FILMED BY BAY MICROFILM, INC SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF CA, BERKELEY IN 1992 THIS MATERIAL MAY BE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT LAW TITLE 17 U.S. CODE. | REPRODUCTIONS OF THE FILM ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH UC BERKELEY GENERAL LIBRARY INTERLIBRARY LOAN OFFICE BERKELEY, CA 94720 FUNDED IN PART BY NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES REPRODUCTIONS MAY NOT BE MADE WITHOUT PERMISSION. AUTHOR : Palmer, Frederick Central America and TITLE : its problems: an accourit of a jourriey from the Rio Grande to Panama PLACE New York DATE : [1913 VOLUME : CALL FI432 M NEG : q]- NO: pP2 1913 2412 biel ff Lf | dE | H | HHH 8 SH IMAGE EVALUATION LAG HHH TEST TARGET (MT-2) freee 9 . l ; a? 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UNNUMBERED Photos and versos not part of the page sequena UNNUMBERED PAGE [S] | numbering begins on P-Z p.[II not designated CENTRAL AMERICA AND ITS PROBLEMS BY THE SAME AUTHOR GoINg To WAR IN (REECE. Wire Kuroxr ix MANCHURIA. THE WAYS OF THE SERVICE. THE VAGABOND. TaE Bie FeLLow. CENTRAL AMERICA AND ITS PROBLEMS An Account of a Journey from the Rio Grande To Panama, with Introductory Chap- ters on Mexico and Her Rela- tions to Her Neighbors BY FREDERICK PALMER, F.R.G.. New York MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY 1913 True Maya-Quiché Indian types Copyright, 1909, by “The Chicago Tribune® Copyright, 1910, by Moffat, Yard & Co. New York All Rights Reserved Published January, 1910 Second Printing: November, 1911 TO MEDILL McCORMICK 314818 PREFACE ETWEEN the Mexican and the Panaman borders are five nations. New Orleans is nearer their farthest port than it is to New York. To the average American they form the fever- stricken playground of opéra bouffe revolutions. But how little he really knows of a region which lies at our very doors! It remains almost the last track unbeaten by tourist travel in the world, rich in resources, its Cordilleran highlands, with their climate of eternal spring, the natural home of a splendid civilization. With a broader view in mind than the humor- ous appreciation of armies with generals outnum- bering privates or of recurring disorders which sporadically attract our attention, in the summer and autumn of 1908, at the request of Mr. McCor- mick, of the Chicago Tribune, I made a journey through Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Hon- duras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As a journal- ist, he knew that people did not care to read about so troublesome a subject; but as our foreign policy is the result of public knowledge and opin- ion, it was at least a good thing, he thought, to give them the opportunity. vii viii PREFACE Before starting I sought in vain on library shelves bearing long lists about Thibet, Persia, the Congo Free State, and other distant lands for any recent work on Central America. There were many published forty and fifty years ago and some later ones about one country and a other. The lack of any one dealing with the peoples and conditions which I studied as a whole bo me, I think, in expanding the original Waldo with the addition of new material, Our mistake is in associatin the Sou i can and the Central Ata Rdne group. ; They have only language in common Otherwise they are as vitally and basically differ- ent mn character as France from Egypt. The peoples on the other side of the equator are Latin- American and those on this side, including Mexico and excepting Costa Rica, may be called for want of a better word, Tndo-American, | N Inety-one per cent. of the population of Ar- gentina 1s pure white, compared to 86 per cent In the United States. Eighty-eight per cent the temperate zone or governing States of Brazil 85 in Chile, and 97 in Paraguay are of white Or preponderantly white strain; while Mexico has only 19, and the five Centra] American States average of about 15 per cent, 5 There has been a surfeit of books about Mexico every one adding something to the store of in PREFACE ix formation about the manners and customs of a picturesque neighbor; but too many, dealing with general conditions, have reflected the roseate view of the Diaz bureaucracy, which has been niggard- ly neither of expense nor pains in influencing American public opinion. One may safely say that no country has had a better press service. Without any intention of competing in a field so fully occupied, I have included four chapters on Mexico, which, in spite of industrial and educa- tional progress, belongs to the same ethnological unit as Central America and has inherited much the same problems. Setting out with the open mind of a philo- sophical traveler, my first skepticism about con- ditions was overwhelmed by proofs from un- prejudiced sources and bursting in at the door of vision as I proceeded. The opéra bouffe per- spective was blotted out by the tragedy of prox- imity. Rich territories, capable of vast develop- ment, are less widely cultivated and more sparsely populated than they were three hundred years ago, and worse governed than they ever were under Spanish captains-general. People a day’s sail from the United States degenerate for want of opportunities for education and religious training, while our missionaries spread light in Darkest Africa and the interior of China. Cul- tured families have been decimated by political assassination, and their estates confiscated. Bar- x PREFACE barities worse than those which have excited our indignation in Russia and Turkey exist; and for these the United States is responsible. Foreign residents warned me that either read- ers would not believe such things possible in re- publics, or else they would say: “Oh, well, it is Central America. That is a law unto itself.” I have taken care to avoid exaggeration of dis- tressing truths. But they must be a part of a narrative of observation of life and government in the most backward region outside of Central Asia. If the original letters in the Tribune, which were also published in the New York Times and the San Francisco Call, have been of service in ameliorating conditions in Guatemala or else- where, the journey was well worth while. Later events have deposed the unspeakable Zelaya, who, after all, was no worse than another petty tyrant still in power; but the question arises if the change of administration will mean progress or merely a continuation of the old order under another man of the same type. THE AUTHOR. NEw. York, December 22, 1909. CONTENTS ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE AMERICANS IN MEXICO MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN INTO GUATEMALA THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN.......c.... seees BO? AFTER INDEPENDENCE ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE SALVADOR, THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC..... 102 ON THE HONDURAS ROAD MINE HOST, DON ALBERTO THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY INTO NICARAGUA FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA NICARAGUAN HISTORY ..... teesesssssennnes 162 CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA.......... tesees 199 ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS MONEY AND FINANCE PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE MORAL CONDITIONS THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE MR. ROOT'S PLAN......cvvveenes tssesssssnee S08 N BONNER NDS 299 CONTENTS APPENDIX A General .reaty of peace and amity.... Additional convention to the general treaty.... Convention for the establishment of a Central American Court of Justice APPENDIX B: Letters of Secretary of State Knox, returning the passports of Filipe Rodriguez, Minister from Nicaragua to the United States APPENDIX C: The Monroe Doctrine BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE True Maya-Quiche Indian types Frontispiece Corral of a country, inn in Mexico At a typical Mexican railroad station Coatzacoalcos, eastern terminus of the Tehaunte- pec Railway On the Pan-American road, Southern Mexico. ... A street in Guatemala City An Indian woman (with ladino type of man at left) Some highland belles in Guatemala At a station on the Guatemala Central President Cabrera’s company of boy buglers. .. The Presidential guard regiment in Guatemala. .. Disembarking in a pulley chair on the west coast. . Amapala, in the Gulf of Fonseca, principal western port of Honduras Among the mountains of Honduras along the Sierra road Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, seen from the hills Honduran cadets, after training by a Chilean officer Honduran soldiers (at left) gusrding convicts. A siesta day in the Honduran capital Old bridge at the entrance to Tegucigalpa xiii 104 116 126 182 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Corinto, the leading Pacific coast port of Nica- ragua Typical Nicaraguan soldiers An ox-cart in San Jose, Costa Rica A Costa Rican school The Cullwater country of the beautiful valley of San Jose, Costa Rica A wedding party in San Jose, Costa Rica A football team in happy little Costa Rica The author’s Honduran boatmen At President Cabrera’s door A stop at a Salvadorian inn Creole children in Managua American foremen and Jamaica blacks on a banana plantation In the plaza of San Salvador City Pure-blooded Indians of the mountains. ........ 270 Formal inauguration of the Central American Court of Justice Map of Central America......,. +++. at end of book CENTRAL AMERICA and ITS PROBLEMS CHAPTER ONE ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE ORTHWARD, on the plains of Minne- sota, Dakota and Manitoba, the United States merges into Canada imperceptibly. A cousinship of blood, tongue, institutions and ideas prevails in Winnipeg and St. Paul. If the dis- criminating provincial mind sees shades of dis- tinction, they scarcely count in the perspective of the traveler. Southward, something far more commanding than a river’s width or a surveyor’s line marks the frontier. The change is abrupt and impress- ive. A dark-skinned man in blanket and broad- brimmed hat succeeds the Caucasian type as the dominant figure in town and field. Monterey and Houston are as wide asunder as Budapest and Teheran. Nowhere in the world do two peoples meét who 2 .... .. CENTRAL AMERICA have less in common in thought, manners and customs or less understanding of each other. Language and race alone did not form the gulf. Austria and Italy differ in these, yet they belong to the same system of civilization and enjoy, broadly speaking, similar governmental forms. We must look to the conditions of an inferior race, its inheritance, and its relations to its supe- riors for the secret of the contrast at the Rio Grande. On our side, the descendants of one type of European conquerors are free from abo- riginal associations. On the other side, the de- scendants of another type of conqueror are the ruling minority, and those of the Aztec-Mayan civilization, in varying tribes, a lower and ma- jority caste. Under a nominal electoral system, the peons are the pawns of the upper class. Still, the Latin graft must take its life from the Indian trunk. Sheer force of numbers has so influenced the life and structure of society that Mexico and Central America are unique in political and eth- nological character. On the one side is the strife of parties and the divisions of parties and the talk of policies and leaders; and on the other is a man, his plans, and his will. In his veins runs the blood of the abo- rigines. He is a law unto himself, even as Mexico is a law unto herself. Under him, for the first time since the days of the Spanish captains- general, has any section of the country from ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE 3 our boundary to that of Costa Rica become a stable, dependable, debt-paying, progressive unit among the nations of the world. The history of modern Mexico is largely Porfirio Diaz’ history. As an exemplar of republican institutions he falls in the class of Philip II. If you are to judge him by what he has accomplished, you will find an equivalent in that close aristocracy of the Emperor and Elder Statesmen of Japan. Until you understand conditions in the other “Indo- American” republics, you cannot form, by proper comparison, any true estimate of his work. The glaring fault of his system is its dependence on him. With the exception of one term, Diaz has been President for thirty-one years. By law he had to retire at the end of his first term, in 1880. Under the régime of Manuel Gonzalez, who took his place, profligacy, graft and folly were tempered only by the personal whims of the ruler. The contrast between good and bad despotism was ruinously shown. All Mexico called for the re- turn of Diaz in 1884, when he changed the con- stitution so as to permit a President to succeed himself. But it was a mistake, he now admits, to have waited on any such formality. Yes, the father of his people who knows that he knows what is best for them was untrue to his duty and his destiny on this occasion. Without any sense of humor, which some who know him say he lacks, 4 CENTRAL AMERICA he has duly apologized for his remissness long ago. That adventurous, fierce captain of raw militia, whose prestige in the war with the French brought him to the Presidency, found a disorgan- ized State, exhausted by war, revolution, section- alism, extortion, and the reign of Maximilian; with its currency debased, its treasury empty, its bonds repudiated; with only 10 per cent. of its people able to read and write, and its commerce insignificant. He was great enough to foresee the approach of the commercial age and to realize that without peace and stability, capital, the most timid of visitors, will not enter strange places. And this was his policy: Order and the develop- ment of industries. He made peace ruthlessly; he welcomed capital generously. To clear the country of brigands, he set a brigand to catch a brigand. He made a national constabulary out of chosen desperadoes who knew the haunts and habits of their kind. They had their choice of being the hunted in rags or the well-paid hunter, with a good pony, a saddle of carved leather ribbed with silver, and a broad-brimmed hat embroidered in gold. Let an outrage occur anywhere in Mexico and the rurales, swaggering like the cadets of Gas- cony, appeared in the joy and full cry of hounds on the scent. Their personnel still belongs to the class born with temperaments contemptuously ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE 5 above real labor, which would be raising mischief if they were not employed in bagging mischief- makers. Thus Diaz, man of the soil, who had learned his cut-throats by sharing blankets with them in his campaigns, succeeded easily where the French army had failed. Many times in his thirty years’ reign petty revolutions, without spreading far, have raised their heads in different parts of the country. I heard one old resident estimate that the death of 80,000 men stood to Diaz’ account. Such is his power that a score of malcontents may be executed in a lot without anybody except their neighbors being the wiser. Stories of his high-handedness, his tact, shrewd- ness and wisdom abound. Some of them must be true. A few examples, which are illustrative of him and Mexico, may be repeated. On one occasion, when he was asked by wire what disposition to make of a certain revolution- ist who had been captured, his prompt, unex- purgated answer, I am told, was: “Kill him while we have him in hand.” And perhaps an hour later he was at a reception, to receive a bouquet from a party of school children. Yes, he is a self-made ruler of a medieval and Oriental type in the days of railroads, telegraphs and elec- tric cars, who rides in a French automobile and organizes irrigation projects and bids the for- eigner turn the waterfalls into light for his palace. 6 CENTRAL AMERICA He himself prevented the man who shot at him on one of his tours from being killed on the spot by his suite, and had the would-be assassin brought to Chapultepec. “Now, why did you want to kill me?’ Don Porfirio asked. “Did I ever do you any personal wrong? Have I taken your land or ruined your business or interfered in your family affairs or persecuted you in any way?” Under this gentle questioning the tool of the plot told who had employed him. The prominent politician implicated was invited to dinner at Chapultepec, and Diaz narrated the story of the man’s confession up to the point where the guest could see that his host knew all. This was the only punishment that it pleased the master of life and death in Mexico to mete out at the time. As the prominent politician drove home that night he must have done some hard thinking. Thereafter, of course, he was conspicuously loyal. Diaz’ Oaxacan Indian blood, his training in a Jesuit school, his sufferings under the French, his success as a soldier, all combine to give him a sense of statecraft, terrible, if you please, but overmastering. Once the people of Yucatan, who have always been restive under his rule, nomi- nated a man for governor whom he did not like. He sent word nominating another, who was defeated. When he heard the news he wired: “Glad to know that my man is elected; am send- ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE 7 ing troops to inaugurate him.” That was suffi- cient. The Yucatecans had a recount. Probably Don Porfirio has had to kill relatively more of the people of his own tribe, the fighting, vigorous, bartering, bathing Oaxacans of the south, than of any other. The old convention of a prophet not without honor save in his own country is not reversed even for him. It was all very well for that Porfirio Diaz to play the king to the Indians of the plateau, but he need not try to overlord the Oaxacans. They knew him when he hadn’t a peso to his name; they had seen his mother spank him. But he also knew them, and at the expense of a large proportion of their male population they learned the lesson that the rest of Mexico had learned more cheaply. The unhappy Yaquis are the last expiring flames of opposition. One way and another they have kept up a scattered guerrilla warfare. By batches they have been sent to what is undeniably practical slavery in Yucatan, where they die of homesickness and the heat in a few years. No doubt some members of the government have made a good profit out of this traffic, which is now to be stopped on the demand of local employers, as the few thousand who remain are needed for labor in their own province. I did not visit Yucatan, that land of inordinate profits to the henequen planters, but two arch- eologists, Arnold and Frost, who ought to be 8 CENTRAL AMERICA unprejudiced observers—certainly, they could have no object in popular sensationalism, though they may have been influenced by the cavalier way they were treated by the officials—wrote an open letter to Diaz on Yucatan horrors, which they publish in their book, “The American Egypt”: “So-called civilized Yucatan is rotten with a foul slavery, the blacker because of its hypocrisy and pretense. We have gathered facts which make truly a sad story. The girls and women on the haciendas are treated like cattle, a prey to the detestable lusts of the haciendados and their sons; Indian workmen are flogged, even to death, and in one case which came to our knowledge those who attempted to expose such foul murder were put into Merida prison without trial, and, as we are informed, are still there. For the Indian there is no justice, and at his expense the great henequen growers daily increase their mil- lions, some of which they lavishly used in their attempts to hide from your excellency the utter rottenness and degradation of Yucatan’s social system. If your excellency desires particulars we shall gladly give ourselves the honor of send- ing names and details.” Diaz made no reply. Perhaps the letter never passed the hands of his secretary. Unquestion- ably, Yucatan is the worst blot on modern Mexico. The Yaquis’ and the other small uprisings have ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE 9 been incidental to the development which has been in progress since Diaz’ first term. When he pro- posed to let the Americans cross the Rio Grande with steel rails which should penetrate to every part of Mexico the limited Mexican public that did any thinking became alarmed. Was not he preparing the way for the inevitable Gringo in- vasion and military conquest which were to com- plete the work begun by the taking of California? He knew better. He knew that every Ameri- can dollar that crossed the border would become his political partisan in Mexico, with its influence on his side in Washington. Out of the flood of foreign capital—nearly $2,000,000,000 altogeth- er—come with developed resources the sinews of revenue for public education and public works. Through his hands pass the innumerable conces- sions; his the favors to grant. All capital asks is stability. Diaz was the strong ruler who guaran- teed it. Self-interest makes every foreign resi- dent a Diaz man. Every promoter of any great industry welcomes a single head rather than many heads to deal with. Thus all outsiders support the despotism. But American capital does not have everything its own way. Foreign capital is set against it. When the specter of a mergerizing Harriman ap- peared on the Rio Grande Diaz did a piece of mergerizing on his own account, by which Mexico became the borrower of the capital invested and 10 CENTRAL AMERICA thus the owner of the railroads. He is a friend of the United States because that is the best way to be a friend of Mexico. Outward moderation, at least, is a feature of his political career in dealing with all except the man who takes up arms against him and with the Church, whose property he confiscated by the millions, whose brotherhoods were proscribed, whose priests may not even now appear in the streets in their vestments; and the destruction of the temporal power of Rome was coincident with his policy in welcoming the American railroad and the American dollar. The landed classes, old families of Spanish ex- traction, to whom he is a liberal parvenu, have been kept to his side by the market for their prod- ucts which he has made and by the fear of a law taxing land ever before their eyes, though land remains to this day tax free. As for the Indians, they are Diaz men by consanguinity. His ap- peal to them was that one of their blood sat in Montezuma’s place. Though he is all political parties, the “ins” and the “outs” and Congress, he is no stage despot who orders this and that thing done in open authority. One seeking an office, a favorable judgment in the courts, the overruling of the action of any governor of a State, a privilege in the develop- ment of resources, has learned to go to Diaz for what he wants. Oppose him, and your political Corral of a country inn in Mexico At a typical Mexican railroad station er a Noe nT a ibang, ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE 11 career is finished. Serve him, and he may make you a governor. There is no censorship of the press; but criti- cize Diaz vitally and the editor will surely feel his power, directly or indirectly. He is generous to editors who please him. Authors who come to write of Mexico find profit in a favorable atti- tude, and for this reason the truth has not always been known. One of the two American papers published in the capital has its monthly allow- ance from the government—the only government subsidized American paper in the world. After his thirty years of service Diaz sees his country with a standing army of 26,000 men; with trade amounting to $250,000,000 annually; exporting more than $60,000,000 of gold and silver bullion a year; with 15,000 miles of rail- ways; growing towns, electric lighted and paved; over $100,000,000 spent on public works in the last fifteen years, and schools generally estab- lished. The Gringo’s invasion comes over the steel rails with capital and a hundred million dol- lars’ worth of manufactured goods every year. But conditions exist which may produce havoc when Diaz is gone. CHAPTER TWO AMERICANS IN MEXICO OY their extent is surprising, for the growth of American interests in Mexico was inevitable. A country on our border with an area of 767,000 square miles, three times that of Texas and thirteen times that of Illinois, with a population of 15,000,000, manufacturing little for itself, connected with us by great trunk lines of railroad, is bound to be a market for our goods and a field for our activities. Our neighbor is rich in resources, and we have the men and the capital which she lacks to develop them. The sleeper which you board in St. Louis runs through to the City of Mexico. At every stage an American engineer is at the throttle and an American conductor gives the orders. Your fel- low-passengers, mostly Americans returning from their vacations, are mining engineers, capi- talists, promoters, ranch owners, contractors, managers, and clerks in mining and railroad cor- porations, with some foremen and mechanics— the officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, of industrial aristocracy. The Mexican peon 12 AMERICANS IN MEXICO 18 furnishes the manual labor which they direct in behalf of the $800,000,000 capital invested. Whether it is the man with the moving picture show or the New York capitalist inspecting his smelting plant, the prospector who tramps the mountains and comes into town unshaved, foot- sore and dusty, with some samples of rock in his pocket or the mine manager who directs a great organization, the type is clear on the background of swarthy Indians and cactus-fringed trails, where you must know a little Spanish in order to ask the way or get a bite of food. And in Mexico you think of the Canadians as Americans. A Canadian who was formerly en- gineer on one of the railways is a leading banker in Mexico City and his son is at Yale. One of the foremost foreign corporations, with immense concessions for harnessing the water power which lies between the highlands and the swift descent to the sea in the southern and narrower portions, is Canadian in capital and management. Nine out of ten, if not nineteen out of twenty, resident Americans are from the Middle West. That great region of the plains extending into Canada sent southward the men who built, who organized, who man, and who run the railroads of Mexico, and in their train followed others of varied occupations. Long residence south of the Rio Grande leaves the American more American than the German 14 CENTRAL AMERICA is German or the Englishman is English. How- ever well he talks Spanish, he is a man of his own community. At some mine far away in the moun- tains the engineers speak pleasantly in passing to the comandante, but with this and business relations intercourse ends. At Chihuahua, Torreén and Monterey are American colonies that live their own life as much as the foreign colonies in the treaty ports of China. Every American who is in Mexico is there to make money, including the Mormons, who may claim another cause, that of marital or religious freedom. But the Mormon, too, is large- ly American in his beaverish instincts. He has shown how irrigation and good farming will make luxuriant fields in the desert. To his work we must turn, rather than to the great ranch owners, for an illustration of a wealth in re- sources, unminded by the listless peon, which is more permanent than that of mines. The Mexican still plows with a stick. He asks his black beans and the corn out of which he makes his tortillas (corncakes) of the soil. The agri- cultural possibilities of a land whose mountain systems change the climate every few longitudinal miles, which has regions without rain and regions where it pours, which grows coffee and wheat a hundred miles apart, await the farmer, either im- migrant or Mexican, when he will learn; while, AMERICANS IN MEXICO 15 as yet, few except the capitalist and his captains, ad jutants and sergeants have come from abroad. In railroads, mines and cattle ranching lie the great American interests. We go for the loaves and do not mind the crumbs. Though the gov- ernment has taken over the railroads, Americans hold all the managerial and most of the important clerical positions, because no Mexicans are trained to take their places. Thus far Diaz and Liman- tour have in nowise interfered with the manage- ment on effective business lines. What would happen if Mexico should have another such ré- gime as that of Gonzalez, who was President in the interregnum while Diaz was out? Should political dependents ask that these lucrative of- fices be turned over to them? Should the graft system accepted as a part of public life be applied to the corporations? French and British as well as American capital is engaged in mining; and it is not always easy to trace the holdings home in these days of inter- national finance. But the engineers are usually Americans, as they are in South Africa and Aus- tralia. Their efficiency and fame have traveled as far as that of American dentists. Their cosmo- politanism is the product of distant trails and isolated camps; serene, clear-eyed men, “on the job” all day, concerned in any climate and under any government only with getting the best out of every deal and every ton of ore for the company. 16 CENTRAL AMERICA But scratch them deep and you will find their exasperation with the mafiana habit and with many petty official exactions. It takes time, red tape, and much law to accomplish anything un- less you can deal directly with Diaz or use a sum of money in a polite manner in the right place. The omnipresent labor problem is complicated by something besides unions, for the Mexican will work only when it pleases him. Nothing must interfere with any saint’s day or national holiday or any holiday of his own choosing. If he does not care to go to work in the morning he does not go. His grandmother is always dying by way of excuse. “I have one clerk who has lost a hundred grand- mothers,” said an American mine manager. “Do you wonder that Diaz allowed the Mormons to practice their religion in Mexico?” : Some mines have tried, with little success, to insure continuity of labor by giving extra pay to any man who would report for every working day of a month. The peonage system founded on the reparti- miento system, prevalent in all Spanish colonies after the abolition of slavery, of which I shall have more to say in my account of conditions in Guate- mala, still prevails in one form or another. In- disputably, the kindest employers are the British and Americans, as a result of policy or inherent characteristics, as you will. The peon resident AMERICANS IN MEXICO 17 on the hacienda, while in a better position than before Diaz’ time, is still practically a serf, and well or ill treated according to the whims of the owner, who is often narrow-minded and cruel, considering the Indian an animal, though he, him- self, has native blood in his veins. Floggings may be frequent as you please if the local gov- ernor is willing. The victim—and the hacienda peon is very child-like—has little power of appeal and less knowledge of how to use it. But gradu- ally he is gaining will and courage with the spread of education. He is by no means in the neglected condition of his Central American relative. “If you want a gang of men you do not go after them yourself,” a railroad contractor told me. “You speak to the comandante. He sends out a certain type of political ruffian hanger-on, who knows the peons and can bring them to work where you would fail. Then you pay them so much for every cubic yard of excavation. Some days you may have 500 men and some only 100. One Italian at home will do as much as four peons.” But that is a much-disputed point. I have heard the Italian as a standard quoted all the way from one and a half to five. Much de- pends upon the conditions and how pro-Mexican the speaker is. If there is any labor-saving device you may be sure that it is American. An American, finding that one woman was necessary for every eighty 18 CENTRAL AMERICA laborers in order to grind corn fresh for their tortillas, invented a system by which mill-ground corn-flour could be preserved to the Mexican taste. The ingenious fellow who carries his wares in a satchel and his fortune in his facile tongue may sell an internal preparation for making black eyes blue in Mexico, and an external preparation for taking the kink out of black hair in the West Indies. That irrepressible American product, the get-rich-quick promoter, not long ago over- tilled a temporarily fertile field in plantation com- panies for burying widows’ and orphans’ savings. Waste your money in any way you please, but do not put it in a rubber plantation in Mexico. Rubber grows here, it is true, though not as yet successfully, and never on the plantations you read about. All types from the railroad and the mine presi- dent to the deadbeat may be found abundantly in the capital, which is different from any place the world over where Europeans and Americans form a colony among a backward native race. Elsewhere the American sings small and the newspapers carry cables about cricket and Euro- pean politics. Both of the newspapers in the English language here are American. We have our revenge on the English resident in daily base- ball scores, Wall Street prices, and the latest sen- sation from home, AMERICANS IN MEXICO 19 American residents live chiefly in one locality, the Colonia Roma. They are a world within the Mexican world that duplicates the business and professional life of one of our own cities. A score of social cliques gossip and compete. All have one common ground that makes them kin—the tourist of the winter months, who disregards Spanish customs and demands that everybody speak English. Visitors who have been in Spain should train themselves out of the Castilian lisp, for Diaz is not Diath to the Mexicans. Diath is as sure a sign of effeminacy as the broad “a” and a single eyeglass in a Western mining camp. In the halls of the happy little University Club hang the banners of every American college, it seemed to me, from coast to coast. Graduates of technical and mining schools predominate. A flight of half an hour in an automobile brings you to the Country Club, with its golf links, on that wonderful plain 7,400 feet above the level of the sea, at the foot of Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl and their eternal snows. At the American Club in town at luncheon the talk is much the same that it is in a club at home. It turns frequently on real estate, which has risen almost as fast as in our best boom towns in the last ten years. Everybody seems to be holding a few lots for a rise. The panic of 1907 reached this tentacle’s end of the great financial system 20 CENTRAL AMERICA a little late, but none the less forcibly and with a correspondingly quick recovery. Mexico has brought fortune to many Ameri- cans indeed—to newsboys and to brakemen— and every American looks forward to returning home when his “pile” is made. I met only one American citizen who purposes remaining in Mexico for life. Another conspicuous exception, proving the rule, was Mr. Braniff, who made him- self a millionaire out of contracts in the early days, became a Mexican citizen, and shared the general Mexican feeling that Americans were too brusque and money-grubbing to be companion- able and cultured. His son is one of the best amateur bullfighters in the world, who delights to appear in the public ring. Call it provincialism if you will, the failure of their surroundings to influence the American shows how set is his character. Ten years’ resi- dence does not change men whom you knew at home, except that, so high above the level of the sea, their hearts have to pump faster, their energy is slightly diminished. The altitude serves as the universal goat. If a man does not like to rise early, if he is divorced, if he cannot pay his bills, it is the altitude. The larger commercial and industrial interests of Mexico, then, are American, with the British sharing in the mines and concessions, one of which they largely monopolize. Diaz has always taken AMERICANS IN MEXICO ‘9 care that Americans shall not have everything their own way. All the great public contracts go to Pearson & Son. They built and control the Tehuantepec Isthmus Railroad. They began the development of the oil fields of the east coast, which will supply Mexico with another substitute for coal besides the waterfalls of a mountainous country. Though Americans predominate and half of the total trade is ours and our exports are more than seven times those of Germany and France —amounting to about $70,000,000 a year, with steel structural materials, machinery, furniture and cotton goods leading—in some lines we are ‘quite outclassed. The Germans own the big stores and are, generally speaking, the bankers. There are many French stores, too, and the Ger- man imitations cannot shake French control of fine dry goods or the English control of worsteds. The Spaniard, who first came as a conqueror with sword and cross, now comes as a conqueror in trade. Your Catalan plays the part that the poorer Hebrew plays in many countries and the Greek in others. From him all Mexico buys its groceries. He keeps the corner store; as a ped- ler he traverses the trail, an unbeaten trader. As soon as one Catalan succeeds he brings a friend or a relative, who works, maybe, for no pay at the start, and eventually gets a pack and then a store of his own. A few of the Catalans 22 CENTRAL AMERICA become Mexican citizens; the majority save to- ward the day when they shall return to Spain. Seeing so much of the business of the country in the hands of foreigners, the Mexican would be a creature of stone if he did not cry Mexico for the Mexicans. And what is he doing to fulfil his ambition? He makes his cigarettes, which he smokes from morning till night, in his own fac- tories, out of tobacco grown at home. In all there are over a hundred cotton mills, which prosper, thanks to cheap labor, the favoring shelter of the tariff and to plentiful home grown raw ma- terial. With cotton and tobacco the manufactur- Ing account is pretty well complete, except for carved leather and the handiwork of Mexican articles to sell to tourists, and the packing plants, which are mostly run by foreign capital and under foreign management. But these facts only strengthen the rising patriotic sentiment which is the most vital and threatening political factor of the future. CHAPTER THREE MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS I¥ the old days the hacienda owners lived like feudal lords—as they still do to a great extent—while the peon lived and died in practical slavery on the land of his master. Until thirty years ago scarcely a peon could read or write. The Spanish conquest had taught him docility, and the only light in his brain was the dim mem- ory of his ancient civilization. All that the big land owners cared for was their income and to keep their land tax free. They had no interest in industrial development and no real sense of nationality. Their hearts were always in Paris. So regeneration for Mexico could never come from this class. The new Mexico born after the French régime was bound to find its leader in the underlying strata which produced Juarez and later Diaz. Poor clay this peon seems; a creature of many tribes and many dialects, with no common lan- guage except Spanish. In the lowlands he is temperate, clean and excitable, as a rule. On the ~ great central plateau, where the maguey plant 24 CENTRAL AMERICA will grow—from 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level —he is too often in a half-drunken stupor on its juice. His only property is his blanket and his hat. Whatever he has in the world he shares with his fellows, and he need never go hungry if there are tortillas (corncakes) or frijoles (black beans) in a neighbor’s house. Both the men of the plateau and the men of the lowlands are gradually ascertaining that they are all Mexicans, all brown-skinned and black- haired. Railroad travel and pilgrimages have brought them together. The demands of fac- tories and mines have sent them to town, and in the towns are schools. It may be too much to say that the peon is beginning to think; but no one will deny that he has an irritation under his scalp that may eat into the cerebrum. “We'll drive out all these Spaniards some day,” an old native said, meaning all foreigners. “This is our country”; by which he meant the country of the Aztecs. Groping intelligence makes the discovery that in the land that is theirs they are servants to the outsiders; for even the hacienda owners they do not regard as Mexicans. If they board a train a Gringo takes their tickets. When they seek work at the mines or of a contractor it is a for- eigner who employs them. No hero of the war for “La Libertad” equals in their veneration the last of the Aztec kings, MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS WB whose statue they adorn on Aztec feast days. Liberty they associate less with independence from Spain in 1816 than with the advent of that “little Indian” Juarez, the first President after Maximilian. Any one with money invested in Mexico says that the anti-foreign feeling is only newspaper talk. But the sensational press does not preach unless it finds an audience. Anti-Americanism has long been a cardinal feature of the propa- ganda of the clerical party. In order to regain power, the Church, with its property confiscated and brotherhoods proscribed, attacks the northern neighbor, where religious freedom is absolute. Pulling a feather out of the eagle’s tail is held to be as profitable in politics in Mexico as twist- ing the lion’s tail once was in the States. Dur- ing my visit occurred the Uruapam bunting inci- dent, which possibly got three or four lines in the newspapers at home. To Mexico it was a burning question. What happened, as far as I could learn, was this: Three irresponsible young men, employees of a packing company, as a practical joke dressed up a neighbor’s horse in as outlandish a fashion as caprice and material would allow. Among other things they used a piece of discarded and faded bunting which had been draped on the packing house at the time of its opening. Now, the bunting fell off, and some natives of Urua- wl - ——— —— mm Smears : ws A a Gs J Ca er A — co e SN 26 CENTRAL AMERICA pam saw their national colors under the horse’s hoofs. The uproar that the Mexicans made over it shows their sensitiveness. To us the whole incident seems insignificant. To them it was another example of Gringo ruf- fianism and a calculated insult to the nation. The culprits were put in jail. Indignation ran high. Not content to leave the matter to the local court, a petition was sent to Diaz, the source of all power, asking for dire punishment of the offend- ers. He thanked the signers for their “patriotic” address and expressed confidence in the court. The accused issued a public statement of contrite apology, declaring their innocence of any of the intentions ascribed to them—for Mexican jails’ are not pleasant—and finally Diaz “advised” their release. Americanophobia is not limited to the crowd alone. It permeates every class of Mexican so- ciety. The peon himself, let alone the better- class Mexican, is a grandee for politeness, and our brusqueness is disagreeable to a people to whom manner is as important as the thing itself, and this is intensified by fear of our power. It is a common saying that when General Scott’s army was in occupation “the Americans were brutal, but just.” They punished their own soldiers as rigorously for looting as they punished the na- tives. “The French were cruel and uneven, but polite.” One almost wonders if the Mexican tem- MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS 1 perament did not prefer cruelty with politeness to Justice with impoliteness. No Mexican doubts that we mean conquest in the end. The wiser ones reason that it is inevi- table to our growth and our aggressive nature. The others take it for granted. Our protesta- tions only confirm their conviction of our hy- pocrisy. Statesmen are equally guilty with the tourist of well-meaning words which are mistaken for patronage. “We don’t want Mexico,” they say, and they may even add: “We wouldn’t take Mexico if you gave it to us.” It is like a big man meeting a little man in the street and saying: “I’m not going to thrash you just because you're little. Now, how about that concession?’