +their lack of experience in self-government, and because of the absence +of political institutions upon which a stable system of government +could be based. + +When we take these facts into consideration, and when we see the +advances which some of the Central American Republics have been able +to make despite these handicaps, we shall be less ready to conclude +that their people are inherently unfit for self-government. Our own +race is removed from the disorderly conditions which characterize the +more turbulent parts of the Isthmus only by a few hundred years, and +in the United States we are not unfamiliar today with evils similar to +some of the worst evils of Central American political life. There is no +reason to suppose that all of the five republics will not eventually +develop stable governments, as some of them have already done. Although +conditions in many parts of the Isthmus are still very bad, they are +gradually being overcome by the efforts of the better elements among +the ruling classes and by the gradual progress of the common people. +Since the Washington Conference of 1907, moreover, the preservation of +internal and international peace in the Isthmus has been powerfully +aided by the influence of the United States. + +That the economic and political conditions of Central America and the +other countries of the Caribbean should be understood by the American +government and the American people is of the utmost importance. The +policy of the United States, more perhaps than any other factor either +external or internal, will determine the course of the development of +the five republics during the next few decades, and if this policy is +to be beneficial, it must be based on knowledge and must be controlled +by an intelligent public opinion. Only injustice can result from the +publication of works like many of the recent superficial descriptions +of Central America, whether they portray the five countries as foci +of continual disorder, constitutionally incapable of self-government, +and hence destined to absorption by a stronger power, or paint a +ridiculously laudatory picture, based on official reports and on the +utterances of the authorities rather than on critical observation. It +is the purpose of this study to describe conditions simply as they +appeared to the author during a sojourn of two years in the Isthmus, +with the object of setting forth what the people of Central America +have achieved since their declaration of independence and what problems +confront them in their present stage of development. + +The difficulties in the way of a careful study of the history and +the economic and political conditions of the five republics are very +great, because there is so little trustworthy written material. +Historical works are especially unsatisfactory. The colonial period +is ably treated in two or three books by Central American authors, +but the development of the community since its separation from Spain, +and the far-reaching economic and political changes which have taken +place during the last century, have apparently never been studied by +anyone who was equipped by historical training and by a knowledge of +the country to interpret them. In attempting to obtain material for +sketching the historical development of the Isthmus, therefore, I have +been forced to rely on the very inadequate histories which do exist, +which are little more than lists of presidents and revolutions, and +upon a large number of political pamphlets, government documents, and +memoirs of Central American leaders and of early travelers in the +Isthmus. Much of this material is all but worthless because of the +ignorance or the ulterior motives of the writers, but there is enough +of value to reveal certain broad tendencies of economic and political +development. + +It is equally difficult to secure data concerning the condition of the +country at present. Official publications can rarely be accepted as +reliable because of the carelessness with which records are kept and +statistical data are gathered by most of the departments, and because +official statements about the material progress of the country and the +activities of the authorities too often represent patriotic aspirations +rather than accomplished facts. The differences in the use of terms +and in standards of public service, moreover, are so great that it is +difficult for a foreigner to obtain an idea of the actual situation in +one of the countries merely by conversation with the authorities and +other persons in the capital. The writer found it extremely helpful +to supplement such conversations with trips to the provincial towns +and through the rural districts. An acquaintance with the life and +the character of the people outside the somewhat Europeanized cities, +and an observation of the actual working of the political machinery, +did much to make clear many things which otherwise might have been +difficult to understand. + +The courtesy of the officials of the five governments, and the +hospitality extended to the traveler by all classes of the people, +make a journey through Central America an experience upon which one +can always look back with keen pleasure. It would be impossible here +to thank individually the many friends who helped to make my stay in +the Isthmus both pleasant and profitable. Nevertheless, I wish to +express especially my appreciation of the assistance which I have +received from Dr. L. S. Rowe, Mr. John M. Keith, Señor Luís Anderson, +Señor Manuel Aragón, Mr. Boaz Long, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Jones, General +Luís Mena, Mr. and Mrs. William Owen, Professor Philip M. Brown, Señor +Francisco Castro and Doña Fidelina de Castro, Dr. Escolástico Lara, Dr. +Juan B. Sacasa, Dr. Louis Schapiro, and General José María Moncada. +Without their assistance, it would have been impossible to secure the +information upon which this study is based. + + + + + CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + +I. THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 1 + +II. CENTRAL AMERICAN POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS 24 + +III. GUATEMALA 50 + +IV. NICARAGUA 72 + +V. SALVADOR 99 + +VI. HONDURAS 119 + +VII. COSTA RICA 138 + +VIII. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTRAL AMERICAN FEDERATION 164 + +IX. THE CAUSES OF CENTRAL AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS 185 + +X. THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE OF 1907 204 + +XI. THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN NICARAGUA 227 + +XII. COMMERCE 265 + +XIII. CENTRAL AMERICAN PUBLIC FINANCE 284 + +XIV. THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES IN CENTRAL AMERICA 303 + +BIBLIOGRAPHY 321 + +INDEX 327 + + + + + CHAPTER I + + THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE + + Physical Features--Character of the Population--The + Land-owning and Laboring Classes: Their Mode of Life and + Personal Characteristics--Factors Which Have Retarded Economic + Development--Agricultural Products--Foreign Immigration and + Investments. + + +Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica, the five +Republics of Central America, occupy a narrow strip of land between +the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, extending East and South from Mexico +to the Isthmus of Panama. Although their combined area is smaller +than that of the state of California,[1] they comprise many regions +of strikingly different climatic conditions, for the mountains which +occupy the greater part of their territory cause variations in the +distribution of rainfall, and also provide plateaus and high valleys +where the tropical heat is less intense because of the altitude. Along +the shore of the Caribbean Sea there is a broad strip of country +but little above sea level. This has remained almost uninhabited +until recently because of its intense humidity and suffocating +temperature, but within the last twenty-five years it has become of +great economic importance, at least to the outside world, through its +exports of bananas. The lowlands extend inland to the Central American +_Cordillera_, a series of ranges which grow higher and higher as they +approach the Pacific Ocean, until they culminate in a great chain of +volcanic peaks which traverses the Isthmus from the Mexican boundary +to that of Panama. It is near these peaks, where the decomposed lava +from past eruptions has created a marvelously fertile soil, and where +the climate, with copious but not excessive rains during six months of +the year, is healthful and favorable to agriculture, that the great +majority of the people of Central America live. Almost all of the +more important cities and towns are situated either in the mountain +valleys, at an altitude of from two to seven thousand feet, where the +temperature rarely exceeds eighty degrees Fahrenheit, or in the hot, +but dry and therefore comparatively healthful plain between the base of +the volcanoes and the Pacific Ocean. + +Populous and partially civilized Indian communities had existed in this +part of America for centuries before the Spanish conquest, and their +descendants form the bulk of the population of the five republics. +Although the original inhabitants were almost exterminated in many +districts by the oppression and mistreatment of the early colonists, +enough remained to become the predominant racial element in the +conglomerate population, Spanish in language and religion but Indian +in civilization and standards of living, which arose from the fusion +of the invaders, the aborigines, and the negroes who were brought in +as slaves or escaped to the mainland from the West Indies. This was +especially true of the three central countries of the Isthmus, and the +development of these has therefore been somewhat different from that of +Costa Rica, where the white stock predominates even among the common +people, and from that of Guatemala, where the pure-blooded Indians are +still a distinct and separate race. + +Although the Central American countries are theoretically democracies, +there is in each a small, powerful upper class, consisting of +the so-called “principal families.” These are for the most part +descendants of the prominent creole[2] families of colonial days, and +are therefore in many cases of pure or almost pure Spanish descent. A +large proportion,--perhaps the majority,--however, have more or less +Indian and even negro blood in their veins. This class has been able +to maintain its dominant position in the community, partly because of +its command of the government, which it assumed when the republican +institutions which the Isthmian patriots attempted to introduce after +the declaration of independence were found to be unworkable because of +the ignorance of the mass of the people, but more especially because +of its control over agriculture. At the time of the conquest, the +land, like everything else in the invaded territory, was treated as +the property of the crown, and that in the neighborhood of the Spanish +settlements was divided among the colonists by the royal governors. +Further large allotments were made from time to time during the +colonial period. After the declaration of independence, the governments +of the several republics continued to regard as state property all +land not already specifically granted, and sold or gave away large +tracts of it to rich natives or foreigners, notwithstanding the fact +that much of the public domain was already occupied by peasants who +had always considered the patches which they cultivated as their own. +The number of large holdings has been further increased in some of the +republics by the division of the common lands formerly held by each +village among the village’s inhabitants; for the beneficiaries have +often sold their shares to their wealthier neighbors. At the present +time a comparatively small number of persons own a very large amount of +agricultural property, and employ the majority of the other inhabitants +of the Isthmus as workmen on their plantations. The economic and +political power of this class would manifestly be very great even +if it were not supported by their prestige as the descendants of the +conquering race. + +Although their wealth is entirely agricultural, the “principal +families” invariably reside in the cities. They make frequent visits +to their plantations, which they intrust to the care of overseers, but +the majority of them show a marked aversion both to country life and +to rural pursuits. As a whole they are neither very enterprising nor +very energetic. Those who do not inherit a plantation which produces +an income sufficient to support them turn to one of the already +overcrowded learned professions rather than to the development of the +natural resources of their countries, in the exploitation of which +foreigners are daily making fortunes before their eyes. Nearly every +member of the upper class, moreover, is actively engaged in politics, +often to the exclusion or to the detriment of his other occupations. + +The wealthier families live in one or two story houses of adobe or +concrete, which cover a surprisingly large extent of ground but +have little pretension to architectural beauty or to comfort. These +are built around two, and often three, courtyards or _patios_. +The front _patio_, upon which open the _sala_, or parlor, and the +bedrooms, generally contains an attractive garden surrounded by an +open _corredor_, which serves as living room and dining room. At the +rear are the kitchen, stable, and servants’ quarters. The standard of +living, especially in the less advanced countries, is still rather +primitive. Furniture and food are of a very simple character, and the +servants, of whom each family employs a large number, are untrained +and inefficient. The band concerts three or four times a week, the +cinematographs, and occasional cheap operettas offer almost the only +opportunity for diversion, except on the very unusual occasions +when a government subsidy makes possible a short season of opera +or drama. Social events are comparatively few. In every city there +are two or three civic _fiestas_ during the year, when the native +society abandons itself to a round of dancing, horse-racing, and other +gayeties, but at other times the capitals of the Isthmus are decidedly +dull. Life in them has, however, a peculiar charm for the foreigner, +because of the kindliness and friendliness of the people. + +Since the building of the railways and the increase of commerce have +brought the Central American countries into closer touch with the +outside world, there has been a great change in customs and ways of +living in such places as Guatemala, San Salvador, and San José de +Costa Rica. The high price of coffee during the last decade of the +nineteenth century brought about an era of prosperity such as the +rather backward communities of the Isthmus had never before known. +Elaborate private residences and costly public buildings were erected +in the national capitals, and pianos, window glass, modern furniture, +and other articles which had formerly been little used, were imported +from Europe in great quantities. After the reaction which set in when +the value of coffee in the world’s markets declined, the new standard +of living remained, and even the poorer members of the upper classes +now enjoy most of the comforts and many of the luxuries of modern +civilization. The tendency to adopt European and North American customs +is greatly furthered by the young people, who in increasing numbers are +sent abroad to school and college, for they return with new tastes and +new ways of thinking even when they do not acquire a great amount of +learning. + +Although the members of the upper class are for the most part +descendants of the _conquistadores_, social and political prominence +is today no longer entirely a matter of birth. The old creole families +formed a narrow and exclusive circle until the latter part of the +nineteenth century, but as a result of factional wars among themselves +and against other portions of the community, they have now become +generally impoverished and almost exterminated. A new element, +recruited from the more intelligent and ambitious members of the lower +classes, has meanwhile achieved a large amount of political power, +and has perforce been admitted to a position almost of equality with +the old aristocracy. At the present time, humble birth in itself is +no obstacle to advancement, although educational opportunities are so +limited, and the part played by family influence and favoritism is so +great, that only the most capable and energetic boys from the lower +classes can hold their own with those to whom the accident of birth has +given powerful friends and greater opportunities for study. + +The half-breeds, known as _ladinos_ or _mestizos_, occupy an +intermediate position between the white aristocracy and the great mass +of the laboring population, in which the Indian blood predominates. +For the most part these are artisans, or skilled laborers, in the +towns. They are generally clever workmen, enterprising and quick to +learn, but without the capacity to work steadily and diligently for any +one object. They occupy practically all of the positions which call +for manual dexterity or special training. Many become more prominent +than the persons of pure Spanish descent in the public schools and +universities, and not a few rise to high positions in the government or +in the learned professions. + +In each of the five republics there are some small farmers, who are +for the most part descendants of the early Spanish colonists. These +are the leading citizens of the smaller towns and villages. They do +not always have property of their own, but often cultivate fields +allotted to them by the municipalities of which they are citizens. +The new settlements which were founded from time to time during the +colonial period were given tracts of land, usually a league square, to +be used in common by their inhabitants, one part as pasture, another as +forest, and a third to be apportioned each year among the members of +the community. Similar grants were made to many of the Indian villages +and tribes, which in some cases received a title to much larger tracts +than their white neighbors. These common lands still exist in all of +the republics, but the number of villages which hold them has been +greatly reduced because some of the governments, as in Costa Rica and +Guatemala, have enacted laws dividing them among the inhabitants, +in the hope of stimulating private enterprise. The property thus +apportioned, as we have stated above, was frequently sold to the rich +planters, especially in the districts where the climate was suited +to the cultivation of coffee, and the former owners became part of +the class of landless laborers. Even where this has not occurred, the +smaller villages have in most places decayed because of the emigration +of their inhabitants to the cities and to the coffee-growing centers. +The small-scale agriculturist has ceased to be an economic factor of +importance, except in Costa Rica and in some parts of Salvador; and +today there are few places more lifeless and more depressing than the +once prosperous settlements in the more remote country districts. + +The household servants and the common laborers, who form the poorest +classes, are descendants of the native tribes whom the _conquistadores_ +overcame and enslaved early in the sixteenth century. The first +settlers everywhere forced the Indians to work for them, either +by declaring them slaves, as a punishment for rebellion, or by +establishing the _encomienda_ system, under which influential Spaniards +were intrusted with the religious instruction of the inhabitants of +certain villages, and in return for the benefits thus conferred were +allowed to demand a certain amount of labor from their spiritual +charges. These _encomiendas_, or _repartimientos_, were the principal +source of income among the early colonists. The unfortunate aborigines +were compelled to work in mines or plantations or to bring in tribute +to their masters, and they were treated with the most revolting cruelty +when they failed to do so. After the Spanish government became aware of +the grave abuses which the system involved, it ordered its suppression, +but the _encomiendas_ were finally abolished only after a long struggle +with the colonists, who were secretly aided by the royal governors in +maintaining their privileges. The Indians never entirely regained their +economic independence, for their descendants, with the exception of a +few thousands who live an isolated, half-savage life in clearings in +the forest, are to the present day dependent upon employment on the +plantations of the white families. + +Whether in the cities or in the country, the laboring classes live in +one or two room huts of adobe or wood, with dirt floors and thatched +roofs. A crude table and two or three chairs, one or more beds of +rawhide or wood, and often a shrine, with a small image of the Virgin +or of some saint, comprise the entire furniture. The walls are +decorated with colored prints and advertisements, which are much prized +by those fortunate enough to secure them from some passing traveler +or from friends in the city. There is usually a loft in one end of +the hut, in which the stock of corn and beans, if there is any, and +a few of the more bulky family possessions are kept, while the small +tools and utensils and the contents of the larder are suspended from +the walls. Water, which is often brought by the women on their heads +from some little distance, is contained in large earthenware jars and +dipped out in gourds, which serve not only as cups but as washbasins. +Cooking is performed over an open fire on a brick platform, where there +is sometimes a primitive oven. The family livestock is represented by +a few pigs and chickens, which associate on friendly terms, inside and +outside of the house, with the lean dogs and naked children. + +Under such conditions, the Central American laborer lives contentedly +and without worry, for he requires few clothes and but a small amount +of inexpensive food. Corn, prepared in the form of _tortillas_, beans +and rice cooked with lard, and coffee form the diet of the average +family day after day. Plantains are also eaten in great quantities in +some parts of the Isthmus, and eggs can frequently be secured. Meat +can be had only occasionally outside of the cities, and vegetables, +although easily grown, are little cultivated. The same is true of the +innumerable and delicious tropical fruits, which grow up where accident +dictates, without care or protection. + +Because of the primitive living conditions, there is a considerable +amount of disease and a high death rate, especially among the children. +Malarial fever and typhoid are common, and intestinal parasites are +omnipresent. The hookworm, especially, has done incalculable harm. +The eradication of this disease has recently been undertaken by +the governments of several of the five republics, with the aid of +the International Health Commission of the Rockefeller Foundation, +which has contributed large sums of money and lent trained men for +the prosecution of the work. The prevalence of the hookworm, which +perhaps contributes as much as any other factor to the poor physical +condition of most tropical races, is indicated by the fact that of +the persons examined by the representatives of the Commission in +1915, 60.1 per cent were found to be infected in Costa Rica, 58.6 per +cent in Guatemala, and 49.4 per cent in Nicaragua.[3] Notable results +have already been obtained, not only in curing sufferers, but in +educating the people and their governments to appreciate the need for +improvements in sanitation and the need for closer attention to the +public health in general. When the principles of hygiene are better +understood in the Isthmus, and when better systems of sewers and +water supply are provided, the Central American cities should be as +healthful as any in the temperate zones, for their moderate climate and +the porousness of the volcanic soil upon which they are situated should +do much to prevent the diseases common in other parts of the tropics. + +In the country villages, life is extremely uneventful and deadening. +The women spend a large amount of time in visiting one another and in +attending church services or prayer meetings. The men work, where there +is work, on week days, and get drunk on _aguardiente_, or sugar-cane +rum, on Sunday. The fiestas and fairs, which are held at least once +a year in every village, are mainly an occasion for gambling and +debauchery, so far as the common people are concerned. There are few +other recreations. The monotony of such an existence, which leads +the rural laborers to embark on any adventure offering promise of +excitement and prospects for loot, is one of the factors which makes +it easy to raise a revolutionary army in many of the Central American +States. + +Except in Guatemala, where there exists a peonage system which will +be described later, the wages of the working man are not very low, +considering the fact that his services are of far less value to +the employer than would be those of one who was more energetic and +intelligent. They range in general from the equivalent of fifteen cents +United States currency a day with food and lodging to thirty, forty, or +even fifty cents a day without it, and in some places are still higher. +The workmen are neither conscientious nor physically strong, and the +amount which they accomplish in a day is small. On many plantations, +payment is made by the task, and the employees work intermittently, +frequently failing to appear for days at a time. This is in part due +to the prevalence of drunkenness and disease, and in part simply to +an indisposition to work more than is necessary to provide a bare +subsistence. + +There is little pretense of equality in the treatment by the government +of the upper and lower classes. The laborers and country people +are forced to bear the entire burden of the military service which +is theoretically required of all, and to perform work on the roads +and other public undertakings from which the wealthy families are +practically exempt; and they are everywhere taxed heavily, although by +indirect means, for the benefit of the professional politicians who +occupy posts in the government. The petty local officials exercise an +almost irresponsible authority over them, and frequently use their +power for their own personal advantage or for that of their friends. +The poor man enjoys little security in his personal or property rights, +and thus has little incentive to better his position. + +Education, however, has done much in the last twenty-five years to +improve the situation of the masses in the more advanced republics, +for the laboring man who learns to read and write has in his hands a +powerful weapon both for his own protection and for the advancement +of his political and economic interests. In Costa Rica, where public +schools have been established everywhere and the percentage of +illiteracy is comparatively insignificant, the peasants are assuming +a more influential place in the community. Salvador, Nicaragua, and +Honduras have been prevented by internal disorder and lack of resources +from raising their educational systems to the level of that of their +more tranquil neighbor, but their rulers have taken a very real +interest in popular instruction, and have made it possible for a very +large part of the people to acquire a knowledge of reading and writing. +In Guatemala alone the great majority of the inhabitants are at present +illiterate. This is not entirely the fault of the government, which +has instituted a large number of schools and has legislated for the +establishment of others by the owners of plantations, but is due rather +to the indifference of the Indians themselves, who as a rule do not +care even to learn to speak Spanish. + +Public and private morality have been rather disastrously affected by +the social conditions arising from the conquest of a half-civilized +race by adventurers who in too many cases belonged to the lowest and +worst classes in Spain. The Indians who continued to form the bulk of +the population were deprived of their own religious and moral customs, +and were given in their place a Christianity which was imposed upon +them by force, and of which, because of the cruelty and licentiousness +of their conquerors, they saw only the worst side. The oppression and +violence which characterized the communities of the Isthmus during +their early history long prevented their social life from acquiring +stability, and made brute force, rather than conscience or public +opinion, the ruling principle in private as well as in public affairs. +Even at present, in some of the five countries, political and social +conditions tend to militate against public spirit and altruism in +public life and personal honesty in private life. Social conditions +also leave much to be desired. With the men of the upper classes, ideas +of morality are generally rather loose, and it is not unusual to see a +respected citizen bringing up a number of children by other women side +by side with those of his lawful wife. The community not only does not +censure his careless observance of the marital tie, but even receives +the illegitimate offspring on practically the same footing as the +legitimate. With the half-breed laborers, marriage is an institution +which finds little favor, not, as is sometimes said, because of the +expense which the ceremony involves, but because both the men and the +women dislike the obligations and ties which a formal union creates, +and prefer a relation which, although generally fairly permanent, can +be broken off by either party at will. + +This low morality is to a very great extent due to the lack of +religious restraints. At one time, the Catholic Church, to which all +of the people nominally belong, was very powerful throughout the +Isthmus, and the clergy and the numerous monasteries exercised a strong +social and political influence. A few years after the declaration +of independence, however, the Liberal leaders, who had been opposed +by the clerical party in their struggle to regain power during the +years 1826-29, expelled the archbishop and many of the other priests, +and suppressed all of the convents. The religious orders were never +revived, except in Guatemala after the Conservative victory of 1839. +There they continued to exercise a dominant influence until the +revolution of 1871, after which the government again suppressed them +and took radical measures to destroy the influence of the secular +clergy. In the other countries, the priests continued to play a small +part in politics, usually as the allies of the Conservative party, +but at present their influence can hardly be said to be important. In +spiritual as well as in temporal affairs the Church has now almost +entirely lost its hold on the people. Many of the women are still very +devout, but the men, especially among the upper classes, are for the +most part frankly irreligious. In the country districts, few of the +churches can support a priest, and religious observances are confined +to prayer meetings, led and participated in by the women, and to the +rather licentious celebration of holy days. Among the priests, many of +whom are foreigners, there are some who lead an irreproachable life, +but many others, especially in the poorer countries, do much to harm +the Church by their scandalous conduct. There are a few missionaries +from England and the United States, but Protestantism is so utterly +unsuited to the temperament of the people that they have made few +converts. + +The Central American has, nevertheless, many good qualities. He is +good-natured, affable, profoundly attached to his friends and the +members of his family, and deeply susceptible to lofty ideals and +patriotic impulses. In every city there are a number of men who are +distinguished for their personal integrity and their scrupulous +honesty, whose influence and example do much to offset the demoralizing +effects of conspicuous political corruption and commercial dishonesty. +Even among the most brutal and the most ignorant of the men who have +been in power in the various republics, there have been few who have +not done what they could, in spite of the difficulties presented by +armed opposition and administrative disorganization, to promote the +social and economic progress of their countries. + +The backwardness of the five republics is in large part due to the +isolation in which they were kept by Spain during the three centuries +of their existence as colonies. Their development was restricted +until the beginning of the nineteenth century by a misguided policy +which made progress almost impossible. Agriculture and industry were +hampered by burdensome regulations and taxes which not only prevented +the cultivation of many products for which the country was admirably +suited, but also made difficult, if not impossible, the exportation of +those which could be grown. The prohibition of commercial intercourse +with foreign countries and the restriction of that with Spain, combined +with other obstacles to transportation to and from Europe, practically +shut off Central America from the rest of the world during the entire +colonial period. Even the declaration of independence in 1821 made +little immediate change in this respect, for the new republics had +still no direct means of communication with Europe and North America. +They all faced the Pacific rather than the Atlantic Ocean. Guatemala +City, San Salvador, and the other capitals were not only nearer to the +West than to the East Coast, but they were separated from the latter by +mountainous country and pestiferous jungles through which traveling +was difficult and dangerous. It was not until the construction of the +Panama and Tehuantepec Railways brought the West Coast ports within +comparatively easy reach of the centers of the world’s trade that they +could export their products profitably. More recently the construction +of railways across Guatemala and Costa Rica has given those countries +an outlet upon the Atlantic. + +Even after the main obstacles to communication with the outside world +had been removed, the economic development of the five republics was +held back by internal conditions, for the political disturbances which +characterized their first half century under republican institutions, +and which are still prevalent in some of them, made large scale +agriculture difficult and unprofitable, and discouraged commerce. +The civil wars often drew the laborers away from the plantations at +the time when their services were most needed, and caused a periodic +destruction of property and a laying waste of planted fields. In +Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Salvador, where revolutions have been less +common during the last generation, the wealthier classes have become +very prosperous through the production and exportation of coffee, but +Honduras and Nicaragua, because of the almost continuous fighting +between rival factions, are today but little better off than in 1821. + +All of the five Central American countries are still purely +agricultural communities. Manufacturing has never advanced beyond the +point of providing a few primitive articles for home consumption, and +the native industries have declined since the increase of commercial +relations with the outside world has made it more profitable to import +many things, such as textiles, furniture, and leather goods, than to +make them with the crude tools of the local craftsman. There are a few +small factories in each city which produce _aguardiente_, cigars and +cigarettes, cloth, candles, and other articles, but in none of them is +there employed a great amount of capital or a great number of laborers. +The most important agricultural products, from the native point of +view, are the staple food crops, among which corn, which is cultivated +by every farmer in every part of the Isthmus, holds first place. Beans, +rice, sugar cane, and plantains are also found everywhere where they +will grow. Potatoes, cacao, and countless varieties of fruits and +vegetables from the temperate zone as well as from the tropics are +raised here and there in the climates suited to them, but comparatively +little interest is shown in their cultivation, and they are +surprisingly hard to obtain except in the markets of the larger towns. +Agricultural methods have changed little since the Spanish conquest. +Except in the most thickly settled regions, the old Indian system of +planting is still employed. A patch of forest is cleared by cutting +down the larger trees and burning off the undergrowth and branches, and +the seed is sown among the charred trunks in holes made with a pointed +stick. After being used for one year, the land is planted with grass +for pasture or allowed to return to its original condition, and is not +cultivated again for from three to five seasons. In the regions where +the density of the population makes it necessary to plant the fields +year after year, a crude form of wooden plow is used, but fertilizers +and modern agricultural implements are little known. The _machete_, a +long heavy knife which each laborer carries at his belt, serves as axe, +hoe, and trowel. The soil is so rich, however, that it produces two and +in some places even three crops each season without apparently becoming +impoverished. + +In Nicaragua and Honduras, and in the low country along the Pacific +Coast of the other republics, a large part of the land is devoted to +cattle _haciendas_. The stock as a rule is not of a very fine type. +Except on a few ranches no attempt has been made to improve the race +of the herds by the importation of animals from abroad, and the native +stock seems to have degenerated somewhat as the result of centuries of +life in a hot climate. The cattle receive little attention from their +owners, and in some regions die by thousands in dry years for lack of +food and water. Practically all of the meat is consumed in Central +America, for the surplus product of Honduras and Nicaragua is bought +by their more densely populated neighbors. The hides and horns are +exported to the United States and Europe, but the occasional attempts +which have been made in recent years to do the same with a few thousand +head of live cattle have not been very successful. Dairy products play +but a small part in Central American domestic economy. The native cows +produce little milk, and the cheese which is made in large quantities +is commonly of a very inferior quality. + +Until several years after the declaration of independence practically +the only exports of Central America were the forest products of the +East Coast and small amounts of indigo, cochineal, and cacao from the +communities on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. The five republics had +very little commerce, and for this reason had little intercourse with +the outside world. This state of affairs was completely changed when +the coffee plant was introduced from the West Indies in the second +quarter of the last century. As the soil and climate on the slopes +of the volcanoes along the western coast were found to be admirably +suited to this valuable crop, and the product of Central America from +the first commanded a high price in the European markets, the number +of plantations increased rapidly, and the new industry soon became the +chief interest of the landed proprietors in Guatemala, Costa Rica, +and Salvador, and to a less extent in Nicaragua. The cultivation of +coffee was in fact carried to a point where it seriously affected the +production of the staple food crops, for land formerly planted with +corn and beans was turned into _cafetales_, and the inhabitants of the +rural districts, who formerly raised enough food to supply their own +wants and to sell a small amount in the cities, were led by the greater +earnings or were forced by official pressure to become laborers on the +coffee plantations. Food prices have consequently risen, and it has +become necessary to import flour, rice, and sometimes even beans and +corn from other countries. When land has once been planted with coffee +trees, which require from three to five years to come into bearing and +thus represent a large amount of fixed capital, it is difficult to +return it to its original uses, or to release the laborers from the +plantation to engage in other occupations, even though in eras of low +coffee prices the production of other crops might be more profitable. + +Coffee is most advantageously grown on a large scale, as its +preparation for the market requires the removal of the pulp of the +berry and of the two skins of the bean itself by rather expensive +and complicated machinery. The better plantations in Central America +produce from 200,000 to 1,000,000 pounds of cleaned coffee each +year,[4] and have their own _beneficios_, or cleaning mills. The +farmers who operate on a smaller scale, or who for some reason have not +found it profitable to install a cleaning mill, send their coffee to +_beneficios_ in important shipping centers, where the work is performed +at so much per bag. Before the war the greater part of the product was +exported to Germany, England, or France, but the partial closing of the +market in Europe has caused increasing amounts to be sent to the United +States since 1914.[5] + +The rapid development of the export trade and the corresponding +increase in the imports of the five republics would not have been +possible without the improvement in means of transportation which has +taken place during the last half century. There has been a remarkable +betterment, especially in the facilities for travel between Central +America and the United States. On the Atlantic side, the United +Fruit Company, and, in times of peace, the Hamburg-American line, as +well as a number of smaller companies, provide an ample freight and +passenger service between all of the important ports and New Orleans +and New York. From Puerto Barrios and Puerto Limon, the termini of +the transisthmian railroads, there are several boats each week. The +conditions on the West Coast are much less satisfactory, for the +Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which has almost a monopoly since the +German Cosmos Line was forced to withdraw by the war, provides a very +irregular and rather expensive service. Even there, however, conditions +are immeasurably better than at the time of the opening of the Panama +Railway in 1855. + +Internal communications have also been improved. Fifty years ago, +there were practically no railways in the entire Isthmus, but at the +present time each of the national capitals, except Tegucigalpa, is +connected with one or more seaports by daily train service. Other +forms of transportation and travel, however, are still in a rather +primitive state. Some of the republics have spent large amounts of +money in constructing roads for bringing the products of the country to +the cities or to the railway stations, but as a rule the impecunious +governments have not been able to make much headway against the +difficulties presented by the mountainous character of the country and +the torrential rains of the wet season. There are few highways which +are suitable for any vehicle more elaborate than the slow-going oxcart, +and in many places even these have to give way to the pack mule. + +One of the forces which has been most potent in bringing Central +America into closer contact with the outside world has been the +cultivation of bananas by North American enterprise along the low, +densely wooded Atlantic Coast. Until recently almost the only +inhabitants of this region were scattered, uncivilized tribes descended +from Indians and runaway West Indian negroes, who lived in an extremely +primitive way in clearings along the shore or on the banks of the +rivers. There were one or two struggling ports and a few settlements +of woodcutters who traded in mahogany, logwood, and Spanish cedar, but +these had little intercourse with the civilized communities of the +interior. Within little more than a quarter century, this unpleasant +and unhealthful but marvelously fertile region has been transformed. +Great banana farms have been created in the formerly impassable jungle, +and a net of railways has been built to carry the perishable fruit to +the ports, from which it is shipped in fast steamers to the United +States and Europe. This is the work of one American corporation, the +United Fruit Company, which controls the banana trade not only of +Central America, but of the West Indies as well. As the plantations and +the transportation lines are managed principally by North Americans and +the manual labor is performed by negroes from the British West Indies, +English is the predominant language of the new towns which have sprung +up. To the native Central American, the Coast is almost a foreign +country. The Caribbean ports of Honduras and Nicaragua are in fact +for all practical purposes farther from Tegucigalpa and Managua than +from New Orleans, and even in those countries where there are better +means of transportation from the interior to the fruit ports the banana +country has developed in its own way, influenced little, economically +or politically, by the communities of the interior. The interior towns, +however, have been profoundly affected by the changes on the East +Coast. The fruit trade is mainly responsible for the improvement of the +steamship service; and in Guatemala and Costa Rica the railways built +originally for the transportation of bananas have been extended to the +capitals of the two republics, so that the journey from Europe and +North America to those cities, and through them to other parts of the +Isthmus, has been shortened by several days. + +In the interior of several of the republics, the last fifty years have +seen a considerable immigration of foreign business men and planters, +among whom Germans and North Americans have been the most numerous, +although there have also been many Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Italians. +The newcomers have obtained almost complete control over the foreign +trade of the Isthmus, and even the retail trade at the present time is +largely in the hands of Spanish, Chinese, and Armenian shopkeepers. +Mercantile pursuits were at one time one of the chief occupations +of the creole families, but most of the easy-going Central American +merchants, accustomed to the routine created by three centuries of +isolation, have been unable to hold their own under changed conditions. +The same is true, though to a less extent, in agriculture. Many of the +finest plantations were developed in the first place by foreigners, +and others are constantly passing into their hands. The majority of +those still belonging to natives are heavily mortgaged, for the Central +American planter apparently cannot resist the temptation to borrow +money, notwithstanding the high rates of interest and the ruinous +conditions on which he secures it. There are several European firms +whose business it is to make loans secured by plantations and crops. +These eventually take over the properties which fall under their +control, either reselling them or operating them on their own account. + +There are also several small and not very scrupulous banks, of which +the majority have been established, in part at least, with foreign +capital. In some of the republics these have co-operated effectively +with the officials in the disorganization of the currency and of the +government finances. Large investments have been made by North American +interests in railways and mines. The total amount of foreign capital +in the country is, however, comparatively small, because internal +disorders and the slowness with which the country has been opened up +have until lately discouraged investments. There is still an immense +field for foreign enterprise in the exploitation of Central America’s +natural resources, which include not only land suitable for the +production of almost every kind of agricultural product, but also great +forests of valuable woods and as yet untouched mineral deposits. + +In some respects, the relations between Central America and the outside +world have not been entirely beneficial to the communities of the +Isthmus. Many of the foreigners, especially among the Americans, have +been fugitives from justice in their own countries who have used their +talents to the disadvantage of the natives, or adventurers who have +mixed in the politics of the country for their own profit. Unscrupulous +corporations or individuals have exploited the inexperience or cupidity +of the local governments to obtain valuable concessions without +making any adequate return for the favors received, and have not even +hesitated to incite or to assist revolutions when they thought that +their interests would be furthered by doing so. Too many of the foreign +business men have done what they could to make worse the already +low standards of commercial morality and have shown themselves more +unprincipled than their native competitors. In spite of the distrust +generated by hard experiences, however, the Central Americans do not +seem to dislike the newcomers or greatly to resent their intrusion. +Many North Americans and Europeans have become respected and +influential residents of the communities in which they have settled, +and marriages between foreigners and natives of the better class, which +have been generally welcomed by the creole families, are gradually +giving rise to a half-foreign element which is becoming more and more +prominent in each of the five republics. + +Closer contact with the outside world has thus brought about entirely +new conditions throughout the Isthmus. What the final result of the +present changes will be, it is difficult to say. The native families +are now more and more losing their hold on the economic life of +the country, for commerce, banking, mining, and to an increasingly +greater extent agriculture, are controlled by foreigners. They are +therefore being forced into the learned professions, which afford a +very poor livelihood for any but the most able, and into politics. +Their influence is becoming less and less, and the time seems not far +distant when the dominant place in the community will be assumed by the +foreigners and their descendants, who will probably be assimilated to +a great extent into the native population. Some of the more energetic +and intelligent native families will doubtless be able to maintain +their present wealth and influence, although they will be forced to +change their customs and habits completely, as many of them are already +doing in the more advanced countries. Whether political and social +conditions will be improved or made worse by these developments it is +still too early to say, but it is inevitable that both the character of +the governments and the conditions of the people as a whole should be +profoundly affected. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The estimated area and population of the five countries, as given +in the Statesman’s Year Book for 1916, are: + + _Area._ _Population._ +Guatemala 48,290 square miles. 2,003,579. (1915) +El Salvador 7,225 ” ” 1,225,835. (1914) +Nicaragua 49,200 ” ” 703,540. (1914) +Honduras 44,275 ” ” 562,000. (1914) +Costa Rica 23,000 ” ” 420,179. (1915) + ------ --------- + 171,990 4,915,133 + + +[2] The word creole is used in the Spanish-American sense, to signify a +person of Spanish descent born in America. + +[3] These figures are compiled from the Second Annual Report of the +International Health Commission, 1915. + +[4] In Guatemala there are three or four plantations which produce much +more than this. + +[5] For a more complete account of the coffee trade, see Chapter XII. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + CENTRAL AMERICAN POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS + + Early Political History of the Isthmus--Difficulty of Establishing a + Stable Government--Annexation to Mexico--Establishment and Dissolution + of the Central American Federal Republic--Strife Between Liberals + and Conservatives--Description of Central American Governments at + Present--Importance of the President--Political Parties, Patronage, + and Graft--Revolutions. + + +On September 15, 1821, the principal civil and ecclesiastical +personages of Guatemala City, with many of the royal authorities +and the more prominent creoles, met in convention to proclaim the +independence of the five provinces of the Viceroyalty of Guatemala, +which had until that time been a dependency of the Spanish crown. The +existing administrative machinery was not for the moment abolished, +for many of the officials had approved of and had taken a prominent +part in the action of the separatist party. The Governor General, +Brigadier Gainza, continued to exercise the executive power, and the +local governors in Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were +instructed to do the same. In the capital, a committee of influential +natives, called the _Junta Consultiva_, was appointed to assist the +former royal authorities until a new form of government should be +decided upon. There was no armed resistance to this action on the part +of the mother country, for the latter, engaged in a prolonged struggle +with her more important colonies in the South, was in no position to +send troops to subjugate the inaccessible and relatively insignificant +communities of Central America. + +The prospect which confronted the provinces thus thrown upon their own +resources was far from bright. They were ill equipped for existence +as an independent nation. The creole aristocrats, who had led the +movement for separation from Spain, and who now assumed control of +the government, had had little training to fit them for the exercise +of their new responsibilities, for few had received more than the +most rudimentary education at home, and fewer still had traveled in +foreign countries. None had had any practical experience in political +affairs, for it had always been the policy of the royal authorities +to fill official positions exclusively with Peninsular Spaniards,[6] +thus excluding the natives of the colonies from all share in the +administration. There were a half-score of brilliant leaders in the +councils of the new nation, but they were notable rather for their +exalted but impractical ideals than for any grasp of the concrete +situation with which they had to deal at home. Their patriotism was of +a high order, but their statesmanship left much to be desired. Among +the common people, the great majority were ignorant and superstitious +Indians, with a small admixture of Spanish blood and a thin veneer +of Spanish civilization. They were scattered through a strip of land +eight hundred miles in length, in isolated valleys, separated from +one another by mountain ranges and pestilential jungles, where rough +mule trails afforded the only means of communication. Throughout the +greater part of the Isthmus, the people of each village, having little +commerce with their neighbors or with the outside world, depended for +subsistence almost entirely upon their own products. A few favored +sections produced indigo, cochineal, or precious metals for export, but +the expense of shipping these articles from the Pacific Coast to Spain, +the only country with which the colonists were allowed to trade, was so +great that the planters derived little profit from them. Standards of +living were therefore little higher, even in the cities, than they had +been three hundred years before. + +The Central American nation was divided within itself from the very +first. In Guatemala there was a bitter jealousy, created by the special +privileges and the pretensions of the more favored classes, between +the Peninsular officials and the creole great families on the one hand +and between the latter and the merchants and professional men of less +aristocratic origin on the other; and this feeling was intensified by +radical differences of opinion about religious and economic questions. +Besides the dissensions within the group which assumed the control of +political affairs in the capital, there were factional conflicts and +local civil wars in almost every part of the Isthmus. The provinces, +which had long felt that their interests were sacrificed by the royal +authorities to those of Guatemala, showed an inclination to dispute +the authority of the new central government, and their insubordination +was encouraged by the ambitious local governors, who desired to enjoy +independent authority, and by the not inconsiderable party which still +remained loyal to Spain. San Salvador, Comayagua, Leon, and Cartago, +the seats of the provincial governments, were soon the centers of more +or less open revolts against Gainza and the _Junta Consultiva_, while +other towns, actuated on their side by jealousy of the local capitals, +allied themselves to the party in control in Guatemala. The result was +a condition of anarchy which throttled agriculture and commerce, and +almost put an end to all semblance of organized government. + +The inexperience of the creole leaders, and the conflicts between +jealous social classes and rival towns, were the more disastrous +because the Central American communities possessed no political +institutions which could be used as the basis for the establishment of +an independent government. In this respect they were in a situation +very different from that of the United States in 1783, for in that +country the state and local organizations had remained almost unchanged +despite the revolution, and the creation of a new central authority +had been made comparatively easy by the inherent political capacity +derived from centuries of racial experience in self-government. In +Central America, the country had been ruled for three hundred years by +officials and laws imposed by an outside force, and when this force +was withdrawn the old order fell to pieces, leaving nothing to take +its place. The self-appointed revolutionary committees had little hold +on the loyalty of the people, and little power to make their commands +respected. The only political institution which may be said to have +survived the change was the municipality. Even in colonial times, +the wealthier creoles had been able to purchase positions in the +_ayuntamientos_, or governing boards of the cities, and had thus had +a voice in the management of certain purely local affairs. After the +declaration of independence, the _ayuntamientos_ were in many places +almost the only respected authority, and they played a large part both +in maintaining order and in organizing the _juntas_ which took charge +of provincial affairs. But they never formed a real basis for the +formation of state and national governments, because their independence +and authority, which had been small under Spanish rule, was taken +from them early in the revolutionary era by the military despots who +obtained control of affairs. Their prominence during the transitional +period after 1821 contributed little to the establishment of orderly +government, for they were the foci of the local jealousies which did +more than anything else to keep the country in a state of anarchy. + +The organization of a permanent government, to take the place of +the provisional revolutionary committees, consequently presented a +difficult problem. There was from the first a strong party which +favored the establishment of a federal republic, but the majority of +the wealthy classes, who had supported the declaration of independence +only because of their jealousy of the Peninsular Spaniards who +monopolized the official positions and because they realized that the +mother country was no longer in a position to protect her colonies from +outside aggression and internal disorder, doubted the ability of the +people of the Isthmus to rule themselves under republican institutions, +and advocated the union of the five provinces with Iturbide’s Mexican +empire. This party soon grew very strong as the result of disorders +which broke out in Honduras and Nicaragua, and on January 25, 1822, the +_Junta Consultiva_ voted in favor of the annexation. General Filísola, +the representative of the Emperor, reached the capital a few months +later, and proceeded at once with an army against the people of San +Salvador, who had refused to recognize his authority. He had barely +overcome the resistance of the republicans there when news arrived that +Iturbide had fallen. + +Filísola, returning to the capital, called together a congress of +representatives from each of the five provinces, to which he turned +over his power. This body, assuming the title of National Constituent +Assembly, declared the former Central American colonies a federal +republic, and appointed a provisional executive committee of three men, +who exercised a precarious authority, subject to constant interference +by the Assembly, for two years. During this time, the Assembly framed +an elaborate constitution, modeled on that of the United States, +establishing a federal government in Guatemala City, and state +governments in each of the five provinces. A president and five _Jefes +de Estado_, chosen by the people through electoral colleges, took the +place of the Captain General and the royal provincial governors, and +the law-making power was placed in the hands of a Congress of one +chamber. The system of checks and balances in the American constitution +was taken over and made more intricate by elaborate provisions for +the maintenance of the independence of the legislative, executive, and +judicial departments and for the prevention of abuses of power. + +The Assembly also adopted much progressive legislation, which did away +with many of the worst features of the Spanish regime. From the first, +however, its sessions were disturbed by irreconcilable differences of +opinion between the radical members, who were in the majority, and the +clergy and many of the rich landowners and merchants, who disapproved +of the proposed reforms. As a result of this conflict, two parties +were formed, which called themselves “Liberals” and “Conservatives.” +The Liberals controlled the first constitutional congress, which met +in 1825, and elected their candidate, Manuel José Arce, President +of the Republic. The latter, however, soon quarreled with his own +party, dissolved the congress, and even overthrew and reorganized the +state government of Guatemala, with the aid of the Conservatives. +These arbitrary acts caused revolts in many parts of the Isthmus, +and especially in Salvador. The people of that state had always been +peculiarly jealous of the control of their affairs from Guatemala, +and their hostility towards the capital had been increased by the +opposition of the federal authorities to the creation of a new diocese +in their territory. Under the leadership of Father Delgado, who aspired +to the bishopric, they united with the disaffected party in Honduras +and Guatemala in a two years’ war against Arce, and finally succeeded +in overthrowing him (1829). + +Francisco Morazán of Honduras, the leader of the victorious army, was +proclaimed President of the Federation in 1830. The Guatemala state +authorities who had been expelled by Arce were reinstated, and Liberal +supremacy was established by force of arms throughout the Isthmus. +There were frequent Conservative revolts, however, and even the people +of Salvador, who had played the principal part in Morazán’s triumph, +showed their former jealousy of domination from Guatemala by turning +against him. Their resistance was overcome by force in 1831, but it was +thought politic to transfer the seat of the federal government to San +Salvador. After this, Morazán’s prestige waned rapidly. His efforts +to repress disorder were unavailing, and the Conservatives gradually +regained control of many of the state governments. The last federal +congress, which adjourned in 1838, declared the states free to govern +themselves independently; and in 1839, when Morazán’s second term came +to an end, his authority was recognized nowhere outside of Salvador. He +was expelled from Central America in the following year by an army from +Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. + +The breakdown of the federal system was inevitable. Even those +responsible for the adoption of the constitution of the United States +as a model had little idea how that constitution really worked, and +had no conception of the spirit of compromise and of mutual respect +for legal rights which alone made the existence of a government such +as they wished to establish possible. Many of the state governors +refused to obey the federal officials, and were overthrown by the +latter and replaced by adherents of the faction in power in the +capital. The Congress, attempting to tie the hands of the executive, +was reduced to impotence by the use of the army. The President himself +succumbed before the end of his term to a revolution in which all of +the disaffected elements took part. Even a better organized government +would probably have been unable long to maintain order in a country +where distances were so great, means of communication so inadequate, +and sectional jealousies so intense as in Central America. + +Equally inevitable was the breakdown of the democratic institutions +which the leaders of the constituent assembly had sought to create. +The elections soon became a farce because of the ignorance and +indifference of the great mass of the people. The history of the +Central Americans had never taught them respect for the will of the +majority, and there was consequently little inclination from the first +to accept an unsatisfactory verdict at the polls in good faith. The +authorities gradually learned to bring pressure to bear upon the voters +in the interests of the party in power, and as time went on assumed +a more and more complete control of the balloting, until candidates +opposed by the government ceased to have any chance of success. At +the same time the members of the opposition party were restrained or +expelled from the country, to prevent their intriguing or revolting +against the government. Within a few years authority established +and upheld by force was the only authority which was recognized or +respected, and there was no means of changing the officials in power, +and consequently no recourse against bad government, except revolution. +Civil war had thus become an indispensable part of the political system. + +For some years after 1839, there was intermittent internal and +international strife, with hardly an interval of real peace, in +nearly every state of the Isthmus. Costa Rica alone, because of her +peculiar social conditions, which will be described in a subsequent +chapter, led a comparatively tranquil existence in her isolated valley. +Elsewhere the establishment of stable governments seemed impossible. +Conflicting ambitions, mutual persecutions, and sectional jealousy, +as well as differences over religious and economic questions, divided +the political leaders of the community into vindictively hostile +factions, which had no means of settling their disputes except by an +appeal to arms. The state governments, resting upon the outcome of +revolutions, had little claim to legality or to the respect of the +community, and they were compelled to maintain their position, where +they maintained it at all, by force and by tyrannical repression of +attempts to overthrow them. Besides the opposition of disaffected +classes at home, they faced also the constant danger of intervention by +neighboring state governments which were in the hands of the opposite +party, for the solidarity created by mutual action in federal affairs +led the Conservatives and Liberals in each state to assist their former +brothers in arms in other states even after all formal political +connection had been broken. This solidarity was strengthened by the +ambition of a large section of the Liberal party to re-establish the +old federal union by force, under the leadership of the followers +of Morazán, and by the opposition to this plan on the part of the +Conservatives. + +During the greater part of the period from 1839 to 1871, the +Conservatives, under the leadership of the aristocratic-clerical party +in Guatemala, were dominant throughout the Isthmus. The Liberals +secured control for short terms at different times in Salvador, +Honduras, and Nicaragua, but in almost every case they were overthrown +by the intervention of Rafael Carrera, the President of Guatemala. +These Conservative governments, although usually controlled by the +wealthiest and most respectable classes in the community, did little +to improve the desperate political and economic situation into which +the continual civil war had plunged the new republics, partly because +of frequent changes in the personnel of the governments and frequent +dissensions within the ruling class, and partly because of the inherent +weakness of administrations established and upheld by the force of a +foreign government. + +In 1871-72 the Liberals returned to power as the result of a concerted +movement in Guatemala, Honduras, and Salvador. This revolution effected +far more than a mere change of presidents; it marked the destruction of +the old aristocratic-clerical party as the dominant force in politics. +In Guatemala, where the Conservative leaders were exiled or imprisoned, +and both the great families and the Church were deprived of a great +part of their property and influence, the old regime has never been +restored. Its disappearance greatly weakened the position of its allies +in Honduras and Salvador. A very similar though almost bloodless +revolution occurred in Costa Rica in 1870, when General Tomás Guardia +overthrew the “principal families” which had hitherto controlled the +government. In Nicaragua, where party divisions were based rather on +local rivalries than on class distinctions, the change from the old +order to the new was neither so sudden nor so complete, and the Granada +aristocracy was able to maintain itself in power until 1893. + +The Conservative party continued, indeed, to exist as a political +force, but it was no longer a social group which stood for definite +principles and points of view so much as mere organization of +professional politicians. The influence of the great families became +less and less, and the leadership in the party was assumed by military +chiefs whose objects and ambitions were little different from those +of their opponents. Since 1871, party lines have tended to disappear, +and it has made little difference in political conditions whether an +administration was controlled by one faction or the other. In Honduras +and Salvador, in fact, even the party names have almost ceased to +be used, and in Nicaragua they denote merely the adherents of rival +cities. It is difficult to say how strong the old aristocracy still is +in Guatemala because of the ruthless suppression of all manifestations +of political opinion by the government. + +Since 1871, the republics of the Isthmus have been governed for the +most part by strong, absolute rulers, who have concentrated all power +in their own hands and who have on the whole been more successful in +maintaining order than the frequently changing and less centralized +administrations controlled by the Conservative oligarchy. Revolutions +and revolts still occur, but they are less often victorious than +formerly, for the relative power of the government has greatly +increased. The agricultural development of recent years has made +the wealthy classes, who have capital invested in coffee and sugar +plantations, inclined to frown on attempts to plunge the country into +civil war; and the improvement and the increased cost of artillery +and other military material have made it more difficult to equip a +revolution strong enough to overcome the regular army. Individual +presidents, supported by strong military forces, have thus been able to +hold the supreme authority for long terms of years, and to establish +highly centralized, comparatively efficient administrations, which +have done much to encourage the development of the country. Whatever +may be the disadvantages of the exercise of irresponsible power by one +man, there can be no doubt that the Central American countries have +made more progress under governments of this kind than they did under +the constantly changing administrations of their early history, which +had neither the prestige nor the military power necessary to maintain +order. Until the other departments, and especially the legislatures, +had been reduced to subjection by the executive, the action of the +latter was often almost completely paralyzed, and more than one +president was forced to resign by petty disputes arising purely from +personal jealousy. Under such conditions it was of course impossible to +pursue any definite and coherent policy. + +The majority of the Central American governments at the present time +are republican only on paper, although the forms of the various +constitutions are still observed. Elections are held regularly in all +of the five republics, but they are controlled by the administration, +which almost invariably secures the triumph of the official ticket. +The extent to which this control is exercised varies with the +character and the strength of the President. In most cases, opposition +candidacies are simply not permitted, and anyone engaging in propaganda +unfavorable to the government’s party is severely dealt with. At +other times, only known adherents of the President are allowed to cast +their votes, and the ballots, if necessary, are fraudulently counted. +Even in Costa Rica, where comparative freedom prevails, the citizens +are sometimes intimidated or coerced, and the authorities are able to +bring pressure to bear in many ways, by promises of favors or by petty +persecutions. Such practices are made easier by the fact that the +voting is open and public, as the Australian ballot is unknown. One +or two real elections, in which the government has not desired or has +not dared to impose its will on the country, have been held in each of +the five republics, but they have usually not been participated in by +a large part of the people outside of the cities, and they are looked +back upon for generations as events far out of the ordinary. As a rule +changes in the presidency come about only when the chief magistrate +voluntarily relinquishes his office to a member of his own party, or +when the opposition is victorious in a civil war. + +So long as he can maintain himself in office and suppress revolts +against his authority, a Central American president is an absolute +ruler, who dominates all other departments of the government. He +appoints and removes every administrative official, and through his +ministers directly supervises every branch of the public service. The +revenues are collected and expended under his orders with a more or +less perfunctory regard for the budget voted by the legislature, and +with little pretense of making an accounting for them. He not only +executes, but also makes and unmakes the laws, either through his +control of the Congress, or simply by executive decree. The army and +the police are under his absolute command. Even the courts usually +decide the more important cases which come before them in accordance +with his wishes. His power is curbed only by the fear of losing the +support of his followers or of being overthrown by a popular revolt, +and neither of these dangers is ordinarily very great so long as he +retains the loyalty of his friends by gifts of offices and money, and +prevents political agitation by an effective use of the army and police. + +The national legislatures, in spite of the constitutional provisions +aiming to make them independent and co-ordinate departments of the +government, have in practice little authority of their own. Except +in Nicaragua, where the bi-cameral system now prevails, each of +the republics has a Congress of one chamber. The members of these +are theoretically elected by the people for a term of two or four +years, but they are in reality chosen by the administration like +other officials, and are therefore little more than a mouthpiece of +the president. Any attempt on the part of the Congress to oppose +the wishes of the executive, in fact, is discouraged by the use of +force or by minor persecutions, such as the withholding of salaries +or the molestation of the delegates by the police. Not infrequently +differences of opinion arise in regard to matters of little +significance, but in matters of serious importance the Congress rarely +attempts to assert its own will. + +With the judicial department, the case is much the same. The Supreme +Court, elected for a fixed term either by the Congress or by the +people, usually appoints and removes all minor judges and judicial +employees. This system has worked well in Costa Rica, where the +tribunals are generally independent and honest, but in the other +republics political considerations are apt to play a large part +not only in the selection of judges but in the decision of cases. +The courts are subjected to much the same kind of pressure as the +legislature, and there are few of them which would dare to oppose +themselves to the expressed wishes of the president. They therefore do +little or nothing to protect private citizens against abuses of power +by the executive authorities or by the minor officials. + +The president is assisted by ministers whom he appoints and who are +responsible to him alone. The most important portfolios are those for +War, Public Works, Finance and Public Credit, and Government. The +minor departments--Justice, Public Instruction, Charities, etc.--are +generally placed in charge of subsecretaries. The heads of the +departments are rarely more than advisors and aids to the president, +who directs their policy and passes on practically all of their acts. +They have no independent authority, and as a rule no real influence +over the conduct of affairs when the chief executive is a man of strong +character. + +The local administration is under the direction of the Department +of Government, which has a representative subject to the orders +of the minister, and through him responsible to the president, in +every town and village throughout the country. Each republic is +divided into from seven to twenty-three departments, under governors +who are at the same time military commanders, “_jefes políticos y +comandantes de armas_.”[7] These officials, who are appointed by +the president, enforce the laws, collect the taxes, and control +the expenditure of government funds in their jurisdictions, and +for these purposes have under their orders practically all of the +subordinate national authorities. The departments are subdivided into +“municipalities”--districts which include a town or village with +the surrounding country--where the central authority is represented +by a minor official commonly called _comandante_,[8] who commands a +few soldiers and is intrusted with the duty of maintaining order and +enforcing the laws. These departmental and local authorities are too +frequently petty tyrants, who show little respect for the private +rights or the property of the inhabitants of the districts under their +jurisdiction. As they are subject to little real restraint in their +own sphere of action, they are able to exploit the people of the lower +classes practically as they please, and even persons of wealth and +social position are not free from their persecutions unless they can +protect themselves by the exercise of political influence. Redress +against abuses of power is difficult to secure, because the courts +usually cannot or dare not interfere, and the higher authorities, more +concerned with the loyalty than with the official virtue of their +subordinates, take little interest in protecting the rights of common +citizens. + +In each municipal district, there is a local government, or +_municipalidad_, consisting of one or more _alcaldes_, or executive +officers, and a board of _regidores_, or aldermen. This body, which has +wide jurisdiction over matters of purely local interest, such as the +repairing and lighting of streets, the building of roads and bridges, +and the enforcement of sanitary regulations, is elected by popular +vote and is theoretically independent of the local representatives +of the department of government. In practice, however, the latter +dominate its actions, and prevent the _alcaldes_ from carrying +out any action of which they do not approve. The members of the +_municipalidad_ themselves, moreover, are in most places nominated by +the central government, which controls their election as it does that +of other officials. In any event they are prevented from playing a +very prominent part in the promotion of local interests by the lack +of funds. Their revenues, which are derived mainly from taxes on +business establishments and fees for water and other public services, +rarely suffice to carry out any very important improvements, and their +credit is very poor. As a result, the central government is forced to +construct and administer all of the more expensive public works, and to +exercise many of the other functions which are assigned to the local +boards by law. + +It can be readily seen that in a political organization such as has +just been described the character of the administration will depend +almost entirely upon the capacity and disposition of the man at its +head. An able president, in a Caribbean Republic, exercises an absolute +power for which it would be difficult to find a parallel anywhere +in the civilized world.[9] He is not restrained, like the absolute +monarchs of Europe and Asia, by dynastic traditions or religious +considerations, and he has little need to consider public opinion so +long as he retains the good will of the army and of the office holders +who owe their positions to him. He can often re-elect himself for term +after term, and he is responsible to no one for the exercise of his +authority or for his management of the public revenues. The country is +so small that he can, and does, extend his control to matters of minor +and purely local importance, even interfering with his fellow-citizens’ +personal affairs and family relations, without regard for the most +sacred rights of the individual. It is in his power to exile, imprison, +or put to death his enemies, and to confiscate their property, while at +the same time he can enrich and advance his friends. The ever-present +possibility of revolution, it is true, prevents too great an abuse of +power in some of the more enlightened republics, but in the others +centuries of misgovernment and of the oppression of one class by +another have done away with respect for individual rights to such +an extent that the cruelest and most arbitrary rulers are tolerated +because the people feel that they would only risk their lives and +property, without improving their condition, by revolt. + +Only an exceptionally able man, however, can exercise such despotic +power for a long period. A chief executive of less force of character +will generally find it impossible to maintain his position or will +be dominated by his political associates. Often a military leader or +a powerful minister is the real ruler. It is frequently said that a +strong, autocratic government is that which is best suited to the +peculiar conditions of tropical America, because it affords the +greatest security to agriculture and commerce and the best protection +to foreign investments. Many Central American presidents, however, +inspired by patriotism and by republican ideals, have refused to +exercise dictatorial powers, allowing the other departments of the +government a measure of independence, and relinquishing their offices +to a more or less freely elected successor at the end of their legal +term. These have not always been so successful in maintaining order +and in carrying out public improvements as their less scrupulous +contemporaries, because they have been unable to act with the same +decisiveness and effectiveness which are possible where all authority +is concentrated in the hands of one man; but such administrations at +least provide an opportunity for the people to gain some experience in +self-government, and make for a more healthy national political life +than can be found where the expression of opinion in the press and even +in conversation is curbed by a military despotism. When a long-standing +and strongly established dictatorship breaks down, moreover, there is +too frequently a period of disorder which destroys all of the advances +made during years of peace. The entire organization of the government, +built around one commanding figure, goes to pieces when the leader, +either through death or incapacity, is compelled to relax his hold; and +it is very rarely that a new man is at once found who is capable of +keeping the administrative machine together. In those countries, such +as Costa Rica, where the presidency is a position of less influence +and profit, and where the custom of rotation in office prevails, it is +comparatively easy to settle the question of the succession peaceably, +in accordance with the law or by an agreement between the political +leaders; but where all parties have been subjected for years to the +autocratic rule of one man, and compelled humbly to obey his commands, +none of the factional chiefs can tolerate the thought that a personal +rival may succeed to the same position. For this reason, the fall of +a Central American dictator is generally followed by a more or less +prolonged civil war, which only ends when one group of men succeed in +imposing their will upon the others. + +It would be impossible for a single individual, who can rely neither +upon the loyalty due to an hereditary sovereign nor upon the prestige +enjoyed by a chief magistrate chosen by a majority of the people, to +impose his absolute authority upon the whole nation, were it not for +the peculiar political conditions existing in Central America. In +all of the five republics, the common people show little hostility +to despotism as such and little disposition to attempt to influence +the selection or to guide the policy of their rulers. Neither the +illiterate and oppressed Indian _mozo_ of Guatemala nor the prosperous +and conservative _concho_ of Costa Rica has any real conception of +the meaning or of the possibilities of democratic institutions, and +both are willing to leave the conduct of political affairs to their +superiors. For them, the government, with the forced military service +and the compulsory labor on public works which it demands, is simply +a necessary evil, and attempts to change its personnel by civil war +arouse more dismay than enthusiasm. Few among the lower classes enter +into revolutionary uprisings voluntarily. The upper classes, on the +other hand, are interested in politics not so much for the sake of +principles or policies, as because they wish to secure a share of +the offices and spoils which provide many of them with a comfortable +living at the expense of the rest of the community. There are among +them many professional politicians and military leaders who have no +other lucrative occupation, and the number of these has been swelled +considerably in recent years by the fact that the commerce and to a +less extent the large scale agriculture of the five republics have +fallen under the control of foreigners, leaving many formerly wealthy +native families impoverished. By the use of offices and money, +therefore, the government can always secure adherents and build up a +strong following, the members of which are deeply interested in its +remaining in power because their positions depend upon it. It is upon +a political organization of this kind, and upon the army, that the +president must rely for holding in subjection his personal enemies and +the mass of the ignorant and indifferent common people. + +The military force is the chief support of the government. The highest +officers in this are usually influential and trusted members of the +president’s party, for the very existence of the administration +depends upon their loyalty. The standing army itself is composed of a +few thousands of ragged, barefooted conscripts of the most ignorant +type, commanded by professional soldiers of little education or social +position, who have in many cases risen from the ranks themselves. +Theoretically every male citizen is liable to military service, but +in practice all but the poorest classes secure exemption in one way +or another. There is little fairness or system in recruiting. When +additional soldiers are needed, the required number of peasants or +laborers are simply seized, taken to the _cuartels_, and forced to +enlist for a longer or shorter period, whether they have already +performed their legal service or not. When news is received that troops +are being raised in a given vicinity, every able-bodied man goes into +hiding; and in certain capitals, one frequently sees small parties of +“volunteers,” bound with rope and under a heavy guard, being brought in +from the country to augment the garrison. Since soldiers of this type +think little for themselves, and follow blindly the commands of their +leaders, it is the latter who really control the army. In spite of +the immense power which they might exert, however, these officers are +usually merely the tools of the civilian politicians, who secure their +support by giving them money and conferring military honors upon them. +Although each republic has been governed at times during its history +by men who were professional soldiers, the number of real military +dictators has been surprisingly small. + +Although the great historic political parties have disintegrated, +and in some states have disappeared altogether, there is always a +more or less open and organized opposition to the government, made up +of the rivals of the men in power and of the discontented elements +which have not received their share of the offices and spoils. These +factions, in the main, simply represent personal and local jealousies +and ambitions. Their members are held together by ties of blood and of +friendship, always potent in a Latin American country, but especially +so in these little republics, whose people have until recently had +comparatively little intercourse with the outside world and have become +closely related by continual intermarriage. Enmities between prominent +families become especially bitter in such communities, as does also +the jealousy between different towns and villages, which, though but a +few miles apart, have little commercial or social intercourse with one +another. Questions of national policy, and plans for the development +of the national resources play a small part in political contests. The +prominent leaders are not so much the representatives of theories or +tendencies as men who have won the confidence and loyalty of the people +of their towns and villages, or who are the heads of powerful family +connections, and the intrigues and the struggles for power between such +men and their followings are the principal motive of the civil wars +which are still so frequent in many of the five republics. The factions +which dispute the control of the government in the four northern +republics still call themselves Liberals and Conservatives, but there +is at the present time little difference in their policies or in the +character of their membership. They are in reality mere combinations +between the ambitious leaders of smaller groups, each of whom is +striving to advance his own fortunes and those of his friends. + +The animosities created by former civil wars, however, as well as the +bitterness of the struggles for office at the present time, still +make the feeling between the different factions very intense. In some +of the republics, each group of men which has secured control of the +government has endeavored to consolidate its power, and to avenge +its members for past injuries at the hands of the party which it has +overthrown, by severe and often utterly unjustifiable treatment of +its defeated enemies. The latter are frequently reduced to a point +where they find life in their own country almost intolerable. The +more influential leaders of the opposition are exiled or imprisoned, +and sometimes deprived of their property by confiscation or forced +loans, and the rank and file of the party are subjected to all of +the persecutions which the greed or the vindictiveness of the new +authorities may suggest. Many of the measures taken are really +necessary, especially when there is danger of a counter revolution; but +they do much to keep alive a bitter personal hatred between the rival +groups of politicians. Within the last few years, the realization of +this fact has led the governments of many of the republics to adopt +a more humane and civilized policy, but the customs formed during a +century of civil war have made the execution of such a policy very +difficult. + +The fact that the control of the government is seized and held by each +succeeding administration by force naturally inclines the victorious +party to treat it as the spoils of war. A sweeping change of employees, +from cabinet ministers to janitors, takes place upon the accession +of each new president, and causes a demoralization of the public +service which can easily be imagined. Not only are inexperienced and +inefficient men given official positions, but the pay roll is loaded +down with salaries to useless or purely ornamental functionaries, +appointed as a reward for political services. The schools and certain +other governmental activities, such as the telegraphs, are to a +slight extent saved from the general disorganization by the fact that +the small salaries paid and the special abilities required in them +make the positions unattractive to the sinecure-hunting professional +politicians; but even in these, the experienced and faithful employee +has no chance against the man who has powerful friends. + +Favoritism in appointments is not, however, so grave an evil as the +graft which is more or less prevalent in the governments of all of the +five republics. This corruption is due partly to the tendency to regard +official positions as the fruits of a temporary victory, from which +as much profit as possible is to be secured while the domination of +the party in power lasts, and partly to the fact that it is impossible +for many of the employees to live on their ridiculously inadequate +and often irregularly paid salaries. In some of the countries, where +there have been long periods of despotic government by one man, who +has subordinated every other consideration to the maintenance of his +personal following and the consolidation of his power, conditions are +almost incredibly bad. From the postal clerk who steals illustrated +reviews out of the mail boxes, to the high official who mysteriously +becomes the owner of large amounts of property during his tenure of +office, the servants of the nation rob their fellow-citizens by an +infinite variety of methods. The President and the ministers derive +profits from the granting of concessions and contracts; the local +officials exact tribute from those who depend on them for protection; +and every other employee who has regulations to enforce or favors to +dispense endeavors to secure small sums from those who are affected by +his performance of his duties. Under these military dictatorships, the +irresponsible authority enjoyed by the officials, and their continual +abuse of their position, result eventually in a deplorable vitiation +of political ideals and official morality among the members of all +parties, for the opponents of such an administration, on coming into +power in their turn, are too often unable to resist the temptation to +follow the example of their predecessors, and to avenge and indemnify +themselves for their sufferings at the hands of their enemies. + +The most harmful corruption is that which exists in the courts. +Cases are too often decided with regard only to the influence of +the persons involved or to the inducements which they hold out, and +political considerations play a very large part wherever they arise. +In some countries, in fact, the President has often intervened openly +in judicial questions, forcing the magistrates to decide them as he +desired. Where the evidence makes impossible or ridiculous the verdict +which the court would like to render, cases are very likely to be held +up indefinitely by the loss of necessary documents, or the decision is +purposely made invalid by allowing technical defects in the procedure. +A magistrate who attempts to perform his work conscientiously +frequently has his decisions reversed by the upper courts or left +unexecuted by administrative officials, and is himself not unlikely to +be deprived of his position. + +Such corruption, however, has reached its extreme development only in a +few cases, where particularly unscrupulous men have obtained absolute +control of the government. In the majority of the five republics, +graft flourishes to an alarming extent, but is neither so universal +nor so disastrous to the public morals. Ideas of official virtue are +rather lax among most of the professional politicians, but there are +nevertheless comparatively few who do not show a sincere desire to +carry out the duties of their offices faithfully and efficiently, even +though profiting at the same time from their position in ways which an +Anglo-Saxon official would consider illegitimate. In Costa Rica, as +we shall see, the employees of the government receive fairly adequate +salaries, which under normal conditions are regularly paid, and, in +consequence perhaps of this fact, perform their duties as honestly +and efficiently as the officials of the average North American state. +In each of the other governments, there are officials whose integrity +is above suspicion. These, however, are the exception rather than the +rule, and graft will apparently always be one of the most salient +characteristics of Central American administration so long as the moral +standards and political conditions of the Isthmus remain what they are. + +The execution of the criminal laws is usually lax and sometimes +corrupt. The members of the upper classes can generally evade +punishment, or at least escape with light penalties, even when +they have committed a serious offense, provided the offense be not +political. There is none of the five countries in which atrocious +murders have not been committed with impunity, and frauds of a +disgraceful character carried out without fear of justice, by persons +of social prominence, within very recent years. Where the lower classes +are involved, the laws are enforced rather more severely, but in an +irregular manner, and criminals frequently escape punishment through +the venality or the carelessness of the courts or of their jailers, +when there are no special circumstances to make the government anxious +to hold them. Those who are convicted and sentenced are usually +employed under a heavy guard on public works, and receive in return +for their labor a small amount of money with which they can buy food. +The death penalty is very rarely enforced for any non-political crime, +although it is said that it is the custom of the military officials in +some of the countries to shoot suspects at the time of their arrest, in +order to avoid the trouble and expense of trying them. Notwithstanding +the inactivity of the officials, however, there is not a large amount +of brigandage in Central America, and deeds of personal violence, if +we except the bloody encounters which occur every Sunday under the +influence of _aguardiente_, are comparatively few. The people seem to +be peaceable and law-abiding by nature, even in places where there is +no organized force to hold criminals in check. + +The worst features of the Central American governments are due chiefly +to the fact that the officials are subject to so little control by +public opinion. Those who benefit by the acts of the administration +support it whatever its defects, while those who do not, oppose it +regardless of its merits. The sentiment of the ruling class as a +whole may influence the government in non-political matters, but in +taking measures to strengthen their own position the president and his +advisors are rarely deterred by considerations of legality, popularity, +or morality. An administration does not weaken itself so much by the +violation of rights guaranteed by the constitution as by failing to +provide offices and other rewards for its own supporters. The press, as +a means for shaping public opinion, has little political importance, +for even in those countries where it is not subject to a close +censorship, the majority of the newspapers are too partisan or too +venal to command general respect. + +The only remedy against bad government is revolution. This, +unfortunately, almost invariably proves worse than the evil which it +seeks to cure. The civil wars of the last ninety-six years have wrought +incalculable harm in all of the five republics except Costa Rica, not +only by the destruction of lives and property, but by making force the +only basis of authority, and by placing men of military ability rather +than constructive statesmen in positions of power. The numerous Central +American patriots who have worked with all their will and energy for +the establishment of efficient administration and the economic progress +of their countries have found their efforts nullified by the continual +disorder which has made peaceful evolution impossible. Time after time, +by an outbreak of civil war, all classes of the population have been +forced to suspend their regular occupations, and crops, livestock, and +other property have been carried off for provisions or for loot. Under +such conditions there is little incentive for the natives to develop +their agricultural properties or for foreigners to invest money in +railways or in mines. The resources and energies of the governments, +wasted in maintaining their military supremacy over their enemies, +have not been available for the construction of the much needed roads +and railways or for the execution of the sanitary measures which are +all but indispensable in a tropical country. As the result of these +conditions some of the republics of the Isthmus have made little +progress since their declaration of independence, although those which +have enjoyed comparative peace have advanced rapidly in prosperity and +civilization. The first requisite for the improvement of the economic +and political conditions of Central America is the substitution of some +peaceful means of changing the personnel of the governments for the +costly and destructive method of revolution. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] By Peninsular Spaniard is meant a native of European Spain. + +[7] In Costa Rica, the departments are called provinces, and their +administrative heads, _gobernadores_. + +[8] This is not the official designation, which differs from country +to country. In Guatemala, they are called _comisionado político y +comandante militar_, in Nicaragua, _agente de policía_, in Costa Rica, +_jefe político_, etc. + +[9] It should be stated that the description of Central American +governments in this chapter does not apply in all its details to Costa +Rica. In that country, although the written constitution and the +framework of the government are the same as in the other countries, +political conditions are, in fact, very different. The President comes +into office, in most cases at least, by a free election rather than a +revolution, and exercises a far less absolute power than elsewhere on +the Isthmus. The peculiar conditions existing in Costa Rica will be +described in a subsequent chapter. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + GUATEMALA + + Political History--The Government--The Indian Population--The Contract + Labor System--Production of Coffee and Other Crops on the South + Coast--Means of Transportation--Outlying Sections of the Country. + + +Guatemala is the most important of the five Central American republics. +Her two millions of people form about forty per cent of the entire +population of the Isthmus, and her commerce is greater than that of any +of the other four countries. Although in many respects less advanced +than Costa Rica and Salvador, her wealth and her strongly organized +government, supported by a formidable army, have always enabled her +rulers to play the leading part in the international politics of the +Isthmus, and even to exert a decisive influence in the internal affairs +of her neighbors. + +The people of the Republic live for the most part on the plateaus along +the Pacific Coast, not far from a chain of lofty volcanic peaks which +fringe the interior tableland on the south, and on their farther side +slope abruptly down to the low coastal plain. Of the many populous +towns in this region, by far the greater number were prosperous +and rather highly civilized communities centuries before Columbus +discovered America. They are still inhabited mainly by Indians, +although in each place there is now an upper class of white merchants, +planters, and professional men. + +For several years after the declaration of independence, the history +of Guatemala, as we have seen, was closely connected with that of the +federal government. The Liberal state administration, which Morazán had +installed, maintained itself in office until 1838. It was overthrown +by a revolt among the bigoted and ignorant _ladinos_ east of the +capital, who were persuaded by the priests that an outbreak of cholera +in the preceding year was due to the poisoning of the rivers by the +authorities. The Liberals retired to the western city of Quezaltenango, +where they attempted to set up an independent state, but they were +completely defeated by the Conservative army in 1840. Rafael Carrera, +a half-breed peasant who had led the popular uprising, was for a +generation the most powerful personage of Central America. Becoming +president in 1844, he retained this office during the greater part of +the period from then until his death in 1865, although the difficulties +arising from renewed Liberal revolts caused him to resign twice for +short intervals. In 1854, he was made president for life. Carrera was +an absolute despot, fond of the trappings of supreme power, but in +political matters somewhat subject to the control of the leaders of the +Conservative party and the ecclesiastical authorities. The policy of +his government was therefore shaped by the great families and by the +Church, and the more liberal and progressive elements in the community +were not allowed to express their opinions or to take part in public +affairs. + +One of the early acts of the Conservative administration was the +repudiation of the federal union. The wealthy classes of the capital +had suffered so much from the disturbances attending that ill-starred +experiment, and had been put to so much expense in organizing +expeditions to uphold the authority of the federation in the other +states and in defending the central authorities against attacks from +outside, that it is not surprising that they preferred to sever all +connection with their turbulent neighbors. During their entire tenure +of power, it was their policy to discourage the restoration of the +union, not only by refusing to accede to any proposals tending to this +end, but also by intervening by intrigue and even by force in the +internal affairs of their neighbors when the plans of the unionist +party could not be frustrated in any other way. + +After the death of Carrera, and during the administration of Vicente +Cerna, his successor, the Liberals renewed their activities in +opposition to the government, and finally succeeded in 1871 in +overthrowing it by revolution. The first president under the new regime +was Miguel García Granados. He was succeeded in 1873 by the real leader +of the party, General Justo Rufino Barrios, under whose masterful +leadership the Conservatives were completely crushed. The religious +orders, which had been very powerful, were expelled from the country +and deprived of their property, and a similar fate overtook the heads +of the old aristocratic families. Liberal reforms of all kinds were +introduced in theory if not always in practice, and provision was made +for the building of railways, the encouragement of agriculture, and the +establishment of schools. Barrios’ great ambition was the restoration +of the Central American union, but his efforts to secure the +co-operation of the other governments of the Isthmus for this purpose +met with little success. It was in an attempt to accomplish this object +by force that he met his death, for he was killed in a battle against +the army of Salvador in 1885. + +Manuel Lisandro Barillas, one of the _designados_, or vice-presidents, +succeeded Barrios and held office until 1892. At the expiration of +his term, not having the strength nor the desire to remain in power, +Barillas held the only comparatively free election in the history of +the Republic, and José María Reyna Barrios, a young nephew of the great +Liberal leader, became President. Although capable and energetic, this +ruler was so extravagant in his expenditure of the public revenues that +his death by assassination in 1898 left the Republic in a very serious +financial condition. This was intensified by the political difficulties +which confronted the first _designado_, Manuel Estrada Cabrera, when +the latter took control of the administration. After a few months of +tension, however, the new chief executive succeeded in establishing the +legal authority and in overcoming some of the problems confronting the +national treasury. He is still at the head of the state, after nineteen +years of service. + +The dense ignorance and the oppressed condition of the masses of the +people, combined with the bitter factional strife among the upper +classes, where party hatred has probably been stronger than in any +of the other Central American countries, have caused the government +of Guatemala to became a military despotism, more absolute than +any other on the Isthmus. The administration firmly maintains its +authority by means of a large standing army and police force, and +promptly and mercilessly checks the slightest manifestation of popular +dissatisfaction. An elaborate secret service attempts, with a large +measure of success, to inform itself fully of everything which occurs +in the Republic. Supposed enemies of the party in power are closely +watched, through their neighbors, their servants, and even through +the members of their own families, and foreigners coming to the +country often find themselves shadowed until the details of their +business are discovered. It is dangerous to express an opinion on +political matters even in private conversation. Much of the mail, +and especially that coming from abroad, is opened and read in the +post office. The formation of social clubs is discouraged because of +possible political results, and it is impossible for a man prominent +in official circles to have many friends without arousing distrust. +Persons who fall under suspicion are imprisoned or restricted in their +liberty, or even mysteriously disappear. The ruthless execution of +large numbers of persons, many of whom were probably innocent, have +followed attempts to revolt or to assassinate the President. This +reign of terror is approved by many influential natives and by the +majority of the foreigners in the country on the ground that only a +very strong government can prevent revolution and maintain order; and +there is no doubt that the life and property of foreigners, at least, +has been safer in Guatemala than in some of the other Central American +countries. The omnipresent spy system, however, and the cruel treatment +meted out to those who incur the displeasure of the authorities, have +created an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and fear, especially in the +capital, which has noticeably sapped the spirit and the self-respect of +the people. Patriotism and national pride have to a great extent been +destroyed by the ban on the discussion of important national questions, +and the country has thus probably become less rather than more fit for +self-government during the last two decades. + +Although the presidents, almost without exception, have shown great +force of character and marked administrative ability, the subordinate +officials are very frequently inefficient and corrupt. Official +morality seems to be growing worse rather than better, apparently +as a direct result of the depreciation of the currency, which has +not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in salaries. The +highest employees, such as the ministers and the judges of the Supreme +Court, receive the equivalent of about fifty dollars a month, and the +remuneration of minor functionaries varies from one dollar to twenty +dollars. Posts in the government, consequently, have little attraction +except for those who desire them because of the opportunities which +they afford for graft, and respectable persons, who are often appointed +to professorships in the schools or to other positions requiring +special knowledge and experience, accept only because they are +practically compelled to. The great majority of the administrative and +judicial officials are men of a rather low type, and bribery, theft, +and oppression are consequently very prevalent. The fact that the +superior authorities do not punish or discourage even the most flagrant +corruption gives rise to the suspicion that they are willing to have +their subordinates recompense themselves in this way, in order not to +be forced to pay them salaries out of the national treasury adequate +for their support. + +Notwithstanding the corruption in the government and the exploitation +of the people for the benefit of the official class, there is at least +a pretense of public-spirited administration. Humanitarian laws are +put on the statute books and praised in the newspapers; the cities are +beautified by laying out parks and erecting monuments; magnificent +buildings for schools, hospitals, and other public institutions +are constructed; and the progressiveness and benevolence of the +administration are heralded by subsidized writers, not only in Central +America, but even in the United States and Europe. The motives of the +government are no doubt praiseworthy, but the actual good accomplished +has not been great. The execution of the reforms has been left to +officials who had no understanding of their spirit and who were in +many cases deterred by their own interests from carrying out their +provisions; and the schools and other public institutions have never +been properly equipped or provided with adequate teaching staffs +because of the failure to appropriate money for these purposes. + +Although all power is centered in the hands of one man, the forms of +the constitution are still observed and elections are held regularly in +accordance with the law. They are, moreover, participated in, not by a +few chosen voters, as in some other Central American countries, but by +the entire body of citizens. In a presidential election, especially, +all classes of the population are rounded up by the military and taken +to the polls, where they exercise a right of suffrage restricted +only by the fact that they are not permitted to vote for any but the +official candidates. The number of votes for the re-election of the +president thus equals, when it does not exceed, the total number of +adult males in the Republic. + +Since the breakdown of the Central American federation, Guatemala +has suffered from fewer successful revolutions than any other state +of the Isthmus. The Republic has been by no means free from internal +disorder, but at least it has not been subjected to the continual +demoralizing changes of regime which have occurred so frequently +in its neighbors. This comparative stability has been in part due +to the strong organization which the government inherited from its +Spanish predecessors. The Captain General and the royal _audiencia_ in +Guatemala City had naturally enjoyed more prestige and had possessed +more means of making their authority respected than had the subordinate +governors in the provinces in colonial days, and the old administrative +machinery and traditions were maintained to some extent after the +declaration of independence. Moreover, the country has had a series of +able rulers, holding office generally for life, who have crushed all +opposition with little regard for constitutional provisions or public +opinion, and who have almost always been able to defeat attempts at +revolution and to arrange for the succession of a president of their +own choosing. There are, of course, turbulent elements which make +occasional attempts to overthrow the government, but their influence +has been much less than in Honduras, Nicaragua, or Salvador because of +Guatemala’s racial and economic conditions. + +Among the upper classes, although they are divided among themselves by +bitter political feuds, and although there are many powerful families +which have suffered indescribable outrages at the hands of governments +of opposite political faith, the revolutionary spirit seems at present +to be conspicuously absent. The majority of the white families who own +plantations upon which they employ Indian labor are more interested +in the maintenance of peace than in obtaining offices for themselves +by a revolt which would cause their workmen to be recruited into the +army and would perhaps lead to the destruction of their properties. +The difficulty of overthrowing the government, with its large standing +army and its superior military equipment, and the terrible consequences +which follow an unsuccessful attempt to do so, deter those who have +anything to lose from engaging in political agitation. + +The half-breed middle class, which is usually a cause of disturbance +in the neighboring republics, plays but a small part in politics. +The _ladinos_, as they are called, occupy an economic and social +position between that of the Indian laboring population and the landed +proprietors, being employed as artisans, small tradesmen, and minor +public officials in the towns, and as carpenters, mule drivers, and +skilled laborers in the country. In the districts east of the capital, +where there are few full-blooded Indians, the _ladinos_ work on the +plantations or on their own small patches of ground. Many of the +more intelligent rise from humble origins to high positions, but the +majority are ignorant, dishonest, and vicious, and form one of the +least desirable elements in the community. Their importance, however, +is small, as compared with that of the other classes. + +The great majority of the inhabitants of the Republic are docile and +ignorant pure-blooded Indians. These have never shown any liking or +capacity for war since the first small force of Spanish invaders +conquered their populous kingdoms at the beginning of the sixteenth +century. Political agitators have rarely been able to incite them to +resistance to the authorities, for whom they have a deep-rooted respect +and fear; and for this reason the organization of a revolutionary army +among them is more difficult than among the turbulent half-breeds of +the other Central American countries. For the government, on the +other hand, they make patient and obedient, if not very intelligent, +soldiers. Many of them are raised to high military offices, for their +lack of interest in political affairs makes them more dependable than +the white or _ladino_ officials. They are on the whole, therefore, an +influence on the side of peace. + +Guatemala is the only one of the Central American countries where +the aboriginal population still maintains its identity as a distinct +race. In other parts of the Isthmus the Indians were exterminated by +thousands during the first century of Spanish rule, and those who +survived were assimilated into the European communities to such an +extent that they adopted the language and customs of their conquerors +everywhere except in a few outlying districts. In Guatemala this did +not take place, partly because the population was more compact and more +civilized at the time of the conquest, and partly because the natives +received more protection in their rights from the Spanish authorities +in the capital than in the provinces. The Indians were of course +subjected to the _encomienda_ system just as were those of Honduras and +Nicaragua, but the _repartimientos_ worked less harm among them than +in those countries because their great number made the exploitation of +the whole population by the small groups of Spaniards impossible. The +Indians are still sharply set apart as a class from the half-breed and +white population. In many places they are almost entirely unacquainted +with Spanish, although their native languages, of which it is said +that there are nineteen spoken in the Republic, are becoming more and +more contaminated by Castilian words and phrases. The inhabitants +of each village still maintain the distinctive costumes and in some +places retain traces of the religious observances of pre-Spanish days; +and wherever they have been left to themselves they still carry on +agriculture and their primitive household industries in much the same +way as before the conquest. + +The failure of the Indians to assimilate with the white population +caused them to remain in the position of a subject race. Even after the +abolition of the _encomiendas_ they were still compelled to labor for +little or no remuneration on the plantations of the white landowners, +for it became the practice for the authorities to recruit a number +of them by force and to send them anywhere where their services were +needed, either as a special favor to the beneficiary or for a money +consideration paid into the treasury. These _mandamientos_, as they +were called, were the chief means by which agricultural laborers were +secured until nearly the end of the nineteenth century. After the +establishment of the large coffee plantations, however, they were found +to be entirely inadequate for providing the large and regular supply of +labor which was necessary for the new industry, and the system has been +to a great extent superseded, although not entirely done away with by +the present _Ley de Trabajadores_, enacted in 1894. + +This law defines two classes of laborers or _mozos_: _colonos_, who +reside permanently on the plantation, and _jornaleros_, who sell +their services for a longer or shorter period by contract. The former +usually work for the employer only a part of each month in return for +the land which he allows them to cultivate. This system is most common +in the Alta Verapaz, where the plantations have great amounts of land +unsuitable for coffee cultivation, and where the Indians, who until +a short time ago had lived a life of complete freedom in the forest, +are less amenable to control than on the South Coast. The laborers +there are for the most part natives who lived upon the land before it +was purchased by the present owner, and who had no recourse, after +the establishment of the plantation, but to accept their new status +or to leave their homes. They are on the whole better off than the +_jornaleros_ because they enjoy more independence and are able to work +part of the time for themselves. + +The _jornaleros_, or day laborers, are held on the plantations under a +peonage system. Theoretically the Indian is perfectly free to contract +himself or not as he pleases, but when he has once done so, he may +not leave his employer’s service until he has completed the time for +which he agreed to work and has repaid any money which the _patron_ +may have lent him. If he attempts to escape, he is hunted down by the +authorities and returned to the plantation; and the entire expense of +capturing him and bringing him back is debited in his account. If, on +the other hand, he refuses to work, he may be imprisoned until he is +in a more reasonable frame of mind. Those who still prove obstinate, +after fifteen days in jail, may be sent at the request of the employer +to the convict labor squads, where fifty per cent of the returns of +their labor are set aside for the benefit of their creditors. The whole +system depends upon keeping the _mozo_ in debt. For this purpose, he +is allowed a limited amount of credit at the plantation store and is +even loaned small sums of money from time to time if necessary. Few are +sufficiently energetic or ambitious to make a serious effort to free +themselves from these obligations. They have in fact little incentive +to do so, for those who leave the plantation can only look forward to +similar employment elsewhere, or what is much worse, to impressment +into the army, from which _mozos_ working on large coffee, sugar-cane, +banana, or cacao plantations are legally exempt. + +The law imposes on the employers certain obligations which are more or +less faithfully observed. In most cases, huts are provided for _mozos_ +of both classes, and food is dealt out to them when the supplies of +food which they themselves raise are exhausted. The _jornaleros_, in +fact, are fed almost entirely by their employers, although they are +frequently given small patches of ground for gardens and are allowed +three or four weeks during the year in which to cultivate them. The +planter distributes medicines and even furnishes amateur medical advice +when it is needed. Free schools, required on all by law, are maintained +on some plantations, although as a rule they are attended only by +the children of the _ladino_ employees, for the Indians do not care +about educating their children and are generally not compelled to do +so. The owner of the plantation is responsible for the maintenance of +order, and is empowered to imprison criminals and fugitives from labor +until the local authorities can take charge of them. In these duties +he is assisted on the larger plantations by an _alcalde auxiliar_, an +official appointed by the municipal _alcalde_ from a list of names +submitted by the owner. This functionary, who nominally represents +the authority of the government, but is in reality an employee of the +planter, is an invaluable aid to the latter in maintaining his control +over the laborers. + +The wages paid to laborers are at the present time extremely low, +for they have risen little in spite of the rapid depreciation of +the national currency. The _jornalero_ or _colono_ on the average +plantation, in addition to a limited amount of very simple food, +receives from two to three _pesos_ (from five to eight cents in United +States currency) a day, whereas voluntary laborers, upon whom the +planter has no hold, receive from five to seven _pesos_ for precisely +the same work. It is customary in most places to pay by the task, so +that those who are most efficient may earn slightly more than this sum, +while those who are weak or incapable will receive less. Considering +that the Indian enters the service of the planter owing the fifty or +one hundred _pesos_ which it is customary to advance to him when he is +contracted, it is not surprising that he is unable to free himself +from debt, especially as the few articles which he must buy--clothes, +tools, and candles for the church or chapel--are relatively very +expensive. The combined earnings of the whole family, for the women and +children are usually given tasks as well as the men, are in fact hardly +sufficient to supply the necessities of life without an occasional +extra loan from the employer. + +This peonage system, in itself pernicious, is subject to the gravest +abuses. The short-sighted and improvident Indians are easily persuaded +to accept advances of money when they have some immediate occasion, +such as a baptism or a funeral, for spending it, without realizing +apparently the onerous conditions under which they must make repayment. +The professional _habilitadores_, or contractors of labor, and the +agents whom many of the planters maintain in the native villages, take +advantage of this fact and of the other weaknesses of the Indians’ +character to obtain a hold upon them. This is made much easier by the +aborigines’ fondness for liquor and by their helplessness when drunk. +The Indians are often induced to sign contracts by misrepresentations +or even actual violence, for the corrupt and unscrupulous local +authorities not infrequently bring pressure to bear upon them by +threats of arbitrary imprisonment or of impressment into the army. Many +of the representatives of the government derive a large income from +considerations paid them for service of this kind and from tributes +which they exact every month or every year from the planters in their +districts as the price of official support in disputes with their +laborers. That the contracts are rarely entered into voluntarily and +with a full appreciation of their terms is evident from the great +difference in the wages received by those who work under them and the +wages earned by the so-called voluntary laborers. The government has +made half-hearted attempts to check the worst features of the system, +but its decrees enjoining strict respect for personal liberty and +stipulating minimum wages for contracts made in the future have for the +most part been left unexecuted by the local officials. + +The contract labor system is defended in Guatemala on the ground +that the cultivation of coffee, upon which the prosperity and the +commerce of the country depend, could not be carried on without it. +The Indian, it is said, would never work for more than a few days in +the year unless he were compelled to, as he is perfectly contented +with a few possessions which he can obtain for himself by cultivating +a small patch of ground in the woods. The planters complain of a +scarcity of labor even at the present time, and often find it difficult +to cultivate their properties and harvest the crops. This argument +explains, but hardly justifies, the system. An institution which +subjects the masses of the people to a degrading bondage, and which +prevents these masses from progressing or becoming more fit for the +self-government which they are nominally supposed to exercise, must +in the long run be extremely harmful to the country as a whole. The +development of agriculture and commerce, which has been beneficial +chiefly to foreign investors, can hardly be said to be desirable +if it has made social and political conditions within the country +worse. While the Indians are practically serfs, living under the most +primitive conditions and deprived of any opportunity to better their +position, it will be impossible to educate them or to raise their +standard of living. + +There is, moreover, no conclusive proof that the Indians would refuse +to work if they were not forced to by the labor laws and the tyranny +of the officials. They naturally do everything they can to escape +employment under the present conditions, where they receive in return +for their labor nothing but the bare necessities of life. These they +could obtain for themselves, almost without working, if they were +left in their original condition in the forest. There is no reason to +suppose, however, that they would refuse employment at wages which +were really worth their while. They are certainly not a more lazy race +than their half-breed neighbors, and they would doubtless improve +their standards of living, which are today no lower than those of the +_ladinos_ in the more backward parts of Honduras and Nicaragua, if +they were given an opportunity to do so. Nor would the cost of coffee +growing be so increased as to make it prohibitive. In Costa Rica and +Salvador, where the wages are from four to eight hundred per cent +higher than in Guatemala, the planters are prosperous and make large +profits. Under the present system, the underfed and ill-treated Indians +are unwilling and inefficient workers, and their services involve a +great extra expense to the employer in the form of sums to be paid to +_habilitadores_ and local officials in return for aid in contracting +them. This money would be saved, and the value of the Indians as +laborers would certainly be greatly increased, if the peonage system +were done away with and the workers were freely employed at fair wages. + +There are some thousands of Indians, especially in the less developed +parts of the Republic, who still cultivate their own properties or a +share in the common lands of their villages, raising not only the corn +and beans with which they feed their families, but also a small surplus +which they carry long distances to sell in the markets in the towns. +They seem to delight in the free life of the mountain trails, where the +traveler continually passes long lines of them, in their picturesque +local costumes, carrying vegetables, home-made cloth, baskets, and +grass mats--the men with heavy burdens in the peculiar square frames +on their backs, and the women with baskets or bundles poised on their +heads. Many of them come to the capital from places several days’ +journey distant, camping by the side of the road at night, and reach +their destination nearly as quickly as more aristocratic travelers do +on mule back. Besides those who market their own products in this way, +there are large numbers of professional _cargadores_, who spend their +lives on the roads, taking goods from one place to another for hire or +as a commercial speculation. They are said to cover as much as thirty +miles a day with a load of one hundred pounds, and they form one of the +most important factors in the internal transportation of the country. + +These free Indians work only part of the time or not at all on the +plantations. When they do work, it is usually as “volunteers” at the +time of the harvest. Their number, however, is constantly diminishing. +As the extension of the coffee plantations has made the demand for +laborers more and more insistent, it has become increasingly difficult +for the Indians to escape from the snares of the _habilitadores_ and +the pressure exerted by the local officials, so that those in the +more developed agricultural districts have with few exceptions been +persuaded or forced into service on the plantations. Many of the +Indians who lived on the public domain have been forced to work for the +foreigners who purchased from the government the land which they had +formerly cultivated, for it has been the regular practice in some parts +of the country to secure new _mozos_ in this way. Even those who once +owned land of their own have often sold it to their wealthier neighbors. + +At the present time the situation of the Indians is probably worse than +it was fifty years ago, and it is certainly worse than that of the +lowest classes in the other republics. The development of the peonage +system has deprived them of even the small measure of economic and +political liberty which they once enjoyed, and by taking them away from +their homes has almost entirely destroyed their old community life. +The native municipalities, which exist side by side with the _ladino_ +municipal boards in many of the towns, and which formerly managed +the internal affairs of the native community, have been powerless +to protect the members of the latter from the operations of the +_habilitadores_ and the tyranny of the representatives of the central +government. Many of the Indian villages which once enjoyed a sort of +independence of their white neighbors are now completely at the mercy +of brutal local officials, who are not content to exact money from the +people under them by every conceivable pretext, but even make a regular +practice of virtually selling into slavery those who are intrusted to +their government. + +Their own vices, meanwhile, have reduced the native race to a pitiable +condition in those districts where they have longest been in contact +with civilization. The cheap and poisonous _aguardiente_, the sale of +which is encouraged by the government because of the revenue which it +produces, is consumed in great quantities by the laboring classes, +and there are drinking places everywhere, not only in the towns and +villages, but even along the country roads. The liquor is much inferior +to that produced in the other Central American countries, and is sold +at a price equivalent to less than ten cents a quart. Its effects are +appalling. To it are due the greater part of the crimes committed +in the country, for drunkenness makes the usually peaceable Indians +quarrelsome and unruly, and causes Sundays and holidays to be marked +everywhere by a great number of murders and robberies. There is a very +evident degeneration, due to this one vice, among the Indians in the +southern part of the country. + +The coffee plantations, which have within fifty years become the most +important enterprises in the country, are for the most part situated on +the southern slopes of the volcanoes along the Pacific Coast, not far +from the populous towns and villages of the interior plateau. They are +on the average larger than in the other countries of the Isthmus, and +as a rule have their own cleaning mills. The coffee of Guatemala is the +best in Central America, with the possible exception of that of Costa +Rica, and is hardly excelled in any part of the world. The largest +and best plantations are owned and managed by Germans, who either set +them out in the first place or acquired them from their former native +owners; and many of those which still belong to citizens of Guatemala +are for all practical purposes under the control of foreign concerns +which hold mortgages on them. Not only production, but also marketing, +which is mainly in the hands of German export firms, have been highly +systematized. + +The production of coffee overshadows all other agricultural enterprises +on the South Coast, but there are nevertheless many other crops which +deserve to be mentioned because of their local importance. In the +plateau above the coffee plantations, not only the typical Central +American foods, like corn and beans, but also many temperate zone +fruits and vegetables, and even wheat, are cultivated successfully. +On the coastal plain to the South, there are large cattle ranches and +cane plantations, which, in part at least, supply the home demand for +meat, sugar, and _aguardiente_. Sheep in the highlands, and cotton in +the lowlands, supply the raw material for the clothes still woven by +the Indians on hand looms in their huts. There is a regular exchange +of foodstuffs, carried for the most part on the backs of men, between +the settlements in the plateau and the more tropical districts of +the coast plain. The traveler cannot fail to be impressed with the +great variety of products which differences in the altitude and in +the distribution of rainfall make possible, for in the markets of the +capital one can see almost every kind of temperate and tropical zone +fruits and vegetables, brought from one point or another of the steep +slope between the plateau and the coast. Little attempt has been made, +however, to cultivate for export any of the valuable native plants, +with the exception of coffee, or even, in the case of some of them, +to raise enough to supply the local demand. Flour, for instance, is +brought from the United States in large amounts, although there is no +apparent reason why a quantity of wheat sufficient to supply the whole +country should not be harvested on the plateaus west of the capital. +Cotton also flourishes, but most of the cloth used is imported or +is manufactured in the country from imported yarn. As in the other +countries of the Isthmus, the production of the one great export has +consumed the capital and energies of the inhabitants of the Republic +to such an extent that other forms of agriculture have been seriously +neglected. + +The economic development of the southern part of the country has +been greatly accelerated in recent years by the improvement in means +of transportation. The Northern Railway, which connects the capital +and the South Coast with Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean Sea, was +completed in 1908 after great expense and many difficulties. Another +road runs from Guatemala City to the Pacific ports of San José, +Champerico, and Ocós, crossing the southern part of the country to the +Mexican frontier, where it is separated by only a few hundred yards +from the Pan American Railway of that Republic. With the exception +of the capital, however, most of the important towns still depend +upon more primitive forms of transportation, as they are situated in +the high plateaus, several miles above the railway line which runs +along the South Coast. The same is true of the majority of the coffee +plantations. The highways which connect the towns and _fincas_ with the +stations and with each other are chiefly mule paths, although there +are cart roads, and even in some cases carriage and automobile roads, +between the largest cities. + +The railway system is under the control of an American-owned +corporation which is closely allied to the United Fruit Company. +The freight rates are high and very inequitable, as they have been +arranged with a view to giving Puerto Barrios, which is served by the +Fruit Company steamers, every possible advantage over the Pacific +Coast ports, through which a large part of the foreign commerce of the +country is still carried on. According to the schedule in force in the +fall of 1915, for example, the company charged $0.70 gold[10] to haul +a bag of coffee from the station of Candelaria to Barrios, a distance +of 331 miles; $1.48 from Guatemala City to Barrios, or 196 miles; and +$0.64 from Los Amates to Barrios, which is sixty miles. To the Pacific +ports, on the other hand, the rates were proportionately much higher, +for that from Candelaria to Champerico, twenty-two miles away, was +$0.22, and that for the seventy-five mile haul from Guatemala to San +José was $1.00. + +The policy of the railway company has to a great extent counteracted +the benefits which the Republic might have received from the opening of +the Panama Canal, because it has discouraged the shipping of imports +and exports by way of the Pacific Coast. The western departments +have profited somewhat by receiving lower rates to Barrios, but it +still costs them more to send their coffee by that route than if +they had a fair rate to the southern ports. In other parts of the +country, the railroad is forced to charge higher rates than would +otherwise be necessary, in order to maintain its total revenues. The +loss to the country as a whole from having its commerce deflected +to a more expensive route than that which it would otherwise have +taken is considerable. Although the Pacific Coast ports are mere open +roadsteads, where the irregular steamship service cannot be compared +with that provided by the Fruit Company at the safe harbor of Puerto +Barrios, they are nevertheless the logical outlet for the commerce of +the more populous part of Guatemala, because they are so much nearer +to the coffee plantations. The difference in the ocean freights from +Barrios to New York and from the Pacific ports via Tehuantepec or +Panama to New York--between forty and fifty cents on each one-hundred +pound bag of coffee--is not in reality enough to offset the actual cost +of the long railroad haul across the mountains. + +Although it is on the South Coast that the great majority of the people +of Guatemala live, there are several other districts of economic +importance. The exploitation of the natural resources of these has been +left almost entirely to foreigners. Beyond the arid and unproductive +interior districts immediately north of the volcanic region, there is +another coffee belt in the Department of Alta Verapaz, the product of +which, known to the trade by the name of the departmental capital, +“Coban,” is of an unusually fine quality. The owners of the plantations +are for the most part Germans. The coffee, which amounts to about ten +per cent of the total exported from the Republic, is shipped from the +port of Livingston, with which the plantations are connected by a short +railway and a regular line of launches on Lake Izabal and the Rio +Dulce. East of the Alta Verapaz, along the lower part of the railway +line from the capital to Puerto Barrios, the United Fruit Company has +established a number of banana plantations. These are not so extensive +as those of Costa Rica or Honduras, but they furnish a continually +increasing export, which is now second in value only to that of coffee. +The low, unhealthful plain of Peten in the North, which comprises +almost a third of the area of the Republic, is rich in mahogany, +Spanish cedar, and other valuable trees, but the lack of means of +transportation and the deadly climate have so far prevented the +increase of the population there and have discouraged the development +of the natural resources. + +Guatemala has been gifted by nature with a delightful and healthful +climate and a marvelously fertile soil which ought to make her one of +the richest countries in tropical America. She can never attain real +prosperity, however, until her rulers make a determined effort to +improve the situation of the masses of the people by doing away with +the worst features of her social organization. Among the lower classes, +the contract labor system and the unrestricted sale of _aguardiente_ +are today causing a steady degeneration, which eventually, if not +checked, will cause the community as a whole to sink farther and +farther into a condition of semi-barbarism. These evils will be very +difficult to remedy. Legislative action to secure the independence of +the Indians will be obstructed by the interest which the ruling classes +have in the _status quo_, and the education of the laborers to a point +where they will be able to protect their own interests will be a matter +of generations and perhaps of centuries. Upon a gradual raising of the +social and economic status of the aborigines, however, rather than upon +the development of agriculture and the exploitation of the natural +resources of the country, the future of Guatemala depends. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] When the expression “gold” is used in regard to sums of money, +United States currency is meant. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + NICARAGUA + + Points of Resemblance Between Nicaragua, Salvador, and + Honduras--Peculiar Geographical Situation of Nicaragua--Factors + Which Have Caused Disorder There--Rivalry Between Leon and + Granada--History of the Republic--Economic Conditions--Means of + Transportation--Relations with the United States. + + +Nicaragua, Salvador, and Honduras strongly resemble one another in many +of their characteristics. They differ from the two other republics of +the Isthmus in that there has been more mixture of races among their +people than in those countries. The Indians did not remain a distinct +ethnic entity, as in Guatemala, and were not exterminated, as in Costa +Rica, but fused with the invaders into a fairly homogeneous half-breed +population which adopted the language and religion of the Spaniards +but in most places retained the Indian ways of living and cultivating +the soil. The upper classes, especially in Nicaragua and Salvador, are +for the most part of European ancestry, and the laboring population, +although there is but a small part of it which does not also show +an admixture of Spanish blood, is distinctly Indian in features and +customs; but only in a few places is there a sharp line between either +of these classes and the half-breed, or _mestizo_, element, which is +perhaps the most numerous of the three. Social distinctions seem to +some extent to coincide with, but they can hardly be said to depend +upon, racial lines. + +There is thus more homogeneity in the population and less inequality +between the classes than there is in Guatemala. Although the greater +part of the people are laborers on the plantations of the aristocracy +which owns all of the best agricultural properties, they are free +laborers, who receive fair wages and are not compelled to work unless +they wish to. There is, furthermore, a somewhat wider distribution of +land than in the northern Republic, and the rights of the small farmer +are better protected than are those of the Guatemalan Indian. + +The government, although in no sense democratic, is nevertheless +dependent to some extent upon public opinion, for the lower classes +are all too prone to revolt and overthrow a president with whom they +are discontented. The political parties are led and directed by a +wealthy and educated minority, but their sanguinary contests with one +another are usually decided by the support of the common people, and +especially of the people of the cities. Several causes lead artisans +and laborers who otherwise have no interest in politics to take part +in these civil wars. One of the most important is the rivalry between +different towns and villages, the spirit of _localismo_, and another, +which, however, is rapidly becoming less prominent, is the traditional +division, based on no real opposition in principles or policy, into +“Conservatives” and “Liberals.” Still a third is the disposition to +be “against the government,” whatever its merits--a disposition which +is by no means peculiar to the Hispano-Indian race. It is upon these +factors that the political parties are built up. Each chief endeavors +to secure a following among the artisans and laborers of his district +by cultivating friendly personal relations with them and by playing on +their prejudices, and to carry his followers with him in whatever line +of action best suits his personal interests. The groups thus formed +consequently represent petty prejudices and loyalty to individuals +rather than political principles. + +The presidents of these countries are therefore less absolute rulers +than the chief executive of Guatemala usually is. Instead of an easily +controlled army of ignorant Indians, who have little disposition to +do anything but obey the commands of their officers, the government +must depend on soldiers who, to some extent at any rate, think for +themselves and take an interest in political affairs. It must not +only retain the good will of its followers, but it must refrain from +arousing hostility in the community at large, where the opposition is +usually too numerous and too well-organized to be rendered harmless by +killing or exiling its leaders and repressing its agitation. There is +no public opinion sufficiently strong to prevent the party in power +from dealing severely with its most conspicuous enemies, or from +misusing its control of the machinery of the administration for the +benefit of the officials and their friends, but there is at least an +ever-present danger of revolution to make it cautious about alienating +the sympathies of too large a proportion of the people at large. + +Republican institutions cannot be said to flourish in any of the +central republics, but there is a far more hopeful prospect of their +eventually becoming a reality there than in Guatemala. It would be +impossible, among the factious half-breeds of the Nicaraguan towns, +to round up all classes of the population by military action and +lead them to the polls to vote for the president, as was done when +President Estrada Cabrera was unanimously re-elected in 1916, but it +is not very difficult to control the election by other means. Under +ordinary circumstances, there is no chance for any but the official +ticket. The opponents of the government, and even those who are +suspected of being lukewarm in their support of it, are excluded from +the official lists of voters, with or without a perfunctory excuse, +and opposition candidacies are discouraged by the imprisonment or +the expulsion from the country of the rival leaders and of their +chief supporters. Fraud and intimidation are generously employed to +increase the government’s majority. The measures taken are usually +sufficient to secure a result satisfactory to the faction in power, +but occasionally they are unavailing because the opposition is strong +enough to wring a compromise from the administration or to overthrow it +by revolution. Elections, therefore, are often accompanied by more or +less disorder and uncertainty, and a too violent attempt to impose an +unpopular candidate on the people has not infrequently been followed +by civil war. With the spread of popular education at the present +time, there are grounds for hoping that elections will in the not very +distant future become more nearly a real expression of the will of the +people--a character which they have already assumed in Costa Rica. + +The political and economic development of Nicaragua has been determined +by forces similar to, but more marked than, those which have affected +Salvador and Honduras, and a study of her history and institutions will +therefore make it easier to understand the situation of the other two +republics. + +Nicaragua has always been an object of interest to the outside world +because of her geographical situation. In her territory, the Central +American _Cordillera_ is broken by a depression which extends across +the Isthmus, forming the basin of the two great lakes and of the San +Juan River, their outlet to the Atlantic. Lake Nicaragua, which is +only 110 feet higher than the ocean, is separated from the Pacific +by a range of small hills, the lowest passes of which are said to be +but twenty-five or twenty-six feet above its surface and thus only +135 above that of the sea.[11] At the narrowest place this strip of +land is less than thirteen miles wide. North of Lake Nicaragua, and +connected with it by a small river, is Lake Managua, between which +and the Pacific there is a distance of about thirty miles across the +low plain of Leon. In colonial times, the route across the Isthmus +through Leon to Granada on Lake Nicaragua, and from thence by water, +was commonly used for the transportation of products from all parts +of Central America to Spain; and much more recently it was one of the +most popular ways of reaching California from the East Coast of the +United States. It early attracted the attention of those who were +interested in transisthmian canal projects, and came to be considered +by many as the most practicable route for an interoceanic waterway. +Diplomatic controversies for the control of the proposed canal, and the +machinations of corporations desiring to secure concessions for its +construction, which it would be impossible even to sketch here, have +played a large part in the international relations of the Republic, +and at times have not been without effect on her internal political +conditions. + +The people of Nicaragua, more than those of any of the other countries +of the Isthmus, are dwellers in cities. About a fourth of all her +inhabitants live in six important towns in the lake plains.[12] The +Spaniards established their principal settlements in this region at +the time of the conquest, in spite of the hot climate, in order the +more easily to hold in subjection and to utilize the labor of the +large Indian communities which had long since grown up there because +of the fertility of the soil and the plentiful water supply. The +concentration of the population in a few centers has intensified all +of the conditions which have worked against peace in Central America, +and has made Nicaragua the most turbulent of the five republics. The +inhabitants of cities, since the beginning of history, have been +more inclined to disorder and revolt than their brothers in the +country, and this is especially true in Central America, because both +_personalismo_ and _localismo_, with all their attendant evils, reach +their most complete development in large communities, where the contact +between individuals is closer and the number of persons interested in +politics is greater than in rural districts. The _mestizo_ artisans, +who are relatively more numerous and more influential in Nicaragua than +anywhere else in the Isthmus, are always ready to drop their work and +take up arms in the interests of their faction or of their _patron_, +and even the ordinary laborers, in the towns at least, are Liberals or +Conservatives, and followers of this or that chief. The common people +are but little interested in the principles involved in the contests +between the two great traditional political parties, but they follow +their leaders partly from personal devotion and partly because they are +united to them by the old local hatreds which have kept these parties +alive in Nicaragua after they have become little more than names in +other parts of the Isthmus. This rivalry between different towns +has caused bloodshed at one time or another in each of the Central +American republics, but in all except Nicaragua it has to a great +extent died out at the present time, because the capitals have become +more important than any of their rivals, and have drawn to themselves +many of the wealthier and more influential provincial families. In +Nicaragua, neither of the two cities established by the Spaniards at +the beginning of the sixteenth century has been able to establish its +supremacy, and the history of the country from the very beginning has +been one long struggle, made more bitter by radical differences in the +ideals and interests of their people, for the control of the government +and the direction of the affairs of the nation. + +Granada, at the western end of the Great Lake, has always been +primarily a commercial center, since the days when it was the chief +port for the trade between Central America and Spain by way of the San +Juan River. Her leading citizens are not only landed proprietors, but +merchants, who sell goods in person over the counters of their stores. +Her great families form a coherent and powerful group, which has +always been able, because of its wealth and social prestige, to exert +an influence far out of proportion to its numbers, not only in its +own city but in the country at large. The greater part of the fifteen +or twenty thousand other inhabitants depend upon them as servants or +employees, for the artisan class is small and relatively unimportant. +There are few professional men of social prominence and few small +landholders, for the rural districts roundabout are mostly given over +to large, carelessly managed cattle ranches. The Chamorros, Lacayos, +and Cuadras, with their relatives, have always considered themselves +a sort of creole aristocracy, and even in colonial times they were +restive under the control of the Spanish authorities at Leon. After the +declaration of independence, they naturally joined the great families +of Guatemala in the Conservative party, and they have since retained +the name, if not the principles, of that organization. + +The Liberal party, on the other hand, has its center in Leon, the +capital of the province in colonial times, and today, with sixty or +seventy thousand inhabitants, the largest city of the Republic. There, +the domination of political and social affairs until 1821 by officials +sent over from Spain prevented the rise of a strong creole aristocracy, +and the constant infusion of Spanish blood during colonial times, +as well as the presence of many Peninsular Spaniards even after the +declaration of independence, somewhat retarded the changes wrought in +the white stock in other places by nearly four centuries of life in the +torrid climate of the lake plains. The people of Leon have always shown +an inclination towards intellectual and professional pursuits which is +noticeably absent in Granada, and take great pride in their schools +and their university. The most prominent lawyers and physicians of the +Republic, even in Managua and the other cities, are for the most part +_Leoneses_, just as the majority of the leading native merchants are +related to the Granada families. Leon has a large and aggressive body +of artisans and many small landholders, for the wide plain around the +city is divided into a large number of little properties, worked either +by the owner in person or under his immediate supervision. There are +few families of great wealth. It was inevitable that such a community +should take the side of the Liberals in the struggles which marked +the early years of the Central American federation, for the character +of its population made it radical just as the position of the great +families of Granada made them conservative. + +The other towns of the Republic, none of which until within recent +years could compare in wealth or population with either of the two +chief cities, are divided between these in their sympathies. Those +which are dependent geographically upon one of the rivals have +naturally followed it in politics. Others are split within themselves +by feuds between their leading citizens and between different elements +in their population. Since the development of the coffee industry has +caused a great increase in the importance of Managua, Matagalpa, and +some of the other towns, these places have of course acquired much +political influence, but the various groups among their people have +rather allied themselves to the already existing factions than formed +new ones of their own. The Conservative and Liberal leaders in Granada +and Leon still dominate the party councils, although their authority is +sometimes questioned by their allies in the newer centers. + +The jealousy between Granada and Leon found expression in armed +conflict as soon as the authority of the mother country was removed. +After the declaration of independence, the Spanish governor in +Leon, like the authorities in many of the other provinces, refused +to recognize the authority of Gainza, while the Granadinos joyfully +accepted the new central government in Guatemala in preference to that +of the mother country. As the result of this situation, an intermittent +war began which lasted until General Morazán, on becoming president +of the Federation, sent Dionisio de Herrera, as _jefe de estado_, to +restore order. Under him the Liberal party was firmly intrenched in +power. He was succeeded by a series of _jefes_ of the same faction, +most of them under the control of a military leader named Casto +Fonseca, who was _comandante de armas_. The destruction of the Liberal +governments in the other republics, however, made the position of the +authorities in Nicaragua precarious; and in 1845 their administration +was overthrown by a Conservative uprising aided by armies from Honduras +and Salvador, which wished to punish Leon for the asylum afforded there +to the defeated followers of Morazán. After sacking the capital and +slaughtering a large part of its inhabitants, the invaders moved the +capital to Masaya and later to Managua, both small towns near Granada. +A Conservative government, made up of the great families of the latter +city, endeavored to establish order and repair the damage wrought by +the civil wars which had continued almost without interruption ever +since the federal government had grown too weak to maintain peace, but +their efforts were of little avail. The new _comandante de armas_, +Trinidad Muñoz, kept the country in a state of continual disturbance, +by intrigue and conspiracy, in order to increase his own influence, +and finally betrayed the party which had placed him in office and used +the force intrusted to him to bring about the re-establishment of the +capital at Leon. A new Conservative uprising aided by Honduras and +Costa Rica overthrew him in 1851, and the seat of the government was +again transferred to Managua. The Conservatives made a sincere effort +to establish harmony between the two parties, but after their attempts +to conciliate their opponents by giving them a place in the cabinet had +proved a failure, they endeavored equally unsuccessfully to maintain +order by severe measures which only made the Liberals the more bitter. + +In 1854, the people of Leon, under the lead of Máximo Jeréz and +Francisco Castellón, drove the forces of the government out of their +city and attacked Granada. The Conservatives, who received timely aid +from Guatemala, resisted determinedly. By the end of the year they were +apparently gaining the upper hand, when the Liberals, in their attempts +to turn the tide, called in the support of a band of North American +filibusters. This was the origin of the “National War,” one of the most +remarkable and most romantic events in the history of the Isthmus. + +On June 16, 1855, William Walker landed at the port of Realejo, with +fifty-seven other adventurers, ostensibly for the purpose of aiding the +Liberal government at Leon, which had invited him to come to Nicaragua, +but in reality with the intention of obtaining control of the entire +country for himself. This he succeeded within a few months in doing. +Carrying his force to San Juan del Sur by sea, he evaded a Conservative +army sent to attack him there, sailed up the lake to Granada, and on +October 13 occupied that city with little resistance. The force of the +Conservative leaders was unimpaired, but they feared to attack the +foreigners, who held their families as hostages. Corral, the head of +the government forces, agreed therefore to a treaty of peace, signed on +October 23, by which Patricio Rivas, a moderate Conservative, became +president, Corral himself secretary of war, and Walker commander of +the army. The native troops were for the most part disbanded, and the +filibusters, or the “American Phalanx,” as they called themselves, were +practically the only military force in the Republic. + +Walker desired to establish a coalition government, under his own +control, in which the leaders of both great parties should be +represented. This proved impossible, because the native chiefs from the +first showed signs of disaffection. Corral was discovered to be holding +treasonable correspondence with the presidents of the other Central +American republics, and was shot only a short time after the signature +of the treaty of peace. Rivas, the new president, and Jeréz, the leader +of the Liberals, deserted Walker in the following June, and began a +revolution against him in Leon and the western departments. Walker +thereupon had himself elected President of the Republic (June 29, 1856). + +The adventure of the filibusters had meanwhile attracted much interest +and sympathy in the United States, where the control of Nicaragua by +an American was regarded as an offset to the encroachments of Great +Britain on the eastern end of the proposed route of the interoceanic +canal. The control exercised by that power over Greytown, at the +mouth of the San Juan River, had not yet been given up, in spite of +the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. The people of the South, +moreover, who favored expansion in tropical countries in order to +maintain the relative influence of the slave states in the Union, +believed that they saw in the measures which Walker adopted early in +his administration to aid Americans in acquiring land in Nicaragua, +and to open the way for the introduction there of negro slavery, +indications that his ultimate object was the annexation of the country +to the United States as a new slave-holding commonwealth. This belief +appears to have been erroneous, for Walker himself more than once +expressed the intention of creating an independent nation, with +himself at its head as military dictator;[13] but it at least gained +for the adventurer a large amount of assistance. + +It was therefore easy for Walker’s friends to secure large amounts of +supplies and many recruits for his cause in the United States. The +original force of fifty-eight was soon increased to several hundred, +and the immense losses caused by disease and by fighting were made +up with little difficulty. It is said that 2,500 men in all joined +the “phalanx,” of whom more than one thousand died of wounds or of +disease.[14] The government of the United States attempted to stop +the recruiting of men and the fitting out of expeditions within its +jurisdiction, but it was able to accomplish very little because of the +deficiencies of its neutrality laws and the strong popular feeling in +favor of the filibusters, which often prevented the federal officials +from carrying out the orders of their superiors. The President and the +Department of State themselves were by no means unfriendly to Walker’s +enterprise while it still offered a prospect of success. The American +minister in Nicaragua had throughout exerted his influence in favor of +Walker, although in so doing he had greatly exceeded his instructions, +and the Rivas government had been officially recognized by President +Pierce on May 14, 1856. This recognition was not, however, extended to +Walker after the latter had become president. + +The most useful friends and the most dangerous enemies of Walker’s +regime were the American financiers interested in the Accessory +Transit Company, a concern which was at that time transporting many +thousands of Americans each month from New York to San Francisco +by way of the San Juan River, crossing from the Great Lake to the +Pacific by a macadamized road from La Virgen to San Juan del Sur. +When the filibusters arrived in Nicaragua, a contest was in progress +in this company in which Morgan and Garrison, the agents at New York +and San Francisco respectively, were striving to wrest the control +from Cornelius Vanderbilt. Failing to achieve their purpose, Morgan +and Garrison determined to make use of Walker to turn the tables upon +their successful rival. They did much to aid him in securing control +of the Nicaraguan government by supplying him with money and arms and +by bringing him large numbers of recruits in their steamers from New +York and San Francisco; and in return for these favors they prevailed +upon him to revoke the concession of the old company and to grant a +new concession to them. This action brought Walker into a conflict +with Vanderbilt, who from that time on used every means to compass the +filibuster’s destruction. + +In July, 1856, Walker was practically supreme in southwestern +Nicaragua, and had complete control of the Transit route. An army +sent against him by Costa Rica a few months before had won two or +three battles, but had soon been forced to withdraw by an epidemic of +cholera. The hostile elements in Nicaragua itself, and the armies of +Guatemala, Salvador, and Honduras, were however gathering at Leon, for +all Central America had risen in arms against the foreign invader. In +September the allies advanced on Masaya, where they inflicted a heavy +defeat on a small force of Americans. In November they took Granada, +the seat of Walker’s government, which the filibusters evacuated and +destroyed on their approach. Walker then moved his army by water to the +Transit road, which was the chief avenue by which he received supplies +and recruits from the outside world. + +The allies had thus far been unable to inflict a decisive defeat on +the American leader. Although they had faced him for five months +with forces which must have outnumbered his little command at least +three to one, the quarrels between their leaders had made effective +action impossible, and the diseases which had decimated both camps had +disheartened them far more than they had the intrepid “phalanx.” It +is probable that they would soon have abandoned the campaign had not +Costa Rica, instigated by Vanderbilt and encouraged by the government +of Great Britain, again taken the field and struck Walker a decisive +blow at his weakest point. In December a force from that country, +directed by one of Vanderbilt’s agents, had descended the San Carlos +River and seized the steamers on the San Juan and the Great Lake, +thus cutting off Walker’s communications with New York, whence he had +received the greatest part of his reinforcements. They then joined the +allies who were confronting the filibuster force at Rivas. Walker was +now no longer able to replenish his supplies or to fill the gaps in his +ranks with new recruits. Although in desperate straits, he held out for +several months, beating off the attacks of the Central American troops +with great loss. The melting away of his small force through disease +and desertion, however, finally made his position untenable. On May 1, +1857, he surrendered to Commander Davis of the U. S. S. St. Mary’s, who +had interposed his mediation to put an end to the hostilities. + +At the conclusion of the war there were six armies in Nicaragua, +representing the four other Central American republics and the two +factions in the country itself. Most of the foreign contingents +were withdrawn by their respective governments, after some slight +difficulties, but neither the Conservatives under General Tomás +Martínez nor the Liberals under Jeréz were willing to allow the other +party to take possession of the government. Another civil war would +probably have been the result, had not the Republic suddenly been +menaced by a new danger from without. Costa Rica, attempting to take +advantage of the exhaustion of her neighbor, declined to evacuate the +territory which she had occupied on the south bank of the San Juan +River, and demanded the surrender of certain military posts there which +would give her control of the greater part of the route of the proposed +canal. As soon as the intentions of President Mora became evident, +Jeréz and Martínez assumed a joint dictatorship and prepared for war. +Hostilities were only averted by the sudden return of Walker, which +forced the two countries to settle their differences and to prepare to +resist a new invasion. Costa Rica had already withdrawn her claims when +news arrived that the filibuster had been taken prisoner by the captain +of an American warship on the East Coast before he had had time to +reach the interior.[15] + +Meanwhile the capital had been definitely and permanently established +at Managua, and Tomás Martínez had taken charge of the presidency +as the result of an election. With his accession began the first, +and up to the present time the only, era of relatively stable and +comparatively efficient government in the history of the Republic. +Martínez held office until 1867, suppressing a Liberal revolt led by +Jeréz in 1863, and was succeeded by a series of capable and honorable +presidents belonging to the Conservative party.