—which is bound to annoy the little man if he is of a sensi- tive nature. The speeches at formal banquets ring with the muy sympatico of the “sister republics”; but all the Americans, including those who speak Span- ish, go home together, and so do all the Mexicans, including those who speak English. The intel- lectual classes look entirely to France and Spain for their inspiration. French and Spanish papers and books and illustrated weeklies are on the li- brary tables. English is only the business tongue. The few Mexican boys who study in the States go there for technical instruction and for a lan- guage that will be commercially valuable, 28 CENTRAL AMERICA The father’s theory in this case is that Ameri- cans know how to make money, and America is the place to learn that valuable trade. Tt does not occur to him that there is an ethical side to Ameri- can life. He sees the American colony busy after concessions and with the day’s work; and gen- erally speaking, we are disinclined to give him any other view of ourselves, and he is disinclined that we should have any view of him except one formed in business relations. Official Mexico denies that there is any anti- American feeling. Diaz is too good a statesman to allow any outburst to rise in such a tumult in his time that he cannot control it. He could stop the newspaper agitation if he would. But it is one of the many strings to his bow, on which he plays the tune of national and patriotic unity. Limantour, the finance minister, pooh-poohs it as “local politics”; the while he aims to bring European immigration into the northern States to combat that from the United States and sets the European against the American with a skill worthy of his reputation. The minister of the interior, Sefior Olegario Molina, however, is openly known as an Americanophobe. He pro- posed a radical new mining law, for which Diaz, whose hint is the law of action for all his cabinet, would not stand till it had been tried by American opinion. Abstractly, this law seemed most reasonable. MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS 29 Opposition from our country, where the rules against foreign ownership of land or mines are so strict, would seem convincing proof of the Mexican contention that we propose to dominate Mexico where it suits our interests. For all that the proposed law required was that hereafter all corporations doing business in Mexico should be organized under Mexican law. : In other words, a corporation organized in New Jersey or Arizona could not buy and work a Mexican mine. The opposition of all foreign interests was immediate and outspoken. Cor- poration managers knew the delays of Mexican law and the exasperation of dealing with officials. There is no escaping the fact that foreign capital would generally shy at a Mexican corporation. When Diaz, the wise politician who never tries to go too fast in his development of nationalism, saw what a storm of opposition this theoretically justifiable act of jingoism was raising, he acted as he did about the flag incident; as he always does on such occasions. He had the objection- able feature withdrawn. Those who shout Mexico for the Mexicans have to consider that once the entering flood of capital is dammed, an economic revolution is inevitable. It is the new investments that balance Mexico's ledger, despite her immense export of silver. They are the secret of her prosperity, of an over- flowing treasury with which she builds great pub- 30 CENTRAL AMERICA lic works; for her wealth of agricultural resources does not prevent her from being an importer of foodstuffs. Her annual trade, one-fifth of which consists of exports of metals, gives her a balance less than her national interest charges abroad, while the interest on the foreign capital invested must be at least $75,000,000 a year. There you have the weak point in Sefior Liman- tour’s system, which looks so strong because of his excess of receipts over expenditures. Let the silver and gold keep on flowing out to return the foreign principal and pay the interest charges while no new capital flows in, and the veteran finance minister will face a harder problem than he has yet solved. In trying to do for his country what the Elder Statesmen did for Japan in bringing foreign civi- lization and teachers, Diaz counted with a differ- ent type of people for his host. The Mexicans themselves—who fail to learn what the J apanese were so eager to learn—make Mexico for the Mexicans impossible. Her young men, who imi- tate French manners, have failed to imitate French civilization in its engineers, promoters, mechanics, and thrifty, trained industrialism. They go to the technical schools and learn theory and hesitate at the hard application that practice requires. A Mexican boy of any education who will apprentice himself to learn railroading is an anomaly. MEXICO FOR THE MEXICANS 31 Among the better classes there is Castilian con- tempt for business. They would rather be gov- ernment clerks or dependents on a hacienda than mine managers at $10,000 a year, which, besides, requires harder work than they like. If a Mexican sells a mine he puts his money into land. His only form of gambling is lottery tickets. There is less stock speculation (by Mexicans) in Mexico City than in many American towns of 20,000 people. The love of risk, of action for a splendid stake, so characteristic of the Japanese, which leads the American, the Englishman, the Frenchman and the German into industrial undertakings, is not in the Mexican—at least, not yet. Mines and railroads and banks and stores are managed by foreigners because they are, for the present, at least, best suited for the work. Any measure which retards foreign enterprise retards Mexican development along the lines of a policy which Diaz has carried too far to permit of any back- ward step without results equally as serious to Mexico as to the foreigner. CHAPTER FOUR THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN Diz has been the creator of Mexico's for- eign policy; Don Ignacio Mariscal its spokesman. Theirs is a rare political friendship, with a human note to soften Jealousy. The watchful President, never allowing any one man to gain a larger share of power than some rival for favor, has entertained no suspicions of Don Ignacio, his minister of foreign affairs from the beginning of his rule. Don Ignacio never bothers his head with this complicated business of home politics. His con- cern is with Mexico’s relations with the outside world. The late John Hay once said that one could not boast of his triumphs in diplomacy or in love. A foreign minister’s reward must come from the praise of his chief and his consciousness of success; and such is Don Ignacio’s reward. After Don Porfirio was through fighting the French with the sword, Don Ignacio began his battle of peace. This pair have grown old to- gether, watching their country become strong and respected under their direction. Don Ignacio 83 THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 33 loves his Mexico and every little victory he has won for her. He has the art which conceals art. The pleasure of having met and talked with this veteran of early Victorian days—his old-fash- ioned jelly-roll of hair over his ears and his dancing eyes recalling Disraeli without the Jew- ish cast of countenance—will ever remain a ro- mantic memory to a younger man. “Yes, I have been with General Diaz thirty years,” he said, “but, then, we knew each other pretty well in the days when we were having so much trouble with those Frenchmen who wanted our country. But they did not want it as much, they found, as we wanted it ourselves. So we kept it. “Every time the general is re-elected I go to him and say: ‘Excellency, it is quite scandalous. I am a regular old fossil’ ”—when you know that he is living keenly every minute in the present. “ “Think how mean it is of me never to give any of those new ren a chance. I am going to retire.’ But the general says: ‘We old fellows will ask those young fellows to wait a little longer. I can’t get along without you.” So I remain and feel ashamed of my selfishness. Yes, General Diaz and I have been in harness a long time, and since Mr. Fish and I used to exchange dispatches you have had a great many Secretaries of State in your country.” Oh, he was ever so sorry that Mexico could 34 CENTRAL AMERICA not allow us a coaling station at Magdalena Bay; but that was against the Mexican Constitution (which Don Porfirio has so frequently disregard- ed in home politics). It was too bad, too, not to permit our sailors to have a little harmless small- arms practice ashore, but there, again, was that Constitution! We have one of our own and sure- ly we know for ourselves how bothersome Con- stitutions may be when you wish to do a friend a favor. He has ever kept relations running smoothly with that brusque and mighty northern neighbor, watchful, in keeping with his duty, to prevent any entering wedge of aggression. Diplomacy, winning the favor of foreign nations for the dis- credited Mexico of thirty years ago, has been the ally of José Yves Limantour, the master-mind of financial Mexico. No one in modern times, unless it was Witte in Russia for a period, has enjoyed anything like the authority which has been his for fifteen years. He would be impossi- ble in any other country. How long, for exam- ple, would the business man of the States or of northern Europe endure a system of stamp taxes according to the amount of business done, open- ing his books to government agents, while land never pays a penny? One-third of the revenue comes from stamps, of which foreign capital pays a heavy share. THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 35 He need not fear public criticism. The great majority of the Mexicans are too unintelligent to understand or consider such a thing as a fiscal policy. Without even the interference of a board of directors, he is responsible only to Diaz, whose wisdom says “Steady” and “Go ahead.” He could undertake a policy with a certainty that he could see it carried through, rather than with the expectation that a successor might reverse it inside of six months or a year. It is the sum of what has been done in his long service that pays a tribute to the man rather than to the nation. He has put Mexico on a gold basis and her bonds at a premium. He has spent out of the money he has borrowed from abroad over $30,000,000 in improving and building har- bor works at Vera Cruz, Salina Cruz, Manza- nillo and Tampico, and $8,000,000 on the drajn- age of the Valley of Mexico. He can say to his fellow-countrymen, as Warren Hastings said to Parliament, that he is amazed at his modesty when he considers his temptations. A rich man when he took office, he will be much richer when he retires. Of course, Diaz, too, has a great fortune, a fortune in keeping with his dignity and position and the work he has done for his country, as his friends say. But it is he who has set the example of moderation, which the Central American dic- Congress does not bother him with questions. tators, who imagine that they imitate him, haye a — Ee — Pl ttn teen tin pa S—— TH I — - » 36 CENTRAL AMERICA failed to follow. He has read aright the folly of Iturbide and other rulers of Mexico’s turbulous history from independence to Maximilian. His taste is for power, not for extravagance. ILead- ing his soldiers, he imbibed a spirit of service and learned of rewards and satisfactions higher than gain. No cabinet minister may profit scanda- lously. He aims to check the rapacity of the commissions of governors and other officials who look for more than their portions. In his well-arranged day of twelve busy hours there is always time for foreign visitors. Men are the books which he is fondest of studying. At Chapultepec I waited in a Maximilian ante- chamber, while I chatted with a pattern-plate aide, Spanish in courtesy plus German train- ing. When my turn came he led the way to the Maximilian salon, and the most absolute ruler in Christendom entered with a quick, light step. His bearing gives him a height greater than his inches. He is as erect as one of his cadets, his head carried well back, with that leonine expres- sion which characterizes the photograph of him which is the favorite of his people. His dignity is something more than Castilian. It is not a veneer. It runs through the fiber. You feel none of that disappointment so usual when prestige and position have built up a figure, only to have it dwindle to an ordinary-looking mortal on close observation. After what you THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 37 have seen of Mexico, Diaz is up to expectations. The sense of power and command of men is there, inherent and impressive at the first glance. Break out of the commonplaces of a formal in- terview with some vital question that arouses him, and that carved, square jaw rises and the black eyes burn in a way that suggests the Indian fierceness of his soldier days. He is an Indian; he is of the soil; and this is, possibly, the secret of his strength. The peons hold him in awe and reverence. He is almost a god to them. When he is in a crowd you will see them rushing forward in the hope that they may touch his hand or even his coat. He grows proud of his years. When I re- marked that he was seventy-eight he answered that he was nearly seventy-nine. He owes his good health, he says, to his Indian constitution and to simple living. His routine of life is as severe as a monk’s, his food most frugal. Formerly he took a horseback ride every day, but, convinced of the danger of a fall, he has given it up. No ruler has ever been the object of more flattery, and few better able to see through its purpose than he in his younger days. Self-criti- cism is not included in the ban of criticism by press and Congress. But it would be surpris- ing if vanity should not come with age, or if his 38 CENTRAL AMERICA frequently announced intention to retire should ever be fulfilled. Whoever has been to Chapultepec will appre- ciate how unnatural it would be for him to give up that home which has been his for so many years. Of all official residences in either hemi- sphere it is the most picturesquely situated. The location must give an occupant the intoxication of power. It towers over its surroundings as Diaz towers over all the other statesmen of Mexico. On that rock where Montezuma ruled, which Scott’s veterans stormed, are the Presi- dent’s summer residence and the Mexican West Point—the man and the arms. From the long colonnade you look across the city, well paved, well policed, made modern in Diaz’ time, toward Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl in their splendor and majesty. Whenever he is accused of subverting the Con- stitution his answer is always the same: “Sup- pose you had a son of ten, and the tailor insisted on giving him a man’s suit of clothes. Would you let him wear them, or would you put the suit away, telling him he could have it when he was grown?” American critics of one-man power in Mexico forget that they have come from a country where self-government has become second nature through centuries of training to a country where paternalism has been second nature equally long. THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 39 Americans and Mexicans who go north always speak of going from the “Republic” to the “States,” as if the States were not a republic. No American ever makes a correction by saying that both countries are republics. I sought in vain for an explanation of the distinction. Pos- sibly its origin is satirical. In all his talks in later years Don Porfirio has not hesitated to admit that he has often applied the Constitution in spirit rather than in letter. It is evidently clear to him that the boy is in no- wise ready for that suit of man’s clothes. Indeed, the slowness of the boy’s growth is probably the cross of his career. Over 50 per cent. of his people are still unable to read and write. The state of his health is a thing to be quoted in the streets, like the price of stocks. “Give us four or five years more of him,” as one American said, “and I hope to be out of Mexico with my fortune.” This generally voices the hope of everybody who is willing to leave the bridge- crossing till he comes to it; of great foreign in- terests at stake and of governors and officeholders who owe their places to him, sometimes against the wish of their constituents. Another class— and they still hope to see their hope fulfilled— more farseeing, perhaps, have wished that he would retire and devote his remaining years to having a successor securely installed. Mexico 40 CENTRAL AMERICA cannot exist without one-man power, and it is time that a legatee were known. But the game of ruling is in Diaz’ blood, a part of his life. He sets a Ramon Corral as Vice- President in the play against Limantour, who is the choice of the financial world. The followers of General Bernardo Reyes, also ambitious to reign at Chapultepec, wanted him to take Corral’s place. Corral is weak, an amenable heir-pre- sumptive, and Reyes is strong. Reyes was made a virtual prisoner by the Mexican troops in the province of Nuevo Leon, of which he is governor. He resigned his candidacy, and Diaz tactfully sent him, with many compliments, on a long trip abroad, to study the armies of the world. Another factor, Madame Diaz, must not be overlooked in any picture of the political life of a régime which will soon be historical. The gos- sip of the capital always speaks of her as “Car- melita.” “What is Carmelita’s view?” ask the courtiers. She is the young wife, daughter of an old Spanish family, some thirty years the Presi- dent’s junior, of quite a different type from the first Madame Diaz. But for her tutoring, some say that the uncouth captain of militia would not have developed the manners which go with high place in a Spanish- speaking country. The softening of Don Por- firio’s attitude toward the Church is due to her, I am told. She is a devout Catholic. If a raid THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 41 of any new brotherhood or sisterhood is planned, the monks or the nuns concerned usually receive warning in time to depart. When Don Porfirio proposed to retire in 1904, Madame Limantour, so the story goes, was con- fident enough of her husband’s chances to tell some friends one afternoon that soon they should have tea with her at Chapultepec. Some busy tongue carried the news to “Carmelita,” who sent for one of the President’s oldest friends, a Gen- eral who had fought by his side, and said: “Don’t let up on Porfirio until he promises to stay.” A statesman must be judged by his results. With them as a criterion, the verdict of the future of Diaz’ benevolent dictatorship seems clear. He must be far too good a Mexican to subscribe to any “After me the deluge!” programme. Pa- triotic, not exotic like the old aristocracy of hacienda owners, he has taught the army—how successfully no man can tell—that its loyalty is to the constituted head of the State, although it has been made the servant of his own fortunes. He has aimed, according to his light, to make a nation of Mexico, so ingrained with nationalism that it could not be dismembered; to hold the friendship of the United States and yet to build up a military force which would make any inter- ference a forbidding task. Has Don Porfirio made a political will which nen a I AR A HS Pe OAR Sr tsi ir pr a I 42 CENTRAL AMERICA Mariscal will produce and in which all is ar- ranged? But the power of Diaz’ words when he is dead may not be that of Diaz living. One of the critical moments of modern history will be here when the flag is at half-mast on Chapultepec, and one of the most fascinating of great govern- mental and human problems will be offered for solution. Though lacking the wisdom and strength of Diaz, a fairly clever statesman, with the succession assured to him, would keep in the saddle for a time, perhaps permanently. At his command are a well-equipped little army and the efficient rurales and the network of railroads and telegraphs, which Diaz did not welcome for their industrial value alone. They make autoc- racy easy. The wire instantly brings word of riot or revolt, and the rail hurries the medicine to the spot. With the same instruments, a legatee would conduct his own election. But the spirit of Mexico for the Mexicans grows, and with it some appreciation of the meaning of the ballot. In any event, you must not overlook the forge of that great mass of Indians used to a ruler with native blood in his veins, who regard most of the candi- dates mentioned as foreigners, in a class with the Gringos. A growing brood of young agitators whom Diaz has kept under repression, now that the people have a little light, might play a more dangerous part than the blind leading the blind. THE REPUBLIC AND THE MAN 43 What if the army and the rurales fail to respond to the man installed at Chapultepec; if he should , find that another leader had the troops with him; if uprisings began in all parts of the country? The stake is a kingdom with an income which only the king’s moderation names. The rivals for Diaz’ shoes may try their strength till one is found strongest; till one has a following suffi- cient to keep him in place. The greatest check on disorder will be the fear of interference by the United States, and no less efficacious because groundless. CHAPTER FIVE INTO GUATEMALA r[OURIST bureaus seem to draw a dead line at the Guatemalan boundary. In the City of Mexico accurate information about travel in Russia was more accessible than details of how to reach the capital of an adjoining country. The shipping agents mentioned two lines on the west coast, with sailings once in ten days, but advised disregard of published time tables, which were more or less a form, and that I should repair to Salina Cruz at least three days before an advertised date of depar- ture and possess my soul in patience. Passen- gers are a consideration largely subsidiary to that of freight. If slackness of cargo at one port makes a steamer ahead of time, a large consign- ment or a bad surf at the next may make it behind time. The captain’s policy is to get ahead as fast as he can, with the chances that, averaging the whole trip, he will reach his terminus ap- proximately when the agents expect him. Salina Cruz is, as yet, little more than a pier for the Tehuantepec Isthmian Railroad, which 44 INTO GUATEMALA 45 transships sugar from the Hawaiian Islands and manufactures from Europe and our Atlantic coast. Here the Mexican government, in its laudable and ambitious scheme of public improve- ments, has spent more millions than it likes to confess on great breakwaters of masonry, to wrest a safe anchorage from the niggardly Pacific, which can also be a very angry Pacific at times. : The Tehuantepec road is an industrial tragedy. Every steam-shovelful of earth excavated at Panama sounds the approach of the day when it will be reduced to the resources of local traffic. It was built in the expectation that the Isthmian Canal would remain an unfulfilled promise; but before the last rails were laid on a solid roadbed through the treacherous jungle, work was begun on the Culebra Cut. Perhaps three thousand people live on the wind-swept sands in the company of the vacant huts once occupied by the laborers on the harbor works. A hotel, never calculating on more than a baker’s dozen of guests, was overrun by a trav- eling Spanish theatrical company. They put up a stage of boards on barrels and boxes, with cheesecloth for curtains, in the hotel court and played everything, from “Camille” to the Span- ish comedies. The American consul and I attended every night. He observed that the dizzy excitement 46 CENTRAL AMERICA of having a fellow-countryman and a show in town the same week might overcome him for the time being; but he would have plenty of leisure for recuperation from his debauch after the at- tractions were gone. Our introduction had taken place an hour after my arrival, when a hand was clapped on my shoulder from behind and a hearty voice said: “I know you’re an American, and don’t think for a moment that you are going to escape. I'm lonesome!” With that, he led me into the house, placed a chair on the veranda, and demanded to know about everythin 1 n Salina Cruz and Zanzibar. Mexicans say that Salina Cruz is the “ Jumping-off place for Guatemala,” of which they have far from a high opinion; and every foreigner who had been beyond the border had kept repeating, in answer to any question which might imply criticism: “Wait till you see Guatemala! Then you will see how Mexico shines by comparison.” It was the consul who piled additional grief on the shoulders of the captain of a German steamer, which was the first one bound south, Our doctors of the Canal Zone, ever watchful for yellow fever, required most exact informa- tion about a ship’s passengers as a condition of inus Teh: epec Coatzacoalcos, eastern terminus of the I'ehauntej railway INTO GUATEMALA 47 her escaping quarantine at Panama. There were certain names on the agent’s list which were not on that of the local health authorities. Rectify- ing matters necessitated a delay of two or three hours, which might have been spent in taking on coffee and earning more dollars for the Hamburg company, which expects no nimble penny to es- cape its servants. The wonder is that the captain keeps his tem- per at all. His steamer travels 86,000 miles out and home. From Hamburg her route is to Lon- don; then to the Canaries to coal; then direct to Puenta Arenas in the Straits of Magellan, where she becomes a local passenger and freight boat in deadly earnest, stopping at every port all the way to Puget Sound and so on back again to the Straits. Eleven months is the duration allowed the run, and the time spent at Hamburg may be two or three weeks; never more than four. I asked the captain if he were married. “No,” he answered bluntly, “and no right to be.” But the first mate, who spoke both English and Span- ish, was keeping a family at home on his pay, sixty dollars a month, in return for his watches, his long absences, and the vexations of lightering through the surf, dealing with all manner of for- eign officials, and dropping anchor at all hours of the night. “I kiss my wife and children,” he explained, “and I'm away to sea again. When I come 48 CENTRAL AMERICA back”—he lifted his hand to indicate how much the children had grown. “If I had known about California when I was a young man I don’t think I'd be in this business. I'd have a little ranch of my own up in the hills back of San Francisco.” All the regular crew were German; the cargo- handlers Chileans, typical, alert, dark-eyed gamins of the Santiago water-front, who never make but one trip. According to the captain, whose inclination to cynicism is pardonable, one constitutes a cure. However, the Chileans told me that their object was to see the Gringos in San Francisco and Sesttle and something of the rest of the world. Happily, the captain’s econo- mies for the company’s sake did not extend to the table, which was excellent. My only fellow-passenger in the first class was a Japanese major, once of the Information Divi- sion of Oyama’s staff. We had met in Man- churia, and now we met again, bound for Guate- mala. He was busy with his notebook and troublesome Spanish primer, seeking knowledge with racial greediness. Later, we ran across each other in Cabrera’s capital, and that astute dictator, in one of my talks with him, ventured, with true Spanish politeness, a sympathetic re- mark on the misfortune of an American finding himself associated with a Japanese in his travels. It showed how well informed Central Ameri- can politicians are of the international differences INTO GUATEMALA 49 of the United States, and how quick they are to scent politics and intrigue where nothing of the kind occurs to us. As a matter of fact, the major became rather bored by his trip, and after wit- nessing one or two reviews of the Central Ameri- can soldiers, hastened on to Panama and the canal, where he expected to see something worth while. On one occasion, when we were riding on the train, as he looked out of the window at the rich, sparsely populated valleys of the Cordilleras, he exclaimed, half to himself: “Much better climtae than Kiushu” (the great southern island of the Japanese group). “So much room here. No room in Japan. If the Japanese were here they would cultivate right up to the mountain tops. Beautiful, beautiful country. Too bad!” It was the aching of a highly organized race to develop resources going to waste. To return to the thread of the narrative, the next day at noon we dropped anchor opposite two big buoys, a mile or more out from a billowy white ribbon in front of unpainted buildings, gray against the deep green of the foliage. We were at San Benito, on the Mexican border. After whistling a while to announce our arrival—evi- dently a lone steamer against the horizon was invisible to official eyes—there was a puff of white ashore. This proved to be the steam from a 50 CENTRAL AMERICA donkey engine which drew a boat through the surf by a rope run over pulleys on the buoys. Aboard were the doctor, the captain of the port, and the agent of the company (and incidentally of every other foreign interest in the place) — a German who wore leather gaiters, riding breeches, and a Tyrolese cap in the blazing sun and seemed perfectly cool. Time had seasoned him to the land’s delays, though his national char- acteristic of efficiency was probably little im- paired, as I found to be the case with most Ger- mans in Central America, whether afloat or ashore, Inspection of the ship’s papers and of the health of the passengers was conducted in the cabin over the iced Pilsener, which I imagine has saved the steamship company many officially im- posed delays in their affairs. From Salina Cruz to Costa Rica the steamers arrival is a great occasion ; and a combination of every bit of red tape Invented by the different civilized nations 1s rigidly adhered to. At length we watched the boarding boat being leisurely rowed back to the buoys. The two hours which elapsed before a cargo boat came out delayed us twelve. On ac- count of the increasing surf and approaching darkness we had to remain overnight, with only one boatload yet to discharge. Some things are difficult of explanation to the manager in Ham- INTO GUATEMALA 51 burg, who must have his trials, in turn, with a board of directors. Another vista of breaking surf, another group of unpainted buildings, the next afternoon, sig- nified Champerico, the first port of Guatemala. Our skeptical skipper confided to me, with what truth I could never ascertain, that the port doctor who came off here was really a blacksmith. Leaving my heavy baggage to go to San José de Guatemala by the steamer, without any com- pany except the officials, I climbed into the big, boxlike chair which lowered me into the boat like so much cargo. After weeks on the west coast one becomes as used to this procedure as to jump- ing on a street car at home. It is the only way in lands where there are no harbors, and Guate- mala has not a single one on the Pacific side. She lies naked to the unbroken roll of 10,000 miles’ width of ocean. A second pulley lift and I was on a long, spider-like pier—the surf tear- ing through the meshes of the steel legs—with a government official asking for the traveler’s name, occupation, and object of coming to Cham- perico, and a representative of the company that had the pier concession asking for landing dues. The scene at the end of that pier would depress any optimist. Heavy storms had eaten caves and gullies into the soft clay bank, undermining many buildings, which had already fallen or were about to fall. In fact, all the town along the water- 52 CENTRAL AMERICA front was in the process of retreating a hundred feet or more inland. A. dozen soldiers, barefoot, some with caps, but mostly without, in soiled blue jeans, armed with old Remington rifles, saluted as the captain of the port escorted me to the comandancia, where I gave my name, occupation, destination, and ob- Ject of travel again. Next we sought the Ameri- can vice-consul, a Jamaican by birth, who was living Dyak fashion up a long stretch of steps in a single room—office and cottage combined— built out of the débris after the storms. The last train for the day on the coffee line connecting with the Guatemalan Central at Mazatenango had gone and another would not start until day after to-morrow. There was no hotel, though I was welcome to the consul’s single bed. How about a locomotive to make the jour- ney to Mazatenango that night? I inquired. The sleepy station agent, after he had been found, sent off a wire to see what could be done, .and while we waited for an answer Mr. Kauff- man, business arbiter of the community and agent for the coffee planters up-country, himself an owner of a coffee finca ( plantation), came to my rescue, offering hospitality, but agreeing that there was nothing in the world to keep any one who wished to study Guatemala for even a few hours. Champerico was not Guatemala at all, INTO GUATEMALA 53 only a place where the coffee crop was put aboard IS. HS ll that I could have the locomotive. Mr. Kauffman warned the station agent as to what was a reasonable price, and saw that I was not beaten in the exchange of my gold for quan- tities of Guatemalan paper of continually fluctu- ing value. rs the manager of the railroad was bound to lose no possible traffic. He was quick with his promises, if slow of their fulfilment. Word kept arriving by a man whom the consul had appointed as courier that the special was on ay. : gt raining; there might be a washout,” said the consul, “and maybe they’ve overlooked tele- hing the fact.” ; ® This Rs hardly encouraging news at mid- night; but directly we heard the scream of a whistle back in the jungle, and the courier acted as guide over the fissures of the bank to the sta- tion, where an Italian conductor in charge of a venerable day car behind a venerable, wood- burning locomotive, and an American engineer at the throttle, were ready. For two hours, with the rain beating against the windows, we hurtled through the darkness, the gleam of the headlight making the wet leaves of the forest glisten, and the swing of an occasional lantern at a station signaling as we passed. 54 CENTRAL AMERICA Shortly before three o’clock the conductor said “Mazatenango!” and his lone passenger stepped out into the darkness on to a board-walk, with nothing else in sight. Convinced that the hotel would not be open, I was prepared to spend the night under the nearest cover, when a lantern re- flected the methodical progress of two figures. “Welcome to Mazatenango, sefior!” called a voice, and though I could not see his face, I caught the shadow pantomime of a hat being lifted from the head of the speaker with a grand sweep. It was the jéfe politico come to meet me. Such politeness was overwhelming to one who knew what it meant in a climate where early re- tiring and rising were the rule. The other man was a friend who had volunteered as interpreter, in event I did not know Spanish. A carriage was waiting behind some scrawny horses, and, the driver lashing them, we plunged through mudholes till we struck a cobblestone pavement quite as uneven and treacherous. With all three of us fairly gasping, we halted before the door that opened into the hotel court, where sefior and sefiora were waiting before a table spread for supper. Sefiora hastened out to bring in a tureen of soup; sefior opened beer. The jéfe and I drank to Guatemala, the United States, and each other’s good health. Something of the importance of a Pan-American commis- sioner seemed to attach to my humble self. How A street in Guatemala City INTO GUATEMALA 556 had the governor of the province heard of my coming? And why all this pains, in any event? Later I was to learn that the name, occupation, destination and object of travel which are taken wherever resident or non-resident goes are sent direct to the jéfe, when anything unusual attaches to them. Tt is his business to keep a sharp watch on all travelers, in view of possible revolutionary plots. A foreigner who was neither a coffee planter nor a railroad promoter entering his do- main of authority so abruptly by special train in the small hours was either a perfectly “mad Gringo” or a justifiable object of suspicion. “We thought you were coming.by way of the frontier,” he said. My intention originally had been to go over- land by the Pan- American Railroad, riding mule- back over the uncompleted sections—which were all on the Guatemalan side. So I had wired to our minister in Guatemala to make sure of a safe official passport. Inquiry had changed my plan. It was September, with the rainy season at its height, and no telling how long washouts might delay me. The water route seemed wisest, on the score of time, In vain I begged that polite jéfe to retire. He insisted in keeping me company while I ate. He told me of the coffee crop and asked how it hap- pened that when President Roosevelt was so strong he could name his successor, he should not 56 CENTRAL AMERICA remain President himself, My answers did not quite convince him. Mr. Roosevelt's action was all against the rules of politics and human nature as he knew them. At last, with a grand sweep of his hat at the door of my bedchamber, he bade me good- night a few minutes before dawn broke. “Hasta mariana!” he concluded, with what must have been real depth of feeling under his politeness. CHAPTER SIX THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN A NY traveler who glanced at the main street of Mazatenango would have known that he was in the town of a former Spanish colony. Though another type of people fill in the picture, the frame is the same as in Cuba, the Philippines, or Peru. Spanish influence endures. The patio and barred windows are as much a part of the life of the community as Castilian manners. Your sense of the picturesque suffers a shock at findingeyourself out of the land of the peaked hat, that proud possession of the Mexican peon despised by the Guatemalan. You have crossed a boundary line which was first drawn by the Spanish conquerors. - Under their dominion, Mexico was New Spain, and all that region from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the Isthmus of Panama was officially the captain-generalcy of Guatemala, but better known as the “Kingdom of Guatemala.” It was in 1517 that the Cuban planter, Hernan- dez de Cérdoba, bent on fresh supplies of slaves for his plantation, landed in Yucatan and Chris- 57 aT bahia 58 CENTRAL AMERICA tian civilization made its first acquaintance with the civilization of the Mayas. In 1519 Cortéz that man of amazing will and endurance, settled Vera Cruz. Two years later the seat of the Aztec empire in the City of Mexico was his spoil. In 1522 he sent Pedro de Alvarado at the head of a small band to overrun western Guatemala. The name of Alvarado has become to Guatemala what that of Cortéz is to Mexico, Pizarro to Peru, and John Smith to Virginia. “At the time of the conquest,” says Keane, “a great portion of Mexico proper, the whole of Yucatan and most of Guatemala, together with parts of Honduras and Nicaragua, were inhab- ited by a large number of civilized nations, who had, from remote times, formed political States some of considerable magnitude, but all fairly well organized, with thoroughly constituted forms of government, highly developed social institu- tions, polytheistic religious systems still most] at the sacrificial stage, numerous arts and HY tries, conspicuous among which was architecture of a monumental order, and, lastly, a knowledge of letters showing nearly all the transitions from picture-writing to phonetic symbol, and, as some hold, to a crude alphabetic system.” So well did the Mayas of Yucatan resist Cér- doba and his successors that fifteen years after the first landing the conquerors were driven out Under the lead of General Montoros and Bishop ' THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN 59 Landa the Spanish returned in force; and when their work was finished practically only native women and children were left among the wreck- age of the Mayan temples. The pagan books and writings were destroyed by orders of the zealous bishop. Four of the books have come down to us, but their message is still sealed to the arch- eologists, who have sought in vain for a key of translation. The Maya-Quichés of the highlands of Guate- mala were either less virile than their brothers of Yucatan, or, what is more likely, they awakened to their danger too late. They had as their im- mediate neighbors other civilized tribes, each dwelling peacefully in some valley or other recog- nized habitat, while traders going and coming among them traveled far into Mexico. Many be- lieve that their civilization was already becoming decadent. At all events, it was peaceful. Lack of unity among the tribes made it easy for Alvarado to overcome them in detail. But he did not escape altogether without fighting. He had one notable battle with the Nagualas, which lasted all day. In want of other weapons they rolled stones down the hills on the heads of the enemy. Alvarado promised to leave them unmolested, provided they would pay him a cer- tain amount of tribute. This tribe is still some- thing of a law unto itself, and until recent years 60 CENTRAL AMERICA continued to pay its annual tribute to the Presi- dent of Guatemala, I am told. On the site of the old Guatemala City, the present Antigua, deserted by order of the Span- ish government after the earthquake of 1776, Alvarado founded his capital in the shadow of splendid evergreen hills. In a word, the con- queror said: “Make me a city here and make it the grandest in the New World,” and in the heart of what Humboldt termed the Paradise of that New World. Alvarado brought artisans from Spain to superintend the work. The natives who had served their priests in building the temples which call the archeologist were set to quarrying mas- sive stone columns for his vice-regal palace, with its double row of corridors supporting domed roofs, unsurpassed in Spanish-American archi- tecture; and on its right was the cathedral, facing a plaza larger than that of the present City of Mexico, in which finally the conqueror’s own bones rested after his long regency. The spacious monasteries and convents, the official residences and the fountains were supplied with water brought from the hills by a stone aqueduct. There were even public lavatories for the use of the washerwomen. : A man of action, whose deeds kept pace with his dreams, was this Alvarado, a lieutenant after the heart of his master. He once reported to THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN 61 Cortéz concerning a matter of recalcitrant In- dian chiefs: ‘In order to bring them to the serv- ice of his majesty I determined to burn the lords; and I burned them and commanded their city to be burned and razed to the foundations.” He came, he saw, he conquered. One year after his arrival Guatemala was pacified. Then he set out with equal success to the con- quest of the Pupils, a numerous tribe who occu- pied the country within the confines of what is practically the present republic of Salvador. Gil Gonzales D4évila had already advanced up the west coast into Nicaragua in 1522, subjecting the indolent people to fearful barbarities. Costa Rica had already been occupied; and thus, in 1525, nearly one hundred years before the Pil- grim Fathers landed on the “stern and rockbound coast,” all Central America was subject to an organized government radiating from a capital which soon became a seat of learning. Subjugation was not altogether by the sword. Not all the bishops were of the type of Landa, and even he believed that he was undoing the work of the devil by the destruction of the Maya writings. Bishop Las Casas, who had long preached against the cruelties practiced on the Indian, asked that the unexplored country west of Yucatan and south of the present province of Chiapas in Mexico should be made his see. His request was granted, even to the stipulation that 62 CENTRAL AMERICA not a single soldier should assist him. He won the natives to Christianity without the aid of blood- shed and gave this region the name of Vera Paz, or “true peace,” which it still bears. History has few more fascinating accounts of patient Chris- tian endeavor than his own story of his work. Alvarado organized his vice-royalty into eight provinces: Chiapas, Guatemala, Yucatan, Vera Paz, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. On account of the distance and difficulty of travel, Yucatan later became a separate cap- taincy-general. Vera Paz is a part of the present republic of Guatemala, as Chiapas was before its annexation to Mexico. The other four form the present republics of Salvador, Nicaragua, Hon- duras and Costa Rica. Each had a bishop direct- ly responsible in all religious matters to the eccle- siastical management of the metropolitan church. While, broadly speaking, the captain-general exercised a most absolute despotism, rivaled only by that of the Church in all religious matters, Spanish cities were in the nature of little repub- lics, and Alvarado simply demanded tribute, peace and submission to his will in all outside affairs. The Indian communities were left large- ly to themselves, so long as they rendered “unto Ceasar the things that were Caesar’s.” In Guatemala City rose an aristocracy of the land-holding and office-holding class. The sons of the artisans whom Alvarado had brought from THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN 63 Spain and of the camp followers, mixing with the natives, formed the beginning of the ladino—a word literally meaning trickster—class which rules Guatemala to-day. It is said that the arti-- sans’ descendants were really responsible for the moving of the capital from Antigua to its present site. The public reason was an earthquake, which, from all accounts, was no more destructive than that of San Francisco in 1905» But the ladinos petitioned King Philip II. in such great numbers and influenced him so far that he even ordered the banishment of every citizen from the site of Alvarado’s palaces, churches and monasteries. Nowhere, excepting in small numbers in Costa Rica, from the Rio Grande to the Amazon, was the Spaniard a settler in the North American sense. The climate, humid and enervating in the lowlands, with a paradisaical ozone engendering a dolce far niente view of life in the highlands, was not the only factor which made him an aris- tocrat. At his command, in place of a Mohawk or an Apache watching from ambush, was a civi- lized race who found their best means of self- preservation in docility. Though they accepted the forms of Christianity, so persistent is the an- cient inheritance that they still conceal native gods behind the altar of the Virgin. Slavery having been abolished by the King of Spain, forced labor was made easy by the repartimiento system, by which an alcalde of a village might be 64 CENTRAL AMERICA called upon at any time to provide a certain num- ber of laborers for a wage that was purely noms inal. This applied to the Indians who dwelt away from the plantations. Those on the plantations were practically peons or serfs. The Spanish yoke fell from Central America largely by its own weight, following the revolt of Mexico in 1821. The resident aristocracy and the professional classes wanted the emoluments of office for themselves. Spain had exhausted the land; there was little more tribute worth having. At home she had sunk to the rank of a second- class nation. She had neither the soldiers nor the will to suppress a widespread insurrection in New Spain and the Kingdom of Guatemala. The fervent ideals which had sent forth her discov- erers had degenerated into a pursuit of such rem- nants of profit as remained in the wreck of her colonial empire. Hubert Howe Bancroft, in his “History of Central America,” gives this picture of conditions in Guatemala in the last days of the Spanish régime: “The subdelegados,” he says, “by means of their comisarios, collected the tribute and speculated with it, each being a tyrant who oppressed the Indians at his will. Education was neglected; ignorance prevailed to such an extent that a large portion did not even know the first rudiments of their religion. The poorer Spaniards and the mixed breeds were entirely without education. THE PEOPLE UNDER SPAIN 65 Indeed, in nearly three centuries not only had the Indians not learned to speak Spanish, but the native Spaniards spoke the six Indian tongues of the province better than their own. . . . In some Indian towns so-called maestros were salaried from the community funds of the inhabitants. Such maestros could scarcely read and write, and most of them were immoral and given to drunk- enness. Of course, no good results could be ob- tained from such teachers.” CHAPTER SEVEN AFTER INDEPENDENCE JOR a short time after the declaration of in- dependence, while Iturbide was playing monarch in Mexico, Guatemala, by political choice, and Salvador, under duress, threw in their lot with his empire. But such an alliance was against all precedent. The former Kingdom of Guatemala became the Central American Con- federation of the five States of Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As a constitutional pattern the new nation chose the United States of America, which has the moral responsibility of having been a guiding example in the formation of many republics in which the elements were little suited to the idea. In this instance, people in nowise homogeneous were without experience of the simplest form of electoral government on a large scale. Their first executive head was a triumvirate. Naturally, its members soon quarreled. Under the captains-general, lords over a num- ber of satrapies, with each provincial subordinate enjoying a good deal of latitude and freedom 66 AFTER INDEPENDENCE 67 from question so long as he kept peace and turned in his share of taxes, Indian tribal differences had been strengthened, and sections geographically and commercially distinct set against one an- other to prevent any united opposition to the ruling power. Even if all the elements of local prejudice, contest for places and lack of com- munication had been absent, the confederation would have foundered for want of funds. A European loan for a time satisfied the demands of the politicians, who were drawn from the land- holding and professional classes, as were also most of the higher churchmen, who had under- taken to establish an oligarchy which should con- trol all Central America in their interests. Within a year after the promulgation of the Constitution (1826) a rebellion was under way. It spread under the leadership of Francisco Morazén, a Honduran, of French blood on his father’s side, the highest type of adventurer that Central America has produced, who took the capital and made himself virtual dictator. One of his first acts was to declare freedom of wor- ship. Already, in 1882, Central America was a nation only in name, and the other States were formally withdrawing from the confederation. In 1838 they were regularly established as the re- publics of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, which, after seventy years of wars, revolutions and ambitious efforts 68 CENTRAL AMERICA by the successful dictator of one country and an- other to conquer his neighbors, remain practically within the same boundaries as those established by Alvarado, with British Honduras, under the British crown since 1797, a broad stretch of in- salubrious lowlands to the east of Guatemala. And from that day to this the power has been to the man who could win and keep it by the bayonet. The seal of the character of the ad- venturous Alvarado is set upon the political ideals of the Central American youth. Every dictator wants to erect some building or monument in his own honor, even as Alvarado erected a city. In place of captains-general from Spain have been home-bred captains-general, who send their gar- nered tribute to Paris instead of Madrid. Morazén was the pioneer Liberal, voicing not the idea of freedom of speech—which no dictator has ever allowed—but of freedom from clerical government. He was a man of some education and of practically pure white blood, who went on fighting to the end of his days in one revolution and another for love of excitement, regardless of gain—in this he was an exception to the rule— and gave the command to “Fire!” with his own lips when he was finally executed in Costa Rica. At the time that he came into power in Guate- mala he was twenty-eight years old, and only thirty-eight at his downfall. His successor, Rafael Carrera, the son of a An Indian woman (with ladino type of man at left) AFTER INDEPENDENCE 69 marketwoman, who could not write his own name, became master of Guatemala at the age of twenty-one. The clergy gathered around this young devil from the highways. According to Liberal authorities, they incited the people with a report that the cholera pestilence of 1837 was due to the poisoning of the wells by Morazdn, who wished to make room for more Hondurans in Guatemala. With the cry of “Long live re- ligion and down with the foreigner!” they won. Carrera was as ruthless and vain as he was ignorant. He did not bother with taking prison- ers in battle. Whenever he appeared in the streets the people were under orders to shout “Viva Carrera!” under extreme penalty for dis- obedience. On public occasions he wore green frieze trousers, a coat brilliant with gold embroid- ery of his own design, and a hat decked with pic- tures of the saints. To the Conservatives the marketwoman’s son was a bulwark against anarchy. He had enabled them to restore the old order. Their Congress voted him a hero and his bust was engraved on the coins of the land. Chosen President for life, in 1852, he held the reins till his death in 1865. After him came Vicente Cerna, whom he had named for his successor in much the same fashion that President Diaz is expected to name his. Cerna was strongly pro-clerical and weak. In- surrections of the ladino, or Liberal element, 70 CENTRAL AMERICA breaking out in many places were suppressed easily at first, but in 1869 Serapio Cruz, the fore- most malcontent, sprang across the border from Mexico with all of twenty-five armed men, a nucleus which grew into a considerable force as he advanced. He was killed and his head borne into the capital as a public exhibition of the fate of traitors. His lieutenants, Granados and Bar- rios, kept up the fight, and before the year was out Cerna was in flight and they were in power. Granados was President for a short time, but made way for his stronger ally, J. Rufino Barrios, the hero of “the age of Liberalism,” which still prevails in Central America, whether under a Cabrera or a Zelaya. In the thirty-eight years since independence there had been little or no im- provement in education, communications or com- merce. The landlords had thriven off the increas- ing production and price of coffee. They had lived extravagantly and carelessly, planter fash- lon. Paris was the Mecca of the rich families, who frequently educated their children abroad. The repartimiento system continued as under the Spaniards. Each plantation had its own Justice of the peace for dealing with the offenses of its resident laborers. Nominally, the Barrios movement was that of reform for the masses against the ecclesiastical and land-holding aristocracy. He was as brutal as Carrera. A dead enemy was the safest enemy. AFTER INDEPENDENCE 71 His followers were the creole or ladino element, far outnumbering the old white families, but out- numbered two to one by the pure-blooded In- dians, who, as will appear later, are in nowise a political factor except for purposes of exploita- tion. The language of the ladinos is Spanish; that of the natives was in Barrios’ time, and is still, their native tongue. A few ladinos had re- ceived education at the university in Guatemala; many had attended the priests’ schools. A brood of abogados, ambitious for political preferment, had arisen. Barrios was their hero. He banished the Jesuits, confiscated much of the property of the Church, took all tithes ont of its hands, prohibited the wearing of vestments in the street, and, in order to set one sect against another, invited the Protestant missionaries from the United States to undertake proselytization. Church schools became public schools, with his own picture on the walls in place of the Pope and the saints. He was excommunicated by the Bishop of Teya in the following words: “1. That the man who is called José Rufino Barrios is held to be excommunicated from our blessed congregation, and to-day I prohibit from taking the name of one of the saints of our Roman martyrology. “2. We caution the faithful not to communi- cate with him who is called José Rufino Barrios, who has been placed outside of the mercy of God. 72 CENTRAL AMERICA “8. If our accursed brother (Rufino Barrios) wishes to continue in the government of the dio- ceses of Guatemala, let him be accursed by all generations and let him be held once and a thou- sand times as a pharisee and a publican of mod- ern times, and “4. Let the fate of the accursed excommuni- cated follow all those who will lend to him their support to throw to the ground the altars of our religion,” ete., ete. Barrios drafted a new Constitution, which was a dead letter immediately after its adoption, so far as any allegiance to its liberal provisions on his part was concerned. Coming into power in a period of great industrial expansion throughout the world, he opened the door to foreign com- mercial enterprise by a system of grants and monopolies. He built a certain number of cart roads; he established telegraphs, whose value in keeping him in touch with insurgent plots he saw as readily as Diaz; he granted a concession for the first railway to be built in Guatemala, and he welcomed the Germans to the development of new tracts of coffee land, with his jéfes forcing the natives to labor for the new masters. And all the while it meant imprisonment, if not worse, to utter or publish a word tinged with the slightest criticism of him or his measures. Yet, in view of later oppression, the Conservatives look back to him as a comparatively generous ruler. AFTER INDEPENDENCE "3 Inevitably, his success made him aspire to the restoration of the Central American union, with himself as its head. Honduras, pliable to his will, had agreed to submit, and so had Salvador, he asserted. Upon Salvador’s repudiation of his proclamation of the confederation, he started across her frontier with his army. He was killed on April 21, 1885 (by his own men, it is gen- erally admitted); and, wanting a leader, his troops fled. For thirteen years he had been the most pretentious figure in Central America. In keeping with his opportunities, he had accumu- lated the largest fortune of any of its rulers. This was carefully invested abroad against emergency and went to his wife and six children, who left the country at once. His successor, Manuel Barrillas, held office for four years, or a full term, but was too weak to prevail against the cabal formed to vote the dis- tricts for Reina Barrios, nephew of the hero. Thereafter, Barrillas became an active revolu- tionist, who was assassinated in 1907 by a Guate- malan in the City of Mexico, in pursuance of a plot formed, it is alleged, with the knowledge of the ruling powers in Guatemala City. On the night of February 8, 1899, Reina Barrios was shot in the street by Oscar Zollinger, a German. Estrada Cabrera, who had just returned from a mission to Costa Rica, appeared at once in the palace and getting the Cabinet to recognize him 4 CENTRAL AMERICA as first Designado, became President of Guate- mala until an election for that office could be held. Barrios’ friends said that Zollinger was in San José de Costa Rica for eight days at the same time that Cabrera was there, and that his ex- penses were paid by Cabrera. Later, Cabrera, who is a clever lawyer, elected himself by force, and is still in office. : CHAPTER EIGHT ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS HE train ride to Guatemala City the day after my arrival at Mazatenango killed my growing distrust of Humboldt at a blow. He was right, unless the contrast of the lowlands with the plateau affects the judgment of all visitors— Guatemala is the Paradise of the New World. Alvarado’s building plans were nothing more than an inspiration in keeping with the back- ground of his capital. Days spent amidst the scenery of the West Indian islands seemed comparatively waste, though less so after an experience of the beds and fare of the Grand Hotel de Guatemala. A traveling companion appearing and disap- pearing with the turns of the railroad line was the dead volcano Atitlan, a cone as perfect as Fujiyama’s, in dim, dark outline against the soft, intoxicating blue. Prodigally, with a sense of fair play to all districts, such cones are scattered through the length of the land. Tajumulxo and Tacana are more than 18,000 feet above sea level. Santa Maria, long silent, erupted in April, 1902, 76 76 CENTRAL AMERICA over the mountain city of Quezaltenango, killing ten times the number of people lost at San Fran- cisco and a quarter of the number at Messina without creating a flutter in the news dispatches or international Red Cross circles. Coffee planters found their fincas half buried, and were discouraged till they recalled prece- dents. History repeated itself with the blessing of fertilizer in the form of volcanic ash, producing largely increased Crops in ensuing years. It amounts to a positive asset for a plantation to have been sprinkled by an eruption. The mountain region of los altos in the dis- tance shared the eye’s attention with a vista of mighty oaks and cedars and of the everlasting life of orchid and vine, which devour decayed timber so rapidly that whatever is dead is blan- keted with green. Ours was a loitering train, having a freight car, a first-class cane-seated passenger car, and two cars for the natives, with long, wooden seats against the sides. At every station Indian women advanced at the double- quick, with baskets of fruit borne on their heads. They turned an affair of trade into a fiesta occa- sion, with infrequent sales the prizes of the game, To the untrained observer, when he did not de- tect a strain of Spanish blood, they all looked alike; but I was told that a difference in the de- signs of shawls and skirts was the badge from time immemorial of neighboring tribes, speaking ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS ™ different dialects. Probably the chiefs whom Alvarado conquered would understand their talk easier than Alvarado would understand the Span- ish of to-day. Aside from the faces of the numerically over- whelming Indians, you noted the faces of peo- ple of varying degrees of Spanish blood. At one station a dozen young women came to see a friend off. All were creoles, or ladinos, who shared the contempt of the purest Spaniard for the aborigi- nes. Only the humblest of this class ever think of intermarrying with the Indians. The marked social distinction is between those who are and those who are not of exclusive Indian blood. We had glimpses of an occasional German planter and creole overseers, with their high “dashboard” boots to protect their knees from the brambles and machete slung in the saddle, ready to cut away a vine or a limb that had shot across the trail. The land seemed thinly populated for its resources, the villages clusters of thatched huts, and nowhere, except in the persons of the German planters, any evidences of wealth. At Escuintla, the junction of the line which connects San José, the main Pacific port, with Guatemala City, we dined. The Swiss conduct- or warned me against the station restaurant. He knew a better place kept by a Chinese. Thanks, perhaps, to the hunger it appeased, that meal seems the best I had ashore, outside a private "8 CENTRAL AMERICA house, from Mexico to Costa Rica: Macaroni soup, fried plantains, shirred eggs, beefsteak, and rice a trifle greasy, Spanish fashion. Finally, your choice of a mountain of fruit—oranges, fin- ger bananas, pineapples, custard apples, sapotes, grenadillos and alligator pears, luxuries which reach New York in cotton jackets at overwhelm- ing prices. Meanwhile, our host was omnipresent. In fact, the Chinese is omnipresent through- out Guatemala, paying his tribute to officialdom, cutting off his queue and taking a native wife, and, so long as he may trade, not caring whether they call the man in the palace viceroy, king, president or dictator. After leaving Escuintla, our train became an express, scorning the smaller villages, and we began the winding climb toward Guatemala City, passing Lake Amatitlan—which must not be con- founded with the larger lake of Atitlan—a sheet of wondrous beauty and an aid to laziness in keeping with the prolific fertility of the land. The washerwomen were busy boiling their clothes in the bubbling hot spring along the shores and using the broad, flat stones as pounding boards. Skies which rained soap would mean perfection. A first view of Guatemala City, in its out- skirts of thatches, of the fortress on one hill sug- gestive of the hill of the Acropolis, and of the ancient cathedral of El Carmen on another, was followed by the disillusion of a dilapidated cab Some highland belles in Gua emala Al a station on the Guatemala Central ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS "9 drawn by miserable ponies in disintegrating har- ness patched by rope and driven by whippings and cluckings and shoutings of the driver along the route of the single horse-car line, past the buildings of stone and stucco flush with the nar- row sidewalk. Though it was the evening promenade hour, not many people were abroad. By the time you were at the hotel door you had sensed the atmos- phere of repression which you were later to un- derstand. Propitiatory paper dollar after paper dollar was placed in the extended hand of cabby till the cordage seemed sufficient to every one present except himself. If he was as extrava- gantly overpaid as some informants said that he was, then let us hope that some part of the wind- fall went into forage for his steed. The official courtesy which began at Mazate- nango positively flowered at Guatemala City. In a sense, it became embarrassing when I found that I must, in justice, show the reverse side of the official picture. Since the latest attempt at assassination, Estrada Cabrera, the President, had settled himself in a house across the street from the Presidential Palace, where he was less exposed to attack. In a reception-room, with two rows of chairs facing each other in stiff Cas- tilian inference of vis-a-vis conversation, he re- ceived his visitor with the Spanish politeness char- 80 CENTRAL AMERICA acteristic of every country on which Spain has set the stamp of many attractive conventions. He is forty-five, alert, suspicious of manner, with a strain of Indian blood evident in his fea- tures. When an officer in his household appeared rather suddenly in the doorway, his keen glance, the quick movement of his body in readiness for an emergency, the sharp call of inquiry with which he broke the flow of his talk, indicated a watchfulness which had become part of his ex- istence. “What would you like to see?” he inquired, after the formalities were over. “Your garrison at drill and permission to visit your public schools,” I suggested. “My ambition and the whole object of my policy,” he explained, “is the education of the people. My one patriotic thought is to carry on the work begun by the Liberator, Rufino Barrios. As for our army, I fear you will hardly find it worth your attention. We have only a few poorly drilled peasants.” “How many in the standing army ?” “From fifteen to twenty thousand, and alto- gether we could put sixty thousand in the field,” he answered. In ratio to population, this gives Guatemala a larger standing army than Germany, “I will send some one,” he continued, “to show you both my army and my escuclas practicas, ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS 81 by which I hope to redeem my country to pros- 1 industry.” : Bo will be sufficient, Mr. President. T wi d my way.” : : a vain. He turned to hs Sze tary of foreign affairs, Juan Barrios, : 0 wes present. By the way, Sefior Barrios ha gree : the officially conducted traveler by exhi 1 ng telegram of regret from an alcalde for not ae 2 been present to greet me as the logahiciives os Champerico passed through his village a ) i morning. : 9 i oe id the President, speaking to him in the tone of an officer to a soldier, you will meet our guest at seven in the morning an : take him to the Campo de Marte to see the Sronps drill, and afterward to the schools and Hippo iil your excellency,” said Sefior Da It was nearer eight the next morning w = s appeared at the hotel door in a carriage ais ; ; the stability and springs of a Pullman, ops of the worst havoc of the rainy season on “i a ban roads. I had spent the night under blan i 3 the air was soft and cool as May. Prous : broad stretch of thick turf of the diiound oy saw the city in the valley surrounded by sot deep, billowy green. Afar up the slopes the iq church of a mountain village was a finger 82 CENTRAL AMERICA white pointing to a sky which was like the sky of the Mediterranean at dawn. Meanwhile, the garrison marched past. Every army in Central America is the army of its mas- ter, expressing his personal ideas of pomp and efficiency. Cabrera has a troop of boy buglers, who take the place of honor at dress parade with a roar of brassy notes. Some five hundred men form the corps d’élite, known as the Presiden- tial Guard. They are trusted to defend him and are taught loyalty to him alone. In return, they have a uniform which includes some strips of white braid, are supplied with shoes, and armed with modern rifles. These and some two hundred regulars and a battery of Hotchkiss mountain guns went through the manual of the skirmish drill with a good deal of spirit and skill. They included pure-blooded Indians and ladinos vary- ing from a small to a large admixture of white blood. Of course, this was the flower of the army, in contrast to the ununiformed, tatterdemalion, slightly drilled garrisons through the country districts. If Cabrera had fifteen or twenty thousand men of the type that I saw at the Campo de Marte, the war strength of Guatemala would be in keeping with its position as the most populous Central American nation, and Cabrera’s ambition to ex- tend his domain to the boundaries of Costa Rica might be fulfilled if he did not have to reckon ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS 83 with interference by Mexico or the United States. But when I asked the commanding officer for the strength of the standing army, he hesitated and finally said: “Five thousand.” The truth is that the number is always fluctuating and nobody knows exactly how many are under arms at a time. Additional recruits are impressed if dan- ger threatens from any quarter. After leaving the drillground we had another and most delightful companion, General Moliiia, the minister of war, a brown-skinned, white- bearded old gentleman, whose features had a touch of Mongolian dignity and repose. He is said to be unique among modern Central Ameri- can military leaders in that he has no political interest in any faction and is ever ready to serve whoever officially rules in the palace. Accepting his definition of a battle and a campaign, he had been in thirty battles and fourteen campaigns. If the spirits of warriors hover together in the after-world, he ought to be perfectly at home among the veterans of the broils of the Middle Ages. I can attest that they will find him genial company. Along the Paseo del Reforma, the public drive, with two rows of trees and rows of marble statues of the statesmen of Guatemala and of young women in modern costume—young women with and without bustles, young women going out for a walk, parasol in hand, and young women in 84 CENTRAL AMERICA ball gowns—we drove to the Estrada Cabrera Museum, with its imposing facade, a statue of Rufino Barrios in front, and a limited collection of Guatemalan arts, mineralogy and products within. Next we went to the Estrada Cabrera Normal School, which has seventy or eighty pupils from all parts of the country. Those from out of town live in the dormitories. I met two foreign instructors, and the conditions, if not up to date, seemed progressive. We passed a large building in course of construction, which was to be the new home of the principal Estrada Cabrera Industrial School, and saw at the old escuela practica fifteen or twenty pupils, with a full- blooded negro as the instructor in agriculture. The charming note of the day was struck at a normal school for girls in charge of a young woman, who seemed to be getting more work out of her pupils than any other instructor we met. On the walls were the usual portraits of the Presi- dent, “His Excellency, the Most Illustrious,” ete, ete, as patron and benefactor. When I asked the young woman if she had received her education in a convent, she said “No!” very de- cidedly and in a way to make sure that the sec- retary for foreign affairs heard her answer. Were there any religious exercises at all? “Nol” Cabrera is a prophet of a Guatemalan Age of Reason. He continues the war on the Church which Rufino Barrios began. The political ele- President Cabrera’s company of boy buglers The Presidential guard regiment in Guatemala ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS 85 ment of the creole class which forms his following are irreligious, though their women folk are fre- quently attached to Catholicism, which has a strong hold with the old aristocracy and with the Indians. At the Hippodrome, where the annual races are held, Cabrera erected the Estrada Cabrera Temple of Minerva, of wood. When it fell down the priests said it was due to divine anger at a pagan temple in a Christian city. The little In- dian dictator’s answer was a second structure, this time of stone, defying divine wrath to do its worst. For fear of assassination he can never ride out to see his name in big letters on his temple or schools. He had not been in the streets but once in six months when I was in Guatemala, and then had ridden between a double line of soldiers. We have heard the official side. In the next chapter we shall hear the other side, which ex- plains why he and every political enemy of his lives a hunted life. CHAPTER NINE THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE WW HEN a man or a woman, well bred and of quiet manner and a graduate of an American college or school, says calmly that as- sassination is warrantable as a means of ridding a so-called republic of its President who serves nominally for only four years, your sense of shock is not