[16] These men were +the leaders of a strongly organized and homogeneous group, which was +able to maintain itself in office until 1893 because of its unity and +its moderate and sagacious policy. Although thoroughly conservative +in ideas as well as in name, striving to maintain the existing social +order and the influence of the Church, the administrations of the +“thirty years” nevertheless did much to promote the economic and +social progress of the country. A railway was built from the Pacific +port of Corinto to Leon and Lake Managua, and another from the city +of Managua to Granada; agriculture was encouraged in many ways; and +even the school system was enlarged and improved. Their most important +achievement was the maintenance of peace during so long a period. There +were few revolts of importance, and not one successful revolution +between 1863 and 1893, notwithstanding the fact that the prolonged +tenure of power by one political group, which allowed no real freedom +of elections, was naturally distasteful to the opposition. + +The methods by which the Conservatives were able to sustain their +authority for so long should afford a valuable lesson for their +successors. In the first place, the government was that of a group +of men, rather than that of one absolute ruler. As each president +at the end of his term turned over his office to one of his +associates, instead of bringing about his own re-election, there +was little jealousy between the leaders, and each in turn had the +support of a united party. So long as there was no treachery within +the administration itself, and so long as friendly relations were +cultivated with the neighboring states, the government, with its +control of the army and the forts, had little to fear from its enemies. +The Liberals, on their side, showed little inclination to recommence +the civil wars which had devastated the country from 1821 to 1863, +for they profited by the maintenance of order, and were treated with +far more fairness and generosity than usually falls to the lot of the +opposition party in Central America. At the present time, after a +quarter century of renewed party strife and mutual persecution, many +members of both parties look back on the “thirty years” as the happiest +period of the Republic’s history. + +There were, however, dissatisfied elements which only awaited an +opportunity to overthrow the Conservative regime. The Leon leaders were +far from accepting the rule of their traditional rivals complacently, +and they could rely upon the support of increasingly numerous groups +of young men of the middle and lower classes in other parts of the +country, who were beginning to take a prominent part in political +agitation. The “Principal Families” were losing their prestige as they +had already lost it in Guatemala and Costa Rica, and their political +power was destroyed when the first serious dissension appeared in their +ranks. In 1889 President Carazo died in the middle of his term, and was +succeeded by Roberto Sacasa, one of the few Conservatives from Leon. +When the new president attempted to give the people of his own city +some of the more important public offices, the extreme partisans of +Granada overthrew him in 1893. This act, which broke the unity of the +Conservative party and thus weakened the government, was followed by a +successful Liberal uprising in Leon some months later. + +As the result of this revolution, the presidency was given to a young +man from Managua, who was prominent among the younger generation of +Liberals. José Santos Zelaya was the absolute ruler of Nicaragua for +sixteen years. He was supported at first by the leaders at Leon, +but in 1896, when it became evident that he intended to force his +re-election for a second term, the western city rose against him. +The administration was saved only by the intervention of the allied +government of Honduras and by the aid of the Conservatives of Granada, +who were willing to support even a Liberal president against their +traditional enemies. This episode illustrates one of the chief sources +of Zelaya’s power--his skill in playing off the members of the +different factions against one another. When it became evident that +it was impossible to overthrow him, the Leon chiefs again associated +themselves with him, and even some of the wealthy _Granadinos_ accepted +positions and favors from him. + +During the Liberal administration, the railway system and the steamer +service on the lakes were extended and improved, the development of the +coffee districts was stimulated by generous subsidies, and the capital, +Zelaya’s birthplace, was transformed from a rather primitive small town +to the most progressive city of the Republic, which at the present +time is ahead of Granada, and but little behind Leon, in population. +Marked progress was made in the matter of public instruction, for +schools were opened in all parts of the country, and many young men of +special ability were sent abroad to study. It is to be regretted that +the Conservative administrations which succeeded Zelaya have fallen far +behind the Liberal dictator in this respect, and have abandoned many of +the educational institutions which he opened. + +Despite his progressive policy, however, Zelaya was a brutal and +unscrupulous tyrant, who exploited the country for his own personal +profit on a scale unprecedented in the history of the Isthmus. He and +his ministers established monopolies of all sorts, and sold valuable +concessions to foreigners or acquired them themselves, until there +were few forms of agriculture or industry which did not pay a heavy +tribute to some favored person. The silver currency disappeared before +large issues of irredeemable paper money, and the requisitions of the +government were paid for, not with cash, but with receipts which could +be negotiated only at a loss and through the aid of persons having +influence with the treasury department. Private persons enjoyed little +protection in their property and personal liberty against abuses of +power by the local and military officials, and the enemies of the +government suffered not only exile and the confiscation of their +property, but even torture and sometimes death in the prisons. The +rich families of Granada, who were with some reason held responsible +for the revolts which occurred almost every year, were treated with +great brutality. The avarice and cruelty of the men in power, however, +were felt most severely only by their irreconcilable enemies. The +friends of the government prospered, and the people as a whole suffered +comparatively little. In the country at large, in fact, the inflow of +money resulting from the reckless sale of concessions created a sort of +prosperity, for which the country has had to pay since Zelaya’s fall. + +Zelaya raised Nicaragua to a position of influence in Central America +which she had never before enjoyed. He fomented revolutions in all +of the other four republics, and even in countries so far distant as +Colombia and Ecuador, until by 1909 the only one of his neighbors +who did not hate and fear him was the president of Honduras, whom he +himself had placed in office by his invasion of that state in 1907. +During the last three years of his administration, his attempts to +re-establish the old federal union, with himself at its head, plunged +all Central America into turmoil. His warlike activities and his +systematic opposition to American influence in the Isthmus finally +brought about an open rupture with the government of the United States, +and did much to cause his downfall. The history of the revolution of +1909, and the history of the Republic since that date will be treated +in Chapter XI. + +Ninety-five years of rarely interrupted civil strife have left +Nicaragua in a condition which offers little hope for the early +re-establishment of peace and good government. The advances made along +these lines between 1863 and 1893 were to a great extent nullified +during the Liberal regime, when the continual attempts at revolution, +followed usually by barbarous treatment of the people of Granada and +other Conservative centers, not only revived and intensified the old +localistic spirit, but aroused a turbulent spirit and a strong taste +for factional strife among the people of all classes. Within a few +years after 1893, it would have been impossible for either party to +acquiesce in the rule of the other as the Liberals had acquiesced in +the Conservative regime of the “thirty years,” for the subordination +of any sense of justice to political considerations in the conduct of +the government and in the courts made the opponents of the party in +power so insecure in their property and in their personal liberty that +they were ready to support almost any revolutionary movement which +promised an alleviation of their condition. The only creed of public +officials and professional politicians seemed to be the promotion of +the interests of their faction and the abuse and subjugation of their +political enemies. These conditions were little changed by the advent +of the Conservatives to power in 1910, because the new authorities, who +had grown up under the oppression of Zelaya, with the worst features of +his administration constantly before their eyes, apparently could not +resist the temptation to avenge themselves upon their former rulers on +the one hand and to attempt to recoup their losses at the expense of +the nation on the other. The political morality of all parties had been +so debased that a restoration of the clean and moderate regime of the +“thirty years,” of which many of the older generation in Granada had +dreamed, was no longer possible. + +The fertile lake plains, laid waste time after time by revolutionary +armies, are no longer the “Mahomet’s Paradise” which travelers had +described in glowing terms in colonial times. After the declaration of +independence, the energies of the ruling class in each section of the +country were entirely occupied in endeavors to maintain themselves in +power or to overthrow administrations controlled by their enemies. The +harassed landholders continued to cultivate their plantations as well +as they could in the intervals between civil wars, but the political +situation of the country soon became so hopeless that there was little +incentive for them to attempt to repair the damage wrought by each +successive outbreak or to engage in new agricultural enterprises. The +indigo plantations which had made the people of the province wealthy +under the rule of Spain were abandoned some time before the invention +of aniline dyes made them unprofitable in the other states, and the +famous cacao of Nicaragua, which was formerly an important export, +is now grown in quantities little more than sufficient to supply the +local demand. The only important products of the lake basin today are +plantains, corn, beans, sugar, and cacao, which are planted for local +consumption, and cattle, which are still raised in large numbers, +notwithstanding the losses inflicted on ranch owners by foraging +parties and bandits. + +Outside of the hot plains of the interior, there have until recently +been few settlements of importance. The climate of the mountains to +the northwest and southeast of the lakes is much more suitable to +European colonization than that of Granada and Leon, but the latter +cities, situated as they are on what was formerly the transisthmian +commercial route, have always been preferred as a place of residence by +the creole families. The majority of the towns which were established +in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the regions of Matagalpa, +Jinotega, and Segovia were soon destroyed by the fierce mountain +Indians or by pirates who came up the rivers from their bases of +operations on the East Coast; and those which survived, with few +exceptions, are today but little more than straggling villages. In +the _sierras_ between the lakes and the Pacific, there were at the +time of the conquest a number of Indian villages, but their growth +was discouraged by the fact that the lack of rivers and springs made +it difficult to secure even drinking water in the dry season. Neither +district received much attention from the government until the latter +part of the nineteenth century. + +During the last twenty-five years, however, a number of coffee +plantations have been established both in the departments of Matagalpa +and Jinotega, and in the mountains near Managua and Granada. These +are not so large nor so well equipped as those in other countries of +the Isthmus, and their product is much less than that of Guatemala or +Salvador, but their development has nevertheless greatly increased the +commerce of the country. It has not, however, affected general economic +and political conditions so much as it would have if the majority of +the plantations were not owned and managed by foreigners. Nicaraguan +citizens hold only a part of the properties in the southwestern +_sierras_, and those in the North are almost entirely in the hands of +Germans, Englishmen, and Americans. The natives have participated less +in the prosperity due to the new conditions than in any of the other +countries where coffee has become the principal national product. + +The Matagalpa and Jinotega districts have a large Indian population, +living in little settlements scattered through the mountains. These +tribes were not subjugated by the colonial authorities until nearly two +centuries after the establishment of Leon and Granada, and even at the +present time, when most of them have adopted the Spanish language and +religion, they show little admixture of white blood. At the time of +their pacification they received large tracts of land from the crown, +which they still hold in common and apportion at regular intervals +among their members. As the extent and the exact boundaries of these +grants have never been definitely settled, they have been a cause +of constant friction between the native communities and the white +planters. The officials of the central government have often carelessly +sold land belonging to the Indians to the coffee growers as a part of +the public domain, and the planters themselves have in some instances +taken possession of the property of the aboriginal communities without +any right to do so. Projects for the surveying of the Indian lands and +for the sale of those which their owners do not need to the coffee +planters have for some time occupied the attention of the authorities +at Managua. + +The labor situation in the northern coffee belt presents considerable +difficulties. The Indians, who see little advantage in exchanging their +free life in their own villages for one of toil on the plantations, +do not furnish the regular and dependable supply of workmen which are +indispensable for the proper cultivation of the plantations, although +they do not refuse to work for a few days when they have need for a +small sum of ready money. Under Zelaya, an attempt was made to solve +the problem by the passage of a peonage law similar to the _Ley de +Trabajadores_ in Guatemala. This system seems never to have borne so +heavily upon the Indians as in the latter republic, but it at least +gave the planters a means for securing a regular force with which to +work their properties. Further aid was furnished by the recruiting +of laborers by force during the harvest time, when many Indians from +Matagalpa were even forced to travel for many days on foot across the +hot plains of the interior to work for friends of the administration +in the _sierras_ south of the lakes. The labor laws were abolished by +the Conservative administration, however, and since 1910 the planters, +unable to enforce contracts which they make with the Indians, have +often had difficulties in harvesting their crops. Their position has +been alleviated somewhat by the fact that the local authorities have +in many cases illegally enforced the old law; but the uncertainty of +the labor situation has greatly discouraged the extension of the +plantations and the introduction of new capital.[17] + +The East Coast, which is for all practical purposes farther from the +cities of the interior than it is from New Orleans, has only within +the last quarter century become an integral part of Nicaragua, for +until 1894 it enjoyed a sort of independent existence under British +protection as the “Mosquito Kingdom.” This was a fictitious state of +half-breed Indians and negroes, who had from early times maintained +commercial and to some extent political relations with the nearby +settlements of English pirates and woodcutters, and through them with +the governor of Jamaica. In the middle of the nineteenth century, when +the attention of the world was first called to the possibility of +constructing an interoceanic canal by way of the San Juan River, these +relations were made the pretext for the establishment of a protectorate +over the entire eastern portion of Nicaragua and for the seizure of +Greytown, at the mouth of the San Juan, which had never even been in +the domain claimed by the Indians. The territory which was thus brought +under British control was in reality governed, not by the savage and +degenerate native chiefs, but by the British and other foreigners who +had settled along the Coast. The United States from the first refused +to recognize the protectorate, and protested vigorously and in the +end successfully against the violation of Nicaragua’s sovereignty. +The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, signed in 1850, bound both powers not to +colonize, occupy, or exercise dominion over any part of Nicaragua or +Central America, but the British government refused to admit that +this obliged it to withdraw its protection from the Mosquitos, and +the continued occupation of Greytown, as we have seen, was one of +the causes which led the people of the United States to support the +filibustering expeditions of Walker. In 1860, Great Britain agreed to +abandon the protectorate on condition that Greytown should be made a +free port, and that the Indians should be given a reservation in which +they were to be free to govern themselves in accordance with their own +usages. This meant that the foreigners on the Coast were practically to +be at liberty to manage their own affairs without interference by the +native authorities. The arrangement was unsatisfactory from the first, +for the residents of Greytown and Bluefields objected to every exercise +of Nicaraguan sovereignty, and Great Britain upheld them in their +attitude, and thus in fact continued to exercise a protectorate over +them. + +Matters came to a crisis in 1893, when Zelaya made a war with Honduras +the pretext for sending an army into the reservation and seizing the +control of the government. The Indians and the foreigners on the Coast +protested strongly against this action, but Great Britain, wearied of +the difficult and equivocal position in which her relations with the +Mosquitos had placed her, refused to uphold them. They had, therefore, +no choice but to submit. In 1894 a convention called by the Nicaraguan +commander and dominated by him voted for the complete incorporation of +the reservation into the Republic as the Department of “Zelaya,” and +the Republic has ever since exercised complete jurisdiction over the +former “sambo” kingdom. + +Like other sections of the Caribbean litoral, the East Coast of +Nicaragua is inhabited chiefly by Americans and English-speaking +negroes. Its principal product is the banana. Bluefields, which is the +administrative center and the seaport, is connected with New Orleans +by a regular line of small steamers, and has far more commercial and +financial relations with the United States than with the interior. +During the Liberal regime, many important concessions were granted for +enterprises in the newly incorporated territory, which later became +a source of no little embarrassment to the government. In some cases +the higher officials made grants which were actually harmful to the +community as a whole, for their own personal profit, while in others +large tracts of land were ceded or special privileges were granted to +unscrupulous promoters who had little intention of carrying out in +good faith the obligations which they assumed, but who appealed to +their own governments for aid whenever they became involved in disputes +with the native authorities. Some of the monopolies established, and +particularly the exclusive right which one company received to operate +steamers on the Bluefields River, caused great discontent on the Coast +itself, and led the foreign colony there to take a prominent part in +organizing and supporting the revolution of 1909, by which Zelaya was +overthrown. + +The means of transportation between the various sections of Nicaragua +are as yet very primitive. In the interior, they are by no means bad, +for it was comparatively easy to build a railroad from Corinto, the +chief port on the Pacific, to all of the important cities of the lake +region and to the coffee district west of it; and the lakes themselves +afford a cheap means of transportation to the regions around their +shores. Matagalpa and the northern departments, however, depend upon +the rudest kind of cart roads, and are almost inaccessible in the rainy +season. Communication with the Atlantic Coast is still more difficult, +especially at present, for the steamer service which formerly existed +on the San Juan River has been allowed to deteriorate, and the overland +route to Bluefields involves several days of traveling through a +sparsely settled tropical forest on mule back. Preparations are now +well advanced for the construction by American capital of a railway +from Bluefields to Lake Nicaragua, which would make travel from the +East to the West Coast comparatively easy. Another road is planned +from the main line of the Pacific Railway to Matagalpa, and it seems +not improbable that this and the Bluefields line may eventually be +connected, so that it will be possible to cross the Republic from one +ocean to the other. + +The execution of these projects, and in fact Nicaragua’s whole prospect +for the immediate future, depend upon her relations with the United +States. Since 1911, both the political affairs and the economic +development of the country have not been entirely in the hands of her +own citizens, for the government at Washington, in its efforts to +promote peace in Nicaragua and in Central America, has entered upon a +course which has forced it on several occasions to intervene decisively +in the internal politics of the country, and two firms of American +bankers, as a result of their financial assistance to the government, +have gradually assumed control of the customs houses, of the railways, +of the currency system, and even of the internal revenues of the +Republic. The course of events which has brought this to pass will be +described in Chapter XI. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] Elisée Reclus, _North America_, Vol. II, pp. 274, 279. + +[12] There are no very reliable figures for the population of the +cities or for the total population of the Republic, but the best +estimates agree that the Republic has about 600,000 inhabitants, while +the population of the cities mentioned may be stated approximately as +follows: Leon, 62,000; Managua, 35,000; Granada, 17,000; Chinandega, +10,000; Masaya, 13,000; Rivas, 8,000. + +[13] See William O. Scroggs, _Filibusters and Financiers_, which +gives a very complete account of Walker’s career, and upon-which the +foregoing sketch is to a great extent based. Walker himself wrote a +book about his campaigns, entitled _The War in Nicaragua_, and many of +his followers also left accounts of their adventures. + +[14] Scroggs, op. cit. p. 305. + +[15] Walker was eventually captured and shot while attempting a third +invasion of Central America on the North Coast of Honduras in 1860. + +[16] These were: Fernando Guzmán, 1867-71; Vicente Cuadra, 1871-75; +Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, 1875-79; Joaquín Zavala, 1879-83; Adán +Cárdenas, 1883-87; Evaristo Carazo, 1887-89; David Osorno, 1889; and +Roberto Sacasa, 1889-93. + +[17] In a previous chapter, the author has stated it to be his opinion +that the plantations of Guatemala could be operated successfully +without a peonage system. The effect of the repeal of the labor laws in +Nicaragua would seem to prove the contrary, were it not for the great +difference between the Indians of the two countries. In Guatemala, the +Indians depend upon the planters for a living, as they have little land +of their own. They were, moreover, almost wholly an agricultural people +before the Spanish conquest, whereas the Indians of Matagalpa have +always secured at least a portion of their food by hunting, and have +never been accustomed to any but spasmodic and irregular agricultural +labor. They have also great tracts of land of their own, of which, +unlike the tribes in Guatemala, they have never been dispossessed. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + SALVADOR + + Geographical Description--History--Improvement of Political Conditions + in Recent Years--Activities of the Government--Agricultural + Products--Social Conditions--Means of Transportation--Relations with + the United States--Prospect for the Future. + + +Salvador is the most important of the Central American republics, +after Guatemala, although she has a far smaller territory than any of +her neighbors. Almost all of her total area of 7,225 square miles is +suitable for cultivation, and there are few parts of it which are not +inhabited by a dense population. Notwithstanding the fact that she has +no coast line on the Atlantic and has thus been deprived of direct +communication with Europe and the Eastern United States, her foreign +trade is far greater than that of Honduras and Nicaragua, and but +little behind that of Guatemala and Costa Rica, while her upper classes +are more closely in touch with the outside world, and have shown a +greater tendency to adopt foreign customs and practices than those of +the majority of the other countries. Her capital, San Salvador, is a +busy, up-to-date commercial center, which impresses the traveler as one +of the most progressive cities of the Isthmus. + +Extending from Guatemala on the west to the Gulf of Fonseca on the +east,[18] the Republic occupies a section of the broad plain along the +Pacific Coast of the Isthmus, and like the similarly situated section +of Guatemala, is traversed by a chain of volcanic peaks, many of which +are still active or have been active within very recent times. The +soil, consisting mainly of decomposed lava, is extremely fertile. The +slopes of the mountains are excellently adapted for the cultivation +of coffee, and in the lower altitudes, although much of the country +is rough and broken, nearly all of the other characteristic Central +American products can be grown. There is a plentiful rainfall from +May to October, and an abundant water supply for the dense population +is provided by several lakes and by a number of streams which do +not dry up during the rainless season. The Lempa, which divides the +eastern from the western half of the country, after flowing through +the northern departments from its source near the Guatemalan frontier, +is by far the largest river on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. As +the more important cities are situated in the valleys at the foot of +the volcanoes, or in the low plains along the coast and on the banks +of the Lempa, few of them are more than two thousand feet above sea +level, and their climate is consequently less agreeable than that of +the most densely populated parts of Guatemala and Costa Rica. Except +in the lower Lempa Valley, however, the people are fairly healthy, +probably because the porousness of the soil discourages the breeding of +mosquitoes and thus holds in check some of the diseases most prevalent +in other parts of the tropics. + +The people are of much the same racial character as those of Nicaragua +and Honduras, although there seems to be rather more Spanish blood in +their veins, and less admixture of negro, than in those countries. +The majority are in part at least of Indian ancestry, but all speak +Spanish, and there are only a few communities where the aborigines have +maintained their individuality and their primitive customs. Among the +upper classes, the greater number are of pure or nearly pure European +descent, but Indian blood is no bar to social or political prominence. +The people as a whole are fairly industrious, considering the climate +and the prevalence of hookworm and other intestinal parasites, and the +standard of living among the laboring classes is considerably higher +than in Guatemala or Nicaragua. The landowning class is perhaps the +wealthiest and the most enterprising in the Isthmus. + +The early history of Salvador was as turbulent as that of her +neighbors. For many years after the declaration of independence she +was almost continuously in a state of civil war, partly because of the +rivalry between the political leaders and the jealousy between the +cities within the state itself, and partly because of the incessant +quarrels between the state authorities and those of Guatemala. As +we have seen, her people played a prominent part in the struggles +which accompanied the first attempt to establish a Central American +federation. The prolonged war in which the citizens of Salvador and +of one section of Honduras overthrew the Conservative government in +Guatemala in 1829 was followed within three years by new difficulties +which led President Morazán in his turn to remove the state authorities +in San Salvador and to transfer to that city the seat of the federal +administration. From then until the final fall of the great unionist +leader, Salvador was frequently involved with one or another and at +times with all of her neighbors, because of the opposition of the +latter to the federal authorities. She was the last of the five states +to admit the dissolution of the union, and at the present time she is +the chief center of the party which favors its restoration. + +The Liberal party, which had supported Morazán, was driven from power +by the intervention of President Carrera of Guatemala in 1840, and for +five years the government was under the control of Francisco Malespín, +one of Carrera’s friends, who used his position as _comandante de +armas_ to make and unmake presidents and to dominate the policy of the +civil authorities. The Liberals were able to return to power in 1845, +after a bloody struggle in which Malespín, although now estranged from +Carrera, was assisted by the government of Honduras. They were again +driven out in 1852 by Carrera, and four Conservative leaders occupied +the presidency for short terms. The Liberals, under the leadership of +Gerardo Barrios, regained power in 1860, but were forced to relinquish +it two years later as the result of another war with Carrera. In 1863, +the Conservative leader, Francisco Dueñas, became president, and +conducted the government efficiently and successfully until 1871, when +the Liberal party, which was at the same time carrying on successful +revolutions in Guatemala and Honduras, defeated him and placed at the +head of the state Santiago González, who remained in office until +1876. His successor, Andrés Valle, became involved in another war with +Guatemala, arising from an intervention by both states in the internal +affairs of Honduras, and was replaced by Rafael Zaldívar, one of the +leading followers of the former president Dueñas. This able ruler +remained in office until 1885, maintaining the friendliest relations +with President Barrios of Guatemala, despite the fact that one belonged +to the Conservative and the other to the Liberal party. When Barrios +attempted to renew the Central American Union by force, and entered +upon the campaign which ended so disastrously for him at Chalchuapa, +however, Zaldívar took the field against him. A short time after this +war, Zaldívar was forced to resign by a revolution headed by Francisco +Menéndez, and the latter was president until his death in 1890. After +him, the Republic was ruled by the Ezeta brothers, two military +leaders who seized the presidency by a _coup d’état_ and maintained +themselves in office by despotic and rather barbarous methods until +they were overthrown by an uprising in the city of Santa Ana in 1894. +Rafael Gutiérrez, who became president in that year, was an able and +patriotic executive, but some features of his administration caused +considerable discontent, and his participation in the Treaty of +Amapala, by which Salvador entered into a loose union with Honduras and +Nicaragua, caused his fall in 1898. + +The new president, General Tomás Regalado, served his full term and +passed on the chief magistracy in an orderly manner to Pedro José +Escalón in 1903. From that time there has not been a successful +revolution in Salvador, although discontented political leaders have +occasionally made ineffectual attempts to overthrow the government. In +1906, General Regalado, who was very influential in the administration +of President Escalón, brought about a short and purposeless war with +Guatemala, which ended with the death of its author on the battlefield. +In 1907 there was another war, between Salvador and Nicaragua, +about the presidency of Honduras, and in that and the following +year President Zelaya of Nicaragua attempted several times, without +success, to promote revolutions against the governments of Escalón +and of Fernando Figueroa, who succeeded him. The Government of the +United States exerted its good offices to put an end to the hostilities +between the two countries, and finally threatened to use force if +necessary to put an end to Zelaya’s attacks on his neighbor, but peace +was not entirely re-established until the Nicaraguan president was +overthrown in 1909. Figueroa was succeeded by Manuel Enrique Araujo in +1911. This president was assassinated in 1913, and the vice-president, +Don Carlos Meléndez, completed the unexpired term and was re-elected to +the chief magistracy in 1915. + +In the confused political history of Salvador, two important facts +stand out: first, that the revolutions which occurred so frequently +during the seventy-five years following the declaration of independence +were due more to the interference of the other countries, and +especially of Guatemala, than to the strife of factions at home; +and second, that in recent times, when this kind of interference is +no longer so frequent, there has been a remarkably rapid progress +towards the establishment of a more stable form of government. For +three-quarters of a century after 1821, the internal tranquillity of +the country may be said to have been almost entirely dependent upon its +relations with its neighbors. The parties which were formed during the +turbulent years of the Central American Union continued to act together +long after the states which made up the Union had become independent +nations, and Conservative governments in Guatemala continued to regard +themselves as the natural enemies of Liberal administrations in +Nicaragua and Salvador, largely because of the bitter animosity between +the leaders, which had been engendered by the events of the years +1821-40. Discontented factions in Salvador never hesitated to call in +assistance from other countries to overthrow a hostile government at +home, and the presidents of the other countries on their side were +always ready to intervene to secure the establishment of a friendly +administration in Salvador, in order to increase their own influence +and to make more secure their own position. As the leaders who had +participated in the wars under the Federation died, however, and the +parties lost their fundamental economic and social characteristics, so +that there was little real difference in principles or point of view +between the Liberals of one country and the Conservatives of another, +factional politics ceased to a great extent to be international. +Intervention to overthrow a government of opposite political complexion +was then no longer so necessary as a measure of self-preservation, as +it had been when every Liberal or Conservative who came into power +in one of the states felt it his duty to use all of the resources at +his command to secure the domination of his own party in the others. +Guatemala has not played a decisive part in overthrowing a president +of Salvador since the battle of Chalchuapa in 1885, and Honduras and +Nicaragua have now fallen so far behind their neighbor in population +and resources that their intervention is no longer seriously to +be feared. The attempts of the president of the latter country to +encourage revolutions in Salvador in 1907 and 1908 were failures, +although they caused the government considerable uneasiness and expense. + +Since 1908, moreover, international wars between the Central American +states have been made practically impossible by the fact that the +United States has employed diplomatic pressure and sometimes actual +force to secure the observance of the Washington Conventions of +1907, by which the five countries pledged themselves to abstain from +interfering in each other’s internal affairs. At the present time +it is not probable that an army from one state would be allowed to +invade one of the others for the purpose of bringing about a change +of government. The prevention of this kind of aggression, of which +there were instances almost every year before 1907, has done much to +discourage revolutions in Central America, because there is little +chance, except in cases where there is a very general and very violent +popular discontent with the government in power, for a revolt to +succeed without active assistance from outside. + +Since the character of her international relations has changed so +that external influences no longer make the establishment of internal +peace impossible, Salvador has become one of the most orderly and best +governed of the Central American republics. Her political affairs are +almost entirely in the hands of a small educated class, among whom +landed proprietors are more powerful and professional politicians and +revolutionists on the whole less numerous and less influential than +elsewhere in the Isthmus. This class was for many years divided within +itself into hostile factions, which were kept alive, long after the +disappearance of their original sources of difference, by the intrigues +and interventions of the neighboring governments. After the violent +animosities created by the wars during the first Central American +Union died out, however, and after the cultivation of coffee and the +development of commerce had opened up greater opportunities for the +acquisition of wealth and power than were offered by the contest for +public offices, the ruling class as a whole turned its attention from +politics to agriculture. The damage inflicted by the frequent civil +wars was severely felt by the proprietors of the plantations, who were +realizing for the first time the possibilities of the new life which +the importation of foreign luxuries and the ability to travel abroad +placed before them, and they consequently became almost a unit in +their desire for peace and a stable government. An attempt to start an +old-fashioned revolution at the present time, unless there were some +strong reason for desiring to overthrow the government, would probably +meet with determined hostility among the greater part of the wealthier +and more intelligent classes. + +It cannot be said, however, that Salvador is inherently a peaceful +country in the same sense in which this is true of Costa Rica. The +lower classes have no more inborn respect for authority and love of +peace than have those of Nicaragua and Honduras, whom they strongly +resemble in their racial characteristics and customs, and a large +element among them have always taken part in wars and revolutions with +the same gusto that is shown by the _mestizos_ of the more turbulent +countries. If they are on the whole less prone to revolt, this is due +to the fact that they are fairly contented under present conditions, +and that they are held under control by a much stronger and better +organized military power than in those countries. The government is +maintained in office, not by popular respect for authority or by the +will of the people, but by force, for there are always elements, even +among the upper classes, which are awaiting an opportunity to overthrow +it. + +There is at present, however, no organized opposition, as the old +historical parties have nearly died out and the formation of new ones +has been discouraged by the policy of the government, which generally +either wins over discontented political leaders by the gift of offices +or money, or forcibly prevents them from carrying on propaganda hostile +to it. In former times, opponents of the group in power were exiled +or even murdered, but recent administrations have attempted rather to +conciliate their opponents and to maintain the good will of the common +people, and there has been little of the severity towards defeated +rivals which has helped to keep alive factional hatred in Guatemala +and Nicaragua. Nevertheless, opposition to the government is still +suppressed with a firm hand, and murders for political purposes are by +no means unknown. + +The political institutions are no more democratic than those of the +neighboring countries. Except where a successful revolution intervenes, +the presidency is passed on by each incumbent to a successor of his own +choosing, and all of the other nominally elective offices are filled in +accordance with the wishes of the administration, since the authorities +control the elections by preventing the nomination of opposition +candidates and by exerting pressure on the voters. Every department +is under the absolute personal control of the president, so far as he +wishes to exercise his authority, and the responsibility for everything +which occurs during the administration rests upon his shoulders. The +Congress has at the present time some degree of independence, and the +judiciary is not subjected to the same dictation by the executive +as in some of the other countries, but neither is in any real sense +co-ordinate with the latter, nor would be able to resist it if a +serious difference of opinion arose. + +Of late years, however, the presidents of Salvador have made little +attempt to exercise the absolute and arbitrary authority which some +of the recent rulers of Guatemala and Nicaragua have enjoyed, for +they have generally been content to abide so far as possible by the +provisions of the constitution and to relinquish their office to one +of their supporters at the end of their legal term. Since 1898, with a +single exception, changes of administration have taken place without +the intervention of force, and the one president who was assassinated +was followed by the constitutionally elected vice-president, without +disorder or further bloodshed. + +The chief support of the government is the army, which is better +trained and better equipped than that of any other Central American +country. A large proportion of the soldiers, apparently, serve +voluntarily. Moreover, many remain with the colors for long periods, +and learn to take a certain amount of pride in their calling. The +officers are of an unusually high type, because the comparatively good +salaries and the education offered by the Polytechnic School have +induced many young men of the better classes to adopt the military +profession as a career. Both officers and men seem on the whole to +be loyal to the government and show little tendency to political +intrigue,--a statement which cannot be made with regard to the forces +of some of the other republics. The army is far larger than the wealth +or the actual necessities of the country would seem to justify, and +heavy expenditures upon it have been a source of some discontent; but +the existence of a well-organized and well-trained body of troops has +undoubtedly been a strong factor in favor of stable government and a +valuable protection against attack from without. + +The civil police is also efficient and well equipped compared with +that of the neighboring countries. Besides the usual city forces, there +is an organization called the _Guardia Civil_ in the rural districts +near the capital which patrols the roads and does much to protect life +and property. Crimes of violence, however, are by no means uncommon, +and are very frequently allowed to go unpunished, for the activity of +the army and the police, as in the other Central American countries, +is directed more towards the maintenance of the authority of the +government than towards the prevention of wrongdoing. The suppression +of revolts and the control of all parts of the Republic by military +force is easier than in any of the neighboring countries, because of +the small area to be policed and the denseness and compactness of the +population. + +The chief functions performed by the government are the preservation +of order, the management of the customs houses and the other sources +of income, and the operation of such fundamentally necessary public +services as the postal and telegraph systems. A comparatively small +amount of money, considering the wealth of the country, is available +for other purposes, because of the heavy cost of the military +establishment and the losses due to inefficiency and peculation in +the collection and expenditure of the revenues. Sanitary measures and +public instruction have not received the attention which might be +expected among so progressive a people and little has been done, except +by private initiative, to develop the resources of the country or to +stimulate foreign commerce. Although abortive attempts have been made +from time to time to establish agricultural and industrial schools, +the government has little interest in such institutions, and has never +given them sufficient funds to accomplish anything of great value. The +system of highways, which is of especial importance because of the +lively internal commerce, leaves much to be desired, but its defects +are due more to almost insurmountable difficulties arising from heavy +rainfall and from the physical formation of the country than to lack of +interest. There are, however, cart roads, which are fairly good in the +dry season, in all parts of the Republic, and near the capital there +are several roads suitable for automobiles, which are owned by many of +the wealthy people of the city. + +The public schools have received less attention than in some of the +other countries. The Department of Public Instruction, which possesses +many well-informed and able officials, has done what it could with the +scanty resources at its command, but the government has not supported +it with adequate appropriations, and has not always shown care or +impartiality in the appointment of teachers. Only about one-fourth +of the children between six and fourteen years of age are receiving +instruction.[19] The schools in the capital and in the larger cities, +although badly equipped and very badly housed, do excellent work, and +the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the +children and by the teachers. The latter are generally inadequately +trained, but they appear to have a natural gift for arousing the +interest and holding the attention of their pupils. In the country, +educational opportunities are much more limited, for the rural schools +have but three regular grades, with a complementary year in which +instruction in some trade is given, and there is little opportunity +for the children to receive a secondary education unless they can +afford to spend five years completing their primary course in one of +the cities. The education of the lower classes has been purposely +restricted to a few fundamentals, because the authorities have desired +to discourage the tendency, so harmful in all parts of Central America, +towards the adoption of the learned professions at the expense of +agricultural pursuits. No government aid is now granted to poor +children for advanced study either at home or in foreign countries, and +every effort is made rather to encourage those who have completed their +primary course to fit themselves for the cultivation of the soil or for +some trade. In the capital, schools have just been inaugurated where +practical instruction for this purpose is given. There are a number of +secondary institutions in the larger cities which compare favorably +with those in other parts of Central America, although they also suffer +from lack of funds and from the absence of well-trained teachers. The +same is true of the University, where law, engineering, pharmacy, and +other professions are taught. The wealthier families educate their +children in private institutions rather than in the public schools, +and more and more young people at the present time are being sent to +complete their studies in foreign countries, and especially in the +United States. + +The administration of public affairs is considerably less corrupt and +somewhat more efficient than in Guatemala, Nicaragua, or Honduras. +The integrity of many of the higher officials is above suspicion, and +theft is apparently not practiced on a large scale in any department +of the government. The judiciary is neither so hopelessly venal nor +so inefficient as in some of the other countries, and the Supreme +Court is a body which commands general respect. The administration of +the postal and telegraph systems is fairly reliable, although it is +typically Central American in its methods and in its spirit. Conditions +are nevertheless very far from what they should be. Even at the present +time, under a president whose honesty and whose progressive ideals are +doubted by no one, public officials are too often appointed for purely +personal reasons rather than with any regard to their fitness, and +graft is practiced more or less openly in all of the departments, with +the knowledge, if not with the consent, of the higher authorities. +Large amounts of money are paid from the public treasury on different +pretexts to political leaders whom the administration desires to +conciliate, and men of little ability or patriotism are given positions +of responsibility and authority for which they are not at all fitted, +and in which their conduct is not infrequently scandalous. These +conditions are to a great extent beyond the control of the government, +for an administration which failed to consolidate its power by such +methods probably could not maintain itself very long in office. The +old-style professional revolutionists, many of whom have a considerable +following among the lower and middle classes, are still too powerful to +be disregarded, and the idea that offices and graft are the legitimate +rewards of political activity is no less paramount than formerly. There +is every prospect, however, that political conditions will improve as +the government becomes more stable, and as public opinion, already a +powerful influence for good, becomes more enlightened and exerts more +control over the factional leaders. + +Economically, Salvador is one of the most prosperous countries of the +Isthmus. Her principal product is coffee, grown on the slopes of all +the higher volcanoes and hills, which is exported to the amount of +from sixty to seventy million pounds annually to France, the United +States, and other countries. In the lower parts of the country, there +are many large cattle ranches and cane plantations, which produce meat +and sugar for local consumption. Corn is raised everywhere, even more +than in other parts of Central America, because of the denseness of +the population and because of the large _per capita_ consumption. One +small section of the Pacific Coast, called _La Costa del Bálsamo_, is +notable for its exports of balsam of Peru, a forest product which is +found in its wild state only in this one spot.[20] The trees from +which this medicinal gum is extracted have within recent years been +brought under systematic care in large plantations, and have proved a +source of considerable wealth to the native capitalists, as well as to +the Indians who collect the balsam in the forest by primitive methods. + +The upper classes are as enterprising and progressive as any social +group in Central America. A large proportion of them have traveled +abroad and have adopted foreign ways of living at home, and as a +whole they have shown a responsiveness to new ideas and an energy and +patriotism which promises much for the future of their country. The +owners of the large plantations live in the cities, but they take a +deep interest in the management and development of their properties, +and usually spend a portion of the year upon them. Few are free from +the Central American tendency to extravagance and improvidence, but +they have nevertheless been sufficiently enterprising and progressive +to maintain their dominant position in the economic life of the country +while the resources of the other republics have been falling more and +more into the hands of Europeans and North Americans. There are some +rich agriculturalists who are foreigners, but they are relatively few +as compared with those in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The great majority +of the more valuable plantations still belong to citizens of Salvador, +and much of the stock in the banks and in the more important industrial +enterprises is controlled by native capital. This fact is of great +significance, because it indicates that the people of the Republic have +adapted themselves to modern conditions more readily than have their +neighbors. The preservation of the class which furnishes the natural +leaders and rulers of the community cannot but have a beneficial social +and political effect. + +The lower classes, housed in dirt-floored thatched huts, and subsisting +on a diet in which the corn _tortilla_ is the chief feature, offer +a striking contrast to their wealthy and Europeanized superiors, +but they are nevertheless somewhat better off than in any of the +neighboring republics except Costa Rica. The majority of them have +regular work on the plantations, where they are supplied with homes +and food and receive wages which compare favorably with those paid in +Honduras and Nicaragua. Their standard of living is somewhat higher +than in those countries, and they are in general better treated both +by their employers and by the authorities. A large proportion of +the laborers on the bigger plantations are given patches of land to +cultivate for themselves. In the central part of the country there are +many small landholders, who find a ready market for their products in +the cities, and are enabled by the possession of a regular money income +to enjoy many little luxuries which are unknown in the more backward +parts of the Isthmus. + +In the cities, and especially in the capital, small-scale commerce +and manufacturing are very active. Great quantities of vegetables, +milk, firewood, and other country products are daily brought into town +in ox-carts by the peasants, who exchange them for the manufactured +articles which they need, and the market and the countless small stores +in the vicinity are always a scene of great animation. There are a +number of little manufacturing establishments, where candles, shoes, +soap, and cigarettes are made, chiefly by hand labor, and the products +of these are bought by the lower classes in surprisingly large amounts. +Only a few of the smaller commercial establishments, however, belong to +natives of the country, for the greater part of the retail trade is in +the hands of foreigners. + +External commerce has attained large proportions, despite the fact that +the Republic has no access to the Atlantic. As in the other countries +of the Isthmus, there are few North American merchants; and English, +German, and Dutch houses control the import and wholesale trade. +Until the outbreak of the European war, Salvador purchased a smaller +proportion of her imports from the United States than did any of the +other republics of the Isthmus, but this condition has necessarily +changed within the last two years. Of the exports, the coffee, which +is the only item of first importance, is shipped to some extent to San +Francisco, but more to France and Germany. + +Both external and internal commerce have been greatly aided by the fact +that the territory of the Republic is so small, and that all parts of +it are so close to the Pacific Coast. The problem of transportation has +not been nearly so difficult as in some of the other countries. There +are now few important towns which have no railway connection. The most +important line is that of the Salvador Railway Company, an English +corporation which provides a cheap, rapid, and in every way excellent +service from the capital and Santa Ana to Sonsonate and Acajutla. Over +this passes the greater part of the freight and passenger traffic, +for Acajutla, although merely an open roadstead, where loading and +unloading is difficult and expensive, is the principal port of the +Republic. Another line is being built by the International Railways +of Central America, the American concern which operates the Guatemala +system, from La Union on the Gulf of Fonseca to San Salvador. This +passes through many important cities in the eastern departments, and +has now reached San Vicente, about forty miles from the capital. +The service is not so good, and the rates are higher than on the +Salvador Railway Company’s line, and the usefulness of the road is +greatly diminished by the fact that its builders have as yet failed +to construct a permanent bridge over the Lempa River, to cross which +freight and passengers must submit to a disagreeable and hazardous +transfer in scows during the rainy season. It is, however, of immense +importance to the rich sections through which it passes, and when it +is completed, connecting the capital with the land-locked harbor of +La Union, it will not only provide a new outlet for the commerce of +Salvador, but will also open a much more rapid and convenient route +to Honduras and Nicaragua, which are reached in a few hours by water +from La Union. The same company plans to build a line from Santa Ana +to Zacapa, on the Guatemala Railway, which will make both San Salvador +and La Union accessible directly by railway from Puerto Barrios on the +Atlantic. When this is done, the journey from the United States to each +of the three central republics of the Isthmus will be shortened by +several days. + +Besides the ports mentioned, Salvador possesses two others. La +Libertad, immediately south of the capital but separated from it by a +steep range of hills, is an open roadstead from which a large amount of +coffee produced in the neighborhood is shipped. El Triunfo, on a rather +shallow bay east of the Lempa River, is close to another coffee-growing +district, but it will have to be greatly improved before it can be made +a regular port of call for large steamers. Both of these are connected +with their tributary country by cart roads, which are good in the dry +season, but become very bad when it rains. + +As elsewhere on the Pacific Coast of Central America, there has been +hardly any steamship service at these ports since the beginning of the +European war except that of the Pacific Mail, whose ships touch there +at irregular intervals and afford expensive and rather unsatisfactory +accommodations for freight and passengers. The Pacific Steam Navigation +Company also operates one small steamer, formerly the property of the +Salvador Railway Company, between Panama and Salina Cruz, stopping at +most of the ports on the way, and the government of Salvador owns a +still smaller vessel which plies between the ports of the Republic and +San José, Guatemala. Salvador suffers far more from the inadequacy of +the West Coast steamship service than do any of the other countries, +for Guatemala and Costa Rica have excellent connections with the United +States and Europe by way of their Atlantic ports, and Nicaragua and +Honduras have comparatively a small amount of foreign commerce. The +Republic will not be able to develop as it should until its connections +with the outside world are greatly improved. + +The relations between Salvador and the United States have never been +so close as in the case of those republics where more American capital +has been invested and where regular and direct steamer communications +have encouraged commerce and travel; and in recent years the friendship +between the two countries has been endangered, although it has by no +means been destroyed, by political questions. The influence exerted +by the United States in the internal politics of some of the nearby +countries, especially in the case of Nicaragua, and the proposal +to establish an American naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca, close +to the port of La Union, have greatly alarmed public sentiment in +Salvador, and have called forth strong but ineffectual protests from +her government. This fear of what the people of the Republic regard +as American tendencies towards expansion has caused a rather marked +distrust and dislike of the United States among certain classes,--a +feeling which can be dispelled only by the most careful regard for +Central American rights and susceptibilities in the future. With +frankness and fair treatment on both sides, however, the relations +between the two republics are bound to grow more friendly as they grow +closer; for the influence of the increasingly large number of natives +of Salvador who travel and study in North America, and of the Americans +who are now in Salvador, should do much to bring about a better +understanding. + +The prospect for the future of Salvador seems very bright. Political +and social conditions are improving steadily, and the prosperity of +the Republic, with its fertile soil and industrious population, +seems secure. The progressive spirit of the ruling classes and their +rapid absorption of foreign ideas afford reason to believe that the +control of the economic life of the country by foreign interests, +which is becoming more and more marked elsewhere in the Isthmus, may +here be avoided. The introduction of foreign capital is of course very +necessary for the development of the country, as is the immigration of +foreigners of the better class, but it is to be hoped that this may +take place without resulting in the impoverishment and the decay of +the leading native families. If the best people of the Republic can +continue in the future to play the part which they play at present in +politics and agriculture, the little country promises to remain one of +the most prosperous and most civilized states in tropical America. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] It should be noted that the Isthmus is bounded by the Atlantic +on the north and the Pacific on the south in Guatemala, Salvador, and +Honduras, whereas the former ocean lies east and the latter west of +Nicaragua and Costa Rica. + +[19] According to figures furnished to me by Sr. Juan Lainez, Director +of Primary Instruction, there are 245,251 children between the ages of +six and fourteen in Salvador, of whom 60,860 are enrolled in public and +private schools. The average attendance is considerably less than the +number enrolled. The budget for Public Instruction for the year 1916 +was $1,205,074.44, or approximately $408,000 in U. S. currency. + +[20] It has been introduced into Ceylon. _Encyclopædia Brittanica_, +article on “Balsam.” + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + HONDURAS + + General Description--History--Effects of Continual Civil War--Lack of + Means of Communication--Backwardness of the People--The North Coast. + + +The territory of Honduras may be roughly described as a triangle, the +base of which is formed by the shore of the Caribbean Sea, and the +other sides by the Guatemala-Salvador boundary on the southwest and +by that of Nicaragua on the southeast. At the apex, on the south, +there are a few miles of coast on the Gulf of Fonseca which give +the Republic its only outlet on the Pacific. The country is very +mountainous, but, unlike its neighbors, is in no part of volcanic +origin, for the chain of craters which elsewhere traverses the Isthmus +several miles inland from the coast passes by Honduras through the +conical islands of the Gulf of Fonseca, leaving the mainland entirely +outside of the belt of decomposed tufas which forms the most fertile +agricultural districts of other parts of Central America. There are +thus none of the rich eruptive plains and gently sloping mountainsides +which have encouraged the establishment of the great coffee and sugar +plantations of Guatemala and Salvador and have made it possible for +the regions near the Pacific Coast in all of the other countries to +support dense populations. The southern portion of Honduras is occupied +by a series of rugged mountain chains, where only small amounts of +land in the valleys are suitable for cultivation and the rainfall is +scanty and irregular. The first Spanish settlements were established +in this district, notwithstanding the difficulties of raising food +and transporting supplies from the outside world, because of the +gold and silver mines, which in colonial times made Honduras one of +the most important provinces of the Isthmus; and when the mines were +abandoned, during the years of anarchy which followed the declaration +of independence, the inhabitants still clung to their decayed villages +and supported themselves as well as they could by agriculture. North of +the continental divide, the mountains are lower and less precipitous, +and there are great stretches of open savannahs and pine-covered +hills, where the rainfall is plentiful and the grass is green at all +seasons of the year. The soil is not very fertile, except in the river +bottoms, but the region is admirably adapted for the raising of cattle. +The cities of the south and of the interior are still the center of +the political life of the country, but since the development of the +banana trade they have been rapidly outstripped in economic importance +by the newer towns created by foreign enterprise on the North Coast. +The region near the Caribbean Sea is a low plain, extending for many +miles into the interior, traversed by scattered mountain ranges and by +several large, slow-flowing rivers. Here there are many settlements of +North Americans, West Indian negroes, and natives, who are occupied +chiefly with the cultivation of bananas. + +The people are a mixed race. Spanish is the only language, and +Catholicism the only religion, but even in the cities there are few +persons who are entirely white, and in the country districts, although +there are almost no pure-blooded Indians except on the uncivilized +Mosquito Coast, the majority of the inhabitants have far more American +and African than European blood. The aborigines of Honduras were never +so numerous or so civilized as those of Guatemala, Salvador, and +Nicaragua, and they were exterminated after the conquest to a somewhat +greater extent than in those countries because of the hard labor in the +mines; but their characteristics are nevertheless those which are most +marked in the half-breed population of today. Negro blood also is very +evident in the people in the regions north of the continental divide, +and in many places, especially near the coast, seems to predominate +over the other racial constituents. It was far easier for runaway West +Indian slaves and other immigrants of the same color to reach the +interior from the Caribbean Coast of Honduras than elsewhere in the +Isthmus, because the country back of the coast line was more open and +more attractive, to them, on account of its warm climate. What effect +this element has had on the development of the Republic it is difficult +to say, but it is possible that it may account in some measure for the +backwardness of most of the regions in which it is found. + +The central position of Honduras has forced her, whether she wished to +or not, to take part in nearly every international conflict which has +occurred in the Isthmus; and the continual intervention of her stronger +neighbors in her internal affairs, combined with factional hatred and +greed for the spoils of office on the part of her own citizens, have +kept the Republic in a state of chronic disorder down to the present +time. Because of the economic backwardness and the isolation of her +people, she has been affected comparatively little by the factors +which have in recent years tended to discourage internal disorder and +civil strife in Salvador. Her government has never become so strong +that it was able to repel aggression from without or to hold in check +its enemies at home, and no part of her territory, with the possible +exception of the North Coast, has reached a stage of agricultural or +industrial development sufficiently high to give rise to a class of +plantation owners or capitalists more interested in the maintenance +of peace than in the dominance of one or the other political faction. +She does not enjoy the favorable climate and the fertile soil which +have encouraged the development of the great agricultural enterprises +of the neighboring states, and she has been prevented from using the +very valuable natural resources which she does possess by constant +disturbances promoted both by external and by domestic enemies. + +Dissensions within the country broke out soon after the authority +of Spain was thrown off in 1821. The Spanish governor at Comayagua, +who had already repudiated the authority of the Captain General in +Guatemala, was opposed by the people of Tegucigalpa and several +other towns, and his attempts to establish his supremacy were the +beginning of a desultory conflict which lasted with few intermissions +for a number of years. After the establishment of the Federal Union, +Comayagua sided with the Conservatives and Tegucigalpa with the +Liberals, and an army from the latter city, led by Morazán, played +a large part in defending Salvador and in overthrowing the federal +authorities in 1829. The triumph of the revolution in Guatemala led +to the establishment of a Liberal state government in Honduras, but +this fell after the disruption of the Union, when President Carrera +of Guatemala aided the Conservatives to return to power (1840). From +that time until 1911, the Republic was kept in a state of turmoil +by a series of revolutions and civil wars, instigated and often +actively participated in by Guatemala, Salvador, or Nicaragua, and +sometimes by all three. Francisco Ferrer, supported by Carrera, held +the supreme power from 1840 to 1852, first as president and then as +commander-in-chief of the army. His successor was Trinidad Cabañas, a +Liberal, who had been in office only three years when Carrera sent an +army into the country to supplant him by Santos Guardiola. This ruler +was assassinated in 1862. His successor, allying himself to Salvador, +became involved in a war against Guatemala and Nicaragua, and the +victory of the two latter states resulted in the “election” of José +María Medina as president of Honduras. He was overthrown in 1872 by +the intervention of the Liberals who had just returned to power in +Guatemala and Salvador. Ponciano Leíva assumed the chief magistracy +in the following year, but was forced to relinquish it in 1876 by the +intrigues of President Barrios of Guatemala. Marco Aurelio Soto, a +man of ability and great influence, succeeded him, but he was also +forced to resign in 1883 because of the hostile attitude of Barrios, +and was succeeded by Luís Bográn, who held office until 1891. Ponciano +Leíva, who followed Bográn, was again forced to resign in 1893 by a +threatened revolution. His successor, Domingo Vásquez, was overthrown +a year later as the result of a disastrous war with Nicaragua, and +Policarpo Bonilla, an ally of President Zelaya and an ardent Liberal, +became president. After one constitutional term, he turned over his +office to General Terencio Sierra. Sierra was overthrown in 1903 by +Manuel Bonilla, who had started a revolution when the president made an +attempt to impose on the country a successor of his own choosing. + +In 1907, as the result of a quarrel between Bonilla and President +Zelaya of Nicaragua, the latter sent an army into Honduras to aid a +revolutionary movement headed by Miguel Dávila. Salvador, fearing the +increase of Zelaya’s influence, came to the aid of Bonilla, but was +unable to prevent the complete victory of the revolution. Zelaya now +threatened to attack Salvador, and the president of that country, +in league with Guatemala, prepared to support a counter revolution +in Honduras. A general Central American war would undoubtedly have +followed, had not the United States and Mexico jointly interposed their +mediation and suggested that all of the republics of the Isthmus send +representatives to Washington to discuss the questions at issue between +them. This was the origin of the celebrated Washington Conference. One +of the most important conventions adopted by the delegates of the five +countries provided for the complete neutralization of Honduras and the +abstention of her government from all participation in the conflicts +between the other governments of the Isthmus.[21] + +This treaty had little effect for the time being on the situation of +Honduras, for nearby countries encouraged and materially assisted +a number of uprisings against the government of Dávila during the +four years following 1907. Zelaya helped his ally to suppress these, +but when the Nicaraguan dictator himself fell the fate of the +administration which he had protected in Honduras was sealed. Manuel +Bonilla invaded the Republic from the North Coast in the latter part +of 1910, and decisively defeated Dávila’s troops after a few weeks of +fighting. When it was evident that the revolutionists were gaining +the upper hand, a peace conference was arranged through the mediation +of the United States, and both factions agreed to place the control +of affairs provisionally in the hands of Dr. Francisco Bertrand. In +the election which followed, Bonilla was made president by an almost +unanimous vote. He held office until his death in 1913, when Dr. +Bertrand, the vice-president, succeeded him. The latter is still at the +head of affairs, having been reëlected in 1915. + +Today, more than ever before, there seems to be good reason to hope +that Honduras may enjoy a long period of peace. A large part of the +people are wearied of the continual disturbance in which they have +lived, and are beginning to distrust the factional leaders who have +hitherto been able to incite them to revolt at every unpopular or +aggressive action of the authorities. The government of Dr. Bertrand +has pursued a conciliatory policy towards all political elements, and +by treating its enemies with far less severity than has been customary +in the past has given them little excuse for rebellion. The so-called +parties of today have become little more than groups of professional +office-seekers, without programs or permanent organizations. While +many of the causes of discord at home have thus been removed, the +external influences which have hitherto made stable government +impossible have lost much of their importance in the last four years. +The other governments have been prevented from encouraging or allowing +the preparation in their territory of revolutionary expeditions against +Honduras, or from intervening themselves in the internal affairs of +their neighbor, by the attitude of the United States. The decisive +intervention of that Republic in the last revolution in Nicaragua +and the intimation, by a timely show of force, when outbreaks were +threatened elsewhere, that similar action might be taken if it proved +necessary, have had a salutary effect on potential revolutionists in +all of the states of the Isthmus, for there are few Central American +political leaders who desire to see the events of 1912 repeated in +their own countries. + +The government of Honduras has always been and is today a military +despotism where all branches of the administration are under the +absolute control of the president. Graft and favoritism are as much +in evidence as in the neighboring countries, and the public offices, +occupied exclusively by the friends of those in power, are swept clean +and refilled after each successful revolution. Nevertheless, the +country has had a series of able and patriotic presidents, who have +done what they could, with the scanty resources at their command and +in the face of very great difficulties, to encourage agriculture and +commerce. Very real progress has been made in the field of education, +and recently in the building of roads, and that more has not been +accomplished has been due to the poverty of the national treasury, the +waste of revenues by civil wars, and the deep-ingrained practice of +graft in the public offices, rather than to any lack of progressive +spirit. The idea of enriching themselves at the expense of the public +is so much a part of the creed of the professional politicians who +form the bulk of each party and the backbone of the revolutions +to which each successive government owes its existence that it is +impossible even for a president of the highest civic ideals to devote +the entire resources of the government to internal improvements. + +The effects of the disorder and misrule from which the Republic has +suffered for nearly a century are most clearly evident in the southern +departments and the interior, which are the home of the majority +of the people. The mines, in which many of the inhabitants of the +province had been employed in colonial times, were abandoned soon +after the declaration of independence, and those who were dependent +upon them were left to make a living as best they could. A large +number joined the factional armies, which were hardly disbanded during +the lifetime of the Central American Federation. Others turned their +attention to agriculture or cattle raising, but did little more than +secure a bare subsistence, working under a great disadvantage because +of the impossibility of transporting their products to a market, +and constantly facing ruin from the visits of revolutionary armies. +Those who tilled the soil confined themselves to producing small +amounts of corn, beans, and sugar from year to year for their own +consumption. Conditions were more unfavorable for the establishment of +large plantations than they had been in the other countries, because +revolutions were more continuous and more destructive, and because +there was in Honduras comparatively little land suitable for the +cultivation of coffee, indigo, or sugar for export. The raising of +cattle, which might otherwise have been carried on under very favorable +conditions, especially in the open, grassy valleys of the Olancho, was +made all but impossible by the civil wars, for no one suffers more from +the passing of a Central American army than the herdsman. There are +indeed many ranches in the interior and on the South Coast at present, +but they are run carelessly and with primitive methods. The owners, +who have lost a large part of their stock time after time by military +requisitions or by confiscation, make no effort to introduce animals of +a better breed from abroad or to give their cattle more than the most +elementary care, leaving the herds to wander in an almost wild state +over great stretches of land, and only interesting themselves in them +when they have occasion to drive a few hundred head to market. A slight +change in this respect is even now noticeable, however, for some of +the landowners are beginning to pay more attention to the welfare of +their stock and to fence in and otherwise improve their properties. If +the Republic enjoys a few more years of peace, and if a better market +can be provided abroad for live animals or beef, Honduras might easily +become the most important cattle-raising country of the Isthmus. + +Many of the mines were reopened by promoters from the United States +in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but the majority were +abandoned a few years later because of the decline of the price of +silver, which was the chief product. At the present time there are a +number of companies and individuals extracting the precious metals on +a small scale, but the only plant of real importance is that of the +New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Company at San Juancito, near +Tegucigalpa. The silver shipped by this one firm comprises almost +the only important export of the southern departments, and nearly +twenty-five per cent of the total exports of the Republic. There are +very great undeveloped mineral resources, and many new mines would +doubtless be opened if the difficulty of transporting machinery into +the interior could be overcome, and if the political conditions of the +Republic should be made sufficiently stable to encourage the investment +of foreign capital. + +One of the factors which has done most to retard the economic +development of the country is the lack of means of communication. +Tegucigalpa is now the only Central American capital which is not +connected with at least one seaport by railway. Even ox-carts +can be used only in a very few places in the interior, for the +construction of roads between the principal centers of population +has been more difficult than elsewhere in the Isthmus because of +the greater distances to be traversed and the broken character of +the country. The chief towns of the Republic are scattered from the +Guatemalan to the Nicaraguan frontier and from the North Coast to +the South, and the mountain ranges between them, although not so +high as in the neighboring countries, are often so sharp and rugged +that they are difficult to cross even on mule back. As has already +been said, moreover, the expenditure of the energies of the people +and the financial resources of the government on civil war has made +it impossible to devote much attention to internal improvements. +Transportation between the different sections, therefore, is +principally by rough mule trails, but there is nevertheless one +splendid highway, from Tegucigalpa to San Lorenzo on the Gulf of +Fonseca, which has no equal in Central America. The regular services of +motor cars and trucks on this route have greatly reduced the difficulty +of transporting freight and passengers between the capital and its port +of entry at Amapala, although the rates charged are exceedingly high, +even as compared with those charged on Central American railways.[22] +Similar roads are now being constructed, very slowly, from Tegucigalpa +to Comayagua and to the Olancho, but they are so expensive to build and +to maintain that it seems likely to be many years before those sections +of the country will enjoy communication by automobile with the capital. + +Tegucigalpa, with the nearby municipality of Comayagüela, is a +prosperous little town, with a thriving commerce and many families +of wealth and culture, but outside of the capital, if we except half +a dozen foreign settlements on the North Coast, there are few places +which show any signs of contact with modern civilization. The majority +of the people reside in the provincial cities, which are decayed +villages of from three to five thousand inhabitants, or in still more +desolate smaller settlements. There are also thousands of families +scattered through the mountains, living in thatched _ranchos_, and +subsisting almost entirely on the produce from their cornfields and +plantain patches. Even the more important towns are almost entirely +isolated economically and socially. A small amount of internal commerce +is carried on by means of mule trains, and the mails are carried to +almost all of the towns and villages with tolerable frequency and +regularity, but the great mass of the people have little interest +in anything outside of the community in which they live, and little +conception of a world beyond the boundaries of their own country. + +It is not surprising that people living under such conditions should +have advanced little in civilization beyond their savage ancestors. +Even those who might have risen above their environment, had they had +the opportunity, have been kept down by almost insuperable obstacles. +There is no incentive to improve agricultural properties, or to lay up +a store of products for possible future needs, when all that a man has +is likely to be taken from him at any time, and there is no object in +raising more produce than is required for the support of the farmer’s +family when there is no market in which it can be sold or exchanged +for other goods. It is dangerous and expensive to transport products +from one part of the country to another where they may be needed, and +there are few articles which the peasant can purchase when he does +secure ready money. Little is manufactured in the country, and imports +from abroad, by the time they have borne the heavy freights from North +America and Europe via Panama to Amapala, the exorbitant charges of +boatmen, brokers, and customs officials at that port, and the expense +of transporting them into the interior, are beyond the reach of any but +the rich. In the interior, one may ride in some places for days without +passing a place where articles manufactured abroad can be bought, and +those commercial establishments which do exist, outside of Tegucigalpa, +carry only the most inferior textiles, machetes, and other necessities, +together with a few very cheap articles of personal adornment, at +prices from three to five times those which would be demanded for the +same things in the United States. + +Such conditions have inevitably condemned the people to a hand-to-mouth +existence, which has eradicated all tendency to thrift. Improvidence, +which seems to be an inborn characteristic of the Spanish-Negro-Indian +population, has been encouraged by the ease with which the corn and +beans necessary to support even a large family can be produced, for +there is an abundance of unoccupied land in most parts of the country +which can be cultivated with little labor by the primitive methods in +vogue, and which will usually produce at least two crops each year. +It would seem, therefore, that the people should lead an easy, if not +an interesting existence, but the very conditions which have made +it possible for them to secure a living with little difficulty have +contributed to make them in some ways the poorest and most miserable of +the _ladino_ populations of the Isthmus. Unaccustomed to hard work or +to taking thought for the future, they rarely plant more corn during +the rainy season than is barely necessary to last them through the +dry months, so that a drought or other mishap to their crops causes +widespread want and suffering, aggravated by the difficulty of bringing +food from other parts of the country where it may be abundant. There is +no other inhabited part of Central America where the traveler finds it +so hard to secure provender for himself and his mule as he does in most +parts of Honduras during April and May. + +As might be supposed, the people are densely ignorant and +unprogressive. Schools have been established in many of the towns +and villages, but the percentage of illiteracy in the community as +a whole seems to be very high. Religion is at a low ebb, although +one section of the Republic, around Comayagua, seems to be the most +fanatically Catholic portion of Central America. Outside of the +larger towns, there are almost no priests, and the people, although +superstitious, pay little attention to the precepts of the Church. It +must not be supposed, however, that the Honduraneans are necessarily +inferior, intellectually or physically, to the inhabitants of the other +republics. They are naturally quick and intelligent, and they are said +to be as efficient laborers as any of the other Central Americans. +Foreign mining corporations in all parts of the Isthmus prefer them +to the inhabitants of any of the other countries as workmen, not only +because of their greater skill, but because of their comparative +trustworthiness. There is every prospect that they will advance rapidly +in civilization when their country is brought into closer contact with +the outside world. + +The economic backwardness of the country, which is in itself an effect +of the civil wars, is at the same time one of their causes. The great +majority of the people have little to lose by internal disorders, for +there are few who own more than a cheaply constructed adobe house and +a small corn patch. They welcome a revolution, with its opportunity +for plunder and for living at someone else’s expense, as an agreeable +change from the monotony of their lives and an opportunity temporarily +to improve their condition. Among the upper classes in the cities, +many of whom devote themselves to politics rather than to more useful +occupations because neither large scale agricultural or commercial +enterprises nor the learned professions afford a secure income, there +is always a large number of discontented office-seekers, ready to +engage in any kind of intrigue which offers an opportunity to make a +living at the public’s expense. The organization of a revolutionary +conspiracy is thus an easy matter, and the raising of an army among +the common people is hardly more difficult. Money and arms are secured +from foreign corporations which desire special favors, and material +and moral support can almost always be obtained from one of the other +Central American governments. With so many circumstances in their +favor, it is not remarkable that the party leaders have been able +time after time to plunge the country into civil war, sacrificing its +welfare to their own ambitions and rivalries, and frustrating the +efforts made by their more patriotic and far-sighted fellow-citizens to +improve their country’s economic and social conditions. + +Although at least eighty per cent of her people live in the central +and southern departments, the most important portion of Honduras, from +the point of view of the outside world, is the long coast line on the +Caribbean Sea. This region is not only more productive than other parts +of the Republic, because of its fertile soil and heavy rainfall, but +it also has the immense advantage of being close to the Gulf ports of +the United States, with which it is in regular communication by means +of several lines of fast steamers. In recent years, its agricultural +possibilities have been developed on a large scale by immigrants and +capital from that country. Its ports, where English is the language +most generally used and American influence is predominant, have become +prosperous commercial towns, and one of them, La Ceiba, is the most +important city in the Republic, after Tegucigalpa, and has more foreign +commerce than all of the interior districts together. + +The native element on the Coast is somewhat larger than in the similar +sections of Guatemala and Costa Rica, because the government has +opposed certain legal obstacles to the free immigration of West Indian +negroes. This policy has enabled other sections to profit to some +degree from the prosperity of the banana farms, because many laborers +from the interior spend longer or shorter periods working there, +earning wages far greater than they could secure at home. There is +little commercial intercourse between the two sections of the country, +however, as the roads which unite them are not suitable to any traffic +other than pack and saddle mules. Travelers frequently make the +journey from the United States to Tegucigalpa by the overland route, +and the mails are brought over regularly from the weekly steamers +which touch at Puerto Cortez, but almost none of the exportations or +importations of the interior are shipped through the Caribbean ports. +The North Coast had until lately little political connection with the +other departments of the Republic, but within the last few years the +government has established civilian officials and military forces +there, and has endeavored to strengthen the feeling of allegiance among +its inhabitants. The people of the banana district, and especially the +foreign residents, have played an important part in recent revolutions, +most of which have had one of the Caribbean ports as a base. + +The bananas which are the principal product of the coast are raised +and exported by numerous small growers and by a few great fruit +companies, each of which possesses its own line of steamers and +controls the agriculture and commerce of the district in which it +operates. These concerns, nominally independent and competing, are +generally supposed to be closely connected with, if not under the +control of, the United Fruit Company, which itself has plantations +and buys fruit at one or two places. The “United” has for some years +been on unfriendly terms with the Honduranean government, and it is +said that it prefers for this reason to operate through supposedly +unrelated subsidiaries, which are in a better position than it could +be to obtain concessions and privileges at Tegucigalpa. Most of these +fruit companies have obtained concessions from the government under +the terms of which they agree to build a railroad from the North +Coast to some point in the interior, and receive in return the right +to appropriate for their own use amounts of land varying from 250 to +500 hectares (that is, from 617.5 to 1,235 acres) for every kilometer +constructed along the main line and its branches. They are allowed to +improve the ports to which their steamers sail and to build wharves +for the use of which they charge a fee to other exporters. The object +of the government in making these contracts has been to provide means +of communication between the Atlantic ports and the interior towns, +with the idea of extending the railroads eventually to the capital, +but the fruit companies, interested merely in securing land suitable +for the planting of bananas, have usually built only those sections +of their lines which are in low, flat country, and when this has +been accomplished have turned their attention to the construction of +branches through districts of the same kind. Most of them are under +obligations to extend the railways to the interior towns within a +certain term of years, but the government seems so far to have been +unable to find means to give effect to this part of the contracts. +The desire to secure railway communication between the capital and +the North Coast has been so strong that valuable and far-reaching +privileges have often been granted, with little consideration and +with no effective safeguards, to companies which have promised more +than they had any intention of carrying out; and other concessions, +often actually prejudicial to the interests of the Republic, have +been secured occasionally by foreigners who have aided revolutionary +leaders in securing control of the government. Because of the lessons +learned through many hard experiences with unscrupulous promoters, +however, the native authorities are much more cautious of late about +investigating the character and financial standing of persons applying +to them for favors, and the majority of the contracts recently entered +into have been more equitable in their terms and more explicit in their +provisions than those of former years. + +The North Coast not only exports bananas, but also small quantities +of lumber, cattle, rubber, and other products. Special concessions +have been granted from time to time for cutting mahogany and cedar, +providing usually that the government shall receive five dollars, +United States currency, for every tree; and contracts have been made +occasionally with foreigners for the development of other natural +resources. Since the beginning of the European war many of the +planters, who have been unable to export their bananas because of the +withdrawal of the steamers which had hitherto carried them to the +United States, have turned their attention to the breeding of cattle +and hogs, which thrive on the otherwise useless fruit, and which are +readily sold either in Honduras itself or in the neighboring countries. +This new industry has saved many of the foreigners along the Coast from +the ruin which in 1914 seemed inevitable, and there is every reason to +suppose that it will become more and more important in the future. + +The commercial relations of Honduras with the outside world are small +as compared with some of the neighboring countries. The chief exports, +and almost the only ones which reach large amounts, are the bananas +from the foreign-owned plantations on the North Coast and the silver +from the one large mine already mentioned. The coffee crop, cultivated +by primitive methods on small patches of ground, little more than +suffices to supply the local demand. Other products,--hides, lumber, +cocoanuts, etc.,--are shipped abroad in comparatively small amounts. +The imports differ little in character from those of the other Central +American countries. Their amount is small because the people have no +crop which provides them with money for the purchase of foreign goods. +The imports somewhat exceed the exports at the present time because of +the railway material and mining machinery which is being brought in by +foreign investors, and because a certain amount of goods is undoubtedly +being paid for every year under present conditions by the shipment +abroad of silver coin. By far the largest part of the Republic’s trade +is with the United States, and more than half of it is carried on +through the North Coast ports, which have regular steamer connection +with New Orleans and Mobile. The interior and the South Coast, which +have no outlet at the present time except through Amapala, have few +exports, and can buy little from foreign countries because of their +poverty and because the expense of transporting goods from Amapala to +the capital and from there to the interior towns is so great that most +imported articles are far beyond the reach of the mass of the people. + +In spite of the poverty which characterizes Honduras today, her future +is not necessarily less promising than that of other parts of Central +America. Her people are not backward because they are degenerate, +but because they have been prevented from developing the natural +resources of their country by the lack of means of transportation +and by continual civil war. As has already been stated, they are by +no means lacking in intelligence or ability. The country itself, +perhaps, does not enjoy the natural advantages which have brought +about the prosperity of some of its coffee-growing neighbors, but it +nevertheless possesses great fertile tracts which are as yet hardly +explored, and great undeveloped mineral resources, which will be opened +to the world by the building of railways and the investment of foreign +capital, if the present era of peace continues. There is no section +of the Isthmus more favorably situated for banana growing, for cattle +raising, or for mining than are the northern departments of Honduras. +The Caribbean Coast, and the great plains and open valleys tributary +to its ports, which are already more important commercially than the +older settlements of the interior and the southern departments, seem +likely in the near future to become the home of the larger portion of +the Republic’s inhabitants. If this occurs, and if the railways already +under construction are extended through this region into the interior, +there will be no other country of Central America so easily accessible +from the United States and Europe, and none which should enjoy closer +commercial and cultural relations with the outside world. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[21] For a more complete discussion of the Washington Conference, see +Chapter X. + +[22] The rates charged are equivalent to $10 in gold for each +passenger, and $1.20 to $1.60 per hundred pounds for freight. The +distance is eighty-one miles. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + COSTA RICA + + Concentration of the Population in One Small District--Predominance + of Spanish Blood--Social Conditions Resulting from Absence of Indian + Laborers--Political Tranquillity--History--Character of the Government + Today--Foreign Commerce and Means of Transportation. + + +Although the territory of Costa Rica is approximately 23,000 square +miles in area, nearly all of her four hundred thousand inhabitants, +with the exception of some small groups of Indians and negroes who +take no part in the political life of the country, live on one small +plateau, from three to four thousand feet above sea level, surrounded +by the volcanoes and ranges of the Central American _cordillera_. The +population is so dense in this _meseta central_, as it is called, that +it is seldom possible to walk more than a few minutes without passing +a house. San José, Cartago, Heredia, and Alajuela, the four principal +cities, are connected with one another by a single cart road less than +thirty miles in length, and few of the smaller towns and villages are +more than a day’s walk from the capital. Almost every acre, in the +valley and on the sides of the mountains, is used for agricultural +purposes. The people have never shown any inclination to expand into +the mountainous country to the southward, where communication with +the towns would be rather difficult, or into the hot and insalubrious +regions on the coasts. The Atlantic seaboard, as in the other Central +American countries, is given over to banana plantations, owned and +worked by foreigners; and the provinces bordering on the Pacific are +sparsely inhabited by an unprogressive race who are largely of Indian +descent. Both of these districts, because of their products, are of +importance economically, but the social and political life of the +country has its center in the cool and fertile _meseta central_. + +Here there has grown up a nation which is entirely different from any +of the other Central American republics. The Spanish pioneers who +founded the city of Cartago in the latter part of the sixteenth century +were unable from the outset to establish a colony similar to those in +other parts of the Isthmus, because there was no dense agricultural +population to be divided up as laborers among the settlers. Elsewhere +the Indians, already living in large towns and devoting themselves +to agriculture, had been forced with surprisingly little difficulty +to work for their new masters; but in Costa Rica there were only a +few scattered tribes, in a low stage of civilization, who cultivated +the soil in a rude way simply to supplement their natural food supply +obtained by hunting. Unaccustomed to steady labor, they were not +promising material for a serf class like that existing at the time +in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The settlers nevertheless introduced the +_repartimiento_ system immediately after their arrival in their new +home, notwithstanding the royal order forbidding further enslavement +of the Indians, and they are said to have treated those natives who +were within reach with even greater cruelty than had been practiced +in the other colonies.[23] In consequence of this oppression, the +numbers of the aborigines decreased very rapidly, and the settlers +found themselves forced more and more to do their own work, in spite of +their efforts to replenish the supply of slaves with war captives from +Talamanca and other unsubjugated districts. Indian labor seems never to +have been a considerable factor in the economic life of the country. + +At the present time there are few remnants of the aboriginal tribes +in the interior, although Indian blood is still very evident in the +people of Guanacaste and other outlying districts. The inhabitants of +the central plateau are distinctly Spanish in race and civilization. +The white families, moreover, do not seem to be of the same type as +those of Guatemala and the other countries. The majority of the people +of Costa Rica, it is commonly said, are descended from _Gallegos_, one +of the most law-abiding and hard-working of the numerous races that +occupy the Iberian Peninsula, while those of the other countries are +predominantly Andalusian. However this may be, the traveler cannot +avoid noticing a certain dissimilarity in appearance and in customs and +personal traits, between the prominent families of San José and those +of other Central American capitals. + +The absence of a large Indian population had an economic and social +effect which can hardly be exaggerated. The unfortunate settlers of +Costa Rica, throughout the colonial period, were in a condition which +caused them to be pitied by all of their neighbors. Instead of living +in large towns, supported by tributes brought in by the Indians of +their _encomiendas_, the majority of the creoles found themselves +forced to settle in the country, where each family raised by its own +labor everything that it consumed. The harvests, as Governor Diego de +la Haya reported in 1719, were gathered “with the personal labor of +the poor Spanish settlers, because of there being very few slaves in +all the province.”[24] The colony was so poor that the name Costa Rica +became a standing joke. Although there was plenty of food, clothes and +other articles of European manufacture could be secured only with the +greatest difficulty, because there were no exports with which they +could be purchased. The people were almost completely shut off from the +outside world. As those who could do so left the country, and there was +no immigration, the population grew very slowly. The little community +was, however, spared the problems arising from the presence of a large +class of laborers of another race, and the Spaniards, although they +sank into a state of dense ignorance and were forced to adopt most +primitive ways of living, acquired industrious habits which still +distinguish them from their neighbors. Each settler cultivated a small +amount of land, sufficient for the support of himself and his family, +and was prevented from extending his holdings by his inability to +employ laborers and by the fact that he had no market for his products. +With the growth of the population, the entire _meseta central_ +eventually became occupied by little farms. There were a few wealthy +and influential families, who had been given special privileges by the +Spanish government, but they never occupied the dominant position which +the aristocracy of Guatemala and Nicaragua had been able to assume, and +the land which they held never amounted to more than a small portion of +the cultivated area of the colony. + +In colonial times, a large part of the land belonged to municipalities +rather than to individuals. As the population expanded, it became +customary to give to the founders of each new village a tract of land +to be held for the common use, part of it to be divided among the +inhabitants from time to time according to their ability to cultivate +it, and part to be held as pasture or forest. In 1841 President Braulio +Carillo ordered that a large portion of these _tierras ejidales_ should +become the property of those who were at the time cultivating them. +This decree was later annulled, but a similar law was passed in 1848, +permitting the cultivators to buy for a small price such parts of the +common lands as they had fenced in and were using.[25] These measures +resulted in a great increase in the number of small holdings. + +The large uncultivated tracts owned by the central government have been +sold at low prices to anyone who wished to buy them, or have been given +away as premiums to encourage the planting of coffee or cacao. Many +persons acquired large estates in this manner, especially during the +last years of the nineteenth century, and a class of large landholders +has thus gradually grown up. These have in most cases converted their +properties into coffee plantations or cattle ranches, but many large +tracts have never been brought under cultivation, because their owners +have lacked the enterprise and the capital to do so. When the quantity +of public lands in the more accessible parts of the country began to +grow small, attempts were made to check the reckless sale of them to +persons who did not intend to turn them to account agriculturally, and +to encourage their division into small holdings. The amount sold to +any one purchaser was gradually reduced, and in 1909 a law was passed +giving each head of a family the right to claim fifty hectares of +government land, free of cost, provided that he actually settle upon +it and cultivate it. The greater part of the more favorably situated +districts, however, have now passed into private hands, and the people +show little desire to undertake the conquest of the inaccessible +country outside of the _meseta central_. The establishment of new +plantations and the opening of means of communication require more +money and a larger labor supply than the natives of the country can +provide. For these reasons, the legislation intended to increase the +amount of the Republic’s territory used for agricultural purposes has +not been very successful. + +Although there are now many large plantations scattered here and there +through the country, the greater part of the _meseta central_ is still +divided into small farms. In the year 1906, there had been inscribed +in the public land register 110,201 different properties, of which the +average value was less than five hundred dollars American gold.[26] +Even when allowance is made for the fact that there are many foreigners +and rich natives, each of whom possesses a large number of separate +properties, it is evident that an overwhelming proportion of Costa +Rican families own their own homes. There is in fact practically no +landless class, with the exception of a few thousands of laborers in +the cities. + +The political development of this compact community of white peasants +has necessarily been very different from that of the neighboring +countries, where a small upper class of Spanish descent had ruled and +exploited many times its number of ignorant Indians and half-breeds. +In Costa Rica the fact that nearly all of the inhabitants were of the +same stock and had inherited the same civilization has always made the +country more democratic, and has forced the class which controlled the +government to consider to some extent the wishes and interests of the +masses. The development of the Republic, unlike that of its neighbors, +has for this reason been toward rather than away from the realization +of the republican ideals held by the framers of the first Central +American constitutions. The small landholders have always exerted a +strong influence on the side of peace and stable government, for they +have rarely joined in attempted revolutions, and have shown themselves +inclined rather to take the part of the constituted authorities when +disaffected politicians endeavored to plunge the country into civil +war. Costa Rica has seen none of the protracted and bloody struggles +which have darkened the history of the other republics, for the violent +changes of government which have occurred from time to time have +been effected rather by military conspiracies in the capital than by +campaigns in the field. + +The geographical situation of the Republic, moreover, has enabled it +to escape from the outside influences which until very recent years +made the establishment of stable government almost impossible in other +parts of Central America. At the southern extremity of the Isthmus, +separated from its nearest neighbors by several days’ travel through +practically uninhabited territory, it has been able to hold aloof from +the quarrels between the other republics, and has never been forced +to submit to their intervention in its internal affairs. Costa Rica +separated herself at an early date from the Central American Union, +and has taken little part in the attempts for its restoration, for her +statesmen have been unwilling to yoke their destinies with those of the +turbulent communities north of them. + +During the first years of Central American independence, the war +between the imperialist and republican parties in other parts of +the Isthmus had its counterpart in Costa Rica in a short struggle +between Cartago and Heredia, which favored annexation to the Mexican +Empire, and San José and Alajuela, which opposed it. The victory of +the republicans led to the removal of the capital from Cartago to +San José, where it has since remained. For nearly half a century the +government was controlled by a few powerful families, among whom the +most prominent were the Montealegres and the Moras, and the number +of persons who participated in public affairs was very limited. The +first president, Juan Mora, was successful in organizing a fairly +efficient administration and in promoting the almost non-existent +commerce of the country, and Braulio Carillo, who took charge of the +government in 1835, after two years of agitation and disorder, carried +on the policy of his predecessor and laid the basis for the present +prosperity of the country by encouraging the production and exportation +of coffee, which rapidly became the Republic’s chief crop. He also +definitely established the capital at San José, although to do so it +was necessary to put down an armed uprising by the other towns, which +desired that the seat of the government should move from one place to +another. Carillo was defeated for re-election in 1837, but he regained +his position by a _coup d’état_ in 1838 and for four years exercised +dictatorial powers. During this period, the administration was reformed +and made more centralized, the courts were reorganized and a penal +code was drawn up, and Costa Rica’s share of the debt incurred by +the federal government was paid in full. Carillo was overthrown by a +bloodless revolution in 1842, when Francisco Morazán, landing on the +Pacific Coast, won over the chiefs of the army which the president sent +against him, and occupied the capital. The victor had hardly reached +San José when he began to raise troops and money for an attempt to +re-establish the federal union, from the presidency of which he had +recently been ejected by his enemies. Angered by this attempt to force +them into a war of aggression on their neighbors, the people deposed +Morazán and put him to death. + +During the seven years which followed this revolution, continual +quarrels between political factions and constant interference by the +military leaders made it impossible for any administration long to +maintain itself in office. In 1849, however, with the election of +Juan Rafael Mora, another era of stable government commenced. The +army was reduced to obedience, and order was restored throughout the +Republic. During this administration, Costa Rica took the leading part +in the war against Walker in Nicaragua. Mora was overthrown in 1859 +by a conspiracy in San José, and two military chiefs named Blanco and +Salazar, who were allied to the Montealegre and Tinoco families, came +into power. Through their influence, José María Montealegre was made +president. Mora, who had attempted an unsuccessful counter revolution, +was put to death, and the members of his family were exiled. The +severity of the government’s action aroused much bitter feeling, but +civil war was avoided by a compromise, as the result of which Jesús +Jiménez was elected president in 1863 and José María Castro in 1866. +The latter was deposed by a pronunciamento of Blanco and Salazar in +1868, and Jiménez, as first designate, or vice-president, again took +charge of the government. The new president made a determined effort +to destroy the control which the army had been exercising over the +administration, by removing Blanco and Salazar from their commands and +forcing the other officers to obey the civil authorities. In doing +this, however, he deprived the small group which had controlled the +government for so many years of its chief support. + +Jiménez was deposed in 1870. A handful of men boldly entered the +artillery barracks, concealed in an ox-cart under a load of fodder, +and seized them, and with them the control of the city, almost +without bloodshed. The leader of the revolution was Tomás Guardia, an +army officer, who, unlike Blanco and Salazar, had little political +connection with the great families. This man was the real ruler of +Costa Rica from 1870 until his death in 1882, although he did not at +once assume the presidency. His government was a repressive military +dictatorship, in which his own personal followers held all of the +principal offices. The great families, whose leaders were exiled and +deprived of their property, were reduced almost to insignificance as +a political factor, and have never entirely regained their former +influence. Guardia was succeeded after his death by his close +associate, Próspero Fernández, who was at the time in command of the +army. When the latter died in 1885, his son-in-law, Bernardo Soto, took +charge of the administration as first designate, and caused himself to +be elected president for the term beginning in 1886. These two rulers +did much to improve the administration and the government finances, +both of which Guardia had left badly disorganized. The administration +of Soto was especially notable because of the work of Mauro Fernández, +his Minister of Public Instruction, who for the first time established +free and compulsory education throughout the Republic. The small group +which had been in power, however, had made many enemies, among whom +the most powerful were the clergy. The opposition grew so strong, as +the election of 1889 approached, that Soto found himself unable to +impose his own candidate on the nation without incurring serious danger +of revolution. He consequently allowed the first comparatively free +and popular election which the Republic had ever known, in which José +Joaquín Rodríguez, the candidate of the clerical party, was victorious. +Many of the partisans of the government desired to retain control of +the administration by the use of force, but they were prevented from +doing so by the firmness of the president and by the attitude of the +country people, who rose in arms and prepared to march on the capital +to enforce the verdict which they had given at the polls. + +Rodríguez severely repressed all opposition, and governed during the +greater part of his term without the aid of Congress. In 1894 he forced +the legislature to elect his friend Rafael Yglesias to succeed him. +During the latter’s administration, the currency was reformed and +placed on a gold basis, and the commercial and agricultural development +of the country was promoted in many other ways. Yglesias was re-elected +in 1898, but in 1902 he turned over the chief magistracy to Ascensión +Esquivel, who had been selected by a compromise between the government +and its opponents. + +With the election of Esquivel began an era of republican and +constitutional government which was unprecedented in the history of +Central America. Since 1902, the Republic has enjoyed an almost +complete freedom from internal disorder, with perfect liberty of the +press, and genuine, if somewhat corrupt, elections. Cleto González +Víquez, who followed Esquivel in 1906, and Ricardo Jiménez, president +from 1910 to 1914, were chosen by a majority of the voters in contests +in which practically all of the adult male population of the Republic +took part. Alfredo González, Jiménez’s successor, was placed in office +by Congress in 1914, after no candidate had received a majority of the +popular vote. The legality of his election was considered doubtful, +but he remained at the head of the government until January, 1917. His +advocacy of radical financial reforms, including a direct property tax +and a heavy progressive income tax, aroused much hostility among the +wealthy classes and alienated several of the more influential political +leaders, with the result that he was overthrown by an almost bloodless +_golpe de cuartel_ engineered by Federico Tinoco, the Minister of War. +The latter was formally elected president of the Republic on April +1, 1917. Each of the recent rulers of Costa Rica has devoted himself +with enlightened patriotism to promoting the welfare of the country, +and great advances have been made in reorganizing the finances, in +safeguarding the public health, and in providing for the education of +the masses of the people. + +The inhabitants of Costa Rica now enjoy more stable and more nearly +democratic political institutions than any of their Central American +neighbors. Constitutional government works in practice, and the letter +of the law is generally respected, even though its spirit is often +ingeniously circumvented. The president walks through the streets much +like a private citizen, without fear of assassination or of being +captured by his enemies, and the leaders of the opposition carry on +their propaganda in San José without hindrance or persecution, and at +times are even called in to consult with the president on matters of +great importance. The press criticises the administration fearlessly +and at times scurrilously, and animated political discussions may +be heard every day on the principal corner of the main street of +the capital. The elections are participated in by about as large a +proportion of the entire population as in the United States.[27] If one +candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, he becomes president, +and if no absolute choice is made by the people, the question goes +to the Congress, where it is decided by intrigues and deals between +the political leaders. The administration is able to exert a decided +influence in the selection of its successor through its control of the +patronage and the army; but the final decision rests with the people +or the popularly elected deputies, and it is not probable that any +president would resort now to the forceful methods by which official +candidates were placed in office a few decades ago. The only break +in the peaceful development of constitutional government since 1902 +was the _coup d’état_ of 1917. That the dissatisfied party should +have chosen violent means for obtaining control of the government, +instead of waiting for the election which would have been held within +a year, must be regretted by every friend of Costa Rica, but this very +event nevertheless gave the people of the Republic an opportunity +to show their capacity for self-government. Nothing could be more +characteristic of Costa Rica than the whole-hearted co-operation of +all political elements in the organization of the new administration, +without either bloodshed or persecution. + +Government by the people, however, has not really advanced so far as +the number of votes cast at the elections would seem to indicate, for +the great majority of the Republic’s inhabitants still take little +interest in political affairs. So long as order is maintained and +their property rights are secure, they do not care particularly which +group of politicians is in control and they are guided in voting more +by the inducements held out by the rival candidates than by their +judgments. Personalities rather than questions of national policy are +the issue, for it is rarely that any candidate makes his campaign upon +a definite political or economic platform. Between the elections, +public opinion, although far more influential than in any of the other +Central American countries, exercises little real control over the +policy of the government. The newspapers are very widely read, and the +people as a whole are remarkably well informed about current events, +but the press nevertheless has comparatively little power, because no +one believes in its impartiality or its incorruptibility. + +The choice of candidates for public office and the conduct of the +government are left almost entirely to a small number of landed +proprietors, lawyers, physicians, and professional politicians residing +in San José. These owe their influence partly to social position and +wealth, but more especially to education; for although the members +of the old principal families are still prominent, there are also +many influential leaders who have risen from the lower classes by +availing themselves of the educational advantages which the Republic +offers to all its citizens. The ruling class is divided into a number +of small political cliques, each of which professes allegiance to a +party chief. As might be expected in an aristocracy composed chiefly +of the leading people of a town of thirty thousand inhabitants, ties +of blood and personal feeling play a very large part in the formation +of these groups, especially as the prominent families are very large, +and each is closely related with the others by intermarriage. A leader +is often able to derive the major portion of his strength from his +relatives alone, for the aid of ten or fifteen active and popular +sons or sons-in-law, together with that of several score of brothers +and cousins and nephews, is not to be despised in a country where +there are at most only a few hundred active politicians. Besides his +relatives and his intimate friends, however, each party chief has also +a number of followers who are attached to him by the hope of obtaining +employment in one of the government offices, for a very large number +of persons among the upper class have little occupation aside from +politics, and little income beyond that derived from official positions +when their friends are in power. + +The various leaders may have different political ideals and economic +theories, which to some extent influence their relations to one +another, but it can hardly be said that any of the present parties have +definite principles or programs. Each desires primarily to win the +elections in order to put its followers in office; and the platforms +and the utterances of the leaders are shaped with this end in view, +with the result that they receive little attention and less credence. +When it is necessary in order to obtain control of the government, +leaders of widely different points of view will join forces without any +suspicion of inconsistency, and it is no very uncommon occurrence for a +prominent member of one party to join another and very different group, +because of a quarrel with his former associates or simply because the +change improves his chances of advancement. Sectional jealousy is no +longer a force in politics, since the capital has so far outstripped +the other towns in population and wealth, and religious questions are +rarely injected into the campaign. Attempts have been made to organize +a popular party among the laborers and peasants, and this party has +achieved some notable successes at the polls, but its policy when +in power is very similar to that of the other factions. There is in +reality little ground for political rivalry between the different +classes of the population. + +The so-called parties have so little permanent organization that +they can hardly be said to be in existence during the greater part +of the presidential term. About a year before an election, the heads +of the stronger groups, who are often perennial candidates, begin to +organize their own followers, and to bargain for the support of the +less powerful leaders, with a view to inaugurating their campaigns. +Committees and clubs are organized in each town and village, and +desperate efforts are made to secure the support of influential +citizens who are not permanently affiliated with any party, and to +arouse the interest of the voters in general. Processions and serenades +are organized to show the popularity of each candidate, and orators +are sent to every town and village on Sunday afternoons to entertain +the voters with abuse and denunciation of the rival aspirants. Party +newspapers are established, but they confine themselves to printing +long lists of local committees and adherents and to describing meetings +and ovations. One may search their columns in vain for serious +discussion of the issues of the campaign. Several of the regular +newspapers take sides more or less openly, while others maintain an +ostensible neutrality, but the press as a whole seems to have little +influence over the voters. As the contest progresses, feeling runs +higher and higher among the politicians, and the voters become first +interested and then excited. The meetings and ovations, the continual +political arguments on the streets, resulting in an occasional riot, +and the wholesale treating by the party workers in the drink-shops, +distract the attention of the people from their ordinary occupations, +and temporarily disorganize the entire community. Elections are +therefore looked forward to with a certain amount of dread by the more +respectable classes. + +Since the adoption of the law of 1913, the President, the members of +Congress, and the municipal _regidores_ have been chosen by direct +popular vote instead of by electoral colleges. The balloting takes +place on the same day in all parts of the country. Each citizen must +inscribe his choice in a book where all may read it, and every party +has representatives at the polls to secure fair play. This system +prevents fraudulent counting, but it also encourages corruption and +the exercise of improper influence on the individual elector. Bribery +is practiced openly and on a large scale by all parties, and the voter +is often prevented from exercising his own discretion in casting his +ballot by the fear of offending the local authorities or other powerful +personages in his village. The amount of intimidation and coercion, +however, is insignificant as compared with that in the other republics, +and attempts to influence voters by such means are generally condemned +by public opinion. The president is prevented by the constitution from +seeking his own re-election, but one of his associates is usually +frankly supported by the administration as the official candidate, +and thus has an immense advantage over his opponents, even though +recent presidents have refrained from using the army and the police to +interfere with their enemies’ campaigns or to keep the adherents of the +opposition party away from the polls on election day. + +The large supplies of money which are perhaps the most important factor +in the campaign are obtained by contributions from members of the +party, who hope to obtain offices for themselves or their friends in +the event of a victory, and from native and foreign business men who +desire special concessions. The banks of San José usually assist one +candidate actively though secretly, and considerable amounts are also +obtained from certain rich speculators, in return for favors contingent +on the election of the candidate whom they support. Consequently a +new administration comes into office bound by numerous more or less +improper pledges, and burdened by a considerable party debt. After +the election of 1913-14, the victorious group liquidated a portion of +its financial obligations by a levy on all office-holders, who were +presumably the chief beneficiaries of the party triumph. + +The choice of the voters does not always inspire the respect which +it would in a democracy more conscious of its power and more jealous +of its rights. The people of Costa Rica have more than once shown +that they were ready to compel respect for their will when their +interests were at stake, but as a rule they are disposed to recognize +any administration which controls the capital, regarding civil war, +with its attendant destruction of crops and livestock, as a greater +evil than submission to an illegal government. It is not strange, +therefore, that a defeated faction should occasionally attempt to +seize the barracks in San José by force or by strategy, or that the +president should exact conditions from an opponent victorious in +an election before turning over to him the command of the military +forces. No candidate opposed by the government has ever obtained the +presidency without either making a compromise with his predecessor or +else overcoming the latter’s resistance by force, for even the freely +elected presidents of the last decade have in every case had the +approval, if not the active support, of the previous administration. +The strength of the government, however, in reality rests far less upon +the army than upon the disapproval of the people as a whole of any +attempt to displace the constituted authorities in a disorderly manner, +for the army itself is almost insignificant as a military force. There +are a few troops in the barracks of the capital, but elsewhere order +is maintained entirely by the civil police. It is a proud boast of the +Costa Ricans that their government employs more school teachers than +soldiers. + +The President of the Republic has an almost absolute control over the +machinery of the government. He not only appoints all administrative +officers, but also in practice exercises a dominant influence over +the deliberations of the Congress, where his ministers initiate the +most important legislation. Even when his personal followers do not +have a majority in the Chamber, he can usually command one by the +use of patronage or of money from the treasury, which is often paid +to the Deputies in the form of fees for professional services to the +government. As party lines break down soon after an election, the +minor political leaders who make up the legislative body are apt to be +influenced less by hostility to the administration than by a desire +to maintain their following in their own districts by securing public +works for their towns and employment for their constituents. In times +of emergency, moreover, the Congress itself frequently vests the +President with practically absolute power, as it did when the country +was passing through the economic crisis which followed the outbreak of +the European war. + +The Judicial Department, however, is far more nearly independent of +the Executive. The Supreme Court, which is elected by the Congress +every four years during the political slack season in the middle +of the presidential term, appoints and removes all subordinate +magistrates throughout the Republic. Politics enters very little into +the composition of this body, partly because of the strong sentiment +in favor of a non-partisan judiciary, and partly because party lines +are almost non-existent at the time when the judges are chosen. The +subordinate positions are also saved from the spoils system which rules +in other departments of the government, although it is inevitable that +purely personal considerations should enter to some extent into the +appointments. The administration of justice is on the whole prompt +and efficient, although the magistrates are not always distinguished +for erudition or ability and those on the supreme bench sometimes +show a human desire to make sure of their re-election as the time for +this draws near, by keeping on good terms with the President and with +the members of Congress. They are generally honest and impartial in +their decisions, however, and their incorruptibility, with hardly any +exceptions, is undoubted. That not only the people themselves but also +the foreigners in the country have confidence in the courts is shown by +the fact that there has been a conspicuous lack of the complaints of +denial of justice which have complicated the relations of some other +Latin American republics. + +The local administration is highly centralized, but the people of +each district enjoy a certain amount of local self-government through +their municipalities. The representatives of the central government +are the executive officers of these bodies,[28] and the Department of +_Gobernación_ has a final veto over all their acts, but the _regidores_ +are freely elected by the people of each town and village, and have +very wide powers in matters of purely local interest. The lack of +funds, however, arising from the fact that the municipalities have +no source of revenue except certain license fees and fees for public +services, forces them to leave to the central government many of +the functions which are assigned to them by the constitution, and +especially the support and direction of almost all the more costly +public works, and at the same time makes them politically subservient +to the President and the Congress, which can provide or withhold +appropriations for local purposes. President Alfredo González attempted +to make the local units truly autonomous, by authorizing them, in the +fiscal legislation passed just before his fall, to levy direct taxes +upon their inhabitants by adding a percentage to the national direct +taxes. + +The central government itself, thanks to a long period of internal +peace and to the patriotism and ability of the men who have been at +its head, has reached a high degree of efficiency and of usefulness to +the community. Private rights are generally well protected, and the +oppression of private citizens by the officials, while not unknown, +is unusual. The security of persons and property is guaranteed by a +well-organized police force, a fairly efficient judiciary, and an +excellent land registry system. In spite of the difficulties presented +by the mountainous character of the country and by six months of heavy +rains every year, the Republic possesses a fair system of highways, +although in this matter there is still room for improvement. The +government-owned and operated railway from San José to the Pacific +Coast compares favorably, at least in the service rendered, with those +controlled by foreign corporations in other parts of Central America. +There are sewers in the larger towns, and aqueducts supply healthful +drinking water even in the small villages. The public health is also +protected by a rigid quarantine service, by a veterinary service which +inspects live cattle and meat, and by the regulation of contagious +diseases and prostitution; and the government employs forty physicians +in various parts of the country who treat the poor in their districts +free of charge. Many of the public services, because of the lack of +experience and training on the part of the officials, and because of +the poverty of the government, are still in an unsatisfactory state, +but they at least show an earnest desire on the part of the authorities +to promote the welfare of the country. + +During the last three years, remarkable progress has been made in +improving sanitary conditions. The campaign against the hookworm, +inaugurated in 1914 with the aid of the International Health Commission +of the Rockefeller Foundation, already promises to effect an +incalculable change in the condition of the country people, an immense +number of whom suffer from this disease. The representative of the +International Health Commission has been made the head of an official +department under the Ministry of Police, and all local health officers +and police officials have been placed under his orders to assist him +in the examination and treatment of patients and the execution of +sanitary measures designed to check further spread of the disease. At +the same time, he has been made Director of the School Medical Corps, +in which capacity he has done much to secure proper care for the health +of the children and to improve hygienic conditions in the schools. +With the earnest co-operation of the government, notable results have +been obtained even in the short time which has elapsed since the work +was begun. It is impossible to estimate what the final effect of work +such as this will be, for the extinction of the hookworm alone, to +say nothing of the other results of the campaign of medical education +and sanitary improvement which has been undertaken, cannot but have a +lasting effect on the happiness of the people and on their capacity for +labor. + +The field of activity in which the rulers of Costa Rica have perhaps +shown the most interest has been that of education. Its school system +gives the Republic one of its strongest claims to be ranked among the +progressive communities of the world. The nation which a century ago +was so illiterate that it was difficult to find enough men who could +read and write to fill the public offices, now provides free and +obligatory instruction for all of its citizens, with a primary school +in every settlement where there are thirty children to attend it. In +1915, there were 1,108 teachers and 34,703 children in the public +schools.[29] New buildings and equipment are being secured as fast +as possible, and new courses of technical and agricultural training +are being introduced everywhere. There are five institutions for the +secondary education of both sexes, two in San José, and one each in +Cartago, Heredia, and Alajuela, offering instruction similar to that +given in American schools. These have somewhat over eight hundred +students in all. The latter are chiefly from the middle classes in +the towns, but the brighter children from the country schools are +also encouraged and financially aided in continuing their education +after they complete the primary course. A national normal school has +recently been established in Heredia to provide teachers for the entire +system. Besides the government institutions, there are schools of +law, pharmacy, music, fine arts, textiles, agriculture, and domestic +science, most of them in San José, which receive some aid from the +treasury. How high the percentage of literacy is, is attested by the +large circulation of newspapers in the country districts. + +An examination of the work of the government shows that the men who +control the destinies of the Republic, however regrettable their +political methods sometimes are, do not seek power solely for their own +profit. If there is a large amount of favoritism and graft in official +circles, there is also much progressive spirit and true patriotism. +Most of the government employees are appointed for political reasons, +but they ordinarily perform their duties with as much energy and zeal +as can be expected in tropical America. Public money is often misused, +and improper considerations sometimes govern the letting of contracts, +but public works are nevertheless well executed. Wholesale theft from +the treasury, which is too often regarded with cynical indifference in +other parts of the Isthmus, would not be tolerated by public opinion in +Costa Rica. + +Costa Rica’s freedom from internal disorder has enabled her to +attain a prosperity which has entirely transformed the backward and +poverty-stricken community of colonial days. In 1821, her people had +almost no means of communication with the outside world. They produced +nothing which they could export, and they were separated from either +coast by several days of difficult and dangerous traveling. Commerce +with the outside world, however, began soon after the declaration of +independence with the development of the growing of coffee, which was +exported for the first time in 1835.[30] The importance of this crop +increased rapidly, especially after the construction of a cart road, +which was completed in 1846, to the Pacific port of Puntarenas. The +Costa Rica berry soon acquired and still holds a high reputation in the +European markets. + +The exporters at first encountered great difficulty and expense in +shipping their product, which they had to send around Cape Horn, or +later by the expensive route of the Panama Railway. The government, +therefore, early endeavored to provide more adequate means of +transportation. In 1871, work on a line from Puerto Limón on the +Caribbean Sea to the capital was begun by Mr. Minor C. Keith. After +difficulties which seemed almost insuperable had been overcome and +thousands of lives had been sacrificed in the deadly lowlands of the +East Coast, through train service to San José was finally opened in +1890, and the Republic found itself for the first time in direct +communication with the United States and Europe. The railway, which +still carries the greater part of the imports and exports, was leased +in 1905 for a period of ninety-five years to the Northern Railway of +Costa Rica, a concern owned by the United Fruit Company. + +It was while building this road that Mr. Keith began to plant the +banana farms which later developed into the enormous Caribbean +properties of the United Fruit Company. Costa Rica still leads the +Central American republics in the production of this fruit. Almost +the entire East Coast has now been brought under cultivation, and +English-speaking communities of Americans and Jamaica negroes have +grown up everywhere along the railroad and its numerous branches. +In spite of the ravages of the disease which has attacked the older +plantations, more than eleven million bunches of bananas were exported +from Limón and its tributary ports in 1913,[31]--a quantity the +immensity of which can only be grasped when we realize that it would +provide approximately a dozen bananas for every man, woman, and child +in the United States. The Fruit Company is of course very powerful in +this region, where even the police duties of the central government are +to a great extent exercised through its agents. In the interior, the +“United” has less influence. It has many friends as well as enemies +among the party leaders, and it has not encountered so intense a spirit +of jealousy and hostility towards foreign enterprises as is found in +certain of the other republics; but whatever efforts it has made to +influence the outcome of presidential and congressional elections, in +order to be in a more advantageous position to ask concessions from the +government, have usually been conspicuously unsuccessful. + +In addition to the Northern Railway, the Republic has another line, +owned and operated by the government, from San José to Puntarenas on +the Pacific Coast. This also was commenced during the administration +of General Guardia, but it was not completed until 1910. Being shorter +and on the whole less expensive to operate than the Atlantic road, it +should eventually become a formidable competitor of the latter when +adequate transportation is provided by way of the Panama Canal. + +In the last decade of the nineteenth century, when the price of +coffee in the world’s markets was high, the Republic enjoyed an era +of great prosperity. The wealthier families were able to travel and +to study abroad as they had never done before, and both society and +the government entered on a period of extravagance, of which the +magnificent national theater in San José is an enduring memorial. +When the coffee prices fell, there was a reaction which checked +the development of the country’s natural resources. The area under +cultivation in the interior has now remained practically the same for +many years, and the exports of coffee, which have declined in value, +have increased little or not at all in quantity.[32] During this time, +many of the more prominent native families have become impoverished, +and the upper classes as a whole have hardly shown either the energy +or the adaptability necessary to maintain their political and economic +leadership under modern conditions. They devote themselves to politics +and to the learned professions, but there are now comparatively few +of the wealthy landholders who form the most influential class in the +other Central American republics. + +Banking, commerce, and mining are almost entirely in the hands of +foreigners, although the majority of the coffee plantations are still +owned by citizens of the country. These immigrants have identified +themselves more completely with the community than in any of the other +republics, often intermarrying with the natives and taking a prominent +part in local affairs. San José, although not so large or so wealthy as +Guatemala or San Salvador, is more like a European city than any other +capital in the Isthmus. + +The industrious, sturdily independent peasant class in the country +districts has been little affected by the changes which have taken +place in the cities. Throughout the _meseta central_ there are +countless small farms, which not only supply their owners with corn, +beans, and sugar cane for food, but at the same time frequently produce +a small amount of coffee, which is sold to the proprietors of the +large cleaning mills to be prepared for export. The farmers not only +cultivate their own properties, but also work for several days in each +week on the larger plantations. As wages are fairly high, they thus +have a money income which enables them to live far better than their +brothers in the neighboring countries. Most of them can read and write, +and they are able to give their children educational advantages little +inferior to those enjoyed by country people in any other part of the +world. During the last few years, as we have seen, they have even +acquired a not inconsiderable political power, which will become more +important as they become more experienced in its use. It is these small +landholders who have made Costa Rica what she is today, and who offer +the strongest guarantee for her future. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] See L. Fernández, _Historia de Costa Rica durante la Dominación +Española_. + +[24] Quoted by Fernández, _op. cit._ p. 316. + +[25] Costa Rica, _Colección de Leyes_, VI, 133; IX, 453. + +[26] For these figures, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Manuel +Aragón, formerly director of the Costa Rican statistical office. + +[27] In the election of 1913, 64,056 votes were cast. The total +population in that year was estimated at 410,981. + +[28] In this Costa Rica differs from the other republics, where the +_alcalde_ and the local representative of the central government are +two distinct persons, theoretically independent of one another. + +[29] Costa Rica, _Anuario Estadístico_, 1915. + +[30] Bancroft, _History of Central America_, Vol. III, p. 653. + +[31] Costa Rica, _Anuario Estadístico_, 1913, p. xxxvii. + +[32] The annual exports of coffee averaged 13,478,941 kilos, valued at +8,835,726 colones for the ten years 1891-1900; and 14,478,605 kilos, +valued at 6,709,767 colones for the ten years 1901-1910. (Costa Rica, +_Resúmenes Estadísticos_, 1883-1910.) + +The exportations in the years 1912-1915, according to the _Anuario +Estadístico_ for 1913 and for 1915, were as follows: + + Value in + Year. Kilos. colones. + 1912 12,237,875 7,623,561 + 1913 13,019,059 7,752,750 + 1914 17,717,068 10,028,731 + 1915 12,206,357 8,022,166 + +It should be noted that the value of the colon in 1915, and during a +part of 1914, was approximately 20 per cent less than under normal +conditions. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTRAL AMERICAN FEDERATION + + Strength of the Unionist Idea--Breakdown of the First + Federation--Attempts to Establish a New Union--Obstacles to the + Formation of such a Union at Present--Advantages which would be + Derived from Federation--The Attitude of the United States. + + +The ideal of uniting Central America under one government has been +one of the strongest forces which have influenced internal politics +and international relations in the Isthmus from the declaration of +independence down to the present day. Realizing that the five countries +can never be really independent of one another, and that the interests +of all would be best served by joining forces for their common ends, +the majority of their statesmen have always been, and are today, +perhaps more than ever, desirous of seeing them transformed from a +group of small, disorderly republics into one strong nation, able to +promote the interests of its people and to command respect from foreign +powers. Such a nation, with its five millions of inhabitants, its +fertile soil, and its great natural resources, would, they believe, +be able to assume a position of importance in the councils of Latin +America and to make great strides towards better government and towards +a more complete realization of economic opportunities at home. In the +last five years especially, increasing contact and occasional friction +with other powers have drawn the five states closer together than ever +before, for the problems created by the invasion of foreign financial +interests and by the intervention of foreign governments in their +internal affairs have made them realize more than ever the dangers to +which their divided condition and their quarrels among themselves +expose them. The pressure from outside has given rise to a stronger +sentiment of their common nationality and to a fuller realization of +the identity of their interests than could exist while they were still +almost shut off from intercourse with other countries. + +There are many influences which make the relations between the five +countries closer than those which ordinarily exist between neighboring +independent states. Their administrative union during the three +centuries of Spanish rule and their entry together into the family +of nations not only created a strong sentimental tie between them, +but also gave rise to political problems common to them all, and +to political parties which regarded not individual states but the +Isthmus as a whole as their theater of activity. The factions which +arose during the years of the Federation kept up an international +organization after the dissolution of the central government, and +Conservatives in Guatemala, or Liberals in Salvador and Nicaragua, +interfered from time to time to promote the interests of their +parties in other countries throughout the nineteenth century. Even at +the present time, each state has too much interest in the internal +affairs of its neighbors to remain indifferent when revolutions or +other political changes occur. As a result of this situation, men +of the same way of thinking have been brought into closer relations +with one another, and have been made to feel, by their co-operation +for common political ends, that they were, in fact, citizens of one +Central American nation. This feeling has been strengthened by the +custom of exiling the leaders of the defeated party after revolutions, +which has encouraged travel from one country to another, and by the +fact that many of the prominent families of the Isthmus are related to +one another by intermarriage. The five republics, moreover, are all +confronted with the same economic problems, in developing their natural +resources, improving their agricultural methods, and securing capital +for the construction of railroads and other public works; and they have +much in common in their civilization, and especially in the customs +and ways of thought of the upper classes, despite the wide divergences +between them in racial and social conditions. + +In 1821, when the authority of Spain was thrown off, it was supposed as +a matter of course that the provinces of what had been the Viceroyalty +of Guatemala would continue to be united under one government. The +Constituent Assembly which met after the dissolution of the short-lived +union with Mexico was therefore following the logical course laid down +for it by the history and the existing political organization of the +five countries, as well as by the ideas of the political theorists +among its members, when it adopted a constitution providing for a +federal republic. The stormy history of the government thus established +has already been sketched. The Federation fell to pieces partly +because of local jealousies and the conflicts of local interests, +and partly because of faults in its constitution and weaknesses in +its administration. The civil war which existed in almost all of the +states, and the strife between the different departments of the central +government itself, made it impossible for the latter to establish +a constitutional regime or permanently to exercise any real power. +The states, jealous of the control of their affairs from Guatemala, +respected the orders of the federal authorities only when it suited +their convenience to do so; and these authorities, in order to maintain +their position, were forced to intervene in the internal affairs of the +states to establish administrations subservient to their wishes. There +was thus a series of revolutions and counter revolutions, until within +a few years both the national and local governments had become mere +despotisms which depended for support solely upon the federal army. It +was impossible for a centralized military regime to exist very long in +a country where means of communication between the different sections +were so inadequate, and where the centrifugal forces were so strong +as they were in the turbulent, mutually jealous communities of the +Isthmus. The federal government had less and less real power after the +first term of President Morazán, and in 1840 it disappeared entirely +with the expulsion of its representatives from Central America. + +The disastrous failure of the federal republic convinced many of the +statesmen of the Isthmus that their countries would be better off +as separate states. This feeling was especially strong among the +Conservatives in Guatemala, who for more than thirty years were the +greatest obstacle to the restoration of the Union. The great families’ +opposition to a political connection with the other states seems to +have arisen from the memory of the expense to which they had been +put in supporting the federal authorities before 1829, and of their +sufferings at the hands of the Liberals from Honduras and Salvador, +who overwhelmed and subjugated them in that year. Costa Rica, at the +other extreme of the Isthmus, had also withdrawn formally from the +Federation, inspired by motives much similar to those which actuated +Guatemala. Unlike the latter country, however, she was able because +of her isolated position to remain entirely aloof from the political +struggles elsewhere, and only on one or two occasions was forced to +take notice of the agitation to which the activities of the Unionist +party periodically gave rise. + +Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, on the other hand, refused to +accept the dissolution of the first union as a final settlement of the +relation of the states to one another. Many of the leaders in those +countries had taken part in the defeat of Morazán, but they had done +so from personal hostility to the federal president rather than from a +desire for the destruction of the federal government. The restoration +of the Union was championed by the Liberal party, but it was also +favored by many of the Conservatives, despite the influence exerted +upon the latter by their allies in Guatemala. There were a number of +factors which tended to draw the three central republics together. +With their _mestizo_ population, they resembled one another in their +economic and social conditions far more than they resembled Guatemala, +with its primitive Indian tribes, on the one hand, or white Costa Rica +on the other; and thus no one of them was influenced, as were those +countries, by a consciousness that its internal problems were entirely +different from those of its neighbors. Furthermore, their jealousy of +the superior power of Guatemala, and the alarm caused by Carrera’s +repeated interventions in their affairs during his dictatorship in that +country, greatly strengthened their desire to unite their forces for +purposes of mutual defense. Great Britain’s aggressions on the East +Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras had the same result after 1848. Between +1840 and the invasion of Nicaragua by Walker in 1854, hardly a year +passed without the meeting of a congress to discuss plans for forming +a union, at least between these three countries. As a rule these +congresses adjourned without achieving any definite result, finding +their work made hopeless by the intrigues of the separatist party in +Guatemala and by the mutual mistrust of the participating states, but +twice a federal government in which neither Guatemala nor Costa Rica +was represented was actually established. A third attempt to unite +the central republics was made forty years later, at the end of the +nineteenth century. + +The history of these abortive unions affords an instructive +illustration of the influences which have kept the five states apart. +In 1842, delegates from Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua met at +Chinandega, in the last named republic, and adopted a treaty providing +not so much for a central government as for a confederation, in which +each state was left free to manage its own affairs, even to the extent +of carrying on diplomatic relations and making war. The only common +authority was a council, consisting of one delegate from each republic +and presided over by a Supreme Delegate, and a supreme court chosen by +the state legislatures. This government sent troops to aid Salvador +in a war between that country and Guatemala in 1844, and finally +succeeded in bringing the war to an end through the mediation of Frutos +Chamorro, the Supreme Delegate. The confederation came to an abrupt and +disastrous end in the same year, however, when Salvador and Honduras +attacked Nicaragua because the latter had granted asylum to political +exiles from these countries.[33] + +In 1849, the central republics again signed a treaty of confederation +which provided for common action in foreign affairs and a union for +purposes of defense. Their action was inspired by the encroachment +of Great Britain on the territory of Nicaragua and Honduras on the +Mosquito Coast. The council of commissioners to which the management +of the affairs of the confederation was intrusted accomplished little; +but in 1852, in the face of renewed foreign complications, a diet met +at Tegucigalpa to make the union between the three countries closer and +to establish, if possible, a real federal government. The diet elected +a president, and adopted a constitution giving that official power, not +only to represent the three republics in their dealings with foreign +powers, but also to intervene by force in the internal affairs of the +states, when it was necessary to maintain order. Disapproving of this +provision, Salvador and Nicaragua refused to ratify the constitution, +and the diet dissolved.[34] + +Although the Conservatives of the central republics had been less +hostile to the restoration of the federation than were the great +families of Guatemala, they took little interest in plans for a +union after these two failures. During their thirty years’ rule in +Nicaragua, therefore, that country did not enter into another attempt +to accomplish what was regarded as primarily the ideal of the opposite +party. With Salvador and Costa Rica, in fact, it opposed and defeated +the projects of Rufino Barrios in 1885. It was not until the accession +of President Zelaya that the Nicaraguan government again showed itself +ready to enter into projects for the restoration of the federation. +In 1895, the representatives of the three central republics, meeting +at Amapala, drew up a treaty establishing a diet, composed of one +member from each country, to which was intrusted the conduct of their +relations with one another and with other nations. This body was to +elaborate a definite plan for a closer, permanent union.[35] The +federation assumed the name “Greater Republic of Central America,” +and at once took steps to enter into diplomatic relations with the +powers.[36] During the next two years a constitution was drawn up, and +in the autumn of 1898 an executive council, with far broader powers +than the old diet, was installed in Amapala. It had scarcely assembled, +however, when the party opposed to the union in Salvador overthrew +the government of that state, and declared the federation at an end. +The council called upon the presidents of Nicaragua and Honduras +to send troops to uphold its authority, but neither executive was +willing to make war upon the new government of Salvador. The union was +consequently dissolved.[37] + +The failure of the federations created by the treaties of 1842, 1849, +and 1895 did not indicate that a real union of the five countries +would be impracticable, because a real union was not attempted. +The political leaders who were in control in Salvador, Honduras, +and Nicaragua theoretically favored the establishment of a central +government, but they were loath to surrender to it any real power +or to confer upon it any right of control over themselves. They +insisted upon keeping the management of the state armies, finances, +and administrative machinery in their own hands, and they therefore +conferred upon the federal officials only an indefinite authority, +backed by no military force, which they respected and supported only +so long and in so far as it suited their own interests to do so. +The unions thus established were not nations, but mere leagues of +independent states. Each came to an inglorious end as soon as the rapid +changes of Central American politics brought to the front in one of the +states an administration which was not in sympathy with the men who +controlled the central government. + +The apparent impossibility of restoring the federation by the voluntary +action of the five republics convinced many of the strongest advocates +of a union that their ideal could be realized only by the use of force. +It was this belief which led Rufino Barrios, the first great Liberal +president of Guatemala, to embark on the disastrous adventure which +caused his death. Soon after his accession to power, Barrios endeavored +to persuade the presidents of the other republics to agree to some form +of federation. The latter declined to enter into any definite treaty, +although negotiations upon the subject were carried on intermittently +for several years. The United States, when invited to participate in +these efforts, declined to interfere, although warmly approving the +plan for a union.[38] The equivocal attitude of his neighbors, and +their refusal either to agree to or to reject his proposals, finally +convinced Barrios that the people of the Isthmus favored his plans, +but that the governments would consent only if they were compelled +to. On February 28, 1885, therefore, he announced that he had assumed +command of the military forces of the Central American Federation, and +invited the other states to recognize the new government, and to send +delegates to a constituent assembly which was to meet in Guatemala City +in May of the same year. Honduras expressed approval of his action and +placed troops at his disposal, but all of the other countries of the +Isthmus at once began to raise armies to defend their independence. +President Zaldívar of Salvador, upon whose aid Barrios had confidently +counted, yielded to the popular demand for resistance to the aggression +of that republic’s traditional enemy, and sent an army which defeated +the forces of Guatemala at Chalchuapa, on April 2, 1885. The death of +Barrios in this battle disheartened his followers, and put an end to a +war which could not have failed to have involved every section of the +Isthmus if it had continued. + +An ambition to place himself at the head of a restored Central American +nation has influenced more than one Central American president in his +dealings with the neighboring countries. Few have actually gone so far +as Barrios did, but the same idea which inspired the Guatemalan leader +has often influenced powerful rulers to intervene openly or covertly in +the internal affairs of the other states, and has thus frequently been +a cause of revolutions and international wars. The most recent attempt +to unite the five countries by force was made in 1907. In that year +President Zelaya of Nicaragua overthrew the government of President +Bonilla in Honduras, and set up a new one, under Miguel Dávila, which +was practically controlled by himself. He then proceeded to attack +Salvador, inspired by the idea of establishing a Central American +union,--an idea which, as he said, was at the time being advocated +with enthusiasm by the press of Central America, the United States, +and Mexico.[39] The war which followed was brought to an end by the +mediation of President Roosevelt and President Porfirio Díaz. + +At the Washington Conference, which met a few months later, the +delegates of Honduras, supported by those of Nicaragua, formally +proposed that a treaty of union be signed, and stated that the +presidents of those countries were ready to lay down their offices +if that were necessary to make the execution of the treaty possible. +This motion nearly caused the disruption of the conference, for +the delegates from Guatemala opposed it, and those from Costa Rica +objected even to its being discussed. The representatives from +Salvador, who were at first inclined to favor the plan, voted against +it as inopportune after receiving instructions to do so from their +government, and the matter was finally dropped. The arguments advanced +by the advocates and the opponents of this project give a good idea +of Central American opinion in regard to the establishment of a +union. Señor Fiallos, one of the delegates from Honduras, emphasized +the necessity for a federation to put an end to the wars between the +states. These, he said, were only civil wars which had crossed the +national boundaries, for there were no real antipathies or conflicting +interests between the various countries. He dwelt upon the expense of +keeping up five separate governments and armies,--an expense which +prevented the use of the national revenues for the development of +the country. The majority of the committee appointed to consider the +matter, on the other hand, admitted that the Union was the greatest +and noblest aspiration of Central American patriotism, but affirmed +that it could not be brought about until the economic, moral, +political, and material conditions of the five republics had been +harmonized. It recommended for the present the discussion of measures +which might prepare the way for the Union, such as the improvement +of communications, the encouragement of the coasting trade, the +establishment of uniform fiscal systems and customs duties, the holding +of annual Central American conferences, and the creation of a court of +compulsory arbitration.[40] + +There seems little probability that a stable and enduring federal +government could be established in Central America at the present +time. Even a union brought about by the voluntary action of the five +countries would almost inevitably fall to pieces sooner or later, +however patriotic the spirit which presided at its formation. The +centrifugal forces would be no stronger, perhaps, than they were in the +North American states before 1787, but they would be fatal because it +would be impossible to provide political machinery for settling them. +The establishment of a constitutional and orderly administration for +the five states together would be as difficult as it has been for each +state alone, for the mere fact of union could effect little change in +political methods or political morality, and none in the capacity of +the people for self-government. The nature of the economic and social +conditions in the four northern countries makes it inevitable that any +administration under which they were united, if at all centralized, +should be a regime of force, similar to that which already prevails +in each country. Real elections could no more be held throughout the +entire Isthmus than they can be held in any one state today, and in +the absence of elections there would be no means of changing the +authorities of the federation except by revolution or by a compromise, +not between three or four political groups, as in Nicaragua or Honduras +today, but between a large number, few of which could be represented +in the new government. The unfriendly feeling between different +sections, which is still strong among both the upper classes and the +common people, and the inevitable jealousy of the small states towards +the larger ones would sooner or later cause dissatisfaction with +the working of the federal system, and quarrels over such questions +as the distribution of offices and the expenditure of money on +internal improvements. These difficulties would be intensified by the +differences in civilization, and consequently in political requirements +and in points of view between the more and the less advanced republics. +It is hard to see how these conflicting interests could be reconciled +by a government whose officials and subjects have as yet never learned +the value of compromise, or the necessity of respecting the will of the +majority and the rights of the minority. + +The obstacles to the formation of a permanent union by the voluntary +action of the five states would be still greater in the case of one +brought about by force. An able leader, supported by the unionist party +in each of the countries, might impose a federal government on the +entire Isthmus for a time, but he would meet with immense difficulties +in upholding his authority against hostile political groups because +of the difficulty of sending troops and supplies from one section to +another. While it endured, his regime could only be a personal one. +The dissatisfied elements might be held in check temporarily, but they +would tear the Union to pieces with the more fury when the ruler who +had founded it was forced by his death or by a defeat at the hands of +his enemies to relinquish his hold upon the supreme power. + +The difficulties in the way of uniting the five republics would not be +insuperable if the ruling classes were genuinely ready to co-operate in +realizing the national ideal, but the men who enjoy the high offices +and the control of the revenues of the state governments show a decided +reluctance to giving up any of their power for the common good. The +local political groups and the influential families would necessarily +be reduced to a position of far less importance if the union were +accomplished; and the realization of this fact makes many of those +who are most enthusiastic in their advocacy of a Central American +Federation slow to take any definite steps towards its realization. It +is not difficult for the state authorities to frustrate the endeavors +of the Unionist party, because the common people and even the majority +of the upper classes show little real interest in the measures which +are from time to time proposed for actually bringing the five republics +together. Educated and patriotic people, at least in the four northern +countries, express themselves in favor of union, but they nevertheless +bring little influence to bear on their governments to support projects +aiming to bring nearer the time when a Central American nation can +be established. The international conferences provided for by the +Washington Conventions of 1907, to take a recent example, met regularly +for several years to discuss the common interests of the five republics +and to formulate plans for bringing them closer together, but they were +finally suppressed because the state authorities had failed, apparently +from pure indifference, to carry out any of their excellent and for the +most part perfectly practical recommendations. The realization of the +national ideal will not be possible until this indifference disappears +and a broader patriotism takes the place of the jealousy and mistrust +which influences the relations of the states to one another at the +present time. + +Moreover, a permanent union will be all but impossible until a change +has taken place in the political conditions of the Isthmus. No central +government could long endure unless it commanded the active support +of a strong party in every one of the states, and such a party could +hardly exist on the basis of cliques, resting largely on local feeling +and personal and family ties, such as those which today dominate the +political affairs of the five republics. An administration set up under +present conditions could only maintain itself by playing off against +one another the rival factions in the states, thus bringing about a +situation similar to that which caused unbroken turmoil during the +life of the first federation. To secure a solid basis for the creation +of a Central American nation, the control of politics must be taken +out of the hands of the factions as they are at present organized, +through an increased participation in the government by the people at +large. The spread of popular education and the introduction of foreign +ideas throughout the Isthmus makes such a change by no means a distant +probability. When it takes place, questions of personal and purely +local interests, which are now so prominent in affairs of state, will +be relegated to the background, and one of the forces which operates +most strongly to keep the states apart will thus be removed. + +The relations between the five republics would be closer if the means +of intercommunication were better. Although each country possesses +railroads and cart roads, which give the majority a comparatively +adequate internal transportation system, they are connected with one +another only by the roughest of mule paths. Very little commerce passes +over these, and journeys overland from one capital to another are beset +by many difficulties. Travelers from one country to another, in fact, +almost invariably prefer to make use of the expensive and not very +comfortable steamers which run at rare and irregular intervals between +the ports of the West Coast. This lack of transportation facilities not +only tends to isolate the five republics from one another, but also +makes much more difficult the problem of establishing a government able +to exercise an effective military control over all of them. The gradual +improvement of interstate communications will overcome this difficulty, +and will also make possible a far greater interchange of products. + +The strong unionist sentiment which exists in the four northern +countries is not shared by the people of Costa Rica, who regard the +idea of throwing in their lot with that of the other republics with an +aversion which makes their participation in the re-establishment of the +federation very doubtful. The Costa Ricans, having successfully held +aloof from the disorders in other parts of the Isthmus, have little +desire to accept any plan which might involve them in the quarrels of +their neighbors. They are loath to exchange their free institutions +for the military government which prevails around them, or to give up +their position as an independent nation to become an unimportant part +of a country in which a majority of the inhabitants, and therefore +presumably of the voters, would be backward _mestizos_ or uncivilized +Indians. Rather inclined to be self-centered and self-satisfied, +they show little sympathy with the nationalist aspirations of their +neighbors, and they are perfectly contented, for the present at least, +to continue their peaceful development in their own way. + +The free people of Costa Rica could hardly be expected to submit to +such a government as social conditions have made inevitable in some of +the republics. The differences in the internal situation of the five +countries are really the most discouraging obstacle to the realization +of the dream of Central American Union. Guatemala, for instance, with +forty per cent of the inhabitants of the Isthmus, must under any fair +plan of organization have a preponderant influence in the councils of +the federation. Her wealth and her dense Indian population, which is +more pliable in the hands of the officials than are the _ladinos_ of +the other countries, would give those who controlled her administrative +machinery a dangerous power when dissensions arose within the +federation. It is unthinkable that elections there should be anything +but a farce for generations to come, for the Indians, untouched for the +most part by the changes which are improving the position of the common +people in other parts of the Isthmus, must for a period impossible to +calculate remain under the political control of the upper classes. For +the smaller and weaker countries, therefore, the union would present +many very serious dangers. Human ingenuity could hardly devise a form +of government able to maintain itself against disaffected factions, and +to cope with the conditions existing in the less advanced parts of the +Isthmus, which would at the same time be acceptable to the people of +the more enlightened sections. + +The realization of this difficulty has led many Central American +leaders to advocate a confederation, in which each state should +be left free to manage its own affairs, rather than a centralized +federal government. As we have seen, however, unions of this kind have +several times been attempted, and have in every case been a failure. +The states which were parties to them showed little respect for the +central authorities, and refused to allow the latter to exercise any +real power. On several occasions, war broke out between the very +states which were parties to the confederation. No Central American +Union, while present political conditions continue, can be permanent +or beneficial unless the government is given real power, not only to +represent the Union in international relations, but also to maintain +order and enforce the law throughout its territory. If the individual +states retained the control of their military forces, or if they were +under administrations which were not in harmony with the national +authorities, the federation could only expect a short and stormy +life. To establish a decentralized administration would be to invite +disaffection and revolution, for each local government would become +almost inevitably a center of intrigues against the _status quo_. It +is only necessary to recall the history of the first Central American +Federation to appreciate the dangers which a half-way measure of union +would involve. + +The union of the five republics under a central government strong +enough to maintain order and make itself respected would in many ways +greatly improve their position. One nation of five million inhabitants, +with a rich territory 172,000 square miles in area, would be in a far +better position to deal with the rest of the world commercially and +diplomatically than five petty states whose quarrels make them one +another’s worst enemies. If the peoples of the Isthmus were able to +present a united front, instead of intriguing with foreign governments +against one another’s tranquillity or forcing those governments to +intervene in Central American affairs by inciting revolutions or +engaging in wars against neighboring states, one of the most serious +dangers which today threatens their independence would be done away +with. Other countries would of course rather deal with one central +authority than with five petty ones. The United States especially, +which cannot remain indifferent to the disorders arising from the +dissensions and the rival ambitions of Central American rulers, because +of its immense interests in the Caribbean Sea and the obligations which +it assumed in connection with the Washington conventions of 1907, could +not but welcome any change which promised to make for peace. + +The suppression of the present governments, with their heavy +expenditures, would effect an economy which would be of the greatest +importance to countries suffering from so many financial difficulties +as do those of Central America. In the first place, the cost of +maintaining five separate presidents, with their suites, cabinets, and +diplomatic corps, which is one of the heavy burdens upon the national +treasury today, could be eliminated, and many other unnecessary +officials could be dispensed with. Military expenditures could also +be cut down, for the armies of the several states are maintained in +part at least for use against one another. With the money thus saved, +the improvement of means of communication and the development of +natural resources could be undertaken on a larger scale than ever +before, and could moreover be carried on without encountering many +of the obstacles which interstate jealousy now puts in the way. Much +more progress than is possible at present could be made in such +matters as public instruction, sanitation, and the encouragement of +agriculture; and problems like the development of markets for Central +American exports and the protection of the national resources against +excessive exploitation by foreign capitalists could be dealt with more +effectively by united action. To obtain these benefits, however, there +must be a central government able to preserve order and to make its +authority respected in all parts of the Isthmus, for one which could +not fulfill these requirements would be worse than none at all. + +Projects for the federation of the Central American republics have +always aroused a friendly interest in the United States, where there +has been a hope that the Union would promote the stability and the +political and economic progress of the Isthmus. As early as 1859, +President Buchanan secretly offered to support Juan Rafael Mora, who +had just been exiled from Costa Rica, in an attempt to make himself +president of a restored Central American Union, promising to aid +him by sending two warships as an evidence of moral support. Mora +refused, however, on the ground that such a Union, even if it could +be established, would in the end be harmful to the best interests of +Costa Rica, which would be involved by it in the civil wars of the +other countries.[41] Some years later, Secretary Blaine expressed the +sympathy of the State Department with Barrios’ projects for uniting +the five countries, although he declined to intervene or to express +approval of the use of force in accomplishing them.[42] In 1907, before +and after the Washington Conference, there was a considerable amount of +discussion of the question in the United States both by officials and +by the press. + +More recently, the intervention of the United States in the +international affairs of the Isthmus, and even in the internal affairs +of some of the republics, has made its attitude towards the question +of re-establishing the Union more important than ever before.[43] +Many of the leading statesmen of the Isthmus believe today that the +establishment of a strong and permanent federal government can only +be brought about through active aid from Washington. On the other +hand, it has been vehemently asserted that the establishment of what +is virtually an American protectorate over Nicaragua has made it +impossible that the other countries should join in any union with her +until the policy of the United States is reversed, since they would +subject themselves by doing so to the same foreign domination. Whether +this view is entirely justified may well be doubted. In the first +place, no permanent political connection between the United States and +Nicaragua has been established, or is likely to be established. The +government of the North American Republic has indeed intervened in +Nicaragua to prevent revolutions, but it seems probable that it would +be forced to do as much in any other Central American state where +similar conditions existed. The arrangements with the North American +bankers, which have aroused so much opposition in Central America, are +primarily of a financial character. It would be idle to deny that they +constitute infringements of Nicaragua’s sovereignty, but they can be +brought to an end at any time when the Republic is ready to repay the +money which its government has borrowed and to buy back the national +property which has been sold. It is ridiculous to suppose that either +the United States or the bankers have any ulterior political purposes, +or that their aim has been other than the improvement of the economic +situation of Nicaragua. The treaty providing for American control +of the canal route and for a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca has +caused bitter controversies, but it is difficult to see how it can +have a permanent adverse influence on the question of the Union. The +United States has no interest in Central America more important than +that of aiding the five republics to become strong, prosperous, and +well-governed commonwealths, and it is therefore impossible to suppose +that it will be hostile to any movement which promises to improve their +situation. + +The unionist idea is one which should command the sympathy of everyone +interested in the future welfare of the people of the Isthmus. As we +have seen, a stable federation, established upon an equitable basis, +and accepted by all of the five republics, could not but greatly +improve their situation, making them less exposed to aggression and +interference from outside, and encouraging their internal economic +and social development. The establishment of such a federation seems +impracticable at present, and an attempt to unite the five countries, +whether by force or by the voluntary action of their governments, would +probably result in more harm than good. But the time when a strong +and progressive Central American nation can be founded seems to be +drawing steadily though slowly nearer, and the forces which are now +at work, changing the internal and the international situation of +the five republics, may bring about the consummation which so many of +their statesmen desire, sooner than now seems possible. Every friend +of the Central American countries must hope that this will be so, in +order that the dangers to which they are now exposed through their own +divisions and weaknesses and through the inability of some of them to +afford protection to the life and property of foreigners may be averted. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[33] See Bancroft, _History of Central America_, Vol. III, p. 188ff., +and A. Gómez Carillo, _Compendio de la Historia de la América Central_, +pp. 219, 304-305. + +[34] Bancroft, III, p. 209; Gómez C., pp. 306-307; J. D. Gámez, +_Historia de Nicaragua_, p. 575. + +[35] For the text of this treaty, see U. S. Foreign Relations, 1896, p. +390. + +[36] President Cleveland recognized the Greater Republic on Dec. 24, +1896. Ibid, p. 369. + +[37] Ibid., 1898, p. 172; Gómez, C. _op. cit._ p. 310. + +[38] See U. S. Foreign Relations for 1881 and following years. + +[39] See his annual message to the Nicaraguan Congress, Dec. 1, 1907. + +[40] U. S. Foreign Relations, 1907, II, pp. 669, 721. + +[41] Manuel Argüello Mora, the Costa Rican president’s nephew and +constant companion, gives an account of this interview, at which he was +present, in his “_Recuerdos é Impresiones_,” p. 66. + +[42] See U. S. Foreign Relations for 1881 and the years immediately +following, under Guatemala. + +[43] According to press dispatches dated August 31, 1917, the five +Central American governments are planning to hold a congress in the +near future to renew the conventions adopted at Washington in 1907, +and to discuss plans for a closer union between the states. It is said +that all of the other republics have accepted the invitation of the +government of Honduras to send delegates for this purpose. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + THE CAUSES OF CENTRAL AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS + + Civil War as a Characteristic Central American Political + Institution--Character and Extent of the Conflicts--Forces back of + Them: Unfitness of the People for Democratic Government, Oppression by + the Party in Power of its Enemies, Rivalry for Office, _Personalismo_ + and _Localismo_--Indifference of the Mass of the People--Hope for + Improvement--Effects of Contact with the Outside World. + + +The most important fact in the history of the Central American +republics, from their declaration of independence down to the present +time, has been the almost continuous civil war from which the majority +of them have suffered. Their inability to establish stable governments +has retarded their economic and social progress in the past, and is a +menace to their welfare and even to their national existence today. +The development of agriculture, the building of roads and railroads, +and the civilization and education of the masses of the people, have +been discouraged, both by strife between factions at home and contests +with neighboring governments, and by the misrule resulting from the +predominance of the military elements which have been brought to the +front by the premium which these conflicts have placed on armed force. +The weakness of the five countries, moreover, has frequently exposed +them to acts of aggression from foreign powers, and in recent times +their very independence has been endangered because the apparent +incapacity of most of them for self-government has led to a general +belief in Europe and America that they must one day fall under the +control of some stronger power. Under modern conditions, it is +impossible for a government which cannot maintain order and secure to +the lives and property of foreigners the protection which international +law demands to expect that its rights of sovereignty, or even its +territorial integrity, should be scrupulously respected by governments +which are more powerful and better organized. The elimination of +internal disorder is therefore one of the most serious problems which +confronts the people of the Isthmus. + +If one asks the average Central American, whether of the educated +classes or of the common people, what has been the principal cause of +the revolutions which have occurred in his country, he will almost +certainly answer: the ambition of professional politicians and the +abuse of power by the government,--the desire of each member of the +ruling class to hold office, and the tendency of each administration +to use its authority for the personal benefit of those who control its +policy and for the gratification of their hatred of their opponents. +The force of this reply can be readily appreciated by one who has +seen the conditions which exist in some of the five republics, but +the causes assigned are nevertheless hardly adequate to explain the +extreme prevalence of internal strife in the five republics. There +are many countries with perfectly stable governments which are cursed +with politicians more ambitious and more selfish than those who have +been prominent in revolutions in Central America, and many also where +the opponents of those in power are treated with far more severity +than falls to the lot of the defeated party there. The reasons given +indicate, perhaps, the motives which actuate those who participate +in each revolt, but they do not explain the underlying causes which +have made uprisings against the government more frequent in Central +America than in almost any other part of the civilized world. These +causes must be sought, not in the aspirations and immorality of any one +relatively small group of men, such as that which figures in Central +American political affairs, but rather in the nature and working of the +governmental institutions and in the economic and social condition of +the people as a whole. + +The way in which revolution became the only means by which the +political institutions of the five republics could be worked has +already been described. The constitutions which were drawn up for +the federal government and for the five states in the years 1823-25 +provided, as we have seen, for the choosing of the more important +officials by popular elections; but the holding of real elections soon +proved to be impossible, because of the ignorance and indifference +of the great majority of the people, and the lack of experience in +self-government among the ruling classes. The parties which were +contending with one another for the control of the government soon +yielded to the temptation to employ force and fraud to attain their +ends; and the voting for officials consequently became, first an +occasion for periodic disorders, accompanied frequently by an appeal to +arms, and then a mere farce, in which the triumph of the administration +candidate was assured by the pressure exerted by the government. Within +a few years after the declaration of independence, force had come to +be recognized as the only means by which power was secured and held, +and revolution was not only the sole remedy for bad government, but the +one way in which a change of officials could be effected. Civil war was +thus an indispensable part of the political system. + +Revolutions were of almost yearly occurrence throughout the Isthmus +during the first half century after the declaration of independence, +for the development just described took place in each of the five +countries. In some, however, there was early apparent a tendency +towards avoiding actual warfare, so long as the established government +pursued a policy which made its rule tolerable to the parties not +represented in it. Even when disaffection grew so strong that a change +was inevitable, attempts were usually made to bring about a compromise. +Force still remained the basis of all authority, and potential +revolution the only corrective of bad government, but actual fighting +between the factions was rare. In Costa Rica, where this tendency was +strongest, practically no blood has been shed in political quarrels for +nearly sixty years. Nicaragua and Honduras, on the other hand, have +had frequent and sanguinary revolutions throughout their history as +independent nations. This difference between them and their peaceful +neighbor is enough to indicate that other factors, besides the mere +impossibility of changing their governments except by force, have +contributed to make them turbulent. Before attempting to explain what +these factors are, however, it is necessary to understand the nature of +Central American revolutions and the character and the motives of the +persons who participate in them. + +In the first place, it should be borne in mind that the average +revolution is not a movement which embraces a very large number of +people or which calls into play deep economic or social motives. The +countries themselves are very small, for the largest barely exceeds +fifty thousand square miles in area. In all of them, except Salvador, +much of the national territory is so sparsely settled, and often so +impenetrable and unhealthful, that it hardly enters into consideration +as a theater of military operations. Of the total population, which +is probably not more than 600,000 in Nicaragua, Honduras, or Costa +Rica, only a very small portion is sufficiently interested in politics +to participate voluntarily in a civil war. Revolutionary armies, +therefore, rarely reach any great size, and they rarely need to in +order to succeed. The military force of the government is small, +ill-equipped, and poorly trained, and not infrequently part of it +proves disloyal in a political crisis. Although it is impossible to +estimate with any degree of accuracy how many soldiers are actually +under arms at a given time in such countries as Nicaragua or Honduras, +it seems very doubtful if the total exceeds two or three thousand, and +these are scattered through the country to such an extent that a much +smaller revolutionary force, sometimes of less than a hundred men, +can seize and hold an important strategic point before the government +has time to rally its forces. After an uprising has started, both +sides fill their ranks by voluntary recruiting and impressment, but +neither is able to raise or to fit out any army which would seem very +formidable to a single well-trained regiment. It is only necessary to +recall the stand which William Walker, with a few hundred dissolute +and undisciplined adventurers, was able to make against the combined +military power of the five republics, in order to appreciate the actual +force at the disposal of a Central American government. Yet these +governments are nevertheless able to suppress the greater part of the +revolts which occur against their authority. + +The spirit which causes the revolutions is not often one which arouses +very much enthusiasm among the people at large. Their leaders are +usually inspired by a thirst for offices and spoils or a desire for +revenge against political rivals who have oppressed them, and the +rank and file are actuated mainly by sectional or class jealousy, but +rarely by any genuine political motives. There are of course many men +in politics who seek to obtain control of the government, even by +revolution, in order to effect economic and social reforms. Generous +and patriotic ideas are found both among the chiefs and their followers +in all parties, but they play a smaller part in actually bringing about +a revolt than do the less creditable but still very human motives upon +which the political parties are built up. + +Revolutions are rarely the result of a widespread conspiracy among +the people. Even a large portion of the active members of the party +interested often know little about the plans of the leaders until an +armed uprising has already taken place. The procedure followed is much +the same in nearly all cases. A group of factional chiefs, with a few +score of their more intimate personal followers, raise the standard +of revolt with a pronunciamento against the government, naming one +of their number as provisional president. An attempt is made either +to seize from within some town in which the revolutionary party is +particularly strong, or to invade the country from outside, occupying +one of the seaports as a base of operations. The latter is perhaps +more common, because the important members of the opposition party +are generally in exile. The revolution not infrequently gains its +foothold, as did that of 1909 in Nicaragua, through the treachery of +local authorities who turn over to it the soldiers and the military +supplies under their control, or by the disaffection of high officials +sufficiently influential to carry with them a considerable part of the +army. Arms and supplies are secured from some neighboring government +which has reasons for wishing to overthrow the existing administration, +or from foreign corporations and speculators who wish concessions or +special privileges. A revolt often attains formidable proportions in +this way before the government can raise and equip an army to send +against it, as it usually starts in regions remote from the capital, +where it is able to consolidate its forces before it meets with +serious opposition. In the districts still under the control of the +authorities, meanwhile, martial law is proclaimed, known or suspected +adherents of the party responsible for the revolution are thrown into +jail, horses and other property are requisitioned for the army, and +every able-bodied man of the laboring and artisan classes, except +those who succeed in concealing themselves, is pressed into service +as a soldier. The result, of course, is an immediate paralyzation of +agriculture and commerce. A revolution thus begun often lasts several +months before there is a decision, although only a few battles are +fought, and only two or three thousand men, and often less, are engaged +on each side. If the rebels win a few successes at the beginning, or if +the government is unable to defeat them after a prolonged campaign, the +president usually falls, because of his loss of prestige and because of +the defection of the always numerous politicians who desire above all +else to be on the winning side. When this occurs, there is a complete +demoralization of all of the departments of the administration, +accompanied, not infrequently, by a split in the victorious party or a +counter revolution on the part of the defeated. Order is not restored +until one strong leader or group of leaders has established himself or +itself in complete military control. + +Since these revolutions are the work of so small a proportion of the +people, their causes must evidently be sought not so much in any +inherent disorderliness and lawlessness of the nation as a whole, as in +the questions which have divided the classes interested in politics, +and in the conditions which have made it possible for these classes to +plunge the community into civil war time after time by their incessant +feuds, without being effectually checked by the desire of the rest of +the country for peace. + +The instigators and leaders of Central American revolutions are in +almost every case the pure-blooded, or nearly pure-blooded, descendants +of the _conquistadores_, and one of the chief causes of these phenomena +must therefore be sought in the characteristics which the creole +aristocracy has inherited from its sixteenth century ancestors. Among +the Spaniards who founded the colonies on the Isthmus there were a few +respectable families, but the majority were adventurers, fugitives from +justice, and soldiers who had been left without occupation by the +cessation of the wars against the Moors, and came to America in search +of excitement and easily gained wealth. In exploring and subjugating +the Indian kingdoms, they showed a bravery and an indomitable energy +which have few parallels in history, but as colonists they were +turbulent, lawless, and unprincipled. Their cruelty towards the Indians +has already been described. Their dissensions among themselves, before +the government at home had firmly established its military control +over them, forecasted what might be expected when the authority of +Spain should be withdrawn, for the bloody clashes between rival +exploring parties, the vindictiveness and treachery exhibited towards +one another by ambitious governors who could not agree upon the extent +of their respective jurisdictions, and the occasional uprisings, +like that of the Contreras brothers in Nicaragua, among the rabble +of the Spanish settlements, made the annals of the Central American +provinces during the sixteenth century one long chronicle of bloodshed. +After the declaration of independence, it was the descendants of the +early colonists who carried on the civil wars which lasted almost +without intermission for so many years. The leaders of the political +factions,--the men who fill the higher offices when their party is in +power and bear the brunt of the opposition at other times,--are still +for the most part members of the white upper class, even though the +exclusiveness of the old creole aristocracy has been broken down. + +It is rather surprising to find the native landholders and merchants, +who have more interest than anyone else in the maintenance of order +and good government, taking the lead in the civil wars which have made +order and good government impossible. But the feuds which have divided +the educated and wealthy classes among themselves have been so bitter +that it has been impossible down to the present time for their leaders +to co-operate with one another in establishing and supporting a stable +and efficient government. The custom of proscribing and despoiling +political enemies has kept alive and intensified the personal hatred +between the members of the rival parties even in those countries where +there are no fundamental economic or social questions upon which the +ruling classes are divided. After a change of government, the more +prominent adversaries of the victorious party are usually exiled or +imprisoned; their property is taken from them either by outright +confiscation or forced loans; and their constitutional rights are +little respected by the officials or by the courts. When an outbreak +against the government is attempted or threatened, many of those of its +opponents who are still at liberty are seized, and even their wives and +children are subjected to imprisonment and mistreatment, and sometimes, +as under the government of President Zelaya in Nicaragua, to barbarous +tortures. These persecutions, inspired not only by a determination to +prevent uprisings against the government, but often by a desire for +revenge and for the gratification of individual spite, frequently make +the situation of the enemies of the administration so intolerable that +they prefer to risk everything in a revolt rather than to submit. This +has been especially true in countries where continual revolutions have +kept party feeling at white heat, accustoming all classes to regard +civil war almost as a normal condition, and forcing the government to +take severe measures against all whom it thinks likely to resist its +authority by force of arms. Peace can never be hoped for under these +conditions. The only republics of Central America which have made any +real progress towards stable government are those where the opponents +of the party in power are treated with comparative fairness, and where +confiscation and imprisonment for political reasons are rare. + +Resistance to oppression, however, is by no means the only motive +which leads members of the upper classes to engage in intrigues and +revolts against the government. The pursuit of office is in itself an +attractive occupation, for every member of the small ruling class has a +comparatively good chance of becoming president or cabinet minister or +of attaining some other honorable and lucrative position. The rewards +offered by politics are on the whole greater than those held out by the +more solid occupations, especially in those countries where continual +disorder make agriculture and commerce a precarious means of securing a +livelihood, for very few of the native planters or merchants receive so +great an income as they could secure, legitimately or illegitimately, +at the expense of the community if they could reach one of the higher +positions in the government. Politics, moreover, provides the natural +outlet for the energies of those members of the upper class who have no +property. This is especially true of the great majority of the lawyers, +doctors, and dentists, few of whom secure a respectable living from +their overcrowded professions. + +Many members of the wealthy and educated classes, however, have always +worked for peace, realizing that revolutions not only deprived their +property of most of its value, but also lessened their own influence +in the community by raising demagogues and purely military leaders +to positions of prominence. The influence exerted by this moderate +party has depended upon the economic development of each country. In +Costa Rica and Salvador, where the cultivation of coffee has been +developed until it offers a more attractive field of endeavor than +politics, the great landholders have been a powerful factor in bringing +about the establishment of stable government. In Guatemala also, the +prosperity of agriculture has probably favored peace, although the +bitterness of party strife in that country and the backwardness of the +Indian population have greatly retarded its political development. +Agriculture in Honduras and Nicaragua, on the other hand, being still +in a primitive condition, affords a comparatively unattractive +occupation, and politics may still be said to be the chief interest of +the propertied classes. + +Although the landholding and professional classes furnish the leaders, +the revolutions would hardly be possible without the participation of +the far more numerous other elements in the community. The half-breed +artisans in the towns and villages form perhaps the largest part of +the factional armies. These laborers, who have little property, and +therefore, so far as they can see, little direct interest in the +preservation of peace or the economic well-being of the community, +find in civil war both a welcome source of excitement and an avenue +for personal advancement and profit, for the opportunities for loot +during the campaigns, and the rewards distributed among the adherents +of the victorious party after a successful revolution, make conspiracy +and revolt a more lucrative occupation than hard labor at a trade. +There is no way in which the intelligent but unstable _ladino_, little +inclined to steady manual or intellectual labor, can so easily achieve +wealth and influence as by the pursuit of politics,--a vocation which +makes it possible for a boy of the humblest, barefooted, illiterate +family, coming from a thatched, one-room hut in the mountains, to +rise to a position where he is addressed as “Great and Good Friend” +by the heads of the leading nations of the world. Not a few artisans +and professional soldiers of this class have actually risen to such +a position, and some, especially in the Liberal party, have been +presidents of their countries for long periods. Ordinarily, however, +they play a less prominent part in affairs than the members of the +white aristocracy, who have the advantage of superior education, social +prestige, and wealth. + +Those who hope to derive some direct individual profit, however, +form but a small part of the number of persons engaging in a typical +revolution. The rebel leaders would have but little hope of overcoming +the advantage conferred on the government by its control of the +administrative machinery, and above all of the standing army and +military stores, if they did not receive active support from adherents +far too numerous to be rewarded by offices or money in the event of +victory. The principal motive which brings together the rank and +file of a revolutionary army is “_personalismo_,”--the devotion to +individual chiefs, sometimes the heads of great families, sometimes +professional soldiers, sometimes mere demagogues, whose relation to +their followers is usually not so much that of political leaders as +of friends and patrons. Ties of blood, friendships, and gratitude for +favors received or expected play a much greater part in holding these +factions together than community of ideals or principles; and the very +nature of the parties consequently makes the strife between them the +more bitter and compromise the more difficult. Closely connected with +this _personalismo_ is _localismo_, the jealousy and rivalry between +town and town, which makes the political leaders of each hostile to +those in other parts of the country and enables them too often to carry +the common people with them in their armed opposition to a government +controlled by their enemies. We have already seen how disastrous an +influence this spirit has exerted in the history of the Isthmus, and +how it has been intensified by continual internal strife and by the +persecution of the people of one section by those of another. + +Other factors also have often contributed, though usually in a minor +degree, to bring about an uprising against the government. Religious +questions have been a source of much trouble, although they are less +important at present than in the early history of the Isthmus. The +Church has now lost its one-time influence through the decline of +religious feeling among the people, but in the first half century +after the declaration of independence it was often strong enough to +instigate a revolt against a government which oppressed it, or, by +its own exactions, to cause one against a government which supported +it. Abuses of power by the officials, or the adoption of a policy +which directly injured a large portion of the people, have sometimes +done much to make a revolution possible, and dissatisfaction with +the existing administration, apart from any desire to put any other +group of individuals in power, always causes many persons to join the +ranks of the rebel army. Many others take part merely for the sake of +excitement and plunder,--because they wish to fight and to “eat fat +cows.” The revolutions, when they have once started, naturally attract +all of the discontented and adventurous elements in the community. But +it is _personalismo_ and _localismo_ which make it possible for them to +start, and which hold the armies participating in them together through +the exigencies of the conflict. + +Only a small part of the people, however, enter at all into these party +conflicts. The great majority, especially in the rural districts, +know little and care less about political affairs. They dislike and +fear the revolutions, which often involve forced military service for +themselves and destruction for their livestock and their little patches +of corn and beans, but they have been so accustomed to misgovernment +and exploitation ever since their ancestors were conquered by the +Spaniards that it never occurs to them to make a concerted effort +to check the disorderly tendencies of the politicians. It is this +ignorance and indifference of the masses of the people, rather than +any disposition to turbulence in the nation as a whole, which has +prevented the establishment of stable government in many of the Central +American republics, by making it impossible to hold elections and work +the constitution by peaceful means, and by permitting rival cliques +of professional office-seekers to plunge the country into civil war +time after time for the gratification of personal ambitions and feuds, +without other restraint than that suggested by their own interests. + +It is sometimes asserted that it is the Indian and part Indian element +which is chiefly responsible for the disorders in Central America. This +view seems to find justification in the tranquillity of Costa Rica, +where the population is almost entirely of Spanish descent, but it is, +in fact, very unjust to a race which is on the whole more peaceful, +law-abiding, and industrious than the descendants of their conquerors. +The Indians rarely participate in a revolution. In Guatemala, where +they have retained their racial identity more than in any other part +of the Isthmus, they have hardly ever risen against the government +since their final subjugation at the beginning of the colonial period, +although they have always been forced to serve against their will both +in the standing army and in revolutionary forces. The only real popular +uprising which has occurred in that republic,--the revolution which +placed Carrera in power in 1838, originated not among the Indians but +among the ignorant _ladinos_ in the districts east of the capital, +where the conditions are far more similar to those of Honduras and +Nicaragua than to those which prevail throughout the greater part of +Guatemala itself. It was among the half-breeds that Carrera secured +the followers who enabled him to establish his military despotism, +and it was these same half-breeds, under the influence of the village +priests, who made the Church so strong a factor during the Conservative +administration. In Nicaragua, the semi-civilized rural population in +the district of Matagalpa and the villages which have retained their +distinctly Indian character in the southwestern Sierras have as a +rule remained neutral, so far as they could, in the contests between +Leon and Granada, although the Indians of Matagalpa revolted on one +occasion, about thirty years ago, when they were forced to aid in +constructing a telegraph line into their country. The Indians in the +four northern countries, indeed, are responsible for the revolutions +only in the sense that they are helpless to prevent them. Their +situation is very different from that of the common people of Costa +Rica, where the early extinction of the aborigines made possible the +development of a compact, homogeneous community of white peasants, +among whom it was comparatively easy to establish stable political +institutions. + +The causes of Central American revolutions, therefore, may be said to +be: first, the attempt to impose political institutions copied from +one of the world’s most advanced democracies upon a country where +elections were absolutely impossible; second, what may be called the +habit of revolution among the ruling class and the people of many of +the towns,--a habit formed during the turbulent years that followed +the breakdown of the federal constitution, and perpetuated by the +bitterness of personal feuds and sectional jealousy, the pursuit of +politics as a money-making occupation, and the mutual persecutions +of rival factions; and third, the backwardness of the masses of +the people, which has not only made the republican constitutions +unworkable, but has also prevented those who in the long run suffer +most from civil war from exerting any effective influence for peace. + +None of these causes can be said to be permanent. There is no reason to +suppose that stable governments will not be attained eventually in all +of the five republics, as a result of the education of the people. The +public schools, which have been established in the last quarter century +even in the remote country districts of the Isthmus, have already done +much to improve the situation and enlarge the outlook of the masses of +the population, and to hasten the approach of the day when they will be +able to assume the control of their own affairs through the democratic +machinery which already exists on paper, and to protect themselves +against the disastrous consequences arising from the factional quarrels +of selfish professional politicians. This influence makes itself felt +slowly, but the social and political effects of popular education, once +they have asserted themselves, can never be undone. The penetration of +foreign ideas and the increase of wealth and improvement of standards +of living which have resulted from the development of foreign commerce +are also doing their part in changing the situation of the countries +of the Isthmus. The landholding classes, as we have seen, are already +exerting a strong influence in behalf of peace in the more prosperous +countries, for their success in agricultural pursuits has greatly +lessened their interest in politics. The laboring classes, also, +have found new opportunities for employment and advancement, and are +beginning to learn by experience that their own welfare is dependent +upon the peaceful development of their country. The factors in favor of +stable government have thus been immeasurably strengthened. + +Those who hope for the ultimate political regeneration of the Isthmus +receive much encouragement from the example of Costa Rica, which +started upon her independent existence with the same institutions +and the same inexperience in self-government as her neighbors. Costa +Rica, it is true, has owed her freedom from civil war largely to her +isolation and her homogeneous European population, but the substitution +of a popularly elected and constitutional government for the military +tyrannies which had existed at first there as well as in other parts of +the Isthmus was due primarily to the education of the common people and +to the increasing realization on their part of their interest in the +conduct of public affairs. There is no reason to suppose that a similar +development will not take place eventually in Nicaragua, Honduras, +and Salvador, and even among the Indians of Guatemala. The people of +those countries have never had the opportunities for peaceful progress +which the prosperous peasants of Costa Rica have enjoyed, but there +seems little reason to suppose, from observation of the races as they +work side by side in schools and public offices, that the Indian or +the _mestizo_ of the other republics is inherently less capable of +advancement or less fitted for self-government than his fellow-citizen +of Spanish descent. + +The changes brought about by increased intercourse with foreign +countries have on the whole favored stability and good government, but +in some respects they have been far from beneficial. While agriculture +or commerce has been made a more attractive occupation than conspiracy +and revolt for many of the great landholders, many others have been +driven out of these pursuits and into politics, as the only means of +making a living which remained open to them, by the immigration of more +efficient foreign planters and business men. We have already seen to +what an extent this has taken place in some of the five countries. The +interest in peace among the classes who by wealth and education are +best qualified to be the leaders of the community has been lessened by +the loss of their property, and the number of professional politicians +and revolutionists who are almost entirely dependent upon the pursuit +of office for support has been swelled by members of many families +which formerly devoted their energies to more useful occupations. + +Not a few of the foreigners, moreover, have taken part in civil wars +and disturbances, for the furtherance of purely selfish aims, and +to the great detriment of the native community. The North American +or European professional revolutionist, usually an adventurer or a +fugitive from justice in his own country, is a type which is all too +familiar in the more disorderly countries of the Isthmus. He is rarely +anything more than a mercenary soldier, ready to offer his services +to the highest bidder, but his presence is a source of annoyance and +danger to the constituted authorities, and the viciousness and greed of +some who have been rewarded for their assistance in war with official +positions has equaled if not exceeded that of the most depraved +native leaders. The participation of these men in the armies on both +sides of a civil contest, moreover, is often a positive danger to the +Central American countries, because of the regrettable readiness of the +great powers of the world to protect their citizens in their real or +fancied rights even when they are engaged in an occupation so little +commendable as that of making war for money against a constituted +government. A significant example of the difficulties which arise from +this source was afforded by the events which followed the shooting of +two American adventurers during the Nicaraguan revolution of 1909.[44] + +Still more dangerous to the welfare of the Central American countries +are the foreign corporations which, for equally unworthy purposes, +often render open or covert aid to a revolutionary movement, in order +to assure themselves of the protection and favor of the new government. +There is unfortunately little doubt that recent uprisings in Honduras +and Nicaragua have been financed and supplied with arms from New +Orleans, or that they have owed their success largely to the aid thus +received. So long as the resources of the five republics continue to +be developed under special concessions and privileges, there will +inevitably be a strong temptation for the large fruit companies and +other corporations having interests there to intervene in political +affairs, because of the great part which official favor or disfavor +plays in determining the conditions under which they do business. +Such a situation is disastrous to the internal peace of the countries +involved, for any discontented faction can usually secure support +from some group of investors or speculators who think that they can +further their interests or secure valuable concessions by promoting +a revolution. In the governments which come into power in this way, +however, the influence of the foreign corporations which have aided +them is generally far less than might be expected, for Central American +political leaders are none too grateful and none too scrupulous about +carrying out obligations which they have entered into; and they rarely +lose sight of their distrust of the foreigner in their appreciation of +his assistance. + +The disturbing influences introduced by intercourse with other +countries, however, are offset, and more than offset, by the pressure +which foreign governments, actuated by a desire to protect their +subjects who have settled or invested capital in Central America, have +exerted in behalf of peace. The United States, especially, has been +forced to take positive action to prevent civil and international wars +in the Isthmus, not only because its commerce and its investments there +are larger than those of any other nation, but also because its settled +policy not to permit European intervention in the affairs of the weaker +American nations has made it necessary to adopt measures which deprive +other powers of an excuse for interference. Inspired by a desire to +promote the stability and well-being of its neighbors, the United +States has in the last ten years taken more and more radical steps to +safeguard the peace of the Isthmus, until it has finally reached the +point of actually suppressing revolutions in one of the countries by +force. Its influence has therefore become the most potent factor, for +good or for evil, both in the external and the internal affairs of the +five republics. No description of Central American conditions would be +complete without a discussion of the way in which this influence has +been exercised. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[44] See Chapter XI. + + + + + CHAPTER X + + THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE OF 1907 + + The Increased Responsibilities of the United States in the Caribbean + Sea Since 1900--The San José Conference--The War of 1907--The + Washington Conference and the Conventions Adopted by it--Their + Effectiveness in Promoting Internal and International Peace--Work of + the Central American Court--The Central American Conferences and the + Central American Bureau. + + +The first years of the twentieth century have brought about a decided +change in the attitude of the United States towards its neighbors +around the Caribbean Sea. The increasing importance of our political +and economic interests in those countries has made their domestic +prosperity and the maintenance of their independence from European +influence more than ever before essential to our own well-being. +American investments and trade in the West Indies have attained such +great proportions that anything which affects the normal life of one +of the countries of that region is felt at once in commercial and +financial centers in the United States. The sugar plantations of +Cuba and the banana plantations of Central America, to take only two +examples, represent many millions of dollars of American capital, +and at the same time are important sources of the food supply of the +American people. Simultaneously with the expansion of our economic +interests, our political interests in the Caribbean have become of +paramount national importance. The acquisition of Porto Rico, and much +more the building of the Panama Canal, have made it impossible for the +United States to remain indifferent when international complications +arise which affect the military situation or the political status +of countries close to these possessions. The Monroe Doctrine, as +applied to the American tropics, has thus become more than ever an +indispensable national policy. + +At the same time, the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine has involved +increasingly heavy responsibilities and burdens, because the commercial +and financial interests of other countries in the Caribbean have +also increased as that region has been developed economically and +commercially. Even when they have had no ulterior political motives, +the European powers have been unable to stand by with equanimity while +the security and the interests of their citizens were endangered by +the continual revolutions and other disorders which have occurred in +some tropical American states. There has consequently been evident +an increasing disposition on their part to use force both to secure +protection for their nationals and to obtain the payment of debts due +to the latter by irresponsible and unscrupulous governments. To such +interventions, which necessarily tend to assume a political character, +the United States cannot possibly remain indifferent. Neither, however, +can it oppose itself to the protection by another country of the lives +and property of the latter’s subjects. European interference in the +affairs of American countries can only be averted if the United States +itself assumes the duty of protecting foreigners in the more turbulent +of the neighboring republics, and the Monroe Doctrine can only be +upheld in the long run if intelligent and disinterested efforts are +made to help those republics to remedy the conditions which at present +expose them to aggression. As President Roosevelt said in 1905: + + “We cannot permanently adhere to the Monroe Doctrine unless we succeed + in making it evident, in the first place, that we do not intend to + treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggrandizement on our + part at the expense of the Republics to the south of us; second, that + we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of these Republics + as a shield to protect that Republic from the consequences of its + own misdeeds against foreign nations; third, that inasmuch as by + this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side + of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of + our sister republics which need such help, upward toward peace and + order.”[45] + +The first occasion on which the new policy of the United States became +evident in its dealings with the Central American republics was in +1906, when there was a war between Guatemala and Salvador, in which +Honduras, as the ally of the latter country, also became involved. The +conflict had arisen from the aid furnished by some of the officials +of Salvador to a revolutionary movement directed against President +Estrada Cabrera. After exerting his influence in vain to prevent the +outbreak of hostilities, President Roosevelt invited President Díaz +of Mexico to join him in offering mediation. The efforts of the two +governments, seconded by those of Costa Rica, resulted in the holding +of a peace conference on the deck of the U. S. S. Marblehead, at +which representatives of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and +Nicaragua were present, as well as the plenipotentiaries of the three +belligerents. At this meeting an agreement was signed providing for the +cessation of hostilities and the disarmament of the contending forces, +and for another conference, to be held later, to conclude a general +treaty of peace.[46] + +The second conference was held at San José, Costa Rica, in September +of the same year. Each of the Central American republics was invited +to send delegates, and all did so with the exception of Nicaragua. +President Zelaya declined because he was unwilling to recognize +the right of the United States to intervene in Central American +affairs.[47] The governments, represented agreed that all differences +arising out of the late war should be arbitrated by the United States +and Mexico, and that future disputes should be settled by Central +American tribunals, specially organized to deal with each case as it +arose. They pledged themselves to keep political refugees from other +states away from the frontiers of the countries from which they had +been exiled, and not to allow their territory to be used as a base for +revolutionary movements against their neighbors. Provision was made +also for the establishment of a Central American Bureau in Guatemala +City and a pedagogical institute in Costa Rica; and general conventions +were signed regulating commerce, navigation, and extradition. The work +of the San José Conference was superseded by that of the Washington +Conference of the following year, when the treaties entered into were +reaffirmed and given greater weight by the moral support of the United +States and Mexico.[48] + +The San José Conference was followed by a year of almost continuous +disorder. In December, 1906, a revolution was started in Honduras +against the government of Manuel Bonilla. The rebels were operating +close to the Nicaraguan boundary, and it was asserted that they were +receiving aid from President Zelaya. Whether or not this was so, an +alleged violation of Nicaraguan territory by the troops of Honduras +soon made war seem inevitable. At the urgent request of the United +States and of the other Central American republics, both Zelaya and +Bonilla agreed to submit the dispute to the arbitration of a tribunal +composed of one member from each Central American republic, which met +at once at San Salvador. Before taking up the matter in dispute, this +body demanded that both parties withdraw their armies from the border. +As Zelaya refused to do this, and furthermore declared in advance that +he would not accept any settlement which did not make full reparation +for the violation of the Nicaraguan frontier, the tribunal dissolved. +Zelaya at once declared war on Honduras, and sent forces to co-operate +with the revolutionists there. Salvador, on the other hand, assisted +the Bonilla administration, at first indirectly and later by sending +troops, although her government remained ostensibly neutral. Despite +this aid, Bonilla’s forces were completely defeated at Namasigue, on +March 18, 1907, and not long afterward Tegucigalpa and Amapala, where +Bonilla made his last stand, were captured by the Nicaraguan troops +and the Honduranean revolutionists. Miguel Dávila was inaugurated as +provisional president of Honduras.[49] + +By this time, another general conflict seemed inevitable. Zelaya was +preparing to attack Salvador, and President Estrada of Guatemala, +fearing the extension of Nicaraguan influence, was apparently ready to +intervene in defense of his neighbor. The United States and Mexico, +however, at the request of the governments of Costa Rica, Guatemala, +and Salvador, again exerted their good offices, and finally brought +about a conference at Amapala between the ministers of foreign affairs +of Nicaragua and Salvador. Here, with the assistance of the diplomatic +representatives of the United States, an effort was made to settle +the differences between these two countries. The chief question at +issue was the presidency of Honduras, for Salvador declared that she +could not accept terms of peace which did not assure the existence of +a government in that Republic which would be satisfactory to her and +to Guatemala, which had now become her ally against Zelaya. After a +long discussion of various names in an effort to find a candidate who +would not only be acceptable to all of the neighboring governments, +but who would also be able to maintain himself in power in Honduras, +the delegates finally agreed upon General Terencio Sierra, a former +president of Honduras, who was then in command of the Nicaraguan forces +at Amapala. They accordingly signed a secret treaty, by which they +pledged themselves to overthrow the Dávila government and to set up one +under Sierra in its place. Nicaragua, however, as the fifth article +stated, found it difficult to attack President Dávila, who was her +ally, and therefore left this to Salvador. After Dávila was disposed +of, both were to join in assisting Sierra, and he was to be considered +the ally of both.[50] Having settled this matter, they drew up a +general peace treaty. + +The terms of these treaties were never carried out. The exigencies of +her internal politics prevented Salvador from supporting Sierra, and +Dávila was consequently able to establish himself firmly in power. +His government, set up by Nicaraguan arms, was of course perfectly +acceptable to Zelaya, but the latter nevertheless made the failure +of Salvador to carry out the stipulations of the Amapala agreement +a pretext for again beginning hostilities against that country. +Animated, as he said, by a desire for the union of Central America, he +openly aided a revolt against the government of President Figueroa, +sending men and supplies to Acajutla on a Nicaraguan gunboat.[51] This +expedition was repulsed, and further hostilities were averted by the +energetic representations of the United States. + +Zelaya’s avowed aggressive designs against the other states, and his +control over the government of Honduras, created a situation which +was intolerable to Guatemala and Salvador. It was soon evident that +these countries were planning to attack him, by the usual means of +aiding revolutions in Nicaragua and Honduras. The situation became +very threatening in the latter part of the summer of 1907, for the +four states were already massing armies on their frontiers. In view +of the imminent danger of war, Presidents Roosevelt and Díaz jointly +offered their mediation, and brought pressure to bear on the various +governments to cease their hostile preparations. As a result, it was +agreed that a conference should be held in Washington to settle all +outstanding difficulties and permanently to establish the relations of +the Central American republics on a peaceful basis. The United States +and Mexico were invited to appoint representatives “to lend their good +and impartial offices in a purely friendly way towards the realization +of the objects of the Conference.”[52] + +The delegates of the five Central American countries met in the Bureau +of American Republics on November 14, 1907. The United States was +represented by Mr. William I. Buchanan, whose tact and perseverance +were inestimably valuable in the negotiations of the succeeding five +weeks. Secretary of State Root and Señor Creel, the Mexican ambassador, +made speeches at the inaugural session, and the Conference began its +work under the most favorable auspices, animated by a spirit of mutual +good will and by a genuine desire to bring about peace in Central +America. Following the lead of Salvador, each government in turn +declared that it had no claims or grievances against its neighbors, +and that it was ready to proceed at once to a discussion of plans +for a closer union between the republics. A proposal by Nicaragua +and Honduras for the immediate establishment of a Central American +federation caused a temporary interruption of the prevailing good +feeling, but harmony was soon restored, and the work of the Conference +proceeded smoothly until December 20, when eight conventions, +representing the fruit of its deliberations, were signed by the +delegates.[53] + +The first of these was a general treaty of peace and amity, by which +the five governments sought to remove several of the chief causes of +revolutions and international wars in the Isthmus, and to provide for a +closer co-operation in promoting their common interests. Among its most +important provisions were the following: + + Article I. “The Republics of Central America ... bind themselves to + always observe the most complete harmony, and decide every difference + or difficulty that may arise amongst them, of whatever nature it may + be, by means of the Central American Court of Justice created by the + Convention which they have concluded for that purpose on this date.” + + Art. II. “... They declare that any disposition or measure which + may tend to disturb the constitutional organization” [that is, the + existing government] “of one of the Republics is to be deemed a menace + to the peace of all.” + + Art. III. “Taking into account the central geographical position + of Honduras, and the facilities which owing to this circumstance + have made its territory most often the theater of Central American + conflicts, Honduras declares from now on its absolute neutrality in + event of any conflict between the other republics; and the latter, in + their turn, provided such neutrality be observed, bind themselves to + respect it, and in no case to violate the Honduranean territory.” + + Art. XVI. “... Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes + of disturbances in the Republics, the contracting Governments shall + not permit the leaders or principal chiefs of political refugees, or + their agents, to reside in the departments bordering on the countries + whose peace they might disturb.” + + Art. XVII. “Every person, no matter what his nationality, who, within + the territory of one of the contracting parties, shall initiate or + foster revolutionary movements against any of the others, shall be + immediately brought to the capital of the Republic, where he shall be + submitted to trial according to law.” + +The other provisions of the treaty aimed to make the relations +between the republics closer and more friendly, and to foster their +co-operation for the furthering of their mutual interests. It +provided for a reciprocal recognition of the validity of judicial +proceedings, professional degrees, patents, and copyrights. Citizens +of each country, residing in the territory of one of the others, were +to enjoy the same privileges as nationals of the latter, and were +to be considered as citizens of the latter if they fulfilled other +constitutional requirements. Each Republic pledged itself to accredit +a permanent legation to each of the others, and agreed that its +diplomatic and consular agents in foreign countries should afford the +same protection to the persons, ships, and properties of the citizens +of other Central American states as to their compatriots. Vessels +of any Central American state were to receive the same treatment as +national vessels in the ports of others, and an agreement was to be +entered into for the encouragement by subsidies of the coasting trade +and of foreign steamship connections. The establishment of a practical +agricultural school in Salvador, a school of mines and mechanics in +Honduras, and one of arts and trades in Nicaragua, as well as the +proposed pedagogical institute in Costa Rica and the Central American +Bureau in Guatemala, was recommended, although not specifically +provided for. + +An additional convention to the General Treaty contained radical and +rather impractical provisions aiming to make revolutions less frequent: + + Art. I. “The Governments of the High Contracting Parties shall not + recognize any other Government which may come into power in any of the + five Republics as a consequence of a _coup d’état_, or of a revolution + against a recognized government, so long as the freely elected + representatives of the people thereof have not constitutionally + reorganized the country.” + + Art. II. “No Government of Central America shall in case of civil war + intervene in favor of or against the Government of the country where + the struggle takes place.” + + Art. III. “The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are + recommended to endeavor to bring about, by the means at their command, + a constitutional reform in the sense of prohibiting the re-election + of the President of a Republic, where such prohibition does not + exist; secondly, to adopt all measures necessary to effect a complete + guarantee of the principle of alternation in power.” + +Another convention established a Central American Court of Justice, +consisting of five judges, one to be elected by the legislature of each +state. To this tribunal, the five republics bound themselves “to submit +all controversies or questions which may arise among them, of whatever +nature and no matter what their origin may be, in case the respective +Departments of Foreign Affairs shall not have been able to reach an +understanding.” The Court was also to take cognizance of suits which +citizens of one of the contracting parties might bring against the +government of one of the others on account of violation of treaties or +denial of justice and of the other cases of an international character, +including those which two or more of the Central American governments, +or one of them and a foreign government, might agree to submit to it. +It was to be “competent to determine its own jurisdiction, interpreting +the Treaties and Conventions germane to the matter in dispute, and +applying the principles of international law.” Article XIII provided: + + “From the moment in which any suit is instituted against any one + or more governments up to that in which a final decision has been + pronounced, the Court may at the solicitation of any one of the + parties fix the situation in which the contending parties must remain, + to the end that the difficulty shall not be aggravated and that things + shall be conserved in _statu quo_ pending a final decision.” + +In the exercise of its duties, the Court might address itself to the +governments or the tribunals of the respective states, to have its +orders carried out, or it might provide for securing their execution +through special commissioners, whom the parties were to assist in every +way possible. The latter solemnly bound themselves to submit to the +judgments of the Court, and agreed “to lend all moral support that may +be necessary in order that they may be properly fulfilled.” + +Every effort was made to secure the complete independence of the +Court. It was to sit at Cartago, Costa Rica,[54] where it would be +more free from political or personal pressure than in some other parts +of the Isthmus. The judges were to serve for five years, receiving +a fixed salary paid out of the treasury of the Court, to which each +state contributed, and enjoying the privileges and immunities of +diplomatic agents; and they were not to exercise their profession or +hold public office during their term of service. They were not to +consider themselves barred from sitting in a case to which their +own governments were parties, for they were to represent, not the +individual states, but the “national conscience of Central America.” + +An additional article proposed to give the Court “jurisdiction over +the conflicts which may arise between the Legislative, Executive, and +Judicial powers--when as a matter of fact the judicial decisions and +the resolutions of the National Congress are not respected.” This +provision, which would have authorized the tribunal to intervene in +the internal affairs of the contracting powers in times of internal +disorder, was never ratified. + +The Convention which established the Central American Bureau recognized +certain interests as being “those to which special attention should +be paid.” These were: “the peaceful reorganization of their mother +country, Central America”; the establishment of a broad, practical, +and complete system of education of an essentially Central American +character; the development of commerce and the advancement of +agriculture and industry; and the uniformity of civil, commercial, +and criminal legislation, customs tariffs, and monetary systems. The +functions of the Bureau were to be all those considered necessary and +expedient to achieve the objects placed in its care. It was to have an +organ of publicity, and was to serve as a center for the distribution +of information about Central American conditions both in the Isthmus +and in foreign countries. + +At the same time, several other conventions were signed. One provided +for the extradition of criminals; another for the establishment of a +pedagogical institute directed by the government of Costa Rica but +supported by all of the others; another for the co-operation of the +five countries in making plans for the construction of the Central +American sections of the Pan American railway and the improvement of +other means of intercommunication. By still another treaty, each of +the contracting governments obligated itself to name one or more +commissions to study the currency systems, customs tariffs, weights and +measures, and other matters of an economic and fiscal nature in their +respective countries. After these had reported, delegates were to be +appointed to a Central American Conference, which was to discuss the +measures recommended by the commissioners, and especially the reform +of the various currency systems on a gold basis. Similar conferences +were to be held annually thereafter to consider matters which the +governments might agree to submit to them. + +The Conference’s program for the political and economic regeneration +of the Isthmus was obviously too ambitious to be carried out at +once, for evils arising from deep-rooted habits and fundamental +social conditions could not be done away with by mere international +agreement, however sincere the contracting parties might be in their +desire for peace and for a realization of a closer union. No one +could reasonably expect that the five governments would turn at once +from their attitude of mutual suspicion and hostility to a harmonious +co-operation in undertakings for their common welfare. Neither of the +two main objects of the Washington Conventions,--the elimination of +civil and international wars and the creation of closer ties between +the five republics with a view to uniting them eventually under one +government,--seemed to have been realized to any appreciable extent in +the years immediately following 1907, and this led many who had hoped +that there would at once be a marked improvement in international +relations to brand the treaties as a failure. A careful examination +of their results, however, shows that the treaties have been very far +from a failure, even though their effects have as yet only begun to +make themselves felt. Both of the objects of the Conference have been +realized to some extent, and there is every prospect that they will be +realized more and more fully as time goes on. + +At first, indeed, there was little change in the relations between +the five republics. Some of the governments, and especially that of +Nicaragua, showed little inclination to carry out the obligations +of the conventions in good faith. President Zelaya, who already +practically controlled Honduras through the Dávila government, +continued his machinations against the tranquillity of other +neighboring states, directing his efforts mainly towards placing one of +his own supporters in the presidency of Salvador. His open assistance +to Prudencio Alfaro, who made repeated attempts to invade that republic +in 1908 and 1909, finally forced the United States to authorize the +commanders of its naval vessels in Central American waters to use force +to prevent the launching of filibustering expeditions from Nicaraguan +ports.[55] Zelaya’s policy created a situation which was intolerable +to Guatemala and Salvador, and soon convinced all who were interested +in Central American affairs that he was the greatest obstacle to +the establishment of permanent peace in the Isthmus. President Taft +expressed this belief in his annual message to Congress in December, +1909, when he said: + + “Since the Washington Conventions of 1907 were communicated to the + Government of the United States as a consulting and advising party, + this Government has been almost continuously called upon by one or + another, and in turn by all of the five Central American republics, + to exert itself for the maintenance of the conventions. Nearly every + complaint has been against the Zelaya government of Nicaragua, which + has kept Central America in constant tension and turmoil.” + +In the early part of the summer of 1908, a band of revolutionists +invaded Honduras from Salvador, and another band, led by General Lee +Christmas, an American soldier of fortune, attacked some of the towns +on the north coast of that republic. There was little doubt in the +minds of well-informed people that one or both of Zelaya’s principal +enemies, the Presidents of Guatemala and Salvador, were aiding the +revolutionists with a view to striking at him through the government +of Honduras. Zelaya at once prepared for war, and the treaties of +peace, hardly six months old, seemed to have been forgotten. The United +States and Mexico, however, made strong representations to all the +parties concerned, and Costa Rica, by a happy inspiration, suggested +to the newly established Central American Court that it interpose +its influence to prevent the threatened conflict. On July 8, this +tribunal addressed a telegram to the presidents of Guatemala, Salvador, +Honduras, and Nicaragua, urging them to submit their differences to +arbitration. On receipt of this communication, Nicaragua and Honduras +made formal complaints to the Court in accordance with the terms of the +Washington Conventions,--Honduras charging that Guatemala and Salvador +had fomented and assisted the revolution, and had failed to restrain +the Honduranean exiles residing in their territory, and Nicaragua +appearing as an interested party. The Court acted with promptness and +decision. The complainants were asked to submit proofs in support of +their charges, and Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua were ordered to +refrain from any military movements which might suggest intervention +in the internal affairs of Honduras, and to reduce their forces to a +peace basis. These messages were transmitted and answered by telegraph, +so that within five days of the Court’s first note a _modus vivendi_ +had been established and the immediate danger of a conflict had been +dispelled. After Guatemala and Salvador complied with the orders of +the Court, the revolution in Honduras subsided. The Court handed down +its decision on December 19, 1908. Salvador was absolved of all +responsibility for the revolution in Honduras by the votes of the +judges representing Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica against those +of the judges from Honduras and Nicaragua. Guatemala was exonerated by +all except the representative of Honduras. This decision was severely +criticised by many persons in Central America, and it lost much of its +force from the fact that most of the judges had obviously voted as the +interests of the governments which named them dictated. There could +be no doubt, however, that the Court had averted a general Central +American war, and had thus done a signal service to the cause of +peace.[56] + +By this time it was clear that the Washington Conventions would have +little effect so long as Zelaya continued to be president of Nicaragua. +When a revolution broke out against him in the fall of 1909, therefore, +it was regarded with more sympathy and favor by those who had been +interested in the work of the Conference than was consistent with the +spirit, at least, of the Conference’s acts. The attitude of the United +States and of the other Central American governments, as we shall see +in the next chapter, did much to make this uprising a success. Zelaya’s +defeat naturally involved the fall of Dávila a short time afterward. + +After the elimination of Zelaya, the beneficial effects of the +Conventions began to show themselves somewhat more than had been +possible while the same conditions which had caused the disturbances +of the years 1906-7 had continued to exist. It became evident after +1910 that they marked a turning point in the relations of the five +republics. Since that year, and in fact, if we except occasional +attempts to render covert aid to revolutions, since 1907, there has not +been one international war in Central America. It would be difficult +to point to another ten years in the history of the Isthmus of which +this has been true. It is, moreover, hardly conceivable under present +conditions, and especially in view of the influence exerted in behalf +of peace by the United States, that there should be an armed conflict +between two or more of the five republics. The principal object of the +Washington Conference may therefore be said to have been realized. +The change which has taken place has been in large part due to the +fact that the five countries themselves have generally abided by the +provisions of the Treaty of Amity and the Treaty establishing the +Central American Court, for they have refrained from sending troops +to intervene in one another’s internal affairs, and have shown a +readiness which had been rare before 1907 to submit differences which +arose between them to settlement by diplomatic means or arbitration +rather than by a resort to arms. Their relations with one another +have undoubtedly been improved by the new spirit which the Conference +called into being, and their feeling of common nationality and their +readiness to co-operate for the realization of their mutual purposes +and ambitions have been strengthened by an increasing realization of +the external dangers which confront a Central America divided and +distracted by internal wars. + +The Conventions did less to bring about stability of government in +the individual states, but even in this their effect has been by +no means negligible. Internal disorders cannot, of course, be done +away with while their fundamental causes remain; and the convention +providing that governments coming into office by the use of force +should not be recognized until after they had received the approval +of the voters at a popular election, and that the state constitutions +should be so amended as to insure alternation in power, have been +entirely disregarded. Nevertheless, revolutionary uprisings have been +made decidedly less frequent by the fact that several of the republics +have faithfully observed their obligations to exercise surveillance +over political exiles from neighboring countries and not to encourage +or permit the organization within their territories of attempts to +overthrow nearby governments. Enemies of the established order in one +of the republics now find it far more difficult than ever before to +secure the base of operations and the financial and military assistance +which are usually indispensable for the success of a revolt. + +The measure of success which the work of the Conference has attained +has been very largely due to the energetic support by the United States +of the principles which it established. The government at Washington +has several times intervened diplomatically, or even by the use of +force, to prevent violations of the more important conventions, to +which it was practically, if not formally, a party. In doing this, +it has usually acted upon the invitation of one or the other of the +five republics. It has not hesitated to use any means necessary to +prevent unjustified attacks by one country on another, and it has +often brought strong pressure to bear to deter the signatory powers +from permitting their territory to be used as a base of revolutionary +operations against their neighbors. Sometimes North American influence +has apparently been the only factor which has secured respect for +the obligations imposed by the peace treaty, for one or two of the +parties which signed that treaty have shown little disposition to abide +by its provisions and have thus endangered the peace of the Isthmus +despite the fact that their neighbors were endeavoring to carry out the +provisions of the Conventions in good faith. + +The Central American Court of Justice, which was to have been the +crowning work of the Conference, has not entirely fulfilled the +expectations of its founders. It cannot be said to be a tribunal +independent of and superior to the five governments, to which +any aggrieved person or state may appeal in the confidence of +securing justice. Several of the men appointed as judges have been +distinguished lawyers of conspicuous ability and undoubted integrity, +but at the same time there have been others, sometimes constituting +the majority of the Court, who have owed their nominations purely +to domestic political considerations. The honor and the large +salary attached to them have made the judgeships one of the most +attractive positions in the gift of the state governments, and there +has consequently been a keen competition for them among prominent +politicians, which has made it more difficult to select a man solely +on his merits. In addition to this, the importance of controlling the +Court as a means of influencing the international politics of the +Isthmus has made almost inevitable the appointment of men who could +be relied upon to vote as their governments wished when important +questions were at issue. The control exerted over the judges by the +powers which named them has prevented the Court from becoming in any +true sense independent, and has given it the position of a standing +commission of distinguished diplomats rather than that of a true court +of justice. This was perhaps inevitable, because the states of the +Isthmus, which had never known a judicial tribunal not subject in some +degree at least to official influence, could hardly grasp the idea of +an international body which would be entirely free from the dictation +of the authority which created it. There has been, therefore, no strong +force of public opinion to support the Court in asserting its right to +speak for the “National Conscience of Central America,” and even the +judges themselves have shown little inclination to seize and hold the +position of complete freedom from control with which the Washington +Conference had intended to invest them. + +That this was true was evident in the first case that was brought +before the tribunal. In deciding the suit of Honduras and Nicaragua +against Guatemala and Salvador in 1908, each of the judges from the +four states interested voted, as we have seen, on the side supported +by the country which had appointed him. The general belief that the +dictation of the governments involved, rather than the facts as shown +by the evidence, had determined the decision of this question, did +much to injure the Court and to deprive it of public confidence. Its +independence suffered another serious blow as the result of the action +taken in another question which arose three years later after the +revolution in Nicaragua. The government which succeeded Zelaya failed +to contribute its share towards the expenses of the Court, in which +the judge appointed by the late administration was still sitting. +Now the salaries of the judges, according to the convention founding +the tribunal, were to be paid out of the latter’s treasury, from a +general fund to which each of the states contributed. In this way +the Conference had hoped to establish the financial independence of +the judges with respect to their governments, but its intention does +not seem to have been carried out, for the refusal of Nicaragua to +contribute her quota was regarded as the equivalent of withholding her +judge’s salary. The latter was thus forced to withdraw temporarily from +the Court, whereupon that body, instead of calling upon the substitute +provided by its constitution, admitted a new magistrate appointed +by the Conservative government of Nicaragua. This action entirely +disillusioned those who had hoped that the Court would be above party +politics and independent of outside pressure, for it established the +dependence of the judges on the governments that named them, and +constituted a recognition by the tribunal itself of the fact that its +members were representatives of the administration in power in their +respective countries, rather than magistrates whose tenure was secure +without regard to political changes during their legal term of office. + +Since its action in averting a general war in 1908, the Court has been +more ornamental than useful. It has served as a symbol of Central +American unity, and it has kept alive the principle of international +arbitration, but it has actually decided very few cases. Three or +four suits have been brought against the government of one of the +countries by citizens of another, charging violation of treaty rights +or denial of justice, but the Court has refused in every instance to +adjudicate them, on the ground that the petitioners had not exhausted +the means of redress at their disposal in the countries where they +claimed that they had been mistreated. It also refused to intervene in +the internal affairs of Costa Rica in 1914 to determine the validity +of a presidential election. During the two revolutions in Nicaragua, +in 1910 and 1912, it endeavored to bring about an agreement between +the contending factions, and in 1912 it even sent a commission of +its members to confer with the rival leaders; but its efforts came +to naught in both cases because the Conservatives, who had the moral +support of the United States, were confident of their ability to defeat +their opponents, and therefore refused to agree to a compromise. + +Its most recent, and in many ways its most important decisions, were +those handed down on September 30, 1916, and March 2, 1917, in the +suits brought against Nicaragua by Costa Rica and Salvador, which +claimed that their rights had been violated by the recent treaty +between that country and the United States. The Court refused to +declare the treaty void, saying that it had no jurisdiction over the +United States, but it held, nevertheless, that the complainants’ rights +had been violated, thus condemning Nicaragua’s action as illegal. This +case has raised a very serious question as to the extent to which the +authority of the tribunal will be recognized. Despite Nicaragua’s +refusal to appear as a party to the case or to accept the verdict, +there can be no doubt that the Court had jurisdiction over the question +at issue, or that Nicaragua is bound, by the Washington Conventions, +to respect its decision. Whether she will do so, however, seems very +doubtful. If she continues in her refusal, and is supported in her +attitude by the Government of the United States, the prestige of the +Court will be seriously impaired, if, indeed, its very existence is not +endangered. It is already rather unpopular because of the expense which +it involves and because it has accomplished so little, and it seems +probable that it would have been disbanded before this if the United +States had not exerted a strong influence in behalf of its continuance. + +The measures planned by the Conference for promoting closer economic +relations between the five republics have only been carried out in +part, and their results have been far from satisfactory. Although the +provisions for granting citizens of each Central American state the +rights of citizens in all the others, and the mutual recognition of +professional degrees, patents, and copyrights, have undoubtedly done +much to encourage travel and commerce and to promote good feeling, the +more ambitious projects outlined in the Conventions have been almost, +if not quite, fruitless. Few of the educational institutions which +the Conference contemplated have been established, and those which +individual states have founded as a result of its recommendations have +not attained a truly international character because of the reluctance +of other governments to appropriate money for their support. The +Central American conferences met annually for five years, drawing up +conventions for the reform of the currency and fiscal systems, the +establishment of free trade, the adoption of a comprehensive unified +system of education, and the improvement of interstate communications; +but they were finally discontinued because none of their work had been +given any practical effect by the governments. The Central American +Bureau (Oficina Internacional Centroamericana) has perhaps been the +only institution provided for at the meeting in 1907 which has thus +far fully justified its creation. This office, which has been sort of +a clearing house for statistical and other data, has done much useful +work in distributing commercial information in Central America and +abroad, and has also served as an international agency for elaborating +plans for joint action on subjects of general importance. Its organ, +“Centro America,” is the most important periodical published in the +Isthmus. + +It is still too early to attempt a final estimate of the results +of the Washington Conference, or to judge of the ultimate economic +and political effects of its work. Some of the stipulations of the +conventions adopted by it have never been carried out, and others have +been rendered obsolete by the events of the last ten years, but in the +main the agreements entered into are still in force, and are by no +means without practical value. The provisions restraining the states +from interfering in one another’s affairs and binding them to submit +their disputes to arbitration cannot but make a great change in the +political conditions of the Isthmus, if the five countries continue to +observe them and if the United States continues to exert its influence +to secure respect for them. The spirit of Central American unity, which +inspired the actions of the Conference, is growing stronger daily as +the states realize more fully their dependence upon one another and +the importance of presenting a united front to the world. It seems not +improbable that the meeting in Washington in 1907 will be looked back +upon in the future as a turning point in the history of the Isthmus, +marking a first and decisive step towards the elimination of the +international and internal wars which had hitherto been so frequent and +so destructive. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[45] Quoted by Critchfield (_American Supremacy_, Vol. II, p. 419) from +a speech made at Chautauqua. + +[46] U. S. Foreign Relations, 1906, I, 834ff. Mexico, _Boletín Oficial +de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores_, Vol. 22, p. 235. + +[47] Nicaragua, _Mem. de Relaciones Exteriores_, ’07, p. xxvii, 5. + +[48] For the text of these conventions, see U. S. For. Rel., ’06, I, p. +857. + +[49] U. S. Foreign Relations, ’07, p. 606; Nicaragua, _Memoria de +Relaciones Exteriores_, ’07, most of which is devoted to an account of +the events here discussed. + +[50] For the text of this treaty, see Nicaragua, _Memoria de Relaciones +Exteriores_, ’07, p. 405. + +[51] Annual message to Nicaraguan Congress, Dec. 1, 1907. + +[52] Article II of preliminary protocol, signed Sept. 17, 1907. U. S. +For. Rel., ’07, II, p. 644. + +[53] Mr. Buchanan’s report, with the text of the conventions, is +printed in U. S. For. Rel., ’07, pp. 665-723. + +[54] After the destruction of Cartago by an earthquake in 1910 it was +moved to San José. + +[55] See the article by Professor P. M. Brown, at the time U. S. +Minister to Honduras, in the American Political Science Review, Vol. +VI, Supplement, p. 160. + +[56] For an account of the case, in addition to the official report of +the Court, see the Am. Journal of International Law, Vol. II, p. 835. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN NICARAGUA + + The Revolution of 1909--Attitude of the United States--Victory of + the Conservatives--Financial and Political Difficulties Confronting + the New Government--The Dawson Agreement and the Loan Treaty--Reform + of the Currency, Establishment of the Customs Collectorship, and + Reorganization of the Foreign Debt by the American Bankers--The + Joint Claims Commission--Failure of the Loan Treaty--The Revolution + of 1912 and the Intervention of the United States--Support of the + Government Since 1912 by American Marines--New Loans and Purchase of + the Railroad and Bank Stock by the Bankers--The Election of 1916--The + Canal Treaty--Objections of Costa Rica and Salvador--Decision of the + Central American Court--Opposition to Our Policy in Nicaragua and + the Influence of Our Policy on Our Relations with the Other Central + American States. + + +In October, 1909, a band of Nicaraguan Conservatives started a +revolution at Bluefields. They won over Juan J. Estrada, the governor +of the province of which that city is the capital, by proclaiming him +provisional president, and thus secured control of most of the East +Coast of the Republic. Money and supplies were obtained from some of +the other Central American countries, and also from the foreign colony +on the Coast, whose interests had been injured by certain concessions +which President Zelaya had recently granted. This assistance, and the +protection afforded by the wild country which separated Bluefields +from the rest of the Republic, enabled the revolutionists to raise a +considerable army and to organize a _de facto_ government before the +constituted authorities were able to attack them. + +The uprising was from the first regarded with sympathy throughout +Central America and in Washington, for Zelaya’s continual encouragement +of revolutions in other countries had made him obnoxious to all of his +neighbors, and had led to a general belief that his administration was +the principal obstacle to the establishment of peace in the Isthmus. +The relations between Nicaragua and the United States had been strained +for some time, because of the friction caused by Zelaya’s violations +of the Washington Conventions, and because there had been a number of +unpleasant diplomatic incidents, including the prolonged dispute over +the so-called Emery claim,[57] which had culminated in the withdrawal +of the American minister from Managua. Nevertheless, both the United +States and the other Central American countries remained at first +ostensibly neutral in the contest. In November, however, the execution +by Zelaya’s troops of two American soldiers of fortune, who held +commissions in the revolutionary army, caused President Taft to break +off diplomatic relations with the Liberal administration entirely, and +to give the revolution his open, if indirect, support. + +The attitude of the American government was set forth in a note +addressed by Secretary of State Knox to the Nicaraguan Chargé +d’Affaires at Washington. “Since the Washington Conference of +1907,” it stated, “it is notorious that President Zelaya has almost +continuously kept Central America in tension and turmoil.” The Liberal +administration was described as “a regime which unfortunately has been +a blot upon the history of Nicaragua.” The murder of American citizens +was but the culmination of a series of outrages which had made friendly +relations between the two governments impossible. Moreover, the United +States was convinced “that the revolution represents the ideals and +the will of a majority of the Nicaraguan people more faithfully +than does the Government of President Zelaya.” The revolution, the +Secretary said, had already attained serious proportions on the East +Coast, and new uprisings were reported in the West. This tended to +produce “a condition of anarchy which leaves, at a given time, no +definite, responsible source to which the Government of the United +States could look for reparation for the killing of Messrs. Cannon and +Groce, or indeed, for the protection which must be assured American +citizens and American interests in Nicaragua. In these circumstances, +the President no longer feels for the Government of President Zelaya +that respect and confidence which would make it appropriate hereafter +to maintain with it regular diplomatic relations, implying the will +and the ability to respect and assure what is due from one state to +another.” Both factions were to be held responsible for the protection +of American life and property in the sections under their control. The +United States would wait, before demanding reparation for the murders, +until it saw whether or not the government which was in power after +the revolution was “entirely dissociated from the present intolerable +conditions.” Meanwhile it reserved the liberty to take such action as +it saw fit to preserve its interests, and the State Department would +continue to receive unofficially both the former Chargé d’Affaires and +the representative of the revolution.[58] + +This note brought about Zelaya’s fall, for he realized that he could +not hope to maintain himself against the open opposition of the +United States. After vainly attempting to come to an understanding +with Secretary Knox, the Nicaraguan ruler yielded to the advice of +President Díaz of Mexico and to the pleas of his friends at home, and +resigned his position to Dr. José Madriz, one of the most distinguished +citizens of Leon. The Liberals had hoped to placate the United States +by making president a civilian of known ability and honesty, but their +expectations were disappointed, for President Taft refused to recognize +the new executive.[59] The revolutionists also declined his offer to +open peace negotiations. + +For a time, nevertheless, it appeared probable that President Madriz +would be able to restore order. On February 22, 1910, a revolutionary +army which attempted to invade the lake region was defeated and almost +destroyed, and Estrada and the other leaders, with the remnants of +their troops, were forced to retire to Bluefields. The government +at once prepared to attack that city vigorously by land and by sea, +proclaiming a blockade of the port, and occupying the Bluff, where the +customs house was situated. The final reduction of the rebel army, +however, proved impossible. The officers of the American warships, +which had been sent to the port at the outbreak of the war, refused +to allow the blockading squadron to interfere with American ships or +ships carrying American goods, and denied the right of the Government +officials to collect customs duties at the Bluff, permitting Estrada to +establish a new customs house in the territory under his control. When +the Liberal commanders, thus prevented from cutting off the supplies or +the revenues of the insurgents, prepared to take the town by assault, +the American commander forbade them to attack it from the land side, +and threatened to sink the gunboats if they shelled the rebel trenches. +This action, taken on the ground that a bombardment or fighting in the +streets would destroy the property of Americans and other foreigners, +rendered certain the defeat of the Government army, which could not +long remain encamped far from its base of supplies in the hot and +unhealthful coast district outside of the city. Within a few weeks the +besiegers were forced to withdraw into the interior. + +The Liberals in control at the capital, who had already lost the +sympathy of many of Zelaya’s former supporters by their wholesale +political arrests and their partisan policy, were completely +discredited by their failure to take Bluefields, and their government +collapsed entirely when Estrada again approached the interior with +a reinforced army. There were new outbreaks at several points in the +lake region which it was impossible to suppress. Madriz left Managua +on August 20, 1910, and the revolutionists entered the city on the +following day. + +The revolutionary forces were composed mainly of adherents of the +wealthy Conservative families of Granada, but there were also many +Liberals, some of whom had been prominent leaders in the revolt, who +had joined the uprising either from personal hostility to Zelaya or +from the hope of gaining something for themselves. The new provisional +president, Juan J. Estrada, was a member of the artisan class of +Managua, who had been raised by Zelaya to the position of governor of +the East Coast province, and whose leadership had been accepted by the +Conservatives only because the success of their plot at the beginning +depended upon his betraying his patron and turning over to them the +garrison at Bluefields. Another Liberal, General José María Moncada, +who had for several years been an opponent of Zelaya, became minister +of _gobernación_ in the new government, and was one of the most trusted +advisors of the provisional president. The minister of war, General +Luís Mena, had formerly been a follower of the Chamorro family, but +his military exploits during the recent struggle and his influence +with the army had given him a prestige which threatened to eclipse +that of his former patrons, and had made him the most powerful figure +in the administration. None of these men were liked or trusted by the +old Granada aristocracy, who had hoped through the success of the +revolution to regain the power which they had enjoyed during the thirty +years before Zelaya became president. Even the _Granadinos_, however, +were not entirely united among themselves, for there was no little +jealousy between some of the great families. General Emiliano Chamorro, +who had for many years been the leader of Conservative revolts against +Zelaya, had a strong following among the members of his party in all +sections of the Republic, but he was opposed by a faction headed by +the Cuadra family, who subsequently became very powerful through their +alliance with President Adolfo Díaz. It is necessary to bear in mind +these rivalries between the different leaders and groups in the new +administration, in order to understand the political difficulties which +confronted it during the two years following its accession to power. + +The agreement by which the Liberals had turned over the government to +the revolutionary leaders had provided for a general amnesty, for a +free election to be held within one year, and for the recognition of +the debts contracted by both parties during the struggle. Little or +no attention was paid to the two former articles, but the debts of +both parties,--to members of the revolutionary forces,--were fully +recognized, and, in so far as the condition of the treasury permitted, +paid. Each person who had taken part in the revolt received fifty +hectares (about 123 acres) of the national lands, and vast sums were +awarded to prominent members of the Conservative party who had suffered +under the Zelaya regime from confiscation or forced loans, or even from +“moral” injuries, such as the death of a close relative. A large sum +which had been left in the treasury by Dr. Madriz was soon exhausted, +and new issues of unsecured paper money were resorted to. By April, +1911, the government admitted that the already depreciated currency +had been further inflated to the extent of 15,000,000 pesos, and in +the autumn of the same year 10,000,000 pesos more were secretly put +into circulation.[60] Some of this money was necessarily used to meet +the current expenses of the government, for the revenues had suffered +a serious decline since the revolution, but the greater part seems to +have gone to those in power and to their friends and relatives. + +The emptiness of the treasury, accompanied by the inflation of the +currency to twice its former quantity, made worse the already desperate +economic situation of the country. The revolution had paralyzed +agriculture and commerce, not only by taking thousands of workers +away from their fields and shops, but also by the actual destruction +of cattle and crops, and by the complete disorganization of the +transportation system. The discontent caused by these conditions made +the position of the new government very precarious, for the Liberals, +who outnumbered the Conservatives in the country at large, had no +intention of accepting their defeat as final. They felt that they had +been beaten, not through the superior strength of their enemies, but by +the intervention of the United States; and they were encouraged to keep +up an active opposition to the government by the hope of returning to +power through the dissensions which soon appeared among the different +chiefs of the Conservative party. The opposition press, which for a +few months enjoyed and abused an unwonted liberty, kept party feeling +at the boiling point, and the bitterness between the two factions was +greatly intensified by a bloody clash between government troops and the +members of a peaceful Liberal parade at Leon in November, 1911. The +Conservative administration, bankrupt and divided within itself, seemed +for a time utterly unable to cope with the situation. + +The Republic was saved from falling into a condition of complete +anarchy only by the assistance rendered to the new government by +the United States. In October, 1910, the State Department sent Mr. +Thomas C. Dawson to Managua to study the situation and to bring about +an understanding between the Conservative leaders. Through his good +offices, the so-called Dawson agreement was signed on November 5 by +the principal leaders of the revolution. This arrangement provided +for the continuance of Estrada at the head of the government, for the +appointment of a commission containing American members to pass on +all claims against the government arising out of the recent war and +out of the cancellation of concessions granted by Zelaya, and for the +negotiation of a loan treaty in the United States.[61] A constitutional +convention which met on December 31 elected Estrada provisional +president for two years, and Adolfo Díaz vice-president. The new +administration was at once officially recognized by the United States. + +Estrada’s position was by no means an easy one. He could rely neither +upon the military power, which was entirely in the hands of General +Mena, nor upon the Constitutional Convention, which was composed +chiefly of followers of Emiliano Chamorro. The rival ambitions of +the different leaders soon broke down the political arrangements +established by the Dawson agreement. When the Convention framed a +constitution which would have made itself rather than the president +the actual authority in the state, Estrada dissolved it, thus breaking +with Chamorro, who left the country. Estrada later attempted to remove +from office and imprison General Mena, who had used his control of the +army to fill a new constituent assembly with his personal followers. +The military leaders remained loyal to their chief, and prepared to +secure his release by force. Only the intervention of the United States +minister averted fighting in the streets of Managua. Estrada and +Moncada, the minister of _gobernación_, resigned, and Díaz succeeded to +the presidency, with the consent of Mena. The minister of war was for +some months the real head of the government. + +Meanwhile the plans for the financial reorganization of the Republic, +which had also been a part of the Dawson agreement, had assumed +definite form. Early in 1911, a study of the situation had been made +by a financial advisor appointed by Estrada at the suggestion of the +State Department. The pecuniary difficulties which confronted the new +government were growing very serious. Foreign creditors, supported by +their governments, were urgently demanding the payment of interest +on the bonded debt, and several claimants were seeking compensation +for concessions which the revolutionists had cancelled or violated. +The treasury was practically empty, and the repeated issues of paper +money which had been resorted to to provide funds had disorganized the +currency to such an extent that fluctuations in the rate of exchange +made foreign commerce almost impossible.[62] + +On June 6, 1911, a treaty was signed with the United States, by which +that country agreed to assist Nicaragua in securing a loan from +American bankers for the consolidation of its internal and external +debt and for other purposes. The loan was to be secured by the customs +duties, which were to be collected, so long as the bonds remained +unpaid, by an official appointed by Nicaragua from a list presented +by the fiscal agent of the loan and approved by the President of the +United States.[63] The treaty was similar in every way to that signed +in January of the same year by the United States and Honduras, and, +like it, was never ratified by the United States Senate. On September +1, while it was still under consideration by the Senate, contracts +were signed by which Brown Brothers and Company and J. and W. Seligman +and Company, of New York, agreed to lend the Republic fifteen million +dollars when the treaty went into effect. The bankers were to purchase +the Republic’s bonds, bearing five per cent interest, at 90¹⁄₂ per cent +of their face value, and the money thus received was to be employed +for the reform of the currency, the construction of railroads from the +interior to Matagalpa and to the Atlantic Coast, and the refunding +of the external and the internal debts. As there was little hope of +immediate action on the loan treaty, for the United States Congress +had adjourned, the bankers agreed to purchase of the Republic six per +cent treasury bills to the amount of $1,500,000, in order to provide +funds for the most needed reform, an immediate reorganization of the +currency. These were guaranteed by the customs revenues, which were to +be administered until the notes were retired by a collector general +designated by the bankers. The Republic agreed that any dispute +relating to this contract should be referred to the Secretary of State +of the United States for final decision. The treasury bills were to be +retired at once if the fifteen-million-dollar bond issue took place.[64] + +The product of this loan was spent by the bankers for the benefit of +the Republic. The reorganization of the monetary system was intrusted +to the National Bank of Nicaragua, an institution incorporated in the +United States with capital supplied from the loan. This was to be +managed by the bankers until such time as the treasury bills should +be paid. On March 20, 1912, a new currency law was passed by the +Nicaraguan Congress, putting into effect a plan which had been worked +out by two distinguished American financial experts, who had been sent +by the bankers to report on the situation.[65] A unit called _Córdoba_, +equal in value to one dollar United States currency, was instituted, +and the National Bank was authorized to issue paper and silver money +of the new denominations in such quantities as it might consider +expedient. This was to be exchanged for the old _billetes_ at a rate +to be fixed by agreement between the President of Nicaragua and the +bankers. The bank-notes which were to form the greater part of the new +circulating medium were to be kept at par by the sale of drafts against +a reserve fund maintained in New York by the Republic with its own +money, but managed by the National Bank. The latter was to have full +control of the currency reform as the agent of the Republic, and was to +have an exclusive right to issue paper money. + +Meanwhile it had been found that additional funds would be necessary +if the currency reform were to be carried out, because the secret +issues of paper money made during the autumn of 1911, even after the +signature of the treasury bills agreement, had greatly increased the +probable expense of the reform. The bankers therefore agreed to open a +credit of $500,000 to provide the reserve fund contemplated in the plan +of reorganization, and agreed also to lend the Republic an additional +$255,000 in small monthly amounts for current expenses. Both of these +advances were to bear interest at the rate of six per cent, and were +to be repaid when Nicaragua received the money which was due to it, as +will be explained below, from the Ethelburga Syndicate. Payment was due +on October 15, 1912, but the bankers agreed to grant an extension of +time both for these loans and for the treasury bills, if the Republic +were then unable to pay them. In return, the Republic agreed to cut +down its budget and to raise the customs duties by collecting them at +a new rate of exchange. At the same time, it granted the bankers an +option on fifty-one per cent of the stock in the National Railway, the +management of which was to be turned over to a corporation formed in +the United States. This company was to be entirely controlled by the +bankers until they had received all money due them from the Republic. + +As soon as the plan for the currency reform was completed the +government began to purchase and destroy the old paper money, in order +to reduce the rate of exchange, for the expert commission had decided +that a conversion at the prevailing rate of twenty to one would work +a serious injustice to some classes in the community in view of the +rapidity with which the rate had risen during the past twelve months. +This proceeding, although justifiable from a broad social point of +view, involved a heavy expense to the government, and at the same +time proved extremely profitable to those who had shared in the +distributions of paper money which had taken place since the victory +of the revolution. The National Bank was established in the summer +of 1912, and early in 1913 the new money was in circulation. The old +_billetes_ were gradually retired, being exchanged at a fixed rate of +12¹⁄₂ to one. In November, 1915, they ceased to be legal tender. + +Meanwhile the Customs Collectorship had been installed in December, +1911, under the direction of Colonel Clifford D. Ham. This gentleman +has administered the service ever since, in accordance with the terms +of the treasury bills contract and of the later agreement with the +holders of the Republic’s foreign debt. The Collector General, in +his own words, has regarded himself not so much as an employee of +the Nicaraguan Government as a “trustee, with obligations to four +parties--the Republic of Nicaragua, the Secretary of State of the +United States, certain citizens of the United States, and certain +citizens of England.”[66] In accordance with this view, he has +declined to recognize the right of the Tribunal of Accounts and other +governmental agencies to exercise any authority over him, and he has +been in the main supported in this position by the higher Nicaraguan +officials. By the terms of its arrangements with the bankers, the +Republic is debarred from reducing its tariff without the latters’ +consent, or from taking any other action which might lessen the value +of the guarantee afforded by the customs revenues. The collectorship, +and the readjustment of the foreign debt which its establishment made +possible, may perhaps be said to be the one conspicuously successful +feature of the American bankers’ operations in Nicaragua. The Collector +General, who has entire power to appoint and remove his subordinates, +has reorganized and reformed the service, and has succeeded in +eliminating most of the corruption and inefficiency which had prevailed +under native administration. Foreign importers and customs agencies +who had enjoyed special privileges or improper exemptions have in +some cases opposed the new regime very bitterly, but the majority of +the business men of the country have had good reason to welcome the +substitution of a fair system for one which exposed them to continual +extortion and fraud. The amount of revenue secured, in proportion to +the imports, has been greatly increased, although the paralyzation +of trade during the war of 1912 and the commercial stagnation which +has prevailed since the beginning of the European war have prevented +the receipts from reaching an amount much greater than that secured +in the days of Zelaya. Nevertheless, the collections during 1913, +the only year since the establishment of the new system in which +normal conditions prevailed, were the largest in the history of the +Republic.[67] + +Negotiations with the holders of the Republic’s foreign debt were +completed in the first months of 1912, when an arrangement highly +beneficial to both parties was brought about by the American bankers, +acting on behalf of the Nicaraguan Government. Zelaya had refunded the +then existing foreign debt in 1909, by placing bonds to the amount of +£1,250,000 at seventy-five per cent of their face value, bearing six +per cent interest, with the Ethelburga Syndicate in London. As the +service of this loan had been suspended after the revolution, and the +British Government had already intervened diplomatically on behalf +of the bondholders, the need for a readjustment had been pressing. A +contract was signed on May 25, 1912, between the American bankers and +the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, by which the latter agreed to +a reduction of the interest on the loan to five per cent, on condition +that the interest and amortization charges be made a first lien on +the customs receipts of the Republic, and that those receipts should +continue to be collected under the control of the bankers. This +agreement not only effected a saving in money and an improvement in the +credit of the Republic, but it also secured for the government the use +of a sum of £371,000, representing part of the proceeds of the sale of +the 1909 bonds, which had been held in London when the service of the +loan had been suspended. About one-third of this money was used for the +payment of interest already due, but the remainder was available, in +accordance with an agreement made on the same date between the American +bankers and the Republic, for the fortification of the currency reform +and the repayment of a part of the obligations of the government to the +bankers. + +The Claims Commission provided for by the Dawson agreement began its +sessions on May 1, 1911. It was authorized by legislative decree to +adjudicate without further appeal all unliquidated claims against the +government, including especially those arising from the late war and +from the cancellation of concessions and other contracts made by former +administrations. Of the three commissioners, one was a Nicaraguan +citizen appointed by the Nicaraguan Government and the other two +were Americans, one named by the Republic on the recommendation of +the United States and the other designated by the State Department. +The commission continued its labors until late in 1914, and passed +on 7,908 claims for a total of $13,808,161 gold. Its awards amounted +to $1,840,432.31, about two-thirds of which was for small claims +presented by natives. The American holders of concessions, who demanded +$7,576,564.13, received only $538,749.71. The original intention had +been to provide for the payment of these awards with the money received +from the proposed fifteen-million-dollar bond issue. It was impossible +after the failure of the loan treaty for the government to do this, +but a sum of $158,548 was nevertheless provided from the customs +receipts for the payment of 4,116 of the smallest claims, which were +mainly for losses of livestock and similar property by poor persons +during the civil wars of 1909-10 and 1912.[68] Even though the plan +for the refunding of the internal debt could not be carried out, it +was a decided advantage both for the government and for the holders of +the claims to have them passed on by an impartial tribunal, in order +that the former might know definitely how much it owed, and that the +latter might secure the recognition of their claims as acknowledged +obligations of the treasury. + +These measures had been carried out by the State Department, and by +the bankers at the request and with the co-operation of the State +Department, in anticipation of the ratification of the loan treaty by +the United States Senate. Their effect was practically to put into +operation the most important features of that agreement,--the customs +collectorship, the adjustment of the external debt, and the reform +of the currency,--despite the opposition to the State Department’s +policy which defeated the treaty in the Senate. The rejection of the +treaty, however, made it impossible to secure money for the complete +execution of the reforms which had been inaugurated by the Treasury +Bills Agreement, for the bankers were naturally unwilling to make the +large loan which had been planned for without an adequate guarantee +of the protection of their government. Their situation and that of +the Republic was thus made very difficult. The foreign debt remained +in English and French hands; the creditors of the government at home +remained unpaid; the projected railroads could not be built; and the +general improvement in the condition of business and agriculture, which +had been expected to result from the solution of the government’s +financial difficulties and the payment of its obligations to planters, +merchants, and officials, did not take place. The poor credit of the +Republic made it impossible for it to secure additional loans from the +bankers except on onerous terms, while its pressing necessities forced +it to embark on a hand-to-mouth policy of mortgaging or selling all of +its available resources in order to secure funds. The bankers, on the +other hand, had been drawn into a business which promised little profit +or credit to themselves, but from which they could not well withdraw. +Instead of underwriting a large bond issue, and aiding in an ambitious +project for the economic regeneration of Nicaragua, as they had +expected to when they first entered into the contracts of September, +1911, they have become involved deeper and deeper in the financial +support of a virtually bankrupt government. + +While these financial operations were being carried out, the political +situation had become more threatening than ever. General Mena had +caused the Assembly to elect him President of the Republic, in +October, 1911, for the term beginning January 1, 1913, notwithstanding +the protests of the United States Minister and of the Granada +Conservatives, who asserted that this action was a violation of the +Dawson agreement. The strength of the opposition to this proceeding +encouraged President Díaz to attempt to throw off the control of the +minister of war. On July 29, 1912, he summarily removed the latter from +office, and appointed Emiliano Chamorro general-in-chief of the army. +Mena fled to Masaya, with a large part of the troops and of the city +police of the capital. Most of the national stores of artillery and +ammunition had been gathered in Masaya and in Granada, where Mena’s son +was in command of the barracks. The revolutionists were reinforced by +a large number of Liberals, for Benjamín Zeledón, formerly minister of +war under Zelaya, assumed the leadership of one of their armies, and +the people of Leon revolted and seized control of that city and of the +neighboring provinces. Mena’s distrust of his old enemies, however, and +his refusal to send arms and ammunition to the Leon leaders, prevented +effective co-operation between the two factions, and probably saved the +government from defeat. + +As it was, the government could not expect to hold out long, with +little ammunition and few troops, while the rebels controlled +practically all the approaches to the capital. The United States, +however, could hardly permit the overthrow of the Conservative +authorities. Mena, who had fallen seriously ill, had been forced to +let the leadership of the revolution pass almost completely into the +hands of Zeledón and the Leon chiefs. If Zelaya’s followers regained +control of the government, all of the efforts of the State Department +to place Nicaragua on her feet politically and financially would have +been useless, and the interests of the New York bankers, who had +undertaken their operations in the country at the express request +of the United States Government, would be seriously imperiled. The +American Minister, therefore, demanded that President Díaz guarantee +effective protection to the life and property of foreigners in the +Republic. The latter replied that he was unable to do so, but asked +the United States to assume this responsibility itself. In compliance +with this request, American marines landed at Corinto, and assumed +control of the National Railway, which ran from that port through +Leon, Managua, and Masaya to Granada. This, as we have seen, was the +property of the government, but was held and operated by the bankers as +a partial guarantee of their loans. By September 8, traffic had been +resumed between Corinto and Granada, although the rebels still held +all of the more important cities along the route with the exception +of Managua. On September 18, the United States Minister, Mr. Weitzel, +made public an official declaration that the United States intended to +keep open the routes of communication in the Republic and to protect +American life and property. His government, he said, had been opposed +to Zelaya not only as a person but as a system, and it would exert +its influence, at the request of President Díaz, to prevent a return +to that system and to uphold the lawful authority. This pronouncement +disheartened the revolutionists and caused many to withdraw from the +uprising. On September 25, General Mena surrendered at Granada to +Admiral Sutherland, the commander of the American forces, and the +rebels were confined to their positions at Masaya and Leon. A few days +later, Admiral Sutherland ordered Zeledón to evacuate the Barranca +Fort, overlooking Masaya, on the ground that his position threatened +the railway. When the Liberal leader refused, American troops stormed +and took the position. The war soon afterwards came to an end with the +surrender of Leon to another American officer. Seven American marines +and bluejackets had lost their lives.[69] + +After the revolution, it was necessary to decide upon the election of a +president for the term 1913-1917. The greater part of the Conservative +party supported the candidacy of General Chamorro, but Díaz, who +controlled the machinery of the administration, desired to succeed +himself in power. An agreement was effected through the intervention of +Mr. Weitzel, who insisted that the _Chamorristas_ accept Díaz, while +Chamorro was given the position of minister at Washington. At the +election, which was held while a large part of the American marines +were still in the country, the three or four thousand voters who were +allowed to participate unanimously approved the official ticket, which +was the only one in the field. + +Since 1912, the Government of Nicaragua has practically been maintained +in office by the support of the United States, for a legation guard +of one hundred marines is kept in one of the forts at Managua and a +warship is stationed at Corinto as reminders that the United States +will not permit another uprising against the constituted authorities. +One hundred well-trained and well-equipped soldiers are in themselves +no inconsiderable force in a country like Nicaragua, and their +influence is increased by the recollection of the events of 1912. +Without their moral backing, the administration could hardly have +remained in power. Although President Díaz dealt with his opponents +more justly and humanely than has been customary in Nicaragua, and +showed great liberality in his attitude towards the expression of +political opinion in the press and in private conversation, his +administration did not have the whole-hearted adherence of any of the +larger political groups, and was for this reason decidedly unpopular. +Not only the Liberals and the friends of General Mena, but even most +of the Conservatives, were dissatisfied. General Chamorro himself +co-operated loyally with the president, but he was unable to prevent +many of his followers from conspiring to place their own faction in +power. There were, therefore, continual intrigues and frequent petty +revolts, which lessened the government’s prestige and exhausted its +energy and resources. The outbreak of another civil war was prevented, +apparently, only by the determined attitude of the United States. + +Two of the causes which contributed most to the weakness of the Díaz +government were its inability to meet its current expenses and the +increasing unpopularity of its relations with the New York bankers. +At the time of Mena’s revolt, the difficulties confronting the +treasury had seemed in a fair way to solution, but the expense and +the loss of revenue due to the war made matters worse than ever. The +government was forced to ask further advances from the bankers, and +to turn over to them, as security, and in the hope of improving its +financial situation thereby, the collection of all of its internal +revenues.[70] These were administered by the National Bank for a year, +after which the arrangement was abandoned as unsatisfactory, because +of the difficulties encountered by the American administrators in +obtaining the enforcement of the fiscal laws and the prevention of the +clandestine manufacture of _aguardiente_. It was reported in October, +1916, however, that the internal revenues had again been taken over by +the bankers. + +As there was no improvement in the financial condition of the Republic, +contracts providing for further assistance by the bankers were signed +on October 8, 1913. The latter agreed to purchase another issue of +treasury bills to the amount of one million dollars, bearing interest +at six per cent, and at the same time bought fifty-one per cent of the +stock of the National Railway for one million dollars, thus becoming +the owners of property which they had in fact held and operated for +more than a year. The Republic agreed to employ a part of the two +million dollars thus received in the payment of all its outstanding +obligations to the bankers and to the National Bank, including the sums +still due on the 1911 treasury bills and the supplementary loans, and +in the addition of $350,000 to the currency reserve. At the same time +it was to subscribe $47,000, while the bankers subscribed $153,000, +for an increase in the capital of the National Bank, which was to be +raised from $100,000 to $300,000. The remainder of the money, amounting +approximately to three quarters of a million dollars, went to the +Republic for its current expenses. Since the bankers acquired fifty-one +per cent of the stock of the National Bank as well as of the Railway +by these contracts, it was arranged that they should name six, the +Nicaraguan Minister of Finance two, and the United States Secretary of +State one, of the directors of both corporations. + +Before these new treasury bills fell due, the outbreak of the European +war put an end to all hope for the immediate financial rehabilitation +of the Republic. The economic situation of the country at large was +already very bad before this final disaster occurred. The exhaustion +and demoralization which had resulted from two unusually destructive +civil wars, combined with the reduction of military forces in the +rural districts from motives of economy, had led to a great increase +in highway robbery and crime, which caused general unrest and +discouraged internal commerce. Matters were made worse by the continual +political agitation. The crops, moreover, had been severely damaged by +droughts and by a plague of grasshoppers, and in many districts the +agricultural population had been reduced to a pitiable state of want. +The merchants in the cities had suffered great losses from the failure +of the Government to pay for large amounts of supplies purchased or +requisitioned by it, and from the inability of the treasury to meet the +salaries of the public employees, who made up a large part of the city +population. When the outbreak of the war cut off the European credits +upon which both the coffee growers and the merchants had depended, +foreign and domestic commerce came almost to a standstill. The income +of the national treasury was greatly reduced, for the receipts from the +customs duties declined from $1,730,603.22 in 1913 to $1,237,593.33 in +1914 and $789,716.76 in 1915, and the other revenues decreased at the +same time to an alarming extent. It was manifestly impossible for the +government to meet even the most necessary of its current expenses, +if it had to discharge its obligations to foreign creditors at the +same time, and it would have faced absolute bankruptcy had not the +bankers again come to its assistance. The payment of interest on the +treasury bills was suspended, by contracts made in October, 1914, and +the bankers used their good offices to secure a similar suspension of +charges on the English debt, in order that the Republic might use all +of the reduced customs revenue for its own needs. These arrangements +have since been renewed from time to time for short periods, always +on condition that the Republic should so far as possible resume the +service of the loans if it should receive the three million dollars due +to it in accordance with the canal treaty with the United States. + +The conditions created by the war put a severe strain upon the new +currency system. The replenishment of the reserve fund became well-nigh +impossible just at the time when the disorganization of international +credit, which forced exchange upon European centers to an unprecedented +figure throughout the Western Hemisphere, caused an abnormal drain upon +it. The National Bank, therefore, was forced to suspend the sale of the +drafts by which the par value of its notes had been maintained. At the +same time there was a strong popular demand for new issues of money +to supply funds for the government and to finance the coffee growers, +who were unable to secure the usual advances from abroad for moving +their crop. As a result of this, a contract was signed on December +2, 1914, by which a new issue of 1,500,000 Córdobas was provided +for,--C1,000,000 to be used for making loans to agriculturalists and +exporters, and C500,000, which was to be guaranteed by the proceeds of +a new capital tax collected by the National Bank, for the payment of +salaries and other obligations of the government. At the same time, +the Bank was authorized to pay its depositors with additional notes, +secured by mortgages and other securities. All of these issues were to +be retired as rapidly as the loans were repaid and the profits of the +capital tax were received. The interest upon the loans to planters and +merchants, which was to be at the rate of twelve per cent, was divided +between the government and the Bank,--an arrangement highly profitable +to the latter, considering that the notes were exclusively obligations +of the Republic. So long as these issues were still in circulation, +the Bank was not to sell drafts against the reserve fund, and the +government was to be relieved of its obligation to maintain that fund +at the amount required by previous contracts. The new issues of paper +and the suspension of the sale of exchange constituted of course a +temporary abandonment of the gold standard. The premium on New York +drafts rose to thirty per cent during the first months of 1915, but in +May of that year it was greatly reduced by the operations of an English +bank in Managua. Some months later, the National Bank itself resumed +the sale of drafts with its own funds, thus raising its notes again to +their par value. + +Early in 1916, all parties in the Republic turned their attention +to the coming presidential election. In the campaign which preceded +this, the various political groups enjoyed a very unusual amount of +freedom in carrying on their propaganda, and each one founded clubs +and published numerous newspapers to support its candidate. The +chief factions which took part in the campaign were: the government +party, which had few friends outside of official circles; the old +Conservatives, with their chief strength in Granada, who were in the +main enthusiastic followers of Emiliano Chamorro; and the Liberals, +who, though by no means entirely at harmony among themselves, were +nevertheless united in their determination to regain control of the +government. There were also one or two lesser groups, which had hopes +of coming into power as the result of a compromise between the more +extreme parties. The Liberals, with the support of the great city of +Leon, and with a strong following in each of the other important cities +except Granada, were probably more numerous than all of their opponents +together. It was clear from the beginning, however, that the outcome +of the election would depend not so much upon the will of the majority +as upon the attitude assumed by the United States. The administration, +which had made Dr. Carlos Cuadra Pasos the official candidate, +obviously intended to perpetuate its own regime, relying on the support +of the American marines to prevent armed opposition to its plans. The +Chamorristas, on their side, believed that the United States would +insist that the Government accept their candidate, who had won general +respect during his service as minister at Washington. The security of +American interests in Nicaragua was in very large measure dependent +upon the continuance in power of the Conservative party, of which +Chamorro was undoubtedly the most popular leader; and the latter had +strong additional claims to consideration because of his loyal support +of the constituted authorities, after the disappointment which he had +suffered in 1913, and despite the discontent of his own followers with +the Díaz administration. + +The Liberals, on the other hand, believed that any fair solution of the +situation would restore them to power. They unquestionably constituted +a majority of the people of the Republic, and they were on the whole +more united than their Conservative opponents. For several years they +had been endeavoring to secure the withdrawal of the marines from +Nicaragua, believing that they would easily obtain control of the +government as soon as the existing administration should be deprived of +foreign support; and they had been carrying on an extensive campaign +in Central America and in political circles in Washington with a view +to arousing sentiment against the intervention of the United States +in the internal affairs of Nicaragua. Their leaders desired first of +all to secure the withdrawal of the American marines, but many were +willing, if this proved unobtainable, to accept American supervision +of the presidential election, which would have reduced somewhat the +possibility of the exercise of pressure and the employment of fraud +by the government. Whatever chance the Liberals might once have had +to secure the recognition of their right to participate on equal +terms in the election, however, was forfeited when they nominated as +their candidate for president Dr. Julián Irías, Zelaya’s most trusted +minister, who had been closely associated with the dictator in all of +the acts which had aroused the hostility of the United States between +1906 and 1909. Although Irías was one of the ablest and most popular +leaders of the Liberal party, it was hardly possible that a man whose +election would mean a restoration of the old regime should become +president of Nicaragua with the consent and assistance of the United +States. + +The United States could not well escape the responsibility for deciding +which of the three candidates should become president for the ensuing +term. A policy of non-intervention except to prevent disorder would +have meant the election of Dr. Cuadra, against the wishes of the great +majority of both parties. A supervised election, on the other hand, +supposing that it could have been conducted with any fairness, which +seemed unlikely, would probably have placed in office a president +whose avowed object was to expel the American bankers from the +Republic and to terminate American influence in the government. It was +almost inevitable under such circumstances that the Conservative party +should receive the open support of the American minister. By the time +of the election, it was evident that General Chamorro was to be the +next president. Dr. Irías had been prevented from entering Nicaragua +when he came home to conduct his campaign in August, and the Liberals +had been warned that no candidate who had been associated with the +Zelaya regime would be recognized by the United States if elected. +Somewhat later Dr. Cuadra withdrew his candidacy. The election was held +in October, and the new president, General Chamorro, was inaugurated in +January, 1917. + +After the attempt to secure the ratification of the loan treaty had +been finally abandoned, the hopes of the Nicaraguan Government for the +eventual solution of its financial problems were centered upon a new +agreement signed in February, 1913, which provided for the payment by +the United States to Nicaragua of three million dollars in return for +an exclusive right to construct a transisthmian canal through the San +Juan River and the Great Lake and for the privilege of establishing a +naval base in her territory on the Gulf of Fonseca. After Mr. Bryan +assumed office as Secretary of State, this treaty was modified by the +addition of an article by which Nicaragua agreed not to declare war +without the consent of the United States, or to enter into treaties +with foreign governments affecting her independence or territorial +integrity, or to contract public debts beyond her ability to pay, and +by which she recognized the right of the United States to intervene +in her affairs when necessary to preserve her independence or to +protect life and property in her domain. This so-called protectorate +plan failed of ratification in the United States Senate, and a new +treaty, without it, was signed on August 5, 1914. Despite the strong +opposition which this also encountered in the Senate, it was finally +ratified with some amendments, and was proclaimed on June 24, 1916. The +principal provisions of the treaty as ratified were as follows: + +I. “The Government of Nicaragua grants in perpetuity to the Government +of the United States, forever free from all taxation or other public +charge, the exclusive proprietary rights necessary and convenient for +the construction, operation, and maintenance of an interoceanic canal +by way of the San Juan River and the Great Lake of Nicaragua, or by way +of any route over Nicaraguan territory.... + +II. “... The Government of Nicaragua hereby leases for a term of +ninety-nine years to the Government of the United States the islands in +the Caribbean Sea known as Great Corn Island and Little Corn Island; +and the Government of Nicaragua further grants to the Government of +the United States for a like period of ninety-nine years the right +to establish, operate and maintain a naval base at such place on the +territory of Nicaragua bordering upon the Gulf of Fonseca as the +Government of the United States may select.... + +III. “In consideration of the foregoing stipulations and for the +purposes contemplated by this Convention and for the purpose of +reducing the present indebtedness of Nicaragua, the Government of +the United States shall ... pay for the benefit of the Republic of +Nicaragua the sum of three million dollars ... to be applied by +Nicaragua upon its indebtedness or other public purposes for the +advancement of the welfare of Nicaragua in a manner to be determined by +the two high contracting parties....” + +Even before this treaty had been made public, unofficial reports +revealing its provisions had led Costa Rica and Salvador to protest +vigorously to the United States and to Nicaragua against what each +considered to be a grave infringement of its own rights. Their +opposition had led the United States Senate to add to the treaty a +proviso declaring that nothing in the Convention was intended to affect +any existing right of Costa Rica, Salvador, or Honduras. This, however, +did little to conciliate those states, and the efforts of the State +Department to secure their approval of the new condition of affairs +created by the treaty by an offer to make similar agreements with +them, to safeguard their rights and to indemnify them with pecuniary +compensations, proved unavailing. After the treaty had been proclaimed, +Costa Rica and Salvador took their protests to the Central American +Court of Justice, requesting that tribunal to enjoin Nicaragua from +carrying out its provisions. The Court decided to take cognizance of +the matter, despite Nicaragua’s refusal to be a party to any action +before it.[71] + +Costa Rica’s case was a simple one, based upon treaty provisions. By +the boundary treaty between her and Nicaragua, signed in 1858, she had +been given perpetual rights of free navigation in the lower part of the +San Juan River, and the Nicaraguan Government had agreed to consult +her before it entered into any contract for the construction of an +interoceanic canal. There had been some dispute about the terms of this +treaty, which had led in 1888 to the submission of the questions at +issue to the arbitration of President Cleveland. The latter had held +the treaty valid, and had expressly declared in his award that: “The +Republic of Nicaragua remains bound not to make any grants for canal +purposes across her territory without first asking the opinion of the +Republic of Costa Rica.” Costa Rica asserted that the construction +of the proposed canal would interfere with her navigation of the San +Juan River, thus infringing her rights under the convention of 1858 +and also under those provisions of the Washington Conventions of 1907 +which granted to each Central American Republic the free navigation +of the waters of the others; that it would injuriously affect her own +territory on the banks of the San Juan; and finally that the Canal +Treaty had been signed and ratified before she had even been informed +of its provisions, and without her assent being asked at any stage of +the proceedings. Nicaragua refused to answer the complaint of Costa +Rica, and declared that she would neither recognize the competence +of the Court to assume jurisdiction in the matter nor abide by its +decision when rendered. She denied that the treaty was either a +concession for the construction of a canal, or an agreement for the +sale of the San Juan River, saying that it was only an option granting +to the United States the privilege of building a canal, under an +additional contract, at some future time. + +Salvador’s case was based upon broader political grounds, and her +protests were directed chiefly against the establishment of the naval +base in the Gulf of Fonseca, in close proximity to one of her most +important ports. “It must be patent to every one,” her complaint +stated, “that the establishment, by a powerful state, of a naval +base in the immediate vicinity of the Republic of El Salvador would +constitute a serious menace--not merely imaginary, but real and +apparent--to the freedom of life and the autonomy of that Republic. And +that positive menace would exist, not solely by reason of the influence +that the United States, as an essential to the adequate development +of the ends determined upon for the efficiency and security of the +proposed naval base, would naturally need to exercise and enjoy at all +times in connection with incidents of the highest importance in the +national life of the small neighboring states, but would be also, and +especially, vital because in the future, in any armed conflict that +might arise between the United States and one or more military powers, +the territories bounded by the Gulf of Fonseca would be converted, +to an extent incalculable in view of the offensive power and range +of modern armaments, into belligerent camps wherein would be decided +the fate of the proposed naval establishment--a decision that would +inevitably involve the sacrifice of the independence and sovereignty +of the weaker Central American States, as has been the case with the +smaller nations in the present European struggle under conditions more +or less similar.” + +Furthermore, Salvador asserted that the treaty violated her proprietary +rights in the Gulf of Fonseca. As successors of the Central American +Federation, she said, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua exercised a +joint ownership over the Gulf, which clearly gave her the right to +object to the use of its waters for military purposes by a foreign +power. Her contention was somewhat weakened by the fact that the +three republics in question had divided all of the islands of the +Gulf between them, and that each in practice exercised jurisdiction +over a portion of it; but it was nevertheless impossible to show that +any treaty to which Salvador had been a party had ever put an end to +the community which the three adjacent republics had inherited from +Spain and the Central American Federation. Salvador also asserted +that the treaty was prejudicial to the general interests of Central +America, which despite temporary political separation was nevertheless +a definite political entity of which each of the states was still a +part. The alienation of Central American territory by one country was +a violation of the rights of the others. Such alienation was at the +same time, by a rather far-fetched interpretation, claimed to be a +violation of the article in the Washington Peace Treaty of 1907 which +declared any alteration in the constitutional order of one of the +states a menace to the welfare of all. Finally, it was maintained that +the treaty could not legally have been concluded under the Nicaraguan +constitution, and was therefore void. + +The Court handed down its decision in the case of Costa Rica on +September 30, 1916. It declared that Nicaragua had violated Costa +Rica’s rights by making the treaty, but it declined to declare the +treaty void, as it had no jurisdiction over the United States. On March +2, 1917, it handed down a similar decision in the case of Salvador. +Its action has been disregarded by Nicaragua, and by the United +States. The decision has undoubtedly created an extremely embarrassing +situation. There can be no doubt that the Court had jurisdiction over +the question at issue, under the terms of the Washington conventions, +or that the other Central American countries, and particularly Costa +Rica, had strong cases against the convention, based not only upon +international law and treaty provisions, but also upon the necessity +for protecting their vital national interests. If the treaty is still +put into effect, after what has happened, both the Court of Justice and +the Washington Conventions will have ceased to be of practical value, +and our government will be committed to a policy which involves the +entire disregard of what the Central American republics consider to be +their rights. It may well be doubted whether even the great military +value of the proposed naval base, or the theoretical value of an option +on another canal route, are worth the permanent alienation of Central +American public opinion and the abandonment of the considerations of +justice and good will which have hitherto governed our relations with +the five republics. + +The policy pursued by the United States Government in Nicaragua +since 1912 has caused bitter resentment throughout Central America. +The Nicaraguan Liberals and most thinking people in other parts of +the Isthmus feel that the intervention of American marines in the +revolution of 1912 and the subsequent maintenance of the administration +by armed force have reduced Nicaragua to the position of a subject +country and have gravely jeopardized the independence of the other +republics. The Díaz government has been regarded as a mere creature of +the State Department, and it is denied that the agreements made by it +are in any sense acts of the Nicaraguan nation. Both the contracts with +the American bankers and the canal convention are regarded as evidences +of an intention in the State Department to exploit the present +situation for the benefit of American capitalists and for the promotion +of an aggressive policy of political expansion. It is perhaps rather +difficult for Americans, who realize how far any purpose of territorial +expansion is from the minds of those who control our foreign policy, +to comprehend the feeling of suspicion and fear which recent events +have aroused among the more intelligent and patriotic classes in +Central America. That feeling is nevertheless in large measure +justified. No country can be said to enjoy independence when it is +constantly in danger, as the events of the last five years have shown +all the Central American republics to be, of arbitrary and sometimes +undiscriminating intervention by an outside power in their political +and financial affairs. Although the United States has been actuated +in the policy which it has pursued solely by a desire to promote the +peace and prosperity of the Central American countries, neither the +necessity for the action which it has taken nor the purity of its +motives has been fully appreciated in the Isthmus. The result has been +a misunderstanding and a sentiment of hostility which threaten, unless +steps can be taken to regain their confidence, to make the people of +the five republics regard their North American neighbor as their most +dangerous enemy. + +It will be difficult to convince the Central Americans of the sincerity +of our good will or the disinterestedness of our intentions so long +as we continue to uphold a minority administration in Nicaragua by +force of arms. The maintenance of the established authority has thus +far been unavoidable because the only alternative was the abandonment +of Nicaragua to a renewal of the civil wars which reduced her to so +pitiable a condition before 1912. Peace was the first and absolute +necessity if the country were to be saved from utter ruin. But it is +unthinkable that the United States, in the name of constitutional +government, should permanently identify itself with any one faction +or that it should continue indefinitely to use its power to exclude +from all share in the administration the party to which a majority of +the people of the Republic profess allegiance. Ultimately, an attempt +must be made, either to hold a fair election or to effect an agreement +between the various parties by which a president accepted by all can be +placed in office. + +Any adjustment of the political situation must necessarily involve +measures to protect the interests of the American bankers, who have +invested about two million dollars in their efforts to preserve +Nicaragua from bankruptcy and to improve her economic condition. Brown +Brothers and Company and J. and W. Seligman and Company entered upon +their dealings with Nicaragua at the explicit request of the State +Department, and it would be impossible to expose them to the partial +or total loss of their investments by withdrawing the support of the +government. The first thought of a Liberal administration would be to +undo so far as it could the situation created by the loan contracts. +Actual confiscation of property would of course be impossible, but +both the bankers and the holders of the English bonds, which are now +secured by the American collection of the customs duties, might suffer +serious losses at the hands of an unfriendly president. For this +reason, an agreement in regard to the future status of the bankers, or +an adjustment of the debts due to them from the Republic, would be an +essential part of any arrangement which aimed to terminate the American +intervention. + +The motives and methods of the bankers, like those of the State +Department, have been severely impugned by the Nicaraguan Liberals and +by the leaders of public opinion in other parts of Central America. +One constantly hears charges that they are co-operating with a corrupt +and subservient administration to defraud the people, and that they +have taken advantage of the needs of the government and the greed of +the officials to secure control of all of the more valuable national +property. Those who make these accusations point to the fact that +the Republic has become heavily indebted to the New York firms, and +that the National Railway, the National Bank, the customs houses, and +the collection of the internal revenues have at the same time passed +into their hands, while the government apparently has nothing to show +in return. The more serious of these charges spring entirely from +ignorance or from partisan political motives. The Liberals are ready +to use any means and to make any statement likely to discredit the +Conservative administration or to arouse public sentiment in Nicaragua +or in the United States against the policy which has enabled their +rivals to remain in power; and the patriotic fervor of their efforts +to free their country from alien domination receives at least a part +of its force from the fact that they hope thereby to gain control of +the government for themselves. Few of them, moreover, have taken the +trouble to investigate the financial operations of the bankers in +order to substantiate the accusations which they make. The writer was +unable, during a stay of six months in Nicaragua, to find one prominent +Liberal who had even read the loan contracts. For this, and for the +statement frequently put forth that the Government and the bankers +have carried on their operations in secret and in an underhand manner, +there is no excuse, for every one of the more important contracts has +been published in the reports of the Minister of Finance, which are +easily accessible to the public. It must be remembered, however, that +there are very few persons in Nicaragua who are fitted by training or +experience to form an intelligent opinion from the perusal of these +documents. + +The bankers’ investments in Nicaragua so far have been as follows: + +1913 Treasury Bills $1,000,000 +51% of the stock in the National Railway 1,000,000 +51% of the stock in the National Bank 153,000 + ---------- + Total (exclusive of accrued interest) $2,153,000 + +Earlier loans were, as we have seen, repaid or refunded with the 1913 +treasury bills. These bear interest at the rate of six per cent, which +is certainly not excessive if we consider the desperate condition of +the Republic’s credit. The par value of the bankers’ holdings in the +capital stock of the railway is $1,683,000. Since the total net profits +of the line were $244,706.62 Cordobas in 1913-14, and $251,320.56 in +1914-15,[72] it is evident that it will be a valuable property under +foreign management and protection, although the return thus far has +not been great considering the dangers attending investments in such +enterprises in countries where revolutions, with their consequent +destruction of material and paralyzation of traffic, are of frequent +occurrence. It should be remembered, moreover, that the Government +still owns forty-nine per cent of the stock and thus receives nearly +half of the profits, so that it is a direct beneficiary from the +improvement in the property and the increase in the profits which +resulted from the reorganization. The Republic shares similarly in +any profits which may be made by the National Bank. This institution, +founded primarily for the purposes of the currency reform, has +apparently not made large profits up to the present time, because of +its small capital, its not very efficient management, and the heavy +expenses involved in maintaining three separate branches besides +the central office. It has received small sums for its services in +connection with the currency reform, and it has in addition loaned +considerable amounts to the government and to private individuals, +charging both twelve per cent interest, which is rather less than the +prevailing rate in Nicaragua. The wisdom, and perhaps the propriety, of +some of its operations have been open to criticism, but its services +in connection with the currency reform and its extension of credit to +the government when the latter has been in difficulties have certainly +justified its institution. + +The charge that the United States Government has been guided in its +financial policy in Nicaragua by a deliberate intention to exploit +the people of that country for the benefit of American capitalists is +of course simply ridiculous. Equally so is the idea that two great +financial institutions of the standing of Brown Brothers and Seligman +and Company would compromise their reputation and devote their time +and energy in schemes for defrauding Nicaragua of a few thousands of +dollars a year. The bankers have necessarily sought to protect their +own interests, and in order to do so have imposed rather onerous +conditions upon the Republic; but it must be remembered that they have +been dealing with a practically bankrupt country, which is at the +present time unable to meet any of its foreign obligations, and that +their investments are rendered doubly insecure by the bad economic +situation and by the uncertainty of political conditions. The sums +involved and the possibilities of illegitimate profits may well seem +immense to citizens of a country whose total annual budget is only +two or three million dollars; but no one who sees the matter in its +true proportions can well believe that the bankers have been enriching +themselves very rapidly at the expense of Nicaragua. + +On the other hand, it must be admitted that the loan contracts have +contained much that is objectionable from the point of view of the +patriotic Nicaraguan citizen. The situation which they have created +cannot but be humiliating to a people which values its national +independence. The collection of the public revenues by foreigners, and +the sale of the most valuable national property, however necessary for +the good of the country, has naturally been exceedingly distasteful to +public opinion. Moreover there has been a suspicion, apparently too +well founded, that some of the money received from the bankers has +benefited certain high officials rather than the nation as a whole, and +there is no doubt at all that large profits were made by members of the +party in power as the result of the currency reform. The men sent from +the United States to take charge of the various interests acquired by +the bankers have not always shown tact or ability, and some of them, +for this reason or from causes lying entirely beyond their control, +have become very unpopular. The raising of rates by the railway, and +the refusal to grant free passes to all persons of social or political +prominence, have caused much dissatisfaction; and the National Bank +has been severely criticised for its failure to make loans to everyone +who was in need of money. The currency reform was bitterly opposed at +first because of the inconvenience which the conversion caused and +the apparent shortage of money which resulted, and it was generally +regarded as a failure when the bank-notes fell below par at the +outbreak of the European war. It has since become more popular. The +financial reforms as a whole, however beneficial in the long run, +have involved expenses which the nation could ill afford. The expert +commission which worked out the currency reform, the mixed claims +commission, the officials of the customs service, and other Americans +who have been appointed to official or semi-official positions since +1912 have received remunerations which have seemed inordinately +large as compared with the incomes of the native officials; and the +publication of their salaries and their expense accounts has given rise +to many charges of extravagance. + +It is easy to point out how insignificant these grievances are as +compared with the benefits conferred by the adjustment of and the +reduction of charges on the foreign debt, the immense improvement +in the operation of the railway and in the customs service, and the +establishment of a currency system on a stable basis in place of +the depreciated, fluctuating paper of former times. It is also easy +to prove that the vast majority of the people have been inestimably +better off through the maintenance of order, which has been entirely +due to the military and financial support of the government by the +United States, than they would have been if the bloody party strife +and the wars with Central American neighbors which marked the last +years of the Liberal regime had been allowed to continue. But this +does not alter the fact that the situation which exists in Nicaragua +today is inherently and fundamentally wrong, and that it cannot form a +basis for a permanent settlement satisfactory either to that country +or to the United States. Our government cannot continue to uphold by +force a minority administration and to support that administration +in a financial policy which is opposed by the great majority of the +Nicaraguan people, if it wishes to eradicate the suspicion in Central +America, and in fact throughout Latin America, that its ultimate +intention is to deprive Nicaragua, and eventually her neighbors, of +their position as independent nations. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[57] See U. S. Foreign Relations, 1909, under Nicaragua. + +[58] For the text of the note, see U. S. Foreign Relations, 1910, p. +455. + +[59] The events leading up to Zelaya’s fall are discussed in U. S. +Foreign Relations, 1909, President Taft’s message to Congress on +Foreign Relations, December, 1909, and Zelaya’s book, “_La Revolución +de Nicaragua y Los Estados Unidos_.” + +[60] See Messrs. Harrison and Conant’s Report Presenting a Plan of +Monetary Reform for Nicaragua, pp. 10, 11. + +[61] See U. S. Foreign Relations, 1910, pp. 764-6. + +[62] The rate of exchange rose from 913% in December, 1909, to 2,000% +at the end of 1911. See the Report of Messrs. Conant and Harrison, p. +15. + +[63] The text of the treaty is printed in the American Journal of +International Law, 1911, Supplement, p. 291. + +[64] These and the later contracts between the bankers and the +Nicaraguan Government have been published in the annual reports of the +ministry of _Hacienda y Crédito Público_. + +[65] Their report was the above cited Report Presenting a Plan of +Monetary Reform for Nicaragua. The Monetary Law is printed in the +report, p. 71. + +[66] See his official report, December, 1914, p. 12. + +[67] The following table, compiled from the Reports of the Collector +General for 1911-13 and 1915, shows the total receipts, reduced to +American gold, for the years 1904-15: + +1904 $ 910,627.27 +1905 1,282,246.86 +1906 1,595,219.53 +1907 1,246,844.85 +1908 1,027,437.16 +1909 976,554.15 +1910 854,547.29 +1911 1,138,428.89 +1912 1,265,615.12 +1913 1,729,008.34 +1914 1,234,633.54 +1915 787,767.11 + + +[68] For the work of the Commission, see the article by Mr. Schoenrich, +one of its members, in the American Journal of International Law, Vol. +9, p. 958. + +[69] Report of the Navy Department, 1912, p. 13. + +[70] See the contracts of Oct. 31, 1912, _Memoria de Hacienda_, 1912-13. + +[71] Costa Rica protested to the United States on April 17, 1913, +and to Nicaragua on April 27, 1913. Salvador protested to the United +States on October 21, 1913, and to Nicaragua on April 14, 1916. The +notes exchanged in regard to the treaty are published in Costa Rica, +_Memoria de Relaciones Exteriores_, 1913, 1914, etc., and in Salvador, +_Libro Rosado_ for the same years. The documents accompanying the cases +presented before the Central American Court have been published in +English by the legations of the two countries at Washington. + +[72] Nicaragua, _Memoria de Hacienda_, 1915, p. 750. + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + COMMERCE + + Principal Exports of the Isthmus: Coffee, Bananas, and Precious + Metals--Other Products--Imports--Condition of American Trade--Effects + of the European War. + + +The foreign commerce of Central America is based upon the exchange of +coffee, bananas, precious metals, and a few other products of minor +importance for manufactured articles from the United States and Europe. +The most important export, from the Central American point of view, +is coffee; for the banana farms, which belong to foreign corporations +and are cultivated by foreign laborers, are situated in districts so +far away from the centers of population that they play a small part in +the economic life of the country, and the gold and silver mines are +also with few exceptions the property of European and North American +capitalists. The mining companies give employment to many natives at +wages somewhat greater than those paid in agricultural enterprises, +but otherwise they do little to add to the general prosperity of the +community. The owners of the coffee plantations, the majority of whom +are natives, reside in Central America and spend their income there, +and all employ exclusively native labor. Except in Honduras, where it +is cultivated only for local consumption, coffee is the chief export of +the mountain region on the West Coast where the great majority of the +inhabitants of the Isthmus live. + +Central American coffee is of an excellent quality, and brings a high +price in the European markets, to which the greater part of it has +always been sent. The product of Costa Rica is a favorite in England, +while “Coban” and other Guatemalan varieties are well known in Germany +and on the continent. The product of the Isthmus has not been so +popular in the United States, where it has been unable to compete with +the lower-priced, but inferior, coffee of Brazil or with certain other +superior grades which have secured a better foothold in our markets. +Table V indicates the disposition of the crop of each country of the +Isthmus in normal times, and to some extent the change which has been +brought about in export conditions by the European war. + + + TABLE I + + EXPORTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 1913. + + (Value in U. S. Gold.) + + Guatemala Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Costa Rica + +Coffee 12,254,724 7,495,214 116,302 5,004,449 3,605,029 +Bananas 825,670 ...... 1,714,398 429,802 5,194,428 +Precious Metals ...... 1,495,805 886,591 1,063,077 1,021,473 +Hides 455,476 95,870 159,820 326,599 132,883 +Timber 247,759 ...... 12,617 321,869 141,361 +Rubber 100,323 18,092 14,289 278,763 44,482 +Sugar 349,052 72,852 ...... 31,805 ...... +Chicle 142,108 ...... ...... ...... ...... +Balsam of Peru ...... 89,476 ...... ...... ...... +Cocoanuts ...... ...... 219,968 ...... ...... +Indigo ...... 52,984 ...... ...... ...... +Cacao ...... ...... ...... 39,828 105,034 +Live Cattle ...... ...... 251,361 288,009[73] ...... + +The ripe berry is prepared for the market at a cleaning and drying +plant called a _beneficio_. The larger growers, who produce the greater +part of the total crop, ordinarily have their own _beneficios_ on +their plantations. Those who have not been able to install the rather +expensive machinery which these plants require either ship their coffee +partly cleaned, in the shell, or else have it prepared for the market +on the plantation of a neighbor or at establishments which exist +for the purpose in such cities as Guatemala and Managua. The small +landholders, many of whom have a few trees from which they secure a +money income to supplement their food crops, ordinarily sell their +coffee in the berry to the owners of the _beneficios_. The exportation +is frequently, perhaps usually, undertaken by the planter himself, who +ships his crop directly to an importer in some European city or on +consignment to an agent in Hamburg or London, to be sold in the open +market. This seems to be the general though not the universal practice +in Costa Rica, Salvador, and Nicaragua. In Guatemala, on the other +hand, there are several German and North American houses which buy the +coffee from the grower and export it on their own account. Certain +companies in the United States, with agencies in Central America, have +done a large business of this kind, especially since the beginning of +the European war. + +The majority of the coffee plantations of the Isthmus belong to native +Central Americans. This is true even in Guatemala and Nicaragua, +where, as has been said in preceding chapters, nearly all of the +largest and best equipped _fincas_ are the property of Germans or of +other aliens.