softened by the fact that you have Just been hearing the gentleman who excites so desperate a view talk the highest patriotism and picture his career as a sacrifice for enlightened and pro- gressive government. “Some one will kill the monster yet,” expresses the wish as well as the thought of thousands of Guatemalans who have seen their friends and relatives imprisoned and executed without trial, under a reign of terror. The American who is personally conducted through Guatemala, with- out getting either citizens or foreign residents behind closed doors, will return in a pleasanter frame of mind than if he had listened to allega- tions whose credibility was vouched for from sources that seem indisputable, 86 THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 87 Cabrera has escaped one attempt at assassina- tion, and, supposedly, a second. The first time, April 29, 1907, a mine was exploded under his carriage as he drove through the streets. Arrests were made by the wholesale. It was compromis- ing to have been abroad at the time of the at- tempt. The jails were filled with suspects, who were brought before a military tribunal without any chance to defend themselves, where they had a form of secret trial. Many were tortured to make them confess guilt concerning an affair of which they probably knew nothing, and many were executed. The second time, July, 1908, his own cadets, the young men of Guatemala’s West Point, were charged with an attempt on his life while acting as a guard of honor. All these young men were of good families. How many were hunted down and shot nobody knows. Every one who had been seen talking to a cadet within two or three days previous to the attempt was arrested. Many of those already in jail on suspicion of being party to the mine plot were summarily shot. The following is from a letter written to the New York Times by Dr. Herman Prowe, a Ger- man physician who spent twenty-three years in Guatemala, in answer to a statement of Sefior Herrarte, the Guatemalan minister to Washing- ton: “As a physician it fell to my lot to have to treat 88 CENTRAL AMERICA three of the poor youths who were flogged into insensibility by Cabrera’s orders. They told me that they thought the whole conspiracy was a fake. When the cadets were ordered to the palace their muskets were unloaded, and they carried no ammunition. A civilian in the President’s suite fired the first shot. After that all the shooting was done by Cabrera’s own adjutants. “One of these young men, after having care- fully been nursed back to health under my care, was again seized and was flogged so unmercifully that he died. This was more than I could stand. After this incident I left Guatemala, glad to turn my back on that unhappy country for good.” Among those arrested for complicity with the cadets were many Hondurans, Cabrera at that time being angry at Honduras, which was under the control of Zelaya, President of Nicaragua, his political rival. The Hondurans were kept in Jail without trial, but finally all were released through the good offices of Secretary Root, ex- cept one. This was a young man named Midence. Cabrera refused to let him go on the ground that he was a Guatemalan, as he had attended the military school and the national institute. Young Midence’s father was also brought be- fore the military tribunal, and, according to the account given me, the court having failed to en- trap him into admissions, told him that he was an infamous old scoundrel and liar, and he had better THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 89 come out with the truth if he knew what was good for him. He could only answer that he was en- tirely innocent of any plot against Cabrera. Then they stripped him and threw him on his face, and warned him to tell everything or they would beat him to death. He still answered that he had nothing to tell, and they finally let him go. His son, having been more than once beaten into insensibility, had received altogether 800 lashes. Some of these, it is alleged, were given in the presence of Juan Barrios, minister of foreign affairs, who wished to see that the job was well done. But this justification for brutality scarcely holds when all that is wanted of the victims is money. The richest man in Guatemala, except- ing Cabrera himself, who has amassed a great fortune, is Salvador Herrera, a land owner, who has been in jail seven times, on each occasion for the purpose of forcing from him a sum of money called a “voluntary loan.” One of Cabrera’s Cabinet remarked that the only way, he feared, that the administration would ever be able to get all of Herrera’s fortune was to kill him. This would be easy enough if he were not a man of so much prominence that news of his death would be widely circulated outside of Guatemala. Your average owner of a small coffee planta- tion is more easily disposed of. The exactions 00 CENTRAL AMERICA of the government strip him of his property, and gradually, for debt, the plantations are passing into the hands of the Germans, who own 60 per cent. of them. Families are not only impover- ished but decimated. Women have been to the cuartel and begged for the corpses of their fathers and husbands which they have seen go by in carts. The authorities denied their prayer, probably be- cause of a desire that the lacerations of the bodies from whippings should not be exposed. But why do not these people sell their proper- ty? Why do not they leave Guatemala? you ask. They cannot sell their property without the con- sent of the officials, who refuse to issue a legal transfer: They cannot leave Guatemala except over jungle trails, and ther. only if undetected. Cabrera fears that if he let them go they would Seocme emigrados who would agitate against m. Then, why do not a hundred of the leading citizens band together and buy arms and start a revolution? The first answer is that the United States has supported the side of the party in power which is the official government, regardless of its nature; and the second js that Cabrera has the leading citizens terrorized, as he has every one else. They suspect one another; co-ordina- tion is impossible. On the slightest suspicion by, the government they would be imprisoned. Each one is hoping that he can avoid arrest and save THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 91 his property; and therefore it is difficult to get them to permit their names to go with their state- ments, which I have taken pains to minimize rather than exaggerate. Not only the offender himself, but his relatives and friends would be made to suffer. “Recently some poor tailors of Guatemala City,” says Dr. Prowe, “ventured to address a humble letter to the President, protesting against having to furnish without pay uniforms for the soldiers. The signers to this petition were thrown into jail, were flogged nearly to death, and after- ward were dragged off to the unhealthy penal colony on the Atlantic coast. “On the occasion of General Davis’ visit to Guatemala some ladies of Guatemala dared to intrust to the American envoy a petition to Presi- dent Roosevelt protesting against the lawless exe- cutions, torture and imprisonment of their hus- bands, sons and fathers. As a result of this the male relatives of these ladies were hounded by the Guatemalan police, many were dragged to jail, while the others had to flee the country. Their property was confiscated by Estrada Cabrera and converted to his own use. Much of the real estate thus confiscated that could not be sold at public auction was assigned to Cabrera’s scapegrace son in San Francisco, who has lately become an American citizen.” The official newspaper, El Guatemalteca, pub- EET Nm - I Ea ER ET ERT 92 CENTRAL AMERICA lishes lists of confiscated property which is sold at what is nominally public auction, but f requent- ly bid in at ridiculous prices by the friends of Cabrera. Mrs. Mary Edith Griswold tells of living opposite a house from which the owner was evicted: “I saw the poor widow, her children, and the aged members of her family, belonging to the best society of Guatemala, creep out of their home. A lady who knew them told me they had nowhere to go. Everything they owned had been taken. The wife and little son of Dr. Blanco, one of the men suspected of being implicated in the plot to kill Cabrera with a dynamite bomb, were flogged almost to death.” The old families and the well-to-do native land-holders generally are being decimated. If the persecution ended here, one might ascribe it to the bitterness of class war. But it is only the beginning. No citizen will talk freely for fear he will be overheard by spies. Suspicion may amount to conviction for any citizen, rich or poor. Cabrera lives in, fear of plots among his office- holders and they in fear of the penalty of his mis- trust. He seems certain only of the loyalty of a Ger- man officer who is nominally in Guatemala to drill the troops. On one occasion, when the President had to appear in public, the orders were that on the sign of the slightest hostile THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 93 movement toward him, Juan Barrios, the secre- tary of foreign affairs, and two other members of the Cabinet, were to be shot in their tracks; and this is no idle after-dinner tale, but came from an authority who was in a position to know and had no object in perverting the facts. Nominally Guatemala has a most liberal Con- stitution, a liberal code of laws, free speech and a free press, and a single-chamber Congress which meets once a year. Cabrera points to these with pride, as the politicians say. But the Constitu- tion has little more application than the picture- writings on the monuments of the Mayan ruins. The code of laws is interpreted by the President, his Cabinet ministers, or jéfes politicos, to suit the occasion. Any one who should publicly criticize any act of the administration would be immediately put in jail. It is the business of all editors to print frequent long disquisitions on the glorious career of His Excellency, the Most Illustrious. All foreign news dispatches are blue-penciled by Cabrera in person before they are published. The public may read nothing whatsoever not to his taste. Congress is an annual function with some oratory, but never a word in criticism of an ad- ministration act, the members being chosen by Cabrera himself. How does he find the time for so much detail? This will be answered in an- other chapter, where I deal with the routine and 94 CENTRAL AMERICA character of Central American dictators in gen- eral. If you want the truth, cut through the veneer of politeness to any foreign visitor whom Cabrera wishes to appease, or in whom he sees a possibility of gain by the granting of a concession, and be- hold the jéfes politicos ruling the provinces, in which they are masters of life and death. In its working principles the government reverts to the Spanish form, while cities, towns and communi- ties have a smaller measure of self-government than under the captains-general; and, so far as we may judge from historical data, there is more corruption and brutality, particularly if you make a comparison with Spanish rule of the seventeenth century, when loyalty to religion and patriotic ideals as represented in nationality and king formed some restraint on sheer cupidity. Nominally, the peonage system is abolished. Actually, it has been rearranged to permit of more profit for the official and less for the planter and the Indian. Nominally, the resident laborer may leave the plantation, provided he is out of debt. Should he start to go he is confronted with a contract signed under duress, which he does not understand further than that the power of the jéfe is back of it—if the planter has “ar- ranged” with the jéfe. The following is a char- acteristic contract between a plantation and a moo (laborer), who agrees: THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 95 1. To discharge with his work daily and per- sonally the debt contracted on this finca. 2. To do every class of work after the customs established on the finca. 8. To absent himself from the finca on no pre- text without previous permission in writing. 4. To pay all expenses made necessary in case of flight, and rendering himself sub ject to the proceedings brought against him through the proper authority. 5. To remain on the finca eleven months of each year. 6. To subject himself to all articles of the law of laborers decreed by the government. (Which means that he must remain so long as the finca says he is in debt.) 7. The loan is given not to the man, but to his entire family; and each and every one will be individually responsible for what they receive. 8. The mozo who becomes security for another moo (be it man or woman) assumes the same responsibilities as the one who receives the loan. The repartimiento system for impressing la- borers for the busy season flourishes as actively as it did under Alvarado. A plantation manager goes to the jéfe politico and says that he wants a certain number of men for a certain length of time. A bargain is struck, and the jéfe sends out his soldiers to bring in the laborers, who get about half of the wages. The rest goes to the 96 CENTRAL AMERICA jéfe, who, of course, has his soldiers to feed. They are never paid. Through four centuries the Indians, from the inferior types of the lowlands to the superior class of sheep-herders of the highlands, have yielded passive obedience to one master and an- other. The honesty and loyalty of the highland- ers are never in dispute. A foreigner said to me that he would rather trust a sum of money for safe keeping to any mountain Indian than to most of the members of the Cabinet. The ladino ruler insists that the Indian is stupid. But possibly he has found stupidity the line of least resistance for so long that it has be- come habitual. In his heart, doubtless, he has the same contempt for the half-caste that the aris- tocratic half-caste has for him. The town In- dians are tricky and degenerate. Those of the re- mote mountain districts are simple-minded and virile; and in type tall, bronze, with coarse black hair, high cheekbones and frequently aquiline noses. Both men and women are hardy and enduring. Life in many a mountain valley re- mains little changed from the days of their Mayan ancestors. The people pay their tribute to Caesar when need be and cling to their tradi- tions. No missionary ever comes to their doors. A rich field of ethnological study is almost neg- lected, while the remnants of the North American THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE oT Indian tribes are pursued by scientist, philan- thropist, tourist and photographer. Probably half of the population of Guatemala speaks no Spanish. The Estrada Cabrera schools are not for the Indians. Many of the school- houses which he has built have neither pupils nor teachers. His opponents say that actual accom- plishment is limited to a show program in the capital to impress visitors. Certainly, the Uni- sersity of Guatemala, which was once the princi- pal seat of learning in Central America, has deteriorated. Pupils are not coming from other countries to risk arrest as political conspirators if they are seen in the company of citizens who are political enemies of the ruler. From the travels of Stephens, Squier, Scherzer, Froebel, Morelet, and others, I should Judge that general educational facilities were probably as good under Carrera and Rufino Barrios, for their time, as they are to-day. Besides the university and the Tridentine College, founded in 1690, with chairs of Greek, Latin, mathematics and philosophy, Morelet, who was in Central America sixty years ago, mentions an excellent hospital endowed by the Spanish with the profits from bullfights, twenty-seven common schools, eleven for boys and sixteen for girls, and special schools for the working classes, which had the same ob Ject as the present boasted escuelas practicas. But granting Cabrera good intentions and some prog- 98 CENTRAL AMERICA ress, you have the one ray of light in the dark- ness of that political system which he inherited and which holds him and the whole land by the throat. The Indians’ obligatory faith in a piece of stamped paper forms about the only real back- ing of Guatemalan currency. A banker told me that there might be three or four hundred thou- sand dollars’ worth of silver in the country against an issue of $65,000,000 in paper. At the time Cabrera took office ten years ago the Guatemalan dollar was worth thirty-five cents in American gold. It varied during my stay from six to seven cents, and had been as low as five. When I asked him what peculiar conditions prevailed in Guate- mala that warranted this flood of greenbacks, Cabrera answered blandly: “It is a good thing for business. You see, the planters get the workers for wages in Guatemala currency, while they sell their products for gold.” But on leaving the country my baggage was searched for silver. Rather than lose the little metallic coinage which remains within his borders, he has passed a law preventing its further export. When I asked him for light on the economic policy of taxation of the country’s leading prod- uct, coffee, which might be grown in much larger quantities if there were no export duties, he an- swered, still blandly: “You see, that is the only way I can protect THE UNOFFICIAL SIDE 99 my people from the foreign planters. On every quintal I get a dollar for our Guatemalans which otherwise would go to the bankers of Hamburg.” And that dollar must be paid in gold. It is one source of real metallic taxation. But the Jéfes, officials, soldiers and government em- ployees get nothing of it. Their salaries are mis- erably low, which is immaterial, as they are so seldom paid. Each office-holder, including the Judges, is expected to find his profit in his perquisites. At the time of my visit all pay was months in arrears, while the Italian opera com- pany playing at the official Teatro Colon, the city’s architectural boast, its exterior modeled after the Madeleine in Paris, had received a sub- sidy of $40,000 gold from a government which was hypothecating its coffee taxes months before they were collected. Here every evening you might see Guatemalan official society in its best attire, less brilliant, I was told, than in the old days before confiscation had laid its hand on the fortunes of the well-to-do. Cabrera could not expose himself by attending; all his liberality was in behalf of others. His boast is that while Zelaya, of Nicara- gua, kept everything for his Paris bank account, Guatemala is fortunate in a ruler who spends some of his gains at home—though not all, if any of the varying estimates of a fortune of from three to twenty millions, which he has accumu- 100 CENTRAL AMERICA lated in ten years, be true. While Zelaya af- fronted foreigners, Cabrera has been exceedingly careful of the susceptibilities of Americans of influence, and harder on his own “subjects,” prob- ably, than Zelaya. He spent vast sums on the entertainment of the Pan-American Medical Congress, and, later, on our Pacific cruiser squad- ron, when our navy had the pleasure of seeing Guatemala through the official glass with which we are already familiar. He gives extravagant fiestas on national holidays as an offset to the church holidays. Among foreigners who have or expect to re- ceive concessions he has many apologists. One of them is a well-known member of Congress and of Tammany Hall. Frequently the concession- aire changes his view after his money is paid and practical work begins. For example, as a side light on conditions, the development of a mica mine was halted by the prohibition of the importa- tion of dynamite, which, the President feared, might be used as a means for assassination. : The resident foreigner, whatever he says in private, knows that his business depends on favor; and the plantation owner and the organizer of industry finds labor, such as it is, procurable thanks to impressment. All development whatsoever is in the hands of outsiders. The new Northern Railway, which connects the capital with the east coast at Puerto THE UNOFFICIAL. SIDE.‘ ©." iggy Baurios, put a line of steel across the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There is no telling how valuable may be its franchise if Guatemala shall ever join in the march of progress. The large, isolated province of Petén, which extends into the heart of southern Mexico, is rich in hard- woods and at the door of a great market. A nation equal in area to the State of Pennsyl- vania wants only the touch of the magic of good government to be a paradise. No city that I have ever seen has a fairer situation than its capital, with its climate of eternal spring, five thousand feet above the sea, surrounded by Alban hills under silver clouds that are ever rolling and tumbling, and which has no more population than it had a hundred years ago, when Chicago was a swamp. It is a country of the gods, fit home for the aboriginal civilization of a continent. Had it had anything like a fair chance, the German steamers that take well-to-do Americans on win- ter cruises would pass by the islands of the Carib- bean. Our tourists would be seeing the beauties of Lake Atitlan, taking horseback rides on fine roads, lounging on the verandas of hotels in the delicious sunshine, or ascending the heights to catch a glimpse of the Pacific as a misty floor merging into the sky. CHAPTER TEN SALVADOR, THE SMALLEST REPUBLIC os company on the day that I left Guate- mala City I had Sefior Morales, who had seen much of the world, with manners to carry him anywhere. Home politics were quite out of his domain, his career having been given to diplomatic errands. Now he was going into the lion’s mouth on a mission from Cabrera, the great man of Guate- ‘mala, to Zelaya, the great man of Nicaragua. Gossip of the two capitals was as busy over this portentous event as that of Europe and America over the Portsmouth Peace Conference a few years ago. The minister of foreign affairs, and all the leading public men, saw the plenipoten- tiary off in a special car; and at Escuintla the alcalde gave him a banquet in place of a lunch. That alcalde, browned as he was by the sun, had a positive Teutonic cast of countenance. I found that he was a German who had been in the coun- try for thirty-five years. He was thoroughly Guatemalicized, if I may use the word, and “played the game” with a skill, it was said, of 103 SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 103 which the most adroit native politicians might not be ashamed. Slowly, over many curves, among the heights, the train descended into the hot air of the low- lands. At San José de Guatemala, which re- called memories of Champerico where I had landed, official permission was granted to leave the country, and my baggage was searched for any Guatemalan silver coins. Then the polyglot lot of passengers, including a French drummer, a German planter, an American prospector, a political enemy whom Cabrera had exiled, and the Japanese ma jor, who had again become my trav- eling companion, were put in a lighter and towed out, to be hoisted up in groups of four in the pul- ley chair on to the deck of an antediluvian of the Pacific Mail. Thirty-five years of age, after graduation from the Atlantic service and a post- graduate course on the Pacific, she had come for her swan song before superannuation to Central American waters. Her captain was a type of the old American merchant service, well read and well trained, who had gone before the mast in the days when it never occurred to any one that our colors would be driven from the seas. His hope was that he might yet have the good luck to get the happy China run, with its long cruises between ports, the chance to keep really clean and shipshape again, and an end of all the petty annoyances from 104 CENTRAL AMERICA Central American officials, who may, in the exer- cise of their authority, keep a steamer waiting while they have a siesta or in order that a friend up-country may arrive to go aboard. There was something noble in his patience, which may have been the reason that the manager of the line kept him on this run and left less troublesome routes to more hot-tempered skippers. “God help you!” said the steward, as he gave the major and myself the only vacant cabin, mid- ship, with no porthole. The door opened aft so that no breeze could possibly enter. I could see that the major had in mind the steamers flying his own flag and the flags of other nations, spe- cially built for tropical service, which ply south from Hong Kong to the benighted islands of the Asiatic seas, where peace and the develop- ment of resources are the results of colonial gov- ernment. The members of the Spanish theatrical com- pany which had been playing at Salina Cruz were overrunning decks and gangways with rampant bohemianism and in the midst of the composi- tion of an eloquent petition of protest (passages of which they repeated to one another in their sonorous, rolling Castilian, in rich contrast to the dental Spanish of the country) because the cooking was not Spanish. There was no season- ing, no taste to it. The heavy tragedian com- plained at the sharp knives; he had cut his mouth Disembarking in a pulley chair on the west coast SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 105 badly. But the major, who, at Escuintla, had taken a spoonful of soup and a forkful of rice saturated with bacon grease and fallen back on bread and oranges, had his innings. It was a delight to see him set to in the confidence, as he said, that the kitchen was clean. If there is any one to whom filth and disorder are abhorrent it is the modern Japanese officer. Plainly, he was weary of Central America. The only conditions under which he would care to return, I am sure, would be the same that took the J apanese to Formosa. Sleep in the Turkish bath of our room was out of the question. We lay down on the upper deck and fell asleep after the short run, with the steamer at anchor and the flames of the volcano Izalco flashing out of the sky. We did not have to wait on the dependable alarm clock of the ship’s morning noises, but were awakened by the clinging mist blanketing the tropical sea, which grows chill and penetrating before dawn. Ashore was another spider pier, another group of build- ings hugging the beach—the port of Acajutla, in Salvador. When you look for Salvador on the map be sure not to hide it with your finger tip. It is the pocket edition—the smallest republic on the western hemisphere, with the most people of any for its size; but larger than Connecticut, about equal to New Jersey, a little larger than all the 106 CENTRAL AMERICA Hawanan Islands, and a good deal larger than Porto Rico. The density of population, while less than that of Porto Rico, is six times that of the United States, one and a half times that of Spain, three times that of Guatemala, its neigh- bor, and eight times that of Nicaragua. From Salvador came the first indigo ever used for dyes. The balsam of medicine is exclusively a Salvadorian product. Salvador is the only na- tion on the North American hemisphere which is not a transcontinental cross section, while Colom- bia is the only one in South America which is. Though Salvador has no lowlands on the At- lantic side to balance her lowlands on the Pacific side, and despite her earthquakes and the pos- session—still another distinction—of the only active volcano in Central America, which is al- ways smoking, rumbling and flaming, she con- siders herself securely nailed to the Cordilleran range and not in the slightest danger of slipping off into the sea. And Salvador suffers from characteristic Cen- tral American maladies. Ex-President Re- gallado, for example, had no more official position than a retired general of any army. But political- ly he belonged to the “outs.” Whenever he went on one of his long sprees his cry was for some- thing to break the monotony of orderly govern- ment. While he lived the old customs should not die out, and the army thought him a devil of a SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 10% fellow and unconquerable—especially when in- toxicated. Early one morning in the spring of 1906 he planted the artillery in the plaza and blew off the front of the Salvadorian White House. His ac- tion was primarily due to his personal dislike of Escalon, who was President at the time. Hav- Ing paid this grudge, he set out to pay another. That Cabrera, of Guatemala, was a mean, half- caste Indian, who deserved to have his face slapped. So Regallado led the troops across the Guatemalan frontier without any declaration of war. He had not yet sobered up when he was killed in battle, while the issue of the war was still undecided at the time that Secretary Root proffered his “good offices.” In 1907 Zelaya, of Nicaragua, was wroth with Figueroa, then President of Salvador. He said that Salvador had broken a secret pact made at Corinto with him. Actually, he wanted to strike a blow at his great rival Cabrera, through Cabrera’s ally. He took care not to precede hos- tilities with any notice of his intentions. A dec- laration of war is bound to warn the enemy of your approach, and plainly destroys the value of a surprise, which every one agrees is one of the most important elements of military strategy. Zelaya found an ally in Tomasso Alfaro, ex- President, and recognized as Salvador’s leading revolutionist; in fact, one of the foremost peri- 108 CENTRAL AMERICA patetic revolutionists in all Central America. He had a quota of followers, consisting of a staff ready to wear brilliant uniforms as soon as they had the wherewithal to buy them. With them, a band of Nicaraguan soldiers, and a Nicaraguan commander a landing was made from the Nicaraguan gunboat Momotombo at Acajutla. Marching inland, the invaders cap- tured Sonsonate, a town on the railroad half way to the capital. They were beaten, but took away $25,000 in silver as part of their loot. Alfaro thought that the money belonged to him, but Zelaya took it for the expenses of his expedition. It seems that, in this instance, Zelaya had justice on his side. Had he not fearlessly risked his navy by getting up steam? In spite of such occurrences, Salvador has the most stable government of any republic in Cen- tral America, except Costa Rica. One felt at once that he was in a different at- mosphere from Guatemala. The buildings at Acajutla were not so dilapidated as at San José and Champerico; the officials less truculent and better dressed. One of our lay passengers by rail from Guatemala City to the coast and thence by steamer, when he came out of his room at the hotel at Acajutla appeared in a cassock. In Guatemala it is against the law for the clergy to wear their vestments in public. Salvador never SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 109 confiscated the property of the Church or offi- cially made war on any religion. When you came to buy your ticket at the sta- tion you met with a new rate of exchange. In- stead of fifteen or sixteen dollars, a gold dollar brought a return of only two dollars and forty-seven cents, with the fraction in silver rather than in paper. Throughout Mexico and Guatemala all the train conductors and engineers had been foreigners, usually Americans. In Sal- vador they were natives. This was a first sign of competency not to be underestimated. The Salvadorian has enough sense of the con- tinuity of labor not to take a holiday without in- forming the yardmaster before he is due to take out a train. Yet he has no more white blood than the Mexican or the Guatemalan creole, who can- not be entrusted with responsibility. His abo- riginal ancestors were of no higher type. The environment of time is purely responsible for the difference; not the climate, by any means. For the Salvadorian highlands have not the altitude of those of Guatemala. In Salvador City the cathedral of wood, paint- ed stone color—for the old capital of 65,000 people was once destroyed by earthquake—was well kept; an air of peace and happiness prevailed among the people, who went to church in the morning and sauntered in the plaza to hear the music in the evening. Apparently they did not 110 CENTRAL AMERICA fear arrest on suspicion of plotting to assassinate the President if they gathered in groups. The foreign residents spoke candidly of political con- ditions; and if they took you behind closed doors, their tales of oppression were mild beside those you had heard in Guatemala. : An inclination to make an obeisance to the manager of the Hotel Nuevo Mundo was al- most irresistible. A pleasant, middle-aged Ger- man, he sat in the café playing chess when there was no work to do; and about the door loitered none of the hard-looking reprobates of the Presi- dential secret service always in evidence at the door of the Grand Hotel in Guatemala. General utility napkins and towels were not the rule. To the insistent, busy American traveler it was grati- fying to find that the servants responded to a pleasant word. The natives, as a rule, seemed glad to earn money, while the Guatemalans had reached a state of listlessness beyond even this appeal. Under monetary encouragement it was easy to count on the quick-witted porter to waken me at four for my ride to La Libertad to catch the steamer. He and all the others had a poor idea of the Guatemalans, I found on inquiry. Guate- mala is the ancient enemy, which has bred in the Salvadorian a real patriotic impulse, ever directed against conquest. With a population of 1,200,000, second in num- SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 111 ber among the Central American republics only to Guatemala, Salvador has always been able to defend herself from her larger neighbor. Her people in their formative period had kinder Span- ish captains-general; they had never suffered from the rapacity of large land owners, who treated the workers as slaves: they have partly escaped the cupidity of the dictatorships of the later and most awful period of Central American history. Though elections are a farce, public opinion has some effect. The quarrels of poli- ticians have permitted something like rotation in office. No one of the statesmen has accumulated a vast amount of graft; many have accumulated small fortunes. But Salvador’s independence is now Jjeopard- 1zed. Though Cabrera, the ambitious dictator of Guatemala, has not beaten the little republic in the field, she is his vassal, whom he bullies as it pleases him. Figueroa, the weak Salvadorian President, is his man; his cunning hand is play- ing all the time in Salvadorian politics under pre- tense of protecting his little neighbor from the wicked Zelaya of Nicaragua. Guatemala and Salvador must stand together, he says, to keep Zelaya from becoming master of Honduras, where Zelaya’s man, Davila, is President. With Zelaya out of the way, another excuse will suffice. The Salvadorian submits to all this marplotting by his extravagant ruler as “higher politics,” be- 112 CENTRAL AMERICA yond his comprehension, while he pays for addi- tional soldiers and arms which Cabrera thinks are necessary. Salvador is being dragged down to the level of the other States. Conditions are growing worse, economically as well as politically. On the 700,000 quintals of coffee produced every year, each quintal pays a tax of 40 cents in gold. Sugar is free of export charges as yet, and a little is shipped to Ecuador and to Europe. With no access to our Atlantic coast, there is no market for Salvadorian fruit. All imports must come from our Pacific coast States or by way of Ma- gellan or Panama, for want of railroad connec- tion through Guatemala. The cry of the tariff reformer has not yet been heard in the land, where the only manufactures are from an occasional handloom. Duties are the heaviest of any country in the world, and are arranged on a system to encour- age official favoritism in return for bribes. They are mostly according to weight, with a pound of barbed wire paying almost as much as a pound of lace. On top of this is a special tax of 240 per cent. and still another bonos oro of 360 per cent. put on for war purposes. Flour which costs in San Francisco $6 a barrel in Salvador costs about $12; a case of coal oil that costs $1 in New York costs $7 laid down in Salvador. No wonder the SALVADOR, SMALLEST REPUBLIC 113 Salvadorian eats little bread; no wonder he goes to bed early. But while the tropical rains continue to fall, no amount of misgovernment can destroy the fertility of the Salvadorian soil. It has a lesscn for the rest of Central America in the number of human beings who exist to the square mile— the largest of any Christian country which has no manufactures except Porto Rico. This num- ber could be doubled. The secret of the Salvadorian’s relative happi- ness and content I found on my ride across the country, when I passed plot after plot of coffee ground as large as village squares, each owned and worked by some peasant proprietor. ct Sci i RI CHAPTER ELEVEN ON THE HONDURAS ROAD IT requires real fortitude not to grow poetic about the Gulf of Fonseca. Have you ever heard of it? If not, look along the west coast of America until you come to a piece of blue, island locked, where the boundaries of Salvador and Honduras run into the water. You will see at once why powerful interests who like to imag- ine that they can look ahead fifty years with the prescience of our pioneer railroad builders have fought for terminal privileges at the best anchor- age between San Francisco and Panama. It is a rare gift of the Pacific, so ungenerous in harbors on the Californian, Chilean and Mexican coasts, to a section of country in which commerce languishes. If Los Angeles had Fonseca at San Pedro, where we are spending millions in a break- water, the Golden Gate would have a rival in beauty and value. A fleet in command of the sea would be drawn as a magnet to this naval base. Its strategic importance is indisputable. After anchorages in the open before surf bil- lowing along a straight beach, still water mirror- 114 ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 115 ing the hills had the enchantment of a mirage to the traveler in the desert; but descending to the shore by the gangway instead of in the pulley chair was a detail of convincing reality. Nature is unmolested except for the few houses on the shore line at La Union in Salvador. Another stretch of buildings, Amapala, Honduras, is set like a piece of fringe at the base of an island which rises in a cone almost as symmetrical as that formed by a trickle of sand from the hand. Whoever would see Fonseca in its glory should go down the west coast in the rainy season; but if you wish to travel inland, choose the dry season, when the foliage, massy thick as the pile of some deep green carpet, becomes parched by the blaz- ing sun, and the trails are hard. My own was a drenching experience in that country, which is as large as the State of Pennsylvania and has only fifty-seven miles of railroad, which are on the Pacific side. Tegucigalpa, the capital, is one hundred miles from the Gulf of Fonseca and two hundred miles from Puerto Caballos, the Atlan- tic port. My introduction to the Central Ameri- can mule in Salvador was now to grow to a familiar acquaintance, amounting to the friend- liest feeling on my part, though perfect philo- sophic impersonality on his. Our steamer had no passengers for La Union, and the discharge of the two tons of freight occu- pied about one-tenth of the time of the official 116 CENTRAL AMERICA formalities. Amapala, so picturesque from the steamer’s deck, is a sad disillusion ashore. That castellated building facing the little pier was a general store rather than the comandancia, and its Austro-American owner, Mr. Mott, is com- mercial lord of the land. For the sake of all future travelers, I pray that he may yet embark