[74] In Salvador and Costa Rica there are few foreign +owners. Even in these countries, however, the tendency which has been +so strong in Guatemala, for the more valuable plantations to pass +gradually into the hands of investors from abroad, has been at work in +recent years. Foreign influence, moreover, is by no means confined to +the ownership of the plantations themselves, for the native planters +frequently have financial connections with European banking houses +in the Central American capitals or in Hamburg or London which give +the latter a large measure of control over the sale of their coffee +and even over their methods of production. A very large proportion of +the plantations is heavily mortgaged to these concerns, and even the +annual crop is often hypothecated or sold to the banker several months +before it is harvested, and is handled by him when ready for market. +The terms of these arrangements are usually anything but favorable to +the planter. In Guatemala, for example, the banker ordinarily not only +receives interest on the sums advanced at the prevailing rate of ten or +twelve per cent, but at the same time takes an option upon the entire +crop, under which he can purchase it at twenty-five cents per bag less +than the market price at the time of the harvest. This option alone is +equivalent to the payment by the planter of about three per cent of +his entire gross receipts, in addition to the interest. Under these +conditions, especially in view of the improvidence and inefficiency +of many of the native landowners, it is not strange that the most +desirable plantations are passing one by one into the hands of Germans +and Englishmen, who are able either to finance themselves or to secure +money for moving their crops upon better terms. + + + TABLE II + + THE WORLD’S EXPORTS OF BANANAS, 1911. + + (From U. S. Daily Consular and Trade Reports, Dec. 26, 1912.) + +Central America-- +Costa Rica 9,309,586 bunches. +Honduras 6,500,000 ” +Nicaragua 2,250,000 ” +Guatemala 1,755,704 ” + ---------- +Total 19,815,290 bunches. + +Other Countries-- +Jamaica 16,497,385 bunches. +Colombia 4,901,894 ” +Panama 4,261,500 ” +Canary Islands 2,648,378 ” +Cuba 2,500,000 ” +Mexico 750,000 ” +British Honduras 525,000 ” +Other Countries 1,037,516 ” + ---------- +Total 33,121,673 bunches. + ---------- +Grand Total 52,936,963 bunches. + + Total imports into United States, 1911, 44,699,222 bunches. (Commerce + and Navigation of the U. S., 1911.) + +Second only to coffee in the value of the total amount exported, and +far more important so far as the United States is concerned, are +bananas. In 1913, nearly twenty-two million bunches, or between two and +three billions of bananas, were exported from Costa Rica, Honduras, +Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Nearly all of this immense amount, which was +about forty per cent of the total commercial production of the world, +went to the United States. Less than fifty years ago, Mr. Minor C. +Keith, who was building a railway from Puerto Limon to the interior of +Costa Rica, began the cultivation of bananas along the line in order to +provide freight for the road during the years which must elapse before +it could reach the inhabited part of the Republic. Until this time, the +hot and unhealthful forests along the East Coast of Central America had +been an uninhabited and undeveloped jungle, but they proved so well +adapted to the growing of bananas that the fruit farms soon became +more valuable than the railway. Meanwhile other planters had engaged +in the same business in Jamaica and elsewhere in the West Indies, +and the banana, which had hitherto been a curiosity, was coming into +general use in the United States. The more important producers around +the Caribbean Sea joined in forming the United Fruit Company, which is +now by far the most important business concern in tropical America. +Its immense plantations in Central America, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, +and Panama are traversed by hundreds of miles of railway, and their +products are carried to the United States and Europe by a great fleet +of its own steamers, which are the principal, and since the beginning +of the European war almost the only, carriers of freight and passengers +between Central American ports and the eastern part of the United +States. Besides the numerous lines built expressly for carrying bananas +from the farms to the wharves, the Fruit Company, or concerns allied to +it, control the entire railway system of Guatemala, a large part of +that of Salvador, and the most important road, from San José to Puerto +Limon, in Costa Rica. The few independent growers along its lines are +completely at its mercy, for they have no alternative but to sell their +fruit to it under the conditions which it dictates. In Honduras and +Nicaragua, there are a number of ostensibly competing companies, with +their own railway lines and ships, but many of these are said to be +actually under the control of the greater corporation. The latter has +on more than one occasion shown itself ruthless and unscrupulous in +dealing with real competitors, over whom it has every advantage through +its control of the facilities for shipping fruit. + +In the last few years, the bananas have been attacked by a disease +which apparently shows itself in nearly all plantations after a certain +period of cultivation. Its appearance has made it necessary to abandon +large tracts of developed land and many miles of railway, especially +in some portions of Costa Rica. No means of checking it has yet been +discovered, and it has been found easier to plant new farms than to +fight it where it has obtained a foothold. At present the disease does +not seem likely to decrease materially the total production, for there +are still immense tracts of virgin land suitable for banana growing +around the shores of the Caribbean Sea, but it is a very grave menace +to the prosperous communities which have grown up on the coast as a +result of the fruit trade. Unless it is overcome, or unless some other +product, such as cacao, can be grown on the abandoned farms, there +seems to be serious danger that many sections of the East Coast will +sink back into jungle. + +Among Americans who have been on the Coast and have but a slight +acquaintance with the interior, there is a tendency greatly to +exaggerate the influence of the United Fruit Company in Central +America. As a matter of fact, that corporation plays a smaller part +than might be expected in the economic and political life of the five +republics. On the Coast, especially in Costa Rica, it is all-powerful, +for it absolutely controls the industry and the export and import trade +of the banana country, and is the employer of the greater part of +the population; but in the interior, where the great majority of the +people live, its influence is confined to its control of the railway +lines. These are not owned and operated directly by the Fruit Company, +but by corporations closely connected with it. There are also many +other enterprises, including street railways, mines, and electrical +plants, which have been financed by some of the capitalists who are +prominent in the Fruit Company, so that the total Central American +investments of what are known as the “Keith interests” are very great. +These investors, however, apparently interfere little in politics. +Their relations with the governments, sometimes cordial, sometimes +the opposite, are not so close that they can be said to exercise +any important influence on the internal affairs of any of the five +republics, and the native officials are apt to be jealous of their +power and to regard with suspicion any concession which seems likely to +increase their influence. + +Notwithstanding the immense development of the banana trade, the full +possibilities of this fruit in providing cheap fruit for the people of +the temperate zones are still far from being realized. Exportation from +Central America and other producing countries is at present limited +to the amount necessary to meet the demand for the fresh fruit in the +United States, because the European market has as yet been little +exploited, and few facilities have been provided for exporting bananas +from the Caribbean to transatlantic ports. A considerable proportion of +the product of Costa Rica was sent to England in the years immediately +preceding the war, but the total was insignificant in comparison +with the consumption in the United States.[75] Millions of bunches of +fruit now go to waste every year, for the amount cut each week on the +plantations is arbitrarily limited with a view to the state of the +market and the facilities for shipping, and thousands of bunches are +rejected at the train or at the steamer as being overripe or otherwise +defective. It ought to be practicable to convert this waste product +into dried bananas or banana flour, both of which are now commercially +possible, but few attempts have so far been made to do so. The two +or three factories which have been established in Central American +ports for this purpose have had little success, apparently from poor +management or lack of proper equipment. + +The precious metals, which rank third in the list of exports, are +found in all parts of Central America, but as yet they have been +exploited on a comparatively small scale. There are a few gold and +silver mines, operated by foreign capital, in each of the republics +except Guatemala, but the total exportations of the Isthmus, according +to customs reports, amounted to less than four and one half millions +of dollars in 1913.[76] The investment of foreign capital in mines has +been discouraged by the disorder which has prevailed in some of the +five republics, and the lack of adequate transportation facilities +has been an obstacle to the introduction of heavy machinery and to +the exportation of the product. These difficulties, which have held +back the production of gold and silver, have of course made impossible +the exploitation of the other mineral resources of the Isthmus, +although these are known to be great. With the establishment of +internal stability and the building of good roads to the metalliferous +districts, however, mining should easily become a much more important +industry than it is at present. + +In comparison with coffee, bananas, and the precious metals, the other +exports of Central America are of little importance. The herds of +cattle, which are one of the principal forms of wealth in Honduras +and Nicaragua, provide some horns and hides for shipment to foreign +countries, but the quantity has hitherto been very small. The live +animals are the chief articles of commerce between Honduras and +Nicaragua on the one hand and their more densely populated neighbors +on the other, but they have never been exported to any extent to other +countries. Mahogany, Spanish cedar, and other forest products, such as +rubber and chicle, which is used in making chewing gum, are exported, +chiefly by foreigners, from the low country along the coasts. Sugar +in various forms and cacao are grown in large quantities, but almost +entirely for local consumption. Besides these products, typical of any +tropical country, there are others which have importance in certain +localities as articles of foreign commerce. Thus, some millions of +cocoanuts are shipped from the North Coast of Honduras, and indigo and +balsam of Peru from Salvador. None of these minor exports have received +very much attention, because the interest of the native community +has been centered in the production of coffee and of the staple food +crops, and foreign capital has been invested chiefly in mines, banana +plantations, and railways. With the comparatively good transportation +facilities that now exist, it would seem that there should be a great +opportunity for the cultivation of such products as cacao, vanilla, and +rubber, or for the shipment to the United States, on the fast banana +steamers, of some of the countless delicious tropical fruits which have +hitherto been almost unknown in our markets. Countries of such rich +and varied agricultural possibilities, with such easy access to the +Gulf ports of the United States, must eventually acquire an importance +far greater than that which they now have in supplying our markets with +many kinds of food which we cannot ourselves produce. + + + TABLE III + +SHARE OF THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, AND GERMANY IN THE COMMERCE + OF CENTRAL AMERICA. + + EXPORTS. + + United States Great Britain Germany Total + +Guatemala, 1913 3,923,354 1,857,105 7,653,557 14,449,926 + 1915 6,881,410 1,322,271 50,237 11,566,586 +Salvador, 1913 2,676,637 668,823 1,611,085 9,411,112 + 1915 3,096,277 341,920 9,945 8,812,387 +Honduras, 1913 2,974,000 18,000 164,000 3,421,000 + 1915 2,987,000 1,000 690 3,858,000 +Nicaragua, 1913 2,722,385 998,564 1,887,698 7,712,047 + 1915 3,079,810 438,500 ...... 4,567,201 +Costa Rica, 1913 5,204,429 4,319,085 504,506 10,324,149 + 1915 4,864,803 4,438,233 13,225 9,971,582 +Total for Central ---------- --------- ---------- ---------- + America, 1913 17,500,805 7,861,577 11,820,866 45,318,234 + 1915 20,909,300 6,541,924 74,097 38,775,756 + + (Compiled from official reports of the Central American governments. + The values are given as in American gold, calculated at the prevailing + rate of exchange for the year in question.) + +Even before the beginning of the European war, the United States +bought the greater part of Central America’s exports. Nearly all of +the bananas went to American ports, as did by far the greater part of +the gold and silver from the mines. With the coffee, the situation +was different, but the partial closing of the European markets forced +the planters to seek a market for this in the United States. This was +especially true in Guatemala, where American buyers were almost the +only ones in the field during 1915 and 1916. In the countries which +had been less dependent on the German market, the change was not so +marked, but all of them nevertheless shipped more coffee to the United +States in those years than ever before. Costa Rica, however, retained +her privileged position in the London market, at least during 1915, +and Salvador found valuable new customers in the Scandinavian countries +and Holland. The necessity for finding new purchasers has naturally +involved a considerable loss for the Central American planters. Their +coffee has on the whole met with a favorable reception in the United +States, but the prices which they have received have not been so high +as those to which they were accustomed in the markets in which they +had long established connections, and they have encountered no little +difficulty in making shipments because of the withdrawal of many of the +steamers which formerly called at the ports of the Isthmus. + + + TABLE IV + + IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED STATES, 1913 and 1915. + + (From Commerce and Navigation of the United States, 1915, p. 75.) + + 1913 1915 +Guatemala 18,544,228 lbs. 44,605,039 lbs. +Salvador 8,756,267 ” 15,823,350 ” +Nicaragua 2,915,239 ” 6,430,600 ” +Honduras 239,114 ” 665,912 ” +Costa Rica 1,474,397 ” 6,770,964 ” + + + TABLE V + + COFFEE EXPORTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 1913 and 1915. + + (Figures in quintals of 100 lbs. Spanish or 46 kg. From Central + American government publications.) + + Guatemala Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica + 1913 1915 1913 1915 1913 1915 1913 1915 +U. S. 211,886 386,080 107,796 142,337 36,753 62,439 16,032 38,969 +England 106,666 .....[77] 34,151 29,127 32,854 40,816 231,382 204,711 +Germany 432,329 .....[77] 121,201 994 75,634 ...... 25,451 1,304 +Austria-H. 42,054 .....[77] 35,574 381 ...... ...... ...... ...... +France ...... .....[77] 159,559 90,502 103,012 57,379 ...... ...... +Italy ...... ...... 95,389 76,147 ...... 30,095 ...... ...... +Holland ...... ...... ...... 92,763 ...... ...... ...... ...... +Scandinavian + countries ...... ...... ...... 218,619 ...... ...... ...... ...... +Total ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- +exports 875,337 775,622 625,942 663,216 243,324 198,533 283,023 265,355 + + +The imports of Central America are those of all tropical countries +which have no manufacturing industries of their own. Machinery and +tools for agricultural purposes; textiles; flour, lard, and other food +products which are produced in insufficient quantities in the Isthmus; +and in general, manufactured articles of all kinds, must be purchased +abroad. The greater part of these are for the use of the upper classes, +but even the ordinary laborers, whose standard of living in many places +is otherwise little better than it was in the days when the country had +no foreign commerce, use some foreign goods, such as cheap textiles and +machetes. + +In the import as well as the export trade, the United States easily +occupies the leading place, supplying the greater part of the +foodstuffs, hardware, and machinery, and a very considerable part of +the textiles. Our share in the total, even before the war, was well +over fifty per cent, with Great Britain and Germany respectively second +and third. Tables VI, VII, and VIII will give an approximate idea of +the nature and origin of the imports of the Isthmus in normal times. +The predominance of the United States was due primarily to proximity +and superior steamer connections. The Caribbean ports of the Isthmus, +which are less than fifteen hundred miles from our Gulf ports, were +connected with those ports by regular lines of swift steamers, whereas +they had no adequate means of communication with Europe. The Pacific +ports, on the other hand, although they were visited regularly by the +small steamers of the German Cosmos Line, relied chiefly upon the +service of the Pacific Mail between San Francisco and Panama. + +This gave American trade an advantage which would have been even +greater than it was if transatlantic manufacturers had not been favored +by several factors which to some extent offset their geographical +handicap. Freight rates to Europe, however, were not proportionately +greater than rates to the United States, even in cases where the goods +must be transshipped at a North American port. Furthermore, European +merchants controlled the greater part of the import and wholesale +trade in each of the five republics, and naturally bought articles +from export houses in their own country, whenever they could, not only +for sentimental reasons, but because they received better terms and +longer credits. Even at the present time, when the war has caused a +great reduction in the exports of all of the belligerent countries, +the people of the Isthmus still continue to buy certain classes of +goods from French or English manufacturers which might just as well +be imported from the United States if American manufacturers made an +effort to secure the trade. + + + TABLE VI + +SHARE OF THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, AND GERMANY IN THE COMMERCE + OF CENTRAL AMERICA. + + IMPORTS. + + (Compiled from Central American government publications; values in + American gold.) + + + United States Great Britain Germany Total + +Guatemala, 1913 5,053,060 1,650,387 2,043,329 10,062,327 + 1915 3,751,761 577,206 146,053 5,072,476 +Salvador, 1913 2,491,145 1,603,846 713,855 6,173,545 + 1915 2,478,322 1,054,838 41,136 4,182,922 +Nicaragua, 1913 3,244,008 1,150,611 619,212 5,770,006 + 1915 2,592,799 302,294 36,960 3,159,219 +Honduras, 1913-14 5,262,000 460,000 522,000 6,625,000 + 1914-15 5,177,000 303,000 96,000 5,875,000 +Costa Rica, 1913 4,468,946 1,289,181 1,341,333 8,867,280 + 1915 3,031,997 548,810 42,979 4,478,782 +Total for Central ---------- --------- --------- ---------- +America, 1913 20,519,159 6,154,025 5,239,729 37,498,158 + 1915 17,031,879 2,786,148 363,128 22,768,399 + + + TABLE VII + + PRINCIPAL IMPORTS OF GUATEMALA, 1913 and 1915. + +(From U. S. Commerce Reports and Guatemalan official statistics; values + in American gold.) + + 1913. 1915. + +Cotton goods, total 1,734,832 758,570 + United States 503,920 + Great Britain 778,278 + Germany 337,181 + +Linen, hemp, and jute manufactures (in large part +coffee sacks). Total 222,320 252,481 + United States 20,788 + Great Britain 80,954 + Germany 111,141 + +Woolen manufactures, total 253,107 52,308 + United States 30,938 + Great Britain 64,635 + Germany 111,866 + +Silk manufactures, total 263,448 68,525 +(Mostly from Japan, China, and France.) + +Manufactures of iron and steel, total 685,548 121,198 + United States 384,094 + Great Britain 97,434 + Germany 181,538 + +Glass, crockery, earthenware, etc., total 106,825 27,859 + United States 24,783 + Germany 58,944 + +Leather goods, total 156,688 94,661 + United States 110,318 + Germany 30,244 + +Foodstuffs, total 566,856 538,236 + United States 260,854 + Great Britain 54,859 + Germany 86,923 + +Stationery, paper, etc., total 179,798 147,243 + United States 87,420 + Germany 60,491 + +Drugs and medicines, total 268,523 108,666 + United States 99,359 + Germany 62,375 + +Wheat flour, from United States 394,931 506,510 + +Agricultural and industrial machinery, total 350,366 127,433 + United States 175,683 + Great Britain 86,456 + Germany 78,711 + +Lumber, from United States 179,880 78,667 + +Railway material, total 426,826 121,843 + United States 424,235 + +Petroleum, from United States 184,936 110,925 + +Wines, liquors, etc., total 347,752 125,583 + United States 73,752 + Germany 73,415 + +Other articles, total 1,636,678 732,449 + United States 1,079,007 + Germany 406,214 + Great Britain 50,298 + + + TABLE VIII + + PRINCIPAL IMPORTS OF COSTA RICA. + + (From Costa Rican official statistics, quoted in U. S. Commerce + Reports, Dec. 9, 1916. Values in American gold.) + + 1913. 1915. + +Live cattle, from Nicaragua 323,067 95,964 + +Cotton goods, total 828,948 466,699 + United States 243,802 266,333 + Great Britain 355,042 129,848 + Germany 124,699 4,491 + +Coal, total 261,975 106,953 + United States 258,329 92,039 + +Drugs, total 150,142 115,903 + United States 76,173 85,194 + Germany 29,690 4,065 + +Electrical material, total 150,339 95,176 + United States 121,416 86,773 + +Flour, total 258,407 224,480 + United States 257,457 209,662 + +Lard, total 200,362 144,181 + United States 194,968 142,270 + +Railway material, total 296,772 62,387 + United States 272,242 59,725 + +Rice, total 143,391 108,649 + United States 31,621 93,283 + Germany 82,088 + +Wheat, from United States 219,487 323,567 + +Coffee sacks, total 88,958 98,531 + United States 11,161 13,220 + Great Britain 69,424 83,919 + +That they have not done so seems to be due chiefly to indifference. The +reasons why American exporters fail to make a better showing in Latin +American markets have been discussed so often and so fully in the last +three years that there is little object in repeating them here. It is +sufficient to say that the same story of carelessness in filling orders +and in packing goods, of failure to send well-equipped salesmen, and +of refusal to comply with the custom of the country in such matters as +credits and accommodations, are heard in Central America as elsewhere. +Since the European war has forced the importers of the Isthmus to +depend more than ever before upon American manufacturers for their +supplies, one hears many complaints of inconsiderate or discourteous +treatment, and of general inefficiency in handling trade. + +One of the chief obstacles to the increase of American trade in +Central America has been the lack of banking facilities. Most of the +banks which exist in the larger cities of the Isthmus at the present +time are purely local institutions, and their operations are rarely +such as to make them a strong force for good in the economic life of +the community. They speculate in the rate of exchange, issue more or +less depreciated paper money, engage in financial transactions with +the government which consume a large part of their available funds, +and make loans to planters and merchants at rates of interest which +vary from ten per cent, with first-class security, to thirty or forty +per cent in cases where the element of speculation is greater. These +conditions, which are perhaps inevitable in a country where capital +is so scarce and where the instability of political affairs makes +the element of risk in all credit transactions so great, seriously +detract from their usefulness. Unfortunately, moreover, there are +some institutions which are not managed in accordance with the +principles either of sound banking or of ordinary honesty, and these +are necessarily a source of weakness to the whole financial community. +Within the last five years, two of the largest banks in Central America +have failed, under circumstances which aroused very grave suspicions +of mismanagement and defalcation. The banks cannot afford adequate +facilities for financing the export and the import trade, for they +have neither the available funds nor the connections abroad which are +necessary for this purpose. Moreover, they can obtain such high profits +in other forms of operations that there is little inducement for them +to engage in ordinary commercial transactions. Many of them are engaged +in the coffee export business or in other forms of trade themselves +and are consequently little inclined to aid other merchants who may +wish to compete with them. The establishment of branches of American +banks, dedicated to a legitimate banking business, and especially to +the financing of American trade, would perhaps do more to stimulate +commerce with the United States than any other one influence. + +The question of credits has been another serious obstacle to the +development of our trade. The average Central American merchant must +have from three to six months to make payment for goods which he +imports, because he in turn must grant a considerable time to the +small retail dealers whom he supplies. American manufacturers are as a +rule unwilling to grant credits for so long a period, and they have +sometimes exposed themselves to heavy loss when they have done so +because of the difficulty of ascertaining which of the local importers +were deserving of confidence. This difficulty also could to a great +extent be obviated if reliable American banks could be established in +the five republics. + +That our commerce holds first place in Central America despite these +drawbacks is due partly to the fact that there are certain articles, +such as flour, railway material, and petroleum, which the people of the +Isthmus must almost inevitably purchase in our markets, and partly to +the activity of a few great corporations which have stores or permanent +agencies in Central America, and handle a very large amount of imports +from the United States. The United Fruit Company and other fruit +companies in Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as most of the mining +companies, maintain commissaries where American goods are sold in +great quantities. Grace and Company, in co-operation with the American +International Corporation, does a considerable business in merchandise +on the West Coast, and has offices in most of the important cities of +the Isthmus. Several well-known American manufacturers also are more +or less adequately represented by permanent agents in the important +commercial centers. + +Although our share in the total imports and exports of the Isthmus has +been greater than ever before, since the beginning of the European +war, the total of our trade has not been so large as might have been +expected, because of the partial paralyzation of the commerce of the +five republics. At the outbreak of hostilities the foreign credits +upon which the normal business of the Central American community had +depended were entirely cut off, and exchange on European centers rose +to a prohibitive figure, especially in the countries which were not on +a gold basis. Merchants were thus unable to obtain goods or even to pay +their debts. At the same time, the purchasing power of their customers +was seriously decreased, because the rise in the rate of exchange +made prices inordinately high in the local currency, and because the +planters, unable to secure advances from abroad to move their crops, +were forced to cut down their expenditures and in some cases to lay off +their workmen. Most of the governments, also, were in severe financial +difficulties, for their revenues, which consisted chiefly of the import +duties, had declined, and their expenditures, of which the money for +the service of the foreign debt constituted an important part, had +increased with the advance in the cost of foreign drafts. Some of them +were thus unable to pay their employees, and the poverty of the latter +intensified the general financial depression. For a time, the sale +of foreign goods almost ceased. When it was found, however, that the +products of the Isthmus could still be sold abroad, even if at somewhat +lower prices, confidence began to return and commerce recovered to some +degree, but imports are still far below normal, and seem likely to +remain so for some time. + +After the close of the war, it seems probable that the position lost +by English and German exporters since 1914 will be regained by them, +unless their American competitors make a more successful effort than +they have yet made to secure a permanent foothold in the market. The +European houses which control the import business of the Isthmus +will probably turn back to their former correspondents at the first +opportunity, for their experience with American firms in the last three +years has not been such as to encourage them to continue it after they +are able to resume their old connections. Many of the difficulties +which merchants in Central America say they have encountered in dealing +with American exporters have undoubtedly been due to war conditions +in the United States and to an ignorance on both sides of the other’s +methods of doing business, but many others can only have resulted from +carelessness and indifference to new trade opportunities. + +Nevertheless, there is every prospect that the share of the United +States in the commerce of Central America will continue to increase in +the future as it has in the past. Proximity and the excellent steamer +connections created by the banana trade give our manufacturers an +advantage against which European importers will find it increasingly +hard to compete. The North American element in the Isthmus as a whole +is increasing more rapidly than any other foreign element, especially +in the banana towns on the East Coast, and North American investments +are probably already greater than those of any other country. The +richer classes among the Central Americans themselves, moreover, travel +more and more in the United States rather than in Europe, and thus +acquire a taste for articles of North American manufacture, where they +formerly demanded French or English products. A great increase in our +trade with the five republics waits only upon the establishment of +proper banking facilities and upon the awakening of American exporters +to a realization of their opportunities. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[73] Figures of Costa Rican government for imports from Nicaragua. + +Note. These figures are compiled from official statistics, or from +the United States Daily Consular and Trade Reports, which in turn are +based upon the official statistics of the Central American governments. +They are inexact, because the statistics upon which they are based are +rarely entirely trustworthy. + +[74] Special Agent Harris, in his Report on “Central America as an +Export Field” (U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Special Agents’ Series, No. +113), gives the following figures in regard to the ownership and +production of the coffee plantations of Guatemala: + +Nationality No. of Plantations Product in quintals +Guatemalan 1,657 525,356 +German 170 358,353 +North American 16 19,285 +Other 236 143,242 + + +[75] 2,763,111 bunches were exported from Costa Rica to England in +1913. (Costa Rica, _Anuario Estadístico_, 1913, p. 279.) + +[76] It is probable that more than this was actually produced. Large +amounts are said to be smuggled out of certain countries every year to +avoid paying the export tax, and this assertion is to some extent borne +out by a comparison of the export statistics with the import statistics +of the United States. + +[77] Figures not available. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + CENTRAL AMERICAN PUBLIC FINANCE + + Sources of Revenue--Defects of the Fiscal Systems--Floating + Debts--Brief History of the Bonded Debt in Each Republic--Depreciation + of the Currency Systems--The Monetary Situation in Each Country--Need + for Financial Assistance from the United States. + + +Few factors have done more to retard the economic progress of the +Central American republics than the defects of their fiscal systems. +The inability of the governments to meet the current expenses of +efficient administration or to discharge their obligations to +foreigners, and the demoralization of the monetary systems which has +resulted from attempts to make the depreciation of the currency a +source of revenue, have been a serious drawback to the investment +of capital and the development of commerce in the Isthmus, and have +involved some of the five countries in rather serious diplomatic +complications. This financial weakness has been due partly to +the nature of the governments’ incomes, partly to defects in +administration, arising from ignorance or dishonesty, and partly to +general economic and political conditions. + +Each of the five republics obtains its revenues principally from +customs duties, on exports and imports, and from the rum monopoly. +Other sources of income, of which the most important are tobacco and +powder monopolies and stamp taxes, amount to very little as compared +with these two great items. Direct property taxes, the introduction of +which has at times been attempted in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa +Rica, have met with very little success, and have been very unpopular. + +This fiscal system has many bad features. The duties upon imports, +upon which the chief reliance is placed, are so high that they seem +in many cases to discourage commerce. This is especially true in +regard to the cheap textiles and other articles used by the working +classes, for the imposition of the duty according to the gross weight +of the package, and the failure to make adequate distinction between +different qualities of the same category of articles, raises the prices +of some goods to a point where consumption is materially lessened. +There are still stronger objections to the second great source of +revenue, the manufacture and sale of _aguardiente_, or rum, for as in +other countries where similar monopolies have existed the temptation +to stimulate the consumption of the liquor has in some cases proved +stronger than consideration for the welfare of the community. In view +of the relation between drink and vice and crime, which is nowhere more +directly evident than among the working classes of the Isthmus, it is +hard to understand how the public authorities can not only permit but +encourage the unrestricted sale of what is little more than a low grade +of alcohol. Some of the governments, indeed, have endeavored by raising +the price of the _aguardiente_ to check its consumption, and have +done so without materially decreasing their own income, but with the +majority the object has seemed to be to sell a large amount at a low +price rather than the opposite. + +The following table shows the revenues of each of the five republics in +1913, the last year before the general financing disorganization caused +by the European war: + + + Revenues in 1913. (Approximate equivalent in American gold.) + +Source of revenue Guatemala Honduras Salvador Nicaragua Costa Rica + +Import duties 1,930,000 1,130,000 2,900,000 1,680,000[78] 2,500,000 + +Export duties 1,275,000 88,000 600,000 112,000 + +Liquor and other +monopolies 450,000 775,000 1,200,000 1,368,000 1,150,000 + +State owned +railways, +telegraphs, +postal service, +etc. (Gross +income) 200,000 140,000 285,000 500,000 + +Miscellaneous 325,000 377,000 615,000 317,000 208,000 + --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- +Total revenues 4,180,000 2,500,000 5,600,000 3,355,000 4,470,000 + +The way in which the Central American governments spend their income +has already been described. The heaviest outlays are those for military +purposes and for the service of the foreign debt. The following table +shows roughly the division of the expenditures between the different +departments of the administration: + + + Expenditures in 1913. (Approximate equivalent in U. S. gold.) + +Department Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Salvador Costa Rica +_Gobernación_ 220,000 320,000 208,000 860,000 380,000 +Public works 130,000 287,000 902,000 600,000 695,000 +Public instruction 180,000 152,000 159,000 354,000 635,000 +War and marine 520,000 720,000 410,000 1,600,000 627,000 +Finance and public + credit 475,000 185,000 385,000 2,150,000 1,320,000 +Charities * * 9,600 500,000 80,000 +Judiciary * 70,000 127,000 280,000 325,000 +Miscellaneous 695,000 26,000 2,800,000 126,000 211,000 + --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- +Total expenditures 2,320,000 1,750,000 4,809,000 6,470,000 4,273,000 + +* Not specified. + + Note. The miscellaneous expenditures include items of nearly $500,000 + for “exchange,” i. e. for buying drafts on foreign places, in + Guatemala, and of $1,680,000 for paying claims arising from recent + revolutions in Nicaragua. + +The revenues are decreased, and the expenditures are increased, in +some countries to an alarming degree, by inefficiency and corruption +in their administration. The control of the public funds is almost +entirely in the hands of the President and his subordinates, for the +voting of taxes and of the budget by Congress is a very perfunctory +matter even in those countries which have most nearly attained +constitutional government in other respects. The income is derived +from sources which remain much the same from year to year, and its +disposition is subject to little control by the Congress, because the +annual financial legislation does not always appropriate specific sums +for specific purposes, but simply divides the estimated expenditure +between the various departments. The administration, moreover, does +not seem to regard itself as bound to keep within the general limits +laid down if it can obtain funds for additional outlays. The Congress, +which is rarely in a position to oppose itself to the wishes of +the executive in this or in other matters, usually ratifies excess +expenditures or proposed changes in the budget with little question. + +In some of the countries, there is undoubtedly a large amount of +corruption in the management of financial affairs. The traditions +of the public service encourage rather lax conduct on the part of +the officials, for custom and public opinion tolerate many practices +which are now considered improper in countries which have had a longer +experience in self-government, and those who are unscrupulous are +aided in defrauding the government by the inadequate provision which +is made for the supervision of accounts. The commonest forms of graft +are those which imply a rather loose standard of official morality +rather than actual theft or dishonesty, but it cannot be denied that +there are many officials, some of whom occupy the highest positions in +their respective countries, who have enriched themselves during their +tenure of office by means which nothing could excuse. Few such men, +fortunately, occupy positions of power in the five republics at the +present time. + +The chief fault of Central American public finance is the indifference +shown in regard to the balancing of revenues and expenditures. The +governments frequently pay salaries and other obligations with receipts +rather than with money. This practice gives rise to many abuses, for +often the receipts can be cashed only by persons having influence +with the authorities of the treasury department, and thus become a +source of graft. Certain governments, indeed, make it a practice to +buy their own promises to pay at a discount, after depreciating them +by refusing to redeem them at their face value. The floating debt, +which ordinarily bears a very high rate of interest, is always an +indefinite but steadily increasing quantity, comprising a great variety +of obligations. It includes claims for salaries and for supplies +furnished to the government, for damage to property during revolutions, +for violated concessions and contracts, and other demands of every +degree of validity. Some of these are paid off from time to time as the +condition of the treasury permits, but no provision is made for the +service or amortization of the internal debt as a whole.[79] + +Each of the five republics has also a bonded debt, held for the most +part in England. In most cases this dates back to the loan of £163,000 +contracted in London by the officials of the first Central American +Federation. Costa Rica and Salvador paid off their share of this after +they became independent, but the other states, after defaulting for +several years, eventually made arrangements for refunding the bonds +with new loans. At the same time, further issues were made, chiefly +for the construction of railways, during the period of prosperity +and inflation which accompanied the first development of the coffee +plantations in the seventies and eighties. These were often accompanied +by fraud, in which both the officials of the Central American +governments and the companies which floated the bonds participated, +and which in some cases reached immense proportions. The service of +the foreign debts became very difficult when the coffee prices fell, +and when the decline in the price of silver, upon which the monetary +systems of the Isthmus were based, greatly increased the amount of +the debt in terms of the national currency without proportionately +increasing the national revenues. During the decade 1890-1900, nearly +all of the republics found it impossible to maintain regular payments +of interest. New arrangements were therefore made with the creditors, +who were forced to accept successive reductions of their claims, +amounting in some cases to a large proportion of the total, in order +to obtain any payment at all. These readjustments, with the partial +repudiation which they involved, naturally injured severely the credit +of the five countries. + +Guatemala has until very recently been involved in almost continuous +difficulties with her creditors. Her share of the debt of the Central +American Federation remained in default until 1856, when it was +refunded with the accrued interest into a new five per cent loan of +£100,000. In 1869 another loan of £500,000, issued at 70¹⁄₂ and bearing +interest at six per cent, was issued through a London banking house. +Both loans went into default in 1876. They were refunded in 1888 by a +bond issue of £922,700, bearing four per cent interest, and another +issue was made at the same time to consolidate the internal debt. The +Republic again failed to meet its obligations to its creditors in 1894, +and the latter were forced to accept a further reduction of their +claims. By an arrangement made in 1895, both the external and internal +bonds were refunded by a new issue of £1,600,000, at four per cent, +secured by a special tax of $1.50 gold on each bag of coffee exported. +These bonds now constitute the principal foreign debt of the Republic. +The government soon violated the terms of the agreement under which +they were issued, for the coffee export tax was reduced in 1898 and +1899, and its proceeds were used for other purposes than the service +of the loan. Payments of interest were suspended from 1898 to 1913. +After several fruitless attempts to reach an agreement, the bondholders +finally secured the resumption of payments through the energetic +diplomatic intervention of the British government, and the interest has +been met regularly since 1913. The principal, on December 31, 1915, +amounted to £2,357,063.[80] + +Salvador had paid off her share of the federal debt in 1860, by a +compromise with the holders of the bonds. In 1899, a loan of £300,000 +at six per cent and in 1892 another of £500,000 at six per cent were +obtained from bankers in London for the purpose of extending the +railway line from Acajutla to Santa Ana and San Salvador. These were +secured by mortgages on the railway. In 1894 the service of the loans +was assumed by the Central American Public Works Company, which took +over the railway for eighty years in return for a promise of an annual +subsidy from the government and a guarantee of a minimum annual profit. +In 1899 this company entered into another contract with the Republic, +by which it agreed to retire on its own account all of the 1889 and +1892 bonds, converting them into five per cent mortgage debentures of +the Salvador Railway Company, which had been formed to take over the +concessions held by the Public Works Company. The Railway Company was +to receive a fixed annual subsidy of £24,000 for eighteen years. In +this way the bonds ceased to be obligations of the Republic. The only +foreign bonded debt of Salvador at the present time is the issue of +six per cent sterling bonds secured through two London banks in 1908. +On January 1, 1916, £756,900 out of the original £1,000,000 were still +outstanding. The service of these was suspended after the outbreak of +the European war, but an arrangement was made with the bondholders by +which the coupons from August, 1915, to August, 1919, were to be funded +into new bonds bearing seven per cent interest. + +Costa Rica, which had paid off her share of the Central American +debt in full immediately after the dissolution of the Federation, +contracted two loans in London,--one of £1,000,000 at six per cent in +1871, and the other of £2,400,000 at seven per cent in 1872,--during +the first years of General Guardia’s administration. From the two, +it is said that the Republic received a total sum of £1,158,611, 18 +s, 5 d,[81] the rest being kept by the speculators who arranged the +transaction. The service of the debt was suspended in 1874. In 1885 a +new arrangement was made through Mr. Minor C. Keith, by which the old +bonds were refunded at one half their face value by a new issue of +£2,000,000 at five per cent. The interest was to be paid by Mr. Keith +until 1888, in return for concessions in regard to the railroad which +he was building, and after that date by the government. The service +of the debt was suspended from 1895 to 1897, when a new agreement +was made by which the rate of interest was reduced and the unpaid +coupons were exchanged for certificates at forty per cent of their +face value. Payments were resumed and were maintained until October, +1901, when a financial crisis caused by high rates of exchange and +falling coffee prices again forced the government to suspend them. For +nearly ten years the bondholders were put off, usually on the ground +that the Republic was unable to pay as much as its creditors asked. +Each administration made an effort to settle the matter by securing +a reduction of the debt, but refunding contracts made with Speyer +and Company in 1905 and with the National City Bank of New York in +1909 were rejected by the Congress. Finally, however, the pressing +need for refunding the internal debt, which bore ruinous rates of +interest and was increasing alarmingly every year, led the government +to make a new contract with Mr. Minor Keith in 1911. This provided for +a bond issue of £1,617,200, bearing four per cent interest for the +first ten years and five per cent thereafter, to refund entirely the +principal and the unpaid interest of the old debt, which, even with +the numerous previous reductions, amounted to £2,710,293 by the end of +1910. The creditors accepted the arrangement, and the bonds were taken +by an international syndicate, formed by bankers in New York, London, +Hamburg, and Paris. The interest was secured by the customs revenues, +the administration of which was to be taken over by the syndicate in +case of default. As soon as the Congress had ratified this agreement, +another loan of 35,000,000 francs at five per cent, issued at eighty, +and secured by a mortgage on the _aguardiente_ monopoly, was arranged +in Paris for the payment of the internal debt. Since 1911, the service +of these obligations has been maintained with scrupulous regularity. +The total foreign debt of the Republic on December 31, 1915, was +31,478,392.27 colones, or $14,641,112.68 American gold.[82] + +In Nicaragua, £285,000 in six per cent bonds secured by a mortgage on +the National Railway had been issued in 1886. Payments were suspended +on these in 1894, and an arrangement was made in 1895 by which the +interest was reduced to four per cent. In 1904, another six per cent +loan, to the amount of $1,000,000 gold, was negotiated with Mr. +Weinberger of New Orleans. Both of these debts were paid in 1909 by +means of an issue of £1,250,000 at six per cent contracted for by the +Ethelburga Syndicate of London. The interest on the Ethelburga loan +was reduced to five per cent in 1912, through the good offices of the +two New York banking firms which had undertaken the reorganization of +the currency, on condition that these firms continue to administer the +customs revenues of the Republic, by which the bonds were secured. +The total foreign debt of Nicaragua on December 31, 1915, was as +follows:[83] + +Ethelburga bonds (£1,179,620) $5,740,131 +Debt to Brown Brothers and Seligman 1,060,000 + ---------- +Total $6,800,131 + +Honduras is now the only one of the Central American republics which +has not effected some adjustment of its foreign debt. This country, +on January 1, 1916, owed to foreign creditors the immense sum of +£25,407,858,[84] arising from loans contracted in London and Paris +in the years 1867-70. Bonds to a nominal value of £5,398,570, and +bearing from five to ten per cent interest, were issued at that time +for the construction of an interoceanic railroad from Puerto Cortez +to the Gulf of Fonseca. The greater part of the money received from +the investors in these securities seems to have been divided between +the officials of the Republic and the promoters, with the result +that the sum which finally found its way into the national treasury +was sufficient only to build ninety kilometers of the railroad. The +payments of interest, which until that time had been made out of the +principal of the loan, were suspended in 1872, and the quotation of +the bonds on the European exchanges dropped rapidly from 85¹⁄₂% to +1¹⁄₄% of their face value.[85] A few half-hearted efforts to enter into +negotiations with the bondholders have been made during the years which +have since intervened, but the Republic has shown little inclination +to make good its obligations, and there have even been occasional +propositions to repudiate the debt altogether, because of the fraud +which accompanied its flotation. Meanwhile the government has been +unable to make arrangements for the extension of the National Railway +into the interior, because of the lien held by the bondholders upon the +line, and it has also been unable to obtain new loans for carrying out +other internal improvements. The foreign debt has thus been one of the +principal factors which have retarded the Republic’s economic advance. + +Early in 1909, a plan for the settlement of the debt was arranged by +the British minister in Central America, but its consummation was +prevented by the protest of the United States, which insisted that +provision must at the same time be made for the adjustment of certain +American claims. An arrangement suggested by J. P. Morgan and Company +was therefore substituted for the British scheme. The New York bankers +agreed to purchase the old bonds at the rate of £15 in cash for each +£100 of the old bonds with their accrued interest, on condition that +the United States government be a party to the agreement under which +this was done. After some delay, a treaty was signed on January 10, +1911, by Secretary of State Knox and the Minister of Honduras at +Washington, in accordance with which the United States was to assist +Honduras in obtaining a loan secured by her customs duties, which +were to be administered, until the bonds were paid, by a collector +general nominated by the State Department. The treaty was rejected by +the Honduranean Congress on January 31, 1911.[86] After the Bonilla +revolution, another attempt was made to arrange for the loan, but there +was such strong opposition to the treaty in the American Senate that +nothing could be accomplished. In February, 1912, J. P. Morgan and +Company withdrew from the negotiations, and a syndicate of New Orleans +bankers took their place. The treaty, however, was never ratified, and +the plan for a new loan was finally abandoned. + +At the Pan American Financial Conference in May, 1915, the delegates +from Honduras announced that their government was ready to increase +the customs duties and the banana export tax to a point where they +would yield an additional sum of $410,000 gold each year, which might +be set aside for the service of the foreign debt. As the holders of the +bonds have indicated their willingness to negotiate upon this basis, +there seems to be reason to hope that an adjustment will eventually be +brought about which will place the credit of the Republic on a sound +basis.[87] Until this is done, it will be impossible to build railroads +or to carry out the other internal improvements which are indispensable +for the development of the country. + +The failure of the Central American governments to fulfill their +obligations to foreign creditors is not due entirely to a listless +sense of national honor, for in many cases there has been serious +doubt whether these obligations should be regarded as entirely valid. +The circumstances under which the majority of the public debts were +contracted were such that the governments have felt a strong reluctance +to recognize their duty to repay them in full. The bonds, bearing heavy +rates of interest, were usually purchased in the first place at a +considerable reduction from their face value, and the speculators who +floated them took advantage of the ignorance or the cupidity of the +agents with whom they negotiated to defraud the borrowing governments +of large sums. A large part of the product of the issue, in fact, seems +in many cases to have been retained by the underwriters or divided by +them with the Central American officials. Subsequent administrations +were naturally unwilling to repay sums from which the country as a +whole had never received the benefit, especially as the service of the +loan involved a heavy and in some cases intolerable burden upon the +impoverished treasury and deprived the government of resources which +were sorely needed for the maintenance of order and the promotion of +internal improvements. + +One of the influences which have most disastrously affected the +government finances and the credit of the Central American republics +during the last generation has been the depreciation of their +currencies. Until the last decade of the nineteenth century, the money +of the Isthmus had been based upon the silver dollar, subdivided into +eight _reales_ or one hundred cents. Each of the five countries had its +own coinage, but foreign money, especially from other Latin American +states, was ordinarily accepted at its face value. When the market +price of silver declined, as it did with great rapidity after 1890, +there was a serious disturbance both of the foreign commerce and of the +finances and credit of the five governments, and this disturbance was +intensified by a further depreciation of the currency, in Guatemala, +Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, by the issue of irredeemable paper money. +For a number of years, rates of exchange fluctuated widely, with +a general upward tendency, and it became increasingly difficult +for merchants to pay their bills in foreign countries and for the +governments to meet the service of their loans. Costa Rica, and later +Nicaragua, succeeded in establishing a currency on a gold basis, but in +the other republics the situation grew more and more difficult until +the outbreak of the European war in 1915. This catastrophe caused the +rate of exchange upon New York to rise from 25 to 100 per cent in each +of the five countries, and made necessary a suspension of payments upon +the foreign debt in two of them. + +Several causes have contributed to the disorganization of the Central +American currencies. The fallacies which have at times caused +unfortunate experiments with the monetary systems of other countries +have been as attractive in Central America as elsewhere, and every +financial or commercial depression has seen demands, which have +usually been acceded to, for an increase in the circulating medium. +The banks, whose notes form the larger part of the currency in each +state, have been subject to little effective regulation, and have in +some cases been abetted by the governments in flooding the country +with worthless paper money. By unscrupulous speculation in foreign +exchange, moreover, they have often done much to cause unnecessarily +violent fluctuations in the premium on gold. At the present time, laws +relieving the banks of their obligation to exchange their notes for +gold or silver are in force in Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, and +Costa Rica. The factor which has done most to disorganize the monetary +systems of the five republics, however, has been the inability of the +authorities to resist the temptation to use the depreciation of the +currency as a source of revenue. There is no easier method of raising +money for pressing needs than the issue of government paper or the +granting of special privileges to the banks in return for loans; and +few of the countries have as yet learned that such a policy in the long +run does far more harm than good. + +The worst currency system of the Isthmus is that of Guatemala, where +silver coin has entirely disappeared from the circulation within the +last twenty years. On assuming office in 1898, President Estrada +Cabrera found himself confronted by serious financial difficulties +arising from the extravagance of his predecessor and the business +depression from which all of the Central American countries were at +the time suffering. In order to provide funds, the new administration +resorted to what was practically an issue of unsecured paper money. +In return for a large loan, drawn in part from the reserves which +guaranteed their circulation, the banks were relieved of their +obligation to redeem their notes in silver, and a large issue of +new notes, guaranteed solely by the claims of the banks against the +government, was made at the same time through the so-called _Comité +Bancario_. Subsequent decrees made all debts payable in paper even +though the contracts expressly provided for payment in silver. +The redemption of the bank-notes has never been attempted, and +further issues have been made from time to time until the amount in +circulation, on January 1, 1916, was more than $160,000,000.[88] The +money depreciated rapidly. Just before the outbreak of the European +war, the paper _peso_ was worth about five cents in gold, but in August +and September, 1914, the difficulty of obtaining drafts on foreign +countries forced the rate of exchange from 20 to 1 to 40 to 1. It has +remained approximately at this point since that time, although it has +fluctuated considerably, sometimes rising or falling as much as thirty +per cent within a few weeks. + +The circulating medium is now in a very bad condition. The notes of the +smaller denominations are dirty and torn almost beyond recognition, +and in quantity they fall far short of supplying the necessities of +commerce. The subsidiary coinage, which consists of nickel and copper +pieces of 12¹⁄₂ and 25 cents, is also insufficient in quantity, and it +is supplemented in ordinary transactions by tokens issued by business +houses and municipalities, tram-car tickets, and postage stamps. This +state of affairs naturally causes great inconvenience to persons +engaged in commerce on a small scale. + +The fluctuations in the rate of exchange make business transactions +very difficult, for merchants who handle imported goods must change +their prices from day to day if they are to avoid loss, and must at +the same time face the greatly decreased purchasing power of the +masses of the people when the money in which wages and salaries are +paid depreciates. There is a growing tendency to quote prices and make +transactions in United States currency, of which there is a large +amount in circulation. + +Proposals for reforming the currency have been made from time to +time, but none of them have been taken up by the government. The +reintroduction of a metal standard, in fact, has been opposed by one of +the most influential classes in the community. The coffee planters and +other employers of labor have benefited greatly by the rising rate of +exchange. Despite the depreciation of the currency, they have raised +the wages of their employees comparatively little, and the latter, +bound by contracts from which the decline in their earning power made +it more difficult than ever for them to escape, have been unable to +protest. The result has been an enormous increase in profits, for wage +costs have been reduced, while the coffee has continued to be sold for +gold in the European and North American markets. The government also +benefits by the present situation, for the revenues from the customs +houses are received in gold, and the employees are paid in paper, with +the result that there is a yearly increasing surplus in favor of the +treasury. The effect of this condition on the morality of the underpaid +officials has already been mentioned. + +In Nicaragua, monetary conditions were much similar to those in +Guatemala before the reform carried out by the New York bankers in +1912. President Zelaya had driven the silver out of circulation early +in his administration by the issue of legal tender treasury notes, and +the value of the _peso_, after his fall, had sunk to about five cents +gold. The establishment of a new currency, under the 1911 treasury +bills agreement, has been described in Chapter XI. At the beginning +of the European war, the new money was exchangeable at par for sight +drafts on New York. The inability of the government to replenish the +exchange fund against which these drafts were drawn forced the National +Bank to suspend their sale for a time, with the result that the premium +on American exchange rose to thirty per cent early in 1915. More +recently, however, the National Bank has resumed the sale of drafts at +par with its own funds. + +Honduras is still upon a silver basis. Silver coin circulates at its +intrinsic value, and bank-notes, which are generally used in commerce, +are accepted at par in the cities and towns, although the country +people as a rule prefer to use specie. The Republic has coined little +money of its own, but a considerable part of the silver of Guatemala +and Nicaragua found its way over the border when those republics fell +under a paper regime, and _pesos_, or dollars, from Salvador, Chile, +and Peru are in general use. The monetary system of the Republic is +thus better than that of the majority of its neighbors, but it can +nevertheless hardly be said to be sound. The rise and fall of the price +of silver in the world’s markets involves fluctuations in the rate of +exchange which are only less violent than in the case of an unsecured +paper circulation, and cause much inconvenience and danger to merchants +dealing with foreign countries. A part of the Republic’s imports, which +for several years past have exceeded the exports, are undoubtedly paid +for in silver coin, despite the restrictions on the export of specie. +This tends to leave only subsidiary coins, of a lower standard of +fineness than that of the _pesos_, in circulation, and to make it more +difficult also for the banks to maintain their metallic reserves. Since +the beginning of 1916, especially, the scarcity of exchange on New +York, combined with the high price of silver in the foreign markets, +has threatened to drain the country of its circulating medium, and has +forced the government to forbid entirely the exportation of coin. + +The currency of Salvador was until very recently on a silver basis, +but in August, 1914, the banks, whose notes formed a large part of the +circulating medium, were allowed to suspend silver payments in order to +safeguard their metallic reserves, and the exportation of specie was +forbidden. Silver coin has now almost disappeared from circulation, +and bank-notes and small nickel coins have taken its place in all +transactions. The fact that the banks still maintain a large reserve +for the resumption of specie payments after the war, however, has +prevented a serious depreciation, although the rate of exchange has +fluctuated considerably. + +In Costa Rica, the depreciation of the currency had begun as early as +1882 with the issue of government paper and bank-notes which gradually +drove silver coin out of circulation. Rates of exchange rose slowly +until 1896, when President Rafael Yglesias procured the passage of a +law which provided for the establishment of a gold standard. A unit +called the _colón_, worth about 46¹⁄₂ cents in United States currency, +was adopted, and certificates were gradually exchanged for the old +money at the rate of one _colón_ for one _peso_. On July 15, 1900, the +government was able to begin the redemption of these certificates in +gold coin. A new law, meanwhile, had required the banks to guarantee +their notes by adequate reserves of specie, so that the currency of +the Republic was placed upon a sound basis. At the outbreak of the +European war, however, the government relieved the banks of their +obligation to redeem their notes in gold. A little later, finding that +its revenues were falling off, and being unable to arrange for a loan +with the existing banks, it granted to a new institution, the Banco +Internacional, the privilege of issuing inconvertible notes secured by +government bonds. The result was a rapid depreciation of the currency. +The rate of exchange on New York rose from 218 on August 1, 1914, to +260 in January, 1915, and to nearly 300 a few months later. It has been +reduced somewhat since that time, and a metallic reserve has gradually +been accumulated by the Banco Internacional, so that there seems to be +ground for hoping that the paper will be redeemed at par when normal +conditions are restored. + +The Central American republics will have to depend upon the assistance +of foreign capital both for the readjustment of their foreign debts and +the reorganization of their monetary systems,--reforms for which the +need will become pressing soon after the conclusion of the war. The +problem of placing their credit on a sound basis is one of the most +important which confronts them today. If their economic development +is to continue, they will require new loans from abroad, not only +for refunding old obligations and stabilizing their depreciated and +fluctuating currencies, but also for building railways and roads, +improving ports, and making other internal improvements. These new +loans, probably, can be obtained to best advantage only in the United +States, with the aid of the American government, for no other country +has the interest which we have in the solvency and the economic welfare +of the Central American nations, and no other, while the Monroe +Doctrine is maintained in its present form, is really in a position +to guarantee to its bankers the full measure of protection which +is necessary to make loans to the republics of the Isthmus a safe +investment. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[78] Includes export duties. + +[79] The internal debt of each of the republics, according to +statistics compiled from their Treasury Reports and from the 1915 +Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, was as +follows on December 31, 1914. + +(Figures in American gold.) + +Guatemala 3,880,986 +Salvador 4,563,676 +Nicaragua 6,676,662 +Honduras (July 31, 1914.) 1,844,585 +Costa Rica 2,692,215 + + +[80] These and other details in regard to the bonded debts of the +Central American Republics are for the most part based on information +in the 1915 Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign +Bondholders in London. + +[81] Message of President Jiménez to Congress, 1911. + +[82] Costa Rica, _Memoria de Hacienda_, 1915. This sum includes certain +minor obligations to correspondents in New York, London, and Paris. + +[83] This does not include the accrued interest, which now amounts to a +considerable sum, as the service of the loans has been suspended since +1914. + +[84] Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, +1915, p. 207. + +[85] Honduras, Boletín Legislativo, April 19, 1911. (Quoting from the +Moniteur des Rentiers of Paris.) + +[86] The treaty was exactly similar to that signed in the same year by +the United States and Nicaragua. For the text, see the American Journal +of International Law, Vol. 5, supplement, p. 274. + +[87] See the 1915 Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign +Bondholders. + +[88] U. S. Commerce Reports, Supplement 29a, September 2, 1916. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES IN CENTRAL AMERICA + + + The Economic and Political Interests of the United States in + Central America--Intervention in the Internal Affairs of the Five + Republics--Antagonism in Central America--Beneficial Effects and + Shortcomings of Our Policy--How the United States can Assist in + Promoting Good Government and Economic Development--Moral Influence of + the United States--The Ultimate Object of Our Policy. + + +The events of the last ten years have made it clear that the relations +between the United States and Central America must inevitably be +closer than our relations with countries whose well-being is of less +vital importance to us. However much we may dislike interfering in the +internal affairs of our neighbors, we cannot remain indifferent when +disorder and misrule paralyze agriculture and commerce and threaten +to provoke European intervention in a region where our political and +economic interests are so great as they are in the republics bordering +on the Caribbean Sea. Both for our own security and for the sake of +helping neighbors with whom we are united by powerful ties of proximity +and common interests, we must inevitably use our influence more and +more to aid the Central American republics in developing stable +political institutions which will insure their prosperity and their +continued independence. + +The interests of the United States in the Isthmus are far greater +than those of any other foreign power. In the first place, like the +other countries around the Caribbean Sea, the five republics are one +of the most promising fields for the expansion of American commerce +and the investment of American capital. While no one of them is an +important customer of itself, together they make up a market which will +one day be of very great value. Our exports to them have increased +greatly in recent years and especially since the beginning of the +European war, and our imports from them are growing steadily. Only a +very small part of the food-producing possibilities of the tropics, +moreover, has as yet been realized, and economists say that it is not +improbable that the people of the temperate zone will be forced to rely +upon their equatorial neighbors for an increasingly large proportion +of their provisions in the not distant future. If this is so, the +development of that part of the tropics which is naturally tributary to +us commercially cannot be a matter of indifference. This development +can only take place with the improvement of political conditions, and +with the introduction of capital from wealthier countries which the +establishment of peaceful government will make possible. + +The establishment of peaceful government in the Isthmus is a matter +in which we are deeply interested for political reasons. The Monroe +Doctrine must always be a paramount principle of our foreign policy, +at least in so far as it deals with the countries of the Caribbean, +because the exercise of political influence in that region by a foreign +power could not but be a constant menace to our peace and security. +Several European nations, however, have extensive and legitimate +interests in Central America, for many of their citizens reside and +own property there and most of the foreign debt of each of the five +republics is held in London or Paris. It is impossible to expect that +they should remain inactive when these investments are made worthless +by internal disorders or by the arbitrary action of irresponsible +native rulers. Whatever one may think of the morality of the protection +of foreign investments by intervention and the collection of public +debts by force, this is the established practice of most civilized +nations, and it is a practice which finds much justification in the +conditions which exist in certain Central American countries. The +landing of troops and the seizure of ports by a foreign power, so near +our shores and in the immediate vicinity of the Panama Canal, can +hardly fail to endanger the most vital interests of the United States, +because of the manifold opportunities which such measures afford for +exerting an influence over internal politics. The control of the policy +of one of the Central American governments by a European chancellory or +the grant of special economic privileges would of course be intolerable +to the United States. That such consequences might follow even a simple +intervention to enforce the payment of debts, is all too evident from +events which have occurred in other parts of the world. The American +government cannot, however, oppose measures adopted by European powers +for the protection of the legitimate interests of their nationals +without itself assuming a certain responsibility for the safeguarding +of foreign life and property. Even supposing that it were sufficiently +powerful to prevent other governments from intervening, it could +hardly allow its protection to be made a cloak for the confiscation of +foreign property and the repudiation of bonded debts by unscrupulous +professional revolutionists like those who have at one time or another +been in power in each of the Central American countries. + +The United States has already gone very far in its attempts to assist +its Central American neighbors to attain political and financial +stability. At first it limited its efforts to friendly advice and +mediation. By participating in the Washington Conference of 1907, +however, it became in a measure responsible for the enforcement of the +conventions drawn up by that body, in so far, at least, as they related +to the discouragement of revolutions, the compulsory arbitration of +disputes, and the neutralization of Honduras.[89] The continual +violation of the provisions of the Washington Treaties by President +Zelaya of Nicaragua led President Taft to break off relations with him +in 1909 and to intervene in the revolution of that year in such a way +that the fall of the Liberal administration was inevitable; and the +financial and military assistance which it was necessary to render to +Zelaya’s successors, in order to prevent the Republic from falling into +a state of anarchy, imposed new and still greater responsibilities upon +the United States. Since 1912, when a revolt against the established +authorities was suppressed by American troops, the Conservative +government at Managua has been kept in office by the presence of a +force of American marines, and the State Department has become deeply +involved in assisting the Republic to adjust its financial affairs. +The United States has recently acquired new interests in the Isthmus +by the treaty giving it the right to construct an interoceanic canal +through Nicaragua and to establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. +Meanwhile outbreaks of disorder have been discouraged in all parts of +the Isthmus by the influence exerted by the authorities at Washington +against violations of the 1907 conventions and by their refusal to +recognize governments which came into power through revolution. + +The policy of the United States has aroused strong antagonism in +Central America. The people of the Isthmus are by no means convinced +of the disinterestedness or the friendly intentions of their +powerful neighbor, and it would be difficult to persuade them that +the interference of the latter in their affairs will ultimately be +for their own good. Their hostility is due partly to the inevitable +opposition among a proud and sensitive people to foreign intervention +in their domestic concerns, and partly to the failure of the American +government to convince the Central Americans of the altruism of its +aims. Our State Department has had no definite, well-understood, and +energetically enforced policy, but has been forced from step to step +by circumstances as they have arisen, and its course of action has +not always been such as to inspire confidence in the purity of its +motives. The attitude of the American government in the revolution +of 1909-10 in Nicaragua, for example, was hardly consistent in view +of its championship of the Washington Conventions, notwithstanding +the excellent reasons which the United States as well as the Central +American countries had for desiring President Zelaya’s fall. The +“Dollar Diplomacy” of Mr. Taft’s administration was regarded throughout +the Isthmus as the opening wedge for the political absorption of the +five republics by the United States. This feeling caused the emphatic +rejection of the proposed loan treaty by the Honduranean congress, +and aroused a violent opposition to the financial policy of the +Conservative government in Nicaragua,--an opposition which was greatly +intensified by the fact that the authorities who signed the loan +contracts and who turned over to American banking concerns the control +of the customs houses, the currency system, and the national railways, +were maintained in office by the armed forces of the United States. The +steps taken more recently in connection with the canal treaty have been +regarded by many Central Americans as final proof of the aggressive +intentions of the American government. + +The United States has nevertheless achieved one of its main objects, in +that revolutions and international wars have been checked throughout +the Isthmus. There has been no very serious disturbance of the peace +since the suppression of Mena’s revolt in Nicaragua in 1912. This has +been due partly to the efforts of the State Department to secure the +strict observance of those provisions of the Washington Conventions +which restrain the Central American republics from intervening in one +another’s internal political affairs, and from allowing their territory +to be made the base of operations against neighboring governments, but +more to a fear on the part of native political leaders that a renewal +of the disorderly conditions which formerly existed would lead to +American intervention and to the domination of their affairs, as in +Nicaragua, by an outside power. This apprehension has exerted a most +valuable restraining influence on enemies of the established order in +many countries which had hardly ever known five years of continuous +peace before 1912. There were, it is true, small revolts in Nicaragua +and Guatemala in 1915 and 1916, but they were easily suppressed by the +authorities, and they hardly disturbed the tranquillity of the greater +part of the territory of the republics in which they occurred. Their +insignificance showed that no large or influential section of the +opposition party had participated in them. As the result even of this +short era of peace, there has been a marked improvement in economic and +political conditions in many sections of the Isthmus. + +The policy of refusing to recognize any forcible change of government, +however, is a very difficult one to carry out consistently. It would +be manifestly impossible to prevent all revolutions. An attempt to do +so would involve continual armed intervention in the internal affairs +of the Central American republics, which would be as burdensome and +distasteful to the United States as it would be intolerable to the +people of the Isthmus. It is often equally impossible, and sometimes +exceedingly disastrous, to refuse to recognize a government which has +sprung from a revolution. After one administration has fallen and its +successor has established itself firmly in power, the refusal of the +United States to recognize the new authorities only weakens them, and +thus opens the way for a complete disintegration of the political +organization, without advancing appreciably the cause of constitutional +government. The restoration of the old regime is rarely either possible +or desirable. The ousted authorities, if they themselves secured +office, like almost all Central American administrations, as the +result of a successful revolution or an election controlled by the +government, can hardly lay claim to a higher degree of legality than +their successors, and a president who has once lost his prestige and +his following is not often able to re-establish a strong and efficient +government, even with foreign support. + +The prevention of chronic civil war is indeed the first great requisite +for the improvement of political conditions in Central America, but +even peace will be a doubtful blessing in the long run if it is secured +by the maintenance in office by outside influence of presidents who +are responsible to no one and who have nothing to fear from popular +opposition. The mere discouragement of revolutions offers no solution +for the most serious of Central America’s political problems, for it +provides no guarantee of good government and no peaceful method of +removing authorities whose rule may have become intolerable. + +The responsibility resting upon the United States is the more +serious, because the American government is not infrequently called +upon actually to decide who shall be president of one or the other +of the five republics. Even an intervention to protect foreign life +and property often determines, as a matter of fact, the outcome of a +civil war, and the influence upon internal politics is still greater +when the United States uses diplomatic pressure or force to prevent +a revolution or to bring about an agreement between the contending +factions. In either case, the United States practically imposes upon +the country affected the rule of one or the other political group. It +is impossible to intervene merely to prevent disorder, and then leave +to the people the choice of their own rulers, for elections, as we have +seen, are nothing more than a form for putting into effect the choice +of the government already in office. It would be foolish to attempt +to force democratic institutions upon the less advanced republics +of the Isthmus at the present time. No president of one of those +countries, however sincere he might be in his purpose, could really +hold a free election, and any attempt to do so would probably end in +bloodshed and disaster. An election supervised by the United States, +which was proposed as a solution of the recent presidential problem in +Nicaragua, would be equally unsatisfactory as a means of establishing +a new administration. Aside from the difficulty of ascertaining the +wishes of a nation where the majority of the voters have no interest in +political affairs, there are so many opportunities for fraud and for +the exercise of pressure by the government and by the local officials +at every stage of the campaign, as well as in the election itself, that +it would be practically impossible to guarantee the opposition party a +fair chance. An administration which has once obtained military control +can perpetuate itself indefinitely under constitutional forms until its +opponents become sufficiently strong to overthrow it by force of arms. + +The United States, therefore, can hardly assist one party in securing +and holding the control of the government, without assuring itself that +the men whom it thus keeps in office are acceptable to the people under +their rule, and that they administer the affairs of their country with +at least a reasonable degree of honesty and efficiency. This can only +be done by establishing an administration which fairly represents the +best elements in the community. It should not be impossible to secure +such an administration by an agreement between the party leaders, +who for all practical purposes represent the country in political +affairs. Compromise between the various factions, which is the only +practicable means, except revolution, of changing the higher officials, +is the end towards which the diplomatic efforts of the United States +should be directed in cases where circumstances make a reorganization +of the government inevitable. The more respectable and patriotic +leaders of all parties would far prefer an adjustment of this kind to +a continuation of civil war, and even those who might be unwilling to +subordinate their own ambitions to the general welfare would probably +accept it rather than incur the danger of armed intervention by the +United States. + +The friendly mediation of the United States would do much to improve +the political conditions of the Isthmus if it were directed towards +strengthening the influence of the better element in the educated +class. Numerous intelligent and patriotic men of high political ideals +are to be found in each country, but they have not hitherto had so +large a share in the direction of affairs as they should because the +revolutions have brought to the front military leaders and demagogues +rather than statesmen. Even where men of the highest character have +been at the head of the government, as has not infrequently been the +case, they have found themselves forced to place corrupt or unworthy +men in office for political reasons, because they have been unable to +free themselves from dependence upon the support of the professional +politicians. With the greater stability in the government which will +necessarily result from the discouragement of revolutions, however, +the less turbulent elements should become more and more prominent, +especially if they are supported by the influence of the United States. + +The United States can at the same time materially assist its Central +American neighbors by aiding them in securing new loans for the +reorganization of their finances and the development of their natural +resources. The unenviable record of Central American bonds makes it +unlikely that any bankers, whether American or European, would lend +money to one of the five republics, unless it were on the most onerous +terms, without an effective guarantee of the protection of their +government in case of default. Considering the close relation between +the solvency of the countries of the Isthmus and the maintenance of the +Monroe Doctrine, it is evident that the United States must eventually +exert its good offices in cases where it has been impossible to reach +an agreement with foreign creditors by any other means. + +In Santo Domingo and Nicaragua, the service of loans made by American +bankers has been guaranteed by placing the administration of the +customs duties in the hands of officials appointed by or at least +approved by the State Department. This is far from being an entirely +satisfactory solution of the problem. The collectorships thus far +established have provided a highly satisfactory guarantee for the +foreign creditors, and have decidedly increased the efficiency of the +customs service, but their existence has been very distasteful and +of doubtful advantage to the native community. Graft is abolished in +the customs houses themselves, but there is nothing to prevent that +portion of the receipts which is not used for the service of the +foreign debt from being misspent. Revolutions are not done away with, +for revolutionists fight, not, as is sometimes said, for the possession +of the customs houses, but rather for the control of the appointing +power and of the revenues, which the customs officials must necessarily +turn over to them when they become the _de facto_ government. The +chief result is the imposition upon the American government of a heavy +burden of responsibility which forces it to intervene continually in +the internal affairs of the native governments, and which often leads +to friction with the officials and to a feeling of dislike towards +the United States in the community at large. The acceptance of foreign +financial control, moreover, inevitably involves a lessening of the +sense of international responsibility and a certain loss of national +self-respect which cannot but react unfavorably upon internal politics. + +It may well be questioned whether the bondholders could not be +satisfactorily protected by other methods. If, for instance, the +foreign loan were secured by the hypothecation of the customs revenues +or of some other easily collected source of revenue, with a promise +of the protection of the State Department in realizing the guarantee +of the loan in case of default, the interests of the creditor would +be adequately protected, while the Central American governments, so +long as they dealt honestly by the bondholders, would be spared the +humiliation of having to place one of their principal functions in +the hands of a foreign official who was in no way subject to their +control. This is the basis upon which Costa Rica’s external debt rests +at present, except that no foreign government participated officially +in the arrangement. There would probably be little difficulty about +maintaining the service of the loan under such conditions. The majority +of the Central American governments have shown little regard for +their credit in times past, but they would probably manifest little +inclination to default if their debts were reorganized on a fair basis, +and if they were aware that a failure to pay would involve the seizure +of their customs houses. + +It is highly desirable that the United States should exercise a +measure of control over the operations not only of American bankers +but of other American corporations which do business in the Isthmus. +The economic development of the last twenty-five years has created a +situation in which some of the five republics are almost powerless +to protect themselves against the oppression and greed of foreign +interests, for corporations like the great fruit companies and +the railroad companies are able to bring to the support of their +projects financial resources which far exceed those of the local +government or of any group of natives. Some of these concerns, by the +corruption of officials or by the unscrupulous use of their control +of transportation facilities, have obtained special privileges which +have been an obstacle to the legitimate business of other foreigners +and to the development of the community as a whole. Moreover, serious +international difficulties have not infrequently arisen when subsequent +governments have attempted to annul or to modify these concessions. +Only a more careful supervision of the contracts entered into by +American concerns with native officials, who are not always above +temptation and who are in any event rarely in a position to ascertain +the financial responsibility of the concerns with which they are +dealing or the ultimate effects of the privileges which are asked, +can insure the United States against the possibility of being forced +to use its power to protect unscrupulous speculators and predatory +corporations in the exercise of rights which, even though legally +acquired, are in many cases extremely unfair and injurious to the +countries which have granted them. + +The same interests which have obtained inequitable concessions by +dishonest methods have too often sought to secure influence with the +native governments by fomenting and assisting revolutions against +presidents from whom they cannot obtain what they desire. In recent +years influences of this kind have done even more to cause internal +disorder in some of the republics than the intervention and intrigues +of other Central American governments. Honduras has been the chief +sufferer, for the numerous outbreaks which occurred in that Republic +between 1907 and 1911 seem to have been financed in many cases by +interests in New Orleans, and to have received valuable assistance +from the foreign colony on the North Coast. In Nicaragua also the +indiscriminate granting of concessions on the one hand and the +dissatisfaction among the foreign interests which were injured by +these grants of special privileges on the other was one of the primary +causes of the revolution of 1909-10. If permanent peace is ever to +be established in the Isthmus, the encouragement of revolutions from +outside, whether it be for the satisfaction of the ambition or the +jealousy of petty despots in neighboring republics or for the pecuniary +profit of unprincipled foreigners, must be repressed by every possible +means. + +Much can be done to promote stable government in Central America by the +consistent enforcement of the principles of the Washington conventions, +for few revolutions, except those which originate in genuine popular +discontent with the existing regime, would attain formidable +proportions if they were not allowed to use neutral territory as a +base and if they received no assistance from other Central American +countries or from friends in the United States. If the American +government exerts its influence to secure the observation of the 1907 +treaties, and at the same time adopts effective means for restraining +its own citizens from disturbing the peace of the Isthmus, the position +of constituted governments throughout Central America will be greatly +strengthened. To be effective, such a policy must be vigorously +enforced, and its one end,--to prevent revolutions and international +wars in Central America,--should be pursued in such a way that there +can be no suspicion of selfish objects or ulterior political purposes. + +Much depends upon the character and the ability of the men who are sent +to represent the United States diplomatically in the Central American +capitals. Unless they are fitted for their positions by disposition +and by training, their relations with the native governments can never +be entirely satisfactory. An acquaintance with the character of the +people and a command of Spanish are of the first importance, for +Central American political methods and the motives which govern the +action of men and parties, incomprehensible at best to the average +American, are entirely beyond the understanding of one who does not +speak the language and is thus barred from association with any but +a very small portion of the people. The cordiality of our relations +with the republics of the Isthmus depends to a very great extent upon +the capacity of our agents to win the confidence and friendship of +their people; and the extremely important position occupied by the +United States minister in these countries, where he is forced to play +a part far more influential than that which falls to the lot of the +average diplomat, makes it an act of injustice to the Central American +countries themselves to send ministers who are not properly qualified +for their position. + +The influence and authority of the United States in Central America +are very great, for there are few educated men in the Isthmus who do +not realize that the future of their countries will be determined +almost entirely by their relations with their northern neighbor. The +people of the five republics have always admired our civilization +and our institutions, and they have often turned to the American +government, not only for protection against European powers, but also +for aid in adjusting their domestic difficulties. They have bitterly +resented the policy of the last five years, which they have regarded +as a menace to their independence, but their hostility to American +intervention would to a great extent disappear if they were convinced +that it was actuated by a desire to assist them and not by any purpose +of expansion. Even those elements which are most jealously opposed to +foreign control at present would not object so strongly to the exercise +of foreign influence if they themselves profited by it, and most of the +more intelligent and patriotic political leaders avow that they would +welcome the assistance of the American government in securing peace +and stability in the Isthmus and in bringing about the Central American +Union. + +While their political and economic interests have become so closely +interdependent, cultural ties between the United States and Central +America have also grown far stronger in the last quarter century as a +result of the increasing prosperity of the coffee-producing countries +and the improvement in means of communication. The wealthier families +of the Isthmus travel more and more in the United States, and a very +large proportion of them send their children to be educated in our +schools and colleges. English has taken the place formerly held by +French as the most widely spoken foreign language, and North American +news services and periodicals are the principal sources of information +on events occurring in the outside world. The creation of ties of this +kind will have more influence than treaties and diplomatic conferences +in determining whether our relations with Central America shall be +friendly and mutually profitable rather than characterized by dictation +and compulsion on the one side and bitter resentment on the other. + +The influence of North American civilization in the Isthmus, which is +daily becoming stronger under present conditions, could be greatly +increased if the missionary educational enterprise which has been so +successful in the Orient could be turned in some measure to these +countries at our own doors. The establishment by American philanthropic +societies of institutions for higher education and for technical +training in agriculture and engineering would perhaps do more than any +other one factor could to improve both the economic and the political +conditions of the Isthmus. Many of the governments have advanced far in +the primary instruction of their people, but they have been prevented +from making corresponding progress in higher education by the expense +involved and by the lack of properly trained teachers. There is no form +of assistance which the people of the Isthmus would appreciate more, +and which would do more to convince them of the friendly intentions of +their great neighbor. + +The political stability and the prosperity of the Central American +countries have been the one great object which the United States has +sought in its relations with their governments. Modern conditions have +made the maintenance of peace and the development of commerce and +natural resources in the Isthmus far more important to the American +people than ever before. It is inevitable, therefore, that the United +States should exert a decided influence in the internal affairs of +the five republics, so long as disorder and insolvency expose them +to aggression by European powers. But it should never be forgotten +that the ultimate purpose of the American policy is to enable the +countries of the Isthmus to attain a position where they can manage +their own affairs without outside interference. Careless talk about +the ultimate absorption of these countries by the United States is as +unwarranted as it is mischievous, for none of the measures thus far +taken in any Central American state have had as their object or their +logical outcome permanent political domination. If the efforts of our +government to assist its weaker neighbors are to attain any measure of +success, its sincerity and its freedom from any desire for territorial +expansion must be placed beyond all doubt. + +The present political condition of the Isthmus is a transitory one, +which is changing rapidly with the economic development of the +country and the spread of education among the common people. If they +are given a fair chance, the five republics will work out their own +salvation, but they will not be aided in doing so either by the +establishment of foreign protectorates over them or by the attempt of +a foreign government to impose upon their people responsibilities +of self-government for which they are not as yet ready. The ultimate +solution of their political problems must be sought in making a reality +the democratic institutions which each of them already possesses on +paper, by preparing their people for the intelligent exercise of the +suffrage. When the people are fitted to take an active part in choosing +their own officials, as they already do in Costa Rica, and when they +have learned the respect for the constitution and for the will of +the majority which can only come with experience in self-government, +there will be no need for foreign intervention to protect life and +property from destruction at the hands of revolutionary armies. To aid +in bringing that time nearer should be one of the primary aims of the +foreign policy of the United States. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[89] “The Treaties and Conventions of Washington of 1907, ... were +conceived, debated, and concluded through the friendly intervention of +the Government of the United States of America. These conventions have, +therefore, the moral guaranty of that great nation.” (Case of Costa +Rica against Nicaragua before the Central American Court of Justice, +1916, p. 9.) + + + + + BIBLIOGRAPHY + +_of the more important historical and descriptive material dealing with + Central America_ + + +A. OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. + +1. Publications of the United States Government, especially: + + Foreign Relations of the United States. + + Commerce Reports. + + Congressional Documents. + + Congressional Record. + + Annual Reports of the Navy Department. + + Treaties and Conventions of the United States. + +2. Publications of Central American governments. + + Each of the Central American Republics publishes the annual reports + of the principal executive departments, under the titles _Memoria + de Relaciones Exteriores_, _Memoria de Hacienda y Crédito Público_, + etc. Most of them also have statistical bureaus, which publish annual + reports containing interesting although too often inaccurate material. + They also publish official gazettes, collections of laws and treaties, + and other material. + + +B. HISTORICAL WORKS. + +1. General histories of Central America. + + Bancroft, Hubert Howe: History of Central America. (3 vols.) San + Francisco, 1883-90. + + Fortier, A., and Ficklen, J. R.: Central America and Mexico. (Vol. IX + of G. C. Lee’s History of North America.) Philadelphia, 1907. + + Fuentes y Guzman, Francisco Antonio de: Historia de Guatemala, ó + Recordación Florida. (Deals only with the sixteenth century.) Madrid, + 1882-83. + + Gómez Carillo, Augustín: Estudio Histórico de la América Central. San + Salvador, 1884. + + ---- ----: Compendio de Historia de la América Central. Guatemala, + 1906. + + Jaurros, Domingo: History of Guatemala. (Translated from the Spanish.) + London, 1823. + + Milla, José: Historia de la América Central, 1502-1821. (2 vols.) + Guatemala, 1879-82. + + Montúfar, Lorenzo: Reseña Histórica de Centro América. (A collection + of source material in 7 volumes.) Guatemala, 1878-87. + + Montúfar, Manuel: Memorias para la Historia de la Revolución de Centro + América. San Salvador, 1905. + + Squier, Ephraim G. Historia Política de Centro América. Paris, 1856. + +2. Nicaragua. + + Gámez, José Dolores: Historia de Nicaragua. Managua, 1889. + +3. Costa Rica. + + Mora, Manuel Argüello: Páginas de Historia, Recuerdos é Impresiones. + San José, 1898. + + Fernández Guardia, Ricardo: Historia de Costa Rica: El Descubrimiento + y la Conquista. San José, 1905. + + ---- ----: Same, translated into English. New York, 1913. + + ---- ----: Cartilla Histórica de Costa Rica. San José, 1909. + + Fernández, León. Historia de Costa Rica durante la Dominación + Española, 1502-1821. Madrid, 1889. + + ---- ----: Colección de Documentos para la Historia de Costa Rica. San + José, 1881-83. + + Montero Barrantes, Francisco: Elementos de Historia de Costa Rica. (2 + vols.) San José, 1892-94. + +4. The Mosquito Coast and the Nicaragua Canal. + + Keasbey, L. M.: Early Diplomatic History of the Nicaragua Canal. + Newark, 1890. (Columbia Ph.D. dissertation.) + + ---- ----: The Nicaragua Canal and the Monroe Doctrine. New York, 1896. + + Peralta, Manuel M. de: Costa Rica y Costa de Mosquitos. Paris, 1898. + + Travis, Ira D.: History of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. Ann Arbor, 1900. + + ---- ----: British Rule in Central America. Ann Arbor, 1895. + + Williams, Mary W.: Anglo-American Isthmian Diplomacy, 1815-1915. + Washington, 1916. + +5. Walker’s expeditions to Nicaragua. + + Doubleday, Charles William: The Filibusters’ War in Nicaragua. New + York, 1886. + + Lucas, D. B.: Nicaragua: War of the Filibusters. Richmond, Va., 1896. + + Montúfar, Lorenzo: Walker en Centro América. Guatemala, 1887. + + Nicaise, Auguste: Les Filibustiers Américains. Paris, 1861. + + Scroggs, William O.: Filibusters and Financiers. New York, 1916. + + Wells, William V.: Walker’s Expedition to Nicaragua. New York, 1856. + +6. Miscellaneous material for more recent history. + + Buchanan, William I.: Report of the Central American Peace Conference, + 1907. Washington (U. S. State Department), 1908. + + Corte de Justicia Centroamericana. Sentencia en el Juicio promovido + por la Republica de Honduras contra las Republicas de El Salvador y + Guatemala, 1908. San José, Costa Rica, 1908. + + ---- ----: Anales. San José, 1911-- + + Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders; Annual Reports. + London. + + Crichfield, Geo. W.: American Supremacy. New York, 1908. + + Espinoza, Rudolfo: Nicaraguan Affairs. Memorial to the U. S. Senate. + San José, Costa Rica, 1912. + + Harrison, F. C., and Conant, C. A.: Report Presenting a Plan of + Monetary Reform for Nicaragua. Presented to Messrs. Brown Brothers and + Company and Messrs. J. and W. Seligman and Company. New York, 1912. + + Knox, Philander C.: Speeches in the Countries of the Caribbean. + Washington, 1912. + + Kraus, Herbert: Die Monroedoktrin. Berlin, 1913. + + Jones, Chester Lloyd: Caribbean Interests of the United States. New + York, 1916. + + Legation of Salvador in Washington: Before the Central American Court + of Justice. The Republic of El Salvador vs. the Republic of Nicaragua. + Complaint of the Republic of El Salvador. (Translated.) Washington, + 1916. + + Legation of Costa Rica in Washington: Before the Central American + Court of Justice. The Republic of Costa Rica vs. the Republic of + Nicaragua. Complaint of Costa Rica. Washington, 1916. + + ---- ----: Same title. Decision of the Court in the Case of Costa Rica + vs. Nicaragua. Washington, 1916. + + Moncada, José María: Cosas de Centro América. Madrid, 1908. + + ---- ----: The Social and Political Influence of the United States in + Central America. New York, 1911. + + Oficina Internacional Centroamericana: Centro América. (Quarterly + organ of the Bureau.) Published in Guatemala City. + + ---- ----: El Arreglo de la Deuda Externa de Costa Rica. Guatemala, + 1911. + + ---- ----: Informes de las Conferencias Centroamericanas. Guatemala, + 1908-13. + + Rojas Corrales, Ramón: El Tratado Chamorro-Weitzel ante Centro América + y ante El Derecho Internacional. San José, 1914. + + World Peace Foundation: The New Panamericanism. Pt. III. (Pamphlet + series.) The Central American League of Nations, Boston, February, + 1917. + + Zelaya, José Santos: La Revolución de Nicaragua y los Estados Unidos. + Madrid, 1910. + + +C. DESCRIPTIVE WORKS, TRAVELERS’ ACCOUNTS, ETC. + +1. Central America in general. + + Bailey, John: Central America. London, 1850. + + Bates, H. W.: Central America, the West Indies, and South America. (In + Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel.) London, 1878. + + Batres, Luís: Centro América. San José, 1879. + + Dunlap, Robert G.: Travels in Central America. London, 1847. + + Dunn, Henry: Guatemala, or the United Provinces of Central America in + 1827-28. New York, 1828. + + Froebel, Julius. Seven Years’ Travel in Central America, Northern + Mexico, and the Far West of the United States. London, 1859. + + Keane, A. H.: Central and South America. London, 1901. + + Morelet, Arthur: Travels in Central America. New York, 1871. + + Palmer, Frederick: Central America and its Problems. New York, 1910. + + Perigny, Maurice de: Les Cinq Republiques de l’Amerique Centrale. + Paris, 1911. + + Sapper, Karl: Mittelamerikanische Reisen und Studien aus den Jahren + 1888 bis 1900. Braunschweig, 1902. + + ---- ----: Das Noerdliche Mittel-Amerika. Braunschweig, 1897. + + Squier, Ephraim G.: Notes on Central America. New York, 1855. + + ---- ----: States of Central America. New York, 1858. + + Stephens, John Lloyd: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, + and Yúcatan. London, 1854. + +2. Guatemala. + + Brigham, W. T.: Guatemala, the Land of the Quetzal. New York, 1887. + + Crowe, F.: The Gospel in Central America. London, 1850. + + Domville-Fife, C. W.: Guatemala and the Central States of America. + London, 1910. + + Maudsley, A. C. and A. P.: Glimpse at Guatemala. London, 1899. + + Pepper, C. M.: Guatemala, the Country of the Future. Washington + (Legation of Guatemala), 1906. + + Winter, N. O.: Guatemala and her People of Today. Boston, 1909. + +3. Salvador. + + Martin, Percy F.: Salvador of the Twentieth Century. London, 1911. + +4. Honduras. + + Belot, Gustave de: La Verité sur le Honduras. Paris, 1869. + + Squier, Ephraim G.: Honduras, Descriptive, Historical, and + Statistical. London, 1870. + + Wells, William V.: Explorations and Adventures in Honduras. New York, + 1857. + +5. Nicaragua. + + Belt, Thomas: The Naturalist in Nicaragua. London, 1874. (Now + published in the Everyman’s Library.) + + Government of Nicaragua. La República de Nicaragua. Managua, 1906. + + Lévy, Pablo; Nicaragua. Paris, 1873. + + Niederlein, Gustavo: The State of Nicaragua in the Greater Republic of + Central America. Philadelphia (Philadelphia Commercial Museum), 1898. + + Pector, Desiré: Étude Économique sur la République de Nicaragua. + Neûchatel, 1893. + + Squier, Ephraim G.: Nicaragua, its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the + Proposed Nicaragua Canal. New York, 1852. + + Stout, Peter F.: Nicaragua, Past, Present, and Future. Philadelphia, + 1859. + +6. Costa Rica. + + Calvo, Joaquín Bernardo: The Republic of Costa Rica. Chicago and New + York, 1890. + + Government of Costa Rica: Revista de Costa Rica en el Siglo XIX. San + José, 1900. + + Molina, Felipe: Bosquejo de Costa Rica. New York, 1851. + + Niederlein, Gustavo: The Republic of Costa Rica. Philadelphia + (Philadelphia Commercial Museum), 1898. + +7. Publications of the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of +Foreign and Domestic Commerce. + + Central America as an Export Field. (By Garrard Harris.) Special + Agents’ Series, no. 113. 1916. + + Trade Directory of Central America and the West Indies. Miscellaneous + series, no. 22. 1915. + + + + + INDEX + + + A + + Acajutla, port of, 115 + + Accessory Transit Company, 83 f. + + Agriculture, methods of, 16; + Costa Rica, 138, 159, 163; + Guatemala, 66 ff.; + Honduras, 126, 129 ff., 132 ff.; + Nicaragua, 91 ff.; + Salvador, 100, 106, 112 + + Aguardiente, 10, 15, 67, 246; + influence of, on people, 48, 66, 71; + monopoly in, 285, 292 + + Alajuela, 138, 144 + + Alfaro, Prudencio, 217 + + Alta Verapaz, labor conditions in, 59; + products of, 70 + + Amapala, 128; + capture of, 208; + Treaty of (1895), 103, 170; + Treaty of (1907), 209 + + American International Corporation, 281 + + American investments in Central America. _See_ Capital + + American Phalanx, 82 f. + + Amusements, 4, 10 + + Araujo, Manuel Enrique, 103 + + Arbitration. _See_ Central American Court of Justice + + Arce, Manuel José, 29 + + Army, 42 f., 188 f., 196; + Costa Rica, 154; + Guatemala, 57; + Nicaragua, 73 f.; + Salvador, 108 f. + + Ayuntamientos. _See_ Government, Municipal + + + B + + Balsam of Peru, export of, 112 f., 273 + + Bananas, 20, 133 f., 204; + blight, 270; + export trade in, 268 ff.; + Costa Rica, 138, 160 f.; + Guatemala, 70; + Honduras, 120, 133 f.; + Nicaragua, 97 + + Banks. _See_ Finance + + Barillas, Manuel Lísandro, 52 + + Barrios, Gerardo, 102 + + Barrios, José María Reyna, 52 + + Barrios, Justo Rufino, 52, 102, 123, 171 f. + + Beneficios, 18, 266 f. + + Bertrand, Francisco, 124 + + Blaine, Secretary, policy of, 181 f. + + Blanco, General, 145 f. + + Bluefields, 96 f.; + blockade of, 230; + revolution at (1909), 227 ff. + + Bográn, Luis, 123 + + Bonilla, Manuel, 123 f.; + 172, 207 f. + + Bonilla, Policarpo, 123 + + Brown Brothers and Company, loans to Nicaragua, 235 ff., 259 ff., + 292 + f. + + Buchanan, President, restoration of Central American Union favored + by, 181 + + Buchanan, William I., 210 + + Bureau, Central American. _See_ Central American Bureau + + + C + + Cabañas, Trinidad, 122 + + Cabinets. _See_ Government + + Cabrera, Manuel Estrada. _See_ Estrada Cabrera, Manuel + + Cacao, export of, 17, 92, 273 + + Cannon, Lee Roy, execution of, 228 f. + + Capital, foreign, influence of, 98, 183, 267 f.; + in Central America, 281 f., 288 f.; + in Honduras, 127, 132; + in Nicaragua, 235 ff., 259 ff. + _See also_ Finance + + Carazo, Evaristo, 87 f. + + Caribbean Coast, importance of, 20, 70; + in Costa Rica, 160 f.; + in Honduras, 132 ff.; + in Nicaragua, 95 ff. + + Carillo, Braulio, 141, 144 f. + + Carrera, Rafael, 32, 51, 101 f., 122, 168, 198 + + Cartago, 138 f., 144 + + Castellón, Francisco, 81 + + Castro, José María, 146 + + Catholic Church, influence of, 13, 131, 196, 198 + + Cattle, 16 f., 67, 78, 92; + export of, 273; + Costa Rica, 142; + Honduras, 120, 126 f., 135; + Salvador, 112 + + Central America, progress retarded in, 14 f., 185 ff.; + export trade of, 265 ff.; + import trade of, 275 ff.; + revenue, sources of, 284 f.; + expenditures of each republic (1913), 286 f.; + foreign debts, origin of, 288 f.; + currencies, depreciation of, 296 ff.; + foreign capital, need of, 302; + investments, opportunities for, 303 f.; + United States, opposition to, 306 f.; + financial assistance, need of, 311 ff. + + Central American Bureau, San José Conference establishes (1906), 206 + f.; + Washington Conference establishes (1907), 212; + convention establishing, 215; + work of, 225 f. + + Central American Court of Justice, 213 ff.; + case of Nicaragua and Honduras vs. Guatemala and Salvador, 218 f.; + work of, 221 ff.; + case of Nicaragua and United States Canal Treaty, 254 ff. + + Central American Federal Republic. _See_ Central American Union + + Central American Federation. _See_ Central American Union + + Central American Public Works Company, 290 + + Central American Union, 28 ff., 144; + need of, 164 f.; + advantages of, 179 ff.; + difficult to form, 171 f., 174 ff.; + attempts to renew, 102, 168 ff.; + Union of 1842, 168; + Union of 1849, 169; + Union of 1895, 170 + + Centro Americo, 226 + + Cerna, Vicente, 52 + + Chalchuapa, battle of (1885), 105, 172 + + Chamorro, Emiliano, 231 f., 234, 243, 245, 250 ff. + + Chamorro, Frutos, 169 + + Chinandega, treaty of (1842), 168 f. + + Christmas, General Lee, 218 + + Cities. _See_ Government, municipal + + Civil Wars. _See_ Revolutions + + Claims. _See_ Investments, foreign + + Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 82, 96 + + Climate, Costa Rica, 138 f.; + Guatemala, 67 f.; + Nicaragua, 92; + Salvador, 100 + + Coban, 70 + + Cochineal, export of, 17 + + Cocoanuts, export of, 273 + + Coffee, 5, 17 ff., 274 f. + cultivation, methods of, 265 ff.; + export of, 266 ff., 275; + Costa Rica, 142, 144, 160 ff.; + Guatemala, 66 f.; + Honduras, 136; + Nicaragua, 93; + Salvador, 100, 112, 115 + + Colonos, 59 + + Commerce, 265 ff., + development retarded, 14 f.; + foreign control of, 21, 276 ff.; + exports, 17, 265 ff.; + imports, 275 f.; + United States trade with Central America, 276 ff.; + Costa Rica, 159 ff., 274; + Guatemala, 67 f., 274; + Honduras, 135 f., 274; + Nicaragua, 92 ff., 274; + Salvador, 114 ff., 274 + + Communication, means of. _See_ Transportation + + Concessions, 22, 313 ff., + Honduras, 134 f.; + Nicaragua, 89 f., 97. + _See also_ Investments, foreign + + Conferences, 176, + U. S. S. Marblehead (1906), 206; + San José (1906), 206 ff.; + Washington Conference, 216, 220 f.; + annual, 216, 225 + + Congress. _See_ Government. + + Conservatives. _See_ Political Parties + + Contract labor system. _See_ Labor + + Contreras brothers, 192 + + Corinto, 87, 244 f. + + Corn, 112 + + Corporations, foreign, + influence of, 22, 83 f., 132, 134, 202, 269 ff.; + need of government control of, 313 ff. + _See also_ Brown Brothers and Co.; Ethelburga Syndicate; + Seligman, J. & W. and Co.; Finance + + Corral, General, 81 f. + + Costa Rica, + agriculture, 138, 159 f., 162 f.; + area and population, 1, 138 ff., 162 f.; + army, 154; + bananas, 138, 160 f., 268 ff.; + cattle, 142; + coffee, 142, 144, 160 ff., 275; + commerce, 159 ff., 266, 268, 274 f., 277 f.; + Court of Justice, decisions of, 224, 253 ff.; + education, 147, 158 f.; + finance, 285 ff., 290 ff., 301; + government, 143 f., 147 ff., 154 ff., 159; + history, 144 ff.; + labor, 139 ff., 163; + land, ownership of, 141 f.; + peace, internal, 148 ff., 194, 200; + politics, 148 ff.; + transportation, facilities of, 157, 160 f., 291; + United Fruit Co., 160 f. + + Court of Justice. _See_ Central American Court of Justice + + Courts, corruption of, 36, 46 ff. + + Creel, Señor, 210 + + Creoles, 3 ff., 25, 56, 78, 191 f. + + Crops. _See_ Agriculture + + Cuadra family, 232, + Dr. Carlos Cuadra Pasos, 250 ff. + + Currency systems, 296 ff., + Costa Rica, 301; + Guatemala, 54, 297 ff.; + Honduras, 300; + Nicaragua, 236 ff., 248 f., 263, 299; + Salvador, 300 f. + + Customs, collection of, 238 f., 312 + + + D + + Dávila, Miguel, 123 f., 172, 208 ff., 217 + + Dawson, Thomas C., 233 + + Dawson agreement, The, 233 f., 243 + + Delgado, Father, 29 + + Díaz, Adolfo, 232, 234, 243 ff. + + Díaz, Porfirio, 173, 206, 210, 229 + + Diseases. _See_ Sanitation + + Dueñas, Francisco, 102 + + + E + + East Coast. _See_ Caribbean Coast + + Education, 11, 199, 317 f., + Costa Rica, 147, 158 f.; + Guatemala, 55, 61; + Honduras, 131; + Nicaragua, 89; + Salvador, 110 f. + + Elections, 30 f., 34 f., + Costa Rica, 148 ff.; + Guatemala, 55 f.; + Nicaragua, 74, 245, 249 ff. + + El Triunfo, 116 + + Emery claim, 228 + + Encomiendas. _See_ Repartimientos + + Escalón, José Pedro, 103 + + Esquivel, Ascensión, 147 + + Estrada, Juan J., 227, 230 f., 234 f. + + Estrada Cabrera, Manuel, 53, 74, 206, 297 + + Ethelburga Syndicate, 237 f., 240, 292 f. + + European War, effect of, 115, 135, 247 ff., 274 f., 279, 281 ff., + 290, 296, 298 ff. + + Exchange, rates of, 296, 298 ff. + + Export trade. _See_ Commerce + + Ezeta brothers, 102 + + + F + + Fernández, Mauro, 147 + + Fernández, Próspero, 146 + + Ferrer, Francisco, 122 + + Fiallos, Señor, 173 + + Figueroa, Fernando, 103, 209 + + Filibusters and filibustering, 81 ff., 217 f. + + Filísola, General, 28 + + Finance, 21 f., 235 ff., 259 ff., 279 ff., 284 ff. _See also_ + Capital Corporation Investment Loans + + Fonseca, Casto, 80 + + Fonseca, Gulf of, 115, 117, 119, + naval base on, 252 ff. + + Fruit trade. _See_ Commerce + + + G + + Gainza, Governor-general of Guatemala (1821), 24, 80 + + Germany, + Central American commerce with, 274 ff., 277 f. + + Gold, 120, 272 + + González, Alfredo, 148 + + González, Santiago, 102 + + González Víquez, Cleto. _See_ Víquez, Cleto González + + Government, 25, 41 f., + Executive, powers of, 33 ff., 37, 39 ff., 286 f.; + Cabinets, 37; + Legislatures, 36; + Judiciary, 36 f., 46 ff., 111, 155 f.; + Costa Rica, 143, 147 ff., 154 ff.; + Guatemala, 53 ff.; + Honduras, 124 f.; + Nicaragua, 73 ff.; + Salvador, 105, 107 ff. + _See also_ Political Parties, Politics + + Government, municipal, 27, 37 f., 66, 156 + + Grace and Company, 281 + + Graft. _See_ Politics + + Granada, + Leon, rivalry with, 77 ff.; + capture of (1855), 81 + + Granados, Miguel García, 52 + + Great Britain, + bondholders in Guatemala supported by, 289; + bondholders in Honduras supported by, 294; + bondholders in Nicaragua supported by, 240; + Central American commerce with, 274 f., 277 ff., 282; + protectorate on Mosquito Coast, 95 f., 168 f. + + Greytown, 82, 95 f. + + Groce, Leonard, execution of, 228 f. + + Guardia, General Tomás, 33, 146, 291 + + Guardia Civil, 109 + + Guardiola, Santos, 122 + + Guatemala, + agriculture, 66 ff.; + area and population, 1, 50, 57 ff., 67, 70, 198; + army, 57 f.; + bananas, 70, 268 f.; + cattle, 67; + Central American Union and, 168, 178; + coffee, 66 ff., 266 ff., 275; + commerce, 67 f., 274, 277 f.; + education, 55, 61; + finance, 54, 285 f., 288 f., 297 f.; + government, 53 ff.; + labor, 58 ff., 62 ff.; + land, ownership of, 64; + politics, 54 f.; + transportation, facilities of, 68 ff.; + United Fruit Co., 69 f. + + Gutiérrez, Rafael, 102 f. + + + H + + Habilitadores, 62, 64 + + Ham, Colonel Clifford D., 238 f. + + Health. _See_ Sanitation + + Heredia, 138, 144 + + Herrera, Dionisio de, 80 + + Highways. _See_ Transportation + + Honduras, + agriculture, 119 f., 126, 129 ff., 132 f.; + area and population, 1, 120, 129 f., 133; + bananas, 120, 133, 268; + capital, foreign, 127 f., 132, 134 f.; + Caribbean Coast, importance of, 132 ff.; + Central American Union and, 167 f.; + cattle, 120, 126 f., 135, 273; + coffee, 136, 266, 275; + commerce, 133 ff., 273 f., 277; + economic development of, retarded, 126 ff.; + education, 131; + finance, 285 f., 288, 293 ff., 300; + foreign relations, 121, 123, 168 f., 172, 207 f.; + government, 124 f.; + living, standards of, 129 ff.; + mines, 120, 127; + transportation, facilities of, 127 f., 134 f., 293; + United Fruit Co., 134 f.; + Washington conventions, 211 f. + + + I + + Immigration, foreign, 21 + + Import trade. _See_ Commerce + + Indians, 2, 58, 178, + Costa Rica, 138 ff.; + Guatemala, 57 ff., 64, 198; + Honduras, 120; + Nicaragua, 72, 93 f.; + Salvador, 100 + + Indigo, 17, 92, 273 + + Industries. _See_ Manufacturing + + International Health Commission. _See_ Sanitation + + Investments, foreign, 21 ff., 265 ff., 271, 301 f., 311 ff. _See + also_ Finance + + Irías, Dr. Julián, 251 f. + + Iturbide, Augustin, 28 f. + + + J + + Jeréz, Maximo, 81 f., 85 f. + + Jiménez, Jesús, 146 + + Jiménez, Ricardo, 148 + + Jinotega, 93 + + Joint Claims Commission. _See_ Nicaraguan Joint Claims Commission + + Jornaleros, 59 ff. + + Judiciary. _See_ Government + + Junta Consultiva, 24 + + Justice, Central American Court of. _See_ Central American Court + of Justice + + + K + + Keith, Minor C., 160, 269, 291, + interests, 271 + + Knox, Secretary, note of, to Zelaya, 228 f. + + + L + + Labor, 7 f., 10 f., + Costa Rica, 139 f., 163; + Guatemala, 59 ff., 62 ff.; + Nicaragua, 93 ff.; + Salvador, 114 + + La Ceiba, 133 + + Ladinos, 6, 57, 72, 195 + + La Libertad, 116 + + Land, ownership of, 3, 6, 64, 93 f., 141 f., 267 f. + + La Union, 115, 117 + + Legislatures. _See_ Government + + Leíva, Ponciano, 123 + + Lempa River, 100, 115 + + Leon, + Granada, rivalry with, 77 ff. + + Ley de Trabajadores (1894), 59 ff. + + Liberals. _See_ Political Parties + + Living, conditions of, 4 ff., 8 ff., 113 f., 129 ff., 161 ff. + + Loans, foreign, 235 ff., 241 ff., 294. _See also_ Finance + + Local Government. _See_ Government, municipal + + Localismo, 43 f., 73, 76 f., 196 f. + + Lumber, 17, 70, 135, 273 + + + M + + Madriz, José, 229 f. + + Mahogany. _See_ Lumber + + Malespín, Francisco, 101 f. + + Managua, 80, 86 ff. + + Mandamientos, 59 + + Manufacturing, 15, 114 + + Marblehead (U. S. S.), 206 + + Martínez, Tomás, 85 f. + + Matagalpa, 92 ff., 236 + + Medina, José María, 122 + + Meléndez, Don Carlos, 103 + + Mena, General Luís, 231, 234, 242 ff. + + Menéndez, Francisco, 102 + + Mestizos. _See_ Ladinos + + Metals, precious. _See_ Mines + + Mexico, 28, 123, 206 ff., 218, 229. _See also_ Díaz, Porfirio + + Mines, 120, 126 f., 272 f. + + Missionaries, influence of, 13 + + Moncada, General José María, 231, 234 + + Monroe Doctrine, 204 ff., 302, 304 f. + + Montealegre, José María, 145 + + Mora, Juan, 144 + + Mora, Juan Rafael, 145, 181 + + Morazán, Francisco, 29 f., 80, 101, 122, 145, 167 + + Morgan, J. P. & Co., 294 + + Mosquito Coast, 95 ff., 169 + + Municipal government. _See_ Government, municipal + + Muñoz, Trinidad, 80 + + + N + + Namasigne, battle of (1907), 208 + + National Constituent Assembly, 28 ff., 166 + + Negroes. _See_ Population + + New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Co., 127 + + Nicaragua, + agriculture, 91 ff.; + area and population, 1, 72, 76, 93 f.; + army, 73 f.; + bananas, 97, 268; + canal route in, 75 f., 252, 254 ff.; + capital, foreign, 89 f., 97, 235 ff., 259 ff.; + Caribbean Coast, 95 ff.; + cattle, 78, 92, 273; + Central American Union and, 167 f.; + Claims Commission, 240 f.; + commerce, 92 f., 238, 274, 277; + coffee, 93, 266, 275; + Court of Justice, decision of, 223 f.; + education, 89; + finance, 232 ff., 239 ff., 246 ff., 248 f., 259 ff., 263, 285 f., + 288, 292, 299 f.; + foreign influence in, 95 ff., 169; + government, 73; + history, 81 ff., 89 ff.; + labor, 93 ff.; + politics, 74, 76 ff., 89, 245, 249 ff.; + transportation, facilities of, 97 f., 237, 246, 261, 292; + United States, intervention of, 182, 228 ff., 244, 306 + + Nicaragua, Lake, 75 + + Nicaraguan Joint Claims Commission, 240 f. + + + O + + Oficina Internacional Centroamericana. _See_ Central American + Bureau + + + P + + Pan American Financial Conference (1915), 294 f. + + Panama Canal, 161, 204 + + Paper money. _See_ Currency + + Pasos, Dr. Carlos Cuadra, 250 ff. + + Peonage. _See_ Labor + + Personalismo, 43 f., 76 f., 196 f. + + Peten, 70 + + Police, 53, 108 f., 157 + + Political Parties, 26, 29, 31 ff., 43 ff., 149 ff., 165, + Conservatives, 29, 32 f., 167 f.; + Guatemala, 51 ff.; + Honduras, 122; + Nicaragua, 78 ff., 85 ff., 169 f., 231, 233, 250; + Salvador, 102 f., + Liberals, 29, 32 f., 167 f.; + Guatemala, 50 ff.; + Honduras, 122; + Nicaragua, 78, 85 ff., 228 ff., 233, 250 f., 260; + Salvador, 101 f. + + Politics, corruption in, 45 ff., 186 ff., 286 ff., 291 ff., + Costa Rica, 159; + Guatemala, 54; + Honduras, 125; + Nicaragua, 76 ff., 89; + Salvador, 111 f.; + foreign influence on, 132, 135, 161, 200 ff., 227 314 f. + + Population, 2, 50, 72, 100, 120, 138 ff., + Negro, 20, 120 f., 133, 160. + _See also_ Indians + + Ports, 68 f., 87, 97, 115 f., 128 f., 132, 160 f. _See also_ + Transportation + + President, power of. _See_ Government + + Press, influence of, 48, 149 f. + + Protectorates. _See_ Great Britain, United States + + Puerto Barrios, 68 f. + + Puerto Cortez, 133 + + Puerto Limón, 160 + + Puntarenas, 160 f. + + + R + + Railways. _See_ Transportation + + Regalado, Tomás, 103 + + Religion. _See_ Catholic Church + + Repartimientos, 7, 58, 139 f. + + Revolutions, causes of, 49, 185 ff. + + Rivas, Patricio, 81 + + Roads. _See_ Transportation + + Rockefeller Foundation. _See_ Sanitation + + Rodríguez, José Joaquín, 147 + + Roosevelt, Theodore, 173, 205 ff., 210 + + Root, Elihu, 210 + + Rum. _See_ Aguardiente + + + S + + Sacasa, Roberto, 88 + + Salazar, General, 145 f. + + Salvador, + agriculture, 100, 106, 112; + area and population, 1, 99 f., 113 f.; + army, 108 f.; + cattle, 112; + Central American Union and, 167 f.; + coffee, 100, 112, 115, 266, 275; + commerce, 114 f., 274, 277; + Court of Justice, decision of, 224; + education, 110 f.; + finance, 285 f., 288, 290, 300 f.; + foreign relations, 104 ff., 117; + Guatemala and, 29; + government, 107 ff.; + labor, 114; + manufactures, 114; + Nicaraguan Canal Treaty, protest against, 253 ff.; + peace, internal, 194; + politics, 105 f., 111 f.; + transportation, facilities of, 109, 115 ff., 290 + + Sanitation, 9, 157 f. + + San José, 138, 144, 160; + conference at, 206 f. + + San Salvador, 99, 115 f. + + Santa Ana, 102, 115 f. + + San Vicente, 115 + + Schools. _See_ Education + + Seligman, J. & W. and Co., 235, 242, 246 ff., 259 ff., 292 ff. + + Sierra, General Terencio, 123, 209 + + Silver, 127, 272 f. + + Social conditions, 5, 10, 12, 22 f. + + Sonsonate, 115 + + Soto, Bernardo, 146 + + Soto, Marco Aurelio, 123 + + Spain, influence of colonial system of, 14 + + Spoils system. _See_ Politics + + Steamship lines, 19, 69, 97, 116, 132, 269. _See also_ + Transportation + + Sugar, 112 + + + T + + Taft, William H., 217, 228 + + Tegucigalpa, 19, 122, 128 f., 208 + + Tinoco, Federico, 148 + + Trade. _See_ Commerce + + Transportation, 19, 177, + Costa Rica, 157, 160, 291; + Guatemala, 68 ff.; + Honduras, 127 f., 134 f., 293; + Nicaragua, 97, 237, 246, 261, 292; + Salvador, 109, 115 ff., 290. + _See also_ Steamship lines + + U + + Union, Central American. _See_ Central American Union + + United Fruit Company, 19 ff., 269 ff., 281; + Costa Rica, 160 f.; + Guatemala, 69 f.; + Honduras, 134 f. + + United States, + Central American Union, 171, 181 ff.; + commerce with Central America, 269, 274 ff., 279 ff.; + commercial and financial interests of, 180 ff., 204 f., 303 ff.; + financial assistance of, needed in Central America, 279 f., 302; + Honduras, intervention in, 123, 294; + influence of, in Central America, 203, 220 f.; + intervention in Central America, 304 ff.; + intervention, results of, 307 ff.; + Mexico and, intervention of, 207 ff.; + Monroe Doctrine, maintenance of, 205 f.; + Mosquito Coast, British control of, 95; + Nicaragua, relations with, 98, 182, 228 ff., 233 f., 235 ff., 244, + 250, 253 f., 258; + relations with Central America, 105, 171; + Salvador, relations with, 117; + trade, opportunities for, 282 f.; + trade retarded, 279; + Walker, attitude toward, 82 f. + + + V + + Valle, Andrés, 102 + + Vásquez, Domingo, 123 + + Víquez, Cleto González, 148 + + + W + + Wages, 10, 299. _See also_ Labor + + Walker, William, 81 ff., 85 f., 145, 189 + + Washington Conference (1907), 123, 173, 210 ff., 216 f., 226, 305; + conventions of, 105, 176, 211 ff., 220 f., 315 + + + Y + + Yglesias, Rafael, 147, 301 + + + Z + + Zacapa, 116 + + Zaldívar, Rafael, 102, 172 + + Zelaya, José Santos, 88 ff., 96 f., 103, 123 f., 170, 172, 193, 207 + ff., 217 ff., 227 ff., 299, 306 + + Zeledón, Benjamin, 243 f. + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + +Obvious punctuation errors and omissions have been corrected. + +Page 209: “avowed agressive” changed to “avowed aggressive” + +Page 235: “printed in the Americal” changed to “printed in the American” + +Page 262: “the heavy enpenses” changed to “the heavy expenses” + +Page 289: “the the coffee export” changed to “the coffee export” + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76272 *** diff --git a/76272-h/76272-h.htm b/76272-h/76272-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6ea739e --- /dev/null +++ b/76272-h/76272-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12466 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The five republics of central America | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 1.5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.isub2 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 3em; +} +li.isub3 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 4em; +} +li.isub4 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 5em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; width: 60%;} +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } +.x-ebookmaker table {width: 95%;} + +.tdc {text-align: center; vertical-align: top;} +.tdr {text-align: right; vertical-align: top;} +.ml {text-indent: 1em;} +.page {width: 8em; vertical-align: top;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + font-weight: bold; +} + + +.blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; +} + + +.bt {border-top: 2px solid; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} +.x-ebookmaker .w100 {width: 95%;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed; margin-top: 1em;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + +.xbig {font-size: 2em;} +.big {font-size: 1.3em;} +.small {font-size: 0.8em;} + +abbr[title] { + text-decoration: none; +} +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} + + /* ]]> */ </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76272 ***</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</span></p> +<h1>THE FIVE REPUBLICS OF <br>CENTRAL AMERICA</h1> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="001" style="max-width: 84.5625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/001.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption class="caption"><p class="center">CENTRAL AMERICA</p></figcaption> +</figure> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center big"> +UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA<br> +</p> +</div> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"><span class="xbig"> +THE FIVE REPUBLICS</span><br> +OF<br><span class="xbig"> +CENTRAL AMERICA</span><br><span class="big"> +THEIR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC +DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR RELATIONS +WITH THE UNITED STATES</span> +</p> + +<p class="center p2 big"> +<span class="smcap">By</span> DANA G. MUNRO<br> +</p> + +<p class="center p2"> +A THESIS<br> +<br> +Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School in partial +fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of +Philosophy.<br> +</p> + +<p class="center p4"> +NEW YORK<br> +OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS<br> +AMERICAN BRANCH: <span class="smcap">35 West 32nd Street</span><br> +LONDON, TORONTO, MELBOURNE, AND BOMBAY<br> +1918<br> +</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> +COPYRIGHT 1918<br> +BY THE<br> +CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE,<br> +<span class="smcap">Washington, D. C.</span><br> +</p> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS<br> +RAHWAY, N. J.<br> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="AUTHORS_PREFACE">AUTHOR’S PREFACE</h2> +</div> + + +<p>By many persons in the United States, Central America is conceived of +chiefly as a land of revolutions, bankrupt governments, and absconding +presidents, and a haven for fugitives from justice from more settled +countries. The progress of the people of the Isthmus since their +declaration of independence, and the significance of this progress +in view of the difficulties with which they have had to contend, are +rarely recognized. The fact is too frequently overlooked that the +greater part of the people of the five republics, except in Costa +Rica, are descendants of the semi-civilized aboriginal tribes whom +the <i>Conquistadores</i> enslaved in the sixteenth century, and that +these Indians still remain, for the most part, in a condition of dense +ignorance and economic dependence. Even the white upper classes were +prevented for three centuries from making any advance in civilization +by the restriction of intercourse with other countries and the +centralization of authority in the hands of foreign officials under +the Spanish colonial system; and they were unable to set up a stable +political system when they obtained their independence, because of +their lack of experience in self-government, and because of the absence +of political institutions upon which a stable system of government +could be based.</p> + +<p>When we take these facts into consideration, and when we see the +advances which some of the Central American Republics have been able +to make despite these handicaps, we shall be less ready to conclude +that their people are inherently unfit for self-government. Our own +race is removed from the disorderly conditions which characterize the +more turbulent parts of the Isthmus only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</span> by a few hundred years, and +in the United States we are not unfamiliar today with evils similar to +some of the worst evils of Central American political life. There is no +reason to suppose that all of the five republics will not eventually +develop stable governments, as some of them have already done. Although +conditions in many parts of the Isthmus are still very bad, they are +gradually being overcome by the efforts of the better elements among +the ruling classes and by the gradual progress of the common people. +Since the Washington Conference of 1907, moreover, the preservation of +internal and international peace in the Isthmus has been powerfully +aided by the influence of the United States.</p> + +<p>That the economic and political conditions of Central America and the +other countries of the Caribbean should be understood by the American +government and the American people is of the utmost importance. The +policy of the United States, more perhaps than any other factor either +external or internal, will determine the course of the development of +the five republics during the next few decades, and if this policy is +to be beneficial, it must be based on knowledge and must be controlled +by an intelligent public opinion. Only injustice can result from the +publication of works like many of the recent superficial descriptions +of Central America, whether they portray the five countries as foci +of continual disorder, constitutionally incapable of self-government, +and hence destined to absorption by a stronger power, or paint a +ridiculously laudatory picture, based on official reports and on the +utterances of the authorities rather than on critical observation. It +is the purpose of this study to describe conditions simply as they +appeared to the author during a sojourn of two years in the Isthmus, +with the object of setting forth what the people of Central America +have achieved since their declaration of independence and what problems +confront them in their present stage of development.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</span></p> + +<p>The difficulties in the way of a careful study of the history and +the economic and political conditions of the five republics are very +great, because there is so little trustworthy written material. +Historical works are especially unsatisfactory. The colonial period +is ably treated in two or three books by Central American authors, +but the development of the community since its separation from Spain, +and the far-reaching economic and political changes which have taken +place during the last century, have apparently never been studied by +anyone who was equipped by historical training and by a knowledge of +the country to interpret them. In attempting to obtain material for +sketching the historical development of the Isthmus, therefore, I have +been forced to rely on the very inadequate histories which do exist, +which are little more than lists of presidents and revolutions, and +upon a large number of political pamphlets, government documents, and +memoirs of Central American leaders and of early travelers in the +Isthmus. Much of this material is all but worthless because of the +ignorance or the ulterior motives of the writers, but there is enough +of value to reveal certain broad tendencies of economic and political +development.</p> + +<p>It is equally difficult to secure data concerning the condition of the +country at present. Official publications can rarely be accepted as +reliable because of the carelessness with which records are kept and +statistical data are gathered by most of the departments, and because +official statements about the material progress of the country and the +activities of the authorities too often represent patriotic aspirations +rather than accomplished facts. The differences in the use of terms +and in standards of public service, moreover, are so great that it is +difficult for a foreigner to obtain an idea of the actual situation in +one of the countries merely by conversation with the authorities and +other persons in the capital. The writer found it extremely helpful +to supplement such conversations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</span> with trips to the provincial towns +and through the rural districts. An acquaintance with the life and +the character of the people outside the somewhat Europeanized cities, +and an observation of the actual working of the political machinery, +did much to make clear many things which otherwise might have been +difficult to understand.</p> + +<p>The courtesy of the officials of the five governments, and the +hospitality extended to the traveler by all classes of the people, +make a journey through Central America an experience upon which one +can always look back with keen pleasure. It would be impossible here +to thank individually the many friends who helped to make my stay in +the Isthmus both pleasant and profitable. Nevertheless, I wish to +express especially my appreciation of the assistance which I have +received from Dr. L. S. Rowe, Mr. John M. Keith, Señor Luís Anderson, +Señor Manuel Aragón, Mr. Boaz Long, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Jones, General +Luís Mena, Mr. and Mrs. William Owen, Professor Philip M. Brown, Señor +Francisco Castro and Doña Fidelina de Castro, Dr. Escolástico Lara, Dr. +Juan B. Sacasa, Dr. Louis Schapiro, and General José María Moncada. +Without their assistance, it would have been impossible to secure the +information upon which this study is based.</p> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> +</div> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th class="tdr"> +CHAPTER</th><th></th> <th class="tdr page"> PAGE</th></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> +I. </td><td><span class="smcap">The Country and the People</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +II. </td><td><span class="smcap">Central American Political Institutions</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +III.</td><td><span class="smcap">Guatemala</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +IV. </td><td><span class="smcap">Nicaragua</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +V. </td><td><span class="smcap">Salvador</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +VI. </td><td><span class="smcap">Honduras</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +VII. </td><td><span class="smcap">Costa Rica</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +VIII. </td><td><span class="smcap">The Establishment of a Central American +Federation</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +IX. </td><td><span class="smcap">The Causes of Central American +Revolutions</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +X. </td><td><span class="smcap">The Washington Conference of 1907</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +XI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Intervention of the United States +in Nicaragua</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +XII. </td><td><span class="smcap">Commerce</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +XIII. </td><td><span class="smcap">Central American Public Finance</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tdr"> + +XIV. </td><td><span class="smcap">The Influence of the United States in +Central America</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"> + +<span class="smcap">Bibliography</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"> + +<span class="smcap">Index</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td></tr> +</table> +<p> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</span></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br><span class="small">THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE</span></h2></div> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Physical Features—Character of the Population—The +Land-owning and Laboring Classes: Their Mode of Life and +Personal Characteristics—Factors Which Have Retarded Economic +Development—Agricultural Products—Foreign Immigration and +Investments.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica, the five +Republics of Central America, occupy a narrow strip of land between +the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, extending East and South from Mexico +to the Isthmus of Panama. Although their combined area is smaller +than that of the state of California,<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> they comprise many regions +of strikingly different climatic conditions, for the mountains which +occupy the greater part of their territory cause variations in the +distribution of rainfall, and also provide plateaus and high valleys +where the tropical heat is less intense because of the altitude. Along +the shore of the Caribbean Sea there is a broad strip of country +but little above sea level. This has remained almost uninhabited +until recently because of its intense humidity and suffocating +temperature, but within the last twenty-five years it has become of +great economic importance, at least to the outside world, through its +exports of bananas. The lowlands extend inland to the Central American +<i>Cordillera</i>, a series of ranges which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> grow higher and higher as +they approach the Pacific Ocean, until they culminate in a great chain +of volcanic peaks which traverses the Isthmus from the Mexican boundary +to that of Panama. It is near these peaks, where the decomposed lava +from past eruptions has created a marvelously fertile soil, and where +the climate, with copious but not excessive rains during six months of +the year, is healthful and favorable to agriculture, that the great +majority of the people of Central America live. Almost all of the +more important cities and towns are situated either in the mountain +valleys, at an altitude of from two to seven thousand feet, where the +temperature rarely exceeds eighty degrees Fahrenheit, or in the hot, +but dry and therefore comparatively healthful plain between the base of +the volcanoes and the Pacific Ocean.</p> + +<p>Populous and partially civilized Indian communities had existed in this +part of America for centuries before the Spanish conquest, and their +descendants form the bulk of the population of the five republics. +Although the original inhabitants were almost exterminated in many +districts by the oppression and mistreatment of the early colonists, +enough remained to become the predominant racial element in the +conglomerate population, Spanish in language and religion but Indian +in civilization and standards of living, which arose from the fusion +of the invaders, the aborigines, and the negroes who were brought in +as slaves or escaped to the mainland from the West Indies. This was +especially true of the three central countries of the Isthmus, and the +development of these has therefore been somewhat different from that of +Costa Rica, where the white stock predominates even among the common +people, and from that of Guatemala, where the pure-blooded Indians are +still a distinct and separate race.</p> + +<p>Although the Central American countries are theoretically democracies, +there is in each a small, powerful upper class, consisting of +the so-called “principal families.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span> These are for the most part +descendants of the prominent creole<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> families of colonial days, and +are therefore in many cases of pure or almost pure Spanish descent. A +large proportion,—perhaps the majority,—however, have more or less +Indian and even negro blood in their veins. This class has been able +to maintain its dominant position in the community, partly because of +its command of the government, which it assumed when the republican +institutions which the Isthmian patriots attempted to introduce after +the declaration of independence were found to be unworkable because of +the ignorance of the mass of the people, but more especially because +of its control over agriculture. At the time of the conquest, the +land, like everything else in the invaded territory, was treated as +the property of the crown, and that in the neighborhood of the Spanish +settlements was divided among the colonists by the royal governors. +Further large allotments were made from time to time during the +colonial period. After the declaration of independence, the governments +of the several republics continued to regard as state property all +land not already specifically granted, and sold or gave away large +tracts of it to rich natives or foreigners, notwithstanding the fact +that much of the public domain was already occupied by peasants who +had always considered the patches which they cultivated as their own. +The number of large holdings has been further increased in some of the +republics by the division of the common lands formerly held by each +village among the village’s inhabitants; for the beneficiaries have +often sold their shares to their wealthier neighbors. At the present +time a comparatively small number of persons own a very large amount of +agricultural property, and employ the majority of the other inhabitants +of the Isthmus as workmen on their plantations. The economic and +political power of this class would manifestly be very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span> great even +if it were not supported by their prestige as the descendants of the +conquering race.</p> + +<p>Although their wealth is entirely agricultural, the “principal +families” invariably reside in the cities. They make frequent visits +to their plantations, which they intrust to the care of overseers, but +the majority of them show a marked aversion both to country life and +to rural pursuits. As a whole they are neither very enterprising nor +very energetic. Those who do not inherit a plantation which produces +an income sufficient to support them turn to one of the already +overcrowded learned professions rather than to the development of the +natural resources of their countries, in the exploitation of which +foreigners are daily making fortunes before their eyes. Nearly every +member of the upper class, moreover, is actively engaged in politics, +often to the exclusion or to the detriment of his other occupations.</p> + +<p>The wealthier families live in one or two story houses of adobe or +concrete, which cover a surprisingly large extent of ground but have +little pretension to architectural beauty or to comfort. These are +built around two, and often three, courtyards or <i>patios</i>. The +front <i>patio</i>, upon which open the <i>sala</i>, or parlor, and +the bedrooms, generally contains an attractive garden surrounded by an +open <i>corredor</i>, which serves as living room and dining room. At +the rear are the kitchen, stable, and servants’ quarters. The standard +of living, especially in the less advanced countries, is still rather +primitive. Furniture and food are of a very simple character, and the +servants, of whom each family employs a large number, are untrained +and inefficient. The band concerts three or four times a week, the +cinematographs, and occasional cheap operettas offer almost the only +opportunity for diversion, except on the very unusual occasions +when a government subsidy makes possible a short season of opera or +drama. Social events are comparatively few. In every city there are +two or three civic <i>fiestas</i> during<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span> the year, when the native +society abandons itself to a round of dancing, horse-racing, and other +gayeties, but at other times the capitals of the Isthmus are decidedly +dull. Life in them has, however, a peculiar charm for the foreigner, +because of the kindliness and friendliness of the people.</p> + +<p>Since the building of the railways and the increase of commerce have +brought the Central American countries into closer touch with the +outside world, there has been a great change in customs and ways of +living in such places as Guatemala, San Salvador, and San José de +Costa Rica. The high price of coffee during the last decade of the +nineteenth century brought about an era of prosperity such as the +rather backward communities of the Isthmus had never before known. +Elaborate private residences and costly public buildings were erected +in the national capitals, and pianos, window glass, modern furniture, +and other articles which had formerly been little used, were imported +from Europe in great quantities. After the reaction which set in when +the value of coffee in the world’s markets declined, the new standard +of living remained, and even the poorer members of the upper classes +now enjoy most of the comforts and many of the luxuries of modern +civilization. The tendency to adopt European and North American customs +is greatly furthered by the young people, who in increasing numbers are +sent abroad to school and college, for they return with new tastes and +new ways of thinking even when they do not acquire a great amount of +learning.</p> + +<p>Although the members of the upper class are for the most part +descendants of the <i>conquistadores</i>, social and political +prominence is today no longer entirely a matter of birth. The old +creole families formed a narrow and exclusive circle until the latter +part of the nineteenth century, but as a result of factional wars +among themselves and against other portions of the community,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span> they +have now become generally impoverished and almost exterminated. A new +element, recruited from the more intelligent and ambitious members of +the lower classes, has meanwhile achieved a large amount of political +power, and has perforce been admitted to a position almost of equality +with the old aristocracy. At the present time, humble birth in itself +is no obstacle to advancement, although educational opportunities are +so limited, and the part played by family influence and favoritism is +so great, that only the most capable and energetic boys from the lower +classes can hold their own with those to whom the accident of birth has +given powerful friends and greater opportunities for study.</p> + +<p>The half-breeds, known as <i>ladinos</i> or <i>mestizos</i>, occupy an +intermediate position between the white aristocracy and the great mass +of the laboring population, in which the Indian blood predominates. +For the most part these are artisans, or skilled laborers, in the +towns. They are generally clever workmen, enterprising and quick to +learn, but without the capacity to work steadily and diligently for any +one object. They occupy practically all of the positions which call +for manual dexterity or special training. Many become more prominent +than the persons of pure Spanish descent in the public schools and +universities, and not a few rise to high positions in the government or +in the learned professions.</p> + +<p>In each of the five republics there are some small farmers, who are +for the most part descendants of the early Spanish colonists. These +are the leading citizens of the smaller towns and villages. They do +not always have property of their own, but often cultivate fields +allotted to them by the municipalities of which they are citizens. +The new settlements which were founded from time to time during the +colonial period were given tracts of land, usually a league square, to +be used in common by their inhabitants, one part as pasture, another as +forest, and a third to be apportioned each year among<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span> the members of +the community. Similar grants were made to many of the Indian villages +and tribes, which in some cases received a title to much larger tracts +than their white neighbors. These common lands still exist in all of +the republics, but the number of villages which hold them has been +greatly reduced because some of the governments, as in Costa Rica and +Guatemala, have enacted laws dividing them among the inhabitants, +in the hope of stimulating private enterprise. The property thus +apportioned, as we have stated above, was frequently sold to the rich +planters, especially in the districts where the climate was suited +to the cultivation of coffee, and the former owners became part of +the class of landless laborers. Even where this has not occurred, the +smaller villages have in most places decayed because of the emigration +of their inhabitants to the cities and to the coffee-growing centers. +The small-scale agriculturist has ceased to be an economic factor of +importance, except in Costa Rica and in some parts of Salvador; and +today there are few places more lifeless and more depressing than the +once prosperous settlements in the more remote country districts.</p> + +<p>The household servants and the common laborers, who form the +poorest classes, are descendants of the native tribes whom the +<i>conquistadores</i> overcame and enslaved early in the sixteenth +century. The first settlers everywhere forced the Indians to work +for them, either by declaring them slaves, as a punishment for +rebellion, or by establishing the <i>encomienda</i> system, under +which influential Spaniards were intrusted with the religious +instruction of the inhabitants of certain villages, and in return for +the benefits thus conferred were allowed to demand a certain amount +of labor from their spiritual charges. These <i>encomiendas</i>, or +<i>repartimientos</i>, were the principal source of income among the +early colonists. The unfortunate aborigines were compelled to work in +mines or plantations or to bring in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span> tribute to their masters, and +they were treated with the most revolting cruelty when they failed +to do so. After the Spanish government became aware of the grave +abuses which the system involved, it ordered its suppression, but the +<i>encomiendas</i> were finally abolished only after a long struggle +with the colonists, who were secretly aided by the royal governors in +maintaining their privileges. The Indians never entirely regained their +economic independence, for their descendants, with the exception of a +few thousands who live an isolated, half-savage life in clearings in +the forest, are to the present day dependent upon employment on the +plantations of the white families.</p> + +<p>Whether in the cities or in the country, the laboring classes live in +one or two room huts of adobe or wood, with dirt floors and thatched +roofs. A crude table and two or three chairs, one or more beds of +rawhide or wood, and often a shrine, with a small image of the Virgin +or of some saint, comprise the entire furniture. The walls are +decorated with colored prints and advertisements, which are much prized +by those fortunate enough to secure them from some passing traveler +or from friends in the city. There is usually a loft in one end of +the hut, in which the stock of corn and beans, if there is any, and +a few of the more bulky family possessions are kept, while the small +tools and utensils and the contents of the larder are suspended from +the walls. Water, which is often brought by the women on their heads +from some little distance, is contained in large earthenware jars and +dipped out in gourds, which serve not only as cups but as washbasins. +Cooking is performed over an open fire on a brick platform, where there +is sometimes a primitive oven. The family livestock is represented by +a few pigs and chickens, which associate on friendly terms, inside and +outside of the house, with the lean dogs and naked children.</p> + +<p>Under such conditions, the Central American laborer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span> lives contentedly +and without worry, for he requires few clothes and but a small amount +of inexpensive food. Corn, prepared in the form of <i>tortillas</i>, +beans and rice cooked with lard, and coffee form the diet of the +average family day after day. Plantains are also eaten in great +quantities in some parts of the Isthmus, and eggs can frequently be +secured. Meat can be had only occasionally outside of the cities, and +vegetables, although easily grown, are little cultivated. The same is +true of the innumerable and delicious tropical fruits, which grow up +where accident dictates, without care or protection.</p> + +<p>Because of the primitive living conditions, there is a considerable +amount of disease and a high death rate, especially among the children. +Malarial fever and typhoid are common, and intestinal parasites are +omnipresent. The hookworm, especially, has done incalculable harm. +The eradication of this disease has recently been undertaken by +the governments of several of the five republics, with the aid of +the International Health Commission of the Rockefeller Foundation, +which has contributed large sums of money and lent trained men for +the prosecution of the work. The prevalence of the hookworm, which +perhaps contributes as much as any other factor to the poor physical +condition of most tropical races, is indicated by the fact that of +the persons examined by the representatives of the Commission in +1915, 60.1 per cent were found to be infected in Costa Rica, 58.6 per +cent in Guatemala, and 49.4 per cent in Nicaragua.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Notable results +have already been obtained, not only in curing sufferers, but in +educating the people and their governments to appreciate the need for +improvements in sanitation and the need for closer attention to the +public health in general. When the principles of hygiene are better +understood in the Isthmus, and when better systems of sewers and +water supply are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span> provided, the Central American cities should be as +healthful as any in the temperate zones, for their moderate climate and +the porousness of the volcanic soil upon which they are situated should +do much to prevent the diseases common in other parts of the tropics.</p> + +<p>In the country villages, life is extremely uneventful and deadening. +The women spend a large amount of time in visiting one another and +in attending church services or prayer meetings. The men work, where +there is work, on week days, and get drunk on <i>aguardiente</i>, or +sugar-cane rum, on Sunday. The fiestas and fairs, which are held at +least once a year in every village, are mainly an occasion for gambling +and debauchery, so far as the common people are concerned. There are +few other recreations. The monotony of such an existence, which leads +the rural laborers to embark on any adventure offering promise of +excitement and prospects for loot, is one of the factors which makes +it easy to raise a revolutionary army in many of the Central American +States.</p> + +<p>Except in Guatemala, where there exists a peonage system which will +be described later, the wages of the working man are not very low, +considering the fact that his services are of far less value to +the employer than would be those of one who was more energetic and +intelligent. They range in general from the equivalent of fifteen cents +United States currency a day with food and lodging to thirty, forty, or +even fifty cents a day without it, and in some places are still higher. +The workmen are neither conscientious nor physically strong, and the +amount which they accomplish in a day is small. On many plantations, +payment is made by the task, and the employees work intermittently, +frequently failing to appear for days at a time. This is in part due +to the prevalence of drunkenness and disease, and in part simply to +an indisposition to work more than is necessary to provide a bare +subsistence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> + +<p>There is little pretense of equality in the treatment by the government +of the upper and lower classes. The laborers and country people +are forced to bear the entire burden of the military service which +is theoretically required of all, and to perform work on the roads +and other public undertakings from which the wealthy families are +practically exempt; and they are everywhere taxed heavily, although by +indirect means, for the benefit of the professional politicians who +occupy posts in the government. The petty local officials exercise an +almost irresponsible authority over them, and frequently use their +power for their own personal advantage or for that of their friends. +The poor man enjoys little security in his personal or property rights, +and thus has little incentive to better his position.</p> + +<p>Education, however, has done much in the last twenty-five years to +improve the situation of the masses in the more advanced republics, +for the laboring man who learns to read and write has in his hands a +powerful weapon both for his own protection and for the advancement +of his political and economic interests. In Costa Rica, where public +schools have been established everywhere and the percentage of +illiteracy is comparatively insignificant, the peasants are assuming +a more influential place in the community. Salvador, Nicaragua, and +Honduras have been prevented by internal disorder and lack of resources +from raising their educational systems to the level of that of their +more tranquil neighbor, but their rulers have taken a very real +interest in popular instruction, and have made it possible for a very +large part of the people to acquire a knowledge of reading and writing. +In Guatemala alone the great majority of the inhabitants are at present +illiterate. This is not entirely the fault of the government, which +has instituted a large number of schools and has legislated for the +establishment of others by the owners of plantations, but is due rather +to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span> indifference of the Indians themselves, who as a rule do not +care even to learn to speak Spanish.</p> + +<p>Public and private morality have been rather disastrously affected by +the social conditions arising from the conquest of a half-civilized +race by adventurers who in too many cases belonged to the lowest and +worst classes in Spain. The Indians who continued to form the bulk of +the population were deprived of their own religious and moral customs, +and were given in their place a Christianity which was imposed upon +them by force, and of which, because of the cruelty and licentiousness +of their conquerors, they saw only the worst side. The oppression and +violence which characterized the communities of the Isthmus during +their early history long prevented their social life from acquiring +stability, and made brute force, rather than conscience or public +opinion, the ruling principle in private as well as in public affairs. +Even at present, in some of the five countries, political and social +conditions tend to militate against public spirit and altruism in +public life and personal honesty in private life. Social conditions +also leave much to be desired. With the men of the upper classes, ideas +of morality are generally rather loose, and it is not unusual to see a +respected citizen bringing up a number of children by other women side +by side with those of his lawful wife. The community not only does not +censure his careless observance of the marital tie, but even receives +the illegitimate offspring on practically the same footing as the +legitimate. With the half-breed laborers, marriage is an institution +which finds little favor, not, as is sometimes said, because of the +expense which the ceremony involves, but because both the men and the +women dislike the obligations and ties which a formal union creates, +and prefer a relation which, although generally fairly permanent, can +be broken off by either party at will.</p> + +<p>This low morality is to a very great extent due to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span> the lack of +religious restraints. At one time, the Catholic Church, to which all +of the people nominally belong, was very powerful throughout the +Isthmus, and the clergy and the numerous monasteries exercised a strong +social and political influence. A few years after the declaration +of independence, however, the Liberal leaders, who had been opposed +by the clerical party in their struggle to regain power during the +years 1826-29, expelled the archbishop and many of the other priests, +and suppressed all of the convents. The religious orders were never +revived, except in Guatemala after the Conservative victory of 1839. +There they continued to exercise a dominant influence until the +revolution of 1871, after which the government again suppressed them +and took radical measures to destroy the influence of the secular +clergy. In the other countries, the priests continued to play a small +part in politics, usually as the allies of the Conservative party, +but at present their influence can hardly be said to be important. In +spiritual as well as in temporal affairs the Church has now almost +entirely lost its hold on the people. Many of the women are still very +devout, but the men, especially among the upper classes, are for the +most part frankly irreligious. In the country districts, few of the +churches can support a priest, and religious observances are confined +to prayer meetings, led and participated in by the women, and to the +rather licentious celebration of holy days. Among the priests, many of +whom are foreigners, there are some who lead an irreproachable life, +but many others, especially in the poorer countries, do much to harm +the Church by their scandalous conduct. There are a few missionaries +from England and the United States, but Protestantism is so utterly +unsuited to the temperament of the people that they have made few +converts.</p> + +<p>The Central American has, nevertheless, many good qualities. He is +good-natured, affable, profoundly attached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> to his friends and the +members of his family, and deeply susceptible to lofty ideals and +patriotic impulses. In every city there are a number of men who are +distinguished for their personal integrity and their scrupulous +honesty, whose influence and example do much to offset the demoralizing +effects of conspicuous political corruption and commercial dishonesty. +Even among the most brutal and the most ignorant of the men who have +been in power in the various republics, there have been few who have +not done what they could, in spite of the difficulties presented by +armed opposition and administrative disorganization, to promote the +social and economic progress of their countries.</p> + +<p>The backwardness of the five republics is in large part due to the +isolation in which they were kept by Spain during the three centuries +of their existence as colonies. Their development was restricted +until the beginning of the nineteenth century by a misguided policy +which made progress almost impossible. Agriculture and industry were +hampered by burdensome regulations and taxes which not only prevented +the cultivation of many products for which the country was admirably +suited, but also made difficult, if not impossible, the exportation of +those which could be grown. The prohibition of commercial intercourse +with foreign countries and the restriction of that with Spain, combined +with other obstacles to transportation to and from Europe, practically +shut off Central America from the rest of the world during the entire +colonial period. Even the declaration of independence in 1821 made +little immediate change in this respect, for the new republics had +still no direct means of communication with Europe and North America. +They all faced the Pacific rather than the Atlantic Ocean. Guatemala +City, San Salvador, and the other capitals were not only nearer to the +West than to the East Coast, but they were separated from the latter by +mountainous country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> and pestiferous jungles through which traveling +was difficult and dangerous. It was not until the construction of the +Panama and Tehuantepec Railways brought the West Coast ports within +comparatively easy reach of the centers of the world’s trade that they +could export their products profitably. More recently the construction +of railways across Guatemala and Costa Rica has given those countries +an outlet upon the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>Even after the main obstacles to communication with the outside world +had been removed, the economic development of the five republics was +held back by internal conditions, for the political disturbances which +characterized their first half century under republican institutions, +and which are still prevalent in some of them, made large scale +agriculture difficult and unprofitable, and discouraged commerce. +The civil wars often drew the laborers away from the plantations at +the time when their services were most needed, and caused a periodic +destruction of property and a laying waste of planted fields. In +Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Salvador, where revolutions have been less +common during the last generation, the wealthier classes have become +very prosperous through the production and exportation of coffee, but +Honduras and Nicaragua, because of the almost continuous fighting +between rival factions, are today but little better off than in 1821.</p> + +<p>All of the five Central American countries are still purely +agricultural communities. Manufacturing has never advanced beyond the +point of providing a few primitive articles for home consumption, and +the native industries have declined since the increase of commercial +relations with the outside world has made it more profitable to import +many things, such as textiles, furniture, and leather goods, than to +make them with the crude tools of the local craftsman. There are a few +small factories in each city which produce <i>aguardiente</i>, cigars +and cigarettes, cloth, candles, and other articles, but in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> none of +them is there employed a great amount of capital or a great number of +laborers. The most important agricultural products, from the native +point of view, are the staple food crops, among which corn, which is +cultivated by every farmer in every part of the Isthmus, holds first +place. Beans, rice, sugar cane, and plantains are also found everywhere +where they will grow. Potatoes, cacao, and countless varieties of +fruits and vegetables from the temperate zone as well as from the +tropics are raised here and there in the climates suited to them, but +comparatively little interest is shown in their cultivation, and they +are surprisingly hard to obtain except in the markets of the larger +towns. Agricultural methods have changed little since the Spanish +conquest. Except in the most thickly settled regions, the old Indian +system of planting is still employed. A patch of forest is cleared +by cutting down the larger trees and burning off the undergrowth and +branches, and the seed is sown among the charred trunks in holes made +with a pointed stick. After being used for one year, the land is +planted with grass for pasture or allowed to return to its original +condition, and is not cultivated again for from three to five seasons. +In the regions where the density of the population makes it necessary +to plant the fields year after year, a crude form of wooden plow is +used, but fertilizers and modern agricultural implements are little +known. The <i>machete</i>, a long heavy knife which each laborer +carries at his belt, serves as axe, hoe, and trowel. The soil is so +rich, however, that it produces two and in some places even three crops +each season without apparently becoming impoverished.</p> + +<p>In Nicaragua and Honduras, and in the low country along the Pacific +Coast of the other republics, a large part of the land is devoted to +cattle <i>haciendas</i>. The stock as a rule is not of a very fine +type. Except on a few ranches no attempt has been made to improve +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> race of the herds by the importation of animals from abroad, and +the native stock seems to have degenerated somewhat as the result of +centuries of life in a hot climate. The cattle receive little attention +from their owners, and in some regions die by thousands in dry years +for lack of food and water. Practically all of the meat is consumed +in Central America, for the surplus product of Honduras and Nicaragua +is bought by their more densely populated neighbors. The hides and +horns are exported to the United States and Europe, but the occasional +attempts which have been made in recent years to do the same with a +few thousand head of live cattle have not been very successful. Dairy +products play but a small part in Central American domestic economy. +The native cows produce little milk, and the cheese which is made in +large quantities is commonly of a very inferior quality.</p> + +<p>Until several years after the declaration of independence practically +the only exports of Central America were the forest products of the +East Coast and small amounts of indigo, cochineal, and cacao from the +communities on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. The five republics had +very little commerce, and for this reason had little intercourse with +the outside world. This state of affairs was completely changed when +the coffee plant was introduced from the West Indies in the second +quarter of the last century. As the soil and climate on the slopes +of the volcanoes along the western coast were found to be admirably +suited to this valuable crop, and the product of Central America from +the first commanded a high price in the European markets, the number +of plantations increased rapidly, and the new industry soon became the +chief interest of the landed proprietors in Guatemala, Costa Rica, +and Salvador, and to a less extent in Nicaragua. The cultivation of +coffee was in fact carried to a point where it seriously affected the +production of the staple food crops, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> land formerly planted with +corn and beans was turned into <i>cafetales</i>, and the inhabitants of +the rural districts, who formerly raised enough food to supply their +own wants and to sell a small amount in the cities, were led by the +greater earnings or were forced by official pressure to become laborers +on the coffee plantations. Food prices have consequently risen, and it +has become necessary to import flour, rice, and sometimes even beans +and corn from other countries. When land has once been planted with +coffee trees, which require from three to five years to come into +bearing and thus represent a large amount of fixed capital, it is +difficult to return it to its original uses, or to release the laborers +from the plantation to engage in other occupations, even though in +eras of low coffee prices the production of other crops might be more +profitable.