in the hotel business. The Hotel Morazén is the worst I encountered in Central America. A row of rooms faces the street and looks out on the kitchen and pigsty, while the cook throws the slops beside the dining- room table. Her liberal use of garlic in every dish could not have been for purposes of season- ing alone. It had the ulterior motive of conceal- ing something worse. We hear much of the deadliness of the tropics, without considering human conditions. By nature Amapala must be most healthy, for both the Mexican consul and his clerk seemed well inured to the surroundings and the fare. The clerk, born of English parents in Nicaragua, had spent all his life in these countries, and I fear his official position was purely an honorary ex- pression of the consul’s esteem. He said that he was looking for a connection with American houses, or any “business opportunities whatso- ever that might appear.” While we ate our din- ner a lunatic was rambling about the place, mums bling and gesturing. A mapala, in the Gulf of Fonseca, principal western port of Honduras ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 117 “You see that there is no institution for the care of the insane,” explained the Englishman. “Honduras was never so poor and helpless as it is to-day.” The bedrooms were without windows; the beds without sheets. And the mattress? Words fail! If you wished any air you must leave the doors open. Between the pigs and the lunatic in the court and the possibility of thieves from the street, I decided, after counsel, to take my chances from exterior invasion and leave the door open into the street. Both the consul and the English- man explained that this was perfectly safe. Everybody, they assured me, was abed at nine, and oil was expensive. Who would burn it un- less he were plotting destruction of the govern- ment? Who would confess his wealth by such extravagance? Who would steal anything of value when he knew that an official would take it for himself and keep the thief in jail? If you wanted to change money, to arrange for transportation, to buy supplies, or to set- tle a difference with the comandante, see the Austro-American storekeeper. For one thing, the government was under obligations to him. It owed him a good deal of money. For plying to the mainland he had two gaso- line launches. One was out of commission and the other had started the previous afternoon for San Lorenzo, the trail head to Tegucigalpa. But 118 CENTRAL AMERICA it had broken down, and M. Nordman, the French drummer, after being out all night, had returned to Amapala. After it was repaired he was in such a hurry to get away from the Hotel Morazén and in pursuit of his samples, which had gone on by bullock cart, that he did not give me time to get some money changed and to pack and store my trunk in order to accompany him. Mr. Mott provided a safer way with four oarsmen and a boat. We pulled out past an island where countless pelicans had their rookeries, and in the stretch of the Bay of San Lorenzo we caught a quartering breeze that sent us spinning. The pelicans, so amiably awkward when they sat on the beach or on a limb, sailing overhead with wings steady as the canvas of our mainsail, would dip suddenly, their fantastic beaks turning to leaded arrow- heads that shot into the water. They emerged sometimes with a fish, sometimes without, return- ing to the patrol duty of the chase if hunger was still unappeased. A long, level beach, which would be an automobilist’s paradise, lay to the south, and a stretch of marsh to the east, with the mountains bluish phantoms in the distance. Three-quarters of the way across we passed M. Nordman in the launch, which had broken down again and was proceeding under the slow propulsion of two highly disgusted hombres at the oars. Suddenly our sails drooped as we came ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 119 ut of the current of wind into a bayou. The shores were not marked by land, but by trees with stiltlike roots which sank into the mud be- neath the surface of the water-covered morass. Their foothold seemed most precarious, and crowded members of the community were con- tinually falling. Keeping to the main course of the Agua Caliente River and passing many blind bayous, we came at last to San Lorenzo, a dozen adobe houses, which form all the settlement there is at what has been the road’s end from the capital for three hundred years. We landed in the pres- ence of four or five half-castes, and the boatmen went in search of Cerrato y Cia, to whom Mr. Mott had wired for mules, Sefior Cerrato, who was waked from his siesta, discouraged the idea of setting out that day. He pointed toward the mountains, where the broad, gray streaks told of heavy downpours. “It always rains in the early evening,” he said, “and you will ride into the thick of it. You will get very wet, and it is too bad to get very wet. Start at dawn and make Tegucigalpa on the sec- ond night.” But my plan had been to arrive in Tegucigalpa in the early afternoon. “Does it rain in the evening up in the high- - lands, too?” I asked. “Yes, sefior.” —— gen A ——————— 120 CENTRAL AMERICA “Then I am bound to get drenched anyway, one time or another.” “Yes, but not to-day,” he answered, with true mafiana philosophy. “Not till to-morrow night and day after to-morrow night. You had better stay at the hotel and we will call you at four.” The hotel, consisting of a two-roomed adobe house, promised dreary hours. The mules, a dark gray and a light gray, were saddled, and Sefior Cerrato, regarding them and my avoirdupois with a weighing glance, assigned me to the dark gray and the light gray to the mozo, a slight creole boy of about nineteen. All my baggage, a change of underclothes and some toilet articles inside a rubber blanket was aboard aft, as the sailor would say, with a poncho forward. Our course till long after dusk was over a per- fectly level country, passing an occasional tiled hut of one or two rooms, with pigs, dogs and naked children about the door. Many varieties of shrubs were scattered over the pasture land. Under the quaint calabash trees, which flower from the limb, lay the hardshell fruit which the natives use for drinking-cups and dippers. Those fascinatingly homely lizards, the iguanas, popped out of their holes to stare as their throats flut- tered. The natives find them better eating than chickens, and the discovery of the nutritious steaks on their plump sides was a boon in the old days to many a famished party of Spanish con- ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 121 quistadores. They make a good target with a revolver from muleback, but it is better sport to leave them undisturbed in the truculence of heads raised in defiant inquiry. There were many herds of cattle, mostly dun color, well horned, of the Texan steer type. They sought the center of the road as night fell, proba- bly because it was the driest place and freest from insect pests, and lay calmly chewing their cuds. It did not please them to move usually, and when the mules, turning stubborn, refused to pass around them, they rose with something of the resentment of Seiior Cerrato from his siesta. The bulls were about as fierce as the iguanas. After dark we struck the upgrade and heavier timber and saw the sheen of a river and heard its flood roaring in the plenitude of the rainy sea- son. Though the clouds had threatened and deluges had fallen to the right and left of us, none had crossed our path. So Sefior Cerrata as a weather prophet had been, at least technically, in error. It was only 9:30, but the town of Pespire was perfectly dark. We passed the shad- owy walls of houses, with a church tower ahead, and scrambling up an incline of cobbles the mozo stopped, beat on a door, and cried out in a grand and important voice: “Seiior, el hotel! Por la noche, sefior?” There was a sound of sliding bolts, and a gray- bearded little man appeared, candle in hand. 122 CENTRAL AMERICA Using mister instead of sefior; he inquired if 1 were ‘Mister’ Nordman. My answer seemed un- satisfactory. Evidently he could not see how any one but Mister Nordman, who had wired ahead, could come to his hotel unannounced at that hour of the night. The absence of any telegraphic word on my part was most singular in a Gringo. He repeated his question; the mozo joined me, making a chorus of denial. Mister Nordman had been expected; another man had turned up. It was all most perplexing. But mine host after scanning my face must have found it fairly free from guile, for he led me into a big room, which seemed the only one in the building outside the kitchen. An old mahogany table in the center might have come from Spain a century ago. He put up a cot, laid a sheet on it, still reserving the one bed for Mister Nord- man. In the morning at four, as I ate my breakfast by candlelight, he presented his bill to Sefior Fédérico Parmer, scrupulously exact in every detail and singularly moderate, in a copperplate handwriting worthy of an old priestly manu- script. Would I do him the honor to judge of its correctness? He was a page out of old Spain in a land little changed from Spanish days; and it was with a real sense of pride that I found on my return an atmosphere of warm welcome ex- ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 123 tended to one who might now claim to be a vet- eran of the Tegucigalpa trail. We left the town enveloped in darkness as we had entered it. Dawn revealed a graded road under the mules’ feet, following the course of the Nacaome River, whose roar we had heard the night before, in the full rush of its busy season of transferring acres of real estate and sections of forest from the highlands to the savannas. This road is the pride of Honduras and the title to fame of Sierra, the most progressive President of modern times, whose vanity expressed itself in practical public work. An American who was visiting the country at that time told him of the good roads movement at home, and Sierra, in the provincial satisfaction of his mountain capital, spoke of the widening circles from the splash of a stone in the water. He was glad to see that the good example he had set was spreading. Early in the day my mozo met a fellow-em- ployee, also in charge of mules belonging to Sefior Cerrato. He changed my saddle for what he thought was a better one. I forgot that, in order to prevent their chafing my legs, I had put some of the packets of Honduras silver in the old-fashioned pistol holders of the first saddle and also a pair of gloves. Thus the absent-minded man’s treasure—about eight dollars in gold— went on toward San Lorenzo before the mistake EE ——— 124 CENTRAL AMERICA was discovered and a wire was sent. The gloves caught me at Tegucigalpa, but not the silver. We passed trains of bullock carts loaded with everything, from the track for a short railway for the Rosario Mine to drygoods boxes full of ladies’ hats. All that the capital and the towns of the interior consume in the way of foreign products—indeed, all manufactured goods, for none are made in Honduras—must travel as they traveled in the time of Cértez and Morazén, pay- ing the heavy freight toll of the trail. Pack mules carry the mails and express. An enterprising merchant of Tegucigalpa re- cently brought an automobile from Europe at heavy cost. After a few trips it was stored in- definitely. The road’s rapid deterioration has already increased the cost of hauling. Culverts have been washed away ; sections have fallen from the mountain-side. At the time of my trip a cart could carry only about half the load it could ten years ago. There are no funds in the Honduran treasury for upkeep, and no prospect of any till the present régime of revolutions shall pass. Thus the lone public improvement, outside of that fifty-seven miles of railway, will soon be only a series of disconnected remnants of its former self. From dawn to the rain storm, yes, and through the rain storm, that ride was a revelation of gran- deur. You forgot the diet of eggs three times a day, of eggs fried and shirred, of black beans, ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 125 and of the tortillas rasping to mucous membranes but most sustaining, even toothsome, when your molars do not crunch‘on particles of sand and other foreign substances less reassuring in their nature. There were occasional thatched huts, with plantain trees near by and patches of corn springing up luxuriantly without cultivation after the ground is cleared. Except for these and the signs of slow-pacing life of the bullock teams—urged on by the mozos’ steel-pointed sticks—which appeared at turns of the road, the land was virgin. It was easy to imagine that you were quite alone, a discoverer. Afar on the higher hills, with the gradual ascent, you saw tawny tufts which suggested the Adiron- dacks and later resolved themselves into the plumes of tall pitch pines. Orchids grew in the crotches of their limbs, and underneath orange, banana, saber-tooth palms, and wild sumach en- Joyed the felicity of temperate and tropical zone companionship. The air was sweet with the odor of the needles, electric with ozone—and all this in what they call a desert country! If the people who landed on the “stern and rockbound coast” had cast their lot here, what would Honduras be like now, one wondered, or the people who carry their vines up the rocky walls of the Rhine or their paddy dykes up the summits of J apan? Every turn brought a fresh vista of timbered declivities, A 126 CENTRAL AMERICA waterfall was a foamy, silver streak on a dis- tant mountain-side. Another singing at the el- bow shot under a culvert beneath our feet and went leaping past, lost in the green of a valley. At La Venta, the halfway place when you make the journey in two days, where we lunched, the mozo, swinging in a hammock, his bare feet hardly escaping my nose, reversed our parts by bidding me hurry, and warned me that it was sure to rain. This time the storms did not dodge around us. A broad swath of dark gray marched straight for our heads and descended in force; and let me say that those thin rubber ponchos which fold in a large official envelope and are given water-basin tests by the salesman are not meant for Honduras rains. Each drop seems to have the proboscis of a Jersey mosquito. It required a helmsman trained in campaigns to hold the back sheet over the native hemp saddle-bags, in which rested precious dry socks and more precious films. It was like riding through a shower bath, with the stream of water running off your hat and off the mule’s nose, while in the rear the mozo, his cotton shirt glued to his skin, was a huddled figure with the graven face of a gargoyle under a water- spout. Over the hill through the mist appeared a pic- ture out of Aragon, in its conventional tiles. The mozo called out “Sabana Grande!” and took the lead through the flooded streets, and I dismount- Among the mountains of Honduras along the Sierra Road ON THE HONDURAS ROAD 127 ed at an open door, with a leap through the sheet of water from the eaves, into.the presence of an elderly man leaning on a cane, with the light of such a genuine welcome on his face as you would not get from any other innkeeper in the world. “Quite a shower!” he said with an American accent, introducing himself. “My name’s Smith.” “Is it Don Alberto Smith?” I inquired. “Yes, sireel” There is no better-known name in all Hon- duras. CHAPTER TWELVE MINE HOST, DON ALBERTO I- was thirty-two years since Don Alberto had been in the States. Having joined the gold rush in ’52, he was practically a Forty-niner. From California the call of travel had brought him to Honduras. “I’d like to see New York and the high build- ings,” he said; “but I'd like to see San Francisco most of all. How it must have changed! It has been shaken down and built again—think of that! They say times are getting good in the States. They're pretty bad here. They will be till we stop revolutions, and there is not much chance of that. Revolutions are a kind of habit in Honduras. You don’t happen to have brought an illustrated paper? I like the pictures best. That’s the way I see how things look at home.” Don Alberto’s first try for fortune in Central America was at coffee planting. He brought in plows, to the wonder of the natives, whose process of cultivation consists of making a hole in the ground with a stick, dropping in a seed, and leav- ing the rains and rich soil to finish the work. But 128 MINE HOST, DON ALBERTO 129 Honduras is not a coffee country; at least, not in the part where he made his experiment. By’ the time he was convinced of his failure he had fallen under the spell of the highland air, taken a Spanish wife and settled down. Then he turned prospector and located a prom- ising claim; but sold his interest in that because he thought that he had found a better one, which, unfortunately, failed to “pan out.” The first is now the great Rosario Mine, with its treasure of millions, and the honor of its discovery is still a thing to set him apart as a romantic character. At seventy-five his hair is far from white, and if it were not for the rheumatism, which afflicts him in the rainy season, he said that he would have no cause to complain. “It is a splendid climate—a splendid climate!” he insisted. “Well, you must be hungry. How will you have your eggs? I don’t suppose you have heard that question before in Central America!” Eggs three times a day, always fried or shirred! (Boiled is out of the question in any inn unused to foreign ways.) But at Don Alberto’s board they were only the incident to a generous and varied meal, with many apologies on his part about the expense and difficulty of bringing in imported supplies in the rainy season. After dinner there appeared in the doorway a man with a blond mustache, a square chin, a 180 CENTRAL AMERICA frank, merry eye, holding the bowl of a briar pipe in his hand as he paused, with a leisurely effect, nodded and exclaimed: “Howdy do?” with a drawl. “Howdy do? Are you an American?’ I asked. “Yes, I travel in that class,” was the dry an- SwWer. “You're not Mr. Jeffs?” Some one had told me that any American who spent the night at Don Alberto’s might expect Jeffs to drop in casually, very casually, in the course of the evening. “Yes, you've got my name, all right,” he said. “And are you the Mr. Jeffs, of Davis’ “Three Gringos? ” “Yes. How did you find that out?” He was immensely pleased. The trip of Davis, Griscom and Somerset remains a brilliant memory in Honduras, which goes a long time between visits from literary travelers. Jeffs, their companion over the trails, is a type of frontiers- man and prospector whose character no surround- ings can change. I asked him if conditions in Honduras were better than in the days of the three. He said: “Worse.” I asked Don Al- berto if they were better than thirty-two years ago. He said: “Worse.” We chatted together before I turned in next door in a damp room, on a damp bed, with damp clothes. Of course, the floor was flush with the MINE HOST, DON ALBERTO 181 pavement. Second stories are not the custom in Central America, and in the rainy season in- teriors everywhere have something of the atmos- phere of a cellar, in contrast to the Philippines. There you sleep on the second floor in towns, and even the poorest natives have their houses built on stilts. The mules were at the door at dawn, little the worse for wear after thirty-eight miles of rough traveling the previous day. They had not known the touch of curry-comb or brush. The Honduran mule never does know such luxury. He is the pride of the land in efficiency, and puts to shame all the records of European cavalry tests for endurance. A trotter, or “fancy mule,” will do the hundred miles from San Lorenzo to Tegucigalpa between four a.m. and ten p.M. Mine, the ordinary “plug” for hire, was good for only about fifty miles a day. Plod, plod, he kept up his pace, four or five miles an hour, like some oppressed spirit on a treadmill. No Cen- tral American ever thinks of dismounting for a declivity or a path of jagged rocks. When I set the example it was with difficulty that I could lead my mozo to follow it. Afterward I heard him saying to another mozo: “The Gringo was so sore that he got off when he came to a bad place.” “They are mad, the Gringos. Did he swear when he did it?” 182 CENTRAL AMERICA “No.” “Then he was not sore. He was afraid he would fall.” “But they are very proud, these Gringos. He made me get off, too.” Sometimes you were in doubt whether the mule minded if there were a man on his back or not. He was a machine, a nerveless freight engine of gristle and bones, unconscious of extra weight. We rounded hill after hill that morning and rode on without waiting for luncheon, deter- mined to reach Tegucigalpa early. The kilometer posts which Sierra set along his road must have been started from either terminus, with a mis- calculation that led to a hiatus when they met. Either that ten kilometer post kept repeating it- self with discouraging monotony or the mozo, in making a cross cut, had led me back to a point behind the spot from which he had started. At last the ascent of a rise flung out the pic- ture of a valley plotted with an area of tiled roofs. It was after midday and we were hungry and thirsty, having ridden since dawn on a pot of coffee and some bread. At a hut on the out- skirts of the town we halted by a tree sprinkled with yellow globes. What sweet, succulent oranges they were! Then we rode on into that capital, so quiet and old in aspect, across the bridge into the plaza and to the hotel, which was one to make the stoutest Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, seen from the hills MINE HOST, DON ALBERTO 133 heart tremble. Was there any food? I inquired. Some bread and cheese were forthcoming after much intrigue. Considering the accommodation, it was not surprising to hear that not a single American commercial traveler, except a drum- mer for a whisky firm, had been in Tegucigalpa for two years. Relief appeared instantly, after a call on Con- sul Alger, who has been in the country as long as Don Alberto and knows every trail and every in and out of the revolutionist plotting. Gibson, the chargé d’aff aires, had ridden out to meet me, and by some mischance we had missed each other. Into the largest house in town, with its spacious, high-ceilinged rooms, forthwith, went visitor and baggage. It was hospitality, indeed, to a disreputable be- ing in soiled khaki, with all his belongings in the diminutive native saddle-bags, and hospitality not ending with shelter and a shower bath. A Dr. Brown, who was away among the hills, had left behind a wardrobe, with word that any or all of it was at the command of anybody who arrived in the straits in which he had once found himself. In one of his suits, which fitted perfectly, restored to the habit of civilization, it was quite in order to call on the President of the republic. CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY IY the hall of Congress at Tegucigalpa are the portraits of all the Presidents of Honduras. On an average they served two and a half years out of a term of four years. Only two, Sierra and Policarpo Bonilla, vacated office without a resort to force as a means to hold their places. The brief space of power of the others is signifi- cant of the turbulent history of a disheartened land which in the last fifteen years has had six revolutions, not to mention numerous abortive rebellions carrying devastation in their paths. The last revolution was in 1907. Manuel Bonilla, then President, had held office for four years. He forcibly passed a law increasing his own term to six years. Duty then called Zelaya, President of Nicaragua, to the rescue of constitutional rights. Bonilla had been neither a satellite of Zelaya nor of Cabrera, of Guatemala; he was “all for himself,” as they say in Tegucigalpa. It suited Zelaya’s international ambitions to have a crea- ture of his own for President of Honduras. So, 134 THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY 135 with no other reason for interfering in her affairs, he made war on his neighbor. Bonilla called Sal- vador, Cabrera’s vassal, to his assistance, and a Salvadorian army came, without taking the pains to make a declaration of war. At the decisive battle of Namazique many of the Honduran troops, who were anti-Manuelistas, deserted to the enemy’s side, and the clannish Salvadorians, who never take any interest except when fighting in defense of their own country, lent no effective support to their allies. One would have a parallel if in a war between France and Germany the leader of a French corps began firing on their own blood, and the Belgians, who had been sent out in secret to assist the French, concluded to play the spectator instead of the combatant. Having taken Tegucigalpa and looted the country generally, with the help of Hondurans— such is Central American patriotism—Zelaya proposed to make Sierra President. Cabrera insisted on Arias, who, by the way, is no longer a Cabrera man because Cabrera recently had him in jail. A compromise was effected on Davila, who, nevertheless, is supposed to be under the thumb of Zelaya. This affair led to Mr. Root’s intervention and to the Central American confer- ence in Washington and the establishment of the International Court at Cartago, to which the Central American republics by their pledged 186 CENTRAL AMERICA word were to submit all their differences. Inside of six months Cabrera’s system of spies was quite unable to see a revolution being organized for the invasion of Honduras and the overthrow of Dévila. Diplomatic interference from Wash- ington again had its effect. Honduras is bankrupt, stagnant, devastated. There seems no flesh left on her bones to call her ambitious neighbors to battle. Her territory is one of the most backward portions of the earth, loaded with a debt of $100,000,000 with accrued : interest, which was borrowed largely to build that fifty-seven miles of railroad. Politicians and London money-lenders began the spoliation, to which there has been no end. All incitement to individual enterprise is pretty well dead. A resident estimated that the average amount spent by the peasantry for clothes and imported luxu- ries was $1.50 apiece annually. “Seiior,” said an old Honduran, “why should our people accumulate more than one shirt apiece, when a revolution may come along at any hour and rob them of everything not on their backs?” Why, indeed? The official world made no concealment of the situation. Sefior Fiallos, secretary of foreign af- fairs, a graduate of Columbia University, spoke hopelessly of his country and its future with a genuineness of feeling that was touching. As an THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY 137 instance of her unprogressiveness he recalled how eighty-eight years ago the messenger bearing the news of the declaration of independence from Spain had come from Guatemala City in fourteen days, while an important official letter sent eighteen days before, according to telegraphic notification, had not yet arrived. The trails be- tween the different republics maintained by the Spanish captains-general were in far better con- dition than those of to-day. Miguel R. D4vila, a man well on toward seven- ty, is said to be the one clean-handed President in money matters in Central America. He is also the unhappiest; a living example of the fault of being out of style in a region where dishonesty is a custom rather than a policy. Even were he venal he could make little profit. All the spoil was exhausted before his time. “I go to bed every night without knowing what may happen in the morning,” he said. “I have no one whom I can trust. I have to do all for myself. All I ask is to escape assassination and finish my term of office honorably. What hope of peace or development has Honduras, lying between Guatemala and Nicaragua? None, ex- cept by interference from the United States. It is for you to see that the Central American Court at Cartago is not the plaything of Nicaraguan and Guatemalan politicians. “Will you not drive out their spies? Will you 138 CENTRAL AMERICA not use your strong arm to give us peace—peace long enough to learn that continual revolution is not the natural order of a nation’s existence? There is no act of yours guaranteeing good gov- ernment which I would not welcome. How can we care for ourselves, how can we rule ourselves under such conditions? And you took away our principal source of income when you made Cuba so prosperous that she raises her own cattle and imports no more of ours.” With his army likely to be seduced at any mo- ment by the agents of one neighboring dictator or another, he planned to have at least a hundred men who would be loyal and know how to fight according to foreign ideas. To this end, he called in a German-trained Chilean colonel to organize a corps of cadets. After looking at the miserable, shoeless, slouchy, dirty soldiers which afflict the sight at every port and in front of every government office from the Mexican to the Costa Rican border, one came to Honduras to learn what opportunity and attention will do for the slumbrous blood of the Maya civilization. In the courtyard of the barracks I saw an ex- hibition almost as exotic in Central America as men-of-war’s men in Bolivia. Colonel Orizun, a fashion plate of the Prussian militarism which spreads its rigid character around the world, had been holding a veritable target practice and had called on the community, from consuls to Presi- THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY 139 dent, to offer trophies. Set among the prizes and under the portrait of Morazén, the Washing- ton of Honduras, was the bull’s-eye sheet, cut with the bullets of the best shots—proof that good shooting is the prerogative of no particular race. Near by, a sentry, in frayed blue jeans of the Central American type, looked on as the cadets, “bracing” after each feat, went through all the exercises which, with good food, had transformed them in a few months from languid, slouching Hondurans to athletic, well-set-up youths. The spirit of corps was in their faces and their bear- ing. Before the distribution of the prizes the colonel read them a speech, a true soldier’s speech. It taught them that their duty was to the nation and the flag and its head and not to any political leader or individual. Strange sentiment that in Central America! Then they took the oath to the colors, a ceremony of impressive dignity under the circumstances. All honor to Colonel Orizun, of Chile, who is at work in Central America, if our officers, missionaries and teachers are not! He is a pioneer who has demonstrated that the lot of half-breeds in those “rotten, fever- plagued countries” have possibilities. Over the trails from all parts of Honduras boys were com- ing on foot, their baggage in a handkerchief, hoping that they, too, might be admitted to that 140 CENTRAL AMERICA exclusive corps, where you are regularly fed and —wonder of wonders!—regularly paid. The regular pay, so contrary to all Central American precedent, was a trial to the old Presi- dent, in face of the protests of hungry politicians, an empty treasury, and all government bills over- due and government wages many months in ar- rears. But somehow he was managing to find the money for this little phalanx, which was the apple of his eye; and he is short-tempered and Central American by training, after all, which requires a mental allowance for his treatment of a woman who had repeatedly tried, in the early days of their organization, to make the cadets desert. He had her driven through the streets with a bar of iron tied to her legs. An American pro- tested that this was no way for a reform admin- istration to start its career. In fact, it was bar- barism of the worst order. “I know it,” the old man returned, “and I did it. Don’t blame anybody else. I know it is wrong, but this is Honduras. It was the only way to make her understand.” In Honduras, as elsewhere in Central America, the law of force is the moral law. When a group of leading citizens meet they reckon up how many times each has been in jail and what it cost each one to get free. Probably there are not half a dozen men of any importance who have not been Honduran cadets, after training by a Chilian officer THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY 141 imprisoned or had to fly the country at one time or another. An English banker was informed by a former President that a voluntary loan of $100,000 in native currency was wanted immediately. He refused. Then came the word that although he was immune as a foreign subject, they could reach him by having three of his clerks shot before day- break the next morning. So he capitulated for humanity’s sake. The only way that he could reimburse himself was to assist in a revolution— for which he did not have long to wait—that would put in a President under promise to meet the debt. President Dévila’s last thought at night and first thought in the morning is to learn if there is any telegraphic news of an insurrectionist on the move or a rebellion under way. Manuel Bonilla, the former President, was in British Honduras nominally in the cattle business, but, as every- body said, waiting his chance. D4vila can have no dances or entertainments in Tegucigalpa, be- cause society, composed largely of Manuelistas, will not attend. Policarpo Bonilla was in town plotting under D4vila’s nose, with the Presi- dent threatening now and then to put him in jail, while Policarpo dodges and keeps up his agita- tion. Need there be any further comment on the misery of the country? Can any one expect in- dustry to thrive under such conditions? 142 CENTRAL AMERICA One pleasant note, aside from the cadets, was the fiesta in honor of national independence from Spain. There were speeches in the plaza; school- girls brought flowers to place on the statue of Morazén, and everybody appeared in their best raiment, with a few of the comparatively well-to- do in hats which had come from France, thanks to the indefatigable M. Nordman, the French drummer. All American interests center in the town of San Jacinto, which had 600 inhabitants in 1889, and now has 18,000 to 14,000. Around the Rosario Mine has risen a town, with schools and clean streets, practically under company control. The managers do not mind revolutions, because labor is cheapened by the way the natives flock in for protection from the recruiting bullies, who march them away from their homes to misery and death by disease. The Americans on the west side of the divide who are not prospectors may be counted on the fingers of both hands. There are many on the east coast, where they own 80 per cent. of the banana plantations. In Tegucigalpa, the most enterprising and active resident at the time of my visit was an American, an eye and ear specialist, who had fled from Chicago because of charges for which he did not stand trial. When he was put in charge of the city hospital he threw out all the patients, consisting of poli- THE MOST BACKWARD COUNTRY 143 ticians, who had their wines charged as medicines, and admitted sick people instead. Already en- Joying the largest practice in Honduras, he was building a sanitarium in the form of a fortress on the hills above the town, which would be of service to any revolutionary army. He had had many differences with Salamanca, the chief of police, who was long in jail on eighty charges of arson, murder and rape, which may or may not have had any foundation in fact, his enemies being in office at the time. Extradition has stopped the coming of de- faulters with ready money to spend, closing the last resort to the fleeing criminal. The revenue of $100,000 a year from the New Orleans lottery, which migrated to Honduras, no longer patches the holes in the national budget. But let the country have peace, let capital come in to develop its resources, and Honduras would soon be a thriving State. CHAPTER FOURTEEN INTO NICARAGUA T HE chargé d’aff aires and Consul Alger bade their guest good-by at the legation door at daybreak. They agreed with me that it was a pity I had to return by the route I had come rather than by the trail to the Atlantic coast, for then I would have crossed Honduras from sea to sea. One with a limited amount of time at his disposal had to bear in mind the infrequent steamer connections. It was quite likely that I should see the chargé and the consul in the home country one day; but when Don Alberto Smith, of Sabana Grande, said: “I don’t suppose you will be passing this way again soon,” the parting had a touch of pathos. My last glimpse as we turned the street corner showed him leaning on his cane in the doorway of his inn and smiling. That long ride back over the Sierra road has another indelible recollection. When we were on the western side and near the top of the divide, at a point which we had passed in the dark on the inward journey, we left the highway and, brush- 144 INTO NICARAGUA 145 ing aside a limb, saw the island-studded Gulf of Fonseca molten under the sun; and far away in a dreamy haze lay the Pacific. Blazing daybreak and the heat on awakening at Pespire on the second morning told their own story. We were in the lowlands. After ten days in the highlands the change was stifling. At San Lorenzo, where a pulling boat was to meet me promptly in order that I might be sure to catch the steamer, the only sign that it would be forth- coming was Sefior Cerrato’s assurance that it was probably on the way. Then I set about the complicated business of sending a telegram of inquiry, which had the misfortune of lacking the legation’s or the con- sulate’s frank to prove that I was not a prospect- ive revolutionist. The telegrapher said that I must first buy a form. This I succeeded in do- ing from a woman who seemed to have the mo- nopoly of this privilege. She was African, and was engaged at the time in rending beef entrails. Next I had to take the blank to be stamped by the post-office, and when I finally turned it over to the telegrapher he sent it out for inspection by the comandante. By the time that it was actually on the wire the boatmen had arrived. They would be ready to start as soon as they had something to eat. But after their meal they disappeared, and a search revealed them under a shed asleep. They said 146 CENTRAL AMERICA that they were waiting for the wind to rise. We found that it had risen, but in the wrong quarter. The Bay of San Lorenzo lost its picturesqueness. It became as offensive a sheet of water to me as to the four hombres who had to pull ceaselessly in the choppy waves. The pelicans had long been abed, and it began to rain before we were across. Wet and tired, we reached Amapala at last. After some argument the sergeant on the pier let me pass without arrest, but two or three sentries leveled their rifles at me on the way to the Hotel Morazdn, which was in darkness. If you would demoralize a small Central American port, arouse a landlord at a late hour with the request for something to eat, for your trunk and to be awakened at four A.M., with porters to be on hand to take the trunk to a boat, which is to be ready for a twenty-mile cruise. Im- possible! To begin with, had I permission to leave the country? inquired the ‘thunderstruck host. But not too many things at once, I re- Joined. Would he fetch the trunk and find some bread and coffee— just cold coffee? Running the gauntlet of other sentries and swearing to them that I was a friend of Honduras, I found Mr. Mott. He would arrange about the boat and speak to the comandante, in order that I might catch the steamer at La Union, across the gulf in Salvador. The landlord could find no cheese and only one A fiesta day in the Honduran capital Old bridge at the entrance to Tegucigalpa INTO NICARAGUA 147 cold tortilla, but there was fire enough left to make the coffee tepid. Where he had stored