</p> + +<p>Coffee is most advantageously grown on a large scale, as its +preparation for the market requires the removal of the pulp of the +berry and of the two skins of the bean itself by rather expensive +and complicated machinery. The better plantations in Central America +produce from 200,000 to 1,000,000 pounds of cleaned coffee each +year,<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and have their own <i>beneficios</i>, or cleaning mills. The +farmers who operate on a smaller scale, or who for some reason have +not found it profitable to install a cleaning mill, send their coffee +to <i>beneficios</i> in important shipping centers, where the work is +performed at so much per bag. Before the war the greater part of the +product was exported to Germany, England, or France, but the partial +closing of the market in Europe has caused increasing amounts to be +sent to the United States since 1914.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>The rapid development of the export trade and the corresponding +increase in the imports of the five republics<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> would not have been +possible without the improvement in means of transportation which has +taken place during the last half century. There has been a remarkable +betterment, especially in the facilities for travel between Central +America and the United States. On the Atlantic side, the United +Fruit Company, and, in times of peace, the Hamburg-American line, as +well as a number of smaller companies, provide an ample freight and +passenger service between all of the important ports and New Orleans +and New York. From Puerto Barrios and Puerto Limon, the termini of +the transisthmian railroads, there are several boats each week. The +conditions on the West Coast are much less satisfactory, for the +Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which has almost a monopoly since the +German Cosmos Line was forced to withdraw by the war, provides a very +irregular and rather expensive service. Even there, however, conditions +are immeasurably better than at the time of the opening of the Panama +Railway in 1855.</p> + +<p>Internal communications have also been improved. Fifty years ago, +there were practically no railways in the entire Isthmus, but at the +present time each of the national capitals, except Tegucigalpa, is +connected with one or more seaports by daily train service. Other +forms of transportation and travel, however, are still in a rather +primitive state. Some of the republics have spent large amounts of +money in constructing roads for bringing the products of the country to +the cities or to the railway stations, but as a rule the impecunious +governments have not been able to make much headway against the +difficulties presented by the mountainous character of the country and +the torrential rains of the wet season. There are few highways which +are suitable for any vehicle more elaborate than the slow-going oxcart, +and in many places even these have to give way to the pack mule.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> + +<p>One of the forces which has been most potent in bringing Central +America into closer contact with the outside world has been the +cultivation of bananas by North American enterprise along the low, +densely wooded Atlantic Coast. Until recently almost the only +inhabitants of this region were scattered, uncivilized tribes descended +from Indians and runaway West Indian negroes, who lived in an extremely +primitive way in clearings along the shore or on the banks of the +rivers. There were one or two struggling ports and a few settlements +of woodcutters who traded in mahogany, logwood, and Spanish cedar, but +these had little intercourse with the civilized communities of the +interior. Within little more than a quarter century, this unpleasant +and unhealthful but marvelously fertile region has been transformed. +Great banana farms have been created in the formerly impassable jungle, +and a net of railways has been built to carry the perishable fruit to +the ports, from which it is shipped in fast steamers to the United +States and Europe. This is the work of one American corporation, the +United Fruit Company, which controls the banana trade not only of +Central America, but of the West Indies as well. As the plantations and +the transportation lines are managed principally by North Americans and +the manual labor is performed by negroes from the British West Indies, +English is the predominant language of the new towns which have sprung +up. To the native Central American, the Coast is almost a foreign +country. The Caribbean ports of Honduras and Nicaragua are in fact +for all practical purposes farther from Tegucigalpa and Managua than +from New Orleans, and even in those countries where there are better +means of transportation from the interior to the fruit ports the banana +country has developed in its own way, influenced little, economically +or politically, by the communities of the interior. The interior towns, +however, have been profoundly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> affected by the changes on the East +Coast. The fruit trade is mainly responsible for the improvement of the +steamship service; and in Guatemala and Costa Rica the railways built +originally for the transportation of bananas have been extended to the +capitals of the two republics, so that the journey from Europe and +North America to those cities, and through them to other parts of the +Isthmus, has been shortened by several days.</p> + +<p>In the interior of several of the republics, the last fifty years have +seen a considerable immigration of foreign business men and planters, +among whom Germans and North Americans have been the most numerous, +although there have also been many Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Italians. +The newcomers have obtained almost complete control over the foreign +trade of the Isthmus, and even the retail trade at the present time is +largely in the hands of Spanish, Chinese, and Armenian shopkeepers. +Mercantile pursuits were at one time one of the chief occupations +of the creole families, but most of the easy-going Central American +merchants, accustomed to the routine created by three centuries of +isolation, have been unable to hold their own under changed conditions. +The same is true, though to a less extent, in agriculture. Many of the +finest plantations were developed in the first place by foreigners, +and others are constantly passing into their hands. The majority of +those still belonging to natives are heavily mortgaged, for the Central +American planter apparently cannot resist the temptation to borrow +money, notwithstanding the high rates of interest and the ruinous +conditions on which he secures it. There are several European firms +whose business it is to make loans secured by plantations and crops. +These eventually take over the properties which fall under their +control, either reselling them or operating them on their own account.</p> + +<p>There are also several small and not very scrupulous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> banks, of which +the majority have been established, in part at least, with foreign +capital. In some of the republics these have co-operated effectively +with the officials in the disorganization of the currency and of the +government finances. Large investments have been made by North American +interests in railways and mines. The total amount of foreign capital +in the country is, however, comparatively small, because internal +disorders and the slowness with which the country has been opened up +have until lately discouraged investments. There is still an immense +field for foreign enterprise in the exploitation of Central America’s +natural resources, which include not only land suitable for the +production of almost every kind of agricultural product, but also great +forests of valuable woods and as yet untouched mineral deposits.</p> + +<p>In some respects, the relations between Central America and the outside +world have not been entirely beneficial to the communities of the +Isthmus. Many of the foreigners, especially among the Americans, have +been fugitives from justice in their own countries who have used their +talents to the disadvantage of the natives, or adventurers who have +mixed in the politics of the country for their own profit. Unscrupulous +corporations or individuals have exploited the inexperience or cupidity +of the local governments to obtain valuable concessions without +making any adequate return for the favors received, and have not even +hesitated to incite or to assist revolutions when they thought that +their interests would be furthered by doing so. Too many of the foreign +business men have done what they could to make worse the already +low standards of commercial morality and have shown themselves more +unprincipled than their native competitors. In spite of the distrust +generated by hard experiences, however, the Central Americans do not +seem to dislike the newcomers or greatly to resent their intrusion. +Many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> North Americans and Europeans have become respected and +influential residents of the communities in which they have settled, +and marriages between foreigners and natives of the better class, which +have been generally welcomed by the creole families, are gradually +giving rise to a half-foreign element which is becoming more and more +prominent in each of the five republics.</p> + +<p>Closer contact with the outside world has thus brought about entirely +new conditions throughout the Isthmus. What the final result of the +present changes will be, it is difficult to say. The native families +are now more and more losing their hold on the economic life of +the country, for commerce, banking, mining, and to an increasingly +greater extent agriculture, are controlled by foreigners. They are +therefore being forced into the learned professions, which afford a +very poor livelihood for any but the most able, and into politics. +Their influence is becoming less and less, and the time seems not far +distant when the dominant place in the community will be assumed by the +foreigners and their descendants, who will probably be assimilated to +a great extent into the native population. Some of the more energetic +and intelligent native families will doubtless be able to maintain +their present wealth and influence, although they will be forced to +change their customs and habits completely, as many of them are already +doing in the more advanced countries. Whether political and social +conditions will be improved or made worse by these developments it is +still too early to say, but it is inevitable that both the character of +the governments and the conditions of the people as a whole should be +profoundly affected.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The estimated area and population of the five countries, +as given in the Statesman’s Year Book for 1916, are:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th></th><th colspan="3"> <i>Area.</i> </th><th> <i>Population.</i></th></tr> +<tr><td>Guatemala </td><td class="tdr"> 48,290 </td><td class="tdc">square</td><td class="tdc"> miles. </td><td class="tdr"> 2,003,579. (1915)</td></tr> +<tr><td>El Salvador </td><td class="tdr"> 7,225 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 1,225,835. (1914)</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua </td><td class="tdr"> 49,200 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 703,540. (1914)</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras </td><td class="tdr"> 44,275 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 562,000. (1914)</td></tr> +<tr><td>Costa Rica </td><td class="tdr"> 23,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 420,179. (1915)</td></tr> +<tr class="bt"><td></td><td class="tdr"> 171,990 </td><td></td><td></td><td class="tdr"> 4,915,133</td></tr> +</table> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> The word creole is used in the Spanish-American sense, to +signify a person of Spanish descent born in America.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> These figures are compiled from the Second Annual Report +of the International Health Commission, 1915.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> In Guatemala there are three or four plantations which +produce much more than this.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> For a more complete account of the coffee trade, see +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Chapter XII</a>.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br><span class="small">CENTRAL AMERICAN POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Early Political History of the Isthmus—Difficulty of Establishing a +Stable Government—Annexation to Mexico—Establishment and Dissolution +of the Central American Federal Republic—Strife Between Liberals +and Conservatives—Description of Central American Governments at +Present—Importance of the President—Political Parties, Patronage, +and Graft—Revolutions.</p> +</div> + + +<p>On September 15, 1821, the principal civil and ecclesiastical +personages of Guatemala City, with many of the royal authorities +and the more prominent creoles, met in convention to proclaim the +independence of the five provinces of the Viceroyalty of Guatemala, +which had until that time been a dependency of the Spanish crown. The +existing administrative machinery was not for the moment abolished, +for many of the officials had approved of and had taken a prominent +part in the action of the separatist party. The Governor General, +Brigadier Gainza, continued to exercise the executive power, and the +local governors in Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were +instructed to do the same. In the capital, a committee of influential +natives, called the <i>Junta Consultiva</i>, was appointed to assist +the former royal authorities until a new form of government should be +decided upon. There was no armed resistance to this action on the part +of the mother country, for the latter, engaged in a prolonged struggle +with her more important colonies in the South, was in no position to +send troops to subjugate the inaccessible and relatively insignificant +communities of Central America.</p> + +<p>The prospect which confronted the provinces thus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> thrown upon their own +resources was far from bright. They were ill equipped for existence +as an independent nation. The creole aristocrats, who had led the +movement for separation from Spain, and who now assumed control of +the government, had had little training to fit them for the exercise +of their new responsibilities, for few had received more than the +most rudimentary education at home, and fewer still had traveled in +foreign countries. None had had any practical experience in political +affairs, for it had always been the policy of the royal authorities +to fill official positions exclusively with Peninsular Spaniards,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +thus excluding the natives of the colonies from all share in the +administration. There were a half-score of brilliant leaders in the +councils of the new nation, but they were notable rather for their +exalted but impractical ideals than for any grasp of the concrete +situation with which they had to deal at home. Their patriotism was of +a high order, but their statesmanship left much to be desired. Among +the common people, the great majority were ignorant and superstitious +Indians, with a small admixture of Spanish blood and a thin veneer +of Spanish civilization. They were scattered through a strip of land +eight hundred miles in length, in isolated valleys, separated from +one another by mountain ranges and pestilential jungles, where rough +mule trails afforded the only means of communication. Throughout the +greater part of the Isthmus, the people of each village, having little +commerce with their neighbors or with the outside world, depended for +subsistence almost entirely upon their own products. A few favored +sections produced indigo, cochineal, or precious metals for export, but +the expense of shipping these articles from the Pacific Coast to Spain, +the only country with which the colonists were allowed to trade, was so +great that the planters derived little profit from them. Standards of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> +living were therefore little higher, even in the cities, than they had +been three hundred years before.</p> + +<p>The Central American nation was divided within itself from the very +first. In Guatemala there was a bitter jealousy, created by the special +privileges and the pretensions of the more favored classes, between +the Peninsular officials and the creole great families on the one hand +and between the latter and the merchants and professional men of less +aristocratic origin on the other; and this feeling was intensified by +radical differences of opinion about religious and economic questions. +Besides the dissensions within the group which assumed the control of +political affairs in the capital, there were factional conflicts and +local civil wars in almost every part of the Isthmus. The provinces, +which had long felt that their interests were sacrificed by the royal +authorities to those of Guatemala, showed an inclination to dispute +the authority of the new central government, and their insubordination +was encouraged by the ambitious local governors, who desired to enjoy +independent authority, and by the not inconsiderable party which still +remained loyal to Spain. San Salvador, Comayagua, Leon, and Cartago, +the seats of the provincial governments, were soon the centers of more +or less open revolts against Gainza and the <i>Junta Consultiva</i>, +while other towns, actuated on their side by jealousy of the local +capitals, allied themselves to the party in control in Guatemala. +The result was a condition of anarchy which throttled agriculture +and commerce, and almost put an end to all semblance of organized +government.</p> + +<p>The inexperience of the creole leaders, and the conflicts between +jealous social classes and rival towns, were the more disastrous +because the Central American communities possessed no political +institutions which could be used as the basis for the establishment of +an independent government. In this respect they were in a situation +very different from that of the United States<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> in 1783, for in that +country the state and local organizations had remained almost unchanged +despite the revolution, and the creation of a new central authority +had been made comparatively easy by the inherent political capacity +derived from centuries of racial experience in self-government. In +Central America, the country had been ruled for three hundred years by +officials and laws imposed by an outside force, and when this force +was withdrawn the old order fell to pieces, leaving nothing to take +its place. The self-appointed revolutionary committees had little hold +on the loyalty of the people, and little power to make their commands +respected. The only political institution which may be said to have +survived the change was the municipality. Even in colonial times, +the wealthier creoles had been able to purchase positions in the +<i>ayuntamientos</i>, or governing boards of the cities, and had thus +had a voice in the management of certain purely local affairs. After +the declaration of independence, the <i>ayuntamientos</i> were in many +places almost the only respected authority, and they played a large +part both in maintaining order and in organizing the <i>juntas</i> +which took charge of provincial affairs. But they never formed a real +basis for the formation of state and national governments, because +their independence and authority, which had been small under Spanish +rule, was taken from them early in the revolutionary era by the +military despots who obtained control of affairs. Their prominence +during the transitional period after 1821 contributed little to the +establishment of orderly government, for they were the foci of the +local jealousies which did more than anything else to keep the country +in a state of anarchy.</p> + +<p>The organization of a permanent government, to take the place of +the provisional revolutionary committees, consequently presented a +difficult problem. There was from the first a strong party which +favored the establishment of a federal republic, but the majority of +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> wealthy classes, who had supported the declaration of independence +only because of their jealousy of the Peninsular Spaniards who +monopolized the official positions and because they realized that the +mother country was no longer in a position to protect her colonies from +outside aggression and internal disorder, doubted the ability of the +people of the Isthmus to rule themselves under republican institutions, +and advocated the union of the five provinces with Iturbide’s Mexican +empire. This party soon grew very strong as the result of disorders +which broke out in Honduras and Nicaragua, and on January 25, 1822, +the <i>Junta Consultiva</i> voted in favor of the annexation. General +Filísola, the representative of the Emperor, reached the capital a few +months later, and proceeded at once with an army against the people of +San Salvador, who had refused to recognize his authority. He had barely +overcome the resistance of the republicans there when news arrived that +Iturbide had fallen.</p> + +<p>Filísola, returning to the capital, called together a congress of +representatives from each of the five provinces, to which he turned +over his power. This body, assuming the title of National Constituent +Assembly, declared the former Central American colonies a federal +republic, and appointed a provisional executive committee of three +men, who exercised a precarious authority, subject to constant +interference by the Assembly, for two years. During this time, the +Assembly framed an elaborate constitution, modeled on that of the +United States, establishing a federal government in Guatemala City, +and state governments in each of the five provinces. A president and +five <i>Jefes de Estado</i>, chosen by the people through electoral +colleges, took the place of the Captain General and the royal +provincial governors, and the law-making power was placed in the hands +of a Congress of one chamber. The system of checks and balances in +the American constitution was taken over and made more intricate by +elaborate provisions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> for the maintenance of the independence of the +legislative, executive, and judicial departments and for the prevention +of abuses of power.</p> + +<p>The Assembly also adopted much progressive legislation, which did away +with many of the worst features of the Spanish regime. From the first, +however, its sessions were disturbed by irreconcilable differences of +opinion between the radical members, who were in the majority, and the +clergy and many of the rich landowners and merchants, who disapproved +of the proposed reforms. As a result of this conflict, two parties +were formed, which called themselves “Liberals” and “Conservatives.” +The Liberals controlled the first constitutional congress, which met +in 1825, and elected their candidate, Manuel José Arce, President +of the Republic. The latter, however, soon quarreled with his own +party, dissolved the congress, and even overthrew and reorganized the +state government of Guatemala, with the aid of the Conservatives. +These arbitrary acts caused revolts in many parts of the Isthmus, +and especially in Salvador. The people of that state had always been +peculiarly jealous of the control of their affairs from Guatemala, +and their hostility towards the capital had been increased by the +opposition of the federal authorities to the creation of a new diocese +in their territory. Under the leadership of Father Delgado, who aspired +to the bishopric, they united with the disaffected party in Honduras +and Guatemala in a two years’ war against Arce, and finally succeeded +in overthrowing him (1829).</p> + +<p>Francisco Morazán of Honduras, the leader of the victorious army, was +proclaimed President of the Federation in 1830. The Guatemala state +authorities who had been expelled by Arce were reinstated, and Liberal +supremacy was established by force of arms throughout the Isthmus. +There were frequent Conservative revolts, however, and even the people +of Salvador, who had played the principal part in Morazán’s triumph, +showed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> their former jealousy of domination from Guatemala by turning +against him. Their resistance was overcome by force in 1831, but it was +thought politic to transfer the seat of the federal government to San +Salvador. After this, Morazán’s prestige waned rapidly. His efforts +to repress disorder were unavailing, and the Conservatives gradually +regained control of many of the state governments. The last federal +congress, which adjourned in 1838, declared the states free to govern +themselves independently; and in 1839, when Morazán’s second term came +to an end, his authority was recognized nowhere outside of Salvador. He +was expelled from Central America in the following year by an army from +Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.</p> + +<p>The breakdown of the federal system was inevitable. Even those +responsible for the adoption of the constitution of the United States +as a model had little idea how that constitution really worked, and +had no conception of the spirit of compromise and of mutual respect +for legal rights which alone made the existence of a government such +as they wished to establish possible. Many of the state governors +refused to obey the federal officials, and were overthrown by the +latter and replaced by adherents of the faction in power in the +capital. The Congress, attempting to tie the hands of the executive, +was reduced to impotence by the use of the army. The President himself +succumbed before the end of his term to a revolution in which all of +the disaffected elements took part. Even a better organized government +would probably have been unable long to maintain order in a country +where distances were so great, means of communication so inadequate, +and sectional jealousies so intense as in Central America.</p> + +<p>Equally inevitable was the breakdown of the democratic institutions +which the leaders of the constituent assembly had sought to create. +The elections soon became a farce because of the ignorance and +indifference<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> of the great mass of the people. The history of the +Central Americans had never taught them respect for the will of the +majority, and there was consequently little inclination from the first +to accept an unsatisfactory verdict at the polls in good faith. The +authorities gradually learned to bring pressure to bear upon the voters +in the interests of the party in power, and as time went on assumed +a more and more complete control of the balloting, until candidates +opposed by the government ceased to have any chance of success. At +the same time the members of the opposition party were restrained or +expelled from the country, to prevent their intriguing or revolting +against the government. Within a few years authority established +and upheld by force was the only authority which was recognized or +respected, and there was no means of changing the officials in power, +and consequently no recourse against bad government, except revolution. +Civil war had thus become an indispensable part of the political system.</p> + +<p>For some years after 1839, there was intermittent internal and +international strife, with hardly an interval of real peace, in +nearly every state of the Isthmus. Costa Rica alone, because of her +peculiar social conditions, which will be described in a subsequent +chapter, led a comparatively tranquil existence in her isolated valley. +Elsewhere the establishment of stable governments seemed impossible. +Conflicting ambitions, mutual persecutions, and sectional jealousy, +as well as differences over religious and economic questions, divided +the political leaders of the community into vindictively hostile +factions, which had no means of settling their disputes except by an +appeal to arms. The state governments, resting upon the outcome of +revolutions, had little claim to legality or to the respect of the +community, and they were compelled to maintain their position, where +they maintained it at all, by force and by tyrannical repression of +attempts to overthrow them. Besides the opposition<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> of disaffected +classes at home, they faced also the constant danger of intervention by +neighboring state governments which were in the hands of the opposite +party, for the solidarity created by mutual action in federal affairs +led the Conservatives and Liberals in each state to assist their former +brothers in arms in other states even after all formal political +connection had been broken. This solidarity was strengthened by the +ambition of a large section of the Liberal party to re-establish the +old federal union by force, under the leadership of the followers +of Morazán, and by the opposition to this plan on the part of the +Conservatives.</p> + +<p>During the greater part of the period from 1839 to 1871, the +Conservatives, under the leadership of the aristocratic-clerical party +in Guatemala, were dominant throughout the Isthmus. The Liberals +secured control for short terms at different times in Salvador, +Honduras, and Nicaragua, but in almost every case they were overthrown +by the intervention of Rafael Carrera, the President of Guatemala. +These Conservative governments, although usually controlled by the +wealthiest and most respectable classes in the community, did little +to improve the desperate political and economic situation into which +the continual civil war had plunged the new republics, partly because +of frequent changes in the personnel of the governments and frequent +dissensions within the ruling class, and partly because of the inherent +weakness of administrations established and upheld by the force of a +foreign government.</p> + +<p>In 1871-72 the Liberals returned to power as the result of a concerted +movement in Guatemala, Honduras, and Salvador. This revolution effected +far more than a mere change of presidents; it marked the destruction of +the old aristocratic-clerical party as the dominant force in politics. +In Guatemala, where the Conservative leaders were exiled or imprisoned, +and both the great families and the Church were deprived of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> a great +part of their property and influence, the old regime has never been +restored. Its disappearance greatly weakened the position of its allies +in Honduras and Salvador. A very similar though almost bloodless +revolution occurred in Costa Rica in 1870, when General Tomás Guardia +overthrew the “principal families” which had hitherto controlled the +government. In Nicaragua, where party divisions were based rather on +local rivalries than on class distinctions, the change from the old +order to the new was neither so sudden nor so complete, and the Granada +aristocracy was able to maintain itself in power until 1893.</p> + +<p>The Conservative party continued, indeed, to exist as a political +force, but it was no longer a social group which stood for definite +principles and points of view so much as mere organization of +professional politicians. The influence of the great families became +less and less, and the leadership in the party was assumed by military +chiefs whose objects and ambitions were little different from those +of their opponents. Since 1871, party lines have tended to disappear, +and it has made little difference in political conditions whether an +administration was controlled by one faction or the other. In Honduras +and Salvador, in fact, even the party names have almost ceased to +be used, and in Nicaragua they denote merely the adherents of rival +cities. It is difficult to say how strong the old aristocracy still is +in Guatemala because of the ruthless suppression of all manifestations +of political opinion by the government.</p> + +<p>Since 1871, the republics of the Isthmus have been governed for the +most part by strong, absolute rulers, who have concentrated all power +in their own hands and who have on the whole been more successful in +maintaining order than the frequently changing and less centralized +administrations controlled by the Conservative oligarchy. Revolutions +and revolts still occur, but they are less often victorious than +formerly, for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> relative power of the government has greatly +increased. The agricultural development of recent years has made +the wealthy classes, who have capital invested in coffee and sugar +plantations, inclined to frown on attempts to plunge the country into +civil war; and the improvement and the increased cost of artillery +and other military material have made it more difficult to equip a +revolution strong enough to overcome the regular army. Individual +presidents, supported by strong military forces, have thus been able to +hold the supreme authority for long terms of years, and to establish +highly centralized, comparatively efficient administrations, which +have done much to encourage the development of the country. Whatever +may be the disadvantages of the exercise of irresponsible power by one +man, there can be no doubt that the Central American countries have +made more progress under governments of this kind than they did under +the constantly changing administrations of their early history, which +had neither the prestige nor the military power necessary to maintain +order. Until the other departments, and especially the legislatures, +had been reduced to subjection by the executive, the action of the +latter was often almost completely paralyzed, and more than one +president was forced to resign by petty disputes arising purely from +personal jealousy. Under such conditions it was of course impossible to +pursue any definite and coherent policy.</p> + +<p>The majority of the Central American governments at the present time +are republican only on paper, although the forms of the various +constitutions are still observed. Elections are held regularly in all +of the five republics, but they are controlled by the administration, +which almost invariably secures the triumph of the official ticket. +The extent to which this control is exercised varies with the +character and the strength of the President. In most cases, opposition +candidacies are simply not permitted, and anyone engaging in propaganda +unfavorable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span> to the government’s party is severely dealt with. At +other times, only known adherents of the President are allowed to cast +their votes, and the ballots, if necessary, are fraudulently counted. +Even in Costa Rica, where comparative freedom prevails, the citizens +are sometimes intimidated or coerced, and the authorities are able to +bring pressure to bear in many ways, by promises of favors or by petty +persecutions. Such practices are made easier by the fact that the +voting is open and public, as the Australian ballot is unknown. One +or two real elections, in which the government has not desired or has +not dared to impose its will on the country, have been held in each of +the five republics, but they have usually not been participated in by +a large part of the people outside of the cities, and they are looked +back upon for generations as events far out of the ordinary. As a rule +changes in the presidency come about only when the chief magistrate +voluntarily relinquishes his office to a member of his own party, or +when the opposition is victorious in a civil war.</p> + +<p>So long as he can maintain himself in office and suppress revolts +against his authority, a Central American president is an absolute +ruler, who dominates all other departments of the government. He +appoints and removes every administrative official, and through his +ministers directly supervises every branch of the public service. The +revenues are collected and expended under his orders with a more or +less perfunctory regard for the budget voted by the legislature, and +with little pretense of making an accounting for them. He not only +executes, but also makes and unmakes the laws, either through his +control of the Congress, or simply by executive decree. The army and +the police are under his absolute command. Even the courts usually +decide the more important cases which come before them in accordance +with his wishes. His power is curbed only by the fear of losing the +support of his followers or of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> being overthrown by a popular revolt, +and neither of these dangers is ordinarily very great so long as he +retains the loyalty of his friends by gifts of offices and money, and +prevents political agitation by an effective use of the army and police.</p> + +<p>The national legislatures, in spite of the constitutional provisions +aiming to make them independent and co-ordinate departments of the +government, have in practice little authority of their own. Except +in Nicaragua, where the bi-cameral system now prevails, each of +the republics has a Congress of one chamber. The members of these +are theoretically elected by the people for a term of two or four +years, but they are in reality chosen by the administration like +other officials, and are therefore little more than a mouthpiece of +the president. Any attempt on the part of the Congress to oppose +the wishes of the executive, in fact, is discouraged by the use of +force or by minor persecutions, such as the withholding of salaries +or the molestation of the delegates by the police. Not infrequently +differences of opinion arise in regard to matters of little +significance, but in matters of serious importance the Congress rarely +attempts to assert its own will.</p> + +<p>With the judicial department, the case is much the same. The Supreme +Court, elected for a fixed term either by the Congress or by the +people, usually appoints and removes all minor judges and judicial +employees. This system has worked well in Costa Rica, where the +tribunals are generally independent and honest, but in the other +republics political considerations are apt to play a large part +not only in the selection of judges but in the decision of cases. +The courts are subjected to much the same kind of pressure as the +legislature, and there are few of them which would dare to oppose +themselves to the expressed wishes of the president. They therefore do +little or nothing to protect private citizens against abuses of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> power +by the executive authorities or by the minor officials.</p> + +<p>The president is assisted by ministers whom he appoints and who are +responsible to him alone. The most important portfolios are those for +War, Public Works, Finance and Public Credit, and Government. The +minor departments—Justice, Public Instruction, Charities, etc.—are +generally placed in charge of subsecretaries. The heads of the +departments are rarely more than advisors and aids to the president, +who directs their policy and passes on practically all of their acts. +They have no independent authority, and as a rule no real influence +over the conduct of affairs when the chief executive is a man of strong +character.</p> + +<p>The local administration is under the direction of the Department +of Government, which has a representative subject to the orders of +the minister, and through him responsible to the president, in every +town and village throughout the country. Each republic is divided +into from seven to twenty-three departments, under governors who +are at the same time military commanders, “<i>jefes políticos y +comandantes de armas</i>.”<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> These officials, who are appointed +by the president, enforce the laws, collect the taxes, and control +the expenditure of government funds in their jurisdictions, and +for these purposes have under their orders practically all of the +subordinate national authorities. The departments are subdivided into +“municipalities”—districts which include a town or village with the +surrounding country—where the central authority is represented by a +minor official commonly called <i>comandante</i>,<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> who commands a +few soldiers and is intrusted with the duty of maintaining order and +enforcing the laws. These departmental<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> and local authorities are too +frequently petty tyrants, who show little respect for the private +rights or the property of the inhabitants of the districts under their +jurisdiction. As they are subject to little real restraint in their +own sphere of action, they are able to exploit the people of the lower +classes practically as they please, and even persons of wealth and +social position are not free from their persecutions unless they can +protect themselves by the exercise of political influence. Redress +against abuses of power is difficult to secure, because the courts +usually cannot or dare not interfere, and the higher authorities, more +concerned with the loyalty than with the official virtue of their +subordinates, take little interest in protecting the rights of common +citizens.</p> + +<p>In each municipal district, there is a local government, or +<i>municipalidad</i>, consisting of one or more <i>alcaldes</i>, or +executive officers, and a board of <i>regidores</i>, or aldermen. +This body, which has wide jurisdiction over matters of purely local +interest, such as the repairing and lighting of streets, the building +of roads and bridges, and the enforcement of sanitary regulations, is +elected by popular vote and is theoretically independent of the local +representatives of the department of government. In practice, however, +the latter dominate its actions, and prevent the <i>alcaldes</i> from +carrying out any action of which they do not approve. The members of +the <i>municipalidad</i> themselves, moreover, are in most places +nominated by the central government, which controls their election +as it does that of other officials. In any event they are prevented +from playing a very prominent part in the promotion of local interests +by the lack of funds. Their revenues, which are derived mainly from +taxes on business establishments and fees for water and other public +services, rarely suffice to carry out any very important improvements, +and their credit is very poor. As a result, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> central government is +forced to construct and administer all of the more expensive public +works, and to exercise many of the other functions which are assigned +to the local boards by law.</p> + +<p>It can be readily seen that in a political organization such as has +just been described the character of the administration will depend +almost entirely upon the capacity and disposition of the man at its +head. An able president, in a Caribbean Republic, exercises an absolute +power for which it would be difficult to find a parallel anywhere +in the civilized world.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> He is not restrained, like the absolute +monarchs of Europe and Asia, by dynastic traditions or religious +considerations, and he has little need to consider public opinion so +long as he retains the good will of the army and of the office holders +who owe their positions to him. He can often re-elect himself for term +after term, and he is responsible to no one for the exercise of his +authority or for his management of the public revenues. The country is +so small that he can, and does, extend his control to matters of minor +and purely local importance, even interfering with his fellow-citizens’ +personal affairs and family relations, without regard for the most +sacred rights of the individual. It is in his power to exile, imprison, +or put to death his enemies, and to confiscate their property, while at +the same time he can enrich and advance his friends. The ever-present +possibility of revolution, it is true, prevents too great an abuse of +power in some of the more enlightened republics, but in the others +centuries of misgovernment and of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> oppression of one class by +another have done away with respect for individual rights to such +an extent that the cruelest and most arbitrary rulers are tolerated +because the people feel that they would only risk their lives and +property, without improving their condition, by revolt.</p> + +<p>Only an exceptionally able man, however, can exercise such despotic +power for a long period. A chief executive of less force of character +will generally find it impossible to maintain his position or will +be dominated by his political associates. Often a military leader or +a powerful minister is the real ruler. It is frequently said that a +strong, autocratic government is that which is best suited to the +peculiar conditions of tropical America, because it affords the +greatest security to agriculture and commerce and the best protection +to foreign investments. Many Central American presidents, however, +inspired by patriotism and by republican ideals, have refused to +exercise dictatorial powers, allowing the other departments of the +government a measure of independence, and relinquishing their offices +to a more or less freely elected successor at the end of their legal +term. These have not always been so successful in maintaining order +and in carrying out public improvements as their less scrupulous +contemporaries, because they have been unable to act with the same +decisiveness and effectiveness which are possible where all authority +is concentrated in the hands of one man; but such administrations at +least provide an opportunity for the people to gain some experience in +self-government, and make for a more healthy national political life +than can be found where the expression of opinion in the press and even +in conversation is curbed by a military despotism. When a long-standing +and strongly established dictatorship breaks down, moreover, there is +too frequently a period of disorder which destroys all of the advances +made during years of peace. The entire organization of the government, +built around one commanding figure, goes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> to pieces when the leader, +either through death or incapacity, is compelled to relax his hold; and +it is very rarely that a new man is at once found who is capable of +keeping the administrative machine together. In those countries, such +as Costa Rica, where the presidency is a position of less influence +and profit, and where the custom of rotation in office prevails, it is +comparatively easy to settle the question of the succession peaceably, +in accordance with the law or by an agreement between the political +leaders; but where all parties have been subjected for years to the +autocratic rule of one man, and compelled humbly to obey his commands, +none of the factional chiefs can tolerate the thought that a personal +rival may succeed to the same position. For this reason, the fall of +a Central American dictator is generally followed by a more or less +prolonged civil war, which only ends when one group of men succeed in +imposing their will upon the others.</p> + +<p>It would be impossible for a single individual, who can rely neither +upon the loyalty due to an hereditary sovereign nor upon the prestige +enjoyed by a chief magistrate chosen by a majority of the people, to +impose his absolute authority upon the whole nation, were it not for +the peculiar political conditions existing in Central America. In +all of the five republics, the common people show little hostility +to despotism as such and little disposition to attempt to influence +the selection or to guide the policy of their rulers. Neither the +illiterate and oppressed Indian <i>mozo</i> of Guatemala nor the +prosperous and conservative <i>concho</i> of Costa Rica has any real +conception of the meaning or of the possibilities of democratic +institutions, and both are willing to leave the conduct of political +affairs to their superiors. For them, the government, with the forced +military service and the compulsory labor on public works which it +demands, is simply a necessary evil, and attempts to change its +personnel by civil war arouse more dismay than enthusiasm.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> Few among +the lower classes enter into revolutionary uprisings voluntarily. The +upper classes, on the other hand, are interested in politics not so +much for the sake of principles or policies, as because they wish to +secure a share of the offices and spoils which provide many of them +with a comfortable living at the expense of the rest of the community. +There are among them many professional politicians and military leaders +who have no other lucrative occupation, and the number of these has +been swelled considerably in recent years by the fact that the commerce +and to a less extent the large scale agriculture of the five republics +have fallen under the control of foreigners, leaving many formerly +wealthy native families impoverished. By the use of offices and money, +therefore, the government can always secure adherents and build up a +strong following, the members of which are deeply interested in its +remaining in power because their positions depend upon it. It is upon +a political organization of this kind, and upon the army, that the +president must rely for holding in subjection his personal enemies and +the mass of the ignorant and indifferent common people.</p> + +<p>The military force is the chief support of the government. The highest +officers in this are usually influential and trusted members of the +president’s party, for the very existence of the administration +depends upon their loyalty. The standing army itself is composed of a +few thousands of ragged, barefooted conscripts of the most ignorant +type, commanded by professional soldiers of little education or social +position, who have in many cases risen from the ranks themselves. +Theoretically every male citizen is liable to military service, but +in practice all but the poorest classes secure exemption in one way +or another. There is little fairness or system in recruiting. When +additional soldiers are needed, the required number of peasants or +laborers are simply seized, taken to the <i>cuartels</i>, and forced +to enlist for a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> longer or shorter period, whether they have already +performed their legal service or not. When news is received that troops +are being raised in a given vicinity, every able-bodied man goes into +hiding; and in certain capitals, one frequently sees small parties of +“volunteers,” bound with rope and under a heavy guard, being brought in +from the country to augment the garrison. Since soldiers of this type +think little for themselves, and follow blindly the commands of their +leaders, it is the latter who really control the army. In spite of +the immense power which they might exert, however, these officers are +usually merely the tools of the civilian politicians, who secure their +support by giving them money and conferring military honors upon them. +Although each republic has been governed at times during its history +by men who were professional soldiers, the number of real military +dictators has been surprisingly small.</p> + +<p>Although the great historic political parties have disintegrated, +and in some states have disappeared altogether, there is always a +more or less open and organized opposition to the government, made up +of the rivals of the men in power and of the discontented elements +which have not received their share of the offices and spoils. These +factions, in the main, simply represent personal and local jealousies +and ambitions. Their members are held together by ties of blood and of +friendship, always potent in a Latin American country, but especially +so in these little republics, whose people have until recently had +comparatively little intercourse with the outside world and have become +closely related by continual intermarriage. Enmities between prominent +families become especially bitter in such communities, as does also +the jealousy between different towns and villages, which, though but a +few miles apart, have little commercial or social intercourse with one +another. Questions of national policy, and plans for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> the development +of the national resources play a small part in political contests. The +prominent leaders are not so much the representatives of theories or +tendencies as men who have won the confidence and loyalty of the people +of their towns and villages, or who are the heads of powerful family +connections, and the intrigues and the struggles for power between such +men and their followings are the principal motive of the civil wars +which are still so frequent in many of the five republics. The factions +which dispute the control of the government in the four northern +republics still call themselves Liberals and Conservatives, but there +is at the present time little difference in their policies or in the +character of their membership. They are in reality mere combinations +between the ambitious leaders of smaller groups, each of whom is +striving to advance his own fortunes and those of his friends.</p> + +<p>The animosities created by former civil wars, however, as well as the +bitterness of the struggles for office at the present time, still +make the feeling between the different factions very intense. In some +of the republics, each group of men which has secured control of the +government has endeavored to consolidate its power, and to avenge +its members for past injuries at the hands of the party which it has +overthrown, by severe and often utterly unjustifiable treatment of +its defeated enemies. The latter are frequently reduced to a point +where they find life in their own country almost intolerable. The +more influential leaders of the opposition are exiled or imprisoned, +and sometimes deprived of their property by confiscation or forced +loans, and the rank and file of the party are subjected to all of +the persecutions which the greed or the vindictiveness of the new +authorities may suggest. Many of the measures taken are really +necessary, especially when there is danger of a counter revolution; but +they do much to keep alive a bitter personal hatred between the rival +groups of politicians.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> Within the last few years, the realization of +this fact has led the governments of many of the republics to adopt +a more humane and civilized policy, but the customs formed during a +century of civil war have made the execution of such a policy very +difficult.</p> + +<p>The fact that the control of the government is seized and held by each +succeeding administration by force naturally inclines the victorious +party to treat it as the spoils of war. A sweeping change of employees, +from cabinet ministers to janitors, takes place upon the accession +of each new president, and causes a demoralization of the public +service which can easily be imagined. Not only are inexperienced and +inefficient men given official positions, but the pay roll is loaded +down with salaries to useless or purely ornamental functionaries, +appointed as a reward for political services. The schools and certain +other governmental activities, such as the telegraphs, are to a +slight extent saved from the general disorganization by the fact that +the small salaries paid and the special abilities required in them +make the positions unattractive to the sinecure-hunting professional +politicians; but even in these, the experienced and faithful employee +has no chance against the man who has powerful friends.</p> + +<p>Favoritism in appointments is not, however, so grave an evil as the +graft which is more or less prevalent in the governments of all of the +five republics. This corruption is due partly to the tendency to regard +official positions as the fruits of a temporary victory, from which +as much profit as possible is to be secured while the domination of +the party in power lasts, and partly to the fact that it is impossible +for many of the employees to live on their ridiculously inadequate +and often irregularly paid salaries. In some of the countries, where +there have been long periods of despotic government by one man, who +has subordinated every other consideration to the maintenance of his +personal following and the consolidation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> of his power, conditions are +almost incredibly bad. From the postal clerk who steals illustrated +reviews out of the mail boxes, to the high official who mysteriously +becomes the owner of large amounts of property during his tenure of +office, the servants of the nation rob their fellow-citizens by an +infinite variety of methods. The President and the ministers derive +profits from the granting of concessions and contracts; the local +officials exact tribute from those who depend on them for protection; +and every other employee who has regulations to enforce or favors to +dispense endeavors to secure small sums from those who are affected by +his performance of his duties. Under these military dictatorships, the +irresponsible authority enjoyed by the officials, and their continual +abuse of their position, result eventually in a deplorable vitiation +of political ideals and official morality among the members of all +parties, for the opponents of such an administration, on coming into +power in their turn, are too often unable to resist the temptation to +follow the example of their predecessors, and to avenge and indemnify +themselves for their sufferings at the hands of their enemies.</p> + +<p>The most harmful corruption is that which exists in the courts. +Cases are too often decided with regard only to the influence of +the persons involved or to the inducements which they hold out, and +political considerations play a very large part wherever they arise. +In some countries, in fact, the President has often intervened openly +in judicial questions, forcing the magistrates to decide them as he +desired. Where the evidence makes impossible or ridiculous the verdict +which the court would like to render, cases are very likely to be held +up indefinitely by the loss of necessary documents, or the decision is +purposely made invalid by allowing technical defects in the procedure. +A magistrate who attempts to perform his work conscientiously +frequently has his decisions reversed by the upper courts or left<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> +unexecuted by administrative officials, and is himself not unlikely to +be deprived of his position.</p> + +<p>Such corruption, however, has reached its extreme development only in a +few cases, where particularly unscrupulous men have obtained absolute +control of the government. In the majority of the five republics, +graft flourishes to an alarming extent, but is neither so universal +nor so disastrous to the public morals. Ideas of official virtue are +rather lax among most of the professional politicians, but there are +nevertheless comparatively few who do not show a sincere desire to +carry out the duties of their offices faithfully and efficiently, even +though profiting at the same time from their position in ways which an +Anglo-Saxon official would consider illegitimate. In Costa Rica, as +we shall see, the employees of the government receive fairly adequate +salaries, which under normal conditions are regularly paid, and, in +consequence perhaps of this fact, perform their duties as honestly +and efficiently as the officials of the average North American state. +In each of the other governments, there are officials whose integrity +is above suspicion. These, however, are the exception rather than the +rule, and graft will apparently always be one of the most salient +characteristics of Central American administration so long as the moral +standards and political conditions of the Isthmus remain what they are.</p> + +<p>The execution of the criminal laws is usually lax and sometimes +corrupt. The members of the upper classes can generally evade +punishment, or at least escape with light penalties, even when +they have committed a serious offense, provided the offense be not +political. There is none of the five countries in which atrocious +murders have not been committed with impunity, and frauds of a +disgraceful character carried out without fear of justice, by persons +of social prominence, within very recent years. Where the lower classes +are involved, the laws are enforced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> rather more severely, but in an +irregular manner, and criminals frequently escape punishment through +the venality or the carelessness of the courts or of their jailers, +when there are no special circumstances to make the government anxious +to hold them. Those who are convicted and sentenced are usually +employed under a heavy guard on public works, and receive in return +for their labor a small amount of money with which they can buy food. +The death penalty is very rarely enforced for any non-political crime, +although it is said that it is the custom of the military officials in +some of the countries to shoot suspects at the time of their arrest, in +order to avoid the trouble and expense of trying them. Notwithstanding +the inactivity of the officials, however, there is not a large amount +of brigandage in Central America, and deeds of personal violence, if +we except the bloody encounters which occur every Sunday under the +influence of <i>aguardiente</i>, are comparatively few. The people seem +to be peaceable and law-abiding by nature, even in places where there +is no organized force to hold criminals in check.</p> + +<p>The worst features of the Central American governments are due chiefly +to the fact that the officials are subject to so little control by +public opinion. Those who benefit by the acts of the administration +support it whatever its defects, while those who do not, oppose it +regardless of its merits. The sentiment of the ruling class as a +whole may influence the government in non-political matters, but in +taking measures to strengthen their own position the president and his +advisors are rarely deterred by considerations of legality, popularity, +or morality. An administration does not weaken itself so much by the +violation of rights guaranteed by the constitution as by failing to +provide offices and other rewards for its own supporters. The press, as +a means for shaping public opinion, has little political importance, +for even in those countries where it is not subject to a close<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> +censorship, the majority of the newspapers are too partisan or too +venal to command general respect.</p> + +<p>The only remedy against bad government is revolution. This, +unfortunately, almost invariably proves worse than the evil which it +seeks to cure. The civil wars of the last ninety-six years have wrought +incalculable harm in all of the five republics except Costa Rica, not +only by the destruction of lives and property, but by making force the +only basis of authority, and by placing men of military ability rather +than constructive statesmen in positions of power. The numerous Central +American patriots who have worked with all their will and energy for +the establishment of efficient administration and the economic progress +of their countries have found their efforts nullified by the continual +disorder which has made peaceful evolution impossible. Time after time, +by an outbreak of civil war, all classes of the population have been +forced to suspend their regular occupations, and crops, livestock, and +other property have been carried off for provisions or for loot. Under +such conditions there is little incentive for the natives to develop +their agricultural properties or for foreigners to invest money in +railways or in mines. The resources and energies of the governments, +wasted in maintaining their military supremacy over their enemies, +have not been available for the construction of the much needed roads +and railways or for the execution of the sanitary measures which are +all but indispensable in a tropical country. As the result of these +conditions some of the republics of the Isthmus have made little +progress since their declaration of independence, although those which +have enjoyed comparative peace have advanced rapidly in prosperity and +civilization. The first requisite for the improvement of the economic +and political conditions of Central America is the substitution of some +peaceful means of changing the personnel of the governments for the +costly and destructive method of revolution.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> By Peninsular Spaniard is meant a native of European +Spain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> In Costa Rica, the departments are called provinces, and +their administrative heads, <i>gobernadores</i>.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> This is not the official designation, which differs from +country to country. In Guatemala, they are called <i>comisionado +político y comandante militar</i>, in Nicaragua, <i>agente de +policía</i>, in Costa Rica, <i>jefe político</i>, etc.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> It should be stated that the description of Central +American governments in this chapter does not apply in all its details +to Costa Rica. In that country, although the written constitution and +the framework of the government are the same as in the other countries, +political conditions are, in fact, very different. The President comes +into office, in most cases at least, by a free election rather than a +revolution, and exercises a far less absolute power than elsewhere on +the Isthmus. The peculiar conditions existing in Costa Rica will be +described in a subsequent chapter.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br><span class="small">GUATEMALA</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Political History—The Government—The Indian Population—The Contract +Labor System—Production of Coffee and Other Crops on the South +Coast—Means of Transportation—Outlying Sections of the Country.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Guatemala is the most important of the five Central American republics. +Her two millions of people form about forty per cent of the entire +population of the Isthmus, and her commerce is greater than that of any +of the other four countries. Although in many respects less advanced +than Costa Rica and Salvador, her wealth and her strongly organized +government, supported by a formidable army, have always enabled her +rulers to play the leading part in the international politics of the +Isthmus, and even to exert a decisive influence in the internal affairs +of her neighbors.</p> + +<p>The people of the Republic live for the most part on the plateaus along +the Pacific Coast, not far from a chain of lofty volcanic peaks which +fringe the interior tableland on the south, and on their farther side +slope abruptly down to the low coastal plain. Of the many populous +towns in this region, by far the greater number were prosperous +and rather highly civilized communities centuries before Columbus +discovered America. They are still inhabited mainly by Indians, +although in each place there is now an upper class of white merchants, +planters, and professional men.</p> + +<p>For several years after the declaration of independence, the history +of Guatemala, as we have seen, was closely connected with that of the +federal government. The Liberal state administration, which Morazán had +installed, maintained itself in office until 1838. It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> overthrown +by a revolt among the bigoted and ignorant <i>ladinos</i> east of the +capital, who were persuaded by the priests that an outbreak of cholera +in the preceding year was due to the poisoning of the rivers by the +authorities. The Liberals retired to the western city of Quezaltenango, +where they attempted to set up an independent state, but they were +completely defeated by the Conservative army in 1840. Rafael Carrera, +a half-breed peasant who had led the popular uprising, was for a +generation the most powerful personage of Central America. Becoming +president in 1844, he retained this office during the greater part of +the period from then until his death in 1865, although the difficulties +arising from renewed Liberal revolts caused him to resign twice for +short intervals. In 1854, he was made president for life. Carrera was +an absolute despot, fond of the trappings of supreme power, but in +political matters somewhat subject to the control of the leaders of the +Conservative party and the ecclesiastical authorities. The policy of +his government was therefore shaped by the great families and by the +Church, and the more liberal and progressive elements in the community +were not allowed to express their opinions or to take part in public +affairs.</p> + +<p>One of the early acts of the Conservative administration was the +repudiation of the federal union. The wealthy classes of the capital +had suffered so much from the disturbances attending that ill-starred +experiment, and had been put to so much expense in organizing +expeditions to uphold the authority of the federation in the other +states and in defending the central authorities against attacks from +outside, that it is not surprising that they preferred to sever all +connection with their turbulent neighbors. During their entire tenure +of power, it was their policy to discourage the restoration of the +union, not only by refusing to accede to any proposals tending to this +end, but also by intervening by intrigue and even by force in the +internal affairs of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> their neighbors when the plans of the unionist +party could not be frustrated in any other way.</p> + +<p>After the death of Carrera, and during the administration of Vicente +Cerna, his successor, the Liberals renewed their activities in +opposition to the government, and finally succeeded in 1871 in +overthrowing it by revolution. The first president under the new regime +was Miguel García Granados. He was succeeded in 1873 by the real leader +of the party, General Justo Rufino Barrios, under whose masterful +leadership the Conservatives were completely crushed. The religious +orders, which had been very powerful, were expelled from the country +and deprived of their property, and a similar fate overtook the heads +of the old aristocratic families. Liberal reforms of all kinds were +introduced in theory if not always in practice, and provision was made +for the building of railways, the encouragement of agriculture, and the +establishment of schools. Barrios’ great ambition was the restoration +of the Central American union, but his efforts to secure the +co-operation of the other governments of the Isthmus for this purpose +met with little success. It was in an attempt to accomplish this object +by force that he met his death, for he was killed in a battle against +the army of Salvador in 1885.</p> + +<p>Manuel Lisandro Barillas, one of the <i>designados</i>, or +vice-presidents, succeeded Barrios and held office until 1892. At the +expiration of his term, not having the strength nor the desire to +remain in power, Barillas held the only comparatively free election +in the history of the Republic, and José María Reyna Barrios, a young +nephew of the great Liberal leader, became President. Although capable +and energetic, this ruler was so extravagant in his expenditure +of the public revenues that his death by assassination in 1898 +left the Republic in a very serious financial condition. This was +intensified by the political difficulties which confronted the first +<i>designado</i>, Manuel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> Estrada Cabrera, when the latter took control +of the administration. After a few months of tension, however, the new +chief executive succeeded in establishing the legal authority and in +overcoming some of the problems confronting the national treasury. He +is still at the head of the state, after nineteen years of service.</p> + +<p>The dense ignorance and the oppressed condition of the masses of the +people, combined with the bitter factional strife among the upper +classes, where party hatred has probably been stronger than in any +of the other Central American countries, have caused the government +of Guatemala to became a military despotism, more absolute than +any other on the Isthmus. The administration firmly maintains its +authority by means of a large standing army and police force, and +promptly and mercilessly checks the slightest manifestation of popular +dissatisfaction. An elaborate secret service attempts, with a large +measure of success, to inform itself fully of everything which occurs +in the Republic. Supposed enemies of the party in power are closely +watched, through their neighbors, their servants, and even through +the members of their own families, and foreigners coming to the +country often find themselves shadowed until the details of their +business are discovered. It is dangerous to express an opinion on +political matters even in private conversation. Much of the mail, +and especially that coming from abroad, is opened and read in the +post office. The formation of social clubs is discouraged because of +possible political results, and it is impossible for a man prominent +in official circles to have many friends without arousing distrust. +Persons who fall under suspicion are imprisoned or restricted in their +liberty, or even mysteriously disappear. The ruthless execution of +large numbers of persons, many of whom were probably innocent, have +followed attempts to revolt or to assassinate the President. This +reign of terror is approved by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> many influential natives and by the +majority of the foreigners in the country on the ground that only a +very strong government can prevent revolution and maintain order; and +there is no doubt that the life and property of foreigners, at least, +has been safer in Guatemala than in some of the other Central American +countries. The omnipresent spy system, however, and the cruel treatment +meted out to those who incur the displeasure of the authorities, have +created an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and fear, especially in the +capital, which has noticeably sapped the spirit and the self-respect of +the people. Patriotism and national pride have to a great extent been +destroyed by the ban on the discussion of important national questions, +and the country has thus probably become less rather than more fit for +self-government during the last two decades.</p> + +<p>Although the presidents, almost without exception, have shown great +force of character and marked administrative ability, the subordinate +officials are very frequently inefficient and corrupt. Official +morality seems to be growing worse rather than better, apparently +as a direct result of the depreciation of the currency, which has +not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in salaries. The +highest employees, such as the ministers and the judges of the Supreme +Court, receive the equivalent of about fifty dollars a month, and the +remuneration of minor functionaries varies from one dollar to twenty +dollars. Posts in the government, consequently, have little attraction +except for those who desire them because of the opportunities which +they afford for graft, and respectable persons, who are often appointed +to professorships in the schools or to other positions requiring +special knowledge and experience, accept only because they are +practically compelled to. The great majority of the administrative and +judicial officials are men of a rather low type, and bribery, theft, +and oppression are consequently very prevalent. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> fact that the +superior authorities do not punish or discourage even the most flagrant +corruption gives rise to the suspicion that they are willing to have +their subordinates recompense themselves in this way, in order not to +be forced to pay them salaries out of the national treasury adequate +for their support.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the corruption in the government and the exploitation +of the people for the benefit of the official class, there is at least +a pretense of public-spirited administration. Humanitarian laws are +put on the statute books and praised in the newspapers; the cities are +beautified by laying out parks and erecting monuments; magnificent +buildings for schools, hospitals, and other public institutions +are constructed; and the progressiveness and benevolence of the +administration are heralded by subsidized writers, not only in Central +America, but even in the United States and Europe. The motives of the +government are no doubt praiseworthy, but the actual good accomplished +has not been great. The execution of the reforms has been left to +officials who had no understanding of their spirit and who were in +many cases deterred by their own interests from carrying out their +provisions; and the schools and other public institutions have never +been properly equipped or provided with adequate teaching staffs +because of the failure to appropriate money for these purposes.</p> + +<p>Although all power is centered in the hands of one man, the forms of +the constitution are still observed and elections are held regularly in +accordance with the law. They are, moreover, participated in, not by a +few chosen voters, as in some other Central American countries, but by +the entire body of citizens. In a presidential election, especially, +all classes of the population are rounded up by the military and taken +to the polls, where they exercise a right of suffrage restricted +only by the fact that they are not permitted to vote for any but the +official<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> candidates. The number of votes for the re-election of the +president thus equals, when it does not exceed, the total number of +adult males in the Republic.</p> + +<p>Since the breakdown of the Central American federation, Guatemala +has suffered from fewer successful revolutions than any other state +of the Isthmus. The Republic has been by no means free from internal +disorder, but at least it has not been subjected to the continual +demoralizing changes of regime which have occurred so frequently in +its neighbors. This comparative stability has been in part due to the +strong organization which the government inherited from its Spanish +predecessors. The Captain General and the royal <i>audiencia</i> in +Guatemala City had naturally enjoyed more prestige and had possessed +more means of making their authority respected than had the subordinate +governors in the provinces in colonial days, and the old administrative +machinery and traditions were maintained to some extent after the +declaration of independence. Moreover, the country has had a series of +able rulers, holding office generally for life, who have crushed all +opposition with little regard for constitutional provisions or public +opinion, and who have almost always been able to defeat attempts at +revolution and to arrange for the succession of a president of their +own choosing. There are, of course, turbulent elements which make +occasional attempts to overthrow the government, but their influence +has been much less than in Honduras, Nicaragua, or Salvador because of +Guatemala’s racial and economic conditions.</p> + +<p>Among the upper classes, although they are divided among themselves by +bitter political feuds, and although there are many powerful families +which have suffered indescribable outrages at the hands of governments +of opposite political faith, the revolutionary spirit seems at present +to be conspicuously absent. The majority of the white families who own +plantations upon which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> they employ Indian labor are more interested +in the maintenance of peace than in obtaining offices for themselves +by a revolt which would cause their workmen to be recruited into the +army and would perhaps lead to the destruction of their properties. +The difficulty of overthrowing the government, with its large standing +army and its superior military equipment, and the terrible consequences +which follow an unsuccessful attempt to do so, deter those who have +anything to lose from engaging in political agitation.</p> + +<p>The half-breed middle class, which is usually a cause of disturbance +in the neighboring republics, plays but a small part in politics. The +<i>ladinos</i>, as they are called, occupy an economic and social +position between that of the Indian laboring population and the landed +proprietors, being employed as artisans, small tradesmen, and minor +public officials in the towns, and as carpenters, mule drivers, and +skilled laborers in the country. In the districts east of the capital, +where there are few full-blooded Indians, the <i>ladinos</i> work on +the plantations or on their own small patches of ground. Many of the +more intelligent rise from humble origins to high positions, but the +majority are ignorant, dishonest, and vicious, and form one of the +least desirable elements in the community. Their importance, however, +is small, as compared with that of the other classes.</p> + +<p>The great majority of the inhabitants of the Republic are docile and +ignorant pure-blooded Indians. These have never shown any liking or +capacity for war since the first small force of Spanish invaders +conquered their populous kingdoms at the beginning of the sixteenth +century. Political agitators have rarely been able to incite them to +resistance to the authorities, for whom they have a deep-rooted respect +and fear; and for this reason the organization of a revolutionary army +among them is more difficult than among the turbulent half-breeds of +the other Central American countries. For<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> the government, on the +other hand, they make patient and obedient, if not very intelligent, +soldiers. Many of them are raised to high military offices, for their +lack of interest in political affairs makes them more dependable than +the white or <i>ladino</i> officials. They are on the whole, therefore, +an influence on the side of peace.</p> + +<p>Guatemala is the only one of the Central American countries where +the aboriginal population still maintains its identity as a distinct +race. In other parts of the Isthmus the Indians were exterminated by +thousands during the first century of Spanish rule, and those who +survived were assimilated into the European communities to such an +extent that they adopted the language and customs of their conquerors +everywhere except in a few outlying districts. In Guatemala this did +not take place, partly because the population was more compact and +more civilized at the time of the conquest, and partly because the +natives received more protection in their rights from the Spanish +authorities in the capital than in the provinces. The Indians were of +course subjected to the <i>encomienda</i> system just as were those of +Honduras and Nicaragua, but the <i>repartimientos</i> worked less harm +among them than in those countries because their great number made the +exploitation of the whole population by the small groups of Spaniards +impossible. The Indians are still sharply set apart as a class from +the half-breed and white population. In many places they are almost +entirely unacquainted with Spanish, although their native languages, of +which it is said that there are nineteen spoken in the Republic, are +becoming more and more contaminated by Castilian words and phrases. The +inhabitants of each village still maintain the distinctive costumes +and in some places retain traces of the religious observances of +pre-Spanish days; and wherever they have been left to themselves they +still carry on agriculture and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> their primitive household industries in +much the same way as before the conquest.</p> + +<p>The failure of the Indians to assimilate with the white population +caused them to remain in the position of a subject race. Even after +the abolition of the <i>encomiendas</i> they were still compelled to +labor for little or no remuneration on the plantations of the white +landowners, for it became the practice for the authorities to recruit a +number of them by force and to send them anywhere where their services +were needed, either as a special favor to the beneficiary or for a +money consideration paid into the treasury. These <i>mandamientos</i>, +as they were called, were the chief means by which agricultural +laborers were secured until nearly the end of the nineteenth century. +After the establishment of the large coffee plantations, however, +they were found to be entirely inadequate for providing the large and +regular supply of labor which was necessary for the new industry, and +the system has been to a great extent superseded, although not entirely +done away with by the present <i>Ley de Trabajadores</i>, enacted in +1894.</p> + +<p>This law defines two classes of laborers or <i>mozos</i>: +<i>colonos</i>, who reside permanently on the plantation, and +<i>jornaleros</i>, who sell their services for a longer or shorter +period by contract. The former usually work for the employer only a +part of each month in return for the land which he allows them to +cultivate. This system is most common in the Alta Verapaz, where +the plantations have great amounts of land unsuitable for coffee +cultivation, and where the Indians, who until a short time ago had +lived a life of complete freedom in the forest, are less amenable to +control than on the South Coast. The laborers there are for the most +part natives who lived upon the land before it was purchased by the +present owner, and who had no recourse, after the establishment of the +plantation, but to accept their new status or to leave their homes. +They are on the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> better off than the <i>jornaleros</i> because +they enjoy more independence and are able to work part of the time for +themselves.</p> + +<p>The <i>jornaleros</i>, or day laborers, are held on the plantations +under a peonage system. Theoretically the Indian is perfectly free +to contract himself or not as he pleases, but when he has once done +so, he may not leave his employer’s service until he has completed +the time for which he agreed to work and has repaid any money which +the <i>patron</i> may have lent him. If he attempts to escape, he is +hunted down by the authorities and returned to the plantation; and +the entire expense of capturing him and bringing him back is debited +in his account. If, on the other hand, he refuses to work, he may be +imprisoned until he is in a more reasonable frame of mind. Those who +still prove obstinate, after fifteen days in jail, may be sent at the +request of the employer to the convict labor squads, where fifty per +cent of the returns of their labor are set aside for the benefit of +their creditors. The whole system depends upon keeping the <i>mozo</i> +in debt. For this purpose, he is allowed a limited amount of credit +at the plantation store and is even loaned small sums of money from +time to time if necessary. Few are sufficiently energetic or ambitious +to make a serious effort to free themselves from these obligations. +They have in fact little incentive to do so, for those who leave the +plantation can only look forward to similar employment elsewhere, +or what is much worse, to impressment into the army, from which +<i>mozos</i> working on large coffee, sugar-cane, banana, or cacao +plantations are legally exempt.</p> + +<p>The law imposes on the employers certain obligations which are more +or less faithfully observed. In most cases, huts are provided for +<i>mozos</i> of both classes, and food is dealt out to them when +the supplies of food which they themselves raise are exhausted. +The <i>jornaleros</i>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> in fact, are fed almost entirely by their +employers, although they are frequently given small patches of ground +for gardens and are allowed three or four weeks during the year in +which to cultivate them. The planter distributes medicines and even +furnishes amateur medical advice when it is needed. Free schools, +required on all by law, are maintained on some plantations, although +as a rule they are attended only by the children of the <i>ladino</i> +employees, for the Indians do not care about educating their children +and are generally not compelled to do so. The owner of the plantation +is responsible for the maintenance of order, and is empowered to +imprison criminals and fugitives from labor until the local authorities +can take charge of them. In these duties he is assisted on the larger +plantations by an <i>alcalde auxiliar</i>, an official appointed by +the municipal <i>alcalde</i> from a list of names submitted by the +owner. This functionary, who nominally represents the authority of +the government, but is in reality an employee of the planter, is an +invaluable aid to the latter in maintaining his control over the +laborers.</p> + +<p>The wages paid to laborers are at the present time extremely low, +for they have risen little in spite of the rapid depreciation of the +national currency. The <i>jornalero</i> or <i>colono</i> on the average +plantation, in addition to a limited amount of very simple food, +receives from two to three <i>pesos</i> (from five to eight cents in +United States currency) a day, whereas voluntary laborers, upon whom +the planter has no hold, receive from five to seven <i>pesos</i> for +precisely the same work. It is customary in most places to pay by the +task, so that those who are most efficient may earn slightly more than +this sum, while those who are weak or incapable will receive less. +Considering that the Indian enters the service of the planter owing +the fifty or one hundred <i>pesos</i> which it is customary to advance +to him when he is contracted, it is not surprising that he is unable +to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span> free himself from debt, especially as the few articles which he +must buy—clothes, tools, and candles for the church or chapel—are +relatively very expensive. The combined earnings of the whole family, +for the women and children are usually given tasks as well as the men, +are in fact hardly sufficient to supply the necessities of life without +an occasional extra loan from the employer.</p> + +<p>This peonage system, in itself pernicious, is subject to the gravest +abuses. The short-sighted and improvident Indians are easily persuaded +to accept advances of money when they have some immediate occasion, +such as a baptism or a funeral, for spending it, without realizing +apparently the onerous conditions under which they must make repayment. +The professional <i>habilitadores</i>, or contractors of labor, and +the agents whom many of the planters maintain in the native villages, +take advantage of this fact and of the other weaknesses of the Indians’ +character to obtain a hold upon them. This is made much easier by the +aborigines’ fondness for liquor and by their helplessness when drunk. +The Indians are often induced to sign contracts by misrepresentations +or even actual violence, for the corrupt and unscrupulous local +authorities not infrequently bring pressure to bear upon them by +threats of arbitrary imprisonment or of impressment into the army. Many +of the representatives of the government derive a large income from +considerations paid them for service of this kind and from tributes +which they exact every month or every year from the planters in their +districts as the price of official support in disputes with their +laborers. That the contracts are rarely entered into voluntarily and +with a full appreciation of their terms is evident from the great +difference in the wages received by those who work under them and the +wages earned by the so-called voluntary laborers. The government has +made half-hearted attempts to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span> check the worst features of the system, +but its decrees enjoining strict respect for personal liberty and +stipulating minimum wages for contracts made in the future have for the +most part been left unexecuted by the local officials.</p> + +<p>The contract labor system is defended in Guatemala on the ground +that the cultivation of coffee, upon which the prosperity and the +commerce of the country depend, could not be carried on without it. +The Indian, it is said, would never work for more than a few days in +the year unless he were compelled to, as he is perfectly contented +with a few possessions which he can obtain for himself by cultivating +a small patch of ground in the woods. The planters complain of a +scarcity of labor even at the present time, and often find it difficult +to cultivate their properties and harvest the crops. This argument +explains, but hardly justifies, the system. An institution which +subjects the masses of the people to a degrading bondage, and which +prevents these masses from progressing or becoming more fit for the +self-government which they are nominally supposed to exercise, must +in the long run be extremely harmful to the country as a whole. The +development of agriculture and commerce, which has been beneficial +chiefly to foreign investors, can hardly be said to be desirable +if it has made social and political conditions within the country +worse. While the Indians are practically serfs, living under the most +primitive conditions and deprived of any opportunity to better their +position, it will be impossible to educate them or to raise their +standard of living.</p> + +<p>There is, moreover, no conclusive proof that the Indians would refuse +to work if they were not forced to by the labor laws and the tyranny +of the officials. They naturally do everything they can to escape +employment under the present conditions, where they receive in return +for their labor nothing but the bare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> necessities of life. These they +could obtain for themselves, almost without working, if they were +left in their original condition in the forest. There is no reason to +suppose, however, that they would refuse employment at wages which +were really worth their while. They are certainly not a more lazy race +than their half-breed neighbors, and they would doubtless improve +their standards of living, which are today no lower than those of the +<i>ladinos</i> in the more backward parts of Honduras and Nicaragua, +if they were given an opportunity to do so. Nor would the cost of +coffee growing be so increased as to make it prohibitive. In Costa +Rica and Salvador, where the wages are from four to eight hundred per +cent higher than in Guatemala, the planters are prosperous and make +large profits. Under the present system, the underfed and ill-treated +Indians are unwilling and inefficient workers, and their services +involve a great extra expense to the employer in the form of sums to +be paid to <i>habilitadores</i> and local officials in return for +aid in contracting them. This money would be saved, and the value of +the Indians as laborers would certainly be greatly increased, if the +peonage system were done away with and the workers were freely employed +at fair wages.</p> + +<p>There are some thousands of Indians, especially in the less developed +parts of the Republic, who still cultivate their own properties or a +share in the common lands of their villages, raising not only the corn +and beans with which they feed their families, but also a small surplus +which they carry long distances to sell in the markets in the towns. +They seem to delight in the free life of the mountain trails, where the +traveler continually passes long lines of them, in their picturesque +local costumes, carrying vegetables, home-made cloth, baskets, and +grass mats—the men with heavy burdens in the peculiar square frames +on their backs, and the women with baskets or bundles poised on their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +heads. Many of them come to the capital from places several days’ +journey distant, camping by the side of the road at night, and reach +their destination nearly as quickly as more aristocratic travelers do +on mule back. Besides those who market their own products in this way, +there are large numbers of professional <i>cargadores</i>, who spend +their lives on the roads, taking goods from one place to another for +hire or as a commercial speculation. They are said to cover as much as +thirty miles a day with a load of one hundred pounds, and they form one +of the most important factors in the internal transportation of the +country.</p> + +<p>These free Indians work only part of the time or not at all on the +plantations. When they do work, it is usually as “volunteers” at the +time of the harvest. Their number, however, is constantly diminishing. +As the extension of the coffee plantations has made the demand for +laborers more and more insistent, it has become increasingly difficult +for the Indians to escape from the snares of the <i>habilitadores</i> +and the pressure exerted by the local officials, so that those in +the more developed agricultural districts have with few exceptions +been persuaded or forced into service on the plantations. Many of the +Indians who lived on the public domain have been forced to work for +the foreigners who purchased from the government the land which they +had formerly cultivated, for it has been the regular practice in some +parts of the country to secure new <i>mozos</i> in this way. Even those +who once owned land of their own have often sold it to their wealthier +neighbors.</p> + +<p>At the present time the situation of the Indians is probably worse than +it was fifty years ago, and it is certainly worse than that of the +lowest classes in the other republics. The development of the peonage +system has deprived them of even the small measure of economic and +political liberty which they once enjoyed, and by taking them away +from their homes has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> almost entirely destroyed their old community +life. The native municipalities, which exist side by side with the +<i>ladino</i> municipal boards in many of the towns, and which formerly +managed the internal affairs of the native community, have been +powerless to protect the members of the latter from the operations of +the <i>habilitadores</i> and the tyranny of the representatives of the +central government. Many of the Indian villages which once enjoyed a +sort of independence of their white neighbors are now completely at the +mercy of brutal local officials, who are not content to exact money +from the people under them by every conceivable pretext, but even make +a regular practice of virtually selling into slavery those who are +intrusted to their government.</p> + +<p>Their own vices, meanwhile, have reduced the native race to a pitiable +condition in those districts where they have longest been in contact +with civilization. The cheap and poisonous <i>aguardiente</i>, the sale +of which is encouraged by the government because of the revenue which +it produces, is consumed in great quantities by the laboring classes, +and there are drinking places everywhere, not only in the towns and +villages, but even along the country roads. The liquor is much inferior +to that produced in the other Central American countries, and is sold +at a price equivalent to less than ten cents a quart. Its effects are +appalling. To it are due the greater part of the crimes committed +in the country, for drunkenness makes the usually peaceable Indians +quarrelsome and unruly, and causes Sundays and holidays to be marked +everywhere by a great number of murders and robberies. There is a very +evident degeneration, due to this one vice, among the Indians in the +southern part of the country.</p> + +<p>The coffee plantations, which have within fifty years become the most +important enterprises in the country, are for the most part situated on +the southern slopes of the volcanoes along the Pacific Coast, not far +from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> populous towns and villages of the interior plateau. They are +on the average larger than in the other countries of the Isthmus, and +as a rule have their own cleaning mills. The coffee of Guatemala is the +best in Central America, with the possible exception of that of Costa +Rica, and is hardly excelled in any part of the world. The largest +and best plantations are owned and managed by Germans, who either set +them out in the first place or acquired them from their former native +owners; and many of those which still belong to citizens of Guatemala +are for all practical purposes under the control of foreign concerns +which hold mortgages on them. Not only production, but also marketing, +which is mainly in the hands of German export firms, have been highly +systematized.</p> + +<p>The production of coffee overshadows all other agricultural enterprises +on the South Coast, but there are nevertheless many other crops which +deserve to be mentioned because of their local importance. In the +plateau above the coffee plantations, not only the typical Central +American foods, like corn and beans, but also many temperate zone +fruits and vegetables, and even wheat, are cultivated successfully. +On the coastal plain to the South, there are large cattle ranches and +cane plantations, which, in part at least, supply the home demand +for meat, sugar, and <i>aguardiente</i>. Sheep in the highlands, and +cotton in the lowlands, supply the raw material for the clothes still +woven by the Indians on hand looms in their huts. There is a regular +exchange of foodstuffs, carried for the most part on the backs of men, +between the settlements in the plateau and the more tropical districts +of the coast plain. The traveler cannot fail to be impressed with the +great variety of products which differences in the altitude and in +the distribution of rainfall make possible, for in the markets of the +capital one can see almost every kind of temperate and tropical zone +fruits and vegetables, brought from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> one point or another of the steep +slope between the plateau and the coast. Little attempt has been made, +however, to cultivate for export any of the valuable native plants, +with the exception of coffee, or even, in the case of some of them, +to raise enough to supply the local demand. Flour, for instance, is +brought from the United States in large amounts, although there is no +apparent reason why a quantity of wheat sufficient to supply the whole +country should not be harvested on the plateaus west of the capital. +Cotton also flourishes, but most of the cloth used is imported or +is manufactured in the country from imported yarn. As in the other +countries of the Isthmus, the production of the one great export has +consumed the capital and energies of the inhabitants of the Republic +to such an extent that other forms of agriculture have been seriously +neglected.</p> + +<p>The economic development of the southern part of the country has +been greatly accelerated in recent years by the improvement in means +of transportation. The Northern Railway, which connects the capital +and the South Coast with Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean Sea, was +completed in 1908 after great expense and many difficulties. Another +road runs from Guatemala City to the Pacific ports of San José, +Champerico, and Ocós, crossing the southern part of the country to the +Mexican frontier, where it is separated by only a few hundred yards +from the Pan American Railway of that Republic. With the exception +of the capital, however, most of the important towns still depend +upon more primitive forms of transportation, as they are situated in +the high plateaus, several miles above the railway line which runs +along the South Coast. The same is true of the majority of the coffee +plantations. The highways which connect the towns and <i>fincas</i> +with the stations and with each other are chiefly mule paths, although +there are cart roads, and even in some cases carriage and automobile +roads, between the largest cities.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p> + +<p>The railway system is under the control of an American-owned +corporation which is closely allied to the United Fruit Company. +The freight rates are high and very inequitable, as they have been +arranged with a view to giving Puerto Barrios, which is served by the +Fruit Company steamers, every possible advantage over the Pacific +Coast ports, through which a large part of the foreign commerce of the +country is still carried on. According to the schedule in force in the +fall of 1915, for example, the company charged $0.70 gold<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> to haul +a bag of coffee from the station of Candelaria to Barrios, a distance +of 331 miles; $1.48 from Guatemala City to Barrios, or 196 miles; and +$0.64 from Los Amates to Barrios, which is sixty miles. To the Pacific +ports, on the other hand, the rates were proportionately much higher, +for that from Candelaria to Champerico, twenty-two miles away, was +$0.22, and that for the seventy-five mile haul from Guatemala to San +José was $1.00.</p> + +<p>The policy of the railway company has to a great extent counteracted +the benefits which the Republic might have received from the opening of +the Panama Canal, because it has discouraged the shipping of imports +and exports by way of the Pacific Coast. The western departments +have profited somewhat by receiving lower rates to Barrios, but it +still costs them more to send their coffee by that route than if +they had a fair rate to the southern ports. In other parts of the +country, the railroad is forced to charge higher rates than would +otherwise be necessary, in order to maintain its total revenues. The +loss to the country as a whole from having its commerce deflected +to a more expensive route than that which it would otherwise have +taken is considerable. Although the Pacific Coast ports are mere open +roadsteads, where the irregular steamship service cannot be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> compared +with that provided by the Fruit Company at the safe harbor of Puerto +Barrios, they are nevertheless the logical outlet for the commerce of +the more populous part of Guatemala, because they are so much nearer +to the coffee plantations. The difference in the ocean freights from +Barrios to New York and from the Pacific ports via Tehuantepec or +Panama to New York—between forty and fifty cents on each one-hundred +pound bag of coffee—is not in reality enough to offset the actual cost +of the long railroad haul across the mountains.</p> + +<p>Although it is on the South Coast that the great majority of the people +of Guatemala live, there are several other districts of economic +importance. The exploitation of the natural resources of these has been +left almost entirely to foreigners. Beyond the arid and unproductive +interior districts immediately north of the volcanic region, there is +another coffee belt in the Department of Alta Verapaz, the product of +which, known to the trade by the name of the departmental capital, +“Coban,” is of an unusually fine quality. The owners of the plantations +are for the most part Germans. The coffee, which amounts to about ten +per cent of the total exported from the Republic, is shipped from the +port of Livingston, with which the plantations are connected by a short +railway and a regular line of launches on Lake Izabal and the Rio +Dulce. East of the Alta Verapaz, along the lower part of the railway +line from the capital to Puerto Barrios, the United Fruit Company has +established a number of banana plantations. These are not so extensive +as those of Costa Rica or Honduras, but they furnish a continually +increasing export, which is now second in value only to that of coffee. +The low, unhealthful plain of Peten in the North, which comprises +almost a third of the area of the Republic, is rich in mahogany, +Spanish cedar, and other valuable trees, but the lack of means of +transportation and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> deadly climate have so far prevented the +increase of the population there and have discouraged the development +of the natural resources.</p> + +<p>Guatemala has been gifted by nature with a delightful and healthful +climate and a marvelously fertile soil which ought to make her one +of the richest countries in tropical America. She can never attain +real prosperity, however, until her rulers make a determined effort +to improve the situation of the masses of the people by doing away +with the worst features of her social organization. Among the lower +classes, the contract labor system and the unrestricted sale of +<i>aguardiente</i> are today causing a steady degeneration, which +eventually, if not checked, will cause the community as a whole to sink +farther and farther into a condition of semi-barbarism. These evils +will be very difficult to remedy. Legislative action to secure the +independence of the Indians will be obstructed by the interest which +the ruling classes have in the <i>status quo</i>, and the education of +the laborers to a point where they will be able to protect their own +interests will be a matter of generations and perhaps of centuries. +Upon a gradual raising of the social and economic status of the +aborigines, however, rather than upon the development of agriculture +and the exploitation of the natural resources of the country, the +future of Guatemala depends.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> When the expression “gold” is used in regard to sums of +money, United States currency is meant.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br><span class="small">NICARAGUA</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Points of Resemblance Between Nicaragua, Salvador, and +Honduras—Peculiar Geographical Situation of Nicaragua—Factors +Which Have Caused Disorder There—Rivalry Between Leon and +Granada—History of the Republic—Economic Conditions—Means of +Transportation—Relations with the United States.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Nicaragua, Salvador, and Honduras strongly resemble one another in many +of their characteristics. They differ from the two other republics of +the Isthmus in that there has been more mixture of races among their +people than in those countries. The Indians did not remain a distinct +ethnic entity, as in Guatemala, and were not exterminated, as in Costa +Rica, but fused with the invaders into a fairly homogeneous half-breed +population which adopted the language and religion of the Spaniards +but in most places retained the Indian ways of living and cultivating +the soil. The upper classes, especially in Nicaragua and Salvador, are +for the most part of European ancestry, and the laboring population, +although there is but a small part of it which does not also show +an admixture of Spanish blood, is distinctly Indian in features and +customs; but only in a few places is there a sharp line between either +of these classes and the half-breed, or <i>mestizo</i>, element, which +is perhaps the most numerous of the three. Social distinctions seem to +some extent to coincide with, but they can hardly be said to depend +upon, racial lines.</p> + +<p>There is thus more homogeneity in the population and less inequality +between the classes than there is in Guatemala. Although the greater +part of the people are laborers on the plantations of the aristocracy +which owns all of the best agricultural properties, they are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> free +laborers, who receive fair wages and are not compelled to work unless +they wish to. There is, furthermore, a somewhat wider distribution of +land than in the northern Republic, and the rights of the small farmer +are better protected than are those of the Guatemalan Indian.</p> + +<p>The government, although in no sense democratic, is nevertheless +dependent to some extent upon public opinion, for the lower classes are +all too prone to revolt and overthrow a president with whom they are +discontented. The political parties are led and directed by a wealthy +and educated minority, but their sanguinary contests with one another +are usually decided by the support of the common people, and especially +of the people of the cities. Several causes lead artisans and laborers +who otherwise have no interest in politics to take part in these civil +wars. One of the most important is the rivalry between different +towns and villages, the spirit of <i>localismo</i>, and another, +which, however, is rapidly becoming less prominent, is the traditional +division, based on no real opposition in principles or policy, into +“Conservatives” and “Liberals.” Still a third is the disposition to +be “against the government,” whatever its merits—a disposition which +is by no means peculiar to the Hispano-Indian race. It is upon these +factors that the political parties are built up. Each chief endeavors +to secure a following among the artisans and laborers of his district +by cultivating friendly personal relations with them and by playing on +their prejudices, and to carry his followers with him in whatever line +of action best suits his personal interests. The groups thus formed +consequently represent petty prejudices and loyalty to individuals +rather than political principles.</p> + +<p>The presidents of these countries are therefore less absolute rulers +than the chief executive of Guatemala usually is. Instead of an easily +controlled army of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> ignorant Indians, who have little disposition to +do anything but obey the commands of their officers, the government +must depend on soldiers who, to some extent at any rate, think for +themselves and take an interest in political affairs. It must not +only retain the good will of its followers, but it must refrain from +arousing hostility in the community at large, where the opposition is +usually too numerous and too well-organized to be rendered harmless by +killing or exiling its leaders and repressing its agitation. There is +no public opinion sufficiently strong to prevent the party in power +from dealing severely with its most conspicuous enemies, or from +misusing its control of the machinery of the administration for the +benefit of the officials and their friends, but there is at least an +ever-present danger of revolution to make it cautious about alienating +the sympathies of too large a proportion of the people at large.</p> + +<p>Republican institutions cannot be said to flourish in any of the +central republics, but there is a far more hopeful prospect of their +eventually becoming a reality there than in Guatemala. It would be +impossible, among the factious half-breeds of the Nicaraguan towns, +to round up all classes of the population by military action and +lead them to the polls to vote for the president, as was done when +President Estrada Cabrera was unanimously re-elected in 1916, but it +is not very difficult to control the election by other means. Under +ordinary circumstances, there is no chance for any but the official +ticket. The opponents of the government, and even those who are +suspected of being lukewarm in their support of it, are excluded from +the official lists of voters, with or without a perfunctory excuse, +and opposition candidacies are discouraged by the imprisonment or +the expulsion from the country of the rival leaders and of their +chief supporters. Fraud and intimidation are generously employed to +increase the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> government’s majority. The measures taken are usually +sufficient to secure a result satisfactory to the faction in power, +but occasionally they are unavailing because the opposition is strong +enough to wring a compromise from the administration or to overthrow it +by revolution. Elections, therefore, are often accompanied by more or +less disorder and uncertainty, and a too violent attempt to impose an +unpopular candidate on the people has not infrequently been followed +by civil war. With the spread of popular education at the present +time, there are grounds for hoping that elections will in the not very +distant future become more nearly a real expression of the will of the +people—a character which they have already assumed in Costa Rica.</p> + +<p>The political and economic development of Nicaragua has been determined +by forces similar to, but more marked than, those which have affected +Salvador and Honduras, and a study of her history and institutions will +therefore make it easier to understand the situation of the other two +republics.</p> + +<p>Nicaragua has always been an object of interest to the outside world +because of her geographical situation. In her territory, the Central +American <i>Cordillera</i> is broken by a depression which extends +across the Isthmus, forming the basin of the two great lakes and of the +San Juan River, their outlet to the Atlantic. Lake Nicaragua, which +is only 110 feet higher than the ocean, is separated from the Pacific +by a range of small hills, the lowest passes of which are said to be +but twenty-five or twenty-six feet above its surface and thus only +135 above that of the sea.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> At the narrowest place this strip of +land is less than thirteen miles wide. North of Lake Nicaragua, and +connected with it by a small river, is Lake Managua, between which +and the Pacific there is a distance of about thirty miles across the +low plain of Leon. In colonial times, the route<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> across the Isthmus +through Leon to Granada on Lake Nicaragua, and from thence by water, +was commonly used for the transportation of products from all parts +of Central America to Spain; and much more recently it was one of the +most popular ways of reaching California from the East Coast of the +United States. It early attracted the attention of those who were +interested in transisthmian canal projects, and came to be considered +by many as the most practicable route for an interoceanic waterway. +Diplomatic controversies for the control of the proposed canal, and the +machinations of corporations desiring to secure concessions for its +construction, which it would be impossible even to sketch here, have +played a large part in the international relations of the Republic, +and at times have not been without effect on her internal political +conditions.</p> + +<p>The people of Nicaragua, more than those of any of the other countries +of the Isthmus, are dwellers in cities. About a fourth of all her +inhabitants live in six important towns in the lake plains.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> The +Spaniards established their principal settlements in this region at +the time of the conquest, in spite of the hot climate, in order the +more easily to hold in subjection and to utilize the labor of the +large Indian communities which had long since grown up there because +of the fertility of the soil and the plentiful water supply. The +concentration of the population in a few centers has intensified all +of the conditions which have worked against peace in Central America, +and has made Nicaragua the most turbulent of the five republics. The +inhabitants of cities, since the beginning of history, have been +more inclined to disorder and revolt than their brothers in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> the +country, and this is especially true in Central America, because both +<i>personalismo</i> and <i>localismo</i>, with all their attendant +evils, reach their most complete development in large communities, +where the contact between individuals is closer and the number of +persons interested in politics is greater than in rural districts. The +<i>mestizo</i> artisans, who are relatively more numerous and more +influential in Nicaragua than anywhere else in the Isthmus, are always +ready to drop their work and take up arms in the interests of their +faction or of their <i>patron</i>, and even the ordinary laborers, +in the towns at least, are Liberals or Conservatives, and followers +of this or that chief. The common people are but little interested +in the principles involved in the contests between the two great +traditional political parties, but they follow their leaders partly +from personal devotion and partly because they are united to them by +the old local hatreds which have kept these parties alive in Nicaragua +after they have become little more than names in other parts of the +Isthmus. This rivalry between different towns has caused bloodshed at +one time or another in each of the Central American republics, but in +all except Nicaragua it has to a great extent died out at the present +time, because the capitals have become more important than any of +their rivals, and have drawn to themselves many of the wealthier and +more influential provincial families. In Nicaragua, neither of the two +cities established by the Spaniards at the beginning of the sixteenth +century has been able to establish its supremacy, and the history of +the country from the very beginning has been one long struggle, made +more bitter by radical differences in the ideals and interests of their +people, for the control of the government and the direction of the +affairs of the nation.</p> + +<p>Granada, at the western end of the Great Lake, has always been +primarily a commercial center, since the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> days when it was the chief +port for the trade between Central America and Spain by way of the San +Juan River. Her leading citizens are not only landed proprietors, but +merchants, who sell goods in person over the counters of their stores. +Her great families form a coherent and powerful group, which has +always been able, because of its wealth and social prestige, to exert +an influence far out of proportion to its numbers, not only in its +own city but in the country at large. The greater part of the fifteen +or twenty thousand other inhabitants depend upon them as servants or +employees, for the artisan class is small and relatively unimportant. +There are few professional men of social prominence and few small +landholders, for the rural districts roundabout are mostly given over +to large, carelessly managed cattle ranches. The Chamorros, Lacayos, +and Cuadras, with their relatives, have always considered themselves +a sort of creole aristocracy, and even in colonial times they were +restive under the control of the Spanish authorities at Leon. After the +declaration of independence, they naturally joined the great families +of Guatemala in the Conservative party, and they have since retained +the name, if not the principles, of that organization.</p> + +<p>The Liberal party, on the other hand, has its center in Leon, the +capital of the province in colonial times, and today, with sixty or +seventy thousand inhabitants, the largest city of the Republic. There, +the domination of political and social affairs until 1821 by officials +sent over from Spain prevented the rise of a strong creole aristocracy, +and the constant infusion of Spanish blood during colonial times, +as well as the presence of many Peninsular Spaniards even after the +declaration of independence, somewhat retarded the changes wrought in +the white stock in other places by nearly four centuries of life in the +torrid climate of the lake plains. The people of Leon have always shown +an inclination towards intellectual and professional pursuits which is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span> +noticeably absent in Granada, and take great pride in their schools +and their university. The most prominent lawyers and physicians of the +Republic, even in Managua and the other cities, are for the most part +<i>Leoneses</i>, just as the majority of the leading native merchants +are related to the Granada families. Leon has a large and aggressive +body of artisans and many small landholders, for the wide plain around +the city is divided into a large number of little properties, worked +either by the owner in person or under his immediate supervision. +There are few families of great wealth. It was inevitable that such a +community should take the side of the Liberals in the struggles which +marked the early years of the Central American federation, for the +character of its population made it radical just as the position of the +great families of Granada made them conservative.</p> + +<p>The other towns of the Republic, none of which until within recent +years could compare in wealth or population with either of the two +chief cities, are divided between these in their sympathies. Those +which are dependent geographically upon one of the rivals have +naturally followed it in politics. Others are split within themselves +by feuds between their leading citizens and between different elements +in their population. Since the development of the coffee industry has +caused a great increase in the importance of Managua, Matagalpa, and +some of the other towns, these places have of course acquired much +political influence, but the various groups among their people have +rather allied themselves to the already existing factions than formed +new ones of their own. The Conservative and Liberal leaders in Granada +and Leon still dominate the party councils, although their authority is +sometimes questioned by their allies in the newer centers.</p> + +<p>The jealousy between Granada and Leon found expression in armed +conflict as soon as the authority of the mother country was removed. +After the declaration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> of independence, the Spanish governor in +Leon, like the authorities in many of the other provinces, refused +to recognize the authority of Gainza, while the Granadinos joyfully +accepted the new central government in Guatemala in preference to that +of the mother country. As the result of this situation, an intermittent +war began which lasted until General Morazán, on becoming president of +the Federation, sent Dionisio de Herrera, as <i>jefe de estado</i>, +to restore order. Under him the Liberal party was firmly intrenched +in power. He was succeeded by a series of <i>jefes</i> of the same +faction, most of them under the control of a military leader named +Casto Fonseca, who was <i>comandante de armas</i>. The destruction +of the Liberal governments in the other republics, however, made the +position of the authorities in Nicaragua precarious; and in 1845 their +administration was overthrown by a Conservative uprising aided by +armies from Honduras and Salvador, which wished to punish Leon for +the asylum afforded there to the defeated followers of Morazán. After +sacking the capital and slaughtering a large part of its inhabitants, +the invaders moved the capital to Masaya and later to Managua, both +small towns near Granada. A Conservative government, made up of the +great families of the latter city, endeavored to establish order and +repair the damage wrought by the civil wars which had continued almost +without interruption ever since the federal government had grown too +weak to maintain peace, but their efforts were of little avail. The +new <i>comandante de armas</i>, Trinidad Muñoz, kept the country in a +state of continual disturbance, by intrigue and conspiracy, in order +to increase his own influence, and finally betrayed the party which +had placed him in office and used the force intrusted to him to bring +about the re-establishment of the capital at Leon. A new Conservative +uprising aided by Honduras and Costa Rica overthrew him in 1851, and +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> seat of the government was again transferred to Managua. The +Conservatives made a sincere effort to establish harmony between the +two parties, but after their attempts to conciliate their opponents +by giving them a place in the cabinet had proved a failure, they +endeavored equally unsuccessfully to maintain order by severe measures +which only made the Liberals the more bitter.</p> + +<p>In 1854, the people of Leon, under the lead of Máximo Jeréz and +Francisco Castellón, drove the forces of the government out of their +city and attacked Granada. The Conservatives, who received timely aid +from Guatemala, resisted determinedly. By the end of the year they were +apparently gaining the upper hand, when the Liberals, in their attempts +to turn the tide, called in the support of a band of North American +filibusters. This was the origin of the “National War,” one of the most +remarkable and most romantic events in the history of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>On June 16, 1855, William Walker landed at the port of Realejo, with +fifty-seven other adventurers, ostensibly for the purpose of aiding the +Liberal government at Leon, which had invited him to come to Nicaragua, +but in reality with the intention of obtaining control of the entire +country for himself. This he succeeded within a few months in doing. +Carrying his force to San Juan del Sur by sea, he evaded a Conservative +army sent to attack him there, sailed up the lake to Granada, and on +October 13 occupied that city with little resistance. The force of the +Conservative leaders was unimpaired, but they feared to attack the +foreigners, who held their families as hostages. Corral, the head of +the government forces, agreed therefore to a treaty of peace, signed on +October 23, by which Patricio Rivas, a moderate Conservative, became +president, Corral himself secretary of war, and Walker commander of +the army. The native troops were for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> most part disbanded, and the +filibusters, or the “American Phalanx,” as they called themselves, were +practically the only military force in the Republic.</p> + +<p>Walker desired to establish a coalition government, under his own +control, in which the leaders of both great parties should be +represented. This proved impossible, because the native chiefs from the +first showed signs of disaffection. Corral was discovered to be holding +treasonable correspondence with the presidents of the other Central +American republics, and was shot only a short time after the signature +of the treaty of peace. Rivas, the new president, and Jeréz, the leader +of the Liberals, deserted Walker in the following June, and began a +revolution against him in Leon and the western departments. Walker +thereupon had himself elected President of the Republic (June 29, 1856).</p> + +<p>The adventure of the filibusters had meanwhile attracted much interest +and sympathy in the United States, where the control of Nicaragua by +an American was regarded as an offset to the encroachments of Great +Britain on the eastern end of the proposed route of the interoceanic +canal. The control exercised by that power over Greytown, at the +mouth of the San Juan River, had not yet been given up, in spite of +the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. The people of the South, +moreover, who favored expansion in tropical countries in order to +maintain the relative influence of the slave states in the Union, +believed that they saw in the measures which Walker adopted early in +his administration to aid Americans in acquiring land in Nicaragua, +and to open the way for the introduction there of negro slavery, +indications that his ultimate object was the annexation of the country +to the United States as a new slave-holding commonwealth. This belief +appears to have been erroneous, for Walker himself more than once +expressed the intention of creating an independent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> nation, with +himself at its head as military dictator;<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> but it at least gained +for the adventurer a large amount of assistance.</p> + +<p>It was therefore easy for Walker’s friends to secure large amounts of +supplies and many recruits for his cause in the United States. The +original force of fifty-eight was soon increased to several hundred, +and the immense losses caused by disease and by fighting were made +up with little difficulty. It is said that 2,500 men in all joined +the “phalanx,” of whom more than one thousand died of wounds or of +disease.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> The government of the United States attempted to stop +the recruiting of men and the fitting out of expeditions within its +jurisdiction, but it was able to accomplish very little because of the +deficiencies of its neutrality laws and the strong popular feeling in +favor of the filibusters, which often prevented the federal officials +from carrying out the orders of their superiors. The President and the +Department of State themselves were by no means unfriendly to Walker’s +enterprise while it still offered a prospect of success. The American +minister in Nicaragua had throughout exerted his influence in favor of +Walker, although in so doing he had greatly exceeded his instructions, +and the Rivas government had been officially recognized by President +Pierce on May 14, 1856. This recognition was not, however, extended to +Walker after the latter had become president.</p> + +<p>The most useful friends and the most dangerous enemies of Walker’s +regime were the American financiers interested in the Accessory +Transit Company, a concern which was at that time transporting many +thousands of Americans each month from New York<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> to San Francisco +by way of the San Juan River, crossing from the Great Lake to the +Pacific by a macadamized road from La Virgen to San Juan del Sur. +When the filibusters arrived in Nicaragua, a contest was in progress +in this company in which Morgan and Garrison, the agents at New York +and San Francisco respectively, were striving to wrest the control +from Cornelius Vanderbilt. Failing to achieve their purpose, Morgan +and Garrison determined to make use of Walker to turn the tables upon +their successful rival. They did much to aid him in securing control +of the Nicaraguan government by supplying him with money and arms and +by bringing him large numbers of recruits in their steamers from New +York and San Francisco; and in return for these favors they prevailed +upon him to revoke the concession of the old company and to grant a +new concession to them. This action brought Walker into a conflict +with Vanderbilt, who from that time on used every means to compass the +filibuster’s destruction.</p> + +<p>In July, 1856, Walker was practically supreme in southwestern +Nicaragua, and had complete control of the Transit route. An army +sent against him by Costa Rica a few months before had won two or +three battles, but had soon been forced to withdraw by an epidemic of +cholera. The hostile elements in Nicaragua itself, and the armies of +Guatemala, Salvador, and Honduras, were however gathering at Leon, for +all Central America had risen in arms against the foreign invader. In +September the allies advanced on Masaya, where they inflicted a heavy +defeat on a small force of Americans. In November they took Granada, +the seat of Walker’s government, which the filibusters evacuated and +destroyed on their approach. Walker then moved his army by water to the +Transit road, which was the chief avenue by which he received supplies +and recruits from the outside world.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span></p> + +<p>The allies had thus far been unable to inflict a decisive defeat on +the American leader. Although they had faced him for five months +with forces which must have outnumbered his little command at least +three to one, the quarrels between their leaders had made effective +action impossible, and the diseases which had decimated both camps had +disheartened them far more than they had the intrepid “phalanx.” It +is probable that they would soon have abandoned the campaign had not +Costa Rica, instigated by Vanderbilt and encouraged by the government +of Great Britain, again taken the field and struck Walker a decisive +blow at his weakest point. In December a force from that country, +directed by one of Vanderbilt’s agents, had descended the San Carlos +River and seized the steamers on the San Juan and the Great Lake, +thus cutting off Walker’s communications with New York, whence he had +received the greatest part of his reinforcements. They then joined the +allies who were confronting the filibuster force at Rivas. Walker was +now no longer able to replenish his supplies or to fill the gaps in his +ranks with new recruits. Although in desperate straits, he held out for +several months, beating off the attacks of the Central American troops +with great loss. The melting away of his small force through disease +and desertion, however, finally made his position untenable. On May 1, +1857, he surrendered to Commander Davis of the U. S. S. St. Mary’s, who +had interposed his mediation to put an end to the hostilities.</p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the war there were six armies in Nicaragua, +representing the four other Central American republics and the two +factions in the country itself. Most of the foreign contingents +were withdrawn by their respective governments, after some slight +difficulties, but neither the Conservatives under General Tomás +Martínez nor the Liberals under Jeréz were willing to allow the other +party to take possession of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> the government. Another civil war would +probably have been the result, had not the Republic suddenly been +menaced by a new danger from without. Costa Rica, attempting to take +advantage of the exhaustion of her neighbor, declined to evacuate the +territory which she had occupied on the south bank of the San Juan +River, and demanded the surrender of certain military posts there which +would give her control of the greater part of the route of the proposed +canal. As soon as the intentions of President Mora became evident, +Jeréz and Martínez assumed a joint dictatorship and prepared for war. +Hostilities were only averted by the sudden return of Walker, which +forced the two countries to settle their differences and to prepare to +resist a new invasion. Costa Rica had already withdrawn her claims when +news arrived that the filibuster had been taken prisoner by the captain +of an American warship on the East Coast before he had had time to +reach the interior.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>Meanwhile the capital had been definitely and permanently established +at Managua, and Tomás Martínez had taken charge of the presidency +as the result of an election. With his accession began the first, +and up to the present time the only, era of relatively stable and +comparatively efficient government in the history of the Republic. +Martínez held office until 1867, suppressing a Liberal revolt led by +Jeréz in 1863, and was succeeded by a series of capable and honorable +presidents belonging to the Conservative party.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> These men were +the leaders of a strongly organized and homogeneous group, which was +able to maintain itself in office until 1893<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> because of its unity and +its moderate and sagacious policy. Although thoroughly conservative +in ideas as well as in name, striving to maintain the existing social +order and the influence of the Church, the administrations of the +“thirty years” nevertheless did much to promote the economic and +social progress of the country. A railway was built from the Pacific +port of Corinto to Leon and Lake Managua, and another from the city +of Managua to Granada; agriculture was encouraged in many ways; and +even the school system was enlarged and improved. Their most important +achievement was the maintenance of peace during so long a period. There +were few revolts of importance, and not one successful revolution +between 1863 and 1893, notwithstanding the fact that the prolonged +tenure of power by one political group, which allowed no real freedom +of elections, was naturally distasteful to the opposition.</p> + +<p>The methods by which the Conservatives were able to sustain their +authority for so long should afford a valuable lesson for their +successors. In the first place, the government was that of a group +of men, rather than that of one absolute ruler. As each president +at the end of his term turned over his office to one of his +associates, instead of bringing about his own re-election, there +was little jealousy between the leaders, and each in turn had the +support of a united party. So long as there was no treachery within +the administration itself, and so long as friendly relations were +cultivated with the neighboring states, the government, with its +control of the army and the forts, had little to fear from its enemies. +The Liberals, on their side, showed little inclination to recommence +the civil wars which had devastated the country from 1821 to 1863, +for they profited by the maintenance of order, and were treated with +far more fairness and generosity than usually falls to the lot of the +opposition party in Central America. At the present time, after a +quarter century of renewed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> party strife and mutual persecution, many +members of both parties look back on the “thirty years” as the happiest +period of the Republic’s history.</p> + +<p>There were, however, dissatisfied elements which only awaited an +opportunity to overthrow the Conservative regime. The Leon leaders were +far from accepting the rule of their traditional rivals complacently, +and they could rely upon the support of increasingly numerous groups +of young men of the middle and lower classes in other parts of the +country, who were beginning to take a prominent part in political +agitation. The “Principal Families” were losing their prestige as they +had already lost it in Guatemala and Costa Rica, and their political +power was destroyed when the first serious dissension appeared in their +ranks. In 1889 President Carazo died in the middle of his term, and was +succeeded by Roberto Sacasa, one of the few Conservatives from Leon. +When the new president attempted to give the people of his own city +some of the more important public offices, the extreme partisans of +Granada overthrew him in 1893. This act, which broke the unity of the +Conservative party and thus weakened the government, was followed by a +successful Liberal uprising in Leon some months later.</p> + +<p>As the result of this revolution, the presidency was given to a young +man from Managua, who was prominent among the younger generation of +Liberals. José Santos Zelaya was the absolute ruler of Nicaragua for +sixteen years. He was supported at first by the leaders at Leon, +but in 1896, when it became evident that he intended to force his +re-election for a second term, the western city rose against him. +The administration was saved only by the intervention of the allied +government of Honduras and by the aid of the Conservatives of Granada, +who were willing to support even a Liberal president against their +traditional enemies. This episode illustrates one of the chief sources +of Zelaya’s power—his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> skill in playing off the members of the +different factions against one another. When it became evident that +it was impossible to overthrow him, the Leon chiefs again associated +themselves with him, and even some of the wealthy <i>Granadinos</i> +accepted positions and favors from him.</p> + +<p>During the Liberal administration, the railway system and the steamer +service on the lakes were extended and improved, the development of the +coffee districts was stimulated by generous subsidies, and the capital, +Zelaya’s birthplace, was transformed from a rather primitive small town +to the most progressive city of the Republic, which at the present +time is ahead of Granada, and but little behind Leon, in population. +Marked progress was made in the matter of public instruction, for +schools were opened in all parts of the country, and many young men of +special ability were sent abroad to study. It is to be regretted that +the Conservative administrations which succeeded Zelaya have fallen far +behind the Liberal dictator in this respect, and have abandoned many of +the educational institutions which he opened.</p> + +<p>Despite his progressive policy, however, Zelaya was a brutal and +unscrupulous tyrant, who exploited the country for his own personal +profit on a scale unprecedented in the history of the Isthmus. He and +his ministers established monopolies of all sorts, and sold valuable +concessions to foreigners or acquired them themselves, until there +were few forms of agriculture or industry which did not pay a heavy +tribute to some favored person. The silver currency disappeared before +large issues of irredeemable paper money, and the requisitions of the +government were paid for, not with cash, but with receipts which could +be negotiated only at a loss and through the aid of persons having +influence with the treasury department. Private persons enjoyed little +protection in their property and personal liberty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> against abuses of +power by the local and military officials, and the enemies of the +government suffered not only exile and the confiscation of their +property, but even torture and sometimes death in the prisons. The +rich families of Granada, who were with some reason held responsible +for the revolts which occurred almost every year, were treated with +great brutality. The avarice and cruelty of the men in power, however, +were felt most severely only by their irreconcilable enemies. The +friends of the government prospered, and the people as a whole suffered +comparatively little. In the country at large, in fact, the inflow of +money resulting from the reckless sale of concessions created a sort of +prosperity, for which the country has had to pay since Zelaya’s fall.</p> + +<p>Zelaya raised Nicaragua to a position of influence in Central America +which she had never before enjoyed. He fomented revolutions in all +of the other four republics, and even in countries so far distant as +Colombia and Ecuador, until by 1909 the only one of his neighbors +who did not hate and fear him was the president of Honduras, whom he +himself had placed in office by his invasion of that state in 1907. +During the last three years of his administration, his attempts to +re-establish the old federal union, with himself at its head, plunged +all Central America into turmoil. His warlike activities and his +systematic opposition to American influence in the Isthmus finally +brought about an open rupture with the government of the United States, +and did much to cause his downfall. The history of the revolution of +1909, and the history of the Republic since that date will be treated +in Chapter XI.</p> + +<p>Ninety-five years of rarely interrupted civil strife have left +Nicaragua in a condition which offers little hope for the early +re-establishment of peace and good government. The advances made along +these lines between 1863 and 1893 were to a great extent nullified +during the Liberal regime, when the continual attempts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span> at revolution, +followed usually by barbarous treatment of the people of Granada and +other Conservative centers, not only revived and intensified the old +localistic spirit, but aroused a turbulent spirit and a strong taste +for factional strife among the people of all classes. Within a few +years after 1893, it would have been impossible for either party to +acquiesce in the rule of the other as the Liberals had acquiesced in +the Conservative regime of the “thirty years,” for the subordination +of any sense of justice to political considerations in the conduct of +the government and in the courts made the opponents of the party in +power so insecure in their property and in their personal liberty that +they were ready to support almost any revolutionary movement which +promised an alleviation of their condition. The only creed of public +officials and professional politicians seemed to be the promotion of +the interests of their faction and the abuse and subjugation of their +political enemies. These conditions were little changed by the advent +of the Conservatives to power in 1910, because the new authorities, who +had grown up under the oppression of Zelaya, with the worst features of +his administration constantly before their eyes, apparently could not +resist the temptation to avenge themselves upon their former rulers on +the one hand and to attempt to recoup their losses at the expense of +the nation on the other. The political morality of all parties had been +so debased that a restoration of the clean and moderate regime of the +“thirty years,” of which many of the older generation in Granada had +dreamed, was no longer possible.</p> + +<p>The fertile lake plains, laid waste time after time by revolutionary +armies, are no longer the “Mahomet’s Paradise” which travelers had +described in glowing terms in colonial times. After the declaration of +independence, the energies of the ruling class in each section of the +country were entirely occupied in endeavors to maintain themselves in +power or to overthrow administrations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> controlled by their enemies. The +harassed landholders continued to cultivate their plantations as well +as they could in the intervals between civil wars, but the political +situation of the country soon became so hopeless that there was little +incentive for them to attempt to repair the damage wrought by each +successive outbreak or to engage in new agricultural enterprises. The +indigo plantations which had made the people of the province wealthy +under the rule of Spain were abandoned some time before the invention +of aniline dyes made them unprofitable in the other states, and the +famous cacao of Nicaragua, which was formerly an important export, +is now grown in quantities little more than sufficient to supply the +local demand. The only important products of the lake basin today are +plantains, corn, beans, sugar, and cacao, which are planted for local +consumption, and cattle, which are still raised in large numbers, +notwithstanding the losses inflicted on ranch owners by foraging +parties and bandits.</p> + +<p>Outside of the hot plains of the interior, there have until recently +been few settlements of importance. The climate of the mountains to +the northwest and southeast of the lakes is much more suitable to +European colonization than that of Granada and Leon, but the latter +cities, situated as they are on what was formerly the transisthmian +commercial route, have always been preferred as a place of residence by +the creole families. The majority of the towns which were established +in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the regions of Matagalpa, +Jinotega, and Segovia were soon destroyed by the fierce mountain +Indians or by pirates who came up the rivers from their bases of +operations on the East Coast; and those which survived, with few +exceptions, are today but little more than straggling villages. In the +<i>sierras</i> between the lakes and the Pacific, there were at the +time of the conquest a number of Indian villages, but their growth +was discouraged by the fact<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> that the lack of rivers and springs made +it difficult to secure even drinking water in the dry season. Neither +district received much attention from the government until the latter +part of the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>During the last twenty-five years, however, a number of coffee +plantations have been established both in the departments of Matagalpa +and Jinotega, and in the mountains near Managua and Granada. These +are not so large nor so well equipped as those in other countries of +the Isthmus, and their product is much less than that of Guatemala or +Salvador, but their development has nevertheless greatly increased the +commerce of the country. It has not, however, affected general economic +and political conditions so much as it would have if the majority of +the plantations were not owned and managed by foreigners. Nicaraguan +citizens hold only a part of the properties in the southwestern +<i>sierras</i>, and those in the North are almost entirely in the hands +of Germans, Englishmen, and Americans. The natives have participated +less in the prosperity due to the new conditions than in any of the +other countries where coffee has become the principal national product.</p> + +<p>The Matagalpa and Jinotega districts have a large Indian population, +living in little settlements scattered through the mountains. These +tribes were not subjugated by the colonial authorities until nearly two +centuries after the establishment of Leon and Granada, and even at the +present time, when most of them have adopted the Spanish language and +religion, they show little admixture of white blood. At the time of +their pacification they received large tracts of land from the crown, +which they still hold in common and apportion at regular intervals +among their members. As the extent and the exact boundaries of these +grants have never been definitely settled, they have been a cause +of constant friction between the native communities and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> the white +planters. The officials of the central government have often carelessly +sold land belonging to the Indians to the coffee growers as a part of +the public domain, and the planters themselves have in some instances +taken possession of the property of the aboriginal communities without +any right to do so. Projects for the surveying of the Indian lands and +for the sale of those which their owners do not need to the coffee +planters have for some time occupied the attention of the authorities +at Managua.</p> + +<p>The labor situation in the northern coffee belt presents considerable +difficulties. The Indians, who see little advantage in exchanging their +free life in their own villages for one of toil on the plantations, +do not furnish the regular and dependable supply of workmen which are +indispensable for the proper cultivation of the plantations, although +they do not refuse to work for a few days when they have need for a +small sum of ready money. Under Zelaya, an attempt was made to solve +the problem by the passage of a peonage law similar to the <i>Ley de +Trabajadores</i> in Guatemala. This system seems never to have borne +so heavily upon the Indians as in the latter republic, but it at least +gave the planters a means for securing a regular force with which to +work their properties. Further aid was furnished by the recruiting +of laborers by force during the harvest time, when many Indians from +Matagalpa were even forced to travel for many days on foot across the +hot plains of the interior to work for friends of the administration in +the <i>sierras</i> south of the lakes. The labor laws were abolished by +the Conservative administration, however, and since 1910 the planters, +unable to enforce contracts which they make with the Indians, have +often had difficulties in harvesting their crops. Their position has +been alleviated somewhat by the fact that the local authorities have +in many cases illegally enforced the old law; but the uncertainty of +the labor situation has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> greatly discouraged the extension of the +plantations and the introduction of new capital.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>The East Coast, which is for all practical purposes farther from the +cities of the interior than it is from New Orleans, has only within +the last quarter century become an integral part of Nicaragua, for +until 1894 it enjoyed a sort of independent existence under British +protection as the “Mosquito Kingdom.” This was a fictitious state of +half-breed Indians and negroes, who had from early times maintained +commercial and to some extent political relations with the nearby +settlements of English pirates and woodcutters, and through them with +the governor of Jamaica. In the middle of the nineteenth century, when +the attention of the world was first called to the possibility of +constructing an interoceanic canal by way of the San Juan River, these +relations were made the pretext for the establishment of a protectorate +over the entire eastern portion of Nicaragua and for the seizure of +Greytown, at the mouth of the San Juan, which had never even been in +the domain claimed by the Indians. The territory which was thus brought +under British control was in reality governed, not by the savage and +degenerate native chiefs, but by the British and other foreigners who +had settled along the Coast. The United States from the first refused +to recognize the protectorate, and protested vigorously and in the +end successfully against<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span> the violation of Nicaragua’s sovereignty. +The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, signed in 1850, bound both powers not to +colonize, occupy, or exercise dominion over any part of Nicaragua or +Central America, but the British government refused to admit that +this obliged it to withdraw its protection from the Mosquitos, and +the continued occupation of Greytown, as we have seen, was one of +the causes which led the people of the United States to support the +filibustering expeditions of Walker. In 1860, Great Britain agreed to +abandon the protectorate on condition that Greytown should be made a +free port, and that the Indians should be given a reservation in which +they were to be free to govern themselves in accordance with their own +usages. This meant that the foreigners on the Coast were practically to +be at liberty to manage their own affairs without interference by the +native authorities. The arrangement was unsatisfactory from the first, +for the residents of Greytown and Bluefields objected to every exercise +of Nicaraguan sovereignty, and Great Britain upheld them in their +attitude, and thus in fact continued to exercise a protectorate over +them.</p> + +<p>Matters came to a crisis in 1893, when Zelaya made a war with Honduras +the pretext for sending an army into the reservation and seizing the +control of the government. The Indians and the foreigners on the Coast +protested strongly against this action, but Great Britain, wearied of +the difficult and equivocal position in which her relations with the +Mosquitos had placed her, refused to uphold them. They had, therefore, +no choice but to submit. In 1894 a convention called by the Nicaraguan +commander and dominated by him voted for the complete incorporation of +the reservation into the Republic as the Department of “Zelaya,” and +the Republic has ever since exercised complete jurisdiction over the +former “sambo” kingdom.</p> + +<p>Like other sections of the Caribbean litoral, the East<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> Coast of +Nicaragua is inhabited chiefly by Americans and English-speaking +negroes. Its principal product is the banana. Bluefields, which is the +administrative center and the seaport, is connected with New Orleans +by a regular line of small steamers, and has far more commercial and +financial relations with the United States than with the interior. +During the Liberal regime, many important concessions were granted for +enterprises in the newly incorporated territory, which later became +a source of no little embarrassment to the government. In some cases +the higher officials made grants which were actually harmful to the +community as a whole, for their own personal profit, while in others +large tracts of land were ceded or special privileges were granted to +unscrupulous promoters who had little intention of carrying out in +good faith the obligations which they assumed, but who appealed to +their own governments for aid whenever they became involved in disputes +with the native authorities. Some of the monopolies established, and +particularly the exclusive right which one company received to operate +steamers on the Bluefields River, caused great discontent on the Coast +itself, and led the foreign colony there to take a prominent part in +organizing and supporting the revolution of 1909, by which Zelaya was +overthrown.</p> + +<p>The means of transportation between the various sections of Nicaragua +are as yet very primitive. In the interior, they are by no means bad, +for it was comparatively easy to build a railroad from Corinto, the +chief port on the Pacific, to all of the important cities of the lake +region and to the coffee district west of it; and the lakes themselves +afford a cheap means of transportation to the regions around their +shores. Matagalpa and the northern departments, however, depend upon +the rudest kind of cart roads, and are almost inaccessible in the rainy +season. Communication with the Atlantic Coast is still more difficult, +especially at present, for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> steamer service which formerly existed +on the San Juan River has been allowed to deteriorate, and the overland +route to Bluefields involves several days of traveling through a +sparsely settled tropical forest on mule back. Preparations are now +well advanced for the construction by American capital of a railway +from Bluefields to Lake Nicaragua, which would make travel from the +East to the West Coast comparatively easy. Another road is planned +from the main line of the Pacific Railway to Matagalpa, and it seems +not improbable that this and the Bluefields line may eventually be +connected, so that it will be possible to cross the Republic from one +ocean to the other.</p> + +<p>The execution of these projects, and in fact Nicaragua’s whole prospect +for the immediate future, depend upon her relations with the United +States. Since 1911, both the political affairs and the economic +development of the country have not been entirely in the hands of her +own citizens, for the government at Washington, in its efforts to +promote peace in Nicaragua and in Central America, has entered upon a +course which has forced it on several occasions to intervene decisively +in the internal politics of the country, and two firms of American +bankers, as a result of their financial assistance to the government, +have gradually assumed control of the customs houses, of the railways, +of the currency system, and even of the internal revenues of the +Republic. The course of events which has brought this to pass will be +described in Chapter XI.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Elisée Reclus, <i>North America</i>, Vol. II, pp. 274, +279.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> There are no very reliable figures for the population of +the cities or for the total population of the Republic, but the best +estimates agree that the Republic has about 600,000 inhabitants, while +the population of the cities mentioned may be stated approximately as +follows: Leon, 62,000; Managua, 35,000; Granada, 17,000; Chinandega, +10,000; Masaya, 13,000; Rivas, 8,000.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> See William O. Scroggs, <i>Filibusters and +Financiers</i>, which gives a very complete account of Walker’s career, +and upon-which the foregoing sketch is to a great extent based. Walker +himself wrote a book about his campaigns, entitled <i>The War in +Nicaragua</i>, and many of his followers also left accounts of their +adventures.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Scroggs, op. cit. p. 305.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Walker was eventually captured and shot while attempting +a third invasion of Central America on the North Coast of Honduras in +1860.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> These were: Fernando Guzmán, 1867-71; Vicente Cuadra, +1871-75; Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, 1875-79; Joaquín Zavala, 1879-83; Adán +Cárdenas, 1883-87; Evaristo Carazo, 1887-89; David Osorno, 1889; and +Roberto Sacasa, 1889-93.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> In a previous chapter, the author has stated it to +be his opinion that the plantations of Guatemala could be operated +successfully without a peonage system. The effect of the repeal of the +labor laws in Nicaragua would seem to prove the contrary, were it not +for the great difference between the Indians of the two countries. In +Guatemala, the Indians depend upon the planters for a living, as they +have little land of their own. They were, moreover, almost wholly an +agricultural people before the Spanish conquest, whereas the Indians +of Matagalpa have always secured at least a portion of their food +by hunting, and have never been accustomed to any but spasmodic and +irregular agricultural labor. They have also great tracts of land of +their own, of which, unlike the tribes in Guatemala, they have never +been dispossessed.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br><span class="small">SALVADOR</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Geographical Description—History—Improvement of Political Conditions +in Recent Years—Activities of the Government—Agricultural +Products—Social Conditions—Means of Transportation—Relations with +the United States—Prospect for the Future.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Salvador is the most important of the Central American republics, +after Guatemala, although she has a far smaller territory than any of +her neighbors. Almost all of her total area of 7,225 square miles is +suitable for cultivation, and there are few parts of it which are not +inhabited by a dense population. Notwithstanding the fact that she has +no coast line on the Atlantic and has thus been deprived of direct +communication with Europe and the Eastern United States, her foreign +trade is far greater than that of Honduras and Nicaragua, and but +little behind that of Guatemala and Costa Rica, while her upper classes +are more closely in touch with the outside world, and have shown a +greater tendency to adopt foreign customs and practices than those of +the majority of the other countries. Her capital, San Salvador, is a +busy, up-to-date commercial center, which impresses the traveler as one +of the most progressive cities of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>Extending from Guatemala on the west to the Gulf of Fonseca on the +east,<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> the Republic occupies a section of the broad plain along the +Pacific Coast of the Isthmus, and like the similarly situated section +of Guatemala, is traversed by a chain of volcanic peaks,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> many of which +are still active or have been active within very recent times. The +soil, consisting mainly of decomposed lava, is extremely fertile. The +slopes of the mountains are excellently adapted for the cultivation +of coffee, and in the lower altitudes, although much of the country +is rough and broken, nearly all of the other characteristic Central +American products can be grown. There is a plentiful rainfall from +May to October, and an abundant water supply for the dense population +is provided by several lakes and by a number of streams which do +not dry up during the rainless season. The Lempa, which divides the +eastern from the western half of the country, after flowing through +the northern departments from its source near the Guatemalan frontier, +is by far the largest river on the Pacific side of the Isthmus. As +the more important cities are situated in the valleys at the foot of +the volcanoes, or in the low plains along the coast and on the banks +of the Lempa, few of them are more than two thousand feet above sea +level, and their climate is consequently less agreeable than that of +the most densely populated parts of Guatemala and Costa Rica. Except +in the lower Lempa Valley, however, the people are fairly healthy, +probably because the porousness of the soil discourages the breeding of +mosquitoes and thus holds in check some of the diseases most prevalent +in other parts of the tropics.</p> + +<p>The people are of much the same racial character as those of Nicaragua +and Honduras, although there seems to be rather more Spanish blood in +their veins, and less admixture of negro, than in those countries. +The majority are in part at least of Indian ancestry, but all speak +Spanish, and there are only a few communities where the aborigines have +maintained their individuality and their primitive customs. Among the +upper classes, the greater number are of pure or nearly pure European +descent, but Indian blood is no bar to social or political prominence. +The people as a whole are fairly industrious,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> considering the climate +and the prevalence of hookworm and other intestinal parasites, and the +standard of living among the laboring classes is considerably higher +than in Guatemala or Nicaragua. The landowning class is perhaps the +wealthiest and the most enterprising in the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>The early history of Salvador was as turbulent as that of her +neighbors. For many years after the declaration of independence she +was almost continuously in a state of civil war, partly because of the +rivalry between the political leaders and the jealousy between the +cities within the state itself, and partly because of the incessant +quarrels between the state authorities and those of Guatemala. As +we have seen, her people played a prominent part in the struggles +which accompanied the first attempt to establish a Central American +federation. The prolonged war in which the citizens of Salvador and +of one section of Honduras overthrew the Conservative government in +Guatemala in 1829 was followed within three years by new difficulties +which led President Morazán in his turn to remove the state authorities +in San Salvador and to transfer to that city the seat of the federal +administration. From then until the final fall of the great unionist +leader, Salvador was frequently involved with one or another and at +times with all of her neighbors, because of the opposition of the +latter to the federal authorities. She was the last of the five states +to admit the dissolution of the union, and at the present time she is +the chief center of the party which favors its restoration.</p> + +<p>The Liberal party, which had supported Morazán, was driven from power +by the intervention of President Carrera of Guatemala in 1840, and for +five years the government was under the control of Francisco Malespín, +one of Carrera’s friends, who used his position as <i>comandante de +armas</i> to make and unmake presidents and to dominate the policy of +the civil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> authorities. The Liberals were able to return to power in +1845, after a bloody struggle in which Malespín, although now estranged +from Carrera, was assisted by the government of Honduras. They were +again driven out in 1852 by Carrera, and four Conservative leaders +occupied the presidency for short terms. The Liberals, under the +leadership of Gerardo Barrios, regained power in 1860, but were forced +to relinquish it two years later as the result of another war with +Carrera. In 1863, the Conservative leader, Francisco Dueñas, became +president, and conducted the government efficiently and successfully +until 1871, when the Liberal party, which was at the same time carrying +on successful revolutions in Guatemala and Honduras, defeated him +and placed at the head of the state Santiago González, who remained +in office until 1876. His successor, Andrés Valle, became involved +in another war with Guatemala, arising from an intervention by both +states in the internal affairs of Honduras, and was replaced by +Rafael Zaldívar, one of the leading followers of the former president +Dueñas. This able ruler remained in office until 1885, maintaining the +friendliest relations with President Barrios of Guatemala, despite the +fact that one belonged to the Conservative and the other to the Liberal +party. When Barrios attempted to renew the Central American Union +by force, and entered upon the campaign which ended so disastrously +for him at Chalchuapa, however, Zaldívar took the field against him. +A short time after this war, Zaldívar was forced to resign by a +revolution headed by Francisco Menéndez, and the latter was president +until his death in 1890. After him, the Republic was ruled by the Ezeta +brothers, two military leaders who seized the presidency by a <i>coup +d’état</i> and maintained themselves in office by despotic and rather +barbarous methods until they were overthrown by an uprising in the city +of Santa Ana in 1894. Rafael Gutiérrez, who became president in that +year, was an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> able and patriotic executive, but some features of his +administration caused considerable discontent, and his participation +in the Treaty of Amapala, by which Salvador entered into a loose union +with Honduras and Nicaragua, caused his fall in 1898.</p> + +<p>The new president, General Tomás Regalado, served his full term and +passed on the chief magistracy in an orderly manner to Pedro José +Escalón in 1903. From that time there has not been a successful +revolution in Salvador, although discontented political leaders have +occasionally made ineffectual attempts to overthrow the government. In +1906, General Regalado, who was very influential in the administration +of President Escalón, brought about a short and purposeless war with +Guatemala, which ended with the death of its author on the battlefield. +In 1907 there was another war, between Salvador and Nicaragua, +about the presidency of Honduras, and in that and the following +year President Zelaya of Nicaragua attempted several times, without +success, to promote revolutions against the governments of Escalón +and of Fernando Figueroa, who succeeded him. The Government of the +United States exerted its good offices to put an end to the hostilities +between the two countries, and finally threatened to use force if +necessary to put an end to Zelaya’s attacks on his neighbor, but peace +was not entirely re-established until the Nicaraguan president was +overthrown in 1909. Figueroa was succeeded by Manuel Enrique Araujo in +1911. This president was assassinated in 1913, and the vice-president, +Don Carlos Meléndez, completed the unexpired term and was re-elected to +the chief magistracy in 1915.</p> + +<p>In the confused political history of Salvador, two important facts +stand out: first, that the revolutions which occurred so frequently +during the seventy-five years following the declaration of independence +were due more to the interference of the other countries, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> +especially of Guatemala, than to the strife of factions at home; +and second, that in recent times, when this kind of interference is +no longer so frequent, there has been a remarkably rapid progress +towards the establishment of a more stable form of government. For +three-quarters of a century after 1821, the internal tranquillity of +the country may be said to have been almost entirely dependent upon its +relations with its neighbors. The parties which were formed during the +turbulent years of the Central American Union continued to act together +long after the states which made up the Union had become independent +nations, and Conservative governments in Guatemala continued to regard +themselves as the natural enemies of Liberal administrations in +Nicaragua and Salvador, largely because of the bitter animosity between +the leaders, which had been engendered by the events of the years +1821-40. Discontented factions in Salvador never hesitated to call in +assistance from other countries to overthrow a hostile government at +home, and the presidents of the other countries on their side were +always ready to intervene to secure the establishment of a friendly +administration in Salvador, in order to increase their own influence +and to make more secure their own position. As the leaders who had +participated in the wars under the Federation died, however, and the +parties lost their fundamental economic and social characteristics, so +that there was little real difference in principles or point of view +between the Liberals of one country and the Conservatives of another, +factional politics ceased to a great extent to be international. +Intervention to overthrow a government of opposite political complexion +was then no longer so necessary as a measure of self-preservation, as +it had been when every Liberal or Conservative who came into power +in one of the states felt it his duty to use all of the resources at +his command to secure the domination of his own party in the others. +Guatemala<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> has not played a decisive part in overthrowing a president +of Salvador since the battle of Chalchuapa in 1885, and Honduras and +Nicaragua have now fallen so far behind their neighbor in population +and resources that their intervention is no longer seriously to +be feared. The attempts of the president of the latter country to +encourage revolutions in Salvador in 1907 and 1908 were failures, +although they caused the government considerable uneasiness and expense.</p> + +<p>Since 1908, moreover, international wars between the Central American +states have been made practically impossible by the fact that the +United States has employed diplomatic pressure and sometimes actual +force to secure the observance of the Washington Conventions of +1907, by which the five countries pledged themselves to abstain from +interfering in each other’s internal affairs. At the present time +it is not probable that an army from one state would be allowed to +invade one of the others for the purpose of bringing about a change +of government. The prevention of this kind of aggression, of which +there were instances almost every year before 1907, has done much to +discourage revolutions in Central America, because there is little +chance, except in cases where there is a very general and very violent +popular discontent with the government in power, for a revolt to +succeed without active assistance from outside.</p> + +<p>Since the character of her international relations has changed so +that external influences no longer make the establishment of internal +peace impossible, Salvador has become one of the most orderly and best +governed of the Central American republics. Her political affairs are +almost entirely in the hands of a small educated class, among whom +landed proprietors are more powerful and professional politicians and +revolutionists on the whole less numerous and less influential than +elsewhere in the Isthmus. This class was for many years divided within +itself into hostile factions, which were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> kept alive, long after the +disappearance of their original sources of difference, by the intrigues +and interventions of the neighboring governments. After the violent +animosities created by the wars during the first Central American +Union died out, however, and after the cultivation of coffee and the +development of commerce had opened up greater opportunities for the +acquisition of wealth and power than were offered by the contest for +public offices, the ruling class as a whole turned its attention from +politics to agriculture. The damage inflicted by the frequent civil +wars was severely felt by the proprietors of the plantations, who were +realizing for the first time the possibilities of the new life which +the importation of foreign luxuries and the ability to travel abroad +placed before them, and they consequently became almost a unit in +their desire for peace and a stable government. An attempt to start an +old-fashioned revolution at the present time, unless there were some +strong reason for desiring to overthrow the government, would probably +meet with determined hostility among the greater part of the wealthier +and more intelligent classes.</p> + +<p>It cannot be said, however, that Salvador is inherently a peaceful +country in the same sense in which this is true of Costa Rica. The +lower classes have no more inborn respect for authority and love of +peace than have those of Nicaragua and Honduras, whom they strongly +resemble in their racial characteristics and customs, and a large +element among them have always taken part in wars and revolutions +with the same gusto that is shown by the <i>mestizos</i> of the more +turbulent countries. If they are on the whole less prone to revolt, +this is due to the fact that they are fairly contented under present +conditions, and that they are held under control by a much stronger and +better organized military power than in those countries. The government +is maintained in office, not by popular respect for authority or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> by +the will of the people, but by force, for there are always elements, +even among the upper classes, which are awaiting an opportunity to +overthrow it.</p> + +<p>There is at present, however, no organized opposition, as the old +historical parties have nearly died out and the formation of new ones +has been discouraged by the policy of the government, which generally +either wins over discontented political leaders by the gift of offices +or money, or forcibly prevents them from carrying on propaganda hostile +to it. In former times, opponents of the group in power were exiled +or even murdered, but recent administrations have attempted rather to +conciliate their opponents and to maintain the good will of the common +people, and there has been little of the severity towards defeated +rivals which has helped to keep alive factional hatred in Guatemala +and Nicaragua. Nevertheless, opposition to the government is still +suppressed with a firm hand, and murders for political purposes are by +no means unknown.</p> + +<p>The political institutions are no more democratic than those of the +neighboring countries. Except where a successful revolution intervenes, +the presidency is passed on by each incumbent to a successor of his own +choosing, and all of the other nominally elective offices are filled in +accordance with the wishes of the administration, since the authorities +control the elections by preventing the nomination of opposition +candidates and by exerting pressure on the voters. Every department +is under the absolute personal control of the president, so far as he +wishes to exercise his authority, and the responsibility for everything +which occurs during the administration rests upon his shoulders. The +Congress has at the present time some degree of independence, and the +judiciary is not subjected to the same dictation by the executive +as in some of the other countries, but neither is in any real sense +co-ordinate with the latter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> nor would be able to resist it if a +serious difference of opinion arose.</p> + +<p>Of late years, however, the presidents of Salvador have made little +attempt to exercise the absolute and arbitrary authority which some +of the recent rulers of Guatemala and Nicaragua have enjoyed, for +they have generally been content to abide so far as possible by the +provisions of the constitution and to relinquish their office to one +of their supporters at the end of their legal term. Since 1898, with a +single exception, changes of administration have taken place without +the intervention of force, and the one president who was assassinated +was followed by the constitutionally elected vice-president, without +disorder or further bloodshed.</p> + +<p>The chief support of the government is the army, which is better +trained and better equipped than that of any other Central American +country. A large proportion of the soldiers, apparently, serve +voluntarily. Moreover, many remain with the colors for long periods, +and learn to take a certain amount of pride in their calling. The +officers are of an unusually high type, because the comparatively good +salaries and the education offered by the Polytechnic School have +induced many young men of the better classes to adopt the military +profession as a career. Both officers and men seem on the whole to +be loyal to the government and show little tendency to political +intrigue,—a statement which cannot be made with regard to the forces +of some of the other republics. The army is far larger than the wealth +or the actual necessities of the country would seem to justify, and +heavy expenditures upon it have been a source of some discontent; but +the existence of a well-organized and well-trained body of troops has +undoubtedly been a strong factor in favor of stable government and a +valuable protection against attack from without.</p> + +<p>The civil police is also efficient and well equipped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> compared with +that of the neighboring countries. Besides the usual city forces, +there is an organization called the <i>Guardia Civil</i> in the rural +districts near the capital which patrols the roads and does much to +protect life and property. Crimes of violence, however, are by no means +uncommon, and are very frequently allowed to go unpunished, for the +activity of the army and the police, as in the other Central American +countries, is directed more towards the maintenance of the authority +of the government than towards the prevention of wrongdoing. The +suppression of revolts and the control of all parts of the Republic +by military force is easier than in any of the neighboring countries, +because of the small area to be policed and the denseness and +compactness of the population.</p> + +<p>The chief functions performed by the government are the preservation +of order, the management of the customs houses and the other sources +of income, and the operation of such fundamentally necessary public +services as the postal and telegraph systems. A comparatively small +amount of money, considering the wealth of the country, is available +for other purposes, because of the heavy cost of the military +establishment and the losses due to inefficiency and peculation in +the collection and expenditure of the revenues. Sanitary measures and +public instruction have not received the attention which might be +expected among so progressive a people and little has been done, except +by private initiative, to develop the resources of the country or to +stimulate foreign commerce. Although abortive attempts have been made +from time to time to establish agricultural and industrial schools, +the government has little interest in such institutions, and has never +given them sufficient funds to accomplish anything of great value. The +system of highways, which is of especial importance because of the +lively internal commerce, leaves much to be desired, but its defects +are due more to almost insurmountable difficulties arising<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> from heavy +rainfall and from the physical formation of the country than to lack of +interest. There are, however, cart roads, which are fairly good in the +dry season, in all parts of the Republic, and near the capital there +are several roads suitable for automobiles, which are owned by many of +the wealthy people of the city.</p> + +<p>The public schools have received less attention than in some of the +other countries. The Department of Public Instruction, which possesses +many well-informed and able officials, has done what it could with the +scanty resources at its command, but the government has not supported +it with adequate appropriations, and has not always shown care or +impartiality in the appointment of teachers. Only about one-fourth +of the children between six and fourteen years of age are receiving +instruction.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> The schools in the capital and in the larger cities, +although badly equipped and very badly housed, do excellent work, and +the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the +children and by the teachers. The latter are generally inadequately +trained, but they appear to have a natural gift for arousing the +interest and holding the attention of their pupils. In the country, +educational opportunities are much more limited, for the rural schools +have but three regular grades, with a complementary year in which +instruction in some trade is given, and there is little opportunity +for the children to receive a secondary education unless they can +afford to spend five years completing their primary course in one of +the cities. The education of the lower classes has been purposely +restricted to a few fundamentals, because the authorities have desired +to discourage the tendency, so harmful in all parts of Central America, +towards the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> adoption of the learned professions at the expense of +agricultural pursuits. No government aid is now granted to poor +children for advanced study either at home or in foreign countries, and +every effort is made rather to encourage those who have completed their +primary course to fit themselves for the cultivation of the soil or for +some trade. In the capital, schools have just been inaugurated where +practical instruction for this purpose is given. There are a number of +secondary institutions in the larger cities which compare favorably +with those in other parts of Central America, although they also suffer +from lack of funds and from the absence of well-trained teachers. The +same is true of the University, where law, engineering, pharmacy, and +other professions are taught. The wealthier families educate their +children in private institutions rather than in the public schools, +and more and more young people at the present time are being sent to +complete their studies in foreign countries, and especially in the +United States.</p> + +<p>The administration of public affairs is considerably less corrupt and +somewhat more efficient than in Guatemala, Nicaragua, or Honduras. +The integrity of many of the higher officials is above suspicion, and +theft is apparently not practiced on a large scale in any department +of the government. The judiciary is neither so hopelessly venal nor +so inefficient as in some of the other countries, and the Supreme +Court is a body which commands general respect. The administration of +the postal and telegraph systems is fairly reliable, although it is +typically Central American in its methods and in its spirit. Conditions +are nevertheless very far from what they should be. Even at the present +time, under a president whose honesty and whose progressive ideals are +doubted by no one, public officials are too often appointed for purely +personal reasons rather than with any regard to their fitness, and +graft is practiced more or less openly in all of the departments, with +the knowledge, if not with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> the consent, of the higher authorities. +Large amounts of money are paid from the public treasury on different +pretexts to political leaders whom the administration desires to +conciliate, and men of little ability or patriotism are given positions +of responsibility and authority for which they are not at all fitted, +and in which their conduct is not infrequently scandalous. These +conditions are to a great extent beyond the control of the government, +for an administration which failed to consolidate its power by such +methods probably could not maintain itself very long in office. The +old-style professional revolutionists, many of whom have a considerable +following among the lower and middle classes, are still too powerful to +be disregarded, and the idea that offices and graft are the legitimate +rewards of political activity is no less paramount than formerly. There +is every prospect, however, that political conditions will improve as +the government becomes more stable, and as public opinion, already a +powerful influence for good, becomes more enlightened and exerts more +control over the factional leaders.</p> + +<p>Economically, Salvador is one of the most prosperous countries of the +Isthmus. Her principal product is coffee, grown on the slopes of all +the higher volcanoes and hills, which is exported to the amount of +from sixty to seventy million pounds annually to France, the United +States, and other countries. In the lower parts of the country, there +are many large cattle ranches and cane plantations, which produce meat +and sugar for local consumption. Corn is raised everywhere, even more +than in other parts of Central America, because of the denseness of the +population and because of the large <i>per capita</i> consumption. One +small section of the Pacific Coast, called <i>La Costa del Bálsamo</i>, +is notable for its exports of balsam of Peru, a forest product which +is found in its wild state only in this one spot.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> The trees from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> +which this medicinal gum is extracted have within recent years been +brought under systematic care in large plantations, and have proved a +source of considerable wealth to the native capitalists, as well as to +the Indians who collect the balsam in the forest by primitive methods.</p> + +<p>The upper classes are as enterprising and progressive as any social +group in Central America. A large proportion of them have traveled +abroad and have adopted foreign ways of living at home, and as a +whole they have shown a responsiveness to new ideas and an energy and +patriotism which promises much for the future of their country. The +owners of the large plantations live in the cities, but they take a +deep interest in the management and development of their properties, +and usually spend a portion of the year upon them. Few are free from +the Central American tendency to extravagance and improvidence, but +they have nevertheless been sufficiently enterprising and progressive +to maintain their dominant position in the economic life of the country +while the resources of the other republics have been falling more and +more into the hands of Europeans and North Americans. There are some +rich agriculturalists who are foreigners, but they are relatively few +as compared with those in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The great majority +of the more valuable plantations still belong to citizens of Salvador, +and much of the stock in the banks and in the more important industrial +enterprises is controlled by native capital. This fact is of great +significance, because it indicates that the people of the Republic have +adapted themselves to modern conditions more readily than have their +neighbors. The preservation of the class which furnishes the natural +leaders and rulers of the community cannot but have a beneficial social +and political effect.</p> + +<p>The lower classes, housed in dirt-floored thatched huts, and subsisting +on a diet in which the corn <i>tortilla</i> is the chief feature, offer +a striking contrast to their wealthy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> and Europeanized superiors, +but they are nevertheless somewhat better off than in any of the +neighboring republics except Costa Rica. The majority of them have +regular work on the plantations, where they are supplied with homes +and food and receive wages which compare favorably with those paid in +Honduras and Nicaragua. Their standard of living is somewhat higher +than in those countries, and they are in general better treated both +by their employers and by the authorities. A large proportion of +the laborers on the bigger plantations are given patches of land to +cultivate for themselves. In the central part of the country there are +many small landholders, who find a ready market for their products in +the cities, and are enabled by the possession of a regular money income +to enjoy many little luxuries which are unknown in the more backward +parts of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>In the cities, and especially in the capital, small-scale commerce +and manufacturing are very active. Great quantities of vegetables, +milk, firewood, and other country products are daily brought into town +in ox-carts by the peasants, who exchange them for the manufactured +articles which they need, and the market and the countless small stores +in the vicinity are always a scene of great animation. There are a +number of little manufacturing establishments, where candles, shoes, +soap, and cigarettes are made, chiefly by hand labor, and the products +of these are bought by the lower classes in surprisingly large amounts. +Only a few of the smaller commercial establishments, however, belong to +natives of the country, for the greater part of the retail trade is in +the hands of foreigners.</p> + +<p>External commerce has attained large proportions, despite the fact that +the Republic has no access to the Atlantic. As in the other countries +of the Isthmus, there are few North American merchants; and English, +German, and Dutch houses control the import and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> wholesale trade. +Until the outbreak of the European war, Salvador purchased a smaller +proportion of her imports from the United States than did any of the +other republics of the Isthmus, but this condition has necessarily +changed within the last two years. Of the exports, the coffee, which +is the only item of first importance, is shipped to some extent to San +Francisco, but more to France and Germany.</p> + +<p>Both external and internal commerce have been greatly aided by the fact +that the territory of the Republic is so small, and that all parts of +it are so close to the Pacific Coast. The problem of transportation has +not been nearly so difficult as in some of the other countries. There +are now few important towns which have no railway connection. The most +important line is that of the Salvador Railway Company, an English +corporation which provides a cheap, rapid, and in every way excellent +service from the capital and Santa Ana to Sonsonate and Acajutla. Over +this passes the greater part of the freight and passenger traffic, +for Acajutla, although merely an open roadstead, where loading and +unloading is difficult and expensive, is the principal port of the +Republic. Another line is being built by the International Railways +of Central America, the American concern which operates the Guatemala +system, from La Union on the Gulf of Fonseca to San Salvador. This +passes through many important cities in the eastern departments, and +has now reached San Vicente, about forty miles from the capital. +The service is not so good, and the rates are higher than on the +Salvador Railway Company’s line, and the usefulness of the road is +greatly diminished by the fact that its builders have as yet failed +to construct a permanent bridge over the Lempa River, to cross which +freight and passengers must submit to a disagreeable and hazardous +transfer in scows during the rainy season. It is, however, of immense +importance to the rich sections through which it passes, and when it +is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> completed, connecting the capital with the land-locked harbor of +La Union, it will not only provide a new outlet for the commerce of +Salvador, but will also open a much more rapid and convenient route +to Honduras and Nicaragua, which are reached in a few hours by water +from La Union. The same company plans to build a line from Santa Ana +to Zacapa, on the Guatemala Railway, which will make both San Salvador +and La Union accessible directly by railway from Puerto Barrios on the +Atlantic. When this is done, the journey from the United States to each +of the three central republics of the Isthmus will be shortened by +several days.</p> + +<p>Besides the ports mentioned, Salvador possesses two others. La +Libertad, immediately south of the capital but separated from it by a +steep range of hills, is an open roadstead from which a large amount of +coffee produced in the neighborhood is shipped. El Triunfo, on a rather +shallow bay east of the Lempa River, is close to another coffee-growing +district, but it will have to be greatly improved before it can be made +a regular port of call for large steamers. Both of these are connected +with their tributary country by cart roads, which are good in the dry +season, but become very bad when it rains.</p> + +<p>As elsewhere on the Pacific Coast of Central America, there has been +hardly any steamship service at these ports since the beginning of the +European war except that of the Pacific Mail, whose ships touch there +at irregular intervals and afford expensive and rather unsatisfactory +accommodations for freight and passengers. The Pacific Steam Navigation +Company also operates one small steamer, formerly the property of the +Salvador Railway Company, between Panama and Salina Cruz, stopping at +most of the ports on the way, and the government of Salvador owns a +still smaller vessel which plies between the ports of the Republic and +San José, Guatemala. Salvador suffers far more from the inadequacy of +the West Coast steamship service<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> than do any of the other countries, +for Guatemala and Costa Rica have excellent connections with the United +States and Europe by way of their Atlantic ports, and Nicaragua and +Honduras have comparatively a small amount of foreign commerce. The +Republic will not be able to develop as it should until its connections +with the outside world are greatly improved.</p> + +<p>The relations between Salvador and the United States have never been +so close as in the case of those republics where more American capital +has been invested and where regular and direct steamer communications +have encouraged commerce and travel; and in recent years the friendship +between the two countries has been endangered, although it has by no +means been destroyed, by political questions. The influence exerted +by the United States in the internal politics of some of the nearby +countries, especially in the case of Nicaragua, and the proposal +to establish an American naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca, close +to the port of La Union, have greatly alarmed public sentiment in +Salvador, and have called forth strong but ineffectual protests from +her government. This fear of what the people of the Republic regard +as American tendencies towards expansion has caused a rather marked +distrust and dislike of the United States among certain classes,—a +feeling which can be dispelled only by the most careful regard for +Central American rights and susceptibilities in the future. With +frankness and fair treatment on both sides, however, the relations +between the two republics are bound to grow more friendly as they grow +closer; for the influence of the increasingly large number of natives +of Salvador who travel and study in North America, and of the Americans +who are now in Salvador, should do much to bring about a better +understanding.</p> + +<p>The prospect for the future of Salvador seems very bright. Political +and social conditions are improving steadily, and the prosperity of +the Republic, with its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> fertile soil and industrious population, +seems secure. The progressive spirit of the ruling classes and their +rapid absorption of foreign ideas afford reason to believe that the +control of the economic life of the country by foreign interests, +which is becoming more and more marked elsewhere in the Isthmus, may +here be avoided. The introduction of foreign capital is of course very +necessary for the development of the country, as is the immigration of +foreigners of the better class, but it is to be hoped that this may +take place without resulting in the impoverishment and the decay of +the leading native families. If the best people of the Republic can +continue in the future to play the part which they play at present in +politics and agriculture, the little country promises to remain one of +the most prosperous and most civilized states in tropical America.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> It should be noted that the Isthmus is bounded by the +Atlantic on the north and the Pacific on the south in Guatemala, +Salvador, and Honduras, whereas the former ocean lies east and the +latter west of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> According to figures furnished to me by Sr. Juan Lainez, +Director of Primary Instruction, there are 245,251 children between +the ages of six and fourteen in Salvador, of whom 60,860 are enrolled +in public and private schools. The average attendance is considerably +less than the number enrolled. The budget for Public Instruction for +the year 1916 was $1,205,074.44, or approximately $408,000 in U. S. +currency.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> It has been introduced into Ceylon. <i>Encyclopædia +Brittanica</i>, article on “Balsam.”</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br><span class="small">HONDURAS</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>General Description—History—Effects of Continual Civil War—Lack of +Means of Communication—Backwardness of the People—The North Coast.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The territory of Honduras may be roughly described as a triangle, the +base of which is formed by the shore of the Caribbean Sea, and the +other sides by the Guatemala-Salvador boundary on the southwest and +by that of Nicaragua on the southeast. At the apex, on the south, +there are a few miles of coast on the Gulf of Fonseca which give +the Republic its only outlet on the Pacific. The country is very +mountainous, but, unlike its neighbors, is in no part of volcanic +origin, for the chain of craters which elsewhere traverses the Isthmus +several miles inland from the coast passes by Honduras through the +conical islands of the Gulf of Fonseca, leaving the mainland entirely +outside of the belt of decomposed tufas which forms the most fertile +agricultural districts of other parts of Central America. There are +thus none of the rich eruptive plains and gently sloping mountainsides +which have encouraged the establishment of the great coffee and sugar +plantations of Guatemala and Salvador and have made it possible for +the regions near the Pacific Coast in all of the other countries to +support dense populations. The southern portion of Honduras is occupied +by a series of rugged mountain chains, where only small amounts of +land in the valleys are suitable for cultivation and the rainfall is +scanty and irregular. The first Spanish settlements were established +in this district, notwithstanding the difficulties of raising food +and transporting supplies from the outside world,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> because of the +gold and silver mines, which in colonial times made Honduras one of +the most important provinces of the Isthmus; and when the mines were +abandoned, during the years of anarchy which followed the declaration +of independence, the inhabitants still clung to their decayed villages +and supported themselves as well as they could by agriculture. North of +the continental divide, the mountains are lower and less precipitous, +and there are great stretches of open savannahs and pine-covered +hills, where the rainfall is plentiful and the grass is green at all +seasons of the year. The soil is not very fertile, except in the river +bottoms, but the region is admirably adapted for the raising of cattle. +The cities of the south and of the interior are still the center of +the political life of the country, but since the development of the +banana trade they have been rapidly outstripped in economic importance +by the newer towns created by foreign enterprise on the North Coast. +The region near the Caribbean Sea is a low plain, extending for many +miles into the interior, traversed by scattered mountain ranges and by +several large, slow-flowing rivers. Here there are many settlements of +North Americans, West Indian negroes, and natives, who are occupied +chiefly with the cultivation of bananas.</p> + +<p>The people are a mixed race. Spanish is the only language, and +Catholicism the only religion, but even in the cities there are few +persons who are entirely white, and in the country districts, although +there are almost no pure-blooded Indians except on the uncivilized +Mosquito Coast, the majority of the inhabitants have far more American +and African than European blood. The aborigines of Honduras were never +so numerous or so civilized as those of Guatemala, Salvador, and +Nicaragua, and they were exterminated after the conquest to a somewhat +greater extent than in those countries because of the hard labor in the +mines; but their characteristics are nevertheless those which are most +marked in the half-breed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span> population of today. Negro blood also is very +evident in the people in the regions north of the continental divide, +and in many places, especially near the coast, seems to predominate +over the other racial constituents. It was far easier for runaway West +Indian slaves and other immigrants of the same color to reach the +interior from the Caribbean Coast of Honduras than elsewhere in the +Isthmus, because the country back of the coast line was more open and +more attractive, to them, on account of its warm climate. What effect +this element has had on the development of the Republic it is difficult +to say, but it is possible that it may account in some measure for the +backwardness of most of the regions in which it is found.</p> + +<p>The central position of Honduras has forced her, whether she wished to +or not, to take part in nearly every international conflict which has +occurred in the Isthmus; and the continual intervention of her stronger +neighbors in her internal affairs, combined with factional hatred and +greed for the spoils of office on the part of her own citizens, have +kept the Republic in a state of chronic disorder down to the present +time. Because of the economic backwardness and the isolation of her +people, she has been affected comparatively little by the factors +which have in recent years tended to discourage internal disorder and +civil strife in Salvador. Her government has never become so strong +that it was able to repel aggression from without or to hold in check +its enemies at home, and no part of her territory, with the possible +exception of the North Coast, has reached a stage of agricultural or +industrial development sufficiently high to give rise to a class of +plantation owners or capitalists more interested in the maintenance +of peace than in the dominance of one or the other political faction. +She does not enjoy the favorable climate and the fertile soil which +have encouraged the development of the great agricultural enterprises +of the neighboring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> states, and she has been prevented from using the +very valuable natural resources which she does possess by constant +disturbances promoted both by external and by domestic enemies.</p> + +<p>Dissensions within the country broke out soon after the authority +of Spain was thrown off in 1821. The Spanish governor at Comayagua, +who had already repudiated the authority of the Captain General in +Guatemala, was opposed by the people of Tegucigalpa and several +other towns, and his attempts to establish his supremacy were the +beginning of a desultory conflict which lasted with few intermissions +for a number of years. After the establishment of the Federal Union, +Comayagua sided with the Conservatives and Tegucigalpa with the +Liberals, and an army from the latter city, led by Morazán, played +a large part in defending Salvador and in overthrowing the federal +authorities in 1829. The triumph of the revolution in Guatemala led +to the establishment of a Liberal state government in Honduras, but +this fell after the disruption of the Union, when President Carrera +of Guatemala aided the Conservatives to return to power (1840). From +that time until 1911, the Republic was kept in a state of turmoil +by a series of revolutions and civil wars, instigated and often +actively participated in by Guatemala, Salvador, or Nicaragua, and +sometimes by all three. Francisco Ferrer, supported by Carrera, held +the supreme power from 1840 to 1852, first as president and then as +commander-in-chief of the army. His successor was Trinidad Cabañas, a +Liberal, who had been in office only three years when Carrera sent an +army into the country to supplant him by Santos Guardiola. This ruler +was assassinated in 1862. His successor, allying himself to Salvador, +became involved in a war against Guatemala and Nicaragua, and the +victory of the two latter states resulted in the “election” of José +María Medina as president of Honduras. He was overthrown in 1872<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> by +the intervention of the Liberals who had just returned to power in +Guatemala and Salvador. Ponciano Leíva assumed the chief magistracy +in the following year, but was forced to relinquish it in 1876 by the +intrigues of President Barrios of Guatemala. Marco Aurelio Soto, a +man of ability and great influence, succeeded him, but he was also +forced to resign in 1883 because of the hostile attitude of Barrios, +and was succeeded by Luís Bográn, who held office until 1891. Ponciano +Leíva, who followed Bográn, was again forced to resign in 1893 by a +threatened revolution. His successor, Domingo Vásquez, was overthrown +a year later as the result of a disastrous war with Nicaragua, and +Policarpo Bonilla, an ally of President Zelaya and an ardent Liberal, +became president. After one constitutional term, he turned over his +office to General Terencio Sierra. Sierra was overthrown in 1903 by +Manuel Bonilla, who had started a revolution when the president made an +attempt to impose on the country a successor of his own choosing.</p> + +<p>In 1907, as the result of a quarrel between Bonilla and President +Zelaya of Nicaragua, the latter sent an army into Honduras to aid a +revolutionary movement headed by Miguel Dávila. Salvador, fearing the +increase of Zelaya’s influence, came to the aid of Bonilla, but was +unable to prevent the complete victory of the revolution. Zelaya now +threatened to attack Salvador, and the president of that country, +in league with Guatemala, prepared to support a counter revolution +in Honduras. A general Central American war would undoubtedly have +followed, had not the United States and Mexico jointly interposed their +mediation and suggested that all of the republics of the Isthmus send +representatives to Washington to discuss the questions at issue between +them. This was the origin of the celebrated Washington Conference. One +of the most important conventions adopted by the delegates of the five +countries provided for the complete neutralization of Honduras and the +abstention of her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> government from all participation in the conflicts +between the other governments of the Isthmus.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>This treaty had little effect for the time being on the situation of +Honduras, for nearby countries encouraged and materially assisted +a number of uprisings against the government of Dávila during the +four years following 1907. Zelaya helped his ally to suppress these, +but when the Nicaraguan dictator himself fell the fate of the +administration which he had protected in Honduras was sealed. Manuel +Bonilla invaded the Republic from the North Coast in the latter part +of 1910, and decisively defeated Dávila’s troops after a few weeks of +fighting. When it was evident that the revolutionists were gaining +the upper hand, a peace conference was arranged through the mediation +of the United States, and both factions agreed to place the control +of affairs provisionally in the hands of Dr. Francisco Bertrand. In +the election which followed, Bonilla was made president by an almost +unanimous vote. He held office until his death in 1913, when Dr. +Bertrand, the vice-president, succeeded him. The latter is still at the +head of affairs, having been reëlected in 1915.</p> + +<p>Today, more than ever before, there seems to be good reason to hope +that Honduras may enjoy a long period of peace. A large part of the +people are wearied of the continual disturbance in which they have +lived, and are beginning to distrust the factional leaders who have +hitherto been able to incite them to revolt at every unpopular or +aggressive action of the authorities. The government of Dr. Bertrand +has pursued a conciliatory policy towards all political elements, and +by treating its enemies with far less severity than has been customary +in the past has given them little excuse for rebellion. The so-called +parties of today have become little more than groups of professional +office-seekers, without programs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> or permanent organizations. While +many of the causes of discord at home have thus been removed, the +external influences which have hitherto made stable government +impossible have lost much of their importance in the last four years. +The other governments have been prevented from encouraging or allowing +the preparation in their territory of revolutionary expeditions against +Honduras, or from intervening themselves in the internal affairs of +their neighbor, by the attitude of the United States. The decisive +intervention of that Republic in the last revolution in Nicaragua +and the intimation, by a timely show of force, when outbreaks were +threatened elsewhere, that similar action might be taken if it proved +necessary, have had a salutary effect on potential revolutionists in +all of the states of the Isthmus, for there are few Central American +political leaders who desire to see the events of 1912 repeated in +their own countries.</p> + +<p>The government of Honduras has always been and is today a military +despotism where all branches of the administration are under the +absolute control of the president. Graft and favoritism are as much +in evidence as in the neighboring countries, and the public offices, +occupied exclusively by the friends of those in power, are swept clean +and refilled after each successful revolution. Nevertheless, the +country has had a series of able and patriotic presidents, who have +done what they could, with the scanty resources at their command and +in the face of very great difficulties, to encourage agriculture and +commerce. Very real progress has been made in the field of education, +and recently in the building of roads, and that more has not been +accomplished has been due to the poverty of the national treasury, the +waste of revenues by civil wars, and the deep-ingrained practice of +graft in the public offices, rather than to any lack of progressive +spirit. The idea of enriching themselves at the expense of the public +is so much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> a part of the creed of the professional politicians who +form the bulk of each party and the backbone of the revolutions +to which each successive government owes its existence that it is +impossible even for a president of the highest civic ideals to devote +the entire resources of the government to internal improvements.</p> + +<p>The effects of the disorder and misrule from which the Republic has +suffered for nearly a century are most clearly evident in the southern +departments and the interior, which are the home of the majority +of the people. The mines, in which many of the inhabitants of the +province had been employed in colonial times, were abandoned soon +after the declaration of independence, and those who were dependent +upon them were left to make a living as best they could. A large +number joined the factional armies, which were hardly disbanded during +the lifetime of the Central American Federation. Others turned their +attention to agriculture or cattle raising, but did little more than +secure a bare subsistence, working under a great disadvantage because +of the impossibility of transporting their products to a market, +and constantly facing ruin from the visits of revolutionary armies. +Those who tilled the soil confined themselves to producing small +amounts of corn, beans, and sugar from year to year for their own +consumption. Conditions were more unfavorable for the establishment of +large plantations than they had been in the other countries, because +revolutions were more continuous and more destructive, and because +there was in Honduras comparatively little land suitable for the +cultivation of coffee, indigo, or sugar for export. The raising of +cattle, which might otherwise have been carried on under very favorable +conditions, especially in the open, grassy valleys of the Olancho, was +made all but impossible by the civil wars, for no one suffers more from +the passing of a Central American army than the herdsman. There are +indeed many ranches in the interior and on the South<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> Coast at present, +but they are run carelessly and with primitive methods. The owners, +who have lost a large part of their stock time after time by military +requisitions or by confiscation, make no effort to introduce animals of +a better breed from abroad or to give their cattle more than the most +elementary care, leaving the herds to wander in an almost wild state +over great stretches of land, and only interesting themselves in them +when they have occasion to drive a few hundred head to market. A slight +change in this respect is even now noticeable, however, for some of +the landowners are beginning to pay more attention to the welfare of +their stock and to fence in and otherwise improve their properties. If +the Republic enjoys a few more years of peace, and if a better market +can be provided abroad for live animals or beef, Honduras might easily +become the most important cattle-raising country of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>Many of the mines were reopened by promoters from the United States +in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but the majority were +abandoned a few years later because of the decline of the price of +silver, which was the chief product. At the present time there are a +number of companies and individuals extracting the precious metals on +a small scale, but the only plant of real importance is that of the +New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Company at San Juancito, near +Tegucigalpa. The silver shipped by this one firm comprises almost +the only important export of the southern departments, and nearly +twenty-five per cent of the total exports of the Republic. There are +very great undeveloped mineral resources, and many new mines would +doubtless be opened if the difficulty of transporting machinery into +the interior could be overcome, and if the political conditions of the +Republic should be made sufficiently stable to encourage the investment +of foreign capital.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span></p> + +<p>One of the factors which has done most to retard the economic +development of the country is the lack of means of communication. +Tegucigalpa is now the only Central American capital which is not +connected with at least one seaport by railway. Even ox-carts +can be used only in a very few places in the interior, for the +construction of roads between the principal centers of population +has been more difficult than elsewhere in the Isthmus because of +the greater distances to be traversed and the broken character of +the country. The chief towns of the Republic are scattered from the +Guatemalan to the Nicaraguan frontier and from the North Coast to +the South, and the mountain ranges between them, although not so +high as in the neighboring countries, are often so sharp and rugged +that they are difficult to cross even on mule back. As has already +been said, moreover, the expenditure of the energies of the people +and the financial resources of the government on civil war has made +it impossible to devote much attention to internal improvements. +Transportation between the different sections, therefore, is +principally by rough mule trails, but there is nevertheless one +splendid highway, from Tegucigalpa to San Lorenzo on the Gulf of +Fonseca, which has no equal in Central America. The regular services of +motor cars and trucks on this route have greatly reduced the difficulty +of transporting freight and passengers between the capital and its port +of entry at Amapala, although the rates charged are exceedingly high, +even as compared with those charged on Central American railways.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +Similar roads are now being constructed, very slowly, from Tegucigalpa +to Comayagua and to the Olancho, but they are so expensive to build and +to maintain that it seems likely to be many years before those sections +of the country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> will enjoy communication by automobile with the capital.</p> + +<p>Tegucigalpa, with the nearby municipality of Comayagüela, is a +prosperous little town, with a thriving commerce and many families +of wealth and culture, but outside of the capital, if we except half +a dozen foreign settlements on the North Coast, there are few places +which show any signs of contact with modern civilization. The majority +of the people reside in the provincial cities, which are decayed +villages of from three to five thousand inhabitants, or in still more +desolate smaller settlements. There are also thousands of families +scattered through the mountains, living in thatched <i>ranchos</i>, and +subsisting almost entirely on the produce from their cornfields and +plantain patches. Even the more important towns are almost entirely +isolated economically and socially. A small amount of internal commerce +is carried on by means of mule trains, and the mails are carried to +almost all of the towns and villages with tolerable frequency and +regularity, but the great mass of the people have little interest +in anything outside of the community in which they live, and little +conception of a world beyond the boundaries of their own country.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that people living under such conditions should +have advanced little in civilization beyond their savage ancestors. +Even those who might have risen above their environment, had they had +the opportunity, have been kept down by almost insuperable obstacles. +There is no incentive to improve agricultural properties, or to lay up +a store of products for possible future needs, when all that a man has +is likely to be taken from him at any time, and there is no object in +raising more produce than is required for the support of the farmer’s +family when there is no market in which it can be sold or exchanged +for other goods. It is dangerous and expensive to transport products +from one part of the country to another where they may be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> needed, and +there are few articles which the peasant can purchase when he does +secure ready money. Little is manufactured in the country, and imports +from abroad, by the time they have borne the heavy freights from North +America and Europe via Panama to Amapala, the exorbitant charges of +boatmen, brokers, and customs officials at that port, and the expense +of transporting them into the interior, are beyond the reach of any but +the rich. In the interior, one may ride in some places for days without +passing a place where articles manufactured abroad can be bought, and +those commercial establishments which do exist, outside of Tegucigalpa, +carry only the most inferior textiles, machetes, and other necessities, +together with a few very cheap articles of personal adornment, at +prices from three to five times those which would be demanded for the +same things in the United States.</p> + +<p>Such conditions have inevitably condemned the people to a hand-to-mouth +existence, which has eradicated all tendency to thrift. Improvidence, +which seems to be an inborn characteristic of the Spanish-Negro-Indian +population, has been encouraged by the ease with which the corn and +beans necessary to support even a large family can be produced, for +there is an abundance of unoccupied land in most parts of the country +which can be cultivated with little labor by the primitive methods in +vogue, and which will usually produce at least two crops each year. +It would seem, therefore, that the people should lead an easy, if not +an interesting existence, but the very conditions which have made +it possible for them to secure a living with little difficulty have +contributed to make them in some ways the poorest and most miserable of +the <i>ladino</i> populations of the Isthmus. Unaccustomed to hard work +or to taking thought for the future, they rarely plant more corn during +the rainy season than is barely necessary to last them through the +dry months, so that a drought or other mishap to their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> crops causes +widespread want and suffering, aggravated by the difficulty of bringing +food from other parts of the country where it may be abundant. There is +no other inhabited part of Central America where the traveler finds it +so hard to secure provender for himself and his mule as he does in most +parts of Honduras during April and May.</p> + +<p>As might be supposed, the people are densely ignorant and +unprogressive. Schools have been established in many of the towns +and villages, but the percentage of illiteracy in the community as +a whole seems to be very high. Religion is at a low ebb, although +one section of the Republic, around Comayagua, seems to be the most +fanatically Catholic portion of Central America. Outside of the +larger towns, there are almost no priests, and the people, although +superstitious, pay little attention to the precepts of the Church. It +must not be supposed, however, that the Honduraneans are necessarily +inferior, intellectually or physically, to the inhabitants of the other +republics. They are naturally quick and intelligent, and they are said +to be as efficient laborers as any of the other Central Americans. +Foreign mining corporations in all parts of the Isthmus prefer them +to the inhabitants of any of the other countries as workmen, not only +because of their greater skill, but because of their comparative +trustworthiness. There is every prospect that they will advance rapidly +in civilization when their country is brought into closer contact with +the outside world.</p> + +<p>The economic backwardness of the country, which is in itself an effect +of the civil wars, is at the same time one of their causes. The great +majority of the people have little to lose by internal disorders, for +there are few who own more than a cheaply constructed adobe house and +a small corn patch. They welcome a revolution, with its opportunity +for plunder and for living at someone else’s expense, as an agreeable +change<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> from the monotony of their lives and an opportunity temporarily +to improve their condition. Among the upper classes in the cities, +many of whom devote themselves to politics rather than to more useful +occupations because neither large scale agricultural or commercial +enterprises nor the learned professions afford a secure income, there +is always a large number of discontented office-seekers, ready to +engage in any kind of intrigue which offers an opportunity to make a +living at the public’s expense. The organization of a revolutionary +conspiracy is thus an easy matter, and the raising of an army among +the common people is hardly more difficult. Money and arms are secured +from foreign corporations which desire special favors, and material +and moral support can almost always be obtained from one of the other +Central American governments. With so many circumstances in their +favor, it is not remarkable that the party leaders have been able +time after time to plunge the country into civil war, sacrificing its +welfare to their own ambitions and rivalries, and frustrating the +efforts made by their more patriotic and far-sighted fellow-citizens to +improve their country’s economic and social conditions.</p> + +<p>Although at least eighty per cent of her people live in the central +and southern departments, the most important portion of Honduras, from +the point of view of the outside world, is the long coast line on the +Caribbean Sea. This region is not only more productive than other parts +of the Republic, because of its fertile soil and heavy rainfall, but +it also has the immense advantage of being close to the Gulf ports of +the United States, with which it is in regular communication by means +of several lines of fast steamers. In recent years, its agricultural +possibilities have been developed on a large scale by immigrants and +capital from that country. Its ports, where English is the language +most generally used and American influence is predominant,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span> have become +prosperous commercial towns, and one of them, La Ceiba, is the most +important city in the Republic, after Tegucigalpa, and has more foreign +commerce than all of the interior districts together.</p> + +<p>The native element on the Coast is somewhat larger than in the similar +sections of Guatemala and Costa Rica, because the government has +opposed certain legal obstacles to the free immigration of West Indian +negroes. This policy has enabled other sections to profit to some +degree from the prosperity of the banana farms, because many laborers +from the interior spend longer or shorter periods working there, +earning wages far greater than they could secure at home. There is +little commercial intercourse between the two sections of the country, +however, as the roads which unite them are not suitable to any traffic +other than pack and saddle mules. Travelers frequently make the +journey from the United States to Tegucigalpa by the overland route, +and the mails are brought over regularly from the weekly steamers +which touch at Puerto Cortez, but almost none of the exportations or +importations of the interior are shipped through the Caribbean ports. +The North Coast had until lately little political connection with the +other departments of the Republic, but within the last few years the +government has established civilian officials and military forces +there, and has endeavored to strengthen the feeling of allegiance among +its inhabitants. The people of the banana district, and especially the +foreign residents, have played an important part in recent revolutions, +most of which have had one of the Caribbean ports as a base.</p> + +<p>The bananas which are the principal product of the coast are raised +and exported by numerous small growers and by a few great fruit +companies, each of which possesses its own line of steamers and +controls the agriculture and commerce of the district in which it +operates. These concerns, nominally independent and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> competing, are +generally supposed to be closely connected with, if not under the +control of, the United Fruit Company, which itself has plantations +and buys fruit at one or two places. The “United” has for some years +been on unfriendly terms with the Honduranean government, and it is +said that it prefers for this reason to operate through supposedly +unrelated subsidiaries, which are in a better position than it could +be to obtain concessions and privileges at Tegucigalpa. Most of these +fruit companies have obtained concessions from the government under +the terms of which they agree to build a railroad from the North +Coast to some point in the interior, and receive in return the right +to appropriate for their own use amounts of land varying from 250 to +500 hectares (that is, from 617.5 to 1,235 acres) for every kilometer +constructed along the main line and its branches. They are allowed to +improve the ports to which their steamers sail and to build wharves +for the use of which they charge a fee to other exporters. The object +of the government in making these contracts has been to provide means +of communication between the Atlantic ports and the interior towns, +with the idea of extending the railroads eventually to the capital, +but the fruit companies, interested merely in securing land suitable +for the planting of bananas, have usually built only those sections +of their lines which are in low, flat country, and when this has +been accomplished have turned their attention to the construction of +branches through districts of the same kind. Most of them are under +obligations to extend the railways to the interior towns within a +certain term of years, but the government seems so far to have been +unable to find means to give effect to this part of the contracts. +The desire to secure railway communication between the capital and +the North Coast has been so strong that valuable and far-reaching +privileges have often been granted, with little consideration and +with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> no effective safeguards, to companies which have promised more +than they had any intention of carrying out; and other concessions, +often actually prejudicial to the interests of the Republic, have +been secured occasionally by foreigners who have aided revolutionary +leaders in securing control of the government. Because of the lessons +learned through many hard experiences with unscrupulous promoters, +however, the native authorities are much more cautious of late about +investigating the character and financial standing of persons applying +to them for favors, and the majority of the contracts recently entered +into have been more equitable in their terms and more explicit in their +provisions than those of former years.</p> + +<p>The North Coast not only exports bananas, but also small quantities +of lumber, cattle, rubber, and other products. Special concessions +have been granted from time to time for cutting mahogany and cedar, +providing usually that the government shall receive five dollars, +United States currency, for every tree; and contracts have been made +occasionally with foreigners for the development of other natural +resources. Since the beginning of the European war many of the +planters, who have been unable to export their bananas because of the +withdrawal of the steamers which had hitherto carried them to the +United States, have turned their attention to the breeding of cattle +and hogs, which thrive on the otherwise useless fruit, and which are +readily sold either in Honduras itself or in the neighboring countries. +This new industry has saved many of the foreigners along the Coast from +the ruin which in 1914 seemed inevitable, and there is every reason to +suppose that it will become more and more important in the future.</p> + +<p>The commercial relations of Honduras with the outside world are small +as compared with some of the neighboring countries. The chief exports, +and almost the only ones which reach large amounts, are the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> bananas +from the foreign-owned plantations on the North Coast and the silver +from the one large mine already mentioned. The coffee crop, cultivated +by primitive methods on small patches of ground, little more than +suffices to supply the local demand. Other products,—hides, lumber, +cocoanuts, etc.,—are shipped abroad in comparatively small amounts. +The imports differ little in character from those of the other Central +American countries. Their amount is small because the people have no +crop which provides them with money for the purchase of foreign goods. +The imports somewhat exceed the exports at the present time because of +the railway material and mining machinery which is being brought in by +foreign investors, and because a certain amount of goods is undoubtedly +being paid for every year under present conditions by the shipment +abroad of silver coin. By far the largest part of the Republic’s trade +is with the United States, and more than half of it is carried on +through the North Coast ports, which have regular steamer connection +with New Orleans and Mobile. The interior and the South Coast, which +have no outlet at the present time except through Amapala, have few +exports, and can buy little from foreign countries because of their +poverty and because the expense of transporting goods from Amapala to +the capital and from there to the interior towns is so great that most +imported articles are far beyond the reach of the mass of the people.</p> + +<p>In spite of the poverty which characterizes Honduras today, her future +is not necessarily less promising than that of other parts of Central +America. Her people are not backward because they are degenerate, +but because they have been prevented from developing the natural +resources of their country by the lack of means of transportation +and by continual civil war. As has already been stated, they are by +no means lacking in intelligence or ability. The country itself,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +perhaps, does not enjoy the natural advantages which have brought +about the prosperity of some of its coffee-growing neighbors, but it +nevertheless possesses great fertile tracts which are as yet hardly +explored, and great undeveloped mineral resources, which will be opened +to the world by the building of railways and the investment of foreign +capital, if the present era of peace continues. There is no section +of the Isthmus more favorably situated for banana growing, for cattle +raising, or for mining than are the northern departments of Honduras. +The Caribbean Coast, and the great plains and open valleys tributary +to its ports, which are already more important commercially than the +older settlements of the interior and the southern departments, seem +likely in the near future to become the home of the larger portion of +the Republic’s inhabitants. If this occurs, and if the railways already +under construction are extended through this region into the interior, +there will be no other country of Central America so easily accessible +from the United States and Europe, and none which should enjoy closer +commercial and cultural relations with the outside world.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> For a more complete discussion of the Washington +Conference, see <a href="#CHAPTER_X">Chapter X</a>.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> The rates charged are equivalent to $10 in gold for each +passenger, and $1.20 to $1.60 per hundred pounds for freight. The +distance is eighty-one miles.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br><span class="small">COSTA RICA</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Concentration of the Population in One Small District—Predominance +of Spanish Blood—Social Conditions Resulting from Absence of Indian +Laborers—Political Tranquillity—History—Character of the Government +Today—Foreign Commerce and Means of Transportation.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Although the territory of Costa Rica is approximately 23,000 square +miles in area, nearly all of her four hundred thousand inhabitants, +with the exception of some small groups of Indians and negroes who +take no part in the political life of the country, live on one small +plateau, from three to four thousand feet above sea level, surrounded +by the volcanoes and ranges of the Central American <i>cordillera</i>. +The population is so dense in this <i>meseta central</i>, as it is +called, that it is seldom possible to walk more than a few minutes +without passing a house. San José, Cartago, Heredia, and Alajuela, +the four principal cities, are connected with one another by a single +cart road less than thirty miles in length, and few of the smaller +towns and villages are more than a day’s walk from the capital. +Almost every acre, in the valley and on the sides of the mountains, +is used for agricultural purposes. The people have never shown any +inclination to expand into the mountainous country to the southward, +where communication with the towns would be rather difficult, or +into the hot and insalubrious regions on the coasts. The Atlantic +seaboard, as in the other Central American countries, is given over to +banana plantations, owned and worked by foreigners; and the provinces +bordering on the Pacific are sparsely inhabited by an unprogressive +race who are largely of Indian descent. Both of these districts, +because of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> their products, are of importance economically, but the +social and political life of the country has its center in the cool and +fertile <i>meseta central</i>.</p> + +<p>Here there has grown up a nation which is entirely different from any +of the other Central American republics. The Spanish pioneers who +founded the city of Cartago in the latter part of the sixteenth century +were unable from the outset to establish a colony similar to those in +other parts of the Isthmus, because there was no dense agricultural +population to be divided up as laborers among the settlers. Elsewhere +the Indians, already living in large towns and devoting themselves +to agriculture, had been forced with surprisingly little difficulty +to work for their new masters; but in Costa Rica there were only a +few scattered tribes, in a low stage of civilization, who cultivated +the soil in a rude way simply to supplement their natural food supply +obtained by hunting. Unaccustomed to steady labor, they were not +promising material for a serf class like that existing at the time +in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The settlers nevertheless introduced +the <i>repartimiento</i> system immediately after their arrival in +their new home, notwithstanding the royal order forbidding further +enslavement of the Indians, and they are said to have treated those +natives who were within reach with even greater cruelty than had been +practiced in the other colonies.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> In consequence of this oppression, +the numbers of the aborigines decreased very rapidly, and the settlers +found themselves forced more and more to do their own work, in spite of +their efforts to replenish the supply of slaves with war captives from +Talamanca and other unsubjugated districts. Indian labor seems never to +have been a considerable factor in the economic life of the country.</p> + +<p>At the present time there are few remnants of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> aboriginal tribes +in the interior, although Indian blood is still very evident in the +people of Guanacaste and other outlying districts. The inhabitants of +the central plateau are distinctly Spanish in race and civilization. +The white families, moreover, do not seem to be of the same type as +those of Guatemala and the other countries. The majority of the people +of Costa Rica, it is commonly said, are descended from <i>Gallegos</i>, +one of the most law-abiding and hard-working of the numerous races +that occupy the Iberian Peninsula, while those of the other countries +are predominantly Andalusian. However this may be, the traveler cannot +avoid noticing a certain dissimilarity in appearance and in customs and +personal traits, between the prominent families of San José and those +of other Central American capitals.</p> + +<p>The absence of a large Indian population had an economic and social +effect which can hardly be exaggerated. The unfortunate settlers of +Costa Rica, throughout the colonial period, were in a condition which +caused them to be pitied by all of their neighbors. Instead of living +in large towns, supported by tributes brought in by the Indians of +their <i>encomiendas</i>, the majority of the creoles found themselves +forced to settle in the country, where each family raised by its own +labor everything that it consumed. The harvests, as Governor Diego de +la Haya reported in 1719, were gathered “with the personal labor of +the poor Spanish settlers, because of there being very few slaves in +all the province.”<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> The colony was so poor that the name Costa Rica +became a standing joke. Although there was plenty of food, clothes and +other articles of European manufacture could be secured only with the +greatest difficulty, because there were no exports with which they +could be purchased. The people were almost completely shut off from the +outside world. As those who could do so left the country, and there was +no immigration, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> population grew very slowly. The little community +was, however, spared the problems arising from the presence of a large +class of laborers of another race, and the Spaniards, although they +sank into a state of dense ignorance and were forced to adopt most +primitive ways of living, acquired industrious habits which still +distinguish them from their neighbors. Each settler cultivated a small +amount of land, sufficient for the support of himself and his family, +and was prevented from extending his holdings by his inability to +employ laborers and by the fact that he had no market for his products. +With the growth of the population, the entire <i>meseta central</i> +eventually became occupied by little farms. There were a few wealthy +and influential families, who had been given special privileges by the +Spanish government, but they never occupied the dominant position which +the aristocracy of Guatemala and Nicaragua had been able to assume, and +the land which they held never amounted to more than a small portion of +the cultivated area of the colony.</p> + +<p>In colonial times, a large part of the land belonged to municipalities +rather than to individuals. As the population expanded, it became +customary to give to the founders of each new village a tract of land +to be held for the common use, part of it to be divided among the +inhabitants from time to time according to their ability to cultivate +it, and part to be held as pasture or forest. In 1841 President Braulio +Carillo ordered that a large portion of these <i>tierras ejidales</i> +should become the property of those who were at the time cultivating +them. This decree was later annulled, but a similar law was passed in +1848, permitting the cultivators to buy for a small price such parts +of the common lands as they had fenced in and were using.<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> These +measures resulted in a great increase in the number of small holdings.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span></p> + +<p>The large uncultivated tracts owned by the central government have been +sold at low prices to anyone who wished to buy them, or have been given +away as premiums to encourage the planting of coffee or cacao. Many +persons acquired large estates in this manner, especially during the +last years of the nineteenth century, and a class of large landholders +has thus gradually grown up. These have in most cases converted their +properties into coffee plantations or cattle ranches, but many large +tracts have never been brought under cultivation, because their owners +have lacked the enterprise and the capital to do so. When the quantity +of public lands in the more accessible parts of the country began to +grow small, attempts were made to check the reckless sale of them to +persons who did not intend to turn them to account agriculturally, and +to encourage their division into small holdings. The amount sold to +any one purchaser was gradually reduced, and in 1909 a law was passed +giving each head of a family the right to claim fifty hectares of +government land, free of cost, provided that he actually settle upon +it and cultivate it. The greater part of the more favorably situated +districts, however, have now passed into private hands, and the people +show little desire to undertake the conquest of the inaccessible +country outside of the <i>meseta central</i>. The establishment of new +plantations and the opening of means of communication require more +money and a larger labor supply than the natives of the country can +provide. For these reasons, the legislation intended to increase the +amount of the Republic’s territory used for agricultural purposes has +not been very successful.</p> + +<p>Although there are now many large plantations scattered here and there +through the country, the greater part of the <i>meseta central</i> +is still divided into small farms. In the year 1906, there had been +inscribed in the public land register 110,201 different properties, of +which the average value was less than five hundred<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> dollars American +gold.<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Even when allowance is made for the fact that there are many +foreigners and rich natives, each of whom possesses a large number of +separate properties, it is evident that an overwhelming proportion of +Costa Rican families own their own homes. There is in fact practically +no landless class, with the exception of a few thousands of laborers in +the cities.</p> + +<p>The political development of this compact community of white peasants +has necessarily been very different from that of the neighboring +countries, where a small upper class of Spanish descent had ruled and +exploited many times its number of ignorant Indians and half-breeds. +In Costa Rica the fact that nearly all of the inhabitants were of the +same stock and had inherited the same civilization has always made the +country more democratic, and has forced the class which controlled the +government to consider to some extent the wishes and interests of the +masses. The development of the Republic, unlike that of its neighbors, +has for this reason been toward rather than away from the realization +of the republican ideals held by the framers of the first Central +American constitutions. The small landholders have always exerted a +strong influence on the side of peace and stable government, for they +have rarely joined in attempted revolutions, and have shown themselves +inclined rather to take the part of the constituted authorities when +disaffected politicians endeavored to plunge the country into civil +war. Costa Rica has seen none of the protracted and bloody struggles +which have darkened the history of the other republics, for the violent +changes of government which have occurred from time to time have +been effected rather by military conspiracies in the capital than by +campaigns in the field.</p> + +<p>The geographical situation of the Republic, moreover,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> has enabled it +to escape from the outside influences which until very recent years +made the establishment of stable government almost impossible in other +parts of Central America. At the southern extremity of the Isthmus, +separated from its nearest neighbors by several days’ travel through +practically uninhabited territory, it has been able to hold aloof from +the quarrels between the other republics, and has never been forced +to submit to their intervention in its internal affairs. Costa Rica +separated herself at an early date from the Central American Union, +and has taken little part in the attempts for its restoration, for her +statesmen have been unwilling to yoke their destinies with those of the +turbulent communities north of them.</p> + +<p>During the first years of Central American independence, the war +between the imperialist and republican parties in other parts of +the Isthmus had its counterpart in Costa Rica in a short struggle +between Cartago and Heredia, which favored annexation to the Mexican +Empire, and San José and Alajuela, which opposed it. The victory of +the republicans led to the removal of the capital from Cartago to +San José, where it has since remained. For nearly half a century the +government was controlled by a few powerful families, among whom the +most prominent were the Montealegres and the Moras, and the number +of persons who participated in public affairs was very limited. The +first president, Juan Mora, was successful in organizing a fairly +efficient administration and in promoting the almost non-existent +commerce of the country, and Braulio Carillo, who took charge of the +government in 1835, after two years of agitation and disorder, carried +on the policy of his predecessor and laid the basis for the present +prosperity of the country by encouraging the production and exportation +of coffee, which rapidly became the Republic’s chief crop. He also +definitely established the capital at San José, although to do so it +was necessary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> to put down an armed uprising by the other towns, which +desired that the seat of the government should move from one place to +another. Carillo was defeated for re-election in 1837, but he regained +his position by a <i>coup d’état</i> in 1838 and for four years +exercised dictatorial powers. During this period, the administration +was reformed and made more centralized, the courts were reorganized and +a penal code was drawn up, and Costa Rica’s share of the debt incurred +by the federal government was paid in full. Carillo was overthrown by +a bloodless revolution in 1842, when Francisco Morazán, landing on the +Pacific Coast, won over the chiefs of the army which the president sent +against him, and occupied the capital. The victor had hardly reached +San José when he began to raise troops and money for an attempt to +re-establish the federal union, from the presidency of which he had +recently been ejected by his enemies. Angered by this attempt to force +them into a war of aggression on their neighbors, the people deposed +Morazán and put him to death.</p> + +<p>During the seven years which followed this revolution, continual +quarrels between political factions and constant interference by the +military leaders made it impossible for any administration long to +maintain itself in office. In 1849, however, with the election of +Juan Rafael Mora, another era of stable government commenced. The +army was reduced to obedience, and order was restored throughout the +Republic. During this administration, Costa Rica took the leading part +in the war against Walker in Nicaragua. Mora was overthrown in 1859 +by a conspiracy in San José, and two military chiefs named Blanco and +Salazar, who were allied to the Montealegre and Tinoco families, came +into power. Through their influence, José María Montealegre was made +president. Mora, who had attempted an unsuccessful counter revolution, +was put to death, and the members of his family were exiled.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> The +severity of the government’s action aroused much bitter feeling, but +civil war was avoided by a compromise, as the result of which Jesús +Jiménez was elected president in 1863 and José María Castro in 1866. +The latter was deposed by a pronunciamento of Blanco and Salazar in +1868, and Jiménez, as first designate, or vice-president, again took +charge of the government. The new president made a determined effort +to destroy the control which the army had been exercising over the +administration, by removing Blanco and Salazar from their commands and +forcing the other officers to obey the civil authorities. In doing +this, however, he deprived the small group which had controlled the +government for so many years of its chief support.</p> + +<p>Jiménez was deposed in 1870. A handful of men boldly entered the +artillery barracks, concealed in an ox-cart under a load of fodder, +and seized them, and with them the control of the city, almost +without bloodshed. The leader of the revolution was Tomás Guardia, an +army officer, who, unlike Blanco and Salazar, had little political +connection with the great families. This man was the real ruler of +Costa Rica from 1870 until his death in 1882, although he did not at +once assume the presidency. His government was a repressive military +dictatorship, in which his own personal followers held all of the +principal offices. The great families, whose leaders were exiled and +deprived of their property, were reduced almost to insignificance as +a political factor, and have never entirely regained their former +influence. Guardia was succeeded after his death by his close +associate, Próspero Fernández, who was at the time in command of the +army. When the latter died in 1885, his son-in-law, Bernardo Soto, took +charge of the administration as first designate, and caused himself to +be elected president for the term beginning in 1886. These two rulers +did much to improve the administration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> and the government finances, +both of which Guardia had left badly disorganized. The administration +of Soto was especially notable because of the work of Mauro Fernández, +his Minister of Public Instruction, who for the first time established +free and compulsory education throughout the Republic. The small group +which had been in power, however, had made many enemies, among whom +the most powerful were the clergy. The opposition grew so strong, as +the election of 1889 approached, that Soto found himself unable to +impose his own candidate on the nation without incurring serious danger +of revolution. He consequently allowed the first comparatively free +and popular election which the Republic had ever known, in which José +Joaquín Rodríguez, the candidate of the clerical party, was victorious. +Many of the partisans of the government desired to retain control of +the administration by the use of force, but they were prevented from +doing so by the firmness of the president and by the attitude of the +country people, who rose in arms and prepared to march on the capital +to enforce the verdict which they had given at the polls.</p> + +<p>Rodríguez severely repressed all opposition, and governed during the +greater part of his term without the aid of Congress. In 1894 he forced +the legislature to elect his friend Rafael Yglesias to succeed him. +During the latter’s administration, the currency was reformed and +placed on a gold basis, and the commercial and agricultural development +of the country was promoted in many other ways. Yglesias was re-elected +in 1898, but in 1902 he turned over the chief magistracy to Ascensión +Esquivel, who had been selected by a compromise between the government +and its opponents.</p> + +<p>With the election of Esquivel began an era of republican and +constitutional government which was unprecedented in the history of +Central America. Since<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> 1902, the Republic has enjoyed an almost +complete freedom from internal disorder, with perfect liberty of the +press, and genuine, if somewhat corrupt, elections. Cleto González +Víquez, who followed Esquivel in 1906, and Ricardo Jiménez, president +from 1910 to 1914, were chosen by a majority of the voters in contests +in which practically all of the adult male population of the Republic +took part. Alfredo González, Jiménez’s successor, was placed in office +by Congress in 1914, after no candidate had received a majority of the +popular vote. The legality of his election was considered doubtful, +but he remained at the head of the government until January, 1917. His +advocacy of radical financial reforms, including a direct property tax +and a heavy progressive income tax, aroused much hostility among the +wealthy classes and alienated several of the more influential political +leaders, with the result that he was overthrown by an almost bloodless +<i>golpe de cuartel</i> engineered by Federico Tinoco, the Minister of +War. The latter was formally elected president of the Republic on April +1, 1917. Each of the recent rulers of Costa Rica has devoted himself +with enlightened patriotism to promoting the welfare of the country, +and great advances have been made in reorganizing the finances, in +safeguarding the public health, and in providing for the education of +the masses of the people.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Costa Rica now enjoy more stable and more nearly +democratic political institutions than any of their Central American +neighbors. Constitutional government works in practice, and the letter +of the law is generally respected, even though its spirit is often +ingeniously circumvented. The president walks through the streets much +like a private citizen, without fear of assassination or of being +captured by his enemies, and the leaders of the opposition carry on +their propaganda in San José without hindrance or persecution, and at +times are even called in to consult<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> with the president on matters of +great importance. The press criticises the administration fearlessly +and at times scurrilously, and animated political discussions may +be heard every day on the principal corner of the main street of +the capital. The elections are participated in by about as large a +proportion of the entire population as in the United States.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> If one +candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, he becomes president, +and if no absolute choice is made by the people, the question goes +to the Congress, where it is decided by intrigues and deals between +the political leaders. The administration is able to exert a decided +influence in the selection of its successor through its control of the +patronage and the army; but the final decision rests with the people +or the popularly elected deputies, and it is not probable that any +president would resort now to the forceful methods by which official +candidates were placed in office a few decades ago. The only break in +the peaceful development of constitutional government since 1902 was +the <i>coup d’état</i> of 1917. That the dissatisfied party should +have chosen violent means for obtaining control of the government, +instead of waiting for the election which would have been held within +a year, must be regretted by every friend of Costa Rica, but this very +event nevertheless gave the people of the Republic an opportunity +to show their capacity for self-government. Nothing could be more +characteristic of Costa Rica than the whole-hearted co-operation of +all political elements in the organization of the new administration, +without either bloodshed or persecution.</p> + +<p>Government by the people, however, has not really advanced so far as +the number of votes cast at the elections would seem to indicate, for +the great majority of the Republic’s inhabitants still take little +interest in political affairs. So long as order is maintained and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +their property rights are secure, they do not care particularly which +group of politicians is in control and they are guided in voting more +by the inducements held out by the rival candidates than by their +judgments. Personalities rather than questions of national policy are +the issue, for it is rarely that any candidate makes his campaign upon +a definite political or economic platform. Between the elections, +public opinion, although far more influential than in any of the other +Central American countries, exercises little real control over the +policy of the government. The newspapers are very widely read, and the +people as a whole are remarkably well informed about current events, +but the press nevertheless has comparatively little power, because no +one believes in its impartiality or its incorruptibility.</p> + +<p>The choice of candidates for public office and the conduct of the +government are left almost entirely to a small number of landed +proprietors, lawyers, physicians, and professional politicians residing +in San José. These owe their influence partly to social position and +wealth, but more especially to education; for although the members +of the old principal families are still prominent, there are also +many influential leaders who have risen from the lower classes by +availing themselves of the educational advantages which the Republic +offers to all its citizens. The ruling class is divided into a number +of small political cliques, each of which professes allegiance to a +party chief. As might be expected in an aristocracy composed chiefly +of the leading people of a town of thirty thousand inhabitants, ties +of blood and personal feeling play a very large part in the formation +of these groups, especially as the prominent families are very large, +and each is closely related with the others by intermarriage. A leader +is often able to derive the major portion of his strength from his +relatives alone, for the aid of ten or fifteen active and popular +sons or sons-in-law, together with that of several<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> score of brothers +and cousins and nephews, is not to be despised in a country where +there are at most only a few hundred active politicians. Besides his +relatives and his intimate friends, however, each party chief has also +a number of followers who are attached to him by the hope of obtaining +employment in one of the government offices, for a very large number +of persons among the upper class have little occupation aside from +politics, and little income beyond that derived from official positions +when their friends are in power.</p> + +<p>The various leaders may have different political ideals and economic +theories, which to some extent influence their relations to one +another, but it can hardly be said that any of the present parties have +definite principles or programs. Each desires primarily to win the +elections in order to put its followers in office; and the platforms +and the utterances of the leaders are shaped with this end in view, +with the result that they receive little attention and less credence. +When it is necessary in order to obtain control of the government, +leaders of widely different points of view will join forces without any +suspicion of inconsistency, and it is no very uncommon occurrence for a +prominent member of one party to join another and very different group, +because of a quarrel with his former associates or simply because the +change improves his chances of advancement. Sectional jealousy is no +longer a force in politics, since the capital has so far outstripped +the other towns in population and wealth, and religious questions are +rarely injected into the campaign. Attempts have been made to organize +a popular party among the laborers and peasants, and this party has +achieved some notable successes at the polls, but its policy when +in power is very similar to that of the other factions. There is in +reality little ground for political rivalry between the different +classes of the population.</p> + +<p>The so-called parties have so little permanent organization<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> that +they can hardly be said to be in existence during the greater part +of the presidential term. About a year before an election, the heads +of the stronger groups, who are often perennial candidates, begin to +organize their own followers, and to bargain for the support of the +less powerful leaders, with a view to inaugurating their campaigns. +Committees and clubs are organized in each town and village, and +desperate efforts are made to secure the support of influential +citizens who are not permanently affiliated with any party, and to +arouse the interest of the voters in general. Processions and serenades +are organized to show the popularity of each candidate, and orators +are sent to every town and village on Sunday afternoons to entertain +the voters with abuse and denunciation of the rival aspirants. Party +newspapers are established, but they confine themselves to printing +long lists of local committees and adherents and to describing meetings +and ovations. One may search their columns in vain for serious +discussion of the issues of the campaign. Several of the regular +newspapers take sides more or less openly, while others maintain an +ostensible neutrality, but the press as a whole seems to have little +influence over the voters. As the contest progresses, feeling runs +higher and higher among the politicians, and the voters become first +interested and then excited. The meetings and ovations, the continual +political arguments on the streets, resulting in an occasional riot, +and the wholesale treating by the party workers in the drink-shops, +distract the attention of the people from their ordinary occupations, +and temporarily disorganize the entire community. Elections are +therefore looked forward to with a certain amount of dread by the more +respectable classes.</p> + +<p>Since the adoption of the law of 1913, the President, the members of +Congress, and the municipal <i>regidores</i> have been chosen by direct +popular vote instead of by electoral colleges. The balloting takes +place on the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> day in all parts of the country. Each citizen must +inscribe his choice in a book where all may read it, and every party +has representatives at the polls to secure fair play. This system +prevents fraudulent counting, but it also encourages corruption and +the exercise of improper influence on the individual elector. Bribery +is practiced openly and on a large scale by all parties, and the voter +is often prevented from exercising his own discretion in casting his +ballot by the fear of offending the local authorities or other powerful +personages in his village. The amount of intimidation and coercion, +however, is insignificant as compared with that in the other republics, +and attempts to influence voters by such means are generally condemned +by public opinion. The president is prevented by the constitution from +seeking his own re-election, but one of his associates is usually +frankly supported by the administration as the official candidate, +and thus has an immense advantage over his opponents, even though +recent presidents have refrained from using the army and the police to +interfere with their enemies’ campaigns or to keep the adherents of the +opposition party away from the polls on election day.</p> + +<p>The large supplies of money which are perhaps the most important factor +in the campaign are obtained by contributions from members of the +party, who hope to obtain offices for themselves or their friends in +the event of a victory, and from native and foreign business men who +desire special concessions. The banks of San José usually assist one +candidate actively though secretly, and considerable amounts are also +obtained from certain rich speculators, in return for favors contingent +on the election of the candidate whom they support. Consequently a +new administration comes into office bound by numerous more or less +improper pledges, and burdened by a considerable party debt. After +the election of 1913-14, the victorious group liquidated a portion of +its financial obligations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> by a levy on all office-holders, who were +presumably the chief beneficiaries of the party triumph.</p> + +<p>The choice of the voters does not always inspire the respect which +it would in a democracy more conscious of its power and more jealous +of its rights. The people of Costa Rica have more than once shown +that they were ready to compel respect for their will when their +interests were at stake, but as a rule they are disposed to recognize +any administration which controls the capital, regarding civil war, +with its attendant destruction of crops and livestock, as a greater +evil than submission to an illegal government. It is not strange, +therefore, that a defeated faction should occasionally attempt to +seize the barracks in San José by force or by strategy, or that the +president should exact conditions from an opponent victorious in +an election before turning over to him the command of the military +forces. No candidate opposed by the government has ever obtained the +presidency without either making a compromise with his predecessor or +else overcoming the latter’s resistance by force, for even the freely +elected presidents of the last decade have in every case had the +approval, if not the active support, of the previous administration. +The strength of the government, however, in reality rests far less upon +the army than upon the disapproval of the people as a whole of any +attempt to displace the constituted authorities in a disorderly manner, +for the army itself is almost insignificant as a military force. There +are a few troops in the barracks of the capital, but elsewhere order +is maintained entirely by the civil police. It is a proud boast of the +Costa Ricans that their government employs more school teachers than +soldiers.</p> + +<p>The President of the Republic has an almost absolute control over the +machinery of the government. He not only appoints all administrative +officers, but also in practice exercises a dominant influence over +the deliberations of the Congress, where his ministers initiate the +most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> important legislation. Even when his personal followers do not +have a majority in the Chamber, he can usually command one by the +use of patronage or of money from the treasury, which is often paid +to the Deputies in the form of fees for professional services to the +government. As party lines break down soon after an election, the +minor political leaders who make up the legislative body are apt to be +influenced less by hostility to the administration than by a desire +to maintain their following in their own districts by securing public +works for their towns and employment for their constituents. In times +of emergency, moreover, the Congress itself frequently vests the +President with practically absolute power, as it did when the country +was passing through the economic crisis which followed the outbreak of +the European war.</p> + +<p>The Judicial Department, however, is far more nearly independent of +the Executive. The Supreme Court, which is elected by the Congress +every four years during the political slack season in the middle +of the presidential term, appoints and removes all subordinate +magistrates throughout the Republic. Politics enters very little into +the composition of this body, partly because of the strong sentiment +in favor of a non-partisan judiciary, and partly because party lines +are almost non-existent at the time when the judges are chosen. The +subordinate positions are also saved from the spoils system which rules +in other departments of the government, although it is inevitable that +purely personal considerations should enter to some extent into the +appointments. The administration of justice is on the whole prompt +and efficient, although the magistrates are not always distinguished +for erudition or ability and those on the supreme bench sometimes +show a human desire to make sure of their re-election as the time for +this draws near, by keeping on good terms with the President and with +the members of Congress. They are generally honest and impartial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> in +their decisions, however, and their incorruptibility, with hardly any +exceptions, is undoubted. That not only the people themselves but also +the foreigners in the country have confidence in the courts is shown by +the fact that there has been a conspicuous lack of the complaints of +denial of justice which have complicated the relations of some other +Latin American republics.</p> + +<p>The local administration is highly centralized, but the people of +each district enjoy a certain amount of local self-government through +their municipalities. The representatives of the central government +are the executive officers of these bodies,<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> and the Department +of <i>Gobernación</i> has a final veto over all their acts, but +the <i>regidores</i> are freely elected by the people of each town +and village, and have very wide powers in matters of purely local +interest. The lack of funds, however, arising from the fact that the +municipalities have no source of revenue except certain license fees +and fees for public services, forces them to leave to the central +government many of the functions which are assigned to them by the +constitution, and especially the support and direction of almost +all the more costly public works, and at the same time makes them +politically subservient to the President and the Congress, which can +provide or withhold appropriations for local purposes. President +Alfredo González attempted to make the local units truly autonomous, +by authorizing them, in the fiscal legislation passed just before +his fall, to levy direct taxes upon their inhabitants by adding a +percentage to the national direct taxes.</p> + +<p>The central government itself, thanks to a long period of internal +peace and to the patriotism and ability of the men who have been at +its head, has reached a high degree of efficiency and of usefulness to +the community.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> Private rights are generally well protected, and the +oppression of private citizens by the officials, while not unknown, +is unusual. The security of persons and property is guaranteed by a +well-organized police force, a fairly efficient judiciary, and an +excellent land registry system. In spite of the difficulties presented +by the mountainous character of the country and by six months of heavy +rains every year, the Republic possesses a fair system of highways, +although in this matter there is still room for improvement. The +government-owned and operated railway from San José to the Pacific +Coast compares favorably, at least in the service rendered, with those +controlled by foreign corporations in other parts of Central America. +There are sewers in the larger towns, and aqueducts supply healthful +drinking water even in the small villages. The public health is also +protected by a rigid quarantine service, by a veterinary service which +inspects live cattle and meat, and by the regulation of contagious +diseases and prostitution; and the government employs forty physicians +in various parts of the country who treat the poor in their districts +free of charge. Many of the public services, because of the lack of +experience and training on the part of the officials, and because of +the poverty of the government, are still in an unsatisfactory state, +but they at least show an earnest desire on the part of the authorities +to promote the welfare of the country.</p> + +<p>During the last three years, remarkable progress has been made in +improving sanitary conditions. The campaign against the hookworm, +inaugurated in 1914 with the aid of the International Health Commission +of the Rockefeller Foundation, already promises to effect an +incalculable change in the condition of the country people, an immense +number of whom suffer from this disease. The representative of the +International Health Commission has been made the head of an official +department under the Ministry of Police, and all local health officers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +and police officials have been placed under his orders to assist him +in the examination and treatment of patients and the execution of +sanitary measures designed to check further spread of the disease. At +the same time, he has been made Director of the School Medical Corps, +in which capacity he has done much to secure proper care for the health +of the children and to improve hygienic conditions in the schools. +With the earnest co-operation of the government, notable results have +been obtained even in the short time which has elapsed since the work +was begun. It is impossible to estimate what the final effect of work +such as this will be, for the extinction of the hookworm alone, to +say nothing of the other results of the campaign of medical education +and sanitary improvement which has been undertaken, cannot but have a +lasting effect on the happiness of the people and on their capacity for +labor.</p> + +<p>The field of activity in which the rulers of Costa Rica have perhaps +shown the most interest has been that of education. Its school system +gives the Republic one of its strongest claims to be ranked among the +progressive communities of the world. The nation which a century ago +was so illiterate that it was difficult to find enough men who could +read and write to fill the public offices, now provides free and +obligatory instruction for all of its citizens, with a primary school +in every settlement where there are thirty children to attend it. In +1915, there were 1,108 teachers and 34,703 children in the public +schools.<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> New buildings and equipment are being secured as fast +as possible, and new courses of technical and agricultural training +are being introduced everywhere. There are five institutions for the +secondary education of both sexes, two in San José, and one each in +Cartago, Heredia, and Alajuela, offering instruction similar to that +given in American schools. These have somewhat over eight hundred +students in all. The latter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> are chiefly from the middle classes in +the towns, but the brighter children from the country schools are +also encouraged and financially aided in continuing their education +after they complete the primary course. A national normal school has +recently been established in Heredia to provide teachers for the entire +system. Besides the government institutions, there are schools of +law, pharmacy, music, fine arts, textiles, agriculture, and domestic +science, most of them in San José, which receive some aid from the +treasury. How high the percentage of literacy is, is attested by the +large circulation of newspapers in the country districts.</p> + +<p>An examination of the work of the government shows that the men who +control the destinies of the Republic, however regrettable their +political methods sometimes are, do not seek power solely for their own +profit. If there is a large amount of favoritism and graft in official +circles, there is also much progressive spirit and true patriotism. +Most of the government employees are appointed for political reasons, +but they ordinarily perform their duties with as much energy and zeal +as can be expected in tropical America. Public money is often misused, +and improper considerations sometimes govern the letting of contracts, +but public works are nevertheless well executed. Wholesale theft from +the treasury, which is too often regarded with cynical indifference in +other parts of the Isthmus, would not be tolerated by public opinion in +Costa Rica.</p> + +<p>Costa Rica’s freedom from internal disorder has enabled her to +attain a prosperity which has entirely transformed the backward and +poverty-stricken community of colonial days. In 1821, her people had +almost no means of communication with the outside world. They produced +nothing which they could export, and they were separated from either +coast by several days of difficult and dangerous traveling. Commerce +with the outside world, however, began soon after the declaration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> of +independence with the development of the growing of coffee, which was +exported for the first time in 1835.<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The importance of this crop +increased rapidly, especially after the construction of a cart road, +which was completed in 1846, to the Pacific port of Puntarenas. The +Costa Rica berry soon acquired and still holds a high reputation in the +European markets.</p> + +<p>The exporters at first encountered great difficulty and expense in +shipping their product, which they had to send around Cape Horn, or +later by the expensive route of the Panama Railway. The government, +therefore, early endeavored to provide more adequate means of +transportation. In 1871, work on a line from Puerto Limón on the +Caribbean Sea to the capital was begun by Mr. Minor C. Keith. After +difficulties which seemed almost insuperable had been overcome and +thousands of lives had been sacrificed in the deadly lowlands of the +East Coast, through train service to San José was finally opened in +1890, and the Republic found itself for the first time in direct +communication with the United States and Europe. The railway, which +still carries the greater part of the imports and exports, was leased +in 1905 for a period of ninety-five years to the Northern Railway of +Costa Rica, a concern owned by the United Fruit Company.</p> + +<p>It was while building this road that Mr. Keith began to plant the +banana farms which later developed into the enormous Caribbean +properties of the United Fruit Company. Costa Rica still leads the +Central American republics in the production of this fruit. Almost +the entire East Coast has now been brought under cultivation, and +English-speaking communities of Americans and Jamaica negroes have +grown up everywhere along the railroad and its numerous branches. +In spite of the ravages of the disease which has attacked the older +plantations, more than eleven million bunches of bananas were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> exported +from Limón and its tributary ports in 1913,<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>—a quantity the +immensity of which can only be grasped when we realize that it would +provide approximately a dozen bananas for every man, woman, and child +in the United States. The Fruit Company is of course very powerful in +this region, where even the police duties of the central government are +to a great extent exercised through its agents. In the interior, the +“United” has less influence. It has many friends as well as enemies +among the party leaders, and it has not encountered so intense a spirit +of jealousy and hostility towards foreign enterprises as is found in +certain of the other republics; but whatever efforts it has made to +influence the outcome of presidential and congressional elections, in +order to be in a more advantageous position to ask concessions from the +government, have usually been conspicuously unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>In addition to the Northern Railway, the Republic has another line, +owned and operated by the government, from San José to Puntarenas on +the Pacific Coast. This also was commenced during the administration +of General Guardia, but it was not completed until 1910. Being shorter +and on the whole less expensive to operate than the Atlantic road, it +should eventually become a formidable competitor of the latter when +adequate transportation is provided by way of the Panama Canal.</p> + +<p>In the last decade of the nineteenth century, when the price of +coffee in the world’s markets was high, the Republic enjoyed an era +of great prosperity. The wealthier families were able to travel and +to study abroad as they had never done before, and both society and +the government entered on a period of extravagance, of which the +magnificent national theater in San José is an enduring memorial. +When the coffee prices fell, there was a reaction which checked +the development of the country’s natural resources. The area under +cultivation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span> in the interior has now remained practically the same for +many years, and the exports of coffee, which have declined in value, +have increased little or not at all in quantity.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> During this time, +many of the more prominent native families have become impoverished, +and the upper classes as a whole have hardly shown either the energy +or the adaptability necessary to maintain their political and economic +leadership under modern conditions. They devote themselves to politics +and to the learned professions, but there are now comparatively few +of the wealthy landholders who form the most influential class in the +other Central American republics.</p> + +<p>Banking, commerce, and mining are almost entirely in the hands of +foreigners, although the majority of the coffee plantations are still +owned by citizens of the country. These immigrants have identified +themselves more completely with the community than in any of the other +republics, often intermarrying with the natives and taking a prominent +part in local affairs. San José, although not so large or so wealthy as +Guatemala or San Salvador, is more like a European city than any other +capital in the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>The industrious, sturdily independent peasant class in the country +districts has been little affected by the changes which have taken +place in the cities. Throughout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> the <i>meseta central</i> there are +countless small farms, which not only supply their owners with corn, +beans, and sugar cane for food, but at the same time frequently produce +a small amount of coffee, which is sold to the proprietors of the +large cleaning mills to be prepared for export. The farmers not only +cultivate their own properties, but also work for several days in each +week on the larger plantations. As wages are fairly high, they thus +have a money income which enables them to live far better than their +brothers in the neighboring countries. Most of them can read and write, +and they are able to give their children educational advantages little +inferior to those enjoyed by country people in any other part of the +world. During the last few years, as we have seen, they have even +acquired a not inconsiderable political power, which will become more +important as they become more experienced in its use. It is these small +landholders who have made Costa Rica what she is today, and who offer +the strongest guarantee for her future.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> See L. Fernández, <i>Historia de Costa Rica durante la +Dominación Española</i>.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Quoted by Fernández, <i>op. cit.</i> p. 316.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Costa Rica, <i>Colección de Leyes</i>, VI, 133; IX, 453.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> For these figures, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. +Manuel Aragón, formerly director of the Costa Rican statistical office.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> In the election of 1913, 64,056 votes were cast. The +total population in that year was estimated at 410,981.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> In this Costa Rica differs from the other republics, +where the <i>alcalde</i> and the local representative of the central +government are two distinct persons, theoretically independent of one +another.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> Costa Rica, <i>Anuario Estadístico</i>, 1915.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> Bancroft, <i>History of Central America</i>, Vol. III, p. +653.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Costa Rica, <i>Anuario Estadístico</i>, 1913, p. xxxvii.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> The annual exports of coffee averaged 13,478,941 kilos, +valued at 8,835,726 colones for the ten years 1891-1900; and 14,478,605 +kilos, valued at 6,709,767 colones for the ten years 1901-1910. (Costa +Rica, <i>Resúmenes Estadísticos</i>, 1883-1910.)</p> + +<p>The exportations in the years 1912-1915, according to the <i>Anuario +Estadístico</i> for 1913 and for 1915, were as follows:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th>Year.</th><th>Kilos.</th><th>Value in colones.</th></tr> +<tr><td>1912</td><td class="tdr">12,237,875</td><td class="tdr"> 7,623,561</td></tr> +<tr><td>1913</td><td class="tdr">13,019,059</td><td class="tdr">7,752,750</td></tr> +<tr><td>1914</td><td class="tdr"> 17,717,068</td><td class="tdr">10,028,731</td></tr> +<tr><td>1915</td><td class="tdr">12,206,357</td><td class="tdr">8,022,166</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>It should be noted that the value of the colon in 1915, and during a +part of 1914, was approximately 20 per cent less than under normal +conditions.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br><span class="small">THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTRAL AMERICAN FEDERATION</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Strength of the Unionist Idea—Breakdown of the First +Federation—Attempts to Establish a New Union—Obstacles to the +Formation of such a Union at Present—Advantages which would be +Derived from Federation—The Attitude of the United States.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The ideal of uniting Central America under one government has been +one of the strongest forces which have influenced internal politics +and international relations in the Isthmus from the declaration of +independence down to the present day. Realizing that the five countries +can never be really independent of one another, and that the interests +of all would be best served by joining forces for their common ends, +the majority of their statesmen have always been, and are today, +perhaps more than ever, desirous of seeing them transformed from a +group of small, disorderly republics into one strong nation, able to +promote the interests of its people and to command respect from foreign +powers. Such a nation, with its five millions of inhabitants, its +fertile soil, and its great natural resources, would, they believe, +be able to assume a position of importance in the councils of Latin +America and to make great strides towards better government and towards +a more complete realization of economic opportunities at home. In the +last five years especially, increasing contact and occasional friction +with other powers have drawn the five states closer together than ever +before, for the problems created by the invasion of foreign financial +interests and by the intervention of foreign governments in their +internal affairs have made them realize more than ever the dangers to +which their divided condition and their quarrels<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span> among themselves +expose them. The pressure from outside has given rise to a stronger +sentiment of their common nationality and to a fuller realization of +the identity of their interests than could exist while they were still +almost shut off from intercourse with other countries.</p> + +<p>There are many influences which make the relations between the five +countries closer than those which ordinarily exist between neighboring +independent states. Their administrative union during the three +centuries of Spanish rule and their entry together into the family +of nations not only created a strong sentimental tie between them, +but also gave rise to political problems common to them all, and +to political parties which regarded not individual states but the +Isthmus as a whole as their theater of activity. The factions which +arose during the years of the Federation kept up an international +organization after the dissolution of the central government, and +Conservatives in Guatemala, or Liberals in Salvador and Nicaragua, +interfered from time to time to promote the interests of their +parties in other countries throughout the nineteenth century. Even at +the present time, each state has too much interest in the internal +affairs of its neighbors to remain indifferent when revolutions or +other political changes occur. As a result of this situation, men +of the same way of thinking have been brought into closer relations +with one another, and have been made to feel, by their co-operation +for common political ends, that they were, in fact, citizens of one +Central American nation. This feeling has been strengthened by the +custom of exiling the leaders of the defeated party after revolutions, +which has encouraged travel from one country to another, and by the +fact that many of the prominent families of the Isthmus are related to +one another by intermarriage. The five republics, moreover, are all +confronted with the same economic problems, in developing their natural +resources, improving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> their agricultural methods, and securing capital +for the construction of railroads and other public works; and they have +much in common in their civilization, and especially in the customs +and ways of thought of the upper classes, despite the wide divergences +between them in racial and social conditions.</p> + +<p>In 1821, when the authority of Spain was thrown off, it was supposed as +a matter of course that the provinces of what had been the Viceroyalty +of Guatemala would continue to be united under one government. The +Constituent Assembly which met after the dissolution of the short-lived +union with Mexico was therefore following the logical course laid down +for it by the history and the existing political organization of the +five countries, as well as by the ideas of the political theorists +among its members, when it adopted a constitution providing for a +federal republic. The stormy history of the government thus established +has already been sketched. The Federation fell to pieces partly +because of local jealousies and the conflicts of local interests, +and partly because of faults in its constitution and weaknesses in +its administration. The civil war which existed in almost all of the +states, and the strife between the different departments of the central +government itself, made it impossible for the latter to establish +a constitutional regime or permanently to exercise any real power. +The states, jealous of the control of their affairs from Guatemala, +respected the orders of the federal authorities only when it suited +their convenience to do so; and these authorities, in order to maintain +their position, were forced to intervene in the internal affairs of the +states to establish administrations subservient to their wishes. There +was thus a series of revolutions and counter revolutions, until within +a few years both the national and local governments had become mere +despotisms which depended for support solely upon the federal army. It +was impossible for a centralized military regime to exist very long in +a country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> where means of communication between the different sections +were so inadequate, and where the centrifugal forces were so strong +as they were in the turbulent, mutually jealous communities of the +Isthmus. The federal government had less and less real power after the +first term of President Morazán, and in 1840 it disappeared entirely +with the expulsion of its representatives from Central America.</p> + +<p>The disastrous failure of the federal republic convinced many of the +statesmen of the Isthmus that their countries would be better off +as separate states. This feeling was especially strong among the +Conservatives in Guatemala, who for more than thirty years were the +greatest obstacle to the restoration of the Union. The great families’ +opposition to a political connection with the other states seems to +have arisen from the memory of the expense to which they had been +put in supporting the federal authorities before 1829, and of their +sufferings at the hands of the Liberals from Honduras and Salvador, +who overwhelmed and subjugated them in that year. Costa Rica, at the +other extreme of the Isthmus, had also withdrawn formally from the +Federation, inspired by motives much similar to those which actuated +Guatemala. Unlike the latter country, however, she was able because +of her isolated position to remain entirely aloof from the political +struggles elsewhere, and only on one or two occasions was forced to +take notice of the agitation to which the activities of the Unionist +party periodically gave rise.</p> + +<p>Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, on the other hand, refused to +accept the dissolution of the first union as a final settlement of the +relation of the states to one another. Many of the leaders in those +countries had taken part in the defeat of Morazán, but they had done +so from personal hostility to the federal president rather than from a +desire for the destruction of the federal government. The restoration +of the Union was championed by the Liberal party, but it was also +favored by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> many of the Conservatives, despite the influence exerted +upon the latter by their allies in Guatemala. There were a number of +factors which tended to draw the three central republics together. With +their <i>mestizo</i> population, they resembled one another in their +economic and social conditions far more than they resembled Guatemala, +with its primitive Indian tribes, on the one hand, or white Costa Rica +on the other; and thus no one of them was influenced, as were those +countries, by a consciousness that its internal problems were entirely +different from those of its neighbors. Furthermore, their jealousy of +the superior power of Guatemala, and the alarm caused by Carrera’s +repeated interventions in their affairs during his dictatorship in that +country, greatly strengthened their desire to unite their forces for +purposes of mutual defense. Great Britain’s aggressions on the East +Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras had the same result after 1848. Between +1840 and the invasion of Nicaragua by Walker in 1854, hardly a year +passed without the meeting of a congress to discuss plans for forming +a union, at least between these three countries. As a rule these +congresses adjourned without achieving any definite result, finding +their work made hopeless by the intrigues of the separatist party in +Guatemala and by the mutual mistrust of the participating states, but +twice a federal government in which neither Guatemala nor Costa Rica +was represented was actually established. A third attempt to unite +the central republics was made forty years later, at the end of the +nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>The history of these abortive unions affords an instructive +illustration of the influences which have kept the five states apart. +In 1842, delegates from Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua met at +Chinandega, in the last named republic, and adopted a treaty providing +not so much for a central government as for a confederation, in which +each state was left free to manage its own affairs, even to the extent +of carrying on diplomatic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> relations and making war. The only common +authority was a council, consisting of one delegate from each republic +and presided over by a Supreme Delegate, and a supreme court chosen by +the state legislatures. This government sent troops to aid Salvador +in a war between that country and Guatemala in 1844, and finally +succeeded in bringing the war to an end through the mediation of Frutos +Chamorro, the Supreme Delegate. The confederation came to an abrupt and +disastrous end in the same year, however, when Salvador and Honduras +attacked Nicaragua because the latter had granted asylum to political +exiles from these countries.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>In 1849, the central republics again signed a treaty of confederation +which provided for common action in foreign affairs and a union for +purposes of defense. Their action was inspired by the encroachment +of Great Britain on the territory of Nicaragua and Honduras on the +Mosquito Coast. The council of commissioners to which the management +of the affairs of the confederation was intrusted accomplished little; +but in 1852, in the face of renewed foreign complications, a diet met +at Tegucigalpa to make the union between the three countries closer and +to establish, if possible, a real federal government. The diet elected +a president, and adopted a constitution giving that official power, not +only to represent the three republics in their dealings with foreign +powers, but also to intervene by force in the internal affairs of the +states, when it was necessary to maintain order. Disapproving of this +provision, Salvador and Nicaragua refused to ratify the constitution, +and the diet dissolved.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> + +<p>Although the Conservatives of the central republics had been less +hostile to the restoration of the federation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> than were the great +families of Guatemala, they took little interest in plans for a +union after these two failures. During their thirty years’ rule in +Nicaragua, therefore, that country did not enter into another attempt +to accomplish what was regarded as primarily the ideal of the opposite +party. With Salvador and Costa Rica, in fact, it opposed and defeated +the projects of Rufino Barrios in 1885. It was not until the accession +of President Zelaya that the Nicaraguan government again showed itself +ready to enter into projects for the restoration of the federation. +In 1895, the representatives of the three central republics, meeting +at Amapala, drew up a treaty establishing a diet, composed of one +member from each country, to which was intrusted the conduct of their +relations with one another and with other nations. This body was to +elaborate a definite plan for a closer, permanent union.<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> The +federation assumed the name “Greater Republic of Central America,” +and at once took steps to enter into diplomatic relations with the +powers.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> During the next two years a constitution was drawn up, and +in the autumn of 1898 an executive council, with far broader powers +than the old diet, was installed in Amapala. It had scarcely assembled, +however, when the party opposed to the union in Salvador overthrew +the government of that state, and declared the federation at an end. +The council called upon the presidents of Nicaragua and Honduras +to send troops to uphold its authority, but neither executive was +willing to make war upon the new government of Salvador. The union was +consequently dissolved.<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>The failure of the federations created by the treaties of 1842, 1849, +and 1895 did not indicate that a real union of the five countries +would be impracticable, because a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span> real union was not attempted. +The political leaders who were in control in Salvador, Honduras, +and Nicaragua theoretically favored the establishment of a central +government, but they were loath to surrender to it any real power +or to confer upon it any right of control over themselves. They +insisted upon keeping the management of the state armies, finances, +and administrative machinery in their own hands, and they therefore +conferred upon the federal officials only an indefinite authority, +backed by no military force, which they respected and supported only +so long and in so far as it suited their own interests to do so. +The unions thus established were not nations, but mere leagues of +independent states. Each came to an inglorious end as soon as the rapid +changes of Central American politics brought to the front in one of the +states an administration which was not in sympathy with the men who +controlled the central government.</p> + +<p>The apparent impossibility of restoring the federation by the voluntary +action of the five republics convinced many of the strongest advocates +of a union that their ideal could be realized only by the use of force. +It was this belief which led Rufino Barrios, the first great Liberal +president of Guatemala, to embark on the disastrous adventure which +caused his death. Soon after his accession to power, Barrios endeavored +to persuade the presidents of the other republics to agree to some form +of federation. The latter declined to enter into any definite treaty, +although negotiations upon the subject were carried on intermittently +for several years. The United States, when invited to participate in +these efforts, declined to interfere, although warmly approving the +plan for a union.<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> The equivocal attitude of his neighbors, and +their refusal either to agree to or to reject his proposals, finally +convinced Barrios that the people of the Isthmus favored his plans, +but that the governments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> would consent only if they were compelled +to. On February 28, 1885, therefore, he announced that he had assumed +command of the military forces of the Central American Federation, and +invited the other states to recognize the new government, and to send +delegates to a constituent assembly which was to meet in Guatemala City +in May of the same year. Honduras expressed approval of his action and +placed troops at his disposal, but all of the other countries of the +Isthmus at once began to raise armies to defend their independence. +President Zaldívar of Salvador, upon whose aid Barrios had confidently +counted, yielded to the popular demand for resistance to the aggression +of that republic’s traditional enemy, and sent an army which defeated +the forces of Guatemala at Chalchuapa, on April 2, 1885. The death of +Barrios in this battle disheartened his followers, and put an end to a +war which could not have failed to have involved every section of the +Isthmus if it had continued.</p> + +<p>An ambition to place himself at the head of a restored Central American +nation has influenced more than one Central American president in his +dealings with the neighboring countries. Few have actually gone so far +as Barrios did, but the same idea which inspired the Guatemalan leader +has often influenced powerful rulers to intervene openly or covertly in +the internal affairs of the other states, and has thus frequently been +a cause of revolutions and international wars. The most recent attempt +to unite the five countries by force was made in 1907. In that year +President Zelaya of Nicaragua overthrew the government of President +Bonilla in Honduras, and set up a new one, under Miguel Dávila, which +was practically controlled by himself. He then proceeded to attack +Salvador, inspired by the idea of establishing a Central American +union,—an idea which, as he said, was at the time being advocated +with enthusiasm by the press of Central America, the United States, +and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> Mexico.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> The war which followed was brought to an end by the +mediation of President Roosevelt and President Porfirio Díaz.</p> + +<p>At the Washington Conference, which met a few months later, the +delegates of Honduras, supported by those of Nicaragua, formally +proposed that a treaty of union be signed, and stated that the +presidents of those countries were ready to lay down their offices +if that were necessary to make the execution of the treaty possible. +This motion nearly caused the disruption of the conference, for +the delegates from Guatemala opposed it, and those from Costa Rica +objected even to its being discussed. The representatives from +Salvador, who were at first inclined to favor the plan, voted against +it as inopportune after receiving instructions to do so from their +government, and the matter was finally dropped. The arguments advanced +by the advocates and the opponents of this project give a good idea +of Central American opinion in regard to the establishment of a +union. Señor Fiallos, one of the delegates from Honduras, emphasized +the necessity for a federation to put an end to the wars between the +states. These, he said, were only civil wars which had crossed the +national boundaries, for there were no real antipathies or conflicting +interests between the various countries. He dwelt upon the expense of +keeping up five separate governments and armies,—an expense which +prevented the use of the national revenues for the development of +the country. The majority of the committee appointed to consider the +matter, on the other hand, admitted that the Union was the greatest +and noblest aspiration of Central American patriotism, but affirmed +that it could not be brought about until the economic, moral, +political, and material conditions of the five republics had been +harmonized. It recommended for the present the discussion of measures +which might prepare the way for the Union,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> such as the improvement +of communications, the encouragement of the coasting trade, the +establishment of uniform fiscal systems and customs duties, the holding +of annual Central American conferences, and the creation of a court of +compulsory arbitration.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>There seems little probability that a stable and enduring federal +government could be established in Central America at the present +time. Even a union brought about by the voluntary action of the five +countries would almost inevitably fall to pieces sooner or later, +however patriotic the spirit which presided at its formation. The +centrifugal forces would be no stronger, perhaps, than they were in the +North American states before 1787, but they would be fatal because it +would be impossible to provide political machinery for settling them. +The establishment of a constitutional and orderly administration for +the five states together would be as difficult as it has been for each +state alone, for the mere fact of union could effect little change in +political methods or political morality, and none in the capacity of +the people for self-government. The nature of the economic and social +conditions in the four northern countries makes it inevitable that any +administration under which they were united, if at all centralized, +should be a regime of force, similar to that which already prevails +in each country. Real elections could no more be held throughout the +entire Isthmus than they can be held in any one state today, and in +the absence of elections there would be no means of changing the +authorities of the federation except by revolution or by a compromise, +not between three or four political groups, as in Nicaragua or Honduras +today, but between a large number, few of which could be represented +in the new government. The unfriendly feeling between different +sections, which is still strong among both the upper classes and the +common people, and the inevitable jealousy of the small<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> states towards +the larger ones would sooner or later cause dissatisfaction with +the working of the federal system, and quarrels over such questions +as the distribution of offices and the expenditure of money on +internal improvements. These difficulties would be intensified by the +differences in civilization, and consequently in political requirements +and in points of view between the more and the less advanced republics. +It is hard to see how these conflicting interests could be reconciled +by a government whose officials and subjects have as yet never learned +the value of compromise, or the necessity of respecting the will of the +majority and the rights of the minority.</p> + +<p>The obstacles to the formation of a permanent union by the voluntary +action of the five states would be still greater in the case of one +brought about by force. An able leader, supported by the unionist party +in each of the countries, might impose a federal government on the +entire Isthmus for a time, but he would meet with immense difficulties +in upholding his authority against hostile political groups because +of the difficulty of sending troops and supplies from one section to +another. While it endured, his regime could only be a personal one. +The dissatisfied elements might be held in check temporarily, but they +would tear the Union to pieces with the more fury when the ruler who +had founded it was forced by his death or by a defeat at the hands of +his enemies to relinquish his hold upon the supreme power.</p> + +<p>The difficulties in the way of uniting the five republics would not be +insuperable if the ruling classes were genuinely ready to co-operate in +realizing the national ideal, but the men who enjoy the high offices +and the control of the revenues of the state governments show a decided +reluctance to giving up any of their power for the common good. The +local political groups and the influential families would necessarily +be reduced to a position of far less importance if the union were +accomplished; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> the realization of this fact makes many of those +who are most enthusiastic in their advocacy of a Central American +Federation slow to take any definite steps towards its realization. It +is not difficult for the state authorities to frustrate the endeavors +of the Unionist party, because the common people and even the majority +of the upper classes show little real interest in the measures which +are from time to time proposed for actually bringing the five republics +together. Educated and patriotic people, at least in the four northern +countries, express themselves in favor of union, but they nevertheless +bring little influence to bear on their governments to support projects +aiming to bring nearer the time when a Central American nation can +be established. The international conferences provided for by the +Washington Conventions of 1907, to take a recent example, met regularly +for several years to discuss the common interests of the five republics +and to formulate plans for bringing them closer together, but they were +finally suppressed because the state authorities had failed, apparently +from pure indifference, to carry out any of their excellent and for the +most part perfectly practical recommendations. The realization of the +national ideal will not be possible until this indifference disappears +and a broader patriotism takes the place of the jealousy and mistrust +which influences the relations of the states to one another at the +present time.</p> + +<p>Moreover, a permanent union will be all but impossible until a change +has taken place in the political conditions of the Isthmus. No central +government could long endure unless it commanded the active support +of a strong party in every one of the states, and such a party could +hardly exist on the basis of cliques, resting largely on local feeling +and personal and family ties, such as those which today dominate the +political affairs of the five republics. An administration set up under +present conditions could only maintain itself by playing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> off against +one another the rival factions in the states, thus bringing about a +situation similar to that which caused unbroken turmoil during the +life of the first federation. To secure a solid basis for the creation +of a Central American nation, the control of politics must be taken +out of the hands of the factions as they are at present organized, +through an increased participation in the government by the people at +large. The spread of popular education and the introduction of foreign +ideas throughout the Isthmus makes such a change by no means a distant +probability. When it takes place, questions of personal and purely +local interests, which are now so prominent in affairs of state, will +be relegated to the background, and one of the forces which operates +most strongly to keep the states apart will thus be removed.</p> + +<p>The relations between the five republics would be closer if the means +of intercommunication were better. Although each country possesses +railroads and cart roads, which give the majority a comparatively +adequate internal transportation system, they are connected with one +another only by the roughest of mule paths. Very little commerce passes +over these, and journeys overland from one capital to another are beset +by many difficulties. Travelers from one country to another, in fact, +almost invariably prefer to make use of the expensive and not very +comfortable steamers which run at rare and irregular intervals between +the ports of the West Coast. This lack of transportation facilities not +only tends to isolate the five republics from one another, but also +makes much more difficult the problem of establishing a government able +to exercise an effective military control over all of them. The gradual +improvement of interstate communications will overcome this difficulty, +and will also make possible a far greater interchange of products.</p> + +<p>The strong unionist sentiment which exists in the four northern +countries is not shared by the people of Costa<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> Rica, who regard the +idea of throwing in their lot with that of the other republics with an +aversion which makes their participation in the re-establishment of the +federation very doubtful. The Costa Ricans, having successfully held +aloof from the disorders in other parts of the Isthmus, have little +desire to accept any plan which might involve them in the quarrels of +their neighbors. They are loath to exchange their free institutions +for the military government which prevails around them, or to give +up their position as an independent nation to become an unimportant +part of a country in which a majority of the inhabitants, and +therefore presumably of the voters, would be backward <i>mestizos</i> +or uncivilized Indians. Rather inclined to be self-centered and +self-satisfied, they show little sympathy with the nationalist +aspirations of their neighbors, and they are perfectly contented, for +the present at least, to continue their peaceful development in their +own way.</p> + +<p>The free people of Costa Rica could hardly be expected to submit to +such a government as social conditions have made inevitable in some of +the republics. The differences in the internal situation of the five +countries are really the most discouraging obstacle to the realization +of the dream of Central American Union. Guatemala, for instance, +with forty per cent of the inhabitants of the Isthmus, must under +any fair plan of organization have a preponderant influence in the +councils of the federation. Her wealth and her dense Indian population, +which is more pliable in the hands of the officials than are the +<i>ladinos</i> of the other countries, would give those who controlled +her administrative machinery a dangerous power when dissensions arose +within the federation. It is unthinkable that elections there should +be anything but a farce for generations to come, for the Indians, +untouched for the most part by the changes which are improving the +position of the common people in other parts of the Isthmus, must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> for +a period impossible to calculate remain under the political control of +the upper classes. For the smaller and weaker countries, therefore, the +union would present many very serious dangers. Human ingenuity could +hardly devise a form of government able to maintain itself against +disaffected factions, and to cope with the conditions existing in the +less advanced parts of the Isthmus, which would at the same time be +acceptable to the people of the more enlightened sections.</p> + +<p>The realization of this difficulty has led many Central American +leaders to advocate a confederation, in which each state should +be left free to manage its own affairs, rather than a centralized +federal government. As we have seen, however, unions of this kind have +several times been attempted, and have in every case been a failure. +The states which were parties to them showed little respect for the +central authorities, and refused to allow the latter to exercise any +real power. On several occasions, war broke out between the very +states which were parties to the confederation. No Central American +Union, while present political conditions continue, can be permanent +or beneficial unless the government is given real power, not only to +represent the Union in international relations, but also to maintain +order and enforce the law throughout its territory. If the individual +states retained the control of their military forces, or if they were +under administrations which were not in harmony with the national +authorities, the federation could only expect a short and stormy +life. To establish a decentralized administration would be to invite +disaffection and revolution, for each local government would become +almost inevitably a center of intrigues against the <i>status quo</i>. +It is only necessary to recall the history of the first Central +American Federation to appreciate the dangers which a half-way measure +of union would involve.</p> + +<p>The union of the five republics under a central<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span> government strong +enough to maintain order and make itself respected would in many ways +greatly improve their position. One nation of five million inhabitants, +with a rich territory 172,000 square miles in area, would be in a far +better position to deal with the rest of the world commercially and +diplomatically than five petty states whose quarrels make them one +another’s worst enemies. If the peoples of the Isthmus were able to +present a united front, instead of intriguing with foreign governments +against one another’s tranquillity or forcing those governments to +intervene in Central American affairs by inciting revolutions or +engaging in wars against neighboring states, one of the most serious +dangers which today threatens their independence would be done away +with. Other countries would of course rather deal with one central +authority than with five petty ones. The United States especially, +which cannot remain indifferent to the disorders arising from the +dissensions and the rival ambitions of Central American rulers, because +of its immense interests in the Caribbean Sea and the obligations which +it assumed in connection with the Washington conventions of 1907, could +not but welcome any change which promised to make for peace.</p> + +<p>The suppression of the present governments, with their heavy +expenditures, would effect an economy which would be of the greatest +importance to countries suffering from so many financial difficulties +as do those of Central America. In the first place, the cost of +maintaining five separate presidents, with their suites, cabinets, and +diplomatic corps, which is one of the heavy burdens upon the national +treasury today, could be eliminated, and many other unnecessary +officials could be dispensed with. Military expenditures could also +be cut down, for the armies of the several states are maintained in +part at least for use against one another. With the money thus saved, +the improvement of means<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> of communication and the development of +natural resources could be undertaken on a larger scale than ever +before, and could moreover be carried on without encountering many +of the obstacles which interstate jealousy now puts in the way. Much +more progress than is possible at present could be made in such +matters as public instruction, sanitation, and the encouragement of +agriculture; and problems like the development of markets for Central +American exports and the protection of the national resources against +excessive exploitation by foreign capitalists could be dealt with more +effectively by united action. To obtain these benefits, however, there +must be a central government able to preserve order and to make its +authority respected in all parts of the Isthmus, for one which could +not fulfill these requirements would be worse than none at all.</p> + +<p>Projects for the federation of the Central American republics have +always aroused a friendly interest in the United States, where there +has been a hope that the Union would promote the stability and the +political and economic progress of the Isthmus. As early as 1859, +President Buchanan secretly offered to support Juan Rafael Mora, who +had just been exiled from Costa Rica, in an attempt to make himself +president of a restored Central American Union, promising to aid +him by sending two warships as an evidence of moral support. Mora +refused, however, on the ground that such a Union, even if it could +be established, would in the end be harmful to the best interests of +Costa Rica, which would be involved by it in the civil wars of the +other countries.<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> Some years later, Secretary Blaine expressed the +sympathy of the State Department with Barrios’ projects for uniting +the five countries, although<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> he declined to intervene or to express +approval of the use of force in accomplishing them.<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> In 1907, before +and after the Washington Conference, there was a considerable amount of +discussion of the question in the United States both by officials and +by the press.</p> + +<p>More recently, the intervention of the United States in the +international affairs of the Isthmus, and even in the internal affairs +of some of the republics, has made its attitude towards the question +of re-establishing the Union more important than ever before.<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> +Many of the leading statesmen of the Isthmus believe today that the +establishment of a strong and permanent federal government can only +be brought about through active aid from Washington. On the other +hand, it has been vehemently asserted that the establishment of what +is virtually an American protectorate over Nicaragua has made it +impossible that the other countries should join in any union with her +until the policy of the United States is reversed, since they would +subject themselves by doing so to the same foreign domination. Whether +this view is entirely justified may well be doubted. In the first +place, no permanent political connection between the United States and +Nicaragua has been established, or is likely to be established. The +government of the North American Republic has indeed intervened in +Nicaragua to prevent revolutions, but it seems probable that it would +be forced to do as much in any other Central American state where +similar conditions existed. The arrangements with the North American +bankers, which have aroused so much opposition<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> in Central America, are +primarily of a financial character. It would be idle to deny that they +constitute infringements of Nicaragua’s sovereignty, but they can be +brought to an end at any time when the Republic is ready to repay the +money which its government has borrowed and to buy back the national +property which has been sold. It is ridiculous to suppose that either +the United States or the bankers have any ulterior political purposes, +or that their aim has been other than the improvement of the economic +situation of Nicaragua. The treaty providing for American control +of the canal route and for a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca has +caused bitter controversies, but it is difficult to see how it can +have a permanent adverse influence on the question of the Union. The +United States has no interest in Central America more important than +that of aiding the five republics to become strong, prosperous, and +well-governed commonwealths, and it is therefore impossible to suppose +that it will be hostile to any movement which promises to improve their +situation.</p> + +<p>The unionist idea is one which should command the sympathy of everyone +interested in the future welfare of the people of the Isthmus. As we +have seen, a stable federation, established upon an equitable basis, +and accepted by all of the five republics, could not but greatly +improve their situation, making them less exposed to aggression and +interference from outside, and encouraging their internal economic +and social development. The establishment of such a federation seems +impracticable at present, and an attempt to unite the five countries, +whether by force or by the voluntary action of their governments, would +probably result in more harm than good. But the time when a strong +and progressive Central American nation can be founded seems to be +drawing steadily though slowly nearer, and the forces which are now +at work, changing the internal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> and the international situation of +the five republics, may bring about the consummation which so many of +their statesmen desire, sooner than now seems possible. Every friend +of the Central American countries must hope that this will be so, in +order that the dangers to which they are now exposed through their own +divisions and weaknesses and through the inability of some of them to +afford protection to the life and property of foreigners may be averted.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> See Bancroft, <i>History of Central America</i>, Vol. +III, p. 188ff., and A. Gómez Carillo, <i>Compendio de la Historia de la +América Central</i>, pp. 219, 304-305.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> Bancroft, III, p. 209; Gómez C., pp. 306-307; J. D. +Gámez, <i>Historia de Nicaragua</i>, p. 575.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> For the text of this treaty, see U. S. Foreign Relations, +1896, p. 390.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> President Cleveland recognized the Greater Republic on +Dec. 24, 1896. Ibid, p. 369.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Ibid., 1898, p. 172; Gómez, C. <i>op. cit.</i> p. 310.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> See U. S. Foreign Relations for 1881 and following years.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> See his annual message to the Nicaraguan Congress, Dec. +1, 1907.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> U. S. Foreign Relations, 1907, II, pp. 669, 721.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> Manuel Argüello Mora, the Costa Rican president’s nephew +and constant companion, gives an account of this interview, at which he +was present, in his “<i>Recuerdos é Impresiones</i>,” p. 66.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> See U. S. Foreign Relations for 1881 and the years +immediately following, under Guatemala.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> According to press dispatches dated August 31, 1917, the +five Central American governments are planning to hold a congress in +the near future to renew the conventions adopted at Washington in 1907, +and to discuss plans for a closer union between the states. It is said +that all of the other republics have accepted the invitation of the +government of Honduras to send delegates for this purpose.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br><span class="small">THE CAUSES OF CENTRAL AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Civil War as a Characteristic Central American Political +Institution—Character and Extent of the Conflicts—Forces back +of Them: Unfitness of the People for Democratic Government, +Oppression by the Party in Power of its Enemies, Rivalry for Office, +<i>Personalismo</i> and <i>Localismo</i>—Indifference of the Mass of +the People—Hope for Improvement—Effects of Contact with the Outside +World.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The most important fact in the history of the Central American +republics, from their declaration of independence down to the present +time, has been the almost continuous civil war from which the majority +of them have suffered. Their inability to establish stable governments +has retarded their economic and social progress in the past, and is a +menace to their welfare and even to their national existence today. +The development of agriculture, the building of roads and railroads, +and the civilization and education of the masses of the people, have +been discouraged, both by strife between factions at home and contests +with neighboring governments, and by the misrule resulting from the +predominance of the military elements which have been brought to the +front by the premium which these conflicts have placed on armed force. +The weakness of the five countries, moreover, has frequently exposed +them to acts of aggression from foreign powers, and in recent times +their very independence has been endangered because the apparent +incapacity of most of them for self-government has led to a general +belief in Europe and America that they must one day fall under the +control of some stronger power. Under modern conditions, it is +impossible for a government which cannot maintain order<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> and secure to +the lives and property of foreigners the protection which international +law demands to expect that its rights of sovereignty, or even its +territorial integrity, should be scrupulously respected by governments +which are more powerful and better organized. The elimination of +internal disorder is therefore one of the most serious problems which +confronts the people of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>If one asks the average Central American, whether of the educated +classes or of the common people, what has been the principal cause of +the revolutions which have occurred in his country, he will almost +certainly answer: the ambition of professional politicians and the +abuse of power by the government,—the desire of each member of the +ruling class to hold office, and the tendency of each administration +to use its authority for the personal benefit of those who control its +policy and for the gratification of their hatred of their opponents. +The force of this reply can be readily appreciated by one who has +seen the conditions which exist in some of the five republics, but +the causes assigned are nevertheless hardly adequate to explain the +extreme prevalence of internal strife in the five republics. There +are many countries with perfectly stable governments which are cursed +with politicians more ambitious and more selfish than those who have +been prominent in revolutions in Central America, and many also where +the opponents of those in power are treated with far more severity +than falls to the lot of the defeated party there. The reasons given +indicate, perhaps, the motives which actuate those who participate +in each revolt, but they do not explain the underlying causes which +have made uprisings against the government more frequent in Central +America than in almost any other part of the civilized world. These +causes must be sought, not in the aspirations and immorality of any one +relatively small group of men, such as that which figures in Central<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> +American political affairs, but rather in the nature and working of the +governmental institutions and in the economic and social condition of +the people as a whole.</p> + +<p>The way in which revolution became the only means by which the +political institutions of the five republics could be worked has +already been described. The constitutions which were drawn up for +the federal government and for the five states in the years 1823-25 +provided, as we have seen, for the choosing of the more important +officials by popular elections; but the holding of real elections soon +proved to be impossible, because of the ignorance and indifference +of the great majority of the people, and the lack of experience in +self-government among the ruling classes. The parties which were +contending with one another for the control of the government soon +yielded to the temptation to employ force and fraud to attain their +ends; and the voting for officials consequently became, first an +occasion for periodic disorders, accompanied frequently by an appeal to +arms, and then a mere farce, in which the triumph of the administration +candidate was assured by the pressure exerted by the government. Within +a few years after the declaration of independence, force had come to +be recognized as the only means by which power was secured and held, +and revolution was not only the sole remedy for bad government, but the +one way in which a change of officials could be effected. Civil war was +thus an indispensable part of the political system.</p> + +<p>Revolutions were of almost yearly occurrence throughout the Isthmus +during the first half century after the declaration of independence, +for the development just described took place in each of the five +countries. In some, however, there was early apparent a tendency +towards avoiding actual warfare, so long as the established government +pursued a policy which made its rule tolerable to the parties not +represented in it. Even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> when disaffection grew so strong that a change +was inevitable, attempts were usually made to bring about a compromise. +Force still remained the basis of all authority, and potential +revolution the only corrective of bad government, but actual fighting +between the factions was rare. In Costa Rica, where this tendency was +strongest, practically no blood has been shed in political quarrels for +nearly sixty years. Nicaragua and Honduras, on the other hand, have +had frequent and sanguinary revolutions throughout their history as +independent nations. This difference between them and their peaceful +neighbor is enough to indicate that other factors, besides the mere +impossibility of changing their governments except by force, have +contributed to make them turbulent. Before attempting to explain what +these factors are, however, it is necessary to understand the nature of +Central American revolutions and the character and the motives of the +persons who participate in them.</p> + +<p>In the first place, it should be borne in mind that the average +revolution is not a movement which embraces a very large number of +people or which calls into play deep economic or social motives. The +countries themselves are very small, for the largest barely exceeds +fifty thousand square miles in area. In all of them, except Salvador, +much of the national territory is so sparsely settled, and often so +impenetrable and unhealthful, that it hardly enters into consideration +as a theater of military operations. Of the total population, which +is probably not more than 600,000 in Nicaragua, Honduras, or Costa +Rica, only a very small portion is sufficiently interested in politics +to participate voluntarily in a civil war. Revolutionary armies, +therefore, rarely reach any great size, and they rarely need to in +order to succeed. The military force of the government is small, +ill-equipped, and poorly trained, and not infrequently part of it +proves disloyal in a political crisis.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> Although it is impossible to +estimate with any degree of accuracy how many soldiers are actually +under arms at a given time in such countries as Nicaragua or Honduras, +it seems very doubtful if the total exceeds two or three thousand, and +these are scattered through the country to such an extent that a much +smaller revolutionary force, sometimes of less than a hundred men, +can seize and hold an important strategic point before the government +has time to rally its forces. After an uprising has started, both +sides fill their ranks by voluntary recruiting and impressment, but +neither is able to raise or to fit out any army which would seem very +formidable to a single well-trained regiment. It is only necessary to +recall the stand which William Walker, with a few hundred dissolute +and undisciplined adventurers, was able to make against the combined +military power of the five republics, in order to appreciate the actual +force at the disposal of a Central American government. Yet these +governments are nevertheless able to suppress the greater part of the +revolts which occur against their authority.</p> + +<p>The spirit which causes the revolutions is not often one which arouses +very much enthusiasm among the people at large. Their leaders are +usually inspired by a thirst for offices and spoils or a desire for +revenge against political rivals who have oppressed them, and the +rank and file are actuated mainly by sectional or class jealousy, but +rarely by any genuine political motives. There are of course many men +in politics who seek to obtain control of the government, even by +revolution, in order to effect economic and social reforms. Generous +and patriotic ideas are found both among the chiefs and their followers +in all parties, but they play a smaller part in actually bringing about +a revolt than do the less creditable but still very human motives upon +which the political parties are built up.</p> + +<p>Revolutions are rarely the result of a widespread conspiracy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> among +the people. Even a large portion of the active members of the party +interested often know little about the plans of the leaders until an +armed uprising has already taken place. The procedure followed is much +the same in nearly all cases. A group of factional chiefs, with a few +score of their more intimate personal followers, raise the standard +of revolt with a pronunciamento against the government, naming one +of their number as provisional president. An attempt is made either +to seize from within some town in which the revolutionary party is +particularly strong, or to invade the country from outside, occupying +one of the seaports as a base of operations. The latter is perhaps +more common, because the important members of the opposition party +are generally in exile. The revolution not infrequently gains its +foothold, as did that of 1909 in Nicaragua, through the treachery of +local authorities who turn over to it the soldiers and the military +supplies under their control, or by the disaffection of high officials +sufficiently influential to carry with them a considerable part of the +army. Arms and supplies are secured from some neighboring government +which has reasons for wishing to overthrow the existing administration, +or from foreign corporations and speculators who wish concessions or +special privileges. A revolt often attains formidable proportions in +this way before the government can raise and equip an army to send +against it, as it usually starts in regions remote from the capital, +where it is able to consolidate its forces before it meets with +serious opposition. In the districts still under the control of the +authorities, meanwhile, martial law is proclaimed, known or suspected +adherents of the party responsible for the revolution are thrown into +jail, horses and other property are requisitioned for the army, and +every able-bodied man of the laboring and artisan classes, except +those who succeed in concealing themselves, is pressed into service +as a soldier. The result, of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> course, is an immediate paralyzation of +agriculture and commerce. A revolution thus begun often lasts several +months before there is a decision, although only a few battles are +fought, and only two or three thousand men, and often less, are engaged +on each side. If the rebels win a few successes at the beginning, or if +the government is unable to defeat them after a prolonged campaign, the +president usually falls, because of his loss of prestige and because of +the defection of the always numerous politicians who desire above all +else to be on the winning side. When this occurs, there is a complete +demoralization of all of the departments of the administration, +accompanied, not infrequently, by a split in the victorious party or a +counter revolution on the part of the defeated. Order is not restored +until one strong leader or group of leaders has established himself or +itself in complete military control.