the trunk during my absence remains an unsolved mystery. It was so rank with mildew that the sopping things on my back were preferable to any inside. Permission to leave the country did not seem to have been arranged to the satisfaction of the sergeant on the pier until he discovered that there were some charges for me to pay. When these were liquidated he let me go. Daybreak came in a blaze after we were well out in the gulf, and it set the pelicans on the limbs of the trees to blinking like so many funny old men who had taken one toddy too many the night before. They stretched their wings and sighed, one imagined, over the necessities of a practical world, before they began to circle about looking for the foolish early fish for breakfast. The boatmen did not intend to work if they could avoid it. They tacked this way and that, without making any progress toward the Pacific Mail steamer, which we could see at anchor off La Union, and which was not to stop at Ama- pala. (Only every other steamer in the schedule finds it worth while to call at the chief Pacific port of Honduras.) Encouraging the boatmen with an offer of a reward to give up trying to sail without a breeze, I took the rudder and they took the oars. 148 CENTRAL AMERICA When the stroke saw that I was heading direct- ly for the steamer he became vociferous. We must land at La Union, he said, before I went aboard, not only to get official permission to leave Salvador, which I had not yet entered, but be- cause the Honduran comandante had wired to the Salvadorian comandante that one passenger was in process of delivery from one nation to an- other, and the bargain could not be completed until an official receipt for my person had been signed. Just then the whistle of the steamer blew. Not another would pass for ten days. The thought of ten days at the Hotel Morazdn over- shadowed the danger of disturbing international relations, so I bade the oarsmen hasten and leave the rest to the passenger. They dropped their oars. “Sefior,” said the stroke, “the comandante would say that we had murdered you on the way. He would put us in jail, and you would be gone, and how could we prove that we hadn’t murdered you? We are poor boatmen. We haven’t any money to pay the Salvadorian comandante, and we can’t go back to our own comandante without a receipt or we will get in jail just the same.” The logic was irresistible from a Central American point of view. It would have been more appealing to one’s sympathy if one had not expected to hear the rumble of anchor chains any minute. I wrote a note to the Salvadorian com- INTO NICARAGUA 149 andante, saying that the boat had been sent to the steamer’s gangway under orders, and gave the note to the stroke. As neither he nor any of his fellows could read, he was not exactly con- vinced. However, he obeyed instructions, and once I was aboard—the whistle I had heard was not the parting whistle—that fearful crew started for shore with the spirit of the rowers in a varsity contest to tell that Salvadorian comandante how the Gringo had treated them. He came off at once, a loser of landing and embarking fees, and after looking me over said he could receipt for me as having been delivered alive. Thus the in- ternational incident was closed in a perfectly friendly understanding. But meanwhile I had formed an understand- ing of another sort with the Chinese steward of the dining saloon, who, with the genius of his race for preparing a meal quickly, soon had me in the presence of a substantial breakfast, not out of season at eleven A.M. for one who had had noth- ing but one cold tortilla and a tepid cup of coffee since noon of the previous day. These short steamer trips between ports meant dips into civi- lization and, incidentally, into real bathtubs. Our captain was another of the old type of American merchant sailors. He had been in service longer than my preceding Pacific Mail skipper, and, in keeping with his rank, his craft 150 CENTRAL AMERICA was newer, being only twenty-five years old. It was paradise to me, as I explained, and he re- marked that though he had dropped anchor at La Union some thirty times he had never been ashore. He could see quite enough from deck. The passengers were not inferior in their cos- mopolitanism to the other west coast lists that I had met: Spanish, French, Italian, Chilean, Chinese and American, not to mention the many Central Americans. Some French mechanics traveling second class were serenely happy. They had served long as foremen in Mexican mines. Two of them had once worked under de Lesseps on the Isthmian Canal. All had saved a com- petency, and they were homeward bound for the last time to spend their days in the ease of rentiers in France. How they talked! How in- finitely French they were, despite their long exile! At table on my right was an American traveler for an arms firm, born to his fluent Castilian in Cuba. He had heard that a rival had placed an order for a dozen rapid-fire guns with Zelaya, and he hoped to place another dozen. The couple across from me was a strange com- bination even for Central America. A Nicara- guan had drifted to the Philippines, where he had held a place for some years under the civil government as interpreter. Meanwhile, he had married; and now he was bringing a frail, oval- Sa a i oi REE INTO NICARAGUA 151 faced little Filipino wife back to settle in his native land, where he hoped to find a position. She was wondering if she should like Nicaragua, and the commercial traveler assured her, with a sympathetic glance, that she would find it differ- ent, but that Lake Managua was beautiful. “Beautiful as Laguna de Bay?” she asked. “No doubt,” said her husband, “much more picturesque.” But he was plainly apprehensive. An overnight run always meant a new repub- lic. One realizes the distance between capitals only when he has to go overland in the rainy sea- son. The next morning we were in the Bay of Corinto, which, except at its entrance, has none of the picturesqueness of the Gulf of Fonseca. It is a basin of hot water, with marshes for the rim and the hills too distant to break the skyline of a typical, tropical, low country landscape. In the foreground a few corrugated iron roofs blazed under the sunshine in burning contrast to the tiles and the group of houses melting away among the palms and bushes. The pier was the subject of my first information on the spot about Nicaraguan conditions. “No matter if you find it cheaver and quicker to lighter your cargo,” said the captain, “you must pay landing charges to the pier monopoly. Everything is run by monopolies and concessions here, and everybody’s pretty well scared to death. Comparisons in these countries are odious 152 CENTRAL AMERICA if they ever were anywhere in the world; but I guess you'll find Nicaragua the worst of the lot.” We ran alongside without a solitary breath stirring the stifling heat. Every passenger paid fifty cents for himself and twenty-five cents for each piece of baggage dropped on the pier. After the sergeant of police, smoking a long cigar and continually expectorating, had accompanied me to the comandante for the usual name, occupa- tion, destination and object of travel, came the customs examination. The police who stood around overlooking the inspectors (of whom there were six, all busy at one time) seemed more glee- fully truculent than any I had yet met. But an American who has ever arrived in a home port is a poor philosopher if he complains in a foreign land. Every article from my steamer trunk was strewn on the filthy floor of the comandancia, or on the fragments of sidewalk outside the door, every inspector joining in the examination. A bag for soiled linen and shoes seemed particularly suspicious. They turned it inside out and even felt of the seams, and then ran their hands in all the shoe-tips. I explained what each article was for, and patience had its reward in saving all but one camera film from being unrolled. A pair of patent leather slippers, however, was laid to one side, and I saw the chief inspector’s eyes regard- INTO NICARAGUA 163 ing them covetously. We compromised on my retaining the slippers by the payment of one dollar in duty, which he put in his pocket. Then, while they expectorated without any care for my wardrobe, they watched me repack my belong- ings. CHAPTER FIFTEEN FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA A RESIDENT American said that it would be worth while to call on the local com- andante General Rafael Cesar Medina, a man of distinction, who had won a victory against the rebels in one of the many armed outbreaks against President José Santos Zelaya, who for sixteen years had been master of the republic. “The general is a type of Zelaya’s military commanders,” I was told. “You will see for your- self.” After I had waited a few moments a woman came out of his office with her head bent and a rapid step, and all the attendant soldiers and officials looked at one another and grinned. She had paid the price, some one told me, which it is his privilege to demand of any woman in the dis- trict. “Medina is a devil!” as the people of Corinto say. Rarely have I seen a face more brutal or sen- sual than that of this thickset ladino, who received me with the overwhelming politeness which be- comes such a mockery in Central America. He 154 FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA 155 sent for beer; he talked of what a healthy port he was going to make Corinto, and showed me a captive jaguar which he was about to send as a present to Zelaya; and then one was glad to flee, thinking of that woman with the bowed head and look of shame as she went past the grinning soldiers. There was time enough before the train started to have a look at the general’s work in behalf of sanitation. The resident doctor sent by the Isthmian Canal Commission, under arrangement with the Nicaraguan government, to see that cer- tain health regulations were carried out for the sake of protection of the port of Panama, had written many letters and made many protests. The general said that'maiiana he was going to inaugurate great changes. He would dispose of the night soil, dig ditches, and spread oil over the waterholes where the mosquito larva thrived; but privately, as he had to foot the bills himself out of his perquisites, he saw only a waste of money which might go to other luxuries. An unusually vigorous protest coming through Managua had resulted in a display of energy. A number of prisoners were set to cutting some.of the jungle grass in the streets, a perfectly inex- pensive reform, with the general superintending the work and proudly calling attention to his progressive policy. At night one had only to leave the water-front 156 CENTRAL AMERICA to walk into a cloud of mosquitoes. Dogs and pigs and babies rolled in the mud together at the doors. Humanity had fallen below the sanitary instincts of that captive Jaguar. One who walked through the outskirts of the town did not wonder that the population of N icaragua is only one-half that of a hundred years ago, but rather how any one had survived—and this in the second main port of call northward from Panama, where sharp-eyed inspection has given the world the first of the many lessons to come of how healthy the tropics may be made. The cleanest spot outside of the homes of the foreigners is that of which Enrique Papi is lord and master. Enrique is richly deserving of his fame on the west coast. Through all the vicissi- tudes of politics with the finesse of a diplomat he has held his own. He lodges and feeds the occa- sional visitor; he changes your money at no feeble rate of profit; and he sells you a bottle of mineral water at a price in keeping with his position as a monopolist. At the noon meal IT met a foreigner—his name may not be given for obvious reasons—who had a small coffee finca up in the Matagalpa district. Forgetful of our surroundings, I began to ask him pointed questions about conditions. He pinched my leg and whispered: “Look out!” “More than likely some one at that table could understand English,” he explained afterward, FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA 157 when we had a moment alone together on the way to the train. “There are spies all about. Every word I said and worse would go to Managua. I'm suspected enough as it is. My coffee trees would be cut down overnight, or a building burned, or they would raise the price of labor or let me have none in the picking season.” He was an apologetic, cowed kind of man after twenty years in Nicaragua. It was out of the question for him to return to his native land and begin life anew. He must remain and make the best of the situation. | “That finca is all I have in the world,” he con- cluded. “If it weren't for the export tax, and all the official exactions, it would pay handsomely. What a splendid coffee country it is—and going to waste!” “Perhaps a revolution will succeed by and by and there will be a new President,” I suggested. “That’s the everlasting error of outsiders,” he said. “A change in the man will not make any difference. He, too, will have his pockets to fill. It is the despotic system that’s at fault, and there’s no getting away from it in this country. I ought to have known better than to come to Nicaragua; but here I am, and I must make the best of it.” Soldiers mounted guard at the steps of the two passenger cars of the train; there were guards of soldiers at every station of importance. Name, occupation, object of travel were taken by the 158 CENTRAL AMERICA police before starting, of course, and a sharp watch was kept of all passengers who boarded the train along the route. At Chinandega, the first important town, we were relieved of an of- ficial whose followers, a hard-looking lot, came to greet him. They supplied the only signs of per- sonal prosperity that we saw. The people in the streets moved at the pace of the slow ox-carts. Every building which had once been pretentious seemed in decay. Meanwhile, the N icaraguan husband was hear- ing anything but a reassuring note from his ex- patriated wife. “How filthy! How awful! Not at all like my country!” the little Filipino woman kept saying. She was not more than twenty-one, and her idea of Manila had been formed in American times. At a later station the Nicara- guan’s mother appeared, and with a look that spoke from a full heart the wife, in her American shirtwaist, submitted to the embrace of a mother- in-law in Mother Hubbard wrapper, who had at least Spanish, Indian and negro blood in her veins. Such mixtures are by no means an exception. The belt of low country holding the fresh water lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, which, with the river systems, all but form a natural canal, brought the raider of the sixteenth century and the blacks from the West Indies in his train. We continued past the villages of flooded, Corinto, the leading Pacific coast port of Nicaragua FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA 159 floorless huts, the entrance to a foreign sugar estate and piles of dyewood being the principal signs of industry. In the gathering darkness the dull sheen of Lake Managua appeared through breaks in the foliage, from which we emerged as we ran beside the water and on into the Estacién Central, as it was called, which is really the plaza of Managua, the capital. Both the plaza and the streets were unlighted. In pitch blackness and pouring rain we descended from the train, and I was one of four who had the good luck to get passage to the hotel in the only “ocean-going hack” that was on duty. The Hotel Lapone is kept by an Italian, who was once a waiter in one of the famous London hotels, . where his wife was a chambermaid. He has pros- pered exceedingly in this and other ventures under Presidential patronage by adhering to the highest scale of London prices. The room was five dollars a day, on the European plan, with bath under a spout in the yard. Later, when I came to pay my bill, it was liter- ally two bills, one in American gold and one in Nicaraguan currency, with a scheme of inter- change between the two puzzling in method if not in results. Still, I could feel that I had es- caped lightly, compared to the experience of a British minister accredited to Nicaragua, who came to Managua from his residential post at 160 CENTRAL AMERICA Guatemala City, and was charged $4,000 for his two weeks’ stay. The wine account, with champagne at $40 a bottle, he would not dispute, because he said it was his duty to have looked at the price list. He finally compromised on a total of $2,000. How much of this the President of the republic re- ceived as his portion history does not say. Pre- sumably, enough to pay for the official banquet to the visitor. On the morning after arrival, when I inquired about seeing the editor of the local paper I was told that he was in jail for having printed a rumor of a rising in Salvador. When I asked where I could find a bank that would honor my letter of credit I was told that there were no banks in Nicaragua, but certain firms were granted the privilege by the President of doing a banking business. However, I would have to wait, as this was a fiesta day. It was well to be told, for you would hardly have guessed the fact except from the closed windows of the few shops. In half an hour’s stroll you had the compass of a city which is officially given 80,000 souls, but at the outside cannot have more than 20,000. It lies on the shores of the lake, which stretches away to a horizon of hot, filmy moisture. Gradually the waters are receding, as any one can see by the shore line. The natives say that this is due to the poor rains of late years, but foreign residents, FROM CORINTO TO MANAGUA 161 in want of any scientific record, think that the earth’s crust is rising. Such was the heat that a few minutes’ leisurely walking started the perspiration. Few people came and went in the streets. Most of them sat listlessly in the windows, when they had any, otherwise in the doors of the humbler dwellings, looking out on the mire. The ill-clad soldiers were omnipresent. Their principal barracks adjoined Zelaya’s personal palace, and on the facade of this ornate building, brilliant in blue and red letters, was the mono- gram of José Santos Zelaya, founder of the Zelayan system of politics, finance and morals. Of all dictators he can justifiably lay claim to having made relatively the largest fortune, con- sidering his impoverished sources of extortion; and in other respects his career is peculiarly in keeping with the history of Nicaragua. CHAPTER SIXTEEN NICARAGUAN HISTORY H ISTORICALLY, Nicaragua is the Cen- tral American classic. In its later story it lacks no situation of the Dark Ages, of the feuds of Italian cities, of the religious wars in the Netherlands, or of the French Revolution, while the early story is unique in its peaceful sim- plicity. Gil Gonzalez Dévila effected the con- quest in 1522 with one hundred horses, four men and his grand conceit and winning manners. He found a large, indolent native population, existing easily off the plentiful fish in the rivers and the products of the bountiful soil, divided into many tribes and, in the highlands, sharing the Mayan civilization. The first chief he met was Nicoya, whom he told of the all-powerful Christian God, who could send unbelievers to hell-fire and believers to heaven. According to the persuasive Gil’s report to Spain, Nicoya con- cluded immediately in favor of bliss rather than burning, and he and all his followers were bap- tized. In return for salvation, Nicoya made Gil 163 NICARAGUAN HISTORY 163 a present of all his gold idols and gold-dust to the value of 16,000 castellanos. Back in the hills was a mightier chief, Nicara- gua, from whom the country takes its name. Nicoya warned Gil that Nicaragua might fight valiantly if angered; or if approached properly he might accept Christianity. So Gil sent an embassy with this message: “Tell him that a captain cometh, commissioned to these parts by the great King of the Christians, to tell all the lords of these lands that there is in the heavens, higher than the sun, one Lord, maker of all things, and that those believing and obeying Him shall at death ascend to that loftiness, while dis- believers shall be driven into the fire beneath the earth. Tell him to be ready to hear and accept these truths, or else to prepare for battle.” Nicaragua’s answer was that of a proud and hospitable gentleman. “Tell those who sent you,” he said, “that I know not their king, and therefore cannot do him homage; that I fear not their sharp swords, but love peace rather than war; gold has little value, they are welcome to what I have. In regard to the religion they teach I will talk with them, and if I like jt I will adopt i.” Gil now proposed an exchange of gifts before discussing spiritual affairs. In return for gold valued at 15,000 castellanos he gave a shirt, a red cap and a silk dress. After this successful 164 CENTRAL AMERICA bargain, he harangued Nicaragua on the value of Christianity through the grace of the King of Spain. But Nicaragua begged to ask the mis- sionary a few questions. “You who know so much of the maker and of the making of this world, tell me,” he said, “of the great flood, and will there be another? In the universal end, will the earth be overturned, or will the sky fall and destroy us? Whence do the sun and moon obtain their light, and how will they lose it? How large are the stars? How are they held in the sky and moved about? Why are the nights made dark and the winters cold? Why did not the Christian’s God make a better world? What honor is due Him? And what rights and duties has man, under whose dominion are the beasts? Whither goes the soul which you hold to be immortal when it leaves the body? Does the Pope never die, and is the great King of Spain a mortal, and why do the Christians so love gold?” Gil answered all most satisfactorily, accord- ing to his accounts, though he does not say how. “Came these men from heaven?’ Nicaragua asked of the interpreter. “Yes,” was the an- swer. “But in what way?’ asked Nicaragua; “directly down, like the flight of an arrow, or riding a cloud, or in a circuit like a bent bow?” The interpreter’s reply is not recorded. Pogsibly NICARAGUAN HISTORY 165 he said that this detail was known only to the King of Spain. | After he had exercised his wits long enough, Nicaragua concluded: “I see no harm init. We cannot, however, give up our war-paint and weapons, our gay decorations and dances, and become women.” Then, according to Bancroft, “upon a high mound, whose summit was reached by steps, Gil Gonzalez had planted the cross upon first entering the town. A procession headed by the Spanish and the native leaders now marched solemnly about the town, and ascended the steps of the mound on their knees, chanting their hymns of praise the while. Proceeding to the temple, they erected there an altar, and jointly placed upon it the sacred emblem, in token the one of giving and the other of receiving the true faith.” Gil says that in one day he personally catechized every one of the 9,017 natives. His exactitude about the number ought to be con- vincing to any skeptic. But peace in Nicaragua was transient. Gil’s men were soon trying by treacherous attack to force such gold from the natives as they would not give. Other conquerors set claim to this land of treasure, with its amiable people. Among them was Cortez. These quarrels were carried to the court of Spain when not fought out on the spot; and while Guatemala was under single headed authority, Nicaragua became the scene 166 CENTRAL AMERICA of the broils of fortune-hunters, who set the ex- ample for the feuds of leaders and communities which followed independence. At the end of Spanish dominion in 1822 N lcaragua must have had nearly 2,000,000 popu- lation. The prosperous cities of Granada and Leon each had a hundred thousand. Then for more than thirty years the civil tumult of munici- pality against municipality, house against house, family against family and neighbor against neighbor continued. Men of wealth were forced to beggary on the highways. The fertile plateau of the northern midland was devastated and de- populated, until, by 1850, probably less than 500,000 people remained. The extreme bitterness of feeling may be better understood when one knows the type of men who ruled. Gémez says of Manuel Antonio de la Cerda, the first Chief of State of N icaragua, that he “was very similar to many of the feudal barons of the Middle Ages. He would smile pleasantly when the ears of his enemies were presented to him strung upon the blade of a sword.” He was, however, said to be “incapable of stealing a cent,” and he was always faithful to the wife given him by the Church. Although internecine struggle was largely ended by Morazin during his eight years’ Presi- dency of the Central American union, at the ex- piration of his term of office, in 1889, war between NICARAGUAN HISTORY 167 the States themselves waged as fiercely as ever. A curious body of troops called “The Protecting Army of Peace,” composed of the allied armies of Salvador and Honduras, under Malespin, in- vaded Nicaragua, and one of the bloodiest of Central American wars ensued. The Protecting Army of Peace laid siege to the capital city Leon for fifty-nine days, when its inhabitants were put to the sword, and the houses pillaged and burned. Many of the principal citizens were shot, and the ferocity of the army was unequaled. A priest from the hospital, who went to Malespin to beg for mercy for the sick who were being murdered by the soldiers, was himself shot for interfering. Among the troubles of Nicaragua at this time is the action of British on the Mosquito Coast, which threatened the independence of the whole country. Recognizing the claim of the pseudo King of Mosquitia to a territory 340 miles long and over 200 miles wide, they established a pro- tectorate and ordered the Nicaraguans to leave, proclaiming a man of mixed negro and Indian blood king. In 1848 the British took possession of San Juan del Norte in his name and appointed a negro governor, calling the town Greytown. Directly the gunboats had gone, the Nicaraguans returned and put the governor in jail. When this reached the ears of the British, they returned and landing marines advanced up the San Juan River, forcing the President of Nicaragua to sign 168 CENTRAL AMERICA a treaty recognizing the Kingdom of the Mos- quits. He appealed to both England and America without results, until the signing of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty by these two countries, by which both were prohibited from colonizing or giving protectoral influence to any Central American republic. In 1860 Nicaragua took formal control of the Mosquito coast. The first American minister to Nicaragua ar- rived at Leon in 1849, and the Monroe Doctrine was announced and accepted by the Legislative Assembly at Managua in the autumn. Already American immigration was noticeable in Central America, and José Alfaro, now chief executive of Nicaragua, lacking confidence in his own mili- tary strength against his neighbors, asked per- mission of the Assembly to bring in United States troops as auxiliaries, giving them, in return for their assistance when needed, government lands and the rights of citizenship. The request was refused. Shortly after, an insurrection broke out at San Juan del Norte, led by Americans, which was defeated by Alfaro’s troops, and a number of Americans were taken prisoners. Two years later, 1851, the American Transit Company, under the control of Commodore Van- derbilt, closed a contract with the government for the transportation of passengers across Nica- ragua. The California gold fever was at its height, and travelers were numerous. The coms NICARAGUAN HISTORY 169 pany agreed to pay the government 10 per cent. of the net profits and transport free in its steam- ers all government troops and provisions. But the friendliness of Nicaragua to the United States was disturbed a year after by a treaty on the part of Washington and the British minister fixing the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica and stipulating the segregation of the Mosquito coast. The N icaragua Assembly in- dignantly protested against further foreign inter- ference in her affairs of State. About this time a new Constitution was adopt- ed by the Assembly, extending the term of office of the Director of State to four years and chang- ing his title to President and the title of State to Republic. Nicaragua was also declared to be out of the Central American union. It was now time for another revolution, this time Honduras aiding the Nicaraguan malcon- tents in revenge for Nicaragua’s withdrawal from the union. The revolutionists landed at Realejo and marched on, gathering reinforcements, until they met President Chamorro in command of his troops near Leon. Defeating him, war without quarter was begun with the attack upon Granada —the government troops having joined the revo- lutionists—which was sacked and partly burned, after a siege of eight months; and, says Gomez, “sad it is to say that after thirty years of war there existed in Nicaragua the same thirst for 170 CENTRAL AMERICA blood and the same inhuman cruelty of the first contestants.” As if this were not trouble enough, an Ameri- can gunboat, which had been sent by the United States to examine into alleged insults to the American minister, Mr. Borland, bombarded the port of San Juan del Norte and landed marines, who burned it to the ground. With the raising of the siege of Granada in 1855, the legitimistas, as they called themselves in distinction from the revolutionists, furiously at- tacked every one suspected of being friendly to the other side. The prisons were filled with inno- cent men and women, who were most cruelly treated. Such acts only strengthened the revo- lutionists. Shortly before the raising of the siege, Byron Cole, an American, had arranged with Castellon, provisional Director of State, on behalf of the revolutionists, for the services of three hun- dred Americans for military duty under the guise of a colonization grant for them with the privi- lege of bearing arms, thus evading the neutrality law of the United States. On the strength of this, William Walker, with 56 Americans, arrived in June, 1855, for the cam- paign against the legitimistas, and was commis- sioned colonel by Castellon, and his force called the American Phalanx. With the addition of a hundred natives he marched against the town of Rivas, but was repulsed, the enemy having been NICARAGUAN HISTORY 171 advised of Walker's movements. He then set sail for San Juan del Sur, where, at Virgen Bay, he was attacked by the legitimistas and six hun- dred picked men under Guardiola, known as the “butcher of Central America”; but the sharp rifle fire of the Americans won. Six weeks later he captured Granada and made a treaty of peace with the legitimista commander. Patricio Rivas was made provisional President and Walker commander-in-chief of the army, and the new government endeavored to reconcile all parties. Everything was done to encourage the immigration of Americans from California, each adult receiving 250 acres of land after six months’ residence, and being permitted to bring in duty free furniture, implements, animals, seeds and personal effects, until, early in 1856, there were some twelve hundred Americans capable of bear- ing arms in the country. From the first Costa Rica was hostile to the influx of Americans, and in March, 1856, de- clared war against Nicaragua and the “fili- busters.” Walker at once dispatched four com- panies of American, French and German soldiers to Costa Rica, where they were defeated, and the Costa Rican troops entering Virgen Bay, mas- sacred nine Americans and destroyed the proper- ty of the Transit Company. Proceeding to Rivas, they were surprised by Walker, but forced him to withdraw, with a loss of 120 out of 550. How- 172 CENTRAL AMERICA ever, they soon returned to Costa Rica on account of the cholera which was raging in Nicaragua, and which they carried back with them to San José, where it is said that 10,000 died before it was stamped out. Meanwhile, a provisional government was declared by Walker, and at the election held soon after he was chosen President and inaugurated at Granada on July 12, 1856. The American minister promptly recognized Walker in spite of the protests of President Rivas, and the Nicara- guan government refused to have further rela- tions with the minister; while, on his side, Walker issued a decree confiscating the property of those who might fight against him. Three months later Guatemalan and Salva- dorian troops occupied northern Nicaragua and attacked Granada and were joined later by Costa Rica and Honduras. Walker's men were hard pressed and his losses so heavy that in De- cember, unable to hold Granada, which he had retaken, he destroyed it. Costa Rica having gained possession of the San Juan River as far as San Juan del Norte, by a coup captured the steamers, thus gaining control of navigation and cutting off a valuable arm of support for Walker. It was at this juncture that an attempt was made to help him by the three Americans, Lockridge, Wheat and Anderson, which, however, failed. When Walker learned of this, he saw the futility NICARAGUAN HISTORY 173 of further resistance and, sending for General Mora, brother of the President of Costa Rica, who was in command of the allied forces, he agreed to surrender to Commander Davis, of the American sloop-of-war St. Mary’s, which had been lying at San Juan del Sur since early in February. Desirous of ending the war, which had already lasted over a year, Mora did not stand on the point of surrender to himself, but consented to allow Walker to yield to Davis; and on May 1, 1857, Walker and his officers marched out of the town of Rivas with their side arms and embarked on the St. Mary’s, followed by 400 of their men. All were taken to the United States. But though Walker had gone, the revolution- ists and the legitimistas were still unreconciled. General Jerez, of the Rivas’ or revolutionist gov- ernment, and General Martinez, of the legiti- mistas, declared themselves Joint dictators, and a new government was set up at Managua in June. Costa Rica still remained in possession of the San Juan River, despite Nicaragua’ protests; and the United States, through its diplomatic agent at San José, informed that government that its occupancy of Nicaraguan territory by conquest of the filibusters would not be recognized. More- over, ambitious President Mora was not upheld in this by the Costa Ricans, who repudiated his a tees —~—— -t— ¥ 3 A 174 CENTRAL AMERICA policy at their first opportunity, but not until Nicaragua had declared war on Costa Rica. At this moment Walker saw an opportunity for himself, and, evading the American govern- ment, landed at San Juan del Norte; but was seized and sent home by Commodore Paulding. Undaunted, a third time he invaded Central America with the intention of sub jugating it, landing at Trujillo, Honduras, in August, 1860. He was taken by the British and turned over to General Alvarez, head of the Honduran forces, who, after a trial by court-martial, sentenced Walker to death. He was shot September 12, 1860. With the election of General Martinez as President in 1857, Nicaragua entered upon what was for her a long period of internal peace. Five years later, with Guatemala, war is declared against Salvador and Honduras, and in 1863 some discontent manifested itself among the Nicaraguans, but was subdued by stringent meas- ures. Other attempts at revolution, based on the pretext that Martinez intended to hold office for life, were put down; and in proof of his honesty of purpose he insisted on giving up the Presi- dency, and Fernando Guzman was elected in 1867. Two years later, General Jerez and ex- President Martinez start a revolution, charging Guzman with violating his pledges, usurpation of power, nepotism and illegal expenditures. After NICARAGUAN HISTORY 175 four months’ civil war, peace was arranged through the United States minister. From this time till 1881 there were only a few uprisings which were easily quelled. Under the Presidency of General Zavala, in 1881, a serious Indian insurrection took place at Matagalpa, said to have been instigated by the Jesuits, and an even more alarming revolt at Leon, with the clergy arrayed against the troops. For this the Jesuits were expelled from the country. In 1885, word that Barrios, of Guatemala, intended to reconstruct Central America by force brought about an alliance, offensive and defensive, be- tween Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Salvador, and five hundred soldiers were sent to Salvador’s as- sistance. The death of Barrios ended the danger. It was during the Presidency of Joaquin Zavala that José Santos Zelaya, who was later to play such an important part in Nicaraguan his- tory, first came into public notice. His family had never entered politics, being content with coffee planting and farming. Young Zelaya was sent abroad to complete his education, and on his return found life on a hacienda too dull for his taste. He at once entered the field of politics, and spoke openly against the President as out of date. Being accused of instigating an out- break, he was arrested and permitted to leave the country for his family’s sake. He went directly to Guatemala, where, first in the army and later 176 CENTRAL AMERICA on Barrios’ staff, he proved himself an apt pupil of Barrios’ methods. On the death of Barrios, Zelaya, who was a born mischief-maker, went to Salvador and was one of the most active partici- pants in a revolt which deposed the President. He then ventured to return to his own country. In 1898 a revolution broke out in Nicaragua, and the President, Roberto Sacasa, was forced to fly. The provisional government established was soon overturned, and Joaquin Zavala came into power for the second time. But the smoldering discontent of the city of Leon toward Granada would not permit Zavala, who was the choice of the Conservatives of Granada, to remain long in office. The people of Leon casting about for a leader found one all too willing in the person of Zelaya, and made him commander-in-chief of their army, sending him against Zavala. After two days’ fighting at Managua, the capital, Ze- laya entered the city and called for the National Congress to appoint a provisional President, him- self. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA HOSE natives whom he rewarded with places for having killed his enemies and obeyed his orders generally spoke of Zelaya, when I was in Nicaragua, as the “Lion of Central America.” He was infinitely abler than Cabrera, they said; but such comparisons carry one into labyrinthian discriminations between tyrants scarcely worth following. Zelaya can boast of a sense of humor. He enjoyed the farces of his re- elections, and on one occasion put three candi- dates in the field, Sefiores José, Santos and Ze- laya, and he solemnly announced José Santos Zelaya as having been elected. He was equally sardonic in his treatment of a Peruvian in busi- ness in Nicaragua, who one day received word that he must depart by the next steamer from Corinto. “Your excellency,” he protested, when he gained admission to the President, “what have I done? I have tried not to meddle in politics and to mind my own business.” “It does not matter what you have done,” re- 177 178 CENTRAL AMERICA turned Zelaya. “I want you to go, and you will go.” “But, your excellency, I have debts owing me. I have many affairs that cannot be settled on such short notice without great sacrifice. Will you not give me thirty days?” “Not another day after the next steamer. I'll appoint an agent to look after your business”— and of course Zelaya would get most of the spoils from the agent. “Then, your excellency, as a citizen of Peru, I must appeal to my government.” “Appeal!” said Zelaya. “Appeal by all means! When I ridicule the United States, laugh at Ger- many, and spit on England, what do you suppose I care for your beggarly little Peru?” He set himself to the task of organizing the finances of Nicaragua immediately he was secure in his place. His methods of pacification were typical of other dictators, with the difference that, as a method of torture, he substituted for the cus- tomary lashings an enema of Chile peppers and alcohol. When his arsenal was destroyed by an explosion, no doubt due either to the carelessness of a watchman or to spontaneous combustion, he had the officers in command executed by slow degrees of torture, and their bodies publicly burned on the site of the ruins. He destroyed villages where any disloyalty showed itself, and frequently drove all the people away to jail or CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA 179 to hard labor. “The Nicaraguans understand only harsh measures, and they shall not want for them,” he said. Coming into power as a representative of Liberalism, which was to free the people from the “oligarchy of property holders”—he was wont to compare himself to the patrician Cesar taking up the cause of the plebeians—his career has been the more diabolical because he was not a ladino, but a man of pure white blood, who had had the benefit of a foreign education. Of course he did not neglect the custom of forced loans from the well-to-do, which, however, was a poor field, because of the impoverishment of Nicaragua, compared to the one his rival, Cabrera, had in Guatemala. He created himself treasurer and banker for all the industries of the land by the simplest sort of a system. Every staple of life, from whisky to medicine, was made a monopoly, with himself a sharer in the profits. Too often his partner was an American or some other foreigner. Tt was one of that type which enjoys the privilege of naturalization who said to me: “The old man’s a wonder at business. Take that whisky monopoly! The profits are 120 per cent. a year. Yes, that’s what I get on every dollar’s worth of stock. Pretty good, eh?” Decidedly unsurpassed of its kind. The in- vestor ought not to mind if his capital were de- stroyed after ten years’ profits by, a revolution 180 CENTRAL AMERICA which quashed the monopoly in favor of one of its own. So skilfully did Zelaya develop the sale of the native intoxicant made from molasses that in place of one drinking-place when he became President, Corinto had twenty, and drunkenness was spreading in a climate where intoxicants are so poisonous both to mind and body that the moderate drinker in the temperate zone is quick to defend and practice total abstinence. The tobacco monopoly paid only a paltry 8 per cent. a month. Dr. Luis H. Deboyle, Zelaya’s physician, had a concession to import medicine free for his hospital. As he was the judge of how much medicine his hospital needed, he had a grip on the wholesale drug business of the entire country. His patients consumed so much petroleum that a hundred cases were brought in free in a single consignment. Joaquin Passos, the President’s son-in-law, who had the oil monopoly, might well have ob- Jected to this invasion of his preserves had he not been of generous nature and well treated him- self. He was allowed to bring in 50,000 cases a year at the old rate of duty, while any other im- porter had to pay so exorbitant a rate that he could not compete, or, if he could, the smashing of a few of his cases on landing would put an end to the competition. The price to the consumer An ox-cart in San José, Costa Rica CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA 181 rose from $24 to $34, which meant a profit of $500,000 to the concessionaire. “See Joaquin” became the commonplace of Nicaraguan official life. “See Joaquin” if you had arms to sell, if you wanted the exclusive right to keep a hotel unmolested by the police in a town, or if you wanted a concession. Zelaya made Nicaragua the concession hunter’s paradise. If you saw Joaquin in a proper spirit there seemed nothing that you might not have in the way of great expectations. Of late years the problem was how to float a company at home to exploit the exclusive privi- leges so readily granted. Nicaraguan concessions became the joke of capital. They had been grant- ed by thousands. Some are not worth the paper they are written on, much less the sums paid to Zelaya as his perquisite. Others are valuable. Many are shameful beyond words in the resources which they surrendered. The mining rights of about one-third of the country’s whole area were given to one man; exclusive privilege of naviga- tion on the San Juan River to a single steamship company, which, however, has the merit of de- veloping the banana lands on the banks. Nor did Zelaya overlook the tariff as a source of income. Rubber, mahogany, dyewoods, cof- fee, and all the staple products of the land suffer an export tax. Imports are valued by weight, and the perplexing schedule of surtaxes leaves 182 CENTRAL AMERICA the application largely a matter of the individual volition of the captain of the port. All duties are payable in rubber bonds, an invention of Ze- laya’s peculiarly resourceful mind. If paid in gold, an additional premium of 50 per cent. is exacted. Naturally, rubber bonds at the time of my visit were above par, and, needless to say, were mostly in the hands of Zelaya and his friends. It may be said that it is bad taste to criticize a ruler’s morals; but Zelaya’s have been a pattern for a generation of youth. He was a pagan by his own confession, who refused to allow the sim- ple unsectarian propaganda of the Bible Society to enter the country. According to his own offi- cial figures, 58 per cent. of the population were of illegitimate birth. He boasted that he was the father of forty-five children. When he traveled through the country he ordered any girl who pleased his fancy brought to him. The father or brother who protested would be sent to jail; or if he wished to leave the country permission was refused. And there are still parents in Nicaragua who do mind such things, though not many after seventeen years of such rule; and the droits de seigneur which Zelaya exercised in Nicaragua as a whole, every jéfe and coman- dante might exercise in his own district. After our choice of the Panama instead of the Nicaragua Canal route, which meant much to his CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA 183 fortunes, Zelaya had a personal grudge against the United States. He searched a Pacific Mail liner at her pier on one occasion; he opened our legation mail regularly, and delayed official tele- grams. Still we did not protest. Possibly he thought that there was no limit to which he could not go. Where other Presidents first take care not to offend the United States too far lest jt bring one of our sudden explosions of wrath, he was inclined to truculence. Otherwise, his character is in keeping with that of his type, which I try to explain under “Revo- lution as a Profession,” in so far as an American can understand it. Greed may have kept him in office long after he had a large competency. But he loved intrigue no less than Cabrera; he loved to beat all his Central American rivals: to be the great man of Central America. Driving his mis- erable soldiers off to war seemed to appeal to him as a kind of national sport. It was not with any regret, except at not hav- ing visited the haunts of Chief Nicaragua in the highlands, that one left Managua for Corinto. General Medina had mowed at least a quarter acre of jungle grass and was resting on his laurels, while the unhappy Canal Zone doctor, under his mosquito net, was meditating another petition (to the inward amusement of the general, - no doubt). Before going aboard the steamer I had a talk nist, Asam HO A Ht ES me 3 = a I A tre ee 3 = en - 184 CENTRAL AMERICA with an Italian, a Lombard, and a fine type of his countrymen, such as are filling Argentina with energy and prosperity, who had shown how suc- cessfully sugar could be grown in Nicaragua. It was a talk to be remembered. His property had gone into the control of a company, and he was soon returning home for good. “They complain of the labor,” he said, “but I have found it not so bad when the men knew that I could protect their earnings. What have they to work for? How can there be industry with the continual extortion and conscription?” “Perhaps Zelaya will go,” I suggested. “No doubt he will soon—when any crisis gives him the opportunity and he is sure of not being assassinated by his henchmen, who will lose their places when a new tyrant comes. But if he does go it will make no difference. There can be no hope from the inside. The thing has gone too far; the habit of tyranny is too settled. There must be a return to the first principles of invio- lability of private property, of order and simple Justice. Do any of these revolutionists under- stand the application of these principles, either as good economy, policy, or for their own sake? “You Americans talk of the Monroe Doctrine and of giving the weak sister republics a chance. You are coming when it pays you, not before. How can I believe in your high ideals when I have seen their results? But you will come, and CONDITIONS IN NICARAGUA 185 to stay, and when you do it will not be wisely, but with a harsh hand, suddenly, when you are angry. You will take a violent interest, or none at all. It is a rich country going to waste, how rich only those who live here can know. The visitor flies from its poverty, but that poverty is the fault of the government and of the popula- tion.” And this recalled the observations of the Japa- nese major whom I had met in Guatemala. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 1? is more pleasant to describe the oasis than the desert, and more to the taste of any right- minded author to write of happiness and progress than of misery and retrogression. In every allu- sion to general conditions I have made an excep- tion of Costa Rica, in which a grateful traveler, buffeted on Central American trails, found a charm that torrential rains could not efface. Land on the Costa Rican side of the San Juan River is worth from four to five times as much as land of equal fertility on the Nicaraguan side. Costa Rica is the one country, from the Mexican to the Chilean borders, with a comparatively free press and free speech from the members of the opposition in Congress; the one country to which the Canal Zone doctors freely send convalescents for recuperation, and the one country (except Mexico) where you travel without a passport or official permission to enter and leave. This little republic, hidden in prejudicial surroundings, is an ethnological and climatic study unique in American colonial history. 186 HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 187 It does not always rain in Costa Rica, the Costa Ricans insist. Why did not I come in the dry season? they kept asking. It was an error equal to visiting New York City in midsummer. We dropped anchor off Punta Arenas in a down- pour which had all the aspects of being a settled habit, and waited for the officials, who appeared with surprising promptness. The captain of the port, Sefior Ramagoza, had taken a post- graduate course in the States; the doctor one in Germany. Both spoke English; both were well dressed and neat, and had been shaved within the last twenty-four hours. Sefior Ramagoza said that he would not drink anything, as he was not thirsty, and the doctor took only one bottle of Pilsener. Both had definite information to give in answer to questions, which was equally sur- prising. It was all disturbing. Were you in Central America? Had the skipper missed his reckoning? “It has been raining for eleven days,” said Sefior Ramagoza. “There is a washout along the line, and the time tables are very unsettled. But if you are in a hurry your best plan is to go as far as you can and take your chances over the broken sections;” and not only his candor, but something about his personality inclined me to the belief that he was not talking to prove the fluency of his tongue and the resourcefulness of his imagina- tion, 188 CENTRAL AMERICA The office building which he occupied was neat and clean and freshly painted. He was as de- lighted as any Central American official to show a stranger the town, and our first visit was to a money changer’s, where I got two Costa Rican dollars for one American dollar. “How much does the rate vary?’ 1 inquired. “Not at all,” he said. “It is on a gold basis. If any one tries to scale a cent on the dollar, re- fuse to allow it.” But already one had felt in the very atmos- phere of the community a change from that of other parts. It was something in the manner of the people you passed in the streets, in the well- stocked stores, which spelled individual freedom and ambition. We stopped in at the little club, which had a billiard room and library and a veranda looking out on the swollen river. Across the way was a church, not in decay, but recently built—a new church in Central America, which is covered with the ruins of the old! Could I see the school ? Surely that question would find the weak spot in Sefior Ramagoza’s armor, which would prove that this place was Central American, after all. Punta Arenas was a small town in the coast country, he explained, and I must not expect too much. But when we came to the building which housed the grammer grade and saw the pupils, with a larger percentage of aboriginal extraction, A Costa Rican school (showing the predominance of white blood) HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 189 some quite black, than in the highlands, and talked with the teacher, who called to mind, in turn, that it was only a small coast town, one felt in the presence of more reality in the way of education than he had seen in Guatemala City. After I decided on the afternoon train and the “chances,” Sefior Ramagoza told me that I would have company. One of the Peraltas, Don Carlos, was going up-country, too; and when I was introduced to a merry-eyed man with a pair of saddle-bags crowded under his feet, Don Carlos Peralta said: “I’ve been in America at the University of Pennsylvania. I was in the football team.” If I would look at the pictures in the papers back in the nineties I would see him without his mus- tache, and, yes, looking quite a little younger. “Adios!” to Sefior Ramagoza, and the train pulled out. Suddenly I had the feeling of one who has left the car without paying his fare. Yet I had given my ticket to the conductor. Yes, of course! Now I remembered what was missing. “Isn’t any policeman going to take my name, destination, occupation and object of travel?” I inquired. “No,” said Don Carlos. “We haven't any time for rubbish like that. This is a free country.” The rain continued. It formed a mist like a stage net between the eye and the dripping 190 CENTRAL AMERICA foliage, and a number of times the locomotive slowed down as we gingerly passed over sections under water before we rose into the foothills, and the call of “All out!” brought the passengers to a high bank of seeping earth looking across the Barranca River, which had swept away the bridge and its abutments. A trolley on a wire spanned the abyss, in the fashion of the early days of rail- roading in the West. It was dark and still raining when we alighted at Esparta from the train which started from the other side. Don Carlos played pathfinder past an orange garden to a hotel. Between Es- parta and San Domingo the railroad had not yet been finished, and this break was ordinarily cov- ered on muleback, in keeping with a schedule which enabled one leaving Punta Arenas in the afternoon to reach San J osé, the capital, in the afternoon of the second day. Word came that a further washout between San Domingo and Aténas seemed imminent. It was quite the worst storm that Costa Rica had known in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. Landslides covered the highway in places, we were told, and in others the bridges were gone. All owners were chary of letting out their mules till the deluge stopped and it was certain that the worst was over. Why hurry? Wasn't the hotel at Esparta good? inquired one traveler, who said that noth- ing should move him till there had been two or i TH HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 191 three clear days. Yes, the hotel was excellent, better in fare and cleanliness than that extrava- gant place at Managua. If you wanted a lime- ade the maid picked up one of a hundred limes scattered in the yard with which to make it; and if you wanted an orange you took it from a tree, whose limb was crowding in at the dining- room door. But Don Carlos was for action. He said that an American and a Costa Rican were going to the capital right away. He was the ambassador to the muleteers, who, when morning revealed the sky in the same shamelessly prodigal state of mind, went back on their promise of the previous evening. While he, in blazing indignation, set out to find men of a more daring nature, I waited in the hotel and listened to an Italian soapmaker of San José marooned with his family, talk of immediate advance, which his wife, inclined to stoutness, did not altogether favor. Once she put in a word, and it was: “My dear, a few hours more or less will not change the fortunes of a family.” When we started, under the shower-bath, there were in our party Don Carlos, a Colombian, a Nicaraguan—both of whom were in the cattle business—the author and the author’s trunk aboard a superannuated mule, which the muleteer was willing to let go in that weather for the price of its carcass. What a ride, with the cobbles of | 192 CENTRAL AMERICA the road under water or a strata of mud! After a time we left the trunk to the mozo in charge. By the honor of Costa Rica, they would do their best; but a trunk was not meant to be packed on the back of a mule. My own mount, surveying the situation, as he saw it growing worse, lost hope. “He’s done. But it’s all right,” said Don Carlos, who had not had a dry stitch on him for twenty-four hours. “I have a friend right over the hill, where we can get another.” Don Carlos’ word was enough to the employees of the hacienda. They rode out and lassoed from the rich pastures reeking with moisture a sturdy, resentful burden-bearer, who was most amiable once he was captured. The Colombian—and he was a blade of pure Spanish blood—fell behind for some reason which I now forget, and when he came up with us he declared himself a gallant. That good wife of the oratorical soapmaker had gone fairly over the head of her mule into a stream. “And it was I,” quoth the Colombian—*1, gen- tlemen, who assisted her to remount, while her husband was eloquent in two languages.” He was in Costa Rica, I was told, because his family’s fortune had been confiscated by the party in power in his country, and he was bound to win some of it back, one way or another, in the Spanish-speaking countries. He also had news HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 193 of the trunk, which, with mule and mozo, had fallen in a gorge. He had gone to the rescue, and it was now under cover in a farmer's cottage. What next? “Back to the trunk!” said Don Carlos. A cousin of his lived near. Another mule and a fresh mozo were forthcoming. “Who is Don Carlos?” I inquired of the Colom- bian. “He is one of the Peraltas,” was the answer. Pressure for more detail brought the informa- tion that the first Peralta, a Spanish marquis, and his wife, had come over in the sixteenth century, and since then the Peraltas had increased in num- bers amazingly. We rode on till we came into San Domingo and dismounted at a hotel kept by a Frenchman, who told us that the washout between there and Aténas had passed from the domain of prophecy to that of fact. After supper the Colombian played the guitar and sang Spanish songs to cheer up the Italian’s good wife, who came in very late and was the object of solicitous care in order that she might have dry clothes. “So sorry I could not lend her some of mine,” said the help- ful Colombian. Finally the trunk came. The new mozo had covered it carefully with oilcloth, and in the morn- ing moisture still clung to the inside, paint- ing everything a streaky red, and along the rail 194 CENTRAL AMERICA of the veranda, exposed to the sun for the first time in many days, the next morning, was an as- sortment of fundamentals and of the frock coat and other ornaments, which some sinner in Wash- ington had said would be particularly necessary if you would show respect to a Central American President, with a saturated silk hat resting on a chair. “Discretion now seems the better part of valor,” said Don Carlos, after he had heard nu- merous reports. “We can’t possibly reach San José before to-morrow night, anyway;” and this ‘was agreeable enough, considering wet papers, notebooks, and what-not that ought to be dried. The deluge, as I learned afterward, would cost the government $1,000,000 for repairs, a misfor- tune in that little country equivalent to two or three hundred millions to us. Nor was it good news to the American contractor who had agreed to fill in the break between Esparta and San Do- mingo inside of ten months. When this was done, the line from sea to sea would be complete, and you might go from Punta Arenas on the Pacific to Puerto Limon on the Atlantic side in a day. The next morning opened doubtfully, with a mist which might turn to rain, but which the sun soon dissipated. The people were busy at their day’s work as we rode by. Even the laborers were white or with the Indian admixture so slight a8 to be almost imperceptible. Some were fair- HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 195 haired, inheritors of the Gothic strain from north- ern Spain. For the first time in the tropics I saw a temperate zone race doing the work of peasantry. Our problem was to get around the great land- slides and the streams which had carried away the bridges. Don Carlos, the indefatigable path- finder, machete in hand, recalled the spirit of the little bands of conquistadores of the sixteenth cen- sury, who traversed the virgin jungle in the face of hostile tribes. Our pioneer party gaining num- bers as it proceeded, included a friar, to fill out the picture. He was a full-bearded, pink-cheeked, brown-haired Dominican, a pair of riding-boots showing their tips under his cassock. When we came to a literal reservoir of mud and débris from the hillside, either he developed sud- den temerity or was absent-minded, for he rode straight past the rest of us into the mess. His mule floundered up to the belly. His boot- tips rose fairly to a level with the mule’s ears, and the Church turned beseechingly to the lay- men. Don Carlos waded in with reassuring words and managed the rescue with rare skill. “Senor, I will follow you after this,” said the Dominican. “It was not my ardor so much as my lack of worldly experience which got me into the difficulty.” “Now, right over the top of the divide,” de- 196 CENTRAL AMERICA cided Don Carlos. “It is a rough climb, but we are sure of not having to swim any torrents.” So we wound our way over slippery rocks and tree roots, up the slopes of Mount Aguacate. From an open space three-quarters of the way to the summit we saw the Pacific, a streak of twin- kling silver at the edge of a rolling carpet of foliage. That was worth al] the pains, and the climbing itself was glorious in the inspiriting air, easier for man than beast, with Don Carlos in- sistent that everybody should remain mounted except himself, Our Colombian hummed Spanish airs; our Nicaraguan, a ladino, who had made a sale of cattle to Don Carlos, and a pronounced Zelayista, was a talkative pessimist who never got off his mule. He had not played fair to Don Carlos, according to the Colombian. Be that as it may, he poured out his criticism of our choice of route and everything in general. “They have lots of money in Costa Rica, but no great men, sir, like Zelaya,” he said. “For sixteen years Zelaya has kept his power. Let an enemy raise a hand or speak a word, and Zelaya sees, Zelaya hears, and there’s an end of the fel- low. That President of Costa Rica is of no ac- count. He has not the courage to put a banker in jail or shoot a rival. You will see, he cannot even re-elect himself. Fifty other men are Just as smart as he. Any one of them might be Presi- The cultivated country of the beautiful valley of San José, Costa Rica HOW WE WENT TO SAN JOSE 197 dent. Costa Rica has never had a great man, but our Zelaya is a lion.” When I smiled, he asked me if I did not admire great men. He was quite unconscious of draw- ing any satirical picture of republican govern- ment. When, later, an opportunity came to tax Don Carlos with Costa Rica’s inferiority, he an- swered : “No, sir. We aren’t going to have any dic- tators in our country. Why, we have plenty of men who are smart enough to be President. Some of them are too smart. Now, if any Costa Rican President got what you call ‘fresh,’ all the plant- ers would come riding into San José when they had the coffee crop in, and say: ‘Thats enough of this dictator business” We have done just that thing in Costa Rica before, and we would do it again, and the Presidents know it and it keeps them in order. But we have not had a revolution for over forty years. Revolutions are bad for business.” Emerging from the thick forest on the eastern side of Aguacate, the meaning of “no revolu- tions” and liberal laws was illustrated in a glimpse of that plain of San José, which must have thrilled the Spanish settlers as the first sight of Salt Lake thrilled the Mormon host. The buildings of the capital were just visible in a panorama of cultivated land, with its patchwork of fields set among groves. It might have been 198 CENTRAL AMERICA the valley of the Po, in Italy, or the orchards of California. The colors of the tropics and the tem- perate zone were blended. Now we came to a cobbled highway, pass- ing groups of well-kept houses, with occa- sional stores in a small town; and at the first hotel Don Carlos said that we should dine and celebrate. There must be wine. Claret was forthcoming from the nearest bodega, and the bounty of that meal was beyond consumption. The hostess kept bringing more dishes, while she apologized for her poor, mean board. We toasted the United States, Central America, the coffee crop, the weather—and finally that trunk, which arrived in time to go with its owner on the eve- ning train to San José. CHAPTER NINETEEN HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA Sry per cent. of the population of Costa Rica, probably 80 in the highlands, is pure Caucasian, or of preponderantly Caucasian strain. The negroes on the banana plantations in the lowlands are mostly foreign subjects from the West Indian Islands, who have no voice in a government centering in an oligarchy of plant- ers. After three centuries of intermarrying among the descendants of the leading colonists, it is said that any member of forty old families, which is not a particularly exclusive official circle in a land with only 850,000 people, can count on the President being at least a distant blood rela- tive. Costa Rica lacks the distinction of making his- tory, which in Central America has consisted of wars and revolutions. She has been an eddy out of the main current of raids and intrigue. The first imprint of character from the early Spanish rulers still remains indelible in every one of the five provinces of the old kingdom of Guatemala, 199 200 CENTRAL AMERICA and Costa Rica was the exception where destiny was kind. The first explorers found few natives on the isolated plateau surrounded by natural defenses. Small bodies of settlers with their wives came in- stead of the conquistadores and the haciendados who sought vast grants of land and large groups of Indians as servile laborers. Thus a social order different from any in Central America was established, in a large measure self-governing, under the Spanish captains-general, even in a region which was not a highway for the carga- dores bringing treasure from Peru or the Philip- pines, the object of raids like N icaragua, or in- fluenced by the corruption and greed growing out of the peonage system. When Costa Rica withdrew from the Central American Federation it was in order to escape the effects of the war between Morazén and Carrera. In 1842 Morazén, the deposed Chief of State of the Central American Federation, landing on Costa Rican soil with an army which he had recruited after his expulsion from Guate- mala, for a time wielded the authority which he still claimed over all the States of the union. But the planters soon rose against him. They cap- tured him and Villasefior, a Costa Rican general, who had been his supporter. The Spartan sen- timent of the extremists prevailed, as it has on more than one occasion, and the prisoners were HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA 201 publicly executed. From that day to this, Costa Rica’s independence of her neighbors has been secure. “On account of her small population and dis- tance from the central government,” says An- tonio Marure, the Guatemalan historian of the federation, “Costa Rica had but little influence in the government of the other countries, but she distinguished herself for her moderation and pru- dence throughout all their troublous times.” And Bancroft says: “The other States were impover- ished and brought to the verge of ruin, whereas Costa Rica, with comparative tranquillity, was constantly marching forward.” Freedom of the press and religion was main- tained throughout the period of union. When the ecclesiastical authorities desired a decree burn- ing certain forbidden books in 1830, Juan Mora, then Chief of State, not only refused, but al- lowed more of the forbidden books to be im- ported. Costa Rica has never suffered from the fanaticism of the orders and the ecclesiastical domination which prevailed elsewhere ; but, on the contrary, she has never confiscated Church prop- erty or made war on the Church as such. Her cities were then as they are to-day, the refuge of political exiles from the other States. A French- man, Laferriere, writing of this little-known re- gion thirty years ago in “De Paris a Guatemala,” says: “The Costa Ricans dislike wasting their 202 CENTRAL AMERICA resources in wars or war material, preferring the arts of peace and to welcome those bringing wealth from other countries.” The policy and character of the old social order remain unchanged. Still talking of union, Costa Rica’s instinct is as naturally for isolation as that of Switzerland. She has never been an aggressor against her neighbors. But if Central America is assailed her response is immediate as a measure of self-protection. Without her assistance Will- iam Walker, the filibuster, would not have been beaten in Nicaragua. Her little army adminis- tered the decisive defeat to his forces and then marched back from those unpleasant lowlands to its own pleasant highlands. Neighboring dictators have learned a whole- some respect for the men who have the qualities of the farmer and the planter, which the Boers exemplified. At a signal of danger they will, as Don Carlos Peralta said, come riding in from all directions, rifle in hand, confident of their ability to defeat any tatterdemalion lot of conscripts from the other republics. They have suffered Presi- dents who grew autocratic and who won office by chicanery and ballot-box stuffing. But every President has a check. He knows that he may look out of the window one morning to see men on horseback streaming into town. So public opinion exists and has an effect. Clannishness makes the Costa Ricans love com- HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA 203 pany. Their fraternal feeling, which is the growth of time, leads to the greeting of “brother” as men pass, and other Central Americans have nicknamed them the brotherly people. While outlying regions wait on development, the popu- lation centers around San José, the new, and Cartago, the old, capital. San José is one-third the size of Guatemala City, and its first dis- tinction to the approaching visitor is an electric car line, when he has seen none since leaving the City of Mexico. The streets are scrupulously clean and well paved. Sanitation is the hobby of the President, Gonzélez Vigez, whom the weekly Life—for San José includes in its free press a humorous weekly —always pictures with a mosquito on the top of his bald head; and one of the local newspapers is of the opinion that he is otherwise the head of a perfectly incapable administration, and tells him so daily. No city of its size at home—and none is, of course, a capital—has so many attractive shops. That rich coffee land is prodigal, creating an ex- travagant people. If this year’s crop is bad, why not live while you live? and no doubt next year’s crop will be good. Sefiora and sefiorita must have Parisian hats for the church parade, and beautiful gowns for the opera. Imported dainties for the palate reappear in the store windows after being absent since leaving the City of Mexico. Costa 204 CENTRAL AMERICA Rica ‘spends so freely that her foreign trade amounts to five times the average per capita of the other Centra] American countries. Ten mil- lion people of the Costa Rican type in Central America would soon change our attitude of djs. interestedness. Then there would be a commer- cial prize on our borders worth having, The lighthearted Costg Rican is proudest of were not for the beautiful women? as Don Carlos well said. Some of them are fair-haired and have blue eyes, a distinction worth a dowry to any San José girl. They are devoted to religion, and their influence sways fathers, husbands and sons. Though freedom of worship is guaranteed, Costa, Rica recognizes the Church by an annual grant, and every Sunday morning the well-uniformed, European-appearing garrison marches to the cathedral, which is the only one I saw in Central America that was in repair. That crowning piece of Costa Rican extrava- gance, the National Opera House, which cost a million dollars in this town of 20,000 people, is a tribute to their cultivated taste. We had not its equal in New York in architectural preten- sion until the New Theater was built, and on the American continent jt is surpassed only by the national theaters in Mexico, Rio de J aneiro and Buenos Aires. The marble for its staircase came A wedding party in San José, Costa Rica HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA . 205 from Italy; artists were brought from abroad to paint the scenes of coffee and banana culture which should express the source of Costa Rican wealth. And the love of music is no affectation. It is a serious matter, with predilection for the Italian and French classics and for rigid observ- ance of stage conventions, and a discriminating exhibition of pleasure or displeasure over the per- formers’ work. The Gringo’s provincial preconceptions are overwhelmed by the scene and the setting in a nook of the Cordilleras. Looking down on the promenade of the dark-eyed women, who are in the majority, and the lucky blue-eyed ones, or meeting the men in the buffet, it was easy to imagine that you were in Europe. At the buffet I met a young Costa Rican who had just been graduated from Yale. He said that he really wanted to marry an American girl and settle down in the States, but these Costa Rican girls were so charming that he was in danger, and once he fell in love he would have to remain forever, as Costa Rican women never liked to leave their native country. But many Americans whom business brought to San José have married there, and, despite the young man’s view, the husbands have returned to Gringoland, and with their wives. He thought the American girls were more independent—it is remarkable how expert a Yale curriculum had 206 CENTRAL AMERICA made him—and the Costa Rican girls fonder of home. But the author judged Costa Rican girls to be fairly independent from the freedom with which they came and went in the evening, an in- vasion of Spanish custom which may be due to American example. Nor is the men’s fondness for exercise characteristically Spanish. It is an illuminating fact that the whites of Costa Rica and the pure-blooded Indians of the highlands of Guatemala, both wholly disinclined to war, with its inferential development of virility, are physic- ally the finest inhabitants of Central America and, from all I could learn, the most moral. San José boasts its polo teams, its football eleven and baseball nines. Nothing which be- longs to a great world capital seems wanting, at least in miniature. There is a national fondness for beautiful parks and impressive public build- ings. Though the Costa Ricans took relatively little interest in the Treaty of Washington, it was considered a national honor to have the court of peace sit in the one country which had been peaceful, and when Mr. Carnegie gave the money to build a palace for housing the judges at Car- tago the attitude changed to positive enthusiasm. A national library is building; an enormous peni- tentiary stands outside the town as an example of architectural pride. Future generations may growuptoit. At present the guests are as lonely HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA 207 as the scattered few in a summer hotel Just before the autumn closing time. The insane asylum, set in a garden of palms and flowers, might be mistaken for the suburban residence of some multimillionaire. But I should not call it an insane asylum. This is against the rules of modern science, as I was reminded by the director, educated in Germany, who showed me through a hospital modern in every respect. Whatever public institution I visited the impres- sion was the same. The national museum was not a travesty, the art school had a score of busy pupils, boys and girls, and the high school and the girls’ seminary lose little by any foreign com- parison. While on the severely practical side, the pub- lic abattoir, well ordered in keeping with what doctors trained abroad had concluded was the best precedent, would not have been complete without an ornamental front to soften the thought of the butchery within to passersby. And that new department store kept by a German! It opens up a world of gossip about bargains and is a drain on many a coffee estate. But no Costa Rican woman, you may be sure, will ever allow any bargain to permit the sale of a rood of the family coffee land. Issue debentures, yes; but sell, never! From generation to generation the land is held, and its value, close to San José, would astound a Western farmer who owns a 208 CENTRAL AMERICA valuable wheat farm. That coffee plant is capri- S005 It grows better nowhere in the world than re. After all my ineffectual efforts to find out about exports and imports in the other countries what a pleasure it was to be referred to a bream which filled your pockets and arms with statistical information and your mind with confidence that the information was at least approximately cor- rect. The Spanish-American custom of no land tax still prevails. Costa Rica isa country of land- owners, large and small, and if one wants to borrow money, instead of laying a mortgage he can issue debentures on his property. Titles are clear and the books open to all to see whatever loan stands against any holding. Taxes are chiefly on imports and by weight, but under a more reasonable scale than elsewhere, But there is a fly in the amber. Proud little Costa Rica, so scrupulous about her national honor, has been defaulting the interest on her national debt for many years. She loved those handsome buildings, and paying for dead horses was most trying. However, be it said to her credit, her citizens were always apologizing for the fact, which represented at least a palliatin stage of self-consciousness; and, at last BSS arrangements were under way to settle with her creditors and begin a new career. Possibly, the United Fruit Company being HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA 209 foreign and the debt being also in foreign hands led to a public view that any money owed to the foreigner was offset by the wealth that the com- pany had taken out of Costa Rica. It owns a major portion of the good banana lands, which are said to be the best in the world. At all events, Minor C. Keith came to Costa Rica a poor boy, but with the capital of American energy and commercial foresight. “How that man worked!” as Don Carlos said. “He is a real modern conquistador. Worked with his own hands, too, showing how to make clearings!” Minor married one of the beautiful Costa Rican girls, and so did his relative, John C., who loves his Costa Rica too well to go. With a gift of winning the Costa Rican Congress to his proj- ects, Minor became a millionaire through the Fruit Company’s concessions and developing trade. Now he leaves the property to other managers, alert, quick corporation men in the Fruit Company’s office, which has the atmos- phere of a New York skyscraper in this halcyon dolce far niente city of the valley of San José, and departs to build a railway across Guatemala, where the conditions of prosperity so helpful in Costa Rica are, as yet, wanting. Among the Fruit Company’s possessions is the railway from San José to Puerto Limon. Its cleverly devised charter allowed the government to name the passenger tariff and left the freight 210 CENTRAL AMERICA tariff to the will of the concessionaire. The plant- ers realized their error too late. It is hardly surprising that the government built the line to the Pacific itself, while the na- tional debt had to wait, and that the feeling is strong in some quarters against the Gringos; while the truth is that the company has been of great service in developing a market at the same time that it has exploited the country in its own interests. It supplies the young abogados in Congress with opportunities for oratory. Listen to one in criticism of an administration measure said to favor the trust: “Our moral depression is such that we cannot overcome the invasion of the American multi- millionaires who trade their fortunes for Euro- pean coronets. Their daughters escape from their unhappy consorts by divorce, but we Costa Ricans cannot make laws to free us, in turn, from the abominable concubinage of the Yankee ele- ment, which treats us as if we were a degenerate race.” “Just fool talk to get in the newspapers,” ex- plained the Costa Rican who was at my side in the gallery. The other extreme of opinion may be found in some quarters, which would really welcome such relations with the United States as would give their products the same chance as those of Porto Rico in our great market. This Congress was varied and human, a re- Fe Q ord a bd wn Q oO LM] = x Bs 2 a < < a oy g <3 )] — 'S = b— Qo S Ye < HAPPY LITTLE COSTA RICA 211 minder of home, giving the visitor the pleasure of listening to much eloquent Spanish. It had its firebrands of the order of the young author of the divorce simile; its trust subordinates; its old- fashioned Conservatives, who think that the coun- try is going to the dogs under a Liberal régime; its scholarly fellows, proud of their Castilian; and the simple planter members, who are con- fused and inert unless something affecting the coffee and land interests is at stake, when they proceed to vote and act. Each bypath of observation brought one back to the men of the fincas. The soil is in the hands of many owners. Your humblest peasant holds fast to his acres. Extreme poverty is unknown in a rich agricultural country, and there is not the excuse for idleness which has become a habit in other States that are devastated by rebellion and oppression. If you would know how well the people live go to the prodigal, tropical market- place on Saturday morning, which is as much a function with sefiora as the opera. There may be revolutions in time to come, but the self- interest of the planters forms a basis of stability which makes constitutional government inherent; while in the benevolent autocracy of Mexico it is, as yet, only a form. The writer confesses, indeed, that he fell under the charm of Costa Rica. It is Spain in the New World, Spain prosperous as well as generous, Cs 7 nr pgs a Semon ys yon — = — TT. a —_——— tt inspire R12 CENTRAL AMERICA where .0 say my house is yours is not altogether a figure of speech. But beware of admiring things unless you expect them to be given to you. I spoke of buying some of the tiny Costa Rican gold dollars as a present, and Don Carlos hurried away and returned with a half dozen, which he in- sisted on giving me. In the streets—and they are lighted and not deserted at night, as they are largely elsewhere in Central America—you will meet many foreign- ers, varying in character from the refugee who was in an assassination or a revolutionary plot against some Central American ruler to Canal employees up from the zone for a vacation or a trip of convalescence; and keeping up the world- wide reputation of ruining the curio market, the Americans are responsible for the increasing values set on the figures of solid gold which the remaining Indians dig up from the graves of their ancestors. “The price of gods has riz,” was the sad message which a steam-shovel man bore back to others at the Isthmus who had not yet been supplied. CHAPTER TWENTY ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS "TUE Costa Rican train, which has the luxury of parlor cars, climbs from San José to Cartago, the classic old town of pure Spanish descent, and passes between the regular rows of clean, aristocratic, trimmed coffee trees, with their leaves as glossy as if just polished, and the ground underneath as clean as if it had just been swept. Coffee is the patrician and the banana the plebeian of Central America. Their export is the chief source of income. It was a Spanish priest who first brought the coffee berry from Arabia to Guatemala, and thence it has spread southward to the Panaman border and northward into the province of Chiapas in Mexico, a monarch of the highland region, growing anywhere from an altitude of one to six thousand feet, but yielding most abundantly at from fifteen hundred to.three thou- sand, and in the highest quality at four to five thousand. Americans, who are a race of coffee drinkers, will be surprised to hear that the prod- uct of our neighbors, which is the finest in the 218 AAA eri Pit BE Sa rn A ” Si rm Sn ps di 214 CENTRAL AMERICA world outside of Mocha and Java, goes chiefly to England and Germany, where the people seem inclined to mix too much chicory with it for our taste. While rubber dislikes cultivation and grows best wild, to the disappointment of many a stock- holder in .rubber plantations, coffee requires al- most as much attention as an American Beauty rose from the time the seed is planted in the nursery under cover of plantain leaves, through transplanting, and to full bearing five and six years later. In lower altitudes it must be shaded, and in higher it must be protected from the north winds. Flowering is the critical period. Should the dry season break faith by heavy showers, fructification will be impaired. Trees will grow to twenty feet in height if allowed, but are kept trimmed down to nine or ten. The berry ripens in October. After picking it must be “pulped.” Then it is pergamino and is spread out to dry on the cement pavements, and later the wafer-like covering is removed, and it is oro and ready for market. Profits are frequently immense, but rarely so for the novice. The choice of ground is as puzzling as that of good orange land in south- ern California. A distance of a half mile, though the soil seems the same, will make a difference in the crop which only experience can test. Wherever coffee grows the nights are cool and the air bracing. But the banana seems to thrive ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS 215 best as the consort of miasma and malarial mos- quitoes. When the train from San José to Puerto Limon leaves the last scattered coffee fields be- hind, it descends into the heart of the lowlands and runs among the banana plantations, where the white man is inclined to hammocks and to supervising an acclimatized race. The banana asks for hot rains and muck in which to set its roots. No skilled labor is required. Set out a sprout and let it grow and wait for the bunch, gathered with a sweep of the machete, and taken in pairs on strong black shoulders to the car or boat. : “Yes, young man,” Mr. Merry, the veteran American minister to Costa Rica, tells his in- quirers, “yes, it is quite true that you can make from 25 to 80 per cent. on your capital if you start a banana plantation. There is no trick be- hind the company’s offer. It can well afford to take your product at a price which assures such a profit. However, young man, I shouldn’t be fair if I did not tell you something else. You must consider that if you are not dead at the end of five years, you may be such a physical wreck from malaria that your fortune will do you no good.” The yellowing bunch in front of the country store and the blackening “four for five” in the + pushcart of the city form the most potent Ameri- can trade influence in Central American affairs. 216 CENTRAL AMERICA The romance of wheat is commonplace beside this far traveler from the swelter of Caribbean coasts, ripening as it goes, which passes through north- ern blizzards to our tables. As an industry in its larger sense, this one is more recent than steel and its growth as rapid. Twenty years ago the United States ate 5,000,000 bunches a year; ten years ago, 15,000,000, and in 1909, 60,000,000. In every Central American country, after the doleful tales of misgovernment and decay on the west coast, you hear of pros- perity on the east coast, which the ever-increasing banana export created. The Caribbean Islands share the bounty. Jamaica, her sugar plantations in ruins, was saved from economic despair by the banana trade. England has trebled her consumption in the last five years. Germany and France are beginning to receive importations in quantity. The growth in consumption, primarily due to the recognition of the banana as a food, would have been impossible without improved means of transportation. The problem from the first has been to deliver the banana in edible condition at the purchaser’s door. Fast steamers, with their holds kept at the right temperature, which is only 48 degrees Fahrenheit, now run direct to Liver- pool and Hamburg. Too much heat means that the banana will ripen too fast. There are warming houses in big railroad cen- ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS 217 ters of our Northern States, where, in winter, the chill is taken off the fruit before the journey is continued. When picked it is green and unedible and not filled out. Sucking the strength of the stem, the fingers swell as they ripen. But no one who has never been in the tropics knows what a really good banana is— a banana which is not cut until its skin sets tight on the plump flesh. And the best are not the big ones which are exported, but the pineapple type, scarcely larger than a man’s thumb, found in the height of its excellence, to my mind, in the Philip- pines. The big banana, like the big strawberry, is the product of cultivation and hardening for market purposes. A banana belt runs all along both coasts of Central America. But the land on the west coast lies fallow, awaiting a market. That of the east coast extends all the way from the Guatemalan border, a strip from 20 to 200 miles in breadth, with some breaks, to Brazil, while most of the islands of the Caribbean may be included in a field which might produce ten times our present consumption. The history of the wheat lands is, in one sense, the history of the banana lands. Those which were richest and most accessible were the first to be developed. Political conditions, besides, played a part. No one would think of starting a plantation in the black republics of Haiti or 218 CENTRAL AMERICA Santo Domingo or in overtaxed, revolutionary, corrupt Guatemala and Nicaragua, when equally good and cheap ground could be had under Brit- ish rule in Jamaica or in the orderly republic of Costa Rica—which was the loss of the backward and the gain of the forward countries. The best quality of bananas is grown in the republic of Panama; the most prolific soil is in Costa Rica. Of the whole business of import into the United States the United Fruit Company controls from three-fourths to four-fifths. The company es- capes prosecution for its trust methods, the courts having held that, as it controls a product grown outside the United States, it falls outside the pale of the law. By adroit and masterful manage- ment, by all the economies and methods of com- petition known to other corporations, this great example has built up its business in the last twenty years. It combines freight with passenger traffic. Al- though American shipping is at its lowest ebb the company is able to build new ships. With no in- terest in government except to develop busi- ness one way and another it manages, always with dividends in view, pretty well to gain its political ends. By force of necessity, prosperity and order must prevail more or less in every port which it dominates. The “banana railroad,” a narrow gauge which taps the plantations, bringing on to the wharf ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS 219 trains of cars piled high with bunches of fruit, is the land tentacle of the corporation. The company does not stop with the ownership of railroads, steamers and piers. It owns vast tracts of banana land, developed and undevel- oped. Forty per cent. of the plantations of Costa Rica are in its possession, and in other regions an equally large or even larger percentage. Beside the steel trust, which faces the ex- haustion of ore, and the Standard Oil trust, which must some day be without oil, the banana trust is in the situation of a flour trust owning 40 per cent. of the Western wheat country. It has control of the soil, that permanent, unfailing source of wealth which, by comparison, in the long run makes the mining business fitful and beg- garly. Between the stools of home consumption and exclusive foreign production, the banana trust has fallen into a comfortable seat. Criticism of its methods in Costa Rica and Jamaica has as yet carried little weight because of the market which the company has created by its facilities for transportation. It has fed impoverished treasuries and brought silk in place of cotton ban- dannas to kinky heads and lace curtains to the windows of tumbledown negro huts. For the banana man is the Jamaican black. The picture of him with a bunch of bananas on his shoulder running up a steamer’s gangway 220 CENTRAL AMERICA is the one most inseparably characteristic of the Caribbean. Malaria and heat and mire do not disturb him. The company has also brought for- tune to many planters, native and American, who have managed to escape without an incurable case of malaria. Our knowledge of the mosquito and of sanitation gained on the Isthmus insure a healthier future. Most of the planters in Costa Rica are Ameri- cans. The Costa Ricans themselves are too happy growing coffee in the cool highlands to undergo the punishing climate of the lowlands, where en- durance and killing time are really the chief requi- sites. A little supervision and the rivers and the Jamaicans do the rest. The sediment washed from the hills by the freshets provides annual fertilization. Every bunch has from seven to twelve hands; the company refuses the sevens. Though they have more than a hundred bananas, they are not worth while in the careful calculation of labor, time and interest charges. It pays 81 cents for all bunches of nine hands or over and 25 cents for eights. At that rate the young man who fights the malaria will make 25 per cent. on his money, if he knows anything about banana raising and banana soil. The company gets an average of $1.70 a bunch, averaging 150 to 175 bananas, in the States, which represents the cost of handling and trans- ABOUT COFFEE AND BANANAS 221 portation, while we know what the retailer re- ceives. The business pays because of its magni- tude, and pays well. Day after day, under the frying sun, year in and year out, the little en- gines of the “banana railroads,” running in and out among the plantations, sing their chuk-chuk in the still, hot air among the motionless leaves, onward to the pier, where the Jamaican yells and sings and giggles as he starts the bunches on their Journey to the pushcarts and the country grocery. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION nmuey tell the story of a mother who re- marked that her son Rodriguez was a bright boy and ought to grow up to be a clever revolutionist. It was like saying that Rodriguez would be a good lawyer, soldier, or merchant; or, rather, the three combined. Revolution has been the golden road to honor, success and profit. Its heroic ideal, so far as I could learn, is Boli- var, Rufino Barrios and Napoleon. I fancy that I met as many men who thought themselves little Napoleons as there are Websters in our debating societies. The profession looks down on any- thing but war and intrigue with all the hauteur of the Austrian nobility on trade. There are many kinds of revolutionists, moody and cheerful by nature, specialists at soldiering or intrigue. One is celebrated for his effective dis- guises. “I have seen ex-President Alfaro,” said an ad- mirer, “a barefooted laborer, making faces in the Plaza of San Salvador at the palace, when, if 222 REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION 223 he had been recognized, he would have been shot as sure as fate.” The cheerful revolutionist is a real philosopher. One whom I met was most entertaining in his disquisition on the jails of Central America, with cynical references to the lashes he had suffered. “Some day I'll get even: I'll have my turn,” he concluded, “and I'l] have a few of my enemies beaten. I was a general at twenty-one, and I got nearly a yard of gold lace for my uniform off a German ship.” “How did you become a general?! How many troops did you have?’ I asked. “You Americans are so practical,” he returned. “I had fourteen rifles. I gathered an army of no less than a hundred men. Of course I chose myself the general. In Central America our gen- erals are self-made,” he continued. “We don’t wait our turn in peace, as you do in Europe and the States. Romance and opportunity are not dead with us. Honor is to those who win it by making their own battalions.” The saddest picture is that of the old man who has been plotting and fighting all his life and in his old age is penniless and out of employment. Such a veteran I met aboard one of the steamers. He was of pure, or almost pure, Spanish blood. As he saw life the world was going to the dogs. The profession was degenerating. Barbarians were taking the place of gentlemen. He paced 224 CENTRAL AMERICA the deck with eloquent gestures, crushing his ene- mies in imagination. “There is fight in the old man still,” he muttered. He would yet live to see the younger men who had beaten him lined up and shot after a hundred lashes. “H ,” said a man who knew him, “is one of the most eloquent propagandists in Central America. If I were starting a revolution I'd employ him just for his literary skill. It’s mag- nificent. When he is in the throes of composition he actually believes every word he writes, too.” The art of propaganda becomes increasingly difficult. After listening to proclamations utter- ly devoid of truth from Spanish captains-general and the revolutionists of later times, who never practiced what they preached, the people have become hardened to political rhetoric. However, you are bound to catch a few of the younger generation, despite all the skepticism of their eld- ers. I was unable to get any of H ’s procla- mations, but here is one, only a fair sample, I am told, written by General Timoteo Miralda, or his scribe, who invaded Honduras from Guate- mala unsuccessfully in the summer of 1908: “Hondurans: I wish to say a few words to my Honduran brothers—to those sons of the fer- tile soil and the land of heroic history! “It is not a proclamation full of promises and vulgar ambition. [This, I am told, is a set phrase, and its use indicated, so his enemies said, REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION 225' Miralda’s lack of originality.] It is the cry of a nation written with ignominy when she was sub- merged by a group of traitors! “O mother country of mine! You have pre- sented your bosom to your children and they have plunged a dagger into that sacred wound. They have sold you like a street harlot to José Santos Zelaya, that lascivious monster formed by the fire of lust and with the flesh of crime,” and so on. Critics said that his last sentence was the only. one with any real vitality. } Besides the proclamation (which is secretly dis- tributed throughout the land, where the few who can read translate its contents to the others) there is an eloquent address, read in a solemn manner to the first band of soldiers that is gathered. Very likely it will begin, on the pattern of Napoleon’s address to his Egyptian army, with: “Soldiers, the glorious hills bathed in the blood of your an- cestors.” The soldiers have no uniforms. Their rifles are usually single-loading Remingtons. When the intelligence of the dictator's own army is insufficient for the use of magazine arms how can raw recruits be expected to master the mechanism? Let us suppose that the revolution succeeds— all uprisings being called revolutions in these countries. What is the process? A commissariat is as slight a desideratum as drill. The original band captures and loots the first town on the road 226 CENTRAL AMERICA to the capital and perhaps captures some of the rifles of the government troops. Gradually the band, taking food wherever it is found, without any thought of paying for it, increases its num- bers by conscription. The privates are invariably Indians and half castes, the officers white or half caste. Any healthy-looking youngster who does not escape into the brush is made a recruit with- out any formality of swearing him in. Lacking a rifle, he has his machete, which is his axe, hatchet and knife in one. To illustrate the simplicity of the average peasant, I was told the story of an Indian whose horse was requisitioned by a revolutionary party. “I'll have to stay with my property, for it’s all I have in the world,” he said, taking up the march. He became footsore and weary, the horse lame ‘and emaciated, but still both staggered on. “I wish my horse would die. Then I could go home,” complained the Indian. Discipline is maintained in these bands by hav- ing the “trusties,” who alone have rifles, shoot the weary and backward; and that is practically the limit of military training. An uprising with any headway has its secret allies in the capital, Hope- fully the soldiers of the despot, being long in arrears of pay, will refuse to fight. Once the successful general enters the palace he suspends the Constitution, which was already REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION 297 suspended—but jt is g custom in this way to recognize that there is such ga thing as a Consti- tution—and proclaims martial law. He pays off his personal enemies whom he catches with tor- ture or imprisonment. But most of them act early by fleeing the country for their lives, Every office is at once filled by the new ruler’s partisans. His leading generals become jéfe politicos of the provinces. Jéfe politico is a most coveted position. It carries all the graft of the province which can be kept out of the President’s hands. It commands the decisions of the local Judges. All national] graft is the President’s, and the national Judges do his will. Where he can- not distribute benefits he distributes honors, Any number of sergeants become generals; others are made members of Congress, though, of course, a Congressional career is purely honorary. All the certificates given in exchange for forced loans by the previous administration are repudiated. The newcomer’s first step after taking any bullion he may capture—and almost none ig left in Honduras, Guatemala and N icaragua—is to make an internal loan of his own, by which well- to-do citizens are forced to subscribe to perfectly worthless paper which promises to pay 10 per cent. a year; or they are told that they can put up certain sums as voluntary loans or go to jail, The dictator is a hard worker. His rule is Personal. He must look after details, He must 228 CENTRAL AMERICA be on the watch against assassination and in- trigue and against his agents taking more than their share of the funds. His ability in his role is largely to be judged by the amount of money he can personally accumulate as against the amount he has to spare to his agents. A guard of his soldiers in the capital receives uniforms and occasionally some pay, as his personal safety de- pends on them. New soldiers are had by im- pressment. The comandantes and jéfes politicos are al- lowed only enough for actual needs, lest they shall get too ambitious. The national telegraph sys- tem centers in the palace, so that el Presidente may keep close watch of what every one is doing. When private vengeance pleases him, as it often does, he keeps the enemies whom he does not shoot suffering in jail, and perhaps sends a Jesting word about the fate of wife or daughter to them. Others he refuses to allow to leave the country, or forces them to leave, according as his political judgment indicates. Whenever any uprising occurs he rushes a com- pany of soldiers to the spot. Not a year has passed since independence without some armed uprising. Each one succeeds in a measure if the loot of a town yields enough money to the leader to live for a year or so in exile, while he plots fresh mischief. Uprisings that overthrow the govern- ment are becoming more and more difficult, owing The author's Honduran boatmen A stop at a Salvadorian inn At President Cabrera’s door Creole children in Managua REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION, 229 to the telegraph. A revolution can get a good start these days only by organization on the other side of the border or friendly support from the United States. Foreign relations consist of a numerous band of spies, which will keep the dictator fully ad- vised of what the exiles are plotting in the neigh- boring countries. Venomous rivalry exists be- tween the different rulers, whose vanity is Boab- ~ dilian. “I’ve beaten and shot men,” declared Cabrera discriminately, referring to Zelaya in an alleged interview in a Costa Rican paper, “but I never gave them enemas of alcohol and Chile peppers.” In 1906 Cabrera was at war with Salvador; in 1907 Zelaya with Salvador and with Hon- duras, and in each instance as many soldiers (so- called) were on the march, according to the popu- lation, as Russia had engaged in the war with Japan. These conflicts are not altogether opéra bouffe. Casualties are frequently heavy. At Namazique (in the recent war between Honduras and Nicaragua) I was told that more men than we lost at San Juan Hill were mowed down in a cul-de-sac by some rapid-fire guns hid- den in the jungle. But, generally speaking, there is much shouting and firing from the hip, and one side or the other retires early. Yet I heard of occasions where bands of the older soldiers—the tough element which is the professional nucleus— 230 CENTRAL AMERICA without any impelling cause had fought most gallantly. To hear the generals talk, however, there are no heroes below the rank of general. TI sat oppo- site a terrible fellow at a hotel, who told me that he had whipped a whole company single-handed. “I waved my sword and charged them, and my sword was dripping with blood!” he said, waving his knife, which was dripping with frijole juice. “In our country we are truly soldiers; we fight,” he resumed. “What is a soldier's life in Ger- many? They grow old without ever smelling blood. Why shouldn’t they remain majors while we become generals? Sefior, behold me! I have been in eight battles already!” The number of generals and officials is some- thing appalling. The “outs” as well as the “ins” live, in some way or other, off the body politic. As a political convict the government has to feed the revolutionist while he works cleaning the streets or on the roads. There is one soldier to every convict, as a rule. If the convict escapes, the soldier himself is put in balls and chains, or, perhaps, shot. Soldier and convict sometimes run away together. It seemed to me—and, generally speaking, this is correct—that every man in Central America, outside of Costa Rica, who had a smattering of education was, in one form or another, potentially a revolutionist. The “out” often goes to the rival REVOLUTION AS A PROFESSION 231 dictator’s country and seeks a little allowance as an ally in planning trouble for his own country. In any event, a few dollars a month will maintain him in a land where food is cheap. All the minds of the country are occupied with machinations, and the wheels within wheels of plots and counter- plots are past any outsider’s understanding. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS SUCCESS in retail trade and coffee growing is to the German in Central America, He learns the language; mixes with the people; rises early; and avoids politics. If the government wants to pay a double price so that an official may, have additional profits, he is willing. Whatever is the custom of the country, he observes it all to the end of an occasional vacation trip on a German steamer to Hamburg, and the hope of a competency on which he may retire to the mother- land. Throughout southern Mexico and Central America the American coffee planter generally fails and the German thrives. The extreme American case is the company promoter who buys a patch of jungle and sells as many shares as he can. The jungle keeps on growing, but no coffee trees grow; while the promoter turns his atten- tion to other fields. Let it be repeated without equivocation that anybody who invests: in any; land or plantation scheme south of the Rio Grande, when he has not seen the property or 282 TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDEN TS 233 does not know his men, may consider his money fost. Another type is the American who makes a company among his friends and boldly under- takes a business with which he is unfamiliar, in a climate which is new to him. He buys his experi- ence dearly. Knowing neither the language nor the labor, which is a law unto itself, he pays ex- cessive prices to contractors and officials for clear- ing the land, for which he paid too much original- ly. Even if he does not choose a bad location he exhausts his capital in learning the art of culti- vating and marketing his crop. But the German comes first as an assistant manager, and after he has served an apprentice- ship, with his savings and a little borrowed capital he gets a small plantation for himself. He is patient, industrious, frugal, content with small profits, and works a coffee plantation without any thought of it as a bonanza—which is the American fault—but rather as a good farmer works a fertile farm at home. After the German as a merchant and a business man comes the Italian. In Nicaragua he rivals the German. Frenchmen and Englishmen, so plentiful in South America, are rare in Central America. Poverty-stricken countries offer small profits in running restaurants or cafés, where you have to feed so large an official class at reduced rates. 234 CENTRAL AMERICA The Englishman lacking the gift of the Ger- man for small economies and used to orderly con- trol of backward native races, shares with the American a certain inherent stubbornness, which will not adapt itself to the system of spies, as- sassinations and extortion which prevails. Only when the American is a part of some corporation, which is somewhat of a law unto itself, does he thrive. If he is not a railroad or a fruit com- pany’s man he is usually a prospector or a tramp. So both the most capable and the most incapable of foreign residents are under our protection. The prospector we all know. He drifts across the border from California to Mexico, gabbles Spanish enough to get along, and drifts on into Central America. You will find him in Peru and Bolivia, in Honduras and Guatemala. As for- tune fluctuates, he dines in the best restaurant or stretches himself on the mud floor of a mountain hut, where mine host remarks: “Seiior, if you have the foreign custom of wash- ing your face in the morning, there’s a gourd out- side the door.” A change of mood may mean a change of direc- tion. A prospector that I met in Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, when both a northbound and a south- bound steamer were in port, told me he was going to Mexico. An hour later, as I went by, he thrust his head out of the window with a happy, irre- TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS 235 sponsible: “Say, I'm going to Peru. Ain’t been in Peru for five years.” The true prospector has the gift of making friends with any kind of people. He is a good story-teller; he never mixes in politics. All he asks is a chance to look for gold, and his dream is comfort in California. Officialdom favors him a little, for if he should find a mine it means graft for the officials. Sometimes he loses his American temper and then he is a bad man, as the natives know. I was told the story of a big fellow who appeared in the doorway of an American Con- sulate one day with two small soldiers, whom he held by the coat collars. “These little chaps want to arrest me,” he ex- plained. “But I want to know from you first if it’s all right. If it is, why, of course, I'll go along to jail.” Another tale, for which the writer does not vouch, says that your much-traveled prospector south of the Rio Grande may be recognized by his habit of shaking his trousers and shirt for tarantulas before he puts them on in the morning. He will do so even aboard a steamer. It is well to avoid tarantulas and the “red liquor.” Red liquor overheats the human bearings in the tropics and soon finishes mind and body. Of all the pic- tures that offend your national pride, the worst is that white derelict lying drunk in the filth beside the road, to be tossed in the brush for the 236 CENTRAL AMERICA vultures one day when he expires. He and better Americans know the interior of Central Ameri- can jails, whose foulness is incredible. In Mexico the American Society sees the American who “goes broke” to the border with a little stake. There is no such society in Central America. At times the American tramp must regret it—for we must not forget him. “At least four or five go by every week,” said an American who lives on the Costa Rica Railroad, “and they all have the same tale”—a tale which usually sends the American newcomer’s hand into his pocket. But experience hardens you, though some ap- peals you cannot resist. It was in Guatemala that a perfectly good-natured “beat” came up to me and said: “Say, old man, will you read that?” which was a “No” on a telegram form. “Old man, the folks at home have been handing me nothing but ‘Noes’ all my life. Ain’t it h—1I? And five paper dollars this money would look so big to me, and it ain’t but 80 cents our money. Now, when you've just come from up in God’s country where I belong, won’t you”—and so forth. Do you imagine that you will miss another American—the colored one? He is omnipresent, has a pride of caste and nationality which makes the rest of us seem unpatriotic. Looking out of the train window one day in Guatemala I saw an TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS 237 inky face above massive shoulders on a fitting background of jungle, and I asked: “How do you Jamaicans get on in this coun- try?” His eyes flashed with scorn. The Jamaicans are an inferior order of jet. “Did yo’ evah heah a man dat talks de way Ah do dat’s a Jamaican? Ahse frum Texarkana, Ab’d hab yo’ know!” “And how do the Jamaicans behave?’ I asked. “Oh, dey’s all right in deir place—an’ dey keeps deir place when Ahse ’round.” “And what are you doing here?” I pursued. “Rustlin’ logs fo’ de sawmill. Dey cain’t enuff 0’ dese 1i’l natives get hol’ of a log to oncet to lift it, an’ de Jamaicans dey ain’t got nuff sense to keep out from in front of de saw.” In his way he was as significant of home as the occasional drummer who breaks away from the beaten trails of the United States and sails southward with a trunk of samples, great ambi- tion, and no knowledge of the country. A visit to one leading city of this terra incognita makes him homesick for the smoking compartment of a Pullman, the water cooler, and the click of the metal room key on the hotel desk. “This is the limit!” he says. “There isn’t enough business in the whole nation to keep one town of 25,000 inhabitants at home going.” And he returns, minus orders and plus much wisdom. 238 CENTRAL AMERICA The foreign drummer, knowing the language, is careful and calculating. No order is too small for him. His firm is ready to pack goods to suit the customer, and so that they will stand wagon or mule transportation. One American commercial traveler I did meet who was quite “on to the job.” He spoke Span- ish as a mother’s son, and represented a famous arms firm. As every Central American who considers himself a gentleman must carry a re- volver, the revolver trade thrives; and our sales- man knew his people like a book. He posted me on all the hotels with the familiarity of one who has been long on the route. “It’s all the fault of my knowing Spanish,” he complained. “I’m afraid I’m condemned to jt forever. I'm afraid the house will think that I cannot do anything else.” Before the extradition treaties Central Amer- ica caught a class of emigrants who went to Canada thirty years ago. Now the defaulting bank cashier knows no safe soil in the world to- ward which he may turn his aching feet. The adventurer and the soldier of fortune whose genius blossoms in a land of intrigue and revolu- tions, and who is frequently wanted .at home— but not so badly that any one will get out a war- rant for him—you meet at intervals. They look on themselves as romantic persons, and act as if they are ready to be made the heroes of novels. American foremen and Jamaica blacks on a banana plantation TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS 239 One has more Sympathy with the American— I had the story from a serious consul—who start- ed trout breeding in an upland lake. His trout had just reached edible size when a volcanic erup- tion killed them all. But he was not discouraged. He started to raise wheat. When he was ready to harvest his first crop the tariff on flour was removed. Too frequently the American concession hunter Judges the country’s possibilities by its natural wealth, rather than by the human handicaps. He sees rich coffee and fruit lands; he sees the very fence posts taking root and growing into trees; and his active, organizing mind plans industrial wonders. But capital has learned to be wary of everything Centra] American, and will continue So until some vital political change shall come. I have already written of the Fruit Company’s interest as our foremost commercial factor. After this come railroads and mines. The few railroads were built and are generally run by Americans. Mining exists on a large scale in Honduras, Costa Rica and N icaragua. The engineers and me- chanics form small communities of their own, forcing certain reforms