</p> + +<p>Since these revolutions are the work of so small a proportion of the +people, their causes must evidently be sought not so much in any +inherent disorderliness and lawlessness of the nation as a whole, as in +the questions which have divided the classes interested in politics, +and in the conditions which have made it possible for these classes to +plunge the community into civil war time after time by their incessant +feuds, without being effectually checked by the desire of the rest of +the country for peace.</p> + +<p>The instigators and leaders of Central American revolutions are in +almost every case the pure-blooded, or nearly pure-blooded, descendants +of the <i>conquistadores</i>, and one of the chief causes of these +phenomena must therefore be sought in the characteristics which the +creole aristocracy has inherited from its sixteenth century ancestors. +Among the Spaniards who founded the colonies on the Isthmus there +were a few respectable families, but the majority were adventurers, +fugitives from justice, and soldiers who had been left without +occupation by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> cessation of the wars against the Moors, and came +to America in search of excitement and easily gained wealth. In +exploring and subjugating the Indian kingdoms, they showed a bravery +and an indomitable energy which have few parallels in history, but as +colonists they were turbulent, lawless, and unprincipled. Their cruelty +towards the Indians has already been described. Their dissensions among +themselves, before the government at home had firmly established its +military control over them, forecasted what might be expected when the +authority of Spain should be withdrawn, for the bloody clashes between +rival exploring parties, the vindictiveness and treachery exhibited +towards one another by ambitious governors who could not agree upon the +extent of their respective jurisdictions, and the occasional uprisings, +like that of the Contreras brothers in Nicaragua, among the rabble +of the Spanish settlements, made the annals of the Central American +provinces during the sixteenth century one long chronicle of bloodshed. +After the declaration of independence, it was the descendants of the +early colonists who carried on the civil wars which lasted almost +without intermission for so many years. The leaders of the political +factions,—the men who fill the higher offices when their party is in +power and bear the brunt of the opposition at other times,—are still +for the most part members of the white upper class, even though the +exclusiveness of the old creole aristocracy has been broken down.</p> + +<p>It is rather surprising to find the native landholders and merchants, +who have more interest than anyone else in the maintenance of order +and good government, taking the lead in the civil wars which have made +order and good government impossible. But the feuds which have divided +the educated and wealthy classes among themselves have been so bitter +that it has been impossible down to the present time for their leaders +to co-operate with one another in establishing and supporting a stable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> +and efficient government. The custom of proscribing and despoiling +political enemies has kept alive and intensified the personal hatred +between the members of the rival parties even in those countries where +there are no fundamental economic or social questions upon which the +ruling classes are divided. After a change of government, the more +prominent adversaries of the victorious party are usually exiled or +imprisoned; their property is taken from them either by outright +confiscation or forced loans; and their constitutional rights are +little respected by the officials or by the courts. When an outbreak +against the government is attempted or threatened, many of those of its +opponents who are still at liberty are seized, and even their wives and +children are subjected to imprisonment and mistreatment, and sometimes, +as under the government of President Zelaya in Nicaragua, to barbarous +tortures. These persecutions, inspired not only by a determination to +prevent uprisings against the government, but often by a desire for +revenge and for the gratification of individual spite, frequently make +the situation of the enemies of the administration so intolerable that +they prefer to risk everything in a revolt rather than to submit. This +has been especially true in countries where continual revolutions have +kept party feeling at white heat, accustoming all classes to regard +civil war almost as a normal condition, and forcing the government to +take severe measures against all whom it thinks likely to resist its +authority by force of arms. Peace can never be hoped for under these +conditions. The only republics of Central America which have made any +real progress towards stable government are those where the opponents +of the party in power are treated with comparative fairness, and where +confiscation and imprisonment for political reasons are rare.</p> + +<p>Resistance to oppression, however, is by no means the only motive +which leads members of the upper classes to engage in intrigues and +revolts against the government.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> The pursuit of office is in itself an +attractive occupation, for every member of the small ruling class has a +comparatively good chance of becoming president or cabinet minister or +of attaining some other honorable and lucrative position. The rewards +offered by politics are on the whole greater than those held out by the +more solid occupations, especially in those countries where continual +disorder make agriculture and commerce a precarious means of securing a +livelihood, for very few of the native planters or merchants receive so +great an income as they could secure, legitimately or illegitimately, +at the expense of the community if they could reach one of the higher +positions in the government. Politics, moreover, provides the natural +outlet for the energies of those members of the upper class who have no +property. This is especially true of the great majority of the lawyers, +doctors, and dentists, few of whom secure a respectable living from +their overcrowded professions.</p> + +<p>Many members of the wealthy and educated classes, however, have always +worked for peace, realizing that revolutions not only deprived their +property of most of its value, but also lessened their own influence +in the community by raising demagogues and purely military leaders +to positions of prominence. The influence exerted by this moderate +party has depended upon the economic development of each country. In +Costa Rica and Salvador, where the cultivation of coffee has been +developed until it offers a more attractive field of endeavor than +politics, the great landholders have been a powerful factor in bringing +about the establishment of stable government. In Guatemala also, the +prosperity of agriculture has probably favored peace, although the +bitterness of party strife in that country and the backwardness of the +Indian population have greatly retarded its political development. +Agriculture in Honduras and Nicaragua, on the other hand, being still +in a primitive condition, affords a comparatively<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> unattractive +occupation, and politics may still be said to be the chief interest of +the propertied classes.</p> + +<p>Although the landholding and professional classes furnish the leaders, +the revolutions would hardly be possible without the participation of +the far more numerous other elements in the community. The half-breed +artisans in the towns and villages form perhaps the largest part of +the factional armies. These laborers, who have little property, and +therefore, so far as they can see, little direct interest in the +preservation of peace or the economic well-being of the community, find +in civil war both a welcome source of excitement and an avenue for +personal advancement and profit, for the opportunities for loot during +the campaigns, and the rewards distributed among the adherents of the +victorious party after a successful revolution, make conspiracy and +revolt a more lucrative occupation than hard labor at a trade. There +is no way in which the intelligent but unstable <i>ladino</i>, little +inclined to steady manual or intellectual labor, can so easily achieve +wealth and influence as by the pursuit of politics,—a vocation which +makes it possible for a boy of the humblest, barefooted, illiterate +family, coming from a thatched, one-room hut in the mountains, to +rise to a position where he is addressed as “Great and Good Friend” +by the heads of the leading nations of the world. Not a few artisans +and professional soldiers of this class have actually risen to such +a position, and some, especially in the Liberal party, have been +presidents of their countries for long periods. Ordinarily, however, +they play a less prominent part in affairs than the members of the +white aristocracy, who have the advantage of superior education, social +prestige, and wealth.</p> + +<p>Those who hope to derive some direct individual profit, however, +form but a small part of the number of persons engaging in a typical +revolution. The rebel leaders would have but little hope of overcoming +the advantage conferred on the government by its control of the +administrative<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> machinery, and above all of the standing army and +military stores, if they did not receive active support from adherents +far too numerous to be rewarded by offices or money in the event of +victory. The principal motive which brings together the rank and file +of a revolutionary army is “<i>personalismo</i>,”—the devotion to +individual chiefs, sometimes the heads of great families, sometimes +professional soldiers, sometimes mere demagogues, whose relation to +their followers is usually not so much that of political leaders as +of friends and patrons. Ties of blood, friendships, and gratitude for +favors received or expected play a much greater part in holding these +factions together than community of ideals or principles; and the very +nature of the parties consequently makes the strife between them the +more bitter and compromise the more difficult. Closely connected with +this <i>personalismo</i> is <i>localismo</i>, the jealousy and rivalry +between town and town, which makes the political leaders of each +hostile to those in other parts of the country and enables them too +often to carry the common people with them in their armed opposition +to a government controlled by their enemies. We have already seen how +disastrous an influence this spirit has exerted in the history of the +Isthmus, and how it has been intensified by continual internal strife +and by the persecution of the people of one section by those of another.</p> + +<p>Other factors also have often contributed, though usually in a minor +degree, to bring about an uprising against the government. Religious +questions have been a source of much trouble, although they are less +important at present than in the early history of the Isthmus. The +Church has now lost its one-time influence through the decline of +religious feeling among the people, but in the first half century +after the declaration of independence it was often strong enough to +instigate a revolt against a government which oppressed it, or, by +its own exactions, to cause one against a government which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> supported +it. Abuses of power by the officials, or the adoption of a policy +which directly injured a large portion of the people, have sometimes +done much to make a revolution possible, and dissatisfaction with +the existing administration, apart from any desire to put any other +group of individuals in power, always causes many persons to join the +ranks of the rebel army. Many others take part merely for the sake of +excitement and plunder,—because they wish to fight and to “eat fat +cows.” The revolutions, when they have once started, naturally attract +all of the discontented and adventurous elements in the community. But +it is <i>personalismo</i> and <i>localismo</i> which make it possible +for them to start, and which hold the armies participating in them +together through the exigencies of the conflict.</p> + +<p>Only a small part of the people, however, enter at all into these party +conflicts. The great majority, especially in the rural districts, +know little and care less about political affairs. They dislike and +fear the revolutions, which often involve forced military service for +themselves and destruction for their livestock and their little patches +of corn and beans, but they have been so accustomed to misgovernment +and exploitation ever since their ancestors were conquered by the +Spaniards that it never occurs to them to make a concerted effort +to check the disorderly tendencies of the politicians. It is this +ignorance and indifference of the masses of the people, rather than +any disposition to turbulence in the nation as a whole, which has +prevented the establishment of stable government in many of the Central +American republics, by making it impossible to hold elections and work +the constitution by peaceful means, and by permitting rival cliques +of professional office-seekers to plunge the country into civil war +time after time for the gratification of personal ambitions and feuds, +without other restraint than that suggested by their own interests.</p> + +<p>It is sometimes asserted that it is the Indian and part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span> Indian element +which is chiefly responsible for the disorders in Central America. This +view seems to find justification in the tranquillity of Costa Rica, +where the population is almost entirely of Spanish descent, but it is, +in fact, very unjust to a race which is on the whole more peaceful, +law-abiding, and industrious than the descendants of their conquerors. +The Indians rarely participate in a revolution. In Guatemala, where +they have retained their racial identity more than in any other part +of the Isthmus, they have hardly ever risen against the government +since their final subjugation at the beginning of the colonial period, +although they have always been forced to serve against their will both +in the standing army and in revolutionary forces. The only real popular +uprising which has occurred in that republic,—the revolution which +placed Carrera in power in 1838, originated not among the Indians but +among the ignorant <i>ladinos</i> in the districts east of the capital, +where the conditions are far more similar to those of Honduras and +Nicaragua than to those which prevail throughout the greater part of +Guatemala itself. It was among the half-breeds that Carrera secured +the followers who enabled him to establish his military despotism, +and it was these same half-breeds, under the influence of the village +priests, who made the Church so strong a factor during the Conservative +administration. In Nicaragua, the semi-civilized rural population in +the district of Matagalpa and the villages which have retained their +distinctly Indian character in the southwestern Sierras have as a +rule remained neutral, so far as they could, in the contests between +Leon and Granada, although the Indians of Matagalpa revolted on one +occasion, about thirty years ago, when they were forced to aid in +constructing a telegraph line into their country. The Indians in the +four northern countries, indeed, are responsible for the revolutions +only in the sense that they are helpless to prevent them. Their +situation is very<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span> different from that of the common people of Costa +Rica, where the early extinction of the aborigines made possible the +development of a compact, homogeneous community of white peasants, +among whom it was comparatively easy to establish stable political +institutions.</p> + +<p>The causes of Central American revolutions, therefore, may be said to +be: first, the attempt to impose political institutions copied from +one of the world’s most advanced democracies upon a country where +elections were absolutely impossible; second, what may be called the +habit of revolution among the ruling class and the people of many of +the towns,—a habit formed during the turbulent years that followed +the breakdown of the federal constitution, and perpetuated by the +bitterness of personal feuds and sectional jealousy, the pursuit of +politics as a money-making occupation, and the mutual persecutions +of rival factions; and third, the backwardness of the masses of +the people, which has not only made the republican constitutions +unworkable, but has also prevented those who in the long run suffer +most from civil war from exerting any effective influence for peace.</p> + +<p>None of these causes can be said to be permanent. There is no reason to +suppose that stable governments will not be attained eventually in all +of the five republics, as a result of the education of the people. The +public schools, which have been established in the last quarter century +even in the remote country districts of the Isthmus, have already done +much to improve the situation and enlarge the outlook of the masses of +the population, and to hasten the approach of the day when they will be +able to assume the control of their own affairs through the democratic +machinery which already exists on paper, and to protect themselves +against the disastrous consequences arising from the factional quarrels +of selfish professional politicians. This influence makes itself felt +slowly, but the social and political effects of popular education, once +they have asserted themselves, can never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> be undone. The penetration of +foreign ideas and the increase of wealth and improvement of standards +of living which have resulted from the development of foreign commerce +are also doing their part in changing the situation of the countries +of the Isthmus. The landholding classes, as we have seen, are already +exerting a strong influence in behalf of peace in the more prosperous +countries, for their success in agricultural pursuits has greatly +lessened their interest in politics. The laboring classes, also, +have found new opportunities for employment and advancement, and are +beginning to learn by experience that their own welfare is dependent +upon the peaceful development of their country. The factors in favor of +stable government have thus been immeasurably strengthened.</p> + +<p>Those who hope for the ultimate political regeneration of the Isthmus +receive much encouragement from the example of Costa Rica, which +started upon her independent existence with the same institutions +and the same inexperience in self-government as her neighbors. Costa +Rica, it is true, has owed her freedom from civil war largely to her +isolation and her homogeneous European population, but the substitution +of a popularly elected and constitutional government for the military +tyrannies which had existed at first there as well as in other parts of +the Isthmus was due primarily to the education of the common people and +to the increasing realization on their part of their interest in the +conduct of public affairs. There is no reason to suppose that a similar +development will not take place eventually in Nicaragua, Honduras, and +Salvador, and even among the Indians of Guatemala. The people of those +countries have never had the opportunities for peaceful progress which +the prosperous peasants of Costa Rica have enjoyed, but there seems +little reason to suppose, from observation of the races as they work +side by side in schools and public offices, that the Indian or the +<i>mestizo</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> of the other republics is inherently less capable of +advancement or less fitted for self-government than his fellow-citizen +of Spanish descent.</p> + +<p>The changes brought about by increased intercourse with foreign +countries have on the whole favored stability and good government, but +in some respects they have been far from beneficial. While agriculture +or commerce has been made a more attractive occupation than conspiracy +and revolt for many of the great landholders, many others have been +driven out of these pursuits and into politics, as the only means of +making a living which remained open to them, by the immigration of more +efficient foreign planters and business men. We have already seen to +what an extent this has taken place in some of the five countries. The +interest in peace among the classes who by wealth and education are +best qualified to be the leaders of the community has been lessened by +the loss of their property, and the number of professional politicians +and revolutionists who are almost entirely dependent upon the pursuit +of office for support has been swelled by members of many families +which formerly devoted their energies to more useful occupations.</p> + +<p>Not a few of the foreigners, moreover, have taken part in civil wars +and disturbances, for the furtherance of purely selfish aims, and +to the great detriment of the native community. The North American +or European professional revolutionist, usually an adventurer or a +fugitive from justice in his own country, is a type which is all too +familiar in the more disorderly countries of the Isthmus. He is rarely +anything more than a mercenary soldier, ready to offer his services +to the highest bidder, but his presence is a source of annoyance and +danger to the constituted authorities, and the viciousness and greed of +some who have been rewarded for their assistance in war with official +positions has equaled if not exceeded that of the most depraved +native leaders. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> participation of these men in the armies on both +sides of a civil contest, moreover, is often a positive danger to the +Central American countries, because of the regrettable readiness of the +great powers of the world to protect their citizens in their real or +fancied rights even when they are engaged in an occupation so little +commendable as that of making war for money against a constituted +government. A significant example of the difficulties which arise from +this source was afforded by the events which followed the shooting of +two American adventurers during the Nicaraguan revolution of 1909.<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></p> + +<p>Still more dangerous to the welfare of the Central American countries +are the foreign corporations which, for equally unworthy purposes, +often render open or covert aid to a revolutionary movement, in order +to assure themselves of the protection and favor of the new government. +There is unfortunately little doubt that recent uprisings in Honduras +and Nicaragua have been financed and supplied with arms from New +Orleans, or that they have owed their success largely to the aid thus +received. So long as the resources of the five republics continue to +be developed under special concessions and privileges, there will +inevitably be a strong temptation for the large fruit companies and +other corporations having interests there to intervene in political +affairs, because of the great part which official favor or disfavor +plays in determining the conditions under which they do business. +Such a situation is disastrous to the internal peace of the countries +involved, for any discontented faction can usually secure support +from some group of investors or speculators who think that they can +further their interests or secure valuable concessions by promoting +a revolution. In the governments which come into power in this way, +however, the influence of the foreign corporations which have aided +them is generally far less than might be expected, for Central American +political<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> leaders are none too grateful and none too scrupulous about +carrying out obligations which they have entered into; and they rarely +lose sight of their distrust of the foreigner in their appreciation of +his assistance.</p> + +<p>The disturbing influences introduced by intercourse with other +countries, however, are offset, and more than offset, by the pressure +which foreign governments, actuated by a desire to protect their +subjects who have settled or invested capital in Central America, have +exerted in behalf of peace. The United States, especially, has been +forced to take positive action to prevent civil and international wars +in the Isthmus, not only because its commerce and its investments there +are larger than those of any other nation, but also because its settled +policy not to permit European intervention in the affairs of the weaker +American nations has made it necessary to adopt measures which deprive +other powers of an excuse for interference. Inspired by a desire to +promote the stability and well-being of its neighbors, the United +States has in the last ten years taken more and more radical steps to +safeguard the peace of the Isthmus, until it has finally reached the +point of actually suppressing revolutions in one of the countries by +force. Its influence has therefore become the most potent factor, for +good or for evil, both in the external and the internal affairs of the +five republics. No description of Central American conditions would be +complete without a discussion of the way in which this influence has +been exercised.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> See <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI</a>.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br><span class="small">THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE OF 1907</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>The Increased Responsibilities of the United States in the Caribbean +Sea Since 1900—The San José Conference—The War of 1907—The +Washington Conference and the Conventions Adopted by it—Their +Effectiveness in Promoting Internal and International Peace—Work of +the Central American Court—The Central American Conferences and the +Central American Bureau.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The first years of the twentieth century have brought about a decided +change in the attitude of the United States towards its neighbors +around the Caribbean Sea. The increasing importance of our political +and economic interests in those countries has made their domestic +prosperity and the maintenance of their independence from European +influence more than ever before essential to our own well-being. +American investments and trade in the West Indies have attained such +great proportions that anything which affects the normal life of one +of the countries of that region is felt at once in commercial and +financial centers in the United States. The sugar plantations of +Cuba and the banana plantations of Central America, to take only two +examples, represent many millions of dollars of American capital, +and at the same time are important sources of the food supply of the +American people. Simultaneously with the expansion of our economic +interests, our political interests in the Caribbean have become of +paramount national importance. The acquisition of Porto Rico, and much +more the building of the Panama Canal, have made it impossible for the +United States to remain indifferent when international complications +arise which affect the military situation or the political status +of countries close to these possessions. The Monroe Doctrine, as +applied to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> the American tropics, has thus become more than ever an +indispensable national policy.</p> + +<p>At the same time, the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine has involved +increasingly heavy responsibilities and burdens, because the commercial +and financial interests of other countries in the Caribbean have +also increased as that region has been developed economically and +commercially. Even when they have had no ulterior political motives, +the European powers have been unable to stand by with equanimity while +the security and the interests of their citizens were endangered by +the continual revolutions and other disorders which have occurred in +some tropical American states. There has consequently been evident +an increasing disposition on their part to use force both to secure +protection for their nationals and to obtain the payment of debts due +to the latter by irresponsible and unscrupulous governments. To such +interventions, which necessarily tend to assume a political character, +the United States cannot possibly remain indifferent. Neither, however, +can it oppose itself to the protection by another country of the lives +and property of the latter’s subjects. European interference in the +affairs of American countries can only be averted if the United States +itself assumes the duty of protecting foreigners in the more turbulent +of the neighboring republics, and the Monroe Doctrine can only be +upheld in the long run if intelligent and disinterested efforts are +made to help those republics to remedy the conditions which at present +expose them to aggression. As President Roosevelt said in 1905:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>“We cannot permanently adhere to the Monroe Doctrine unless we succeed +in making it evident, in the first place, that we do not intend to +treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggrandizement on our +part at the expense of the Republics to the south of us; second, that +we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> these Republics +as a shield to protect that Republic from the consequences of its +own misdeeds against foreign nations; third, that inasmuch as by +this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side +of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of +our sister republics which need such help, upward toward peace and +order.”<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p> +</div> + +<p>The first occasion on which the new policy of the United States became +evident in its dealings with the Central American republics was in +1906, when there was a war between Guatemala and Salvador, in which +Honduras, as the ally of the latter country, also became involved. The +conflict had arisen from the aid furnished by some of the officials +of Salvador to a revolutionary movement directed against President +Estrada Cabrera. After exerting his influence in vain to prevent the +outbreak of hostilities, President Roosevelt invited President Díaz +of Mexico to join him in offering mediation. The efforts of the two +governments, seconded by those of Costa Rica, resulted in the holding +of a peace conference on the deck of the U. S. S. Marblehead, at +which representatives of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and +Nicaragua were present, as well as the plenipotentiaries of the three +belligerents. At this meeting an agreement was signed providing for the +cessation of hostilities and the disarmament of the contending forces, +and for another conference, to be held later, to conclude a general +treaty of peace.<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>The second conference was held at San José, Costa Rica, in September +of the same year. Each of the Central American republics was invited +to send delegates, and all did so with the exception of Nicaragua.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> +President Zelaya declined because he was unwilling to recognize +the right of the United States to intervene in Central American +affairs.<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> The governments, represented agreed that all differences +arising out of the late war should be arbitrated by the United States +and Mexico, and that future disputes should be settled by Central +American tribunals, specially organized to deal with each case as it +arose. They pledged themselves to keep political refugees from other +states away from the frontiers of the countries from which they had +been exiled, and not to allow their territory to be used as a base for +revolutionary movements against their neighbors. Provision was made +also for the establishment of a Central American Bureau in Guatemala +City and a pedagogical institute in Costa Rica; and general conventions +were signed regulating commerce, navigation, and extradition. The work +of the San José Conference was superseded by that of the Washington +Conference of the following year, when the treaties entered into were +reaffirmed and given greater weight by the moral support of the United +States and Mexico.<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a></p> + +<p>The San José Conference was followed by a year of almost continuous +disorder. In December, 1906, a revolution was started in Honduras +against the government of Manuel Bonilla. The rebels were operating +close to the Nicaraguan boundary, and it was asserted that they were +receiving aid from President Zelaya. Whether or not this was so, an +alleged violation of Nicaraguan territory by the troops of Honduras +soon made war seem inevitable. At the urgent request of the United +States and of the other Central American republics, both Zelaya and +Bonilla agreed to submit the dispute to the arbitration of a tribunal +composed of one member from each Central American republic, which met +at once at San Salvador. Before taking up the matter in dispute, this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> +body demanded that both parties withdraw their armies from the border. +As Zelaya refused to do this, and furthermore declared in advance that +he would not accept any settlement which did not make full reparation +for the violation of the Nicaraguan frontier, the tribunal dissolved. +Zelaya at once declared war on Honduras, and sent forces to co-operate +with the revolutionists there. Salvador, on the other hand, assisted +the Bonilla administration, at first indirectly and later by sending +troops, although her government remained ostensibly neutral. Despite +this aid, Bonilla’s forces were completely defeated at Namasigue, on +March 18, 1907, and not long afterward Tegucigalpa and Amapala, where +Bonilla made his last stand, were captured by the Nicaraguan troops +and the Honduranean revolutionists. Miguel Dávila was inaugurated as +provisional president of Honduras.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p> + +<p>By this time, another general conflict seemed inevitable. Zelaya was +preparing to attack Salvador, and President Estrada of Guatemala, +fearing the extension of Nicaraguan influence, was apparently ready to +intervene in defense of his neighbor. The United States and Mexico, +however, at the request of the governments of Costa Rica, Guatemala, +and Salvador, again exerted their good offices, and finally brought +about a conference at Amapala between the ministers of foreign affairs +of Nicaragua and Salvador. Here, with the assistance of the diplomatic +representatives of the United States, an effort was made to settle +the differences between these two countries. The chief question at +issue was the presidency of Honduras, for Salvador declared that she +could not accept terms of peace which did not assure the existence of +a government in that Republic which would be satisfactory to her and +to Guatemala, which had now become her ally against Zelaya. After a +long discussion of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> various names in an effort to find a candidate who +would not only be acceptable to all of the neighboring governments, +but who would also be able to maintain himself in power in Honduras, +the delegates finally agreed upon General Terencio Sierra, a former +president of Honduras, who was then in command of the Nicaraguan forces +at Amapala. They accordingly signed a secret treaty, by which they +pledged themselves to overthrow the Dávila government and to set up one +under Sierra in its place. Nicaragua, however, as the fifth article +stated, found it difficult to attack President Dávila, who was her +ally, and therefore left this to Salvador. After Dávila was disposed +of, both were to join in assisting Sierra, and he was to be considered +the ally of both.<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Having settled this matter, they drew up a +general peace treaty.</p> + +<p>The terms of these treaties were never carried out. The exigencies of +her internal politics prevented Salvador from supporting Sierra, and +Dávila was consequently able to establish himself firmly in power. +His government, set up by Nicaraguan arms, was of course perfectly +acceptable to Zelaya, but the latter nevertheless made the failure +of Salvador to carry out the stipulations of the Amapala agreement +a pretext for again beginning hostilities against that country. +Animated, as he said, by a desire for the union of Central America, he +openly aided a revolt against the government of President Figueroa, +sending men and supplies to Acajutla on a Nicaraguan gunboat.<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> This +expedition was repulsed, and further hostilities were averted by the +energetic representations of the United States.</p> + +<p>Zelaya’s avowed aggressive designs against the other states, and his +control over the government of Honduras, created a situation which +was intolerable to Guatemala<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> and Salvador. It was soon evident that +these countries were planning to attack him, by the usual means of +aiding revolutions in Nicaragua and Honduras. The situation became +very threatening in the latter part of the summer of 1907, for the +four states were already massing armies on their frontiers. In view +of the imminent danger of war, Presidents Roosevelt and Díaz jointly +offered their mediation, and brought pressure to bear on the various +governments to cease their hostile preparations. As a result, it was +agreed that a conference should be held in Washington to settle all +outstanding difficulties and permanently to establish the relations of +the Central American republics on a peaceful basis. The United States +and Mexico were invited to appoint representatives “to lend their good +and impartial offices in a purely friendly way towards the realization +of the objects of the Conference.”<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>The delegates of the five Central American countries met in the Bureau +of American Republics on November 14, 1907. The United States was +represented by Mr. William I. Buchanan, whose tact and perseverance +were inestimably valuable in the negotiations of the succeeding five +weeks. Secretary of State Root and Señor Creel, the Mexican ambassador, +made speeches at the inaugural session, and the Conference began its +work under the most favorable auspices, animated by a spirit of mutual +good will and by a genuine desire to bring about peace in Central +America. Following the lead of Salvador, each government in turn +declared that it had no claims or grievances against its neighbors, +and that it was ready to proceed at once to a discussion of plans +for a closer union between the republics. A proposal by Nicaragua +and Honduras for the immediate establishment of a Central American +federation caused a temporary interruption of the prevailing good +feeling, but harmony was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> soon restored, and the work of the Conference +proceeded smoothly until December 20, when eight conventions, +representing the fruit of its deliberations, were signed by the +delegates.<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>The first of these was a general treaty of peace and amity, by which +the five governments sought to remove several of the chief causes of +revolutions and international wars in the Isthmus, and to provide for a +closer co-operation in promoting their common interests. Among its most +important provisions were the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Article I. “The Republics of Central America ... bind themselves to +always observe the most complete harmony, and decide every difference +or difficulty that may arise amongst them, of whatever nature it may +be, by means of the Central American Court of Justice created by the +Convention which they have concluded for that purpose on this date.”</p> + +<p>Art. II. “... They declare that any disposition or measure which +may tend to disturb the constitutional organization” [that is, the +existing government] “of one of the Republics is to be deemed a menace +to the peace of all.”</p> + +<p>Art. III. “Taking into account the central geographical position +of Honduras, and the facilities which owing to this circumstance +have made its territory most often the theater of Central American +conflicts, Honduras declares from now on its absolute neutrality in +event of any conflict between the other republics; and the latter, in +their turn, provided such neutrality be observed, bind themselves to +respect it, and in no case to violate the Honduranean territory.”</p> + +<p>Art. XVI. “... Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes +of disturbances in the Republics, the contracting Governments shall +not permit the leaders or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> principal chiefs of political refugees, or +their agents, to reside in the departments bordering on the countries +whose peace they might disturb.”</p> + +<p>Art. XVII. “Every person, no matter what his nationality, who, within +the territory of one of the contracting parties, shall initiate or +foster revolutionary movements against any of the others, shall be +immediately brought to the capital of the Republic, where he shall be +submitted to trial according to law.”</p> +</div> + +<p>The other provisions of the treaty aimed to make the relations +between the republics closer and more friendly, and to foster their +co-operation for the furthering of their mutual interests. It +provided for a reciprocal recognition of the validity of judicial +proceedings, professional degrees, patents, and copyrights. Citizens +of each country, residing in the territory of one of the others, were +to enjoy the same privileges as nationals of the latter, and were +to be considered as citizens of the latter if they fulfilled other +constitutional requirements. Each Republic pledged itself to accredit +a permanent legation to each of the others, and agreed that its +diplomatic and consular agents in foreign countries should afford the +same protection to the persons, ships, and properties of the citizens +of other Central American states as to their compatriots. Vessels +of any Central American state were to receive the same treatment as +national vessels in the ports of others, and an agreement was to be +entered into for the encouragement by subsidies of the coasting trade +and of foreign steamship connections. The establishment of a practical +agricultural school in Salvador, a school of mines and mechanics in +Honduras, and one of arts and trades in Nicaragua, as well as the +proposed pedagogical institute in Costa Rica and the Central American +Bureau in Guatemala, was recommended, although not specifically +provided for.</p> + +<p>An additional convention to the General Treaty contained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> radical and +rather impractical provisions aiming to make revolutions less frequent:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Art. I. “The Governments of the High Contracting Parties shall not +recognize any other Government which may come into power in any +of the five Republics as a consequence of a <i>coup d’état</i>, +or of a revolution against a recognized government, so long as +the freely elected representatives of the people thereof have not +constitutionally reorganized the country.”</p> + +<p>Art. II. “No Government of Central America shall in case of civil war +intervene in favor of or against the Government of the country where +the struggle takes place.”</p> + +<p>Art. III. “The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are +recommended to endeavor to bring about, by the means at their command, +a constitutional reform in the sense of prohibiting the re-election +of the President of a Republic, where such prohibition does not +exist; secondly, to adopt all measures necessary to effect a complete +guarantee of the principle of alternation in power.”</p> +</div> + +<p>Another convention established a Central American Court of Justice, +consisting of five judges, one to be elected by the legislature of each +state. To this tribunal, the five republics bound themselves “to submit +all controversies or questions which may arise among them, of whatever +nature and no matter what their origin may be, in case the respective +Departments of Foreign Affairs shall not have been able to reach an +understanding.” The Court was also to take cognizance of suits which +citizens of one of the contracting parties might bring against the +government of one of the others on account of violation of treaties or +denial of justice and of the other cases of an international character, +including those which two or more of the Central American governments, +or one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> them and a foreign government, might agree to submit to it. +It was to be “competent to determine its own jurisdiction, interpreting +the Treaties and Conventions germane to the matter in dispute, and +applying the principles of international law.” Article XIII provided:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>“From the moment in which any suit is instituted against any one +or more governments up to that in which a final decision has been +pronounced, the Court may at the solicitation of any one of the +parties fix the situation in which the contending parties must remain, +to the end that the difficulty shall not be aggravated and that things +shall be conserved in <i>statu quo</i> pending a final decision.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the exercise of its duties, the Court might address itself to the +governments or the tribunals of the respective states, to have its +orders carried out, or it might provide for securing their execution +through special commissioners, whom the parties were to assist in every +way possible. The latter solemnly bound themselves to submit to the +judgments of the Court, and agreed “to lend all moral support that may +be necessary in order that they may be properly fulfilled.”</p> + +<p>Every effort was made to secure the complete independence of the +Court. It was to sit at Cartago, Costa Rica,<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> where it would be +more free from political or personal pressure than in some other parts +of the Isthmus. The judges were to serve for five years, receiving +a fixed salary paid out of the treasury of the Court, to which each +state contributed, and enjoying the privileges and immunities of +diplomatic agents; and they were not to exercise their profession or +hold public office during their term of service. They were not to +consider themselves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span> barred from sitting in a case to which their +own governments were parties, for they were to represent, not the +individual states, but the “national conscience of Central America.”</p> + +<p>An additional article proposed to give the Court “jurisdiction over +the conflicts which may arise between the Legislative, Executive, and +Judicial powers—when as a matter of fact the judicial decisions and +the resolutions of the National Congress are not respected.” This +provision, which would have authorized the tribunal to intervene in +the internal affairs of the contracting powers in times of internal +disorder, was never ratified.</p> + +<p>The Convention which established the Central American Bureau recognized +certain interests as being “those to which special attention should +be paid.” These were: “the peaceful reorganization of their mother +country, Central America”; the establishment of a broad, practical, +and complete system of education of an essentially Central American +character; the development of commerce and the advancement of +agriculture and industry; and the uniformity of civil, commercial, +and criminal legislation, customs tariffs, and monetary systems. The +functions of the Bureau were to be all those considered necessary and +expedient to achieve the objects placed in its care. It was to have an +organ of publicity, and was to serve as a center for the distribution +of information about Central American conditions both in the Isthmus +and in foreign countries.</p> + +<p>At the same time, several other conventions were signed. One provided +for the extradition of criminals; another for the establishment of a +pedagogical institute directed by the government of Costa Rica but +supported by all of the others; another for the co-operation of the +five countries in making plans for the construction of the Central +American sections of the Pan American railway and the improvement of +other means of intercommunication. By still another treaty, each of +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> contracting governments obligated itself to name one or more +commissions to study the currency systems, customs tariffs, weights and +measures, and other matters of an economic and fiscal nature in their +respective countries. After these had reported, delegates were to be +appointed to a Central American Conference, which was to discuss the +measures recommended by the commissioners, and especially the reform +of the various currency systems on a gold basis. Similar conferences +were to be held annually thereafter to consider matters which the +governments might agree to submit to them.</p> + +<p>The Conference’s program for the political and economic regeneration +of the Isthmus was obviously too ambitious to be carried out at +once, for evils arising from deep-rooted habits and fundamental +social conditions could not be done away with by mere international +agreement, however sincere the contracting parties might be in their +desire for peace and for a realization of a closer union. No one +could reasonably expect that the five governments would turn at once +from their attitude of mutual suspicion and hostility to a harmonious +co-operation in undertakings for their common welfare. Neither of the +two main objects of the Washington Conventions,—the elimination of +civil and international wars and the creation of closer ties between +the five republics with a view to uniting them eventually under one +government,—seemed to have been realized to any appreciable extent in +the years immediately following 1907, and this led many who had hoped +that there would at once be a marked improvement in international +relations to brand the treaties as a failure. A careful examination +of their results, however, shows that the treaties have been very far +from a failure, even though their effects have as yet only begun to +make themselves felt. Both of the objects of the Conference have been +realized to some extent, and there is every prospect that they will be +realized more and more fully as time goes on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> + +<p>At first, indeed, there was little change in the relations between +the five republics. Some of the governments, and especially that of +Nicaragua, showed little inclination to carry out the obligations +of the conventions in good faith. President Zelaya, who already +practically controlled Honduras through the Dávila government, +continued his machinations against the tranquillity of other +neighboring states, directing his efforts mainly towards placing one of +his own supporters in the presidency of Salvador. His open assistance +to Prudencio Alfaro, who made repeated attempts to invade that republic +in 1908 and 1909, finally forced the United States to authorize the +commanders of its naval vessels in Central American waters to use force +to prevent the launching of filibustering expeditions from Nicaraguan +ports.<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> Zelaya’s policy created a situation which was intolerable +to Guatemala and Salvador, and soon convinced all who were interested +in Central American affairs that he was the greatest obstacle to +the establishment of permanent peace in the Isthmus. President Taft +expressed this belief in his annual message to Congress in December, +1909, when he said:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>“Since the Washington Conventions of 1907 were communicated to the +Government of the United States as a consulting and advising party, +this Government has been almost continuously called upon by one or +another, and in turn by all of the five Central American republics, +to exert itself for the maintenance of the conventions. Nearly every +complaint has been against the Zelaya government of Nicaragua, which +has kept Central America in constant tension and turmoil.”</p> +</div> + +<p>In the early part of the summer of 1908, a band of revolutionists +invaded Honduras from Salvador, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> another band, led by General Lee +Christmas, an American soldier of fortune, attacked some of the towns +on the north coast of that republic. There was little doubt in the +minds of well-informed people that one or both of Zelaya’s principal +enemies, the Presidents of Guatemala and Salvador, were aiding the +revolutionists with a view to striking at him through the government +of Honduras. Zelaya at once prepared for war, and the treaties of +peace, hardly six months old, seemed to have been forgotten. The United +States and Mexico, however, made strong representations to all the +parties concerned, and Costa Rica, by a happy inspiration, suggested +to the newly established Central American Court that it interpose +its influence to prevent the threatened conflict. On July 8, this +tribunal addressed a telegram to the presidents of Guatemala, Salvador, +Honduras, and Nicaragua, urging them to submit their differences to +arbitration. On receipt of this communication, Nicaragua and Honduras +made formal complaints to the Court in accordance with the terms of +the Washington Conventions,—Honduras charging that Guatemala and +Salvador had fomented and assisted the revolution, and had failed +to restrain the Honduranean exiles residing in their territory, and +Nicaragua appearing as an interested party. The Court acted with +promptness and decision. The complainants were asked to submit proofs +in support of their charges, and Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua +were ordered to refrain from any military movements which might suggest +intervention in the internal affairs of Honduras, and to reduce their +forces to a peace basis. These messages were transmitted and answered +by telegraph, so that within five days of the Court’s first note a +<i>modus vivendi</i> had been established and the immediate danger of +a conflict had been dispelled. After Guatemala and Salvador complied +with the orders of the Court, the revolution in Honduras subsided. The +Court handed down its decision on December<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> 19, 1908. Salvador was +absolved of all responsibility for the revolution in Honduras by the +votes of the judges representing Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica +against those of the judges from Honduras and Nicaragua. Guatemala was +exonerated by all except the representative of Honduras. This decision +was severely criticised by many persons in Central America, and it lost +much of its force from the fact that most of the judges had obviously +voted as the interests of the governments which named them dictated. +There could be no doubt, however, that the Court had averted a general +Central American war, and had thus done a signal service to the cause +of peace.<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> + +<p>By this time it was clear that the Washington Conventions would have +little effect so long as Zelaya continued to be president of Nicaragua. +When a revolution broke out against him in the fall of 1909, therefore, +it was regarded with more sympathy and favor by those who had been +interested in the work of the Conference than was consistent with the +spirit, at least, of the Conference’s acts. The attitude of the United +States and of the other Central American governments, as we shall see +in the next chapter, did much to make this uprising a success. Zelaya’s +defeat naturally involved the fall of Dávila a short time afterward.</p> + +<p>After the elimination of Zelaya, the beneficial effects of the +Conventions began to show themselves somewhat more than had been +possible while the same conditions which had caused the disturbances +of the years 1906-7 had continued to exist. It became evident after +1910 that they marked a turning point in the relations of the five +republics. Since that year, and in fact, if we except occasional +attempts to render covert aid to revolutions, since 1907, there has not +been one international war in Central America. It would be difficult +to point to another<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> ten years in the history of the Isthmus of which +this has been true. It is, moreover, hardly conceivable under present +conditions, and especially in view of the influence exerted in behalf +of peace by the United States, that there should be an armed conflict +between two or more of the five republics. The principal object of the +Washington Conference may therefore be said to have been realized. +The change which has taken place has been in large part due to the +fact that the five countries themselves have generally abided by the +provisions of the Treaty of Amity and the Treaty establishing the +Central American Court, for they have refrained from sending troops +to intervene in one another’s internal affairs, and have shown a +readiness which had been rare before 1907 to submit differences which +arose between them to settlement by diplomatic means or arbitration +rather than by a resort to arms. Their relations with one another +have undoubtedly been improved by the new spirit which the Conference +called into being, and their feeling of common nationality and their +readiness to co-operate for the realization of their mutual purposes +and ambitions have been strengthened by an increasing realization of +the external dangers which confront a Central America divided and +distracted by internal wars.</p> + +<p>The Conventions did less to bring about stability of government in +the individual states, but even in this their effect has been by +no means negligible. Internal disorders cannot, of course, be done +away with while their fundamental causes remain; and the convention +providing that governments coming into office by the use of force +should not be recognized until after they had received the approval +of the voters at a popular election, and that the state constitutions +should be so amended as to insure alternation in power, have been +entirely disregarded. Nevertheless, revolutionary uprisings have been +made decidedly less frequent by the fact that several of the republics +have faithfully observed their obligations to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> exercise surveillance +over political exiles from neighboring countries and not to encourage +or permit the organization within their territories of attempts to +overthrow nearby governments. Enemies of the established order in one +of the republics now find it far more difficult than ever before to +secure the base of operations and the financial and military assistance +which are usually indispensable for the success of a revolt.</p> + +<p>The measure of success which the work of the Conference has attained +has been very largely due to the energetic support by the United States +of the principles which it established. The government at Washington +has several times intervened diplomatically, or even by the use of +force, to prevent violations of the more important conventions, to +which it was practically, if not formally, a party. In doing this, +it has usually acted upon the invitation of one or the other of the +five republics. It has not hesitated to use any means necessary to +prevent unjustified attacks by one country on another, and it has +often brought strong pressure to bear to deter the signatory powers +from permitting their territory to be used as a base of revolutionary +operations against their neighbors. Sometimes North American influence +has apparently been the only factor which has secured respect for +the obligations imposed by the peace treaty, for one or two of the +parties which signed that treaty have shown little disposition to abide +by its provisions and have thus endangered the peace of the Isthmus +despite the fact that their neighbors were endeavoring to carry out the +provisions of the Conventions in good faith.</p> + +<p>The Central American Court of Justice, which was to have been the +crowning work of the Conference, has not entirely fulfilled the +expectations of its founders. It cannot be said to be a tribunal +independent of and superior to the five governments, to which +any aggrieved person or state may appeal in the confidence of +securing justice. Several of the men appointed as judges have been +distinguished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> lawyers of conspicuous ability and undoubted integrity, +but at the same time there have been others, sometimes constituting +the majority of the Court, who have owed their nominations purely +to domestic political considerations. The honor and the large +salary attached to them have made the judgeships one of the most +attractive positions in the gift of the state governments, and there +has consequently been a keen competition for them among prominent +politicians, which has made it more difficult to select a man solely +on his merits. In addition to this, the importance of controlling the +Court as a means of influencing the international politics of the +Isthmus has made almost inevitable the appointment of men who could +be relied upon to vote as their governments wished when important +questions were at issue. The control exerted over the judges by the +powers which named them has prevented the Court from becoming in any +true sense independent, and has given it the position of a standing +commission of distinguished diplomats rather than that of a true court +of justice. This was perhaps inevitable, because the states of the +Isthmus, which had never known a judicial tribunal not subject in some +degree at least to official influence, could hardly grasp the idea of +an international body which would be entirely free from the dictation +of the authority which created it. There has been, therefore, no strong +force of public opinion to support the Court in asserting its right to +speak for the “National Conscience of Central America,” and even the +judges themselves have shown little inclination to seize and hold the +position of complete freedom from control with which the Washington +Conference had intended to invest them.</p> + +<p>That this was true was evident in the first case that was brought +before the tribunal. In deciding the suit of Honduras and Nicaragua +against Guatemala and Salvador in 1908, each of the judges from the +four states interested voted, as we have seen, on the side supported<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span> +by the country which had appointed him. The general belief that the +dictation of the governments involved, rather than the facts as shown +by the evidence, had determined the decision of this question, did +much to injure the Court and to deprive it of public confidence. Its +independence suffered another serious blow as the result of the action +taken in another question which arose three years later after the +revolution in Nicaragua. The government which succeeded Zelaya failed +to contribute its share towards the expenses of the Court, in which +the judge appointed by the late administration was still sitting. +Now the salaries of the judges, according to the convention founding +the tribunal, were to be paid out of the latter’s treasury, from a +general fund to which each of the states contributed. In this way +the Conference had hoped to establish the financial independence of +the judges with respect to their governments, but its intention does +not seem to have been carried out, for the refusal of Nicaragua to +contribute her quota was regarded as the equivalent of withholding her +judge’s salary. The latter was thus forced to withdraw temporarily from +the Court, whereupon that body, instead of calling upon the substitute +provided by its constitution, admitted a new magistrate appointed +by the Conservative government of Nicaragua. This action entirely +disillusioned those who had hoped that the Court would be above party +politics and independent of outside pressure, for it established the +dependence of the judges on the governments that named them, and +constituted a recognition by the tribunal itself of the fact that its +members were representatives of the administration in power in their +respective countries, rather than magistrates whose tenure was secure +without regard to political changes during their legal term of office.</p> + +<p>Since its action in averting a general war in 1908, the Court has been +more ornamental than useful. It has served as a symbol of Central +American unity, and it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> has kept alive the principle of international +arbitration, but it has actually decided very few cases. Three or +four suits have been brought against the government of one of the +countries by citizens of another, charging violation of treaty rights +or denial of justice, but the Court has refused in every instance to +adjudicate them, on the ground that the petitioners had not exhausted +the means of redress at their disposal in the countries where they +claimed that they had been mistreated. It also refused to intervene in +the internal affairs of Costa Rica in 1914 to determine the validity +of a presidential election. During the two revolutions in Nicaragua, +in 1910 and 1912, it endeavored to bring about an agreement between +the contending factions, and in 1912 it even sent a commission of +its members to confer with the rival leaders; but its efforts came +to naught in both cases because the Conservatives, who had the moral +support of the United States, were confident of their ability to defeat +their opponents, and therefore refused to agree to a compromise.</p> + +<p>Its most recent, and in many ways its most important decisions, were +those handed down on September 30, 1916, and March 2, 1917, in the +suits brought against Nicaragua by Costa Rica and Salvador, which +claimed that their rights had been violated by the recent treaty +between that country and the United States. The Court refused to +declare the treaty void, saying that it had no jurisdiction over the +United States, but it held, nevertheless, that the complainants’ rights +had been violated, thus condemning Nicaragua’s action as illegal. This +case has raised a very serious question as to the extent to which the +authority of the tribunal will be recognized. Despite Nicaragua’s +refusal to appear as a party to the case or to accept the verdict, +there can be no doubt that the Court had jurisdiction over the question +at issue, or that Nicaragua is bound, by the Washington Conventions, +to respect its decision. Whether she will do so,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> however, seems very +doubtful. If she continues in her refusal, and is supported in her +attitude by the Government of the United States, the prestige of the +Court will be seriously impaired, if, indeed, its very existence is not +endangered. It is already rather unpopular because of the expense which +it involves and because it has accomplished so little, and it seems +probable that it would have been disbanded before this if the United +States had not exerted a strong influence in behalf of its continuance.</p> + +<p>The measures planned by the Conference for promoting closer economic +relations between the five republics have only been carried out in +part, and their results have been far from satisfactory. Although the +provisions for granting citizens of each Central American state the +rights of citizens in all the others, and the mutual recognition of +professional degrees, patents, and copyrights, have undoubtedly done +much to encourage travel and commerce and to promote good feeling, the +more ambitious projects outlined in the Conventions have been almost, +if not quite, fruitless. Few of the educational institutions which +the Conference contemplated have been established, and those which +individual states have founded as a result of its recommendations have +not attained a truly international character because of the reluctance +of other governments to appropriate money for their support. The +Central American conferences met annually for five years, drawing up +conventions for the reform of the currency and fiscal systems, the +establishment of free trade, the adoption of a comprehensive unified +system of education, and the improvement of interstate communications; +but they were finally discontinued because none of their work had been +given any practical effect by the governments. The Central American +Bureau (Oficina Internacional Centroamericana) has perhaps been the +only institution provided for at the meeting in 1907 which has thus +far fully justified its creation. This office, which has been sort of +a clearing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span> house for statistical and other data, has done much useful +work in distributing commercial information in Central America and +abroad, and has also served as an international agency for elaborating +plans for joint action on subjects of general importance. Its organ, +“Centro America,” is the most important periodical published in the +Isthmus.</p> + +<p>It is still too early to attempt a final estimate of the results +of the Washington Conference, or to judge of the ultimate economic +and political effects of its work. Some of the stipulations of the +conventions adopted by it have never been carried out, and others have +been rendered obsolete by the events of the last ten years, but in the +main the agreements entered into are still in force, and are by no +means without practical value. The provisions restraining the states +from interfering in one another’s affairs and binding them to submit +their disputes to arbitration cannot but make a great change in the +political conditions of the Isthmus, if the five countries continue to +observe them and if the United States continues to exert its influence +to secure respect for them. The spirit of Central American unity, which +inspired the actions of the Conference, is growing stronger daily as +the states realize more fully their dependence upon one another and +the importance of presenting a united front to the world. It seems not +improbable that the meeting in Washington in 1907 will be looked back +upon in the future as a turning point in the history of the Isthmus, +marking a first and decisive step towards the elimination of the +international and internal wars which had hitherto been so frequent and +so destructive.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> Quoted by Critchfield (<i>American Supremacy</i>, Vol. +II, p. 419) from a speech made at Chautauqua.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> U. S. Foreign Relations, 1906, I, 834ff. Mexico, +<i>Boletín Oficial de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores</i>, Vol. +22, p. 235.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> Nicaragua, <i>Mem. de Relaciones Exteriores</i>, ’07, p. +xxvii, 5.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> For the text of these conventions, see U. S. For. Rel., +’06, I, p. 857.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> U. S. Foreign Relations, ’07, p. 606; Nicaragua, +<i>Memoria de Relaciones Exteriores</i>, ’07, most of which is devoted +to an account of the events here discussed.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> For the text of this treaty, see Nicaragua, <i>Memoria de +Relaciones Exteriores</i>, ’07, p. 405.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> Annual message to Nicaraguan Congress, Dec. 1, 1907.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> Article II of preliminary protocol, signed Sept. 17, +1907. U. S. For. Rel., ’07, II, p. 644.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Mr. Buchanan’s report, with the text of the conventions, +is printed in U. S. For. Rel., ’07, pp. 665-723.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> After the destruction of Cartago by an earthquake in 1910 +it was moved to San José.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> See the article by Professor P. M. Brown, at the time U. +S. Minister to Honduras, in the American Political Science Review, Vol. +VI, Supplement, p. 160.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> For an account of the case, in addition to the official +report of the Court, see the Am. Journal of International Law, Vol. II, +p. 835.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br><span class="small">THE INTERVENTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN NICARAGUA</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>The Revolution of 1909—Attitude of the United States—Victory of +the Conservatives—Financial and Political Difficulties Confronting +the New Government—The Dawson Agreement and the Loan Treaty—Reform +of the Currency, Establishment of the Customs Collectorship, and +Reorganization of the Foreign Debt by the American Bankers—The +Joint Claims Commission—Failure of the Loan Treaty—The Revolution +of 1912 and the Intervention of the United States—Support of the +Government Since 1912 by American Marines—New Loans and Purchase of +the Railroad and Bank Stock by the Bankers—The Election of 1916—The +Canal Treaty—Objections of Costa Rica and Salvador—Decision of the +Central American Court—Opposition to Our Policy in Nicaragua and +the Influence of Our Policy on Our Relations with the Other Central +American States.</p> +</div> + + +<p>In October, 1909, a band of Nicaraguan Conservatives started a +revolution at Bluefields. They won over Juan J. Estrada, the governor +of the province of which that city is the capital, by proclaiming him +provisional president, and thus secured control of most of the East +Coast of the Republic. Money and supplies were obtained from some of +the other Central American countries, and also from the foreign colony +on the Coast, whose interests had been injured by certain concessions +which President Zelaya had recently granted. This assistance, and the +protection afforded by the wild country which separated Bluefields +from the rest of the Republic, enabled the revolutionists to raise a +considerable army and to organize a <i>de facto</i> government before +the constituted authorities were able to attack them.</p> + +<p>The uprising was from the first regarded with sympathy throughout +Central America and in Washington, for Zelaya’s continual encouragement +of revolutions in other countries had made him obnoxious to all of his +neighbors, and had led to a general belief that his administration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> was +the principal obstacle to the establishment of peace in the Isthmus. +The relations between Nicaragua and the United States had been strained +for some time, because of the friction caused by Zelaya’s violations +of the Washington Conventions, and because there had been a number of +unpleasant diplomatic incidents, including the prolonged dispute over +the so-called Emery claim,<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> which had culminated in the withdrawal +of the American minister from Managua. Nevertheless, both the United +States and the other Central American countries remained at first +ostensibly neutral in the contest. In November, however, the execution +by Zelaya’s troops of two American soldiers of fortune, who held +commissions in the revolutionary army, caused President Taft to break +off diplomatic relations with the Liberal administration entirely, and +to give the revolution his open, if indirect, support.</p> + +<p>The attitude of the American government was set forth in a note +addressed by Secretary of State Knox to the Nicaraguan Chargé +d’Affaires at Washington. “Since the Washington Conference of +1907,” it stated, “it is notorious that President Zelaya has almost +continuously kept Central America in tension and turmoil.” The Liberal +administration was described as “a regime which unfortunately has been +a blot upon the history of Nicaragua.” The murder of American citizens +was but the culmination of a series of outrages which had made friendly +relations between the two governments impossible. Moreover, the United +States was convinced “that the revolution represents the ideals and +the will of a majority of the Nicaraguan people more faithfully +than does the Government of President Zelaya.” The revolution, the +Secretary said, had already attained serious proportions on the East +Coast, and new uprisings were reported in the West. This tended to +produce “a condition of anarchy which leaves, at a given time, no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> +definite, responsible source to which the Government of the United +States could look for reparation for the killing of Messrs. Cannon and +Groce, or indeed, for the protection which must be assured American +citizens and American interests in Nicaragua. In these circumstances, +the President no longer feels for the Government of President Zelaya +that respect and confidence which would make it appropriate hereafter +to maintain with it regular diplomatic relations, implying the will +and the ability to respect and assure what is due from one state to +another.” Both factions were to be held responsible for the protection +of American life and property in the sections under their control. The +United States would wait, before demanding reparation for the murders, +until it saw whether or not the government which was in power after +the revolution was “entirely dissociated from the present intolerable +conditions.” Meanwhile it reserved the liberty to take such action as +it saw fit to preserve its interests, and the State Department would +continue to receive unofficially both the former Chargé d’Affaires and +the representative of the revolution.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> + +<p>This note brought about Zelaya’s fall, for he realized that he could +not hope to maintain himself against the open opposition of the +United States. After vainly attempting to come to an understanding +with Secretary Knox, the Nicaraguan ruler yielded to the advice of +President Díaz of Mexico and to the pleas of his friends at home, and +resigned his position to Dr. José Madriz, one of the most distinguished +citizens of Leon. The Liberals had hoped to placate the United States +by making president a civilian of known ability and honesty, but their +expectations were disappointed, for President Taft refused to recognize +the new executive.<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> The revolutionists<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> also declined his offer to +open peace negotiations.</p> + +<p>For a time, nevertheless, it appeared probable that President Madriz +would be able to restore order. On February 22, 1910, a revolutionary +army which attempted to invade the lake region was defeated and almost +destroyed, and Estrada and the other leaders, with the remnants of +their troops, were forced to retire to Bluefields. The government +at once prepared to attack that city vigorously by land and by sea, +proclaiming a blockade of the port, and occupying the Bluff, where the +customs house was situated. The final reduction of the rebel army, +however, proved impossible. The officers of the American warships, +which had been sent to the port at the outbreak of the war, refused +to allow the blockading squadron to interfere with American ships or +ships carrying American goods, and denied the right of the Government +officials to collect customs duties at the Bluff, permitting Estrada to +establish a new customs house in the territory under his control. When +the Liberal commanders, thus prevented from cutting off the supplies or +the revenues of the insurgents, prepared to take the town by assault, +the American commander forbade them to attack it from the land side, +and threatened to sink the gunboats if they shelled the rebel trenches. +This action, taken on the ground that a bombardment or fighting in the +streets would destroy the property of Americans and other foreigners, +rendered certain the defeat of the Government army, which could not +long remain encamped far from its base of supplies in the hot and +unhealthful coast district outside of the city. Within a few weeks the +besiegers were forced to withdraw into the interior.</p> + +<p>The Liberals in control at the capital, who had already lost the +sympathy of many of Zelaya’s former supporters by their wholesale +political arrests and their partisan policy, were completely +discredited by their failure to take Bluefields, and their government +collapsed entirely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> when Estrada again approached the interior with +a reinforced army. There were new outbreaks at several points in the +lake region which it was impossible to suppress. Madriz left Managua +on August 20, 1910, and the revolutionists entered the city on the +following day.</p> + +<p>The revolutionary forces were composed mainly of adherents of the +wealthy Conservative families of Granada, but there were also many +Liberals, some of whom had been prominent leaders in the revolt, who +had joined the uprising either from personal hostility to Zelaya or +from the hope of gaining something for themselves. The new provisional +president, Juan J. Estrada, was a member of the artisan class of +Managua, who had been raised by Zelaya to the position of governor of +the East Coast province, and whose leadership had been accepted by the +Conservatives only because the success of their plot at the beginning +depended upon his betraying his patron and turning over to them the +garrison at Bluefields. Another Liberal, General José María Moncada, +who had for several years been an opponent of Zelaya, became minister +of <i>gobernación</i> in the new government, and was one of the most +trusted advisors of the provisional president. The minister of war, +General Luís Mena, had formerly been a follower of the Chamorro family, +but his military exploits during the recent struggle and his influence +with the army had given him a prestige which threatened to eclipse +that of his former patrons, and had made him the most powerful figure +in the administration. None of these men were liked or trusted by the +old Granada aristocracy, who had hoped through the success of the +revolution to regain the power which they had enjoyed during the thirty +years before Zelaya became president. Even the <i>Granadinos</i>, +however, were not entirely united among themselves, for there was no +little jealousy between some of the great families. General Emiliano +Chamorro, who had for many years been the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> leader of Conservative +revolts against Zelaya, had a strong following among the members of his +party in all sections of the Republic, but he was opposed by a faction +headed by the Cuadra family, who subsequently became very powerful +through their alliance with President Adolfo Díaz. It is necessary +to bear in mind these rivalries between the different leaders and +groups in the new administration, in order to understand the political +difficulties which confronted it during the two years following its +accession to power.</p> + +<p>The agreement by which the Liberals had turned over the government to +the revolutionary leaders had provided for a general amnesty, for a +free election to be held within one year, and for the recognition of +the debts contracted by both parties during the struggle. Little or +no attention was paid to the two former articles, but the debts of +both parties,—to members of the revolutionary forces,—were fully +recognized, and, in so far as the condition of the treasury permitted, +paid. Each person who had taken part in the revolt received fifty +hectares (about 123 acres) of the national lands, and vast sums were +awarded to prominent members of the Conservative party who had suffered +under the Zelaya regime from confiscation or forced loans, or even from +“moral” injuries, such as the death of a close relative. A large sum +which had been left in the treasury by Dr. Madriz was soon exhausted, +and new issues of unsecured paper money were resorted to. By April, +1911, the government admitted that the already depreciated currency +had been further inflated to the extent of 15,000,000 pesos, and in +the autumn of the same year 10,000,000 pesos more were secretly put +into circulation.<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> Some of this money was necessarily used to meet +the current expenses of the government, for the revenues had suffered +a serious decline since the revolution, but the greater<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> part seems to +have gone to those in power and to their friends and relatives.</p> + +<p>The emptiness of the treasury, accompanied by the inflation of the +currency to twice its former quantity, made worse the already desperate +economic situation of the country. The revolution had paralyzed +agriculture and commerce, not only by taking thousands of workers +away from their fields and shops, but also by the actual destruction +of cattle and crops, and by the complete disorganization of the +transportation system. The discontent caused by these conditions made +the position of the new government very precarious, for the Liberals, +who outnumbered the Conservatives in the country at large, had no +intention of accepting their defeat as final. They felt that they had +been beaten, not through the superior strength of their enemies, but by +the intervention of the United States; and they were encouraged to keep +up an active opposition to the government by the hope of returning to +power through the dissensions which soon appeared among the different +chiefs of the Conservative party. The opposition press, which for a +few months enjoyed and abused an unwonted liberty, kept party feeling +at the boiling point, and the bitterness between the two factions was +greatly intensified by a bloody clash between government troops and the +members of a peaceful Liberal parade at Leon in November, 1911. The +Conservative administration, bankrupt and divided within itself, seemed +for a time utterly unable to cope with the situation.</p> + +<p>The Republic was saved from falling into a condition of complete +anarchy only by the assistance rendered to the new government by +the United States. In October, 1910, the State Department sent Mr. +Thomas C. Dawson to Managua to study the situation and to bring about +an understanding between the Conservative leaders. Through his good +offices, the so-called Dawson agreement was signed on November 5 by +the principal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> leaders of the revolution. This arrangement provided +for the continuance of Estrada at the head of the government, for the +appointment of a commission containing American members to pass on +all claims against the government arising out of the recent war and +out of the cancellation of concessions granted by Zelaya, and for the +negotiation of a loan treaty in the United States.<a id="FNanchor_61" href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> A constitutional +convention which met on December 31 elected Estrada provisional +president for two years, and Adolfo Díaz vice-president. The new +administration was at once officially recognized by the United States.</p> + +<p>Estrada’s position was by no means an easy one. He could rely neither +upon the military power, which was entirely in the hands of General +Mena, nor upon the Constitutional Convention, which was composed +chiefly of followers of Emiliano Chamorro. The rival ambitions of +the different leaders soon broke down the political arrangements +established by the Dawson agreement. When the Convention framed a +constitution which would have made itself rather than the president +the actual authority in the state, Estrada dissolved it, thus breaking +with Chamorro, who left the country. Estrada later attempted to remove +from office and imprison General Mena, who had used his control of the +army to fill a new constituent assembly with his personal followers. +The military leaders remained loyal to their chief, and prepared to +secure his release by force. Only the intervention of the United +States minister averted fighting in the streets of Managua. Estrada +and Moncada, the minister of <i>gobernación</i>, resigned, and Díaz +succeeded to the presidency, with the consent of Mena. The minister of +war was for some months the real head of the government.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the plans for the financial reorganization of the Republic, +which had also been a part of the Dawson agreement, had assumed +definite form. Early<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> in 1911, a study of the situation had been made +by a financial advisor appointed by Estrada at the suggestion of the +State Department. The pecuniary difficulties which confronted the new +government were growing very serious. Foreign creditors, supported by +their governments, were urgently demanding the payment of interest +on the bonded debt, and several claimants were seeking compensation +for concessions which the revolutionists had cancelled or violated. +The treasury was practically empty, and the repeated issues of paper +money which had been resorted to to provide funds had disorganized the +currency to such an extent that fluctuations in the rate of exchange +made foreign commerce almost impossible.<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p>On June 6, 1911, a treaty was signed with the United States, by which +that country agreed to assist Nicaragua in securing a loan from +American bankers for the consolidation of its internal and external +debt and for other purposes. The loan was to be secured by the customs +duties, which were to be collected, so long as the bonds remained +unpaid, by an official appointed by Nicaragua from a list presented +by the fiscal agent of the loan and approved by the President of the +United States.<a id="FNanchor_63" href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> The treaty was similar in every way to that signed +in January of the same year by the United States and Honduras, and, +like it, was never ratified by the United States Senate. On September +1, while it was still under consideration by the Senate, contracts +were signed by which Brown Brothers and Company and J. and W. Seligman +and Company, of New York, agreed to lend the Republic fifteen million +dollars when the treaty went into effect. The bankers were to purchase +the Republic’s bonds, bearing five per cent interest, at 90¹⁄₂ per +cent of their face value, and the money thus received was to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> be +employed for the reform of the currency, the construction of railroads +from the interior to Matagalpa and to the Atlantic Coast, and the +refunding of the external and the internal debts. As there was little +hope of immediate action on the loan treaty, for the United States +Congress had adjourned, the bankers agreed to purchase of the Republic +six per cent treasury bills to the amount of $1,500,000, in order to +provide funds for the most needed reform, an immediate reorganization +of the currency. These were guaranteed by the customs revenues, which +were to be administered until the notes were retired by a collector +general designated by the bankers. The Republic agreed that any dispute +relating to this contract should be referred to the Secretary of State +of the United States for final decision. The treasury bills were to be +retired at once if the fifteen-million-dollar bond issue took place.<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<p>The product of this loan was spent by the bankers for the benefit of +the Republic. The reorganization of the monetary system was intrusted +to the National Bank of Nicaragua, an institution incorporated in +the United States with capital supplied from the loan. This was to +be managed by the bankers until such time as the treasury bills +should be paid. On March 20, 1912, a new currency law was passed by +the Nicaraguan Congress, putting into effect a plan which had been +worked out by two distinguished American financial experts, who had +been sent by the bankers to report on the situation.<a id="FNanchor_65" href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> A unit +called <i>Córdoba</i>, equal in value to one dollar United States +currency, was instituted, and the National Bank was authorized to issue +paper and silver money of the new denominations in such quantities +as it might consider expedient. This was to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> be exchanged for the +old <i>billetes</i> at a rate to be fixed by agreement between the +President of Nicaragua and the bankers. The bank-notes which were to +form the greater part of the new circulating medium were to be kept at +par by the sale of drafts against a reserve fund maintained in New York +by the Republic with its own money, but managed by the National Bank. +The latter was to have full control of the currency reform as the agent +of the Republic, and was to have an exclusive right to issue paper +money.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile it had been found that additional funds would be necessary +if the currency reform were to be carried out, because the secret +issues of paper money made during the autumn of 1911, even after the +signature of the treasury bills agreement, had greatly increased the +probable expense of the reform. The bankers therefore agreed to open a +credit of $500,000 to provide the reserve fund contemplated in the plan +of reorganization, and agreed also to lend the Republic an additional +$255,000 in small monthly amounts for current expenses. Both of these +advances were to bear interest at the rate of six per cent, and were +to be repaid when Nicaragua received the money which was due to it, as +will be explained below, from the Ethelburga Syndicate. Payment was due +on October 15, 1912, but the bankers agreed to grant an extension of +time both for these loans and for the treasury bills, if the Republic +were then unable to pay them. In return, the Republic agreed to cut +down its budget and to raise the customs duties by collecting them at +a new rate of exchange. At the same time, it granted the bankers an +option on fifty-one per cent of the stock in the National Railway, the +management of which was to be turned over to a corporation formed in +the United States. This company was to be entirely controlled by the +bankers until they had received all money due them from the Republic.</p> + +<p>As soon as the plan for the currency reform was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span> completed the +government began to purchase and destroy the old paper money, in order +to reduce the rate of exchange, for the expert commission had decided +that a conversion at the prevailing rate of twenty to one would work +a serious injustice to some classes in the community in view of the +rapidity with which the rate had risen during the past twelve months. +This proceeding, although justifiable from a broad social point of +view, involved a heavy expense to the government, and at the same +time proved extremely profitable to those who had shared in the +distributions of paper money which had taken place since the victory +of the revolution. The National Bank was established in the summer +of 1912, and early in 1913 the new money was in circulation. The old +<i>billetes</i> were gradually retired, being exchanged at a fixed rate +of 12¹⁄₂ to one. In November, 1915, they ceased to be legal tender.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Customs Collectorship had been installed in December, +1911, under the direction of Colonel Clifford D. Ham. This gentleman +has administered the service ever since, in accordance with the terms +of the treasury bills contract and of the later agreement with the +holders of the Republic’s foreign debt. The Collector General, in +his own words, has regarded himself not so much as an employee of +the Nicaraguan Government as a “trustee, with obligations to four +parties—the Republic of Nicaragua, the Secretary of State of the +United States, certain citizens of the United States, and certain +citizens of England.”<a id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> In accordance with this view, he has +declined to recognize the right of the Tribunal of Accounts and other +governmental agencies to exercise any authority over him, and he has +been in the main supported in this position by the higher Nicaraguan +officials. By the terms of its arrangements with the bankers, the +Republic is debarred from reducing its tariff without the latters’ +consent,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> or from taking any other action which might lessen the value +of the guarantee afforded by the customs revenues. The collectorship, +and the readjustment of the foreign debt which its establishment made +possible, may perhaps be said to be the one conspicuously successful +feature of the American bankers’ operations in Nicaragua. The Collector +General, who has entire power to appoint and remove his subordinates, +has reorganized and reformed the service, and has succeeded in +eliminating most of the corruption and inefficiency which had prevailed +under native administration. Foreign importers and customs agencies +who had enjoyed special privileges or improper exemptions have in +some cases opposed the new regime very bitterly, but the majority of +the business men of the country have had good reason to welcome the +substitution of a fair system for one which exposed them to continual +extortion and fraud. The amount of revenue secured, in proportion to +the imports, has been greatly increased, although the paralyzation +of trade during the war of 1912 and the commercial stagnation which +has prevailed since the beginning of the European war have prevented +the receipts from reaching an amount much greater than that secured +in the days of Zelaya. Nevertheless, the collections during 1913, +the only year since the establishment of the new system in which +normal conditions prevailed, were the largest in the history of the +Republic.<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> + +<p>Negotiations with the holders of the Republic’s foreign debt were +completed in the first months of 1912, when an arrangement highly +beneficial to both parties was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> brought about by the American bankers, +acting on behalf of the Nicaraguan Government. Zelaya had refunded the +then existing foreign debt in 1909, by placing bonds to the amount of +£1,250,000 at seventy-five per cent of their face value, bearing six +per cent interest, with the Ethelburga Syndicate in London. As the +service of this loan had been suspended after the revolution, and the +British Government had already intervened diplomatically on behalf +of the bondholders, the need for a readjustment had been pressing. A +contract was signed on May 25, 1912, between the American bankers and +the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, by which the latter agreed to +a reduction of the interest on the loan to five per cent, on condition +that the interest and amortization charges be made a first lien on +the customs receipts of the Republic, and that those receipts should +continue to be collected under the control of the bankers. This +agreement not only effected a saving in money and an improvement in the +credit of the Republic, but it also secured for the government the use +of a sum of £371,000, representing part of the proceeds of the sale of +the 1909 bonds, which had been held in London when the service of the +loan had been suspended. About one-third of this money was used for the +payment of interest already due, but the remainder was available, in +accordance with an agreement made on the same date between the American +bankers and the Republic, for the fortification of the currency reform +and the repayment of a part of the obligations of the government to the +bankers.</p> + +<p>The Claims Commission provided for by the Dawson agreement began its +sessions on May 1, 1911. It was authorized by legislative decree to +adjudicate without further appeal all unliquidated claims against the +government, including especially those arising from the late war and +from the cancellation of concessions and other contracts made by former +administrations. Of the three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> commissioners, one was a Nicaraguan +citizen appointed by the Nicaraguan Government and the other two +were Americans, one named by the Republic on the recommendation of +the United States and the other designated by the State Department. +The commission continued its labors until late in 1914, and passed +on 7,908 claims for a total of $13,808,161 gold. Its awards amounted +to $1,840,432.31, about two-thirds of which was for small claims +presented by natives. The American holders of concessions, who demanded +$7,576,564.13, received only $538,749.71. The original intention had +been to provide for the payment of these awards with the money received +from the proposed fifteen-million-dollar bond issue. It was impossible +after the failure of the loan treaty for the government to do this, +but a sum of $158,548 was nevertheless provided from the customs +receipts for the payment of 4,116 of the smallest claims, which were +mainly for losses of livestock and similar property by poor persons +during the civil wars of 1909-10 and 1912.<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> Even though the plan +for the refunding of the internal debt could not be carried out, it +was a decided advantage both for the government and for the holders of +the claims to have them passed on by an impartial tribunal, in order +that the former might know definitely how much it owed, and that the +latter might secure the recognition of their claims as acknowledged +obligations of the treasury.</p> + +<p>These measures had been carried out by the State Department, and by +the bankers at the request and with the co-operation of the State +Department, in anticipation of the ratification of the loan treaty by +the United States Senate. Their effect was practically to put into +operation the most important features of that agreement,—the customs +collectorship, the adjustment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> of the external debt, and the reform +of the currency,—despite the opposition to the State Department’s +policy which defeated the treaty in the Senate. The rejection of the +treaty, however, made it impossible to secure money for the complete +execution of the reforms which had been inaugurated by the Treasury +Bills Agreement, for the bankers were naturally unwilling to make the +large loan which had been planned for without an adequate guarantee +of the protection of their government. Their situation and that of +the Republic was thus made very difficult. The foreign debt remained +in English and French hands; the creditors of the government at home +remained unpaid; the projected railroads could not be built; and the +general improvement in the condition of business and agriculture, which +had been expected to result from the solution of the government’s +financial difficulties and the payment of its obligations to planters, +merchants, and officials, did not take place. The poor credit of the +Republic made it impossible for it to secure additional loans from the +bankers except on onerous terms, while its pressing necessities forced +it to embark on a hand-to-mouth policy of mortgaging or selling all of +its available resources in order to secure funds. The bankers, on the +other hand, had been drawn into a business which promised little profit +or credit to themselves, but from which they could not well withdraw. +Instead of underwriting a large bond issue, and aiding in an ambitious +project for the economic regeneration of Nicaragua, as they had +expected to when they first entered into the contracts of September, +1911, they have become involved deeper and deeper in the financial +support of a virtually bankrupt government.</p> + +<p>While these financial operations were being carried out, the political +situation had become more threatening than ever. General Mena had +caused the Assembly to elect him President of the Republic, in +October, 1911, for the term beginning January 1, 1913, notwithstanding +the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> protests of the United States Minister and of the Granada +Conservatives, who asserted that this action was a violation of the +Dawson agreement. The strength of the opposition to this proceeding +encouraged President Díaz to attempt to throw off the control of the +minister of war. On July 29, 1912, he summarily removed the latter from +office, and appointed Emiliano Chamorro general-in-chief of the army. +Mena fled to Masaya, with a large part of the troops and of the city +police of the capital. Most of the national stores of artillery and +ammunition had been gathered in Masaya and in Granada, where Mena’s son +was in command of the barracks. The revolutionists were reinforced by +a large number of Liberals, for Benjamín Zeledón, formerly minister of +war under Zelaya, assumed the leadership of one of their armies, and +the people of Leon revolted and seized control of that city and of the +neighboring provinces. Mena’s distrust of his old enemies, however, and +his refusal to send arms and ammunition to the Leon leaders, prevented +effective co-operation between the two factions, and probably saved the +government from defeat.</p> + +<p>As it was, the government could not expect to hold out long, with +little ammunition and few troops, while the rebels controlled +practically all the approaches to the capital. The United States, +however, could hardly permit the overthrow of the Conservative +authorities. Mena, who had fallen seriously ill, had been forced to +let the leadership of the revolution pass almost completely into the +hands of Zeledón and the Leon chiefs. If Zelaya’s followers regained +control of the government, all of the efforts of the State Department +to place Nicaragua on her feet politically and financially would have +been useless, and the interests of the New York bankers, who had +undertaken their operations in the country at the express request +of the United States Government, would be seriously imperiled. The +American Minister, therefore,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> demanded that President Díaz guarantee +effective protection to the life and property of foreigners in the +Republic. The latter replied that he was unable to do so, but asked +the United States to assume this responsibility itself. In compliance +with this request, American marines landed at Corinto, and assumed +control of the National Railway, which ran from that port through +Leon, Managua, and Masaya to Granada. This, as we have seen, was the +property of the government, but was held and operated by the bankers as +a partial guarantee of their loans. By September 8, traffic had been +resumed between Corinto and Granada, although the rebels still held +all of the more important cities along the route with the exception +of Managua. On September 18, the United States Minister, Mr. Weitzel, +made public an official declaration that the United States intended to +keep open the routes of communication in the Republic and to protect +American life and property. His government, he said, had been opposed +to Zelaya not only as a person but as a system, and it would exert +its influence, at the request of President Díaz, to prevent a return +to that system and to uphold the lawful authority. This pronouncement +disheartened the revolutionists and caused many to withdraw from the +uprising. On September 25, General Mena surrendered at Granada to +Admiral Sutherland, the commander of the American forces, and the +rebels were confined to their positions at Masaya and Leon. A few days +later, Admiral Sutherland ordered Zeledón to evacuate the Barranca +Fort, overlooking Masaya, on the ground that his position threatened +the railway. When the Liberal leader refused, American troops stormed +and took the position. The war soon afterwards came to an end with the +surrender of Leon to another American officer. Seven American marines +and bluejackets had lost their lives.<a id="FNanchor_69" href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p> + +<p>After the revolution, it was necessary to decide upon the election of a +president for the term 1913-1917. The greater part of the Conservative +party supported the candidacy of General Chamorro, but Díaz, who +controlled the machinery of the administration, desired to succeed +himself in power. An agreement was effected through the intervention +of Mr. Weitzel, who insisted that the <i>Chamorristas</i> accept Díaz, +while Chamorro was given the position of minister at Washington. At the +election, which was held while a large part of the American marines +were still in the country, the three or four thousand voters who were +allowed to participate unanimously approved the official ticket, which +was the only one in the field.</p> + +<p>Since 1912, the Government of Nicaragua has practically been maintained +in office by the support of the United States, for a legation guard +of one hundred marines is kept in one of the forts at Managua and a +warship is stationed at Corinto as reminders that the United States +will not permit another uprising against the constituted authorities. +One hundred well-trained and well-equipped soldiers are in themselves +no inconsiderable force in a country like Nicaragua, and their +influence is increased by the recollection of the events of 1912. +Without their moral backing, the administration could hardly have +remained in power. Although President Díaz dealt with his opponents +more justly and humanely than has been customary in Nicaragua, and +showed great liberality in his attitude towards the expression of +political opinion in the press and in private conversation, his +administration did not have the whole-hearted adherence of any of the +larger political groups, and was for this reason decidedly unpopular. +Not only the Liberals and the friends of General Mena, but even most +of the Conservatives, were dissatisfied. General Chamorro himself +co-operated loyally with the president, but he was unable to prevent +many of his followers from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span> conspiring to place their own faction in +power. There were, therefore, continual intrigues and frequent petty +revolts, which lessened the government’s prestige and exhausted its +energy and resources. The outbreak of another civil war was prevented, +apparently, only by the determined attitude of the United States.</p> + +<p>Two of the causes which contributed most to the weakness of the Díaz +government were its inability to meet its current expenses and the +increasing unpopularity of its relations with the New York bankers. +At the time of Mena’s revolt, the difficulties confronting the +treasury had seemed in a fair way to solution, but the expense and +the loss of revenue due to the war made matters worse than ever. The +government was forced to ask further advances from the bankers, and +to turn over to them, as security, and in the hope of improving its +financial situation thereby, the collection of all of its internal +revenues.<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> These were administered by the National Bank for a year, +after which the arrangement was abandoned as unsatisfactory, because +of the difficulties encountered by the American administrators in +obtaining the enforcement of the fiscal laws and the prevention of +the clandestine manufacture of <i>aguardiente</i>. It was reported in +October, 1916, however, that the internal revenues had again been taken +over by the bankers.</p> + +<p>As there was no improvement in the financial condition of the Republic, +contracts providing for further assistance by the bankers were signed +on October 8, 1913. The latter agreed to purchase another issue of +treasury bills to the amount of one million dollars, bearing interest +at six per cent, and at the same time bought fifty-one per cent of the +stock of the National Railway for one million dollars, thus becoming +the owners of property which they had in fact held and operated for +more than a year. The Republic agreed to employ a part of the two +million dollars thus received in the payment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> of all its outstanding +obligations to the bankers and to the National Bank, including the sums +still due on the 1911 treasury bills and the supplementary loans, and +in the addition of $350,000 to the currency reserve. At the same time +it was to subscribe $47,000, while the bankers subscribed $153,000, +for an increase in the capital of the National Bank, which was to be +raised from $100,000 to $300,000. The remainder of the money, amounting +approximately to three quarters of a million dollars, went to the +Republic for its current expenses. Since the bankers acquired fifty-one +per cent of the stock of the National Bank as well as of the Railway +by these contracts, it was arranged that they should name six, the +Nicaraguan Minister of Finance two, and the United States Secretary of +State one, of the directors of both corporations.</p> + +<p>Before these new treasury bills fell due, the outbreak of the European +war put an end to all hope for the immediate financial rehabilitation +of the Republic. The economic situation of the country at large was +already very bad before this final disaster occurred. The exhaustion +and demoralization which had resulted from two unusually destructive +civil wars, combined with the reduction of military forces in the +rural districts from motives of economy, had led to a great increase +in highway robbery and crime, which caused general unrest and +discouraged internal commerce. Matters were made worse by the continual +political agitation. The crops, moreover, had been severely damaged by +droughts and by a plague of grasshoppers, and in many districts the +agricultural population had been reduced to a pitiable state of want. +The merchants in the cities had suffered great losses from the failure +of the Government to pay for large amounts of supplies purchased or +requisitioned by it, and from the inability of the treasury to meet the +salaries of the public employees, who made up a large part of the city +population. When the outbreak of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> war cut off the European credits +upon which both the coffee growers and the merchants had depended, +foreign and domestic commerce came almost to a standstill. The income +of the national treasury was greatly reduced, for the receipts from the +customs duties declined from $1,730,603.22 in 1913 to $1,237,593.33 in +1914 and $789,716.76 in 1915, and the other revenues decreased at the +same time to an alarming extent. It was manifestly impossible for the +government to meet even the most necessary of its current expenses, +if it had to discharge its obligations to foreign creditors at the +same time, and it would have faced absolute bankruptcy had not the +bankers again come to its assistance. The payment of interest on the +treasury bills was suspended, by contracts made in October, 1914, and +the bankers used their good offices to secure a similar suspension of +charges on the English debt, in order that the Republic might use all +of the reduced customs revenue for its own needs. These arrangements +have since been renewed from time to time for short periods, always +on condition that the Republic should so far as possible resume the +service of the loans if it should receive the three million dollars due +to it in accordance with the canal treaty with the United States.</p> + +<p>The conditions created by the war put a severe strain upon the new +currency system. The replenishment of the reserve fund became well-nigh +impossible just at the time when the disorganization of international +credit, which forced exchange upon European centers to an unprecedented +figure throughout the Western Hemisphere, caused an abnormal drain upon +it. The National Bank, therefore, was forced to suspend the sale of the +drafts by which the par value of its notes had been maintained. At the +same time there was a strong popular demand for new issues of money +to supply funds for the government and to finance the coffee growers, +who were unable to secure the usual advances<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> from abroad for moving +their crop. As a result of this, a contract was signed on December +2, 1914, by which a new issue of 1,500,000 Córdobas was provided +for,—C1,000,000 to be used for making loans to agriculturalists and +exporters, and C500,000, which was to be guaranteed by the proceeds of +a new capital tax collected by the National Bank, for the payment of +salaries and other obligations of the government. At the same time, +the Bank was authorized to pay its depositors with additional notes, +secured by mortgages and other securities. All of these issues were to +be retired as rapidly as the loans were repaid and the profits of the +capital tax were received. The interest upon the loans to planters and +merchants, which was to be at the rate of twelve per cent, was divided +between the government and the Bank,—an arrangement highly profitable +to the latter, considering that the notes were exclusively obligations +of the Republic. So long as these issues were still in circulation, +the Bank was not to sell drafts against the reserve fund, and the +government was to be relieved of its obligation to maintain that fund +at the amount required by previous contracts. The new issues of paper +and the suspension of the sale of exchange constituted of course a +temporary abandonment of the gold standard. The premium on New York +drafts rose to thirty per cent during the first months of 1915, but in +May of that year it was greatly reduced by the operations of an English +bank in Managua. Some months later, the National Bank itself resumed +the sale of drafts with its own funds, thus raising its notes again to +their par value.</p> + +<p>Early in 1916, all parties in the Republic turned their attention +to the coming presidential election. In the campaign which preceded +this, the various political groups enjoyed a very unusual amount of +freedom in carrying on their propaganda, and each one founded clubs +and published numerous newspapers to support its candidate. The +chief factions which took part in the campaign were:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> the government +party, which had few friends outside of official circles; the old +Conservatives, with their chief strength in Granada, who were in the +main enthusiastic followers of Emiliano Chamorro; and the Liberals, +who, though by no means entirely at harmony among themselves, were +nevertheless united in their determination to regain control of the +government. There were also one or two lesser groups, which had hopes +of coming into power as the result of a compromise between the more +extreme parties. The Liberals, with the support of the great city of +Leon, and with a strong following in each of the other important cities +except Granada, were probably more numerous than all of their opponents +together. It was clear from the beginning, however, that the outcome +of the election would depend not so much upon the will of the majority +as upon the attitude assumed by the United States. The administration, +which had made Dr. Carlos Cuadra Pasos the official candidate, +obviously intended to perpetuate its own regime, relying on the support +of the American marines to prevent armed opposition to its plans. The +Chamorristas, on their side, believed that the United States would +insist that the Government accept their candidate, who had won general +respect during his service as minister at Washington. The security of +American interests in Nicaragua was in very large measure dependent +upon the continuance in power of the Conservative party, of which +Chamorro was undoubtedly the most popular leader; and the latter had +strong additional claims to consideration because of his loyal support +of the constituted authorities, after the disappointment which he had +suffered in 1913, and despite the discontent of his own followers with +the Díaz administration.</p> + +<p>The Liberals, on the other hand, believed that any fair solution of the +situation would restore them to power. They unquestionably constituted +a majority of the people of the Republic, and they were on the whole +more united<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> than their Conservative opponents. For several years they +had been endeavoring to secure the withdrawal of the marines from +Nicaragua, believing that they would easily obtain control of the +government as soon as the existing administration should be deprived of +foreign support; and they had been carrying on an extensive campaign +in Central America and in political circles in Washington with a view +to arousing sentiment against the intervention of the United States +in the internal affairs of Nicaragua. Their leaders desired first of +all to secure the withdrawal of the American marines, but many were +willing, if this proved unobtainable, to accept American supervision +of the presidential election, which would have reduced somewhat the +possibility of the exercise of pressure and the employment of fraud +by the government. Whatever chance the Liberals might once have had +to secure the recognition of their right to participate on equal +terms in the election, however, was forfeited when they nominated as +their candidate for president Dr. Julián Irías, Zelaya’s most trusted +minister, who had been closely associated with the dictator in all of +the acts which had aroused the hostility of the United States between +1906 and 1909. Although Irías was one of the ablest and most popular +leaders of the Liberal party, it was hardly possible that a man whose +election would mean a restoration of the old regime should become +president of Nicaragua with the consent and assistance of the United +States.</p> + +<p>The United States could not well escape the responsibility for deciding +which of the three candidates should become president for the ensuing +term. A policy of non-intervention except to prevent disorder would +have meant the election of Dr. Cuadra, against the wishes of the great +majority of both parties. A supervised election, on the other hand, +supposing that it could have been conducted with any fairness, which +seemed unlikely, would probably have placed in office a president +whose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> avowed object was to expel the American bankers from the +Republic and to terminate American influence in the government. It was +almost inevitable under such circumstances that the Conservative party +should receive the open support of the American minister. By the time +of the election, it was evident that General Chamorro was to be the +next president. Dr. Irías had been prevented from entering Nicaragua +when he came home to conduct his campaign in August, and the Liberals +had been warned that no candidate who had been associated with the +Zelaya regime would be recognized by the United States if elected. +Somewhat later Dr. Cuadra withdrew his candidacy. The election was held +in October, and the new president, General Chamorro, was inaugurated in +January, 1917.</p> + +<p>After the attempt to secure the ratification of the loan treaty had +been finally abandoned, the hopes of the Nicaraguan Government for the +eventual solution of its financial problems were centered upon a new +agreement signed in February, 1913, which provided for the payment by +the United States to Nicaragua of three million dollars in return for +an exclusive right to construct a transisthmian canal through the San +Juan River and the Great Lake and for the privilege of establishing a +naval base in her territory on the Gulf of Fonseca. After Mr. Bryan +assumed office as Secretary of State, this treaty was modified by the +addition of an article by which Nicaragua agreed not to declare war +without the consent of the United States, or to enter into treaties +with foreign governments affecting her independence or territorial +integrity, or to contract public debts beyond her ability to pay, and +by which she recognized the right of the United States to intervene +in her affairs when necessary to preserve her independence or to +protect life and property in her domain. This so-called protectorate +plan failed of ratification in the United States Senate, and a new +treaty, without it, was signed on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> August 5, 1914. Despite the strong +opposition which this also encountered in the Senate, it was finally +ratified with some amendments, and was proclaimed on June 24, 1916. The +principal provisions of the treaty as ratified were as follows:</p> + +<p>I. “The Government of Nicaragua grants in perpetuity to the Government +of the United States, forever free from all taxation or other public +charge, the exclusive proprietary rights necessary and convenient for +the construction, operation, and maintenance of an interoceanic canal +by way of the San Juan River and the Great Lake of Nicaragua, or by way +of any route over Nicaraguan territory....</p> + +<p>II. “... The Government of Nicaragua hereby leases for a term of +ninety-nine years to the Government of the United States the islands in +the Caribbean Sea known as Great Corn Island and Little Corn Island; +and the Government of Nicaragua further grants to the Government of +the United States for a like period of ninety-nine years the right +to establish, operate and maintain a naval base at such place on the +territory of Nicaragua bordering upon the Gulf of Fonseca as the +Government of the United States may select....</p> + +<p>III. “In consideration of the foregoing stipulations and for the +purposes contemplated by this Convention and for the purpose of +reducing the present indebtedness of Nicaragua, the Government of +the United States shall ... pay for the benefit of the Republic of +Nicaragua the sum of three million dollars ... to be applied by +Nicaragua upon its indebtedness or other public purposes for the +advancement of the welfare of Nicaragua in a manner to be determined by +the two high contracting parties....”</p> + +<p>Even before this treaty had been made public, unofficial reports +revealing its provisions had led Costa Rica and Salvador to protest +vigorously to the United States and to Nicaragua against what each +considered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span> to be a grave infringement of its own rights. Their +opposition had led the United States Senate to add to the treaty a +proviso declaring that nothing in the Convention was intended to affect +any existing right of Costa Rica, Salvador, or Honduras. This, however, +did little to conciliate those states, and the efforts of the State +Department to secure their approval of the new condition of affairs +created by the treaty by an offer to make similar agreements with +them, to safeguard their rights and to indemnify them with pecuniary +compensations, proved unavailing. After the treaty had been proclaimed, +Costa Rica and Salvador took their protests to the Central American +Court of Justice, requesting that tribunal to enjoin Nicaragua from +carrying out its provisions. The Court decided to take cognizance of +the matter, despite Nicaragua’s refusal to be a party to any action +before it.<a id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>Costa Rica’s case was a simple one, based upon treaty provisions. By +the boundary treaty between her and Nicaragua, signed in 1858, she had +been given perpetual rights of free navigation in the lower part of the +San Juan River, and the Nicaraguan Government had agreed to consult +her before it entered into any contract for the construction of an +interoceanic canal. There had been some dispute about the terms of this +treaty, which had led in 1888 to the submission of the questions at +issue to the arbitration of President Cleveland. The latter had held +the treaty valid, and had expressly declared in his award that: “The +Republic of Nicaragua remains bound not to make any grants for canal +purposes across her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> territory without first asking the opinion of the +Republic of Costa Rica.” Costa Rica asserted that the construction +of the proposed canal would interfere with her navigation of the San +Juan River, thus infringing her rights under the convention of 1858 +and also under those provisions of the Washington Conventions of 1907 +which granted to each Central American Republic the free navigation +of the waters of the others; that it would injuriously affect her own +territory on the banks of the San Juan; and finally that the Canal +Treaty had been signed and ratified before she had even been informed +of its provisions, and without her assent being asked at any stage of +the proceedings. Nicaragua refused to answer the complaint of Costa +Rica, and declared that she would neither recognize the competence +of the Court to assume jurisdiction in the matter nor abide by its +decision when rendered. She denied that the treaty was either a +concession for the construction of a canal, or an agreement for the +sale of the San Juan River, saying that it was only an option granting +to the United States the privilege of building a canal, under an +additional contract, at some future time.</p> + +<p>Salvador’s case was based upon broader political grounds, and her +protests were directed chiefly against the establishment of the naval +base in the Gulf of Fonseca, in close proximity to one of her most +important ports. “It must be patent to every one,” her complaint +stated, “that the establishment, by a powerful state, of a naval +base in the immediate vicinity of the Republic of El Salvador would +constitute a serious menace—not merely imaginary, but real and +apparent—to the freedom of life and the autonomy of that Republic. And +that positive menace would exist, not solely by reason of the influence +that the United States, as an essential to the adequate development +of the ends determined upon for the efficiency and security of the +proposed naval base, would naturally need to exercise and enjoy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> at all +times in connection with incidents of the highest importance in the +national life of the small neighboring states, but would be also, and +especially, vital because in the future, in any armed conflict that +might arise between the United States and one or more military powers, +the territories bounded by the Gulf of Fonseca would be converted, +to an extent incalculable in view of the offensive power and range +of modern armaments, into belligerent camps wherein would be decided +the fate of the proposed naval establishment—a decision that would +inevitably involve the sacrifice of the independence and sovereignty +of the weaker Central American States, as has been the case with the +smaller nations in the present European struggle under conditions more +or less similar.”</p> + +<p>Furthermore, Salvador asserted that the treaty violated her proprietary +rights in the Gulf of Fonseca. As successors of the Central American +Federation, she said, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua exercised a +joint ownership over the Gulf, which clearly gave her the right to +object to the use of its waters for military purposes by a foreign +power. Her contention was somewhat weakened by the fact that the +three republics in question had divided all of the islands of the +Gulf between them, and that each in practice exercised jurisdiction +over a portion of it; but it was nevertheless impossible to show that +any treaty to which Salvador had been a party had ever put an end to +the community which the three adjacent republics had inherited from +Spain and the Central American Federation. Salvador also asserted +that the treaty was prejudicial to the general interests of Central +America, which despite temporary political separation was nevertheless +a definite political entity of which each of the states was still a +part. The alienation of Central American territory by one country was +a violation of the rights of the others. Such alienation was at the +same time, by a rather far-fetched<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> interpretation, claimed to be a +violation of the article in the Washington Peace Treaty of 1907 which +declared any alteration in the constitutional order of one of the +states a menace to the welfare of all. Finally, it was maintained that +the treaty could not legally have been concluded under the Nicaraguan +constitution, and was therefore void.</p> + +<p>The Court handed down its decision in the case of Costa Rica on +September 30, 1916. It declared that Nicaragua had violated Costa +Rica’s rights by making the treaty, but it declined to declare the +treaty void, as it had no jurisdiction over the United States. On March +2, 1917, it handed down a similar decision in the case of Salvador. +Its action has been disregarded by Nicaragua, and by the United +States. The decision has undoubtedly created an extremely embarrassing +situation. There can be no doubt that the Court had jurisdiction over +the question at issue, under the terms of the Washington conventions, +or that the other Central American countries, and particularly Costa +Rica, had strong cases against the convention, based not only upon +international law and treaty provisions, but also upon the necessity +for protecting their vital national interests. If the treaty is still +put into effect, after what has happened, both the Court of Justice and +the Washington Conventions will have ceased to be of practical value, +and our government will be committed to a policy which involves the +entire disregard of what the Central American republics consider to be +their rights. It may well be doubted whether even the great military +value of the proposed naval base, or the theoretical value of an option +on another canal route, are worth the permanent alienation of Central +American public opinion and the abandonment of the considerations of +justice and good will which have hitherto governed our relations with +the five republics.</p> + +<p>The policy pursued by the United States Government<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span> in Nicaragua +since 1912 has caused bitter resentment throughout Central America. +The Nicaraguan Liberals and most thinking people in other parts of +the Isthmus feel that the intervention of American marines in the +revolution of 1912 and the subsequent maintenance of the administration +by armed force have reduced Nicaragua to the position of a subject +country and have gravely jeopardized the independence of the other +republics. The Díaz government has been regarded as a mere creature of +the State Department, and it is denied that the agreements made by it +are in any sense acts of the Nicaraguan nation. Both the contracts with +the American bankers and the canal convention are regarded as evidences +of an intention in the State Department to exploit the present +situation for the benefit of American capitalists and for the promotion +of an aggressive policy of political expansion. It is perhaps rather +difficult for Americans, who realize how far any purpose of territorial +expansion is from the minds of those who control our foreign policy, +to comprehend the feeling of suspicion and fear which recent events +have aroused among the more intelligent and patriotic classes in +Central America. That feeling is nevertheless in large measure +justified. No country can be said to enjoy independence when it is +constantly in danger, as the events of the last five years have shown +all the Central American republics to be, of arbitrary and sometimes +undiscriminating intervention by an outside power in their political +and financial affairs. Although the United States has been actuated +in the policy which it has pursued solely by a desire to promote the +peace and prosperity of the Central American countries, neither the +necessity for the action which it has taken nor the purity of its +motives has been fully appreciated in the Isthmus. The result has been +a misunderstanding and a sentiment of hostility which threaten, unless +steps can be taken to regain their confidence, to make the people<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> of +the five republics regard their North American neighbor as their most +dangerous enemy.</p> + +<p>It will be difficult to convince the Central Americans of the sincerity +of our good will or the disinterestedness of our intentions so long +as we continue to uphold a minority administration in Nicaragua by +force of arms. The maintenance of the established authority has thus +far been unavoidable because the only alternative was the abandonment +of Nicaragua to a renewal of the civil wars which reduced her to so +pitiable a condition before 1912. Peace was the first and absolute +necessity if the country were to be saved from utter ruin. But it is +unthinkable that the United States, in the name of constitutional +government, should permanently identify itself with any one faction +or that it should continue indefinitely to use its power to exclude +from all share in the administration the party to which a majority of +the people of the Republic profess allegiance. Ultimately, an attempt +must be made, either to hold a fair election or to effect an agreement +between the various parties by which a president accepted by all can be +placed in office.</p> + +<p>Any adjustment of the political situation must necessarily involve +measures to protect the interests of the American bankers, who have +invested about two million dollars in their efforts to preserve +Nicaragua from bankruptcy and to improve her economic condition. Brown +Brothers and Company and J. and W. Seligman and Company entered upon +their dealings with Nicaragua at the explicit request of the State +Department, and it would be impossible to expose them to the partial +or total loss of their investments by withdrawing the support of the +government. The first thought of a Liberal administration would be to +undo so far as it could the situation created by the loan contracts. +Actual confiscation of property would of course be impossible, but +both the bankers and the holders of the English bonds, which are now +secured by the American collection of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> customs duties, might suffer +serious losses at the hands of an unfriendly president. For this +reason, an agreement in regard to the future status of the bankers, or +an adjustment of the debts due to them from the Republic, would be an +essential part of any arrangement which aimed to terminate the American +intervention.</p> + +<p>The motives and methods of the bankers, like those of the State +Department, have been severely impugned by the Nicaraguan Liberals and +by the leaders of public opinion in other parts of Central America. +One constantly hears charges that they are co-operating with a corrupt +and subservient administration to defraud the people, and that they +have taken advantage of the needs of the government and the greed of +the officials to secure control of all of the more valuable national +property. Those who make these accusations point to the fact that +the Republic has become heavily indebted to the New York firms, and +that the National Railway, the National Bank, the customs houses, and +the collection of the internal revenues have at the same time passed +into their hands, while the government apparently has nothing to show +in return. The more serious of these charges spring entirely from +ignorance or from partisan political motives. The Liberals are ready +to use any means and to make any statement likely to discredit the +Conservative administration or to arouse public sentiment in Nicaragua +or in the United States against the policy which has enabled their +rivals to remain in power; and the patriotic fervor of their efforts +to free their country from alien domination receives at least a part +of its force from the fact that they hope thereby to gain control of +the government for themselves. Few of them, moreover, have taken the +trouble to investigate the financial operations of the bankers in +order to substantiate the accusations which they make. The writer was +unable, during a stay of six months in Nicaragua, to find one prominent +Liberal who had even read the loan contracts.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> For this, and for the +statement frequently put forth that the Government and the bankers +have carried on their operations in secret and in an underhand manner, +there is no excuse, for every one of the more important contracts has +been published in the reports of the Minister of Finance, which are +easily accessible to the public. It must be remembered, however, that +there are very few persons in Nicaragua who are fitted by training or +experience to form an intelligent opinion from the perusal of these +documents.</p> + +<p>The bankers’ investments in Nicaragua so far have been as follows:</p> + +<table> +<tr><td> +1913 Treasury Bills </td><td class="tdr"> $1,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>51% of the stock in the National Railway </td><td class="tdr">1,000,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>51% of the stock in the National Bank </td><td class="tdr">153,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt"> Total (exclusive of accrued interest) </td><td class="tdr bt">$2,153,000</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Earlier loans were, as we have seen, repaid or refunded with the 1913 +treasury bills. These bear interest at the rate of six per cent, which +is certainly not excessive if we consider the desperate condition of +the Republic’s credit. The par value of the bankers’ holdings in the +capital stock of the railway is $1,683,000. Since the total net profits +of the line were $244,706.62 Cordobas in 1913-14, and $251,320.56 in +1914-15,<a id="FNanchor_72" href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> it is evident that it will be a valuable property under +foreign management and protection, although the return thus far has +not been great considering the dangers attending investments in such +enterprises in countries where revolutions, with their consequent +destruction of material and paralyzation of traffic, are of frequent +occurrence. It should be remembered, moreover, that the Government +still owns forty-nine per cent of the stock and thus receives nearly +half of the profits, so that it is a direct beneficiary from the +improvement in the property and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> the increase in the profits which +resulted from the reorganization. The Republic shares similarly in +any profits which may be made by the National Bank. This institution, +founded primarily for the purposes of the currency reform, has +apparently not made large profits up to the present time, because of +its small capital, its not very efficient management, and the heavy +expenses involved in maintaining three separate branches besides +the central office. It has received small sums for its services in +connection with the currency reform, and it has in addition loaned +considerable amounts to the government and to private individuals, +charging both twelve per cent interest, which is rather less than the +prevailing rate in Nicaragua. The wisdom, and perhaps the propriety, of +some of its operations have been open to criticism, but its services +in connection with the currency reform and its extension of credit to +the government when the latter has been in difficulties have certainly +justified its institution.</p> + +<p>The charge that the United States Government has been guided in its +financial policy in Nicaragua by a deliberate intention to exploit +the people of that country for the benefit of American capitalists is +of course simply ridiculous. Equally so is the idea that two great +financial institutions of the standing of Brown Brothers and Seligman +and Company would compromise their reputation and devote their time +and energy in schemes for defrauding Nicaragua of a few thousands of +dollars a year. The bankers have necessarily sought to protect their +own interests, and in order to do so have imposed rather onerous +conditions upon the Republic; but it must be remembered that they have +been dealing with a practically bankrupt country, which is at the +present time unable to meet any of its foreign obligations, and that +their investments are rendered doubly insecure by the bad economic +situation and by the uncertainty of political conditions. The sums +involved and the possibilities<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> of illegitimate profits may well seem +immense to citizens of a country whose total annual budget is only +two or three million dollars; but no one who sees the matter in its +true proportions can well believe that the bankers have been enriching +themselves very rapidly at the expense of Nicaragua.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, it must be admitted that the loan contracts have +contained much that is objectionable from the point of view of the +patriotic Nicaraguan citizen. The situation which they have created +cannot but be humiliating to a people which values its national +independence. The collection of the public revenues by foreigners, and +the sale of the most valuable national property, however necessary for +the good of the country, has naturally been exceedingly distasteful to +public opinion. Moreover there has been a suspicion, apparently too +well founded, that some of the money received from the bankers has +benefited certain high officials rather than the nation as a whole, and +there is no doubt at all that large profits were made by members of the +party in power as the result of the currency reform. The men sent from +the United States to take charge of the various interests acquired by +the bankers have not always shown tact or ability, and some of them, +for this reason or from causes lying entirely beyond their control, +have become very unpopular. The raising of rates by the railway, and +the refusal to grant free passes to all persons of social or political +prominence, have caused much dissatisfaction; and the National Bank +has been severely criticised for its failure to make loans to everyone +who was in need of money. The currency reform was bitterly opposed at +first because of the inconvenience which the conversion caused and +the apparent shortage of money which resulted, and it was generally +regarded as a failure when the bank-notes fell below par at the +outbreak of the European war. It has since become more popular. The +financial reforms as a whole,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> however beneficial in the long run, +have involved expenses which the nation could ill afford. The expert +commission which worked out the currency reform, the mixed claims +commission, the officials of the customs service, and other Americans +who have been appointed to official or semi-official positions since +1912 have received remunerations which have seemed inordinately +large as compared with the incomes of the native officials; and the +publication of their salaries and their expense accounts has given rise +to many charges of extravagance.</p> + +<p>It is easy to point out how insignificant these grievances are as +compared with the benefits conferred by the adjustment of and the +reduction of charges on the foreign debt, the immense improvement +in the operation of the railway and in the customs service, and the +establishment of a currency system on a stable basis in place of +the depreciated, fluctuating paper of former times. It is also easy +to prove that the vast majority of the people have been inestimably +better off through the maintenance of order, which has been entirely +due to the military and financial support of the government by the +United States, than they would have been if the bloody party strife +and the wars with Central American neighbors which marked the last +years of the Liberal regime had been allowed to continue. But this +does not alter the fact that the situation which exists in Nicaragua +today is inherently and fundamentally wrong, and that it cannot form a +basis for a permanent settlement satisfactory either to that country +or to the United States. Our government cannot continue to uphold by +force a minority administration and to support that administration +in a financial policy which is opposed by the great majority of the +Nicaraguan people, if it wishes to eradicate the suspicion in Central +America, and in fact throughout Latin America, that its ultimate +intention is to deprive Nicaragua, and eventually her neighbors, of +their position as independent nations.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> See U. S. Foreign Relations, 1909, under Nicaragua.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> For the text of the note, see U. S. Foreign Relations, +1910, p. 455.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> The events leading up to Zelaya’s fall are discussed in +U. S. Foreign Relations, 1909, President Taft’s message to Congress on +Foreign Relations, December, 1909, and Zelaya’s book, “<i>La Revolución +de Nicaragua y Los Estados Unidos</i>.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> See Messrs. Harrison and Conant’s Report Presenting a +Plan of Monetary Reform for Nicaragua, pp. 10, 11.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_61" href="#FNanchor_61" class="label">[61]</a> See U. S. Foreign Relations, 1910, pp. 764-6.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_62" href="#FNanchor_62" class="label">[62]</a> The rate of exchange rose from 913% in December, 1909, +to 2,000% at the end of 1911. See the Report of Messrs. Conant and +Harrison, p. 15.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_63" href="#FNanchor_63" class="label">[63]</a> The text of the treaty is printed in the American Journal +of International Law, 1911, Supplement, p. 291.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_64" href="#FNanchor_64" class="label">[64]</a> These and the later contracts between the bankers and the +Nicaraguan Government have been published in the annual reports of the +ministry of <i>Hacienda y Crédito Público</i>.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_65" href="#FNanchor_65" class="label">[65]</a> Their report was the above cited Report Presenting a Plan +of Monetary Reform for Nicaragua. The Monetary Law is printed in the +report, p. 71.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_66" href="#FNanchor_66" class="label">[66]</a> See his official report, December, 1914, p. 12.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_67" href="#FNanchor_67" class="label">[67]</a> The following table, compiled from the Reports of the +Collector General for 1911-13 and 1915, shows the total receipts, +reduced to American gold, for the years 1904-15:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><td>1904 </td><td class="tdr">$ 910,627.27</td></tr> +<tr><td>1905 </td><td class="tdr">1,282,246.86</td></tr> +<tr><td>1906 </td><td class="tdr">1,595,219.53</td></tr> +<tr><td>1907 </td><td class="tdr">1,246,844.85</td></tr> +<tr><td>1908 </td><td class="tdr">1,027,437.16</td></tr> +<tr><td>1909 </td><td class="tdr"> 976,554.15</td></tr> +<tr><td>1910 </td><td class="tdr"> 854,547.29</td></tr> +<tr><td>1911 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,138,428.89</td></tr> +<tr><td>1912 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,265,615.12</td></tr> +<tr><td>1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,729,008.34</td></tr> +<tr><td>1914 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,234,633.54</td></tr> +<tr><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 787,767.11</td></tr> +</table> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_68" href="#FNanchor_68" class="label">[68]</a> For the work of the Commission, see the article by +Mr. Schoenrich, one of its members, in the American Journal of +International Law, Vol. 9, p. 958.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_69" href="#FNanchor_69" class="label">[69]</a> Report of the Navy Department, 1912, p. 13.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_70" href="#FNanchor_70" class="label">[70]</a> See the contracts of Oct. 31, 1912, <i>Memoria de +Hacienda</i>, 1912-13.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_71" href="#FNanchor_71" class="label">[71]</a> Costa Rica protested to the United States on April 17, +1913, and to Nicaragua on April 27, 1913. Salvador protested to the +United States on October 21, 1913, and to Nicaragua on April 14, 1916. +The notes exchanged in regard to the treaty are published in Costa +Rica, <i>Memoria de Relaciones Exteriores</i>, 1913, 1914, etc., and +in Salvador, <i>Libro Rosado</i> for the same years. The documents +accompanying the cases presented before the Central American Court have +been published in English by the legations of the two countries at +Washington.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_72" href="#FNanchor_72" class="label">[72]</a> Nicaragua, <i>Memoria de Hacienda</i>, 1915, p. 750.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br><span class="small">COMMERCE</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Principal Exports of the Isthmus: Coffee, Bananas, and Precious +Metals—Other Products—Imports—Condition of American Trade—Effects +of the European War.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The foreign commerce of Central America is based upon the exchange of +coffee, bananas, precious metals, and a few other products of minor +importance for manufactured articles from the United States and Europe. +The most important export, from the Central American point of view, +is coffee; for the banana farms, which belong to foreign corporations +and are cultivated by foreign laborers, are situated in districts so +far away from the centers of population that they play a small part in +the economic life of the country, and the gold and silver mines are +also with few exceptions the property of European and North American +capitalists. The mining companies give employment to many natives at +wages somewhat greater than those paid in agricultural enterprises, +but otherwise they do little to add to the general prosperity of the +community. The owners of the coffee plantations, the majority of whom +are natives, reside in Central America and spend their income there, +and all employ exclusively native labor. Except in Honduras, where it +is cultivated only for local consumption, coffee is the chief export of +the mountain region on the West Coast where the great majority of the +inhabitants of the Isthmus live.</p> + +<p>Central American coffee is of an excellent quality, and brings a high +price in the European markets, to which the greater part of it has +always been sent. The product of Costa Rica is a favorite in England, +while “Coban” and other Guatemalan varieties are well known in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> Germany +and on the continent. The product of the Isthmus has not been so +popular in the United States, where it has been unable to compete with +the lower-priced, but inferior, coffee of Brazil or with certain other +superior grades which have secured a better foothold in our markets. +Table V indicates the disposition of the crop of each country of the +Isthmus in normal times, and to some extent the change which has been +brought about in export conditions by the European war.</p> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE I</p> + +<p class="center">EXPORTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 1913.</p> + +<p class="center">(Value in U. S. Gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th></th><th> + Guatemala </th> <th>Salvador </th> <th> Honduras </th> <th> Nicaragua </th> <th> Costa Rica</th></tr> + +<tr><td>Coffee </td><td class="tdr"> 12,254,724 </td><td class="tdr"> 7,495,214 </td><td class="tdr"> 116,302 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,004,449 </td><td class="tdr">3,605,029</td></tr> +<tr><td>Bananas </td><td class="tdr"> 825,670 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 1,714,398 </td><td class="tdr"> 429,802 </td><td class="tdr">5,194,428</td></tr> +<tr><td>Precious Metals </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 1,495,805 </td><td class="tdr"> 886,591 </td><td class="tdr">1,063,077 </td><td class="tdr">1,021,473</td></tr> +<tr><td>Hides </td><td class="tdr"> 455,476 </td><td class="tdr"> 95,870 </td><td class="tdr"> 159,820 </td><td class="tdr"> 326,599 </td><td class="tdr"> 132,883</td></tr> +<tr><td>Timber </td><td class="tdr"> 247,759 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 12,617 </td><td class="tdr"> 321,869 </td><td class="tdr">141,361</td></tr> +<tr><td>Rubber </td><td class="tdr"> 100,323 </td><td class="tdr"> 18,092 </td><td class="tdr"> 14,289 </td><td class="tdr"> 278,763 </td><td class="tdr"> 44,482</td></tr> +<tr><td>Sugar </td><td class="tdr"> 349,052 </td><td class="tdr"> 72,852 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 31,805 </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Chicle </td><td class="tdr"> 142,108 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Balsam of Peru </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 89,476 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr">......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Cocoanuts </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 219,968 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr">......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Indigo </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 52,984 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr">......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Cacao </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 39,828 </td><td class="tdr"> 105,034</td></tr> +<tr><td>Live Cattle </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 251,361 </td><td class="tdr"> 288,009<a id="FNanchor_73" href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The ripe berry is prepared for the market at a cleaning and drying +plant called a <i>beneficio</i>. The larger growers, who produce +the greater part of the total crop, ordinarily have their own +<i>beneficios</i> on their plantations. Those who have not been +able to install the rather expensive machinery which these plants +require either ship their coffee partly cleaned, in the shell, or +else have it prepared for the market on the plantation of a neighbor +or at establishments which exist for the purpose in such cities as +Guatemala and Managua. The small landholders, many of whom have a few +trees from which they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> secure a money income to supplement their food +crops, ordinarily sell their coffee in the berry to the owners of the +<i>beneficios</i>. The exportation is frequently, perhaps usually, +undertaken by the planter himself, who ships his crop directly to +an importer in some European city or on consignment to an agent in +Hamburg or London, to be sold in the open market. This seems to be the +general though not the universal practice in Costa Rica, Salvador, and +Nicaragua. In Guatemala, on the other hand, there are several German +and North American houses which buy the coffee from the grower and +export it on their own account. Certain companies in the United States, +with agencies in Central America, have done a large business of this +kind, especially since the beginning of the European war.</p> + +<p>The majority of the coffee plantations of the Isthmus belong to native +Central Americans. This is true even in Guatemala and Nicaragua, where, +as has been said in preceding chapters, nearly all of the largest and +best equipped <i>fincas</i> are the property of Germans or of other +aliens.<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> In Salvador and Costa Rica there are few foreign owners. +Even in these countries, however, the tendency which has been so strong +in Guatemala, for the more valuable plantations to pass gradually into +the hands of investors from abroad, has been at work in recent years. +Foreign influence, moreover, is by no means confined to the ownership +of the plantations themselves, for the native planters frequently have +financial connections with European banking houses in the Central +American capitals or in Hamburg or London which give the latter a large +measure of control over the sale of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> their coffee and even over their +methods of production. A very large proportion of the plantations +is heavily mortgaged to these concerns, and even the annual crop is +often hypothecated or sold to the banker several months before it is +harvested, and is handled by him when ready for market. The terms of +these arrangements are usually anything but favorable to the planter. +In Guatemala, for example, the banker ordinarily not only receives +interest on the sums advanced at the prevailing rate of ten or twelve +per cent, but at the same time takes an option upon the entire crop, +under which he can purchase it at twenty-five cents per bag less than +the market price at the time of the harvest. This option alone is +equivalent to the payment by the planter of about three per cent of +his entire gross receipts, in addition to the interest. Under these +conditions, especially in view of the improvidence and inefficiency +of many of the native landowners, it is not strange that the most +desirable plantations are passing one by one into the hands of Germans +and Englishmen, who are able either to finance themselves or to secure +money for moving their crops upon better terms.</p> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE II</p> + +<p class="center">THE WORLD’S EXPORTS OF BANANAS, 1911.</p> + +<p class="center">(From U. S. Daily Consular and Trade Reports, Dec. 26, 1912.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><td colspan="3"> +Central America—</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Costa Rica </td><td class="tdr"> 9,309,586 </td><td>bunches.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras </td><td class="tdr"> 6,500,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua </td><td class="tdr"> 2,250,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Guatemala </td><td class="tdr"> 1,755,704 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt"> +Total </td><td class="tdr bt"> 19,815,290 </td><td class="bt">bunches.</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> +Other Countries—</td></tr> +<tr><td>Jamaica </td><td class="tdr"> 16,497,385</td><td> bunches.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Colombia </td><td class="tdr"> 4,901,894 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Panama </td><td class="tdr"> 4,261,500 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Canary Islands </td><td class="tdr"> 2,648,378 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Cuba </td><td class="tdr"> 2,500,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mexico </td><td class="tdr"> 750,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>British Honduras </td><td class="tdr"> 525,000 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Other Countries </td><td class="tdr"> 1,037,516 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt"> +Total </td><td class="tdr bt">33,121,673 </td><td class="bt">bunches.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt"> +Grand Total </td><td class="tdr bt">52,936,963 </td><td class="bt"> bunches.</td></tr> +</table> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Total imports into United States, 1911, 44,699,222 bunches. (Commerce +and Navigation of the U. S., 1911.)</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span></p> + +<p>Second only to coffee in the value of the total amount exported, and +far more important so far as the United States is concerned, are +bananas. In 1913, nearly twenty-two million bunches, or between two and +three billions of bananas, were exported from Costa Rica, Honduras, +Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Nearly all of this immense amount, which was +about forty per cent of the total commercial production of the world, +went to the United States. Less than fifty years ago, Mr. Minor C. +Keith, who was building a railway from Puerto Limon to the interior of +Costa Rica, began the cultivation of bananas along the line in order to +provide freight for the road during the years which must elapse before +it could reach the inhabited part of the Republic. Until this time, the +hot and unhealthful forests along the East Coast of Central America had +been an uninhabited and undeveloped jungle, but they proved so well +adapted to the growing of bananas that the fruit farms soon became +more valuable than the railway. Meanwhile other planters had engaged +in the same business in Jamaica and elsewhere in the West Indies, +and the banana, which had hitherto been a curiosity, was coming into +general use in the United States. The more important producers around +the Caribbean Sea joined in forming the United Fruit Company, which is +now by far the most important business concern in tropical America. +Its immense plantations in Central America, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, +and Panama are traversed by hundreds of miles of railway, and their +products are carried to the United States and Europe by a great fleet +of its own steamers, which are the principal, and since the beginning +of the European war almost the only, carriers of freight and passengers +between Central American ports and the eastern part of the United +States. Besides the numerous lines built expressly for carrying bananas +from the farms to the wharves, the Fruit Company, or concerns allied to +it, control the entire railway system of Guatemala,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> a large part of +that of Salvador, and the most important road, from San José to Puerto +Limon, in Costa Rica. The few independent growers along its lines are +completely at its mercy, for they have no alternative but to sell their +fruit to it under the conditions which it dictates. In Honduras and +Nicaragua, there are a number of ostensibly competing companies, with +their own railway lines and ships, but many of these are said to be +actually under the control of the greater corporation. The latter has +on more than one occasion shown itself ruthless and unscrupulous in +dealing with real competitors, over whom it has every advantage through +its control of the facilities for shipping fruit.</p> + +<p>In the last few years, the bananas have been attacked by a disease +which apparently shows itself in nearly all plantations after a certain +period of cultivation. Its appearance has made it necessary to abandon +large tracts of developed land and many miles of railway, especially +in some portions of Costa Rica. No means of checking it has yet been +discovered, and it has been found easier to plant new farms than to +fight it where it has obtained a foothold. At present the disease does +not seem likely to decrease materially the total production, for there +are still immense tracts of virgin land suitable for banana growing +around the shores of the Caribbean Sea, but it is a very grave menace +to the prosperous communities which have grown up on the coast as a +result of the fruit trade. Unless it is overcome, or unless some other +product, such as cacao, can be grown on the abandoned farms, there +seems to be serious danger that many sections of the East Coast will +sink back into jungle.</p> + +<p>Among Americans who have been on the Coast and have but a slight +acquaintance with the interior, there is a tendency greatly to +exaggerate the influence of the United Fruit Company in Central +America. As a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> matter of fact, that corporation plays a smaller part +than might be expected in the economic and political life of the five +republics. On the Coast, especially in Costa Rica, it is all-powerful, +for it absolutely controls the industry and the export and import trade +of the banana country, and is the employer of the greater part of +the population; but in the interior, where the great majority of the +people live, its influence is confined to its control of the railway +lines. These are not owned and operated directly by the Fruit Company, +but by corporations closely connected with it. There are also many +other enterprises, including street railways, mines, and electrical +plants, which have been financed by some of the capitalists who are +prominent in the Fruit Company, so that the total Central American +investments of what are known as the “Keith interests” are very great. +These investors, however, apparently interfere little in politics. +Their relations with the governments, sometimes cordial, sometimes +the opposite, are not so close that they can be said to exercise +any important influence on the internal affairs of any of the five +republics, and the native officials are apt to be jealous of their +power and to regard with suspicion any concession which seems likely to +increase their influence.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the immense development of the banana trade, the full +possibilities of this fruit in providing cheap fruit for the people of +the temperate zones are still far from being realized. Exportation from +Central America and other producing countries is at present limited +to the amount necessary to meet the demand for the fresh fruit in the +United States, because the European market has as yet been little +exploited, and few facilities have been provided for exporting bananas +from the Caribbean to transatlantic ports. A considerable proportion of +the product of Costa Rica was sent to England in the years immediately +preceding the war, but the total was insignificant in comparison<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> +with the consumption in the United States.<a id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Millions of bunches of +fruit now go to waste every year, for the amount cut each week on the +plantations is arbitrarily limited with a view to the state of the +market and the facilities for shipping, and thousands of bunches are +rejected at the train or at the steamer as being overripe or otherwise +defective. It ought to be practicable to convert this waste product +into dried bananas or banana flour, both of which are now commercially +possible, but few attempts have so far been made to do so. The two +or three factories which have been established in Central American +ports for this purpose have had little success, apparently from poor +management or lack of proper equipment.</p> + +<p>The precious metals, which rank third in the list of exports, are +found in all parts of Central America, but as yet they have been +exploited on a comparatively small scale. There are a few gold and +silver mines, operated by foreign capital, in each of the republics +except Guatemala, but the total exportations of the Isthmus, according +to customs reports, amounted to less than four and one half millions +of dollars in 1913.<a id="FNanchor_76" href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> The investment of foreign capital in mines has +been discouraged by the disorder which has prevailed in some of the +five republics, and the lack of adequate transportation facilities +has been an obstacle to the introduction of heavy machinery and to +the exportation of the product. These difficulties, which have held +back the production of gold and silver, have of course made impossible +the exploitation of the other mineral resources of the Isthmus, +although these are known to be great. With the establishment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span> of +internal stability and the building of good roads to the metalliferous +districts, however, mining should easily become a much more important +industry than it is at present.</p> + +<p>In comparison with coffee, bananas, and the precious metals, the other +exports of Central America are of little importance. The herds of +cattle, which are one of the principal forms of wealth in Honduras +and Nicaragua, provide some horns and hides for shipment to foreign +countries, but the quantity has hitherto been very small. The live +animals are the chief articles of commerce between Honduras and +Nicaragua on the one hand and their more densely populated neighbors +on the other, but they have never been exported to any extent to other +countries. Mahogany, Spanish cedar, and other forest products, such as +rubber and chicle, which is used in making chewing gum, are exported, +chiefly by foreigners, from the low country along the coasts. Sugar +in various forms and cacao are grown in large quantities, but almost +entirely for local consumption. Besides these products, typical of any +tropical country, there are others which have importance in certain +localities as articles of foreign commerce. Thus, some millions of +cocoanuts are shipped from the North Coast of Honduras, and indigo and +balsam of Peru from Salvador. None of these minor exports have received +very much attention, because the interest of the native community +has been centered in the production of coffee and of the staple food +crops, and foreign capital has been invested chiefly in mines, banana +plantations, and railways. With the comparatively good transportation +facilities that now exist, it would seem that there should be a great +opportunity for the cultivation of such products as cacao, vanilla, and +rubber, or for the shipment to the United States, on the fast banana +steamers, of some of the countless delicious tropical fruits which have +hitherto been almost unknown in our markets. Countries of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span> such rich +and varied agricultural possibilities, with such easy access to the +Gulf ports of the United States, must eventually acquire an importance +far greater than that which they now have in supplying our markets with +many kinds of food which we cannot ourselves produce.</p> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE III</p> + +<p class="center">SHARE OF THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, AND GERMANY IN THE COMMERCE +OF CENTRAL AMERICA.</p> + +<p class="center">EXPORTS.</p> + +<table class="autotable"> + <tr><th></th><th> </th><th> United States </th><th> Great Britain </th><th> Germany </th><th> Total</th></tr> +<tr><td>Guatemala,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,923,354 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,857,105 </td><td class="tdr"> 7,653,557 </td><td class="tdr">14,449,926</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 6,881,410 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,322,271 </td><td class="tdr"> 50,237 </td><td class="tdr">11,566,586</td></tr> +<tr><td>Salvador, </td><td>1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,676,637 </td><td class="tdr"> 668,823 </td><td class="tdr">1,611,085 </td><td class="tdr"> 9,411,112</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,096,277 </td><td class="tdr"> 341,920 </td><td class="tdr"> 9,945 </td><td class="tdr"> 8,812,387</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras, </td><td>1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,974,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 18,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 164,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,421,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,987,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 690 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,858,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,722,385 </td><td class="tdr"> 998,564 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,887,698 </td><td class="tdr"> 7,712,047</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,079,810 </td><td class="tdr"> 438,500 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 4,567,201</td></tr> +<tr><td>Costa Rica,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,204,429 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,319,085 </td><td class="tdr"> 504,506 </td><td class="tdr">10,324,149</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> 1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,864,803 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,438,233 </td><td class="tdr"> 13,225 </td><td class="tdr"> 9,971,582</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt">Total for Central America, </td><td class="bt">1913 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 17,500,805 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 7,861,577 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 11,820,866 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 45,318,234</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> 1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 20,909,300 </td><td class="tdr"> 6,541,924 </td><td class="tdr"> 74,097 </td><td class="tdr"> 38,775,756</td></tr> +</table> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>(Compiled from official reports of the Central American governments. +The values are given as in American gold, calculated at the prevailing +rate of exchange for the year in question.)</p> +</div> + +<p>Even before the beginning of the European war, the United States +bought the greater part of Central America’s exports. Nearly all of +the bananas went to American ports, as did by far the greater part of +the gold and silver from the mines. With the coffee, the situation +was different, but the partial closing of the European markets forced +the planters to seek a market for this in the United States. This was +especially true in Guatemala, where American buyers were almost the +only ones in the field during 1915 and 1916. In the countries which +had been less dependent on the German market, the change was not so +marked, but all of them nevertheless shipped more coffee to the United +States in those years than ever before. Costa Rica, however, retained +her privileged position in the London market,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> at least during 1915, +and Salvador found valuable new customers in the Scandinavian countries +and Holland. The necessity for finding new purchasers has naturally +involved a considerable loss for the Central American planters. Their +coffee has on the whole met with a favorable reception in the United +States, but the prices which they have received have not been so high +as those to which they were accustomed in the markets in which they +had long established connections, and they have encountered no little +difficulty in making shipments because of the withdrawal of many of the +steamers which formerly called at the ports of the Isthmus.</p> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE IV</p> + +<p class="center">IMPORTS OF COFFEE INTO THE UNITED STATES, 1913 and 1915.</p> + +<p class="center">(From Commerce and Navigation of the United States, 1915, p. 75.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th> </th><th colspan="2"> 1913 </th><th colspan="2"> 1915</th></tr> +<tr><td>Guatemala </td><td class="tdr"> 18,544,228</td><td> lbs. </td><td class="tdr"> 44,605,039 </td><td>lbs.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Salvador </td><td class="tdr"> 8,756,267 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 15,823,350 </td><td class="tdc">”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua </td><td class="tdr"> 2,915,239 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 6,430,600 </td><td class="tdc">”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras </td><td class="tdr"> 239,114 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 665,912 </td><td class="tdc">”</td></tr> +<tr><td>Costa Rica </td><td class="tdr"> 1,474,397 </td><td class="tdc"> ” </td><td class="tdr"> 6,770,964 </td><td class="tdc"> ”</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE V</p> + +<p class="center">COFFEE EXPORTS OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 1913 and 1915.</p> + +<p class="center">(Figures in quintals of 100 lbs. Spanish or 46 kg. From Central +American government publications.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th> </th><th colspan="2">Guatemala </th><th colspan="2"> Salvador </th><th colspan="2"> Nicaragua </th><th colspan="2"> Costa Rica</th></tr> +<tr><td></td><td>1913 </td><td> 1915 </td><td> 1913 </td><td> 1915 </td><td> 1913 </td><td> 1915 </td><td> 1913 </td><td> 1915</td></tr> +<tr><td>U. S. </td><td class="tdr"> 211,886 </td><td class="tdr"> 386,080 </td><td class="tdr"> 107,796 </td><td class="tdr"> 142,337 </td><td class="tdr"> 36,753 </td><td class="tdr"> 62,439 </td><td class="tdr"> 16,032 </td><td class="tdr"> 38,969</td></tr> +<tr><td>England </td><td class="tdr"> 106,666 </td><td class="tdr"> .....<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> 34,151 </td><td class="tdr"> 29,127 </td><td class="tdr"> 32,854 </td><td class="tdr"> 40,816 </td><td class="tdr"> 231,382 </td><td class="tdr"> 204,711</td></tr> +<tr><td>Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 432,329 </td><td class="tdr"> .....<a id="FNanchor_77a" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> 121,201 </td><td class="tdr"> 994 </td><td class="tdr"> 75,634 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 25,451 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,304</td></tr> +<tr><td>Austria-H. </td><td class="tdr"> 42,054 </td><td class="tdr"> .....<a id="FNanchor_77b" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> 35,574 </td><td class="tdr"> 381 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>France </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> .....<a id="FNanchor_77c" href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> 159,559 </td><td class="tdr"> 90,502 </td><td class="tdr">103,012 </td><td class="tdr"> 57,379 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Italy </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 95,389 </td><td class="tdr"> 76,147 </td><td class="tdr">...... </td><td class="tdr"> 30,095 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Holland </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 92,763 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td>Scandinavian + countries </td><td class="tdr">...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> 218,619 </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ...... </td><td class="tdr"> ......</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt">Total +exports </td><td class="tdr bt"> 875,337 </td><td class="tdr bt">775,622 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 625,942 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 663,216 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 243,324 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 198,533 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 283,023 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 265,355</td></tr> + +</table> + +<p>The imports of Central America are those of all tropical countries +which have no manufacturing industries of their own. Machinery and +tools for agricultural purposes; textiles; flour, lard, and other food +products<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> which are produced in insufficient quantities in the Isthmus; +and in general, manufactured articles of all kinds, must be purchased +abroad. The greater part of these are for the use of the upper classes, +but even the ordinary laborers, whose standard of living in many places +is otherwise little better than it was in the days when the country had +no foreign commerce, use some foreign goods, such as cheap textiles and +machetes.</p> + +<p>In the import as well as the export trade, the United States easily +occupies the leading place, supplying the greater part of the +foodstuffs, hardware, and machinery, and a very considerable part of +the textiles. Our share in the total, even before the war, was well +over fifty per cent, with Great Britain and Germany respectively second +and third. Tables VI, VII, and VIII will give an approximate idea of +the nature and origin of the imports of the Isthmus in normal times. +The predominance of the United States was due primarily to proximity +and superior steamer connections. The Caribbean ports of the Isthmus, +which are less than fifteen hundred miles from our Gulf ports, were +connected with those ports by regular lines of swift steamers, whereas +they had no adequate means of communication with Europe. The Pacific +ports, on the other hand, although they were visited regularly by the +small steamers of the German Cosmos Line, relied chiefly upon the +service of the Pacific Mail between San Francisco and Panama.</p> + +<p>This gave American trade an advantage which would have been even +greater than it was if transatlantic manufacturers had not been favored +by several factors which to some extent offset their geographical +handicap. Freight rates to Europe, however, were not proportionately +greater than rates to the United States, even in cases where the goods +must be transshipped at a North American port. Furthermore, European +merchants controlled the greater part of the import and wholesale +trade in each of the five republics, and naturally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> bought articles +from export houses in their own country, whenever they could, not only +for sentimental reasons, but because they received better terms and +longer credits. Even at the present time, when the war has caused a +great reduction in the exports of all of the belligerent countries, +the people of the Isthmus still continue to buy certain classes of +goods from French or English manufacturers which might just as well +be imported from the United States if American manufacturers made an +effort to secure the trade.</p> + + +<p class="center big">TABLE VI</p> + +<p class="center">SHARE OF THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, AND GERMANY IN THE COMMERCE +OF CENTRAL AMERICA.</p> + +<p class="center">IMPORTS.</p> + +<p class="center">(Compiled from Central American government publications; values in +American gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th></th><th></th><th> + United States</th><th> Great Britain</th><th> Germany</th><th> Total</th></tr> + +<tr><td>Guatemala,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,053,060 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,650,387 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,043,329 </td><td class="tdr"> 10,062,327</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> 1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,751,761 </td><td class="tdr"> 577,206 </td><td class="tdr"> 146,053 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,072,476</td></tr> +<tr><td>Salvador, </td><td>1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,491,145 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,603,846 </td><td class="tdr"> 713,855 </td><td class="tdr"> 6,173,545</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,478,322 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,054,838 </td><td class="tdr"> 41,136 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,182,922</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,244,008 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,150,611 </td><td class="tdr"> 619,212 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,770,006</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> 1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,592,799 </td><td class="tdr"> 302,294 </td><td class="tdr"> 36,960 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,159,219</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras, </td><td>1913-14 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,262,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 460,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 522,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 6,625,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td>1914-15 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,177,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 303,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 96,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,875,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Costa Rica, </td><td>1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,468,946 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,289,181 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,341,333 </td><td class="tdr"> 8,867,280</td></tr> + <tr><td> </td><td>1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 3,031,997 </td><td class="tdr"> 548,810 </td><td class="tdr"> 42,979 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,478,782</td></tr> +<tr><td>Total for Central +America,</td><td> 1913 </td><td class="tdr"> 20,519,159 </td><td class="tdr"> 6,154,025 </td><td class="tdr"> 5,239,729 </td><td class="tdr">37,498,158</td></tr> + <tr><td></td><td> 1915 </td><td class="tdr"> 17,031,879 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,786,148 </td><td class="tdr"> 363,128 </td><td class="tdr"> 22,768,399</td></tr> +</table> + + +<p class="center">TABLE VII</p> + +<p class="center">PRINCIPAL IMPORTS OF GUATEMALA, 1913 and 1915.</p> + +<p class="center">(From U. S. Commerce Reports and Guatemalan official statistics; values +in American gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> + <tr><th> </th><th> 1913. </th><th> 1915.</th></tr> + +<tr><td>Cotton goods, total </td><td class="tdr"> 1,734,832 </td><td class="tdr">758,570</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 503,920 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 778,278 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 337,181 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Linen, hemp, and jute manufactures (in large part +coffee sacks). Total </td><td class="tdr"> 222,320 </td><td class="tdr"> 252,481</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 20,788</td><td class="tdr"></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 80,954</td> <td class="tdr"></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 111,141</td> <td class="tdr"></tr> + +<tr><td>Woolen manufactures, total </td><td class="tdr"> 253,107 </td><td class="tdr"> 52,308</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 30,938 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 64,635 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 111,866 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Silk manufactures, total (Mostly from Japan, China, and France.) </td><td class="tdr"> 263,448 </td><td class="tdr">68,525</td></tr> + + +<tr><td>Manufactures of iron and steel, total </td><td class="tdr"> 685,548 </td><td class="tdr"> 121,198</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 384,094 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 97,434 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 181,538 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Glass, crockery, earthenware, etc., total </td><td class="tdr"> 106,825 </td><td class="tdr"> 27,859</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 24,783 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 58,944 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Leather goods, total </td><td class="tdr"> 156,688 </td><td class="tdr"> 94,661</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 110,318 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 30,244 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Foodstuffs, total </td><td class="tdr"> 566,856 </td><td class="tdr"> 538,236</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 260,854 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 54,859 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr">86,923 </td><td class="tdr"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Stationery, paper, etc., total </td><td class="tdr"> 179,798 </td><td class="tdr"> 147,243</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 87,420 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 60,491 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Drugs and medicines, total </td><td class="tdr"> 268,523 </td><td class="tdr"> 108,666</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 99,359 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 62,375 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Wheat flour, from United States </td><td class="tdr">394,931 </td><td class="tdr"> 506,510</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Agricultural and industrial machinery, total </td><td class="tdr">350,366 </td><td class="tdr"> 127,433</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 175,683 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr">86,456 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr">78,711 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Lumber, from United States </td><td class="tdr"> 179,880 </td><td class="tdr"> 78,667</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Railway material, total </td><td class="tdr"> 426,826 </td><td class="tdr"> 121,843</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 424,235 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Petroleum, from United States </td><td class="tdr"> 184,936 </td><td class="tdr"> 110,925</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Wines, liquors, etc., total </td><td class="tdr"> 347,752 </td><td class="tdr"> 125,583</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr">73,752 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 73,415 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Other articles, total </td><td class="tdr"> 1,636,678 </td><td class="tdr"> 732,449</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 1,079,007 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 406,214 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 50,298 </td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> +</table> + + +<p class="center">TABLE VIII</p> + +<p class="center">PRINCIPAL IMPORTS OF COSTA RICA.</p> + +<p class="center">(From Costa Rican official statistics, quoted in U. S. Commerce +Reports, Dec. 9, 1916. Values in American gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> + <tr><th> </th><th> 1913. </th><th> 1915.</th></tr> + +<tr><td>Live cattle, from Nicaragua </td><td class="tdr"> 323,067 </td><td class="tdr"> 95,964</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Cotton goods, total </td><td class="tdr"> 828,948 </td><td class="tdr"> 466,699</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 243,802 </td><td class="tdr"> 266,333</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 355,042 </td><td class="tdr"> 129,848</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 124,699 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,491</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Coal, total </td><td class="tdr"> 261,975 </td><td class="tdr"> 106,953</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 258,329 </td><td class="tdr"> 92,039</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Drugs, total </td><td class="tdr"> 150,142 </td><td class="tdr"> 115,903</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 76,173 </td><td class="tdr"> 85,194</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 29,690 </td><td class="tdr"> 4,065</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Electrical material, total </td><td class="tdr"> 150,339 </td><td class="tdr"> 95,176</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 121,416 </td><td class="tdr"> 86,773</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Flour, total </td><td class="tdr"> 258,407 </td><td class="tdr"> 224,480</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 257,457 </td><td class="tdr"> 209,662</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Lard, total </td><td class="tdr"> 200,362 </td><td class="tdr"> 144,181</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 194,968 </td><td class="tdr"> 142,270</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Railway material, total </td><td class="tdr"> 296,772 </td><td class="tdr"> 62,387</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 272,242 </td><td class="tdr"> 59,725</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Rice, total </td><td class="tdr"> 143,391 </td><td class="tdr"> 108,649</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 31,621 </td><td class="tdr"> 93,283</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Germany </td><td class="tdr"> 82,088</td><td class="tdr"></td></tr> + +<tr><td>Wheat, from United States </td><td class="tdr"> 219,487 </td><td class="tdr"> 323,567</td></tr> + +<tr><td>Coffee sacks, total </td><td class="tdr"> 88,958 </td><td class="tdr"> 98,531</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> United States </td><td class="tdr"> 11,161 </td><td class="tdr"> 13,220</td></tr> +<tr><td class="ml"> Great Britain </td><td class="tdr"> 69,424 </td><td class="tdr"> 83,919</td></tr> +</table> +<p> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></p> + +<p>That they have not done so seems to be due chiefly to indifference. The +reasons why American exporters fail to make a better showing in Latin +American markets have been discussed so often and so fully in the last +three years that there is little object in repeating them here. It is +sufficient to say that the same story of carelessness in filling orders +and in packing goods, of failure to send well-equipped salesmen, and +of refusal to comply with the custom of the country in such matters as +credits and accommodations, are heard in Central America as elsewhere. +Since the European war has forced the importers of the Isthmus to +depend more than ever before upon American manufacturers for their +supplies, one hears many complaints of inconsiderate or discourteous +treatment, and of general inefficiency in handling trade.</p> + +<p>One of the chief obstacles to the increase of American trade in +Central America has been the lack of banking facilities. Most of the +banks which exist in the larger cities of the Isthmus at the present +time are purely local institutions, and their operations are rarely +such as to make them a strong force for good in the economic life of +the community. They speculate in the rate of exchange, issue more or +less depreciated paper money, engage in financial transactions with +the government which consume a large part of their available funds, +and make loans to planters and merchants at rates of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span> interest which +vary from ten per cent, with first-class security, to thirty or forty +per cent in cases where the element of speculation is greater. These +conditions, which are perhaps inevitable in a country where capital +is so scarce and where the instability of political affairs makes +the element of risk in all credit transactions so great, seriously +detract from their usefulness. Unfortunately, moreover, there are +some institutions which are not managed in accordance with the +principles either of sound banking or of ordinary honesty, and these +are necessarily a source of weakness to the whole financial community. +Within the last five years, two of the largest banks in Central America +have failed, under circumstances which aroused very grave suspicions +of mismanagement and defalcation. The banks cannot afford adequate +facilities for financing the export and the import trade, for they +have neither the available funds nor the connections abroad which are +necessary for this purpose. Moreover, they can obtain such high profits +in other forms of operations that there is little inducement for them +to engage in ordinary commercial transactions. Many of them are engaged +in the coffee export business or in other forms of trade themselves +and are consequently little inclined to aid other merchants who may +wish to compete with them. The establishment of branches of American +banks, dedicated to a legitimate banking business, and especially to +the financing of American trade, would perhaps do more to stimulate +commerce with the United States than any other one influence.</p> + +<p>The question of credits has been another serious obstacle to the +development of our trade. The average Central American merchant must +have from three to six months to make payment for goods which he +imports, because he in turn must grant a considerable time to the +small retail dealers whom he supplies. American manufacturers are as a +rule unwilling to grant credits for so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span> long a period, and they have +sometimes exposed themselves to heavy loss when they have done so +because of the difficulty of ascertaining which of the local importers +were deserving of confidence. This difficulty also could to a great +extent be obviated if reliable American banks could be established in +the five republics.</p> + +<p>That our commerce holds first place in Central America despite these +drawbacks is due partly to the fact that there are certain articles, +such as flour, railway material, and petroleum, which the people of the +Isthmus must almost inevitably purchase in our markets, and partly to +the activity of a few great corporations which have stores or permanent +agencies in Central America, and handle a very large amount of imports +from the United States. The United Fruit Company and other fruit +companies in Honduras and Nicaragua, as well as most of the mining +companies, maintain commissaries where American goods are sold in +great quantities. Grace and Company, in co-operation with the American +International Corporation, does a considerable business in merchandise +on the West Coast, and has offices in most of the important cities of +the Isthmus. Several well-known American manufacturers also are more +or less adequately represented by permanent agents in the important +commercial centers.</p> + +<p>Although our share in the total imports and exports of the Isthmus has +been greater than ever before, since the beginning of the European +war, the total of our trade has not been so large as might have been +expected, because of the partial paralyzation of the commerce of the +five republics. At the outbreak of hostilities the foreign credits +upon which the normal business of the Central American community had +depended were entirely cut off, and exchange on European centers rose +to a prohibitive figure, especially in the countries which were not on +a gold basis. Merchants were thus unable to obtain goods or even to pay +their debts. At the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span> same time, the purchasing power of their customers +was seriously decreased, because the rise in the rate of exchange +made prices inordinately high in the local currency, and because the +planters, unable to secure advances from abroad to move their crops, +were forced to cut down their expenditures and in some cases to lay off +their workmen. Most of the governments, also, were in severe financial +difficulties, for their revenues, which consisted chiefly of the import +duties, had declined, and their expenditures, of which the money for +the service of the foreign debt constituted an important part, had +increased with the advance in the cost of foreign drafts. Some of them +were thus unable to pay their employees, and the poverty of the latter +intensified the general financial depression. For a time, the sale +of foreign goods almost ceased. When it was found, however, that the +products of the Isthmus could still be sold abroad, even if at somewhat +lower prices, confidence began to return and commerce recovered to some +degree, but imports are still far below normal, and seem likely to +remain so for some time.</p> + +<p>After the close of the war, it seems probable that the position lost +by English and German exporters since 1914 will be regained by them, +unless their American competitors make a more successful effort than +they have yet made to secure a permanent foothold in the market. The +European houses which control the import business of the Isthmus +will probably turn back to their former correspondents at the first +opportunity, for their experience with American firms in the last three +years has not been such as to encourage them to continue it after they +are able to resume their old connections. Many of the difficulties +which merchants in Central America say they have encountered in dealing +with American exporters have undoubtedly been due to war conditions +in the United States and to an ignorance on both sides of the other’s +methods of doing business, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span> many others can only have resulted from +carelessness and indifference to new trade opportunities.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, there is every prospect that the share of the United +States in the commerce of Central America will continue to increase in +the future as it has in the past. Proximity and the excellent steamer +connections created by the banana trade give our manufacturers an +advantage against which European importers will find it increasingly +hard to compete. The North American element in the Isthmus as a whole +is increasing more rapidly than any other foreign element, especially +in the banana towns on the East Coast, and North American investments +are probably already greater than those of any other country. The +richer classes among the Central Americans themselves, moreover, travel +more and more in the United States rather than in Europe, and thus +acquire a taste for articles of North American manufacture, where they +formerly demanded French or English products. A great increase in our +trade with the five republics waits only upon the establishment of +proper banking facilities and upon the awakening of American exporters +to a realization of their opportunities.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_73" href="#FNanchor_73" class="label">[73]</a> Figures of Costa Rican government for imports from +Nicaragua.</p> + +<p>Note. These figures are compiled from official statistics, or from +the United States Daily Consular and Trade Reports, which in turn are +based upon the official statistics of the Central American governments. +They are inexact, because the statistics upon which they are based are +rarely entirely trustworthy.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_74" href="#FNanchor_74" class="label">[74]</a> Special Agent Harris, in his Report on “Central America +as an Export Field” (U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Special Agents’ Series, +No. 113), gives the following figures in regard to the ownership and +production of the coffee plantations of Guatemala:</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th>Nationality </th><th> No. of Plantations </th><th> Product in quintals</th></tr> +<tr><td>Guatemalan </td><td class="tdr"> 1,657 </td><td class="tdr"> 525,356</td></tr> +<tr><td>German </td><td class="tdr"> 170 </td><td class="tdr"> 358,353</td></tr> +<tr><td>North American </td><td class="tdr"> 16 </td><td class="tdr"> 19,285</td></tr> +<tr><td>Other </td><td class="tdr"> 236 </td><td class="tdr"> 143,242</td></tr> +</table> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_75" href="#FNanchor_75" class="label">[75]</a> 2,763,111 bunches were exported from Costa Rica to +England in 1913. (Costa Rica, <i>Anuario Estadístico</i>, 1913, p. +279.)</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_76" href="#FNanchor_76" class="label">[76]</a> It is probable that more than this was actually produced. +Large amounts are said to be smuggled out of certain countries every +year to avoid paying the export tax, and this assertion is to some +extent borne out by a comparison of the export statistics with the +import statistics of the United States.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_77" href="#FNanchor_77" class="label">[77]</a> Figures not available.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br><span class="small">CENTRAL AMERICAN PUBLIC FINANCE</span></h2></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>Sources of Revenue—Defects of the Fiscal Systems—Floating +Debts—Brief History of the Bonded Debt in Each Republic—Depreciation +of the Currency Systems—The Monetary Situation in Each Country—Need +for Financial Assistance from the United States.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Few factors have done more to retard the economic progress of the +Central American republics than the defects of their fiscal systems. +The inability of the governments to meet the current expenses of +efficient administration or to discharge their obligations to +foreigners, and the demoralization of the monetary systems which has +resulted from attempts to make the depreciation of the currency a +source of revenue, have been a serious drawback to the investment +of capital and the development of commerce in the Isthmus, and have +involved some of the five countries in rather serious diplomatic +complications. This financial weakness has been due partly to +the nature of the governments’ incomes, partly to defects in +administration, arising from ignorance or dishonesty, and partly to +general economic and political conditions.</p> + +<p>Each of the five republics obtains its revenues principally from +customs duties, on exports and imports, and from the rum monopoly. +Other sources of income, of which the most important are tobacco and +powder monopolies and stamp taxes, amount to very little as compared +with these two great items. Direct property taxes, the introduction of +which has at times been attempted in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa +Rica, have met with very little success, and have been very unpopular.</p> + +<p>This fiscal system has many bad features. The duties upon imports, upon +which the chief reliance is placed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> are so high that they seem in +many cases to discourage commerce. This is especially true in regard +to the cheap textiles and other articles used by the working classes, +for the imposition of the duty according to the gross weight of the +package, and the failure to make adequate distinction between different +qualities of the same category of articles, raises the prices of some +goods to a point where consumption is materially lessened. There are +still stronger objections to the second great source of revenue, the +manufacture and sale of <i>aguardiente</i>, or rum, for as in other +countries where similar monopolies have existed the temptation to +stimulate the consumption of the liquor has in some cases proved +stronger than consideration for the welfare of the community. In view +of the relation between drink and vice and crime, which is nowhere more +directly evident than among the working classes of the Isthmus, it is +hard to understand how the public authorities can not only permit but +encourage the unrestricted sale of what is little more than a low grade +of alcohol. Some of the governments, indeed, have endeavored by raising +the price of the <i>aguardiente</i> to check its consumption, and have +done so without materially decreasing their own income, but with the +majority the object has seemed to be to sell a large amount at a low +price rather than the opposite.</p> + +<p>The following table shows the revenues of each of the five republics in +1913, the last year before the general financing disorganization caused +by the European war:</p> + + +<p>Revenues in 1913. (Approximate equivalent in American gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th>Source of revenue </th><th> Guatemala </th><th> Honduras </th><th> Salvador </th><th> Nicaragua </th><th> Costa Rica</th></tr> +<tr><td> +Import duties </td><td class="tdr"> 1,930,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,130,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,900,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,680,000<a id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> </td><td class="tdr"> 2,500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Export duties </td><td class="tdr"> 1,275,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 88,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 600,000 </td><td class="tdr"> </td><td class="tdr"> 112,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Liquor and other +monopolies </td><td class="tdr"> 450,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 775,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,200,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,368,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,150,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> +State owned +railways, +telegraphs, +postal service, +etc. (Gross +income) </td><td class="tdr"> 200,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 140,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 285,000 </td><td class="tdr"> </td><td class="tdr"> 500,000</td></tr> +<tr><td> +Miscellaneous </td><td class="tdr"> 325,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 377,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 615,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 317,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 208,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt">Total revenues </td><td class="tdr bt"> 4,180,000 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 2,500,000 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 5,600,000 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 3,355,000 </td><td class="tdr bt "> 4,470,000</td></tr> +</table> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span> +<p>The way in which the Central American governments spend their income +has already been described. The heaviest outlays are those for military +purposes and for the service of the foreign debt. The following table +shows roughly the division of the expenditures between the different +departments of the administration:</p> + + +<p>Expenditures in 1913. (Approximate equivalent in U. S. gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><th>Department </th><th> Guatemala </th><th> Honduras </th><th> Nicaragua </th><th> Salvador</th><th> Costa Rica</th></tr> +<tr><td><i>Gobernación</i> </td><td class="tdr"> 220,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 320,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 208,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 860,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 380,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Public works </td><td class="tdr"> 130,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 287,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 902,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 600,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 695,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Public instruction </td><td class="tdr"> 180,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 152,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 159,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 354,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 635,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>War and marine </td><td class="tdr"> 520,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 720,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 410,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,600,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 627,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Finance and public + credit </td><td class="tdr"> 475,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 185,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 385,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,150,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 1,320,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Charities </td><td class="tdr"> * </td><td class="tdr"> * </td><td class="tdr"> 9,600 </td><td class="tdr"> 500,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 80,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Judiciary </td><td class="tdr"> * </td><td class="tdr"> 70,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 127,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 280,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 325,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miscellaneous </td><td class="tdr"> 695,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 26,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 2,800,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 126,000 </td><td class="tdr"> 211,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt">Total expenditures </td><td class="tdr bt"> 2,320,000</td><td class="tdr bt"> 1,750,000</td><td class="tdr bt"> 4,809,000 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 6,470,000 </td><td class="tdr bt"> 4,273,000</td></tr> +</table> + + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>* Not specified.</p> + +<p>Note. The miscellaneous expenditures include items of nearly $500,000 +for “exchange,” i. e. for buying drafts on foreign places, in +Guatemala, and of $1,680,000 for paying claims arising from recent +revolutions in Nicaragua.</p> +</div> + +<p>The revenues are decreased, and the expenditures are increased, in +some countries to an alarming degree, by inefficiency and corruption +in their administration. The control of the public funds is almost +entirely in the hands of the President and his subordinates, for the +voting of taxes and of the budget by Congress is a very perfunctory +matter even in those countries which have most nearly attained +constitutional government in other respects. The income is derived +from sources which remain much the same from year to year, and its +disposition is subject to little control by the Congress, because the +annual financial legislation does not always appropriate specific sums +for specific purposes, but simply divides the estimated expenditure +between the various departments. The administration, moreover, does +not seem to regard itself as bound to keep within the general limits +laid down if it can obtain funds for additional<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> outlays. The Congress, +which is rarely in a position to oppose itself to the wishes of +the executive in this or in other matters, usually ratifies excess +expenditures or proposed changes in the budget with little question.</p> + +<p>In some of the countries, there is undoubtedly a large amount of +corruption in the management of financial affairs. The traditions +of the public service encourage rather lax conduct on the part of +the officials, for custom and public opinion tolerate many practices +which are now considered improper in countries which have had a longer +experience in self-government, and those who are unscrupulous are +aided in defrauding the government by the inadequate provision which +is made for the supervision of accounts. The commonest forms of graft +are those which imply a rather loose standard of official morality +rather than actual theft or dishonesty, but it cannot be denied that +there are many officials, some of whom occupy the highest positions in +their respective countries, who have enriched themselves during their +tenure of office by means which nothing could excuse. Few such men, +fortunately, occupy positions of power in the five republics at the +present time.</p> + +<p>The chief fault of Central American public finance is the indifference +shown in regard to the balancing of revenues and expenditures. The +governments frequently pay salaries and other obligations with receipts +rather than with money. This practice gives rise to many abuses, for +often the receipts can be cashed only by persons having influence +with the authorities of the treasury department, and thus become a +source of graft. Certain governments, indeed, make it a practice to +buy their own promises to pay at a discount, after depreciating them +by refusing to redeem them at their face value. The floating debt, +which ordinarily bears a very high rate of interest, is always an +indefinite but steadily increasing quantity, comprising a great variety +of obligations. It includes claims for salaries and for supplies<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span> +furnished to the government, for damage to property during revolutions, +for violated concessions and contracts, and other demands of every +degree of validity. Some of these are paid off from time to time as the +condition of the treasury permits, but no provision is made for the +service or amortization of the internal debt as a whole.<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<p>Each of the five republics has also a bonded debt, held for the most +part in England. In most cases this dates back to the loan of £163,000 +contracted in London by the officials of the first Central American +Federation. Costa Rica and Salvador paid off their share of this after +they became independent, but the other states, after defaulting for +several years, eventually made arrangements for refunding the bonds +with new loans. At the same time, further issues were made, chiefly +for the construction of railways, during the period of prosperity +and inflation which accompanied the first development of the coffee +plantations in the seventies and eighties. These were often accompanied +by fraud, in which both the officials of the Central American +governments and the companies which floated the bonds participated, +and which in some cases reached immense proportions. The service of +the foreign debts became very difficult when the coffee prices fell, +and when the decline in the price of silver, upon which the monetary +systems of the Isthmus were based, greatly increased the amount of +the debt in terms of the national currency without proportionately +increasing the national revenues. During the decade 1890-1900, nearly +all of the republics found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span> it impossible to maintain regular payments +of interest. New arrangements were therefore made with the creditors, +who were forced to accept successive reductions of their claims, +amounting in some cases to a large proportion of the total, in order +to obtain any payment at all. These readjustments, with the partial +repudiation which they involved, naturally injured severely the credit +of the five countries.</p> + +<p>Guatemala has until very recently been involved in almost continuous +difficulties with her creditors. Her share of the debt of the Central +American Federation remained in default until 1856, when it was +refunded with the accrued interest into a new five per cent loan of +£100,000. In 1869 another loan of £500,000, issued at 70¹⁄₂ and +bearing interest at six per cent, was issued through a London banking +house. Both loans went into default in 1876. They were refunded in +1888 by a bond issue of £922,700, bearing four per cent interest, and +another issue was made at the same time to consolidate the internal +debt. The Republic again failed to meet its obligations to its +creditors in 1894, and the latter were forced to accept a further +reduction of their claims. By an arrangement made in 1895, both the +external and internal bonds were refunded by a new issue of £1,600,000, +at four per cent, secured by a special tax of $1.50 gold on each bag +of coffee exported. These bonds now constitute the principal foreign +debt of the Republic. The government soon violated the terms of the +agreement under which they were issued, for the coffee export tax was +reduced in 1898 and 1899, and its proceeds were used for other purposes +than the service of the loan. Payments of interest were suspended from +1898 to 1913. After several fruitless attempts to reach an agreement, +the bondholders finally secured the resumption of payments through the +energetic diplomatic intervention of the British government, and the +interest has been met regularly since 1913. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span> principal, on December +31, 1915, amounted to £2,357,063.<a id="FNanchor_80" href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<p>Salvador had paid off her share of the federal debt in 1860, by a +compromise with the holders of the bonds. In 1899, a loan of £300,000 +at six per cent and in 1892 another of £500,000 at six per cent were +obtained from bankers in London for the purpose of extending the +railway line from Acajutla to Santa Ana and San Salvador. These were +secured by mortgages on the railway. In 1894 the service of the loans +was assumed by the Central American Public Works Company, which took +over the railway for eighty years in return for a promise of an annual +subsidy from the government and a guarantee of a minimum annual profit. +In 1899 this company entered into another contract with the Republic, +by which it agreed to retire on its own account all of the 1889 and +1892 bonds, converting them into five per cent mortgage debentures of +the Salvador Railway Company, which had been formed to take over the +concessions held by the Public Works Company. The Railway Company was +to receive a fixed annual subsidy of £24,000 for eighteen years. In +this way the bonds ceased to be obligations of the Republic. The only +foreign bonded debt of Salvador at the present time is the issue of +six per cent sterling bonds secured through two London banks in 1908. +On January 1, 1916, £756,900 out of the original £1,000,000 were still +outstanding. The service of these was suspended after the outbreak of +the European war, but an arrangement was made with the bondholders by +which the coupons from August, 1915, to August, 1919, were to be funded +into new bonds bearing seven per cent interest.</p> + +<p>Costa Rica, which had paid off her share of the Central American +debt in full immediately after the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span> dissolution of the Federation, +contracted two loans in London,—one of £1,000,000 at six per cent in +1871, and the other of £2,400,000 at seven per cent in 1872,—during +the first years of General Guardia’s administration. From the two, +it is said that the Republic received a total sum of £1,158,611, 18 +s, 5 d,<a id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> the rest being kept by the speculators who arranged the +transaction. The service of the debt was suspended in 1874. In 1885 a +new arrangement was made through Mr. Minor C. Keith, by which the old +bonds were refunded at one half their face value by a new issue of +£2,000,000 at five per cent. The interest was to be paid by Mr. Keith +until 1888, in return for concessions in regard to the railroad which +he was building, and after that date by the government. The service +of the debt was suspended from 1895 to 1897, when a new agreement +was made by which the rate of interest was reduced and the unpaid +coupons were exchanged for certificates at forty per cent of their +face value. Payments were resumed and were maintained until October, +1901, when a financial crisis caused by high rates of exchange and +falling coffee prices again forced the government to suspend them. For +nearly ten years the bondholders were put off, usually on the ground +that the Republic was unable to pay as much as its creditors asked. +Each administration made an effort to settle the matter by securing +a reduction of the debt, but refunding contracts made with Speyer +and Company in 1905 and with the National City Bank of New York in +1909 were rejected by the Congress. Finally, however, the pressing +need for refunding the internal debt, which bore ruinous rates of +interest and was increasing alarmingly every year, led the government +to make a new contract with Mr. Minor Keith in 1911. This provided for +a bond issue of £1,617,200, bearing four per cent interest for the +first ten years and five per cent thereafter, to refund entirely the +principal and the unpaid interest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> of the old debt, which, even with +the numerous previous reductions, amounted to £2,710,293 by the end of +1910. The creditors accepted the arrangement, and the bonds were taken +by an international syndicate, formed by bankers in New York, London, +Hamburg, and Paris. The interest was secured by the customs revenues, +the administration of which was to be taken over by the syndicate in +case of default. As soon as the Congress had ratified this agreement, +another loan of 35,000,000 francs at five per cent, issued at eighty, +and secured by a mortgage on the <i>aguardiente</i> monopoly, was +arranged in Paris for the payment of the internal debt. Since 1911, +the service of these obligations has been maintained with scrupulous +regularity. The total foreign debt of the Republic on December 31, +1915, was 31,478,392.27 colones, or $14,641,112.68 American gold.<a id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p> + +<p>In Nicaragua, £285,000 in six per cent bonds secured by a mortgage on +the National Railway had been issued in 1886. Payments were suspended +on these in 1894, and an arrangement was made in 1895 by which the +interest was reduced to four per cent. In 1904, another six per cent +loan, to the amount of $1,000,000 gold, was negotiated with Mr. +Weinberger of New Orleans. Both of these debts were paid in 1909 by +means of an issue of £1,250,000 at six per cent contracted for by the +Ethelburga Syndicate of London. The interest on the Ethelburga loan +was reduced to five per cent in 1912, through the good offices of the +two New York banking firms which had undertaken the reorganization of +the currency, on condition that these firms continue to administer the +customs revenues of the Republic, by which the bonds were secured. +The total foreign debt of Nicaragua on December 31, 1915, was as +follows:<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span></p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><td>Ethelburga bonds (£1,179,620) </td><td class="tdr">$5,740,131</td></tr> +<tr><td>Debt to Brown Brothers and Seligman </td><td class="tdr">1,060,000</td></tr> +<tr><td class="bt">Total </td><td class="tdr bt"> $6,800,131</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Honduras is now the only one of the Central American republics which +has not effected some adjustment of its foreign debt. This country, +on January 1, 1916, owed to foreign creditors the immense sum of +£25,407,858,<a id="FNanchor_84" href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> arising from loans contracted in London and Paris +in the years 1867-70. Bonds to a nominal value of £5,398,570, and +bearing from five to ten per cent interest, were issued at that time +for the construction of an interoceanic railroad from Puerto Cortez +to the Gulf of Fonseca. The greater part of the money received from +the investors in these securities seems to have been divided between +the officials of the Republic and the promoters, with the result +that the sum which finally found its way into the national treasury +was sufficient only to build ninety kilometers of the railroad. The +payments of interest, which until that time had been made out of the +principal of the loan, were suspended in 1872, and the quotation of the +bonds on the European exchanges dropped rapidly from 85¹⁄₂% to 1¹⁄₄% +of their face value.<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> A few half-hearted efforts to enter into +negotiations with the bondholders have been made during the years which +have since intervened, but the Republic has shown little inclination +to make good its obligations, and there have even been occasional +propositions to repudiate the debt altogether, because of the fraud +which accompanied its flotation. Meanwhile the government has been +unable to make arrangements for the extension of the National Railway +into the interior, because of the lien held by the bondholders upon the +line, and it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span> has also been unable to obtain new loans for carrying out +other internal improvements. The foreign debt has thus been one of the +principal factors which have retarded the Republic’s economic advance.</p> + +<p>Early in 1909, a plan for the settlement of the debt was arranged by +the British minister in Central America, but its consummation was +prevented by the protest of the United States, which insisted that +provision must at the same time be made for the adjustment of certain +American claims. An arrangement suggested by J. P. Morgan and Company +was therefore substituted for the British scheme. The New York bankers +agreed to purchase the old bonds at the rate of £15 in cash for each +£100 of the old bonds with their accrued interest, on condition that +the United States government be a party to the agreement under which +this was done. After some delay, a treaty was signed on January 10, +1911, by Secretary of State Knox and the Minister of Honduras at +Washington, in accordance with which the United States was to assist +Honduras in obtaining a loan secured by her customs duties, which +were to be administered, until the bonds were paid, by a collector +general nominated by the State Department. The treaty was rejected by +the Honduranean Congress on January 31, 1911.<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> After the Bonilla +revolution, another attempt was made to arrange for the loan, but there +was such strong opposition to the treaty in the American Senate that +nothing could be accomplished. In February, 1912, J. P. Morgan and +Company withdrew from the negotiations, and a syndicate of New Orleans +bankers took their place. The treaty, however, was never ratified, and +the plan for a new loan was finally abandoned.</p> + +<p>At the Pan American Financial Conference in May, 1915, the delegates +from Honduras announced that their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span> government was ready to increase +the customs duties and the banana export tax to a point where they +would yield an additional sum of $410,000 gold each year, which might +be set aside for the service of the foreign debt. As the holders of the +bonds have indicated their willingness to negotiate upon this basis, +there seems to be reason to hope that an adjustment will eventually be +brought about which will place the credit of the Republic on a sound +basis.<a id="FNanchor_87" href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> Until this is done, it will be impossible to build railroads +or to carry out the other internal improvements which are indispensable +for the development of the country.</p> + +<p>The failure of the Central American governments to fulfill their +obligations to foreign creditors is not due entirely to a listless +sense of national honor, for in many cases there has been serious +doubt whether these obligations should be regarded as entirely valid. +The circumstances under which the majority of the public debts were +contracted were such that the governments have felt a strong reluctance +to recognize their duty to repay them in full. The bonds, bearing heavy +rates of interest, were usually purchased in the first place at a +considerable reduction from their face value, and the speculators who +floated them took advantage of the ignorance or the cupidity of the +agents with whom they negotiated to defraud the borrowing governments +of large sums. A large part of the product of the issue, in fact, seems +in many cases to have been retained by the underwriters or divided by +them with the Central American officials. Subsequent administrations +were naturally unwilling to repay sums from which the country as a +whole had never received the benefit, especially as the service of the +loan involved a heavy and in some cases intolerable burden upon the +impoverished treasury and deprived the government of resources which +were sorely needed for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span> maintenance of order and the promotion of +internal improvements.</p> + +<p>One of the influences which have most disastrously affected the +government finances and the credit of the Central American republics +during the last generation has been the depreciation of their +currencies. Until the last decade of the nineteenth century, the money +of the Isthmus had been based upon the silver dollar, subdivided into +eight <i>reales</i> or one hundred cents. Each of the five countries +had its own coinage, but foreign money, especially from other Latin +American states, was ordinarily accepted at its face value. When the +market price of silver declined, as it did with great rapidity after +1890, there was a serious disturbance both of the foreign commerce +and of the finances and credit of the five governments, and this +disturbance was intensified by a further depreciation of the currency, +in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, by the issue of irredeemable +paper money. For a number of years, rates of exchange fluctuated +widely, with a general upward tendency, and it became increasingly +difficult for merchants to pay their bills in foreign countries and for +the governments to meet the service of their loans. Costa Rica, and +later Nicaragua, succeeded in establishing a currency on a gold basis, +but in the other republics the situation grew more and more difficult +until the outbreak of the European war in 1915. This catastrophe caused +the rate of exchange upon New York to rise from 25 to 100 per cent in +each of the five countries, and made necessary a suspension of payments +upon the foreign debt in two of them.</p> + +<p>Several causes have contributed to the disorganization of the Central +American currencies. The fallacies which have at times caused +unfortunate experiments with the monetary systems of other countries +have been as attractive in Central America as elsewhere, and every +financial or commercial depression has seen demands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span> which have +usually been acceded to, for an increase in the circulating medium. +The banks, whose notes form the larger part of the currency in each +state, have been subject to little effective regulation, and have in +some cases been abetted by the governments in flooding the country +with worthless paper money. By unscrupulous speculation in foreign +exchange, moreover, they have often done much to cause unnecessarily +violent fluctuations in the premium on gold. At the present time, laws +relieving the banks of their obligation to exchange their notes for +gold or silver are in force in Guatemala, Salvador, Nicaragua, and +Costa Rica. The factor which has done most to disorganize the monetary +systems of the five republics, however, has been the inability of the +authorities to resist the temptation to use the depreciation of the +currency as a source of revenue. There is no easier method of raising +money for pressing needs than the issue of government paper or the +granting of special privileges to the banks in return for loans; and +few of the countries have as yet learned that such a policy in the long +run does far more harm than good.</p> + +<p>The worst currency system of the Isthmus is that of Guatemala, where +silver coin has entirely disappeared from the circulation within the +last twenty years. On assuming office in 1898, President Estrada +Cabrera found himself confronted by serious financial difficulties +arising from the extravagance of his predecessor and the business +depression from which all of the Central American countries were at +the time suffering. In order to provide funds, the new administration +resorted to what was practically an issue of unsecured paper money. +In return for a large loan, drawn in part from the reserves which +guaranteed their circulation, the banks were relieved of their +obligation to redeem their notes in silver, and a large issue of +new notes, guaranteed solely by the claims of the banks against the +government, was made at the same time through the so-called <i>Comité +Bancario</i>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> Subsequent decrees made all debts payable in paper +even though the contracts expressly provided for payment in silver. +The redemption of the bank-notes has never been attempted, and +further issues have been made from time to time until the amount in +circulation, on January 1, 1916, was more than $160,000,000.<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> The +money depreciated rapidly. Just before the outbreak of the European +war, the paper <i>peso</i> was worth about five cents in gold, but +in August and September, 1914, the difficulty of obtaining drafts on +foreign countries forced the rate of exchange from 20 to 1 to 40 to 1. +It has remained approximately at this point since that time, although +it has fluctuated considerably, sometimes rising or falling as much as +thirty per cent within a few weeks.</p> + +<p>The circulating medium is now in a very bad condition. The notes of the +smaller denominations are dirty and torn almost beyond recognition, +and in quantity they fall far short of supplying the necessities of +commerce. The subsidiary coinage, which consists of nickel and copper +pieces of 12¹⁄₂ and 25 cents, is also insufficient in quantity, and it +is supplemented in ordinary transactions by tokens issued by business +houses and municipalities, tram-car tickets, and postage stamps. This +state of affairs naturally causes great inconvenience to persons +engaged in commerce on a small scale.</p> + +<p>The fluctuations in the rate of exchange make business transactions +very difficult, for merchants who handle imported goods must change +their prices from day to day if they are to avoid loss, and must at +the same time face the greatly decreased purchasing power of the +masses of the people when the money in which wages and salaries are +paid depreciates. There is a growing tendency to quote prices and make +transactions in United States currency, of which there is a large +amount in circulation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span></p> + +<p>Proposals for reforming the currency have been made from time to +time, but none of them have been taken up by the government. The +reintroduction of a metal standard, in fact, has been opposed by one of +the most influential classes in the community. The coffee planters and +other employers of labor have benefited greatly by the rising rate of +exchange. Despite the depreciation of the currency, they have raised +the wages of their employees comparatively little, and the latter, +bound by contracts from which the decline in their earning power made +it more difficult than ever for them to escape, have been unable to +protest. The result has been an enormous increase in profits, for wage +costs have been reduced, while the coffee has continued to be sold for +gold in the European and North American markets. The government also +benefits by the present situation, for the revenues from the customs +houses are received in gold, and the employees are paid in paper, with +the result that there is a yearly increasing surplus in favor of the +treasury. The effect of this condition on the morality of the underpaid +officials has already been mentioned.</p> + +<p>In Nicaragua, monetary conditions were much similar to those in +Guatemala before the reform carried out by the New York bankers in +1912. President Zelaya had driven the silver out of circulation early +in his administration by the issue of legal tender treasury notes, +and the value of the <i>peso</i>, after his fall, had sunk to about +five cents gold. The establishment of a new currency, under the 1911 +treasury bills agreement, has been described in Chapter XI. At the +beginning of the European war, the new money was exchangeable at par +for sight drafts on New York. The inability of the government to +replenish the exchange fund against which these drafts were drawn +forced the National Bank to suspend their sale for a time, with the +result that the premium on American exchange rose to thirty per cent +early in 1915. More recently, however, the National<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span> Bank has resumed +the sale of drafts at par with its own funds.</p> + +<p>Honduras is still upon a silver basis. Silver coin circulates at its +intrinsic value, and bank-notes, which are generally used in commerce, +are accepted at par in the cities and towns, although the country +people as a rule prefer to use specie. The Republic has coined little +money of its own, but a considerable part of the silver of Guatemala +and Nicaragua found its way over the border when those republics fell +under a paper regime, and <i>pesos</i>, or dollars, from Salvador, +Chile, and Peru are in general use. The monetary system of the Republic +is thus better than that of the majority of its neighbors, but it can +nevertheless hardly be said to be sound. The rise and fall of the price +of silver in the world’s markets involves fluctuations in the rate of +exchange which are only less violent than in the case of an unsecured +paper circulation, and cause much inconvenience and danger to merchants +dealing with foreign countries. A part of the Republic’s imports, which +for several years past have exceeded the exports, are undoubtedly paid +for in silver coin, despite the restrictions on the export of specie. +This tends to leave only subsidiary coins, of a lower standard of +fineness than that of the <i>pesos</i>, in circulation, and to make it +more difficult also for the banks to maintain their metallic reserves. +Since the beginning of 1916, especially, the scarcity of exchange +on New York, combined with the high price of silver in the foreign +markets, has threatened to drain the country of its circulating medium, +and has forced the government to forbid entirely the exportation of +coin.</p> + +<p>The currency of Salvador was until very recently on a silver basis, +but in August, 1914, the banks, whose notes formed a large part of the +circulating medium, were allowed to suspend silver payments in order to +safeguard their metallic reserves, and the exportation of specie was +forbidden. Silver coin has now almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span> disappeared from circulation, +and bank-notes and small nickel coins have taken its place in all +transactions. The fact that the banks still maintain a large reserve +for the resumption of specie payments after the war, however, has +prevented a serious depreciation, although the rate of exchange has +fluctuated considerably.</p> + +<p>In Costa Rica, the depreciation of the currency had begun as early as +1882 with the issue of government paper and bank-notes which gradually +drove silver coin out of circulation. Rates of exchange rose slowly +until 1896, when President Rafael Yglesias procured the passage of a +law which provided for the establishment of a gold standard. A unit +called the <i>colón</i>, worth about 46¹⁄₂ cents in United States +currency, was adopted, and certificates were gradually exchanged for +the old money at the rate of one <i>colón</i> for one <i>peso</i>. On +July 15, 1900, the government was able to begin the redemption of these +certificates in gold coin. A new law, meanwhile, had required the banks +to guarantee their notes by adequate reserves of specie, so that the +currency of the Republic was placed upon a sound basis. At the outbreak +of the European war, however, the government relieved the banks of +their obligation to redeem their notes in gold. A little later, finding +that its revenues were falling off, and being unable to arrange for +a loan with the existing banks, it granted to a new institution, the +Banco Internacional, the privilege of issuing inconvertible notes +secured by government bonds. The result was a rapid depreciation of the +currency. The rate of exchange on New York rose from 218 on August 1, +1914, to 260 in January, 1915, and to nearly 300 a few months later. It +has been reduced somewhat since that time, and a metallic reserve has +gradually been accumulated by the Banco Internacional, so that there +seems to be ground for hoping that the paper will be redeemed at par +when normal conditions are restored.</p> + +<p>The Central American republics will have to depend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> upon the assistance +of foreign capital both for the readjustment of their foreign debts and +the reorganization of their monetary systems,—reforms for which the +need will become pressing soon after the conclusion of the war. The +problem of placing their credit on a sound basis is one of the most +important which confronts them today. If their economic development +is to continue, they will require new loans from abroad, not only +for refunding old obligations and stabilizing their depreciated and +fluctuating currencies, but also for building railways and roads, +improving ports, and making other internal improvements. These new +loans, probably, can be obtained to best advantage only in the United +States, with the aid of the American government, for no other country +has the interest which we have in the solvency and the economic welfare +of the Central American nations, and no other, while the Monroe +Doctrine is maintained in its present form, is really in a position +to guarantee to its bankers the full measure of protection which +is necessary to make loans to the republics of the Isthmus a safe +investment.</p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_78" href="#FNanchor_78" class="label">[78]</a> Includes export duties.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_79" href="#FNanchor_79" class="label">[79]</a> The internal debt of each of the republics, according +to statistics compiled from their Treasury Reports and from the 1915 +Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, was as +follows on December 31, 1914.</p> + +<p class="center">(Figures in American gold.)</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr><td>Guatemala </td><td class="tdr"> 3,880,986</td></tr> +<tr><td>Salvador </td><td class="tdr"> 4,563,676</td></tr> +<tr><td>Nicaragua </td><td class="tdr"> 6,676,662</td></tr> +<tr><td>Honduras (July 31, 1914.) </td><td class="tdr"> 1,844,585</td></tr> +<tr><td>Costa Rica </td><td class="tdr"> 2,692,215</td></tr> +</table> + + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_80" href="#FNanchor_80" class="label">[80]</a> These and other details in regard to the bonded debts +of the Central American Republics are for the most part based on +information in the 1915 Report of the Council of the Corporation of +Foreign Bondholders in London.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_81" href="#FNanchor_81" class="label">[81]</a> Message of President Jiménez to Congress, 1911.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_82" href="#FNanchor_82" class="label">[82]</a> Costa Rica, <i>Memoria de Hacienda</i>, 1915. This sum +includes certain minor obligations to correspondents in New York, +London, and Paris.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_83" href="#FNanchor_83" class="label">[83]</a> This does not include the accrued interest, which now +amounts to a considerable sum, as the service of the loans has been +suspended since 1914.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_84" href="#FNanchor_84" class="label">[84]</a> Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign +Bondholders, 1915, p. 207.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_85" href="#FNanchor_85" class="label">[85]</a> Honduras, Boletín Legislativo, April 19, 1911. (Quoting +from the Moniteur des Rentiers of Paris.)</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_86" href="#FNanchor_86" class="label">[86]</a> The treaty was exactly similar to that signed in the same +year by the United States and Nicaragua. For the text, see the American +Journal of International Law, Vol. 5, supplement, p. 274.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_87" href="#FNanchor_87" class="label">[87]</a> See the 1915 Report of the Council of the Corporation of +Foreign Bondholders.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_88" href="#FNanchor_88" class="label">[88]</a> U. S. Commerce Reports, Supplement 29a, September 2, +1916.</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br><span class="small">THE INFLUENCE OF THE UNITED STATES IN CENTRAL AMERICA</span></h2></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>The Economic and Political Interests of the United States in +Central America—Intervention in the Internal Affairs of the Five +Republics—Antagonism in Central America—Beneficial Effects and +Shortcomings of Our Policy—How the United States can Assist in +Promoting Good Government and Economic Development—Moral Influence of +the United States—The Ultimate Object of Our Policy.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The events of the last ten years have made it clear that the relations +between the United States and Central America must inevitably be +closer than our relations with countries whose well-being is of less +vital importance to us. However much we may dislike interfering in the +internal affairs of our neighbors, we cannot remain indifferent when +disorder and misrule paralyze agriculture and commerce and threaten +to provoke European intervention in a region where our political and +economic interests are so great as they are in the republics bordering +on the Caribbean Sea. Both for our own security and for the sake of +helping neighbors with whom we are united by powerful ties of proximity +and common interests, we must inevitably use our influence more and +more to aid the Central American republics in developing stable +political institutions which will insure their prosperity and their +continued independence.</p> + +<p>The interests of the United States in the Isthmus are far greater +than those of any other foreign power. In the first place, like the +other countries around the Caribbean Sea, the five republics are one +of the most promising fields for the expansion of American commerce +and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> investment of American capital. While no one of them is an +important customer of itself, together they make up a market which will +one day be of very great value. Our exports to them have increased +greatly in recent years and especially since the beginning of the +European war, and our imports from them are growing steadily. Only a +very small part of the food-producing possibilities of the tropics, +moreover, has as yet been realized, and economists say that it is not +improbable that the people of the temperate zone will be forced to rely +upon their equatorial neighbors for an increasingly large proportion +of their provisions in the not distant future. If this is so, the +development of that part of the tropics which is naturally tributary to +us commercially cannot be a matter of indifference. This development +can only take place with the improvement of political conditions, and +with the introduction of capital from wealthier countries which the +establishment of peaceful government will make possible.</p> + +<p>The establishment of peaceful government in the Isthmus is a matter +in which we are deeply interested for political reasons. The Monroe +Doctrine must always be a paramount principle of our foreign policy, +at least in so far as it deals with the countries of the Caribbean, +because the exercise of political influence in that region by a foreign +power could not but be a constant menace to our peace and security. +Several European nations, however, have extensive and legitimate +interests in Central America, for many of their citizens reside and +own property there and most of the foreign debt of each of the five +republics is held in London or Paris. It is impossible to expect that +they should remain inactive when these investments are made worthless +by internal disorders or by the arbitrary action of irresponsible +native rulers. Whatever one may think of the morality of the protection +of foreign investments by intervention and the collection of public +debts by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span> force, this is the established practice of most civilized +nations, and it is a practice which finds much justification in the +conditions which exist in certain Central American countries. The +landing of troops and the seizure of ports by a foreign power, so near +our shores and in the immediate vicinity of the Panama Canal, can +hardly fail to endanger the most vital interests of the United States, +because of the manifold opportunities which such measures afford for +exerting an influence over internal politics. The control of the policy +of one of the Central American governments by a European chancellory or +the grant of special economic privileges would of course be intolerable +to the United States. That such consequences might follow even a simple +intervention to enforce the payment of debts, is all too evident from +events which have occurred in other parts of the world. The American +government cannot, however, oppose measures adopted by European powers +for the protection of the legitimate interests of their nationals +without itself assuming a certain responsibility for the safeguarding +of foreign life and property. Even supposing that it were sufficiently +powerful to prevent other governments from intervening, it could +hardly allow its protection to be made a cloak for the confiscation of +foreign property and the repudiation of bonded debts by unscrupulous +professional revolutionists like those who have at one time or another +been in power in each of the Central American countries.</p> + +<p>The United States has already gone very far in its attempts to assist +its Central American neighbors to attain political and financial +stability. At first it limited its efforts to friendly advice and +mediation. By participating in the Washington Conference of 1907, +however, it became in a measure responsible for the enforcement of the +conventions drawn up by that body, in so far, at least, as they related +to the discouragement of revolutions, the compulsory arbitration of +disputes, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> neutralization of Honduras.<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> The continual +violation of the provisions of the Washington Treaties by President +Zelaya of Nicaragua led President Taft to break off relations with him +in 1909 and to intervene in the revolution of that year in such a way +that the fall of the Liberal administration was inevitable; and the +financial and military assistance which it was necessary to render to +Zelaya’s successors, in order to prevent the Republic from falling into +a state of anarchy, imposed new and still greater responsibilities upon +the United States. Since 1912, when a revolt against the established +authorities was suppressed by American troops, the Conservative +government at Managua has been kept in office by the presence of a +force of American marines, and the State Department has become deeply +involved in assisting the Republic to adjust its financial affairs. +The United States has recently acquired new interests in the Isthmus +by the treaty giving it the right to construct an interoceanic canal +through Nicaragua and to establish a naval base in the Gulf of Fonseca. +Meanwhile outbreaks of disorder have been discouraged in all parts of +the Isthmus by the influence exerted by the authorities at Washington +against violations of the 1907 conventions and by their refusal to +recognize governments which came into power through revolution.</p> + +<p>The policy of the United States has aroused strong antagonism in +Central America. The people of the Isthmus are by no means convinced +of the disinterestedness or the friendly intentions of their +powerful neighbor, and it would be difficult to persuade them that +the interference of the latter in their affairs will ultimately be +for their own good. Their hostility is due partly to the inevitable +opposition among a proud and sensitive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> people to foreign intervention +in their domestic concerns, and partly to the failure of the American +government to convince the Central Americans of the altruism of its +aims. Our State Department has had no definite, well-understood, and +energetically enforced policy, but has been forced from step to step +by circumstances as they have arisen, and its course of action has +not always been such as to inspire confidence in the purity of its +motives. The attitude of the American government in the revolution +of 1909-10 in Nicaragua, for example, was hardly consistent in view +of its championship of the Washington Conventions, notwithstanding +the excellent reasons which the United States as well as the Central +American countries had for desiring President Zelaya’s fall. The +“Dollar Diplomacy” of Mr. Taft’s administration was regarded throughout +the Isthmus as the opening wedge for the political absorption of the +five republics by the United States. This feeling caused the emphatic +rejection of the proposed loan treaty by the Honduranean congress, +and aroused a violent opposition to the financial policy of the +Conservative government in Nicaragua,—an opposition which was greatly +intensified by the fact that the authorities who signed the loan +contracts and who turned over to American banking concerns the control +of the customs houses, the currency system, and the national railways, +were maintained in office by the armed forces of the United States. The +steps taken more recently in connection with the canal treaty have been +regarded by many Central Americans as final proof of the aggressive +intentions of the American government.</p> + +<p>The United States has nevertheless achieved one of its main objects, in +that revolutions and international wars have been checked throughout +the Isthmus. There has been no very serious disturbance of the peace +since the suppression of Mena’s revolt in Nicaragua in 1912. This has +been due partly to the efforts of the State<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span> Department to secure the +strict observance of those provisions of the Washington Conventions +which restrain the Central American republics from intervening in one +another’s internal political affairs, and from allowing their territory +to be made the base of operations against neighboring governments, but +more to a fear on the part of native political leaders that a renewal +of the disorderly conditions which formerly existed would lead to +American intervention and to the domination of their affairs, as in +Nicaragua, by an outside power. This apprehension has exerted a most +valuable restraining influence on enemies of the established order in +many countries which had hardly ever known five years of continuous +peace before 1912. There were, it is true, small revolts in Nicaragua +and Guatemala in 1915 and 1916, but they were easily suppressed by the +authorities, and they hardly disturbed the tranquillity of the greater +part of the territory of the republics in which they occurred. Their +insignificance showed that no large or influential section of the +opposition party had participated in them. As the result even of this +short era of peace, there has been a marked improvement in economic and +political conditions in many sections of the Isthmus.</p> + +<p>The policy of refusing to recognize any forcible change of government, +however, is a very difficult one to carry out consistently. It would +be manifestly impossible to prevent all revolutions. An attempt to do +so would involve continual armed intervention in the internal affairs +of the Central American republics, which would be as burdensome and +distasteful to the United States as it would be intolerable to the +people of the Isthmus. It is often equally impossible, and sometimes +exceedingly disastrous, to refuse to recognize a government which has +sprung from a revolution. After one administration has fallen and its +successor has established itself firmly in power, the refusal of the +United States to recognize the new authorities only weakens them, and +thus opens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span> the way for a complete disintegration of the political +organization, without advancing appreciably the cause of constitutional +government. The restoration of the old regime is rarely either possible +or desirable. The ousted authorities, if they themselves secured +office, like almost all Central American administrations, as the +result of a successful revolution or an election controlled by the +government, can hardly lay claim to a higher degree of legality than +their successors, and a president who has once lost his prestige and +his following is not often able to re-establish a strong and efficient +government, even with foreign support.</p> + +<p>The prevention of chronic civil war is indeed the first great requisite +for the improvement of political conditions in Central America, but +even peace will be a doubtful blessing in the long run if it is secured +by the maintenance in office by outside influence of presidents who +are responsible to no one and who have nothing to fear from popular +opposition. The mere discouragement of revolutions offers no solution +for the most serious of Central America’s political problems, for it +provides no guarantee of good government and no peaceful method of +removing authorities whose rule may have become intolerable.</p> + +<p>The responsibility resting upon the United States is the more +serious, because the American government is not infrequently called +upon actually to decide who shall be president of one or the other +of the five republics. Even an intervention to protect foreign life +and property often determines, as a matter of fact, the outcome of a +civil war, and the influence upon internal politics is still greater +when the United States uses diplomatic pressure or force to prevent +a revolution or to bring about an agreement between the contending +factions. In either case, the United States practically imposes upon +the country affected the rule of one or the other political group. It +is impossible to intervene merely to prevent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span> disorder, and then leave +to the people the choice of their own rulers, for elections, as we have +seen, are nothing more than a form for putting into effect the choice +of the government already in office. It would be foolish to attempt +to force democratic institutions upon the less advanced republics +of the Isthmus at the present time. No president of one of those +countries, however sincere he might be in his purpose, could really +hold a free election, and any attempt to do so would probably end in +bloodshed and disaster. An election supervised by the United States, +which was proposed as a solution of the recent presidential problem in +Nicaragua, would be equally unsatisfactory as a means of establishing +a new administration. Aside from the difficulty of ascertaining the +wishes of a nation where the majority of the voters have no interest in +political affairs, there are so many opportunities for fraud and for +the exercise of pressure by the government and by the local officials +at every stage of the campaign, as well as in the election itself, that +it would be practically impossible to guarantee the opposition party a +fair chance. An administration which has once obtained military control +can perpetuate itself indefinitely under constitutional forms until its +opponents become sufficiently strong to overthrow it by force of arms.</p> + +<p>The United States, therefore, can hardly assist one party in securing +and holding the control of the government, without assuring itself that +the men whom it thus keeps in office are acceptable to the people under +their rule, and that they administer the affairs of their country with +at least a reasonable degree of honesty and efficiency. This can only +be done by establishing an administration which fairly represents the +best elements in the community. It should not be impossible to secure +such an administration by an agreement between the party leaders, +who for all practical purposes represent the country in political +affairs. Compromise between the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span> various factions, which is the only +practicable means, except revolution, of changing the higher officials, +is the end towards which the diplomatic efforts of the United States +should be directed in cases where circumstances make a reorganization +of the government inevitable. The more respectable and patriotic +leaders of all parties would far prefer an adjustment of this kind to +a continuation of civil war, and even those who might be unwilling to +subordinate their own ambitions to the general welfare would probably +accept it rather than incur the danger of armed intervention by the +United States.</p> + +<p>The friendly mediation of the United States would do much to improve +the political conditions of the Isthmus if it were directed towards +strengthening the influence of the better element in the educated +class. Numerous intelligent and patriotic men of high political ideals +are to be found in each country, but they have not hitherto had so +large a share in the direction of affairs as they should because the +revolutions have brought to the front military leaders and demagogues +rather than statesmen. Even where men of the highest character have +been at the head of the government, as has not infrequently been the +case, they have found themselves forced to place corrupt or unworthy +men in office for political reasons, because they have been unable to +free themselves from dependence upon the support of the professional +politicians. With the greater stability in the government which will +necessarily result from the discouragement of revolutions, however, +the less turbulent elements should become more and more prominent, +especially if they are supported by the influence of the United States.</p> + +<p>The United States can at the same time materially assist its Central +American neighbors by aiding them in securing new loans for the +reorganization of their finances and the development of their natural +resources.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span> The unenviable record of Central American bonds makes it +unlikely that any bankers, whether American or European, would lend +money to one of the five republics, unless it were on the most onerous +terms, without an effective guarantee of the protection of their +government in case of default. Considering the close relation between +the solvency of the countries of the Isthmus and the maintenance of the +Monroe Doctrine, it is evident that the United States must eventually +exert its good offices in cases where it has been impossible to reach +an agreement with foreign creditors by any other means.</p> + +<p>In Santo Domingo and Nicaragua, the service of loans made by American +bankers has been guaranteed by placing the administration of the +customs duties in the hands of officials appointed by or at least +approved by the State Department. This is far from being an entirely +satisfactory solution of the problem. The collectorships thus far +established have provided a highly satisfactory guarantee for the +foreign creditors, and have decidedly increased the efficiency of the +customs service, but their existence has been very distasteful and +of doubtful advantage to the native community. Graft is abolished in +the customs houses themselves, but there is nothing to prevent that +portion of the receipts which is not used for the service of the +foreign debt from being misspent. Revolutions are not done away with, +for revolutionists fight, not, as is sometimes said, for the possession +of the customs houses, but rather for the control of the appointing +power and of the revenues, which the customs officials must necessarily +turn over to them when they become the <i>de facto</i> government. The +chief result is the imposition upon the American government of a heavy +burden of responsibility which forces it to intervene continually in +the internal affairs of the native governments, and which often leads +to friction with the officials and to a feeling of dislike<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span> towards +the United States in the community at large. The acceptance of foreign +financial control, moreover, inevitably involves a lessening of the +sense of international responsibility and a certain loss of national +self-respect which cannot but react unfavorably upon internal politics.</p> + +<p>It may well be questioned whether the bondholders could not be +satisfactorily protected by other methods. If, for instance, the +foreign loan were secured by the hypothecation of the customs revenues +or of some other easily collected source of revenue, with a promise +of the protection of the State Department in realizing the guarantee +of the loan in case of default, the interests of the creditor would +be adequately protected, while the Central American governments, so +long as they dealt honestly by the bondholders, would be spared the +humiliation of having to place one of their principal functions in +the hands of a foreign official who was in no way subject to their +control. This is the basis upon which Costa Rica’s external debt rests +at present, except that no foreign government participated officially +in the arrangement. There would probably be little difficulty about +maintaining the service of the loan under such conditions. The majority +of the Central American governments have shown little regard for +their credit in times past, but they would probably manifest little +inclination to default if their debts were reorganized on a fair basis, +and if they were aware that a failure to pay would involve the seizure +of their customs houses.</p> + +<p>It is highly desirable that the United States should exercise a +measure of control over the operations not only of American bankers +but of other American corporations which do business in the Isthmus. +The economic development of the last twenty-five years has created a +situation in which some of the five republics are almost powerless +to protect themselves against the oppression and greed of foreign +interests, for corporations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span> like the great fruit companies and +the railroad companies are able to bring to the support of their +projects financial resources which far exceed those of the local +government or of any group of natives. Some of these concerns, by the +corruption of officials or by the unscrupulous use of their control +of transportation facilities, have obtained special privileges which +have been an obstacle to the legitimate business of other foreigners +and to the development of the community as a whole. Moreover, serious +international difficulties have not infrequently arisen when subsequent +governments have attempted to annul or to modify these concessions. +Only a more careful supervision of the contracts entered into by +American concerns with native officials, who are not always above +temptation and who are in any event rarely in a position to ascertain +the financial responsibility of the concerns with which they are +dealing or the ultimate effects of the privileges which are asked, +can insure the United States against the possibility of being forced +to use its power to protect unscrupulous speculators and predatory +corporations in the exercise of rights which, even though legally +acquired, are in many cases extremely unfair and injurious to the +countries which have granted them.</p> + +<p>The same interests which have obtained inequitable concessions by +dishonest methods have too often sought to secure influence with the +native governments by fomenting and assisting revolutions against +presidents from whom they cannot obtain what they desire. In recent +years influences of this kind have done even more to cause internal +disorder in some of the republics than the intervention and intrigues +of other Central American governments. Honduras has been the chief +sufferer, for the numerous outbreaks which occurred in that Republic +between 1907 and 1911 seem to have been financed in many cases by +interests in New Orleans, and to have received valuable assistance +from the foreign<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span> colony on the North Coast. In Nicaragua also the +indiscriminate granting of concessions on the one hand and the +dissatisfaction among the foreign interests which were injured by +these grants of special privileges on the other was one of the primary +causes of the revolution of 1909-10. If permanent peace is ever to +be established in the Isthmus, the encouragement of revolutions from +outside, whether it be for the satisfaction of the ambition or the +jealousy of petty despots in neighboring republics or for the pecuniary +profit of unprincipled foreigners, must be repressed by every possible +means.</p> + +<p>Much can be done to promote stable government in Central America by the +consistent enforcement of the principles of the Washington conventions, +for few revolutions, except those which originate in genuine popular +discontent with the existing regime, would attain formidable +proportions if they were not allowed to use neutral territory as a +base and if they received no assistance from other Central American +countries or from friends in the United States. If the American +government exerts its influence to secure the observation of the 1907 +treaties, and at the same time adopts effective means for restraining +its own citizens from disturbing the peace of the Isthmus, the position +of constituted governments throughout Central America will be greatly +strengthened. To be effective, such a policy must be vigorously +enforced, and its one end,—to prevent revolutions and international +wars in Central America,—should be pursued in such a way that there +can be no suspicion of selfish objects or ulterior political purposes.</p> + +<p>Much depends upon the character and the ability of the men who are sent +to represent the United States diplomatically in the Central American +capitals. Unless they are fitted for their positions by disposition +and by training, their relations with the native governments can never +be entirely satisfactory. An acquaintance with the character of the +people and a command of Spanish are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span> of the first importance, for +Central American political methods and the motives which govern the +action of men and parties, incomprehensible at best to the average +American, are entirely beyond the understanding of one who does not +speak the language and is thus barred from association with any but +a very small portion of the people. The cordiality of our relations +with the republics of the Isthmus depends to a very great extent upon +the capacity of our agents to win the confidence and friendship of +their people; and the extremely important position occupied by the +United States minister in these countries, where he is forced to play +a part far more influential than that which falls to the lot of the +average diplomat, makes it an act of injustice to the Central American +countries themselves to send ministers who are not properly qualified +for their position.</p> + +<p>The influence and authority of the United States in Central America +are very great, for there are few educated men in the Isthmus who do +not realize that the future of their countries will be determined +almost entirely by their relations with their northern neighbor. The +people of the five republics have always admired our civilization +and our institutions, and they have often turned to the American +government, not only for protection against European powers, but also +for aid in adjusting their domestic difficulties. They have bitterly +resented the policy of the last five years, which they have regarded +as a menace to their independence, but their hostility to American +intervention would to a great extent disappear if they were convinced +that it was actuated by a desire to assist them and not by any purpose +of expansion. Even those elements which are most jealously opposed to +foreign control at present would not object so strongly to the exercise +of foreign influence if they themselves profited by it, and most of the +more intelligent and patriotic political leaders avow that they would +welcome the assistance of the American<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span> government in securing peace +and stability in the Isthmus and in bringing about the Central American +Union.</p> + +<p>While their political and economic interests have become so closely +interdependent, cultural ties between the United States and Central +America have also grown far stronger in the last quarter century as a +result of the increasing prosperity of the coffee-producing countries +and the improvement in means of communication. The wealthier families +of the Isthmus travel more and more in the United States, and a very +large proportion of them send their children to be educated in our +schools and colleges. English has taken the place formerly held by +French as the most widely spoken foreign language, and North American +news services and periodicals are the principal sources of information +on events occurring in the outside world. The creation of ties of this +kind will have more influence than treaties and diplomatic conferences +in determining whether our relations with Central America shall be +friendly and mutually profitable rather than characterized by dictation +and compulsion on the one side and bitter resentment on the other.</p> + +<p>The influence of North American civilization in the Isthmus, which is +daily becoming stronger under present conditions, could be greatly +increased if the missionary educational enterprise which has been so +successful in the Orient could be turned in some measure to these +countries at our own doors. The establishment by American philanthropic +societies of institutions for higher education and for technical +training in agriculture and engineering would perhaps do more than any +other one factor could to improve both the economic and the political +conditions of the Isthmus. Many of the governments have advanced far in +the primary instruction of their people, but they have been prevented +from making corresponding progress in higher education by the expense<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> +involved and by the lack of properly trained teachers. There is no form +of assistance which the people of the Isthmus would appreciate more, +and which would do more to convince them of the friendly intentions of +their great neighbor.</p> + +<p>The political stability and the prosperity of the Central American +countries have been the one great object which the United States has +sought in its relations with their governments. Modern conditions have +made the maintenance of peace and the development of commerce and +natural resources in the Isthmus far more important to the American +people than ever before. It is inevitable, therefore, that the United +States should exert a decided influence in the internal affairs of +the five republics, so long as disorder and insolvency expose them +to aggression by European powers. But it should never be forgotten +that the ultimate purpose of the American policy is to enable the +countries of the Isthmus to attain a position where they can manage +their own affairs without outside interference. Careless talk about +the ultimate absorption of these countries by the United States is as +unwarranted as it is mischievous, for none of the measures thus far +taken in any Central American state have had as their object or their +logical outcome permanent political domination. If the efforts of our +government to assist its weaker neighbors are to attain any measure of +success, its sincerity and its freedom from any desire for territorial +expansion must be placed beyond all doubt.</p> + +<p>The present political condition of the Isthmus is a transitory one, +which is changing rapidly with the economic development of the +country and the spread of education among the common people. If they +are given a fair chance, the five republics will work out their own +salvation, but they will not be aided in doing so either by the +establishment of foreign protectorates over them or by the attempt of +a foreign government to impose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span> upon their people responsibilities +of self-government for which they are not as yet ready. The ultimate +solution of their political problems must be sought in making a reality +the democratic institutions which each of them already possesses on +paper, by preparing their people for the intelligent exercise of the +suffrage. When the people are fitted to take an active part in choosing +their own officials, as they already do in Costa Rica, and when they +have learned the respect for the constitution and for the will of +the majority which can only come with experience in self-government, +there will be no need for foreign intervention to protect life and +property from destruction at the hands of revolutionary armies. To aid +in bringing that time nearer should be one of the primary aims of the +foreign policy of the United States.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_89" href="#FNanchor_89" class="label">[89]</a> “The Treaties and Conventions of Washington of 1907, +... were conceived, debated, and concluded through the friendly +intervention of the Government of the United States of America. These +conventions have, therefore, the moral guaranty of that great nation.” +(Case of Costa Rica against Nicaragua before the Central American Court +of Justice, 1916, p. 9.)</p> + +</div> +</div> +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="BIBLIOGRAPHY">BIBLIOGRAPHY<br><span class="small"><i>of the more important historical and descriptive material dealing +with Central America</i></span></h2></div> + + +<h3>A. OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.</h3> + +<h4>1. Publications of the United States Government, especially:</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Foreign Relations of the United States.</p> + +<p>Commerce Reports.</p> + +<p>Congressional Documents.</p> + +<p>Congressional Record.</p> + +<p>Annual Reports of the Navy Department.</p> + +<p>Treaties and Conventions of the United States.</p> +</div> + +<h4>2. Publications of Central American governments.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Each of the Central American Republics publishes the annual reports +of the principal executive departments, under the titles <i>Memoria +de Relaciones Exteriores</i>, <i>Memoria de Hacienda y Crédito +Público</i>, etc. Most of them also have statistical bureaus, which +publish annual reports containing interesting although too often +inaccurate material. They also publish official gazettes, collections +of laws and treaties, and other material.</p> +</div> + + +<h3>B. HISTORICAL WORKS.</h3> + +<h4>1. General histories of Central America.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Bancroft, Hubert Howe: History of Central America. (3 vols.) San +Francisco, 1883-90.</p> + +<p>Fortier, A., and Ficklen, J. R.: Central America and Mexico. (Vol. IX +of G. C. Lee’s History of North America.) Philadelphia, 1907.</p> + +<p>Fuentes y Guzman, Francisco Antonio de: Historia de Guatemala, ó +Recordación Florida. (Deals only with the sixteenth century.) Madrid, +1882-83.</p> + +<p>Gómez Carillo, Augustín: Estudio Histórico de la América Central. San +Salvador, 1884.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Compendio de Historia de la América Central. Guatemala, +1906.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span></p> + +<p>Jaurros, Domingo: History of Guatemala. (Translated from the Spanish.) +London, 1823.</p> + +<p>Milla, José: Historia de la América Central, 1502-1821. (2 vols.) +Guatemala, 1879-82.</p> + +<p>Montúfar, Lorenzo: Reseña Histórica de Centro América. (A collection +of source material in 7 volumes.) Guatemala, 1878-87.</p> + +<p>Montúfar, Manuel: Memorias para la Historia de la Revolución de Centro +América. San Salvador, 1905.</p> + +<p>Squier, Ephraim G. Historia Política de Centro América. Paris, 1856.</p> +</div> + +<h4>2. Nicaragua.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Gámez, José Dolores: Historia de Nicaragua. Managua, 1889.</p> +</div> + +<h4>3. Costa Rica.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Mora, Manuel Argüello: Páginas de Historia, Recuerdos é Impresiones. +San José, 1898.</p> + +<p>Fernández Guardia, Ricardo: Historia de Costa Rica: El Descubrimiento +y la Conquista. San José, 1905.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Same, translated into English. New York, 1913.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Cartilla Histórica de Costa Rica. San José, 1909.</p> + +<p>Fernández, León. Historia de Costa Rica durante la Dominación +Española, 1502-1821. Madrid, 1889.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Colección de Documentos para la Historia de Costa Rica. San +José, 1881-83.</p> + +<p>Montero Barrantes, Francisco: Elementos de Historia de Costa Rica. (2 +vols.) San José, 1892-94.</p> +</div> + +<h4>4. The Mosquito Coast and the Nicaragua Canal.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Keasbey, L. M.: Early Diplomatic History of the Nicaragua Canal. +Newark, 1890. (Columbia Ph.D. dissertation.)</p> + +<p>—— ——: The Nicaragua Canal and the Monroe Doctrine. New York, 1896.</p> + +<p>Peralta, Manuel M. de: Costa Rica y Costa de Mosquitos. Paris, 1898.</p> + +<p>Travis, Ira D.: History of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. Ann Arbor, 1900.</p> + +<p>—— ——: British Rule in Central America. Ann Arbor, 1895.</p> + +<p>Williams, Mary W.: Anglo-American Isthmian Diplomacy, 1815-1915. +Washington, 1916.</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span></p> + +<h4>5. Walker’s expeditions to Nicaragua.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Doubleday, Charles William: The Filibusters’ War in Nicaragua. New +York, 1886.</p> + +<p>Lucas, D. B.: Nicaragua: War of the Filibusters. Richmond, Va., 1896.</p> + +<p>Montúfar, Lorenzo: Walker en Centro América. Guatemala, 1887.</p> + +<p>Nicaise, Auguste: Les Filibustiers Américains. Paris, 1861.</p> + +<p>Scroggs, William O.: Filibusters and Financiers. New York, 1916.</p> + +<p>Wells, William V.: Walker’s Expedition to Nicaragua. New York, 1856.</p> +</div> + +<h4>6. Miscellaneous material for more recent history.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Buchanan, William I.: Report of the Central American Peace Conference, +1907. Washington (U. S. State Department), 1908.</p> + +<p>Corte de Justicia Centroamericana. Sentencia en el Juicio promovido +por la Republica de Honduras contra las Republicas de El Salvador y +Guatemala, 1908. San José, Costa Rica, 1908.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Anales. San José, 1911—</p> + +<p>Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders; Annual Reports. +London.</p> + +<p>Crichfield, Geo. W.: American Supremacy. New York, 1908.</p> + +<p>Espinoza, Rudolfo: Nicaraguan Affairs. Memorial to the U. S. Senate. +San José, Costa Rica, 1912.</p> + +<p>Harrison, F. C., and Conant, C. A.: Report Presenting a Plan of +Monetary Reform for Nicaragua. Presented to Messrs. Brown Brothers and +Company and Messrs. J. and W. Seligman and Company. New York, 1912.</p> + +<p>Knox, Philander C.: Speeches in the Countries of the Caribbean. +Washington, 1912.</p> + +<p>Kraus, Herbert: Die Monroedoktrin. Berlin, 1913.</p> + +<p>Jones, Chester Lloyd: Caribbean Interests of the United States. New +York, 1916.</p> + +<p>Legation of Salvador in Washington: Before the Central American Court +of Justice. The Republic of El Salvador vs. the Republic of Nicaragua. +Complaint of the Republic of El Salvador. (Translated.) Washington, +1916.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span></p> + +<p>Legation of Costa Rica in Washington: Before the Central American +Court of Justice. The Republic of Costa Rica vs. the Republic of +Nicaragua. Complaint of Costa Rica. Washington, 1916.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Same title. Decision of the Court in the Case of Costa Rica +vs. Nicaragua. Washington, 1916.</p> + +<p>Moncada, José María: Cosas de Centro América. Madrid, 1908.</p> + +<p>—— ——: The Social and Political Influence of the United States in +Central America. New York, 1911.</p> + +<p>Oficina Internacional Centroamericana: Centro América. (Quarterly +organ of the Bureau.) Published in Guatemala City.</p> + +<p>—— ——: El Arreglo de la Deuda Externa de Costa Rica. Guatemala, +1911.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Informes de las Conferencias Centroamericanas. Guatemala, +1908-13.</p> + +<p>Rojas Corrales, Ramón: El Tratado Chamorro-Weitzel ante Centro América +y ante El Derecho Internacional. San José, 1914.</p> + +<p>World Peace Foundation: The New Panamericanism. Pt. III. (Pamphlet +series.) The Central American League of Nations, Boston, February, +1917.</p> + +<p>Zelaya, José Santos: La Revolución de Nicaragua y los Estados Unidos. +Madrid, 1910.</p> +</div> + + +<h3>C. DESCRIPTIVE WORKS, TRAVELERS’ ACCOUNTS, ETC.</h3> + +<h4>1. Central America in general.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Bailey, John: Central America. London, 1850.</p> + +<p>Bates, H. W.: Central America, the West Indies, and South America. (In +Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel.) London, 1878.</p> + +<p>Batres, Luís: Centro América. San José, 1879.</p> + +<p>Dunlap, Robert G.: Travels in Central America. London, 1847.</p> + +<p>Dunn, Henry: Guatemala, or the United Provinces of Central America in +1827-28. New York, 1828.</p> + +<p>Froebel, Julius. Seven Years’ Travel in Central America, Northern +Mexico, and the Far West of the United States. London, 1859.</p> + +<p>Keane, A. H.: Central and South America. London, 1901.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span></p> + +<p>Morelet, Arthur: Travels in Central America. New York, 1871.</p> + +<p>Palmer, Frederick: Central America and its Problems. New York, 1910.</p> + +<p>Perigny, Maurice de: Les Cinq Republiques de l’Amerique Centrale. +Paris, 1911.</p> + +<p>Sapper, Karl: Mittelamerikanische Reisen und Studien aus den Jahren +1888 bis 1900. Braunschweig, 1902.</p> + +<p>—— ——: Das Noerdliche Mittel-Amerika. Braunschweig, 1897.</p> + +<p>Squier, Ephraim G.: Notes on Central America. New York, 1855.</p> + +<p>—— ——: States of Central America. New York, 1858.</p> + +<p>Stephens, John Lloyd: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, +and Yúcatan. London, 1854.</p> +</div> + +<h4>2. Guatemala.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Brigham, W. T.: Guatemala, the Land of the Quetzal. New York, 1887.</p> + +<p>Crowe, F.: The Gospel in Central America. London, 1850.</p> + +<p>Domville-Fife, C. W.: Guatemala and the Central States of America. +London, 1910.</p> + +<p>Maudsley, A. C. and A. P.: Glimpse at Guatemala. London, 1899.</p> + +<p>Pepper, C. M.: Guatemala, the Country of the Future. Washington +(Legation of Guatemala), 1906.</p> + +<p>Winter, N. O.: Guatemala and her People of Today. Boston, 1909.</p> +</div> + +<h4>3. Salvador.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Martin, Percy F.: Salvador of the Twentieth Century. London, 1911.</p> +</div> + +<h4>4. Honduras.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Belot, Gustave de: La Verité sur le Honduras. Paris, 1869.</p> + +<p>Squier, Ephraim G.: Honduras, Descriptive, Historical, and +Statistical. London, 1870.</p> + +<p>Wells, William V.: Explorations and Adventures in Honduras. New York, +1857.</p> +</div> + +<h4>5. Nicaragua.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Belt, Thomas: The Naturalist in Nicaragua. London, 1874. (Now +published in the Everyman’s Library.)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span></p> + +<p>Government of Nicaragua. La República de Nicaragua. Managua, 1906.</p> + +<p>Lévy, Pablo; Nicaragua. Paris, 1873.</p> + +<p>Niederlein, Gustavo: The State of Nicaragua in the Greater Republic of +Central America. Philadelphia (Philadelphia Commercial Museum), 1898.</p> + +<p>Pector, Desiré: Étude Économique sur la République de Nicaragua. +Neûchatel, 1893.</p> + +<p>Squier, Ephraim G.: Nicaragua, its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the +Proposed Nicaragua Canal. New York, 1852.</p> + +<p>Stout, Peter F.: Nicaragua, Past, Present, and Future. Philadelphia, +1859.</p> +</div> + +<h4>6. Costa Rica.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Calvo, Joaquín Bernardo: The Republic of Costa Rica. Chicago and New +York, 1890.</p> + +<p>Government of Costa Rica: Revista de Costa Rica en el Siglo XIX. San +José, 1900.</p> + +<p>Molina, Felipe: Bosquejo de Costa Rica. New York, 1851.</p> + +<p>Niederlein, Gustavo: The Republic of Costa Rica. Philadelphia +(Philadelphia Commercial Museum), 1898.</p> +</div> + +<h4>7. Publications of the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of +Foreign and Domestic Commerce.</h4> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>Central America as an Export Field. (By Garrard Harris.) Special +Agents’ Series, no. 113. 1916.</p> + +<p>Trade Directory of Central America and the West Indies. Miscellaneous +series, no. 22. 1915.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span></p> +<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> +</div> + + +<ul class="index"> +<li class="ifrst"> A</li> + +<li class="indx"> Acajutla, port of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Accessory Transit Company, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_14"> Agriculture, methods of, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> ff., <a href="#Page_132">132</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_91">91</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_30"> Aguardiente, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">influence of, on people, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">monopoly in, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Alajuela, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Alfaro, Prudencio, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Alta Verapaz, labor conditions in, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">products of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Amapala, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">capture of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Treaty of (1895), <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Treaty of (1907), <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> American International Corporation, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> American investments in Central America. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_1">Capital</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> American Phalanx, <a href="#Page_82">82</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Amusements, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Araujo, Manuel Enrique, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Arbitration. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_2">Central American Court of Justice</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Arce, Manuel José, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Army, <a href="#Page_42">42</a> f., <a href="#Page_188">188</a> f., <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_73">73</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Ayuntamientos. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_3">Government, Municipal</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> B</li> + +<li class="indx"> Balsam of Peru, export of, <a href="#Page_112">112</a> f., <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Bananas, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a> f., <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">blight, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">export trade in, <a href="#Page_268">268</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Banks. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_24">Finance</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Barillas, Manuel Lísandro, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Barrios, Gerardo, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Barrios, José María Reyna, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Barrios, Justo Rufino, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Beneficios, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Bertrand, Francisco, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Blaine, Secretary, policy of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Blanco, General, <a href="#Page_145">145</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Bluefields, <a href="#Page_96">96</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">blockade of, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">revolution at (1909), <a href="#Page_227">227</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Bográn, Luis, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Bonilla, Manuel, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">172, <a href="#Page_207">207</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Bonilla, Policarpo, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_27"> Brown Brothers and Company, loans to Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> ff., <a href="#Page_292">292</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Buchanan, President, restoration of Central American Union favored</li> +<li class="isub4">by, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Buchanan, William I., <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Bureau, Central American. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_5">Central American Bureau</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> C</li> + +<li class="indx"> Cabañas, Trinidad, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cabinets. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_6">Government</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cabrera, Manuel Estrada. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_7">Estrada Cabrera, Manuel</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cacao, export of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cannon, Lee Roy, execution of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_1"> Capital, foreign, influence of, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Central America, <a href="#Page_281">281</a> f., <a href="#Page_288">288</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Honduras, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> ff.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_24">Finance</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Carazo, Evaristo, <a href="#Page_87">87</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_16"> Caribbean Coast, importance of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Honduras, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">in Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Carillo, Braulio, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Carrera, Rafael, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> f., <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cartago, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> f., <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Castellón, Francisco, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Castro, José María, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_29"> Catholic Church, influence of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cattle, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> f., <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">export of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> f., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span>Salvador, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Central America, progress retarded in, <a href="#Page_14">14</a> f., <a href="#Page_185">185</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">export trade of, <a href="#Page_265">265</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">import trade of, <a href="#Page_275">275</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">revenue, sources of, <a href="#Page_284">284</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">expenditures of each republic (1913), <a href="#Page_286">286</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign debts, origin of, <a href="#Page_288">288</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">currencies, depreciation of, <a href="#Page_296">296</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign capital, need of, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">investments, opportunities for, <a href="#Page_303">303</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">United States, opposition to, <a href="#Page_306">306</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">financial assistance, need of, <a href="#Page_311">311</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_5"> Central American Bureau, San José Conference establishes (1906), <a href="#Page_206">206</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Washington Conference establishes (1907), <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">convention establishing, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">work of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_2"> Central American Court of Justice, <a href="#Page_213">213</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">case of Nicaragua and Honduras vs. Guatemala and Salvador, <a href="#Page_218">218</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">work of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">case of Nicaragua and United States Canal Treaty, <a href="#Page_254">254</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Central American Federal Republic. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_8">Central American Union</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Central American Federation. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_8">Central American Union</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Central American Public Works Company, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_8"> Central American Union, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> ff., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">need of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">advantages of, <a href="#Page_179">179</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">difficult to form, <a href="#Page_171">171</a> f., <a href="#Page_174">174</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">attempts to renew, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Union of 1842, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Union of 1849, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Union of 1895, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Centro Americo, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cerna, Vicente, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Chalchuapa, battle of (1885), <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Chamorro, Emiliano, <a href="#Page_231">231</a> f., <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Chamorro, Frutos, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Chinandega, treaty of (1842), <a href="#Page_168">168</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Christmas, General Lee, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cities. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_3">Government, municipal</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Civil Wars. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_9">Revolutions</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Claims. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_10">Investments, foreign</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Climate, Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Coban, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cochineal, export of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cocoanuts, export of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Coffee, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a> f.</li> +<li class="isub2">cultivation, methods of, <a href="#Page_265">265</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">export of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a> ff., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Colonos, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_18"> Commerce, <a href="#Page_265">265</a> ff.,</li> +<li class="isub2">development retarded, <a href="#Page_14">14</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign control of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">exports, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">imports, <a href="#Page_275">275</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">United States trade with Central America, <a href="#Page_276">276</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_159">159</a> ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> f., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_135">135</a> f., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Communication, means of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Concessions, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a> ff.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_89">89</a> f., <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_10">Investments, foreign</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Conferences, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">U. S. S. Marblehead (1906), <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">San José (1906), <a href="#Page_206">206</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Washington Conference, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">annual, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Congress. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_6">Government</a>.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Conservatives. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_12">Political Parties</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Contract labor system. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_13">Labor</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Contreras brothers, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Corinto, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Corn, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Corporations, foreign,</li> +<li class="isub2">influence of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> f., <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a> + ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">need of government control of, <a href="#Page_313">313</a> ff.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_27">Brown Brothers and Co.</a>; <a href="#Indexxref_128">Ethelburga Syndicate</a>;</li> +<li class="isub4">Seligman, J. & W. and Co.; Finance</li> + +<li class="indx"> Corral, General, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Costa Rica,</li> +<li class="isub2">agriculture, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a> f., <a href="#Page_162">162</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">area and population, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> ff., <a href="#Page_162">162</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">army, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">bananas, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f., <a href="#Page_268">268</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">cattle, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">coffee, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> ff., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">commerce, <a href="#Page_159">159</a> ff., <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> f., <a href="#Page_277">277</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Court of Justice, decisions of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">education, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">finance, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> ff., <a href="#Page_290">290</a> ff., <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">government, <a href="#Page_143">143</a> f., <a href="#Page_147">147</a> ff., <a href="#Page_154">154</a> ff., <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">history, <a href="#Page_144">144</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">labor, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> ff., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">land, ownership of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">peace, internal, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> ff., <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">politics, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">transportation, facilities of, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f., <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">United Fruit Co., <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span> Court of Justice. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_2">Central American Court of Justice</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Courts, corruption of, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Creel, Señor, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Creoles, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> ff., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Crops. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_14">Agriculture</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Cuadra family, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">Dr. Carlos Cuadra Pasos, <a href="#Page_250">250</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_127"> Currency systems, <a href="#Page_296">296</a> ff.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_236">236</a> ff., <a href="#Page_248">248</a> f., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_300">300</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Customs, collection of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a> f., <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> D</li> + +<li class="indx"> Dávila, Miguel, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> f., <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a> ff., <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Dawson, Thomas C., <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Dawson agreement, The, <a href="#Page_233">233</a> f., <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Delgado, Father, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Díaz, Adolfo, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_25"> Díaz, Porfirio, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Diseases. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_15">Sanitation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Dueñas, Francisco, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> E</li> + +<li class="indx"> East Coast. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_16">Caribbean Coast</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_31"> Education, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_110">110</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Elections, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> f., <a href="#Page_34">34</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_55">55</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> El Triunfo, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Emery claim, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Encomiendas. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_17">Repartimientos</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Escalón, José Pedro, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Esquivel, Ascensión, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Estrada, Juan J., <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> f., <a href="#Page_234">234</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_7"> Estrada Cabrera, Manuel, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_128"> Ethelburga Syndicate, <a href="#Page_237">237</a> f., <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> European War, effect of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a> ff., <a href="#Page_274">274</a> f., <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, + <a href="#Page_281">281</a> ff.,</li> +<li class="isub4">290, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Exchange, rates of, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Export trade. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_18">Commerce</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Ezeta brothers, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> F</li> + +<li class="indx"> Fernández, Mauro, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Fernández, Próspero, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Ferrer, Francisco, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Fiallos, Señor, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Figueroa, Fernando, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Filibusters and filibustering, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> ff., <a href="#Page_217">217</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Filísola, General, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_24"> Finance, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> f., <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> ff., <a href="#Page_279">279</a> ff., <a href="#Page_284">284</a> + ff. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_1">Capital Corporation Investment Loans</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Fonseca, Casto, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Fonseca, Gulf of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">naval base on, <a href="#Page_252">252</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Fruit trade. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_18">Commerce</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> G</li> + +<li class="indx"> Gainza, Governor-general of Guatemala (1821), <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Germany,</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American commerce with, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> ff., <a href="#Page_277">277</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Gold, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> González, Alfredo, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> González, Santiago, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> González Víquez, Cleto. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_19">Víquez, Cleto González</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_6"> Government, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Executive, powers of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> ff., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> ff., <a href="#Page_286">286</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Cabinets, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Legislatures, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Judiciary, <a href="#Page_36">36</a> f., <a href="#Page_46">46</a> ff., <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a> ff., <a href="#Page_154">154</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_73">73</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a> ff.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_12">Political Parties</a>, <a href="#Indexxref_20">Politics</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_3"> Government, municipal, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> f., <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Grace and Company, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Graft. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_20">Politics</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Granada,</li> +<li class="isub2">Leon, rivalry with, <a href="#Page_77">77</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">capture of (1855), <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Granados, Miguel García, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_21"> Great Britain,</li> +<li class="isub2">bondholders in Guatemala supported by, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">bondholders in Honduras supported by, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">bondholders in Nicaragua supported by, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American commerce with, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> f., <a href="#Page_277">277</a> ff., <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">protectorate on Mosquito Coast, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> f., <a href="#Page_168">168</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Greytown, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Groce, Leonard, execution of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Guardia, General Tomás, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Guardia Civil, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Guardiola, Santos, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Guatemala,</li> +<li class="isub2">agriculture, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">area and population, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a> ff., <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, + <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">army, <a href="#Page_57">57</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">bananas, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">cattle, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American Union and, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">coffee, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> ff., <a href="#Page_266">266</a> ff., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span>commerce, <a href="#Page_67">67</a> f., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">education, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">finance, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> f., <a href="#Page_288">288</a> f., <a href="#Page_297">297</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">government, <a href="#Page_53">53</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">labor, <a href="#Page_58">58</a> ff., <a href="#Page_62">62</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">land, ownership of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">politics, <a href="#Page_54">54</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">transportation, facilities of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">United Fruit Co., <a href="#Page_69">69</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Gutiérrez, Rafael, <a href="#Page_102">102</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> H</li> + +<li class="indx"> Habilitadores, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Ham, Colonel Clifford D., <a href="#Page_238">238</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Health. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_15">Sanitation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Heredia, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Herrera, Dionisio de, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Highways. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Honduras,</li> +<li class="isub2">agriculture, <a href="#Page_119">119</a> f., <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> ff., <a href="#Page_132">132</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">area and population, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> f., <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">bananas, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">capital, foreign, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> f., <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Caribbean Coast, importance of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American Union and, <a href="#Page_167">167</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">cattle, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> f., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">coffee, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">commerce, <a href="#Page_133">133</a> ff., <a href="#Page_273">273</a> f., <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">economic development of, retarded, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">education, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">finance, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> f., <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a> ff., <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign relations, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a> f., <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">government, <a href="#Page_124">124</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">living, standards of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">mines, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">transportation, facilities of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> f., <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">United Fruit Co., <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Washington conventions, <a href="#Page_211">211</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> I</li> + +<li class="indx"> Immigration, foreign, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Import trade. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_18">Commerce</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_28"> Indians, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_57">57</a> ff., <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Indigo, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Industries. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_121">Manufacturing</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> International Health Commission. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_15">Sanitation</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_10"> Investments, foreign, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> ff., <a href="#Page_265">265</a> ff., <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a> f., <a href="#Page_311">311</a> + ff. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_24">Finance</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Irías, Dr. Julián, <a href="#Page_251">251</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Iturbide, Augustin, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> J</li> + +<li class="indx"> Jeréz, Maximo, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> f., <a href="#Page_85">85</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Jiménez, Jesús, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Jiménez, Ricardo, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Jinotega, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Joint Claims Commission. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_22">Nicaraguan Joint Claims Commission</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Jornaleros, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Judiciary. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_6">Government</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Junta Consultiva, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Justice, Central American Court of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_2">Central American Court of Justice</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> K</li> + +<li class="indx"> Keith, Minor C., <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">interests, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Knox, Secretary, note of, to Zelaya, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> L</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_13"> Labor, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> f., <a href="#Page_10">10</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> f., <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_59">59</a> ff., <a href="#Page_62">62</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> La Ceiba, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_124"> Ladinos, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> La Libertad, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Land, ownership of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> f., <a href="#Page_141">141</a> + f., <a href="#Page_267">267</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> La Union, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Legislatures. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_6">Government</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Leíva, Ponciano, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Lempa River, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Leon,</li> +<li class="isub2">Granada, rivalry with, <a href="#Page_77">77</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Ley de Trabajadores (1894), <a href="#Page_59">59</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Liberals. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_12">Political Parties</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Living, conditions of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a> ff., <a href="#Page_8">8</a> ff., <a href="#Page_113">113</a> f., <a href="#Page_129">129</a> ff., <a href="#Page_161">161</a> + ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Loans, foreign, <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff., <a href="#Page_241">241</a> ff., <a href="#Page_294">294</a>. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_24">Finance</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Local Government. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_3">Government, municipal</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Localismo, <a href="#Page_43">43</a> f., <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a> f., <a href="#Page_196">196</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_23"> Lumber, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> M</li> + +<li class="indx"> Madriz, José, <a href="#Page_229">229</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Mahogany. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_23">Lumber</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Malespín, Francisco, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Managua, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Mandamientos, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_121"> Manufacturing, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Marblehead (U. S. S.), <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Martínez, Tomás, <a href="#Page_85">85</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span> Matagalpa, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> ff., <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Medina, José María, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Meléndez, Don Carlos, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mena, General Luís, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Menéndez, Francisco, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mestizos. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_124">Ladinos</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Metals, precious. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_125">Mines</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mexico, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a> ff., <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>. <i>See also</i> + <a href="#Indexxref_25">Díaz, Porfirio</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_125"> Mines, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a> f., <a href="#Page_272">272</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Missionaries, influence of, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Moncada, General José María, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Monroe Doctrine, <a href="#Page_204">204</a> ff., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Montealegre, José María, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mora, Juan, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mora, Juan Rafael, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Morazán, Francisco, <a href="#Page_29">29</a> f., <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, + <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Morgan, J. P. & Co., <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Mosquito Coast, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> ff., <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Municipal government. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_3">Government, municipal</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Muñoz, Trinidad, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> N</li> + +<li class="indx"> Namasigne, battle of (1907), <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> National Constituent Assembly, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> ff., <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Negroes. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_26">Population</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Co., <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Nicaragua,</li> +<li class="isub2">agriculture, <a href="#Page_91">91</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">area and population, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">army, <a href="#Page_73">73</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">bananas, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">canal route in, <a href="#Page_75">75</a> f., <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">capital, foreign, <a href="#Page_89">89</a> f., <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a> ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Caribbean Coast, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">cattle, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American Union and, <a href="#Page_167">167</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Claims Commission, <a href="#Page_240">240</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">commerce, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> f., <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">coffee, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Court of Justice, decision of, <a href="#Page_223">223</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">education, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">finance, <a href="#Page_232">232</a> ff., <a href="#Page_239">239</a> ff., <a href="#Page_246">246</a> ff., <a href="#Page_248">248</a> f., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> + ff., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub4">288, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign influence in, <a href="#Page_95">95</a> ff., <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">government, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">history, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> ff., <a href="#Page_89">89</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">labor, <a href="#Page_93">93</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">politics, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a> ff., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">transportation, facilities of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> f., <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">United States, intervention of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> ff., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Nicaragua, Lake, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_22"> Nicaraguan Joint Claims Commission, <a href="#Page_240">240</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> O</li> + +<li class="indx"> Oficina Internacional Centroamericana. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_5">Central American Bureau</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> P</li> + +<li class="indx"> Pan American Financial Conference (1915), <a href="#Page_294">294</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Panama Canal, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Paper money. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_127">Currency</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Pasos, Dr. Carlos Cuadra, <a href="#Page_250">250</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Peonage. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_13">Labor</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Personalismo, <a href="#Page_43">43</a> f., <a href="#Page_76">76</a> f., <a href="#Page_196">196</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Peten, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Police, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> f., <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_12"> Political Parties, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a> ff., <a href="#Page_43">43</a> ff., <a href="#Page_149">149</a> + ff., <a href="#Page_165">165</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">Conservatives, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a> f., <a href="#Page_167">167</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub3">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_51">51</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub3">Honduras, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> +<li class="isub3">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_78">78</a> ff., <a href="#Page_85">85</a> ff., <a href="#Page_169">169</a> f., <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, + <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> +<li class="isub3">Salvador, <a href="#Page_102">102</a> f.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Liberals, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a> f., <a href="#Page_167">167</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub3">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub3">Honduras, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> +<li class="isub3">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a> ff., <a href="#Page_228">228</a> ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a> + f., <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> +<li class="isub3">Salvador, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_20"> Politics, corruption in, <a href="#Page_45">45</a> ff., <a href="#Page_186">186</a> ff., <a href="#Page_286">286</a> ff., <a href="#Page_291">291</a> ff.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_76">76</a> ff., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_111">111</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign influence on, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a> ff., <a href="#Page_227">227</a> 314 f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_26"> Population, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a> + ff.,</li> +<li class="isub2">Negro, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a> f., <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_28">Indians</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Ports, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> f., <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> f., <a href="#Page_128">128</a> f., <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, + <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> President, power of. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_6">Government</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Press, influence of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Protectorates. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_21">Great Britain</a>, <a href="#Indexxref_122">United States</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Puerto Barrios, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Puerto Cortez, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Puerto Limón, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Puntarenas, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> R</li> + +<li class="indx"> Railways. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Regalado, Tomás, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Religion. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_29">Catholic Church</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_17"> Repartimientos, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_9"> Revolutions, causes of, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a> ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Rivas, Patricio, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Roads. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Rockefeller Foundation. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_15">Sanitation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> Rodríguez, José Joaquín, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Roosevelt, Theodore, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a> ff., <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Root, Elihu, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Rum. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_30">Aguardiente</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> S</li> + +<li class="indx"> Sacasa, Roberto, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Salazar, General, <a href="#Page_145">145</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Salvador,</li> +<li class="isub2">agriculture, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">area and population, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a> f., <a href="#Page_113">113</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">army, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">cattle, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American Union and, <a href="#Page_167">167</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">coffee, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">commerce, <a href="#Page_114">114</a> f., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Court of Justice, decision of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">education, <a href="#Page_110">110</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">finance, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> f., <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">foreign relations, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> ff., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala and, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">government, <a href="#Page_107">107</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">labor, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">manufactures, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaraguan Canal Treaty, protest against, <a href="#Page_253">253</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">peace, internal, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">politics, <a href="#Page_105">105</a> f., <a href="#Page_111">111</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">transportation, facilities of, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> ff., <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_15"> Sanitation, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> San José, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">conference at, <a href="#Page_206">206</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> San Salvador, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Santa Ana, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> San Vicente, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Schools. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_31">Education</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Seligman, J. & W. and Co., <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a> ff., <a href="#Page_259">259</a> ff., <a href="#Page_292">292</a> + ff.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Sierra, General Terencio, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Silver, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Social conditions, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx"> Sonsonate, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Soto, Bernardo, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Soto, Marco Aurelio, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Spain, influence of colonial system of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Spoils system. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_20">Politics</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_32"> Steamship lines, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>. + <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_11">Transportation</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Sugar, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> T</li> + +<li class="indx"> Taft, William H., <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Tegucigalpa, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a> f., <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Tinoco, Federico, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Trade. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_18">Commerce</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_11"> Transportation, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>,</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_68">68</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_127">127</a> f., <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f., <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a> ff., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li> +<li class="isub2"><i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_32">Steamship lines</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> U</li> + +<li class="indx"> Union, Central American. <i>See</i> <a href="#Indexxref_8">Central American Union</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> United Fruit Company, <a href="#Page_19">19</a> ff., <a href="#Page_269">269</a> ff., <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Costa Rica, <a href="#Page_160">160</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Guatemala, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> f.</li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_122"> United States,</li> +<li class="isub2">Central American Union, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">commerce with Central America, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> ff., <a href="#Page_279">279</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">commercial and financial interests of, <a href="#Page_180">180</a> ff., <a href="#Page_204">204</a> f., <a href="#Page_303">303</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">financial assistance of, needed in Central America, <a href="#Page_279">279</a> f., <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Honduras, intervention in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">influence of, in Central America, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">intervention in Central America, <a href="#Page_304">304</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">intervention, results of, <a href="#Page_307">307</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Mexico and, intervention of, <a href="#Page_207">207</a> ff.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Monroe Doctrine, maintenance of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">Mosquito Coast, British control of, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Nicaragua, relations with, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> ff., <a href="#Page_233">233</a> f., <a href="#Page_235">235</a> + ff., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>,</li> +<li class="isub4">250, <a href="#Page_253">253</a> f., <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">relations with Central America, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Salvador, relations with, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">trade, opportunities for, <a href="#Page_282">282</a> f.;</li> +<li class="isub2">trade retarded, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">Walker, attitude toward, <a href="#Page_82">82</a> f.</li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> V</li> + +<li class="indx"> Valle, Andrés, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Vásquez, Domingo, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> + +<li class="indx" id="Indexxref_19"> Víquez, Cleto González, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> W</li> + +<li class="indx"> Wages, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>. <i>See also</i> <a href="#Indexxref_13">Labor</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Walker, William, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> ff., <a href="#Page_85">85</a> f., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Washington Conference (1907), <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a> ff., <a href="#Page_216">216</a> f., <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, + <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> +<li class="isub2">conventions of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a> ff., <a href="#Page_220">220</a> f., <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> Y</li> + +<li class="indx"> Yglesias, Rafael, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> + + +<li class="ifrst"> Z</li> + +<li class="indx"> Zacapa, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Zaldívar, Rafael, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Zelaya, José Santos, <a href="#Page_88">88</a> ff., <a href="#Page_96">96</a> f., <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> f., <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, + <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> +<li class="isub4">ff., <a href="#Page_217">217</a> ff., <a href="#Page_227">227</a> ff., <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> + +<li class="indx"> Zeledón, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_243">243</a> f.</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="chap"> +<div class="chapter transnote"> + +<h3>Transcriber’s Notes</h3> + +<p>Obvious punctuation errors and omissions have been corrected.</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_209">209</a>: “avowed agressive” changed to “avowed aggressive”</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_235">235</a>: “printed in the Americal” changed to “printed in the American”</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_262">262</a>: “the heavy enpenses” changed to “the heavy expenses”</p> + +<p>Page <a href="#Page_289">289</a>: “the the coffee export” changed to “the coffee export”</p> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76272 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/76272-h/images/001.jpg b/76272-h/images/001.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c4b02b --- /dev/null +++ b/76272-h/images/001.jpg diff --git a/76272-h/images/cover.jpg b/76272-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40bfed7 --- /dev/null +++ b/76272-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92ad875 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +book #76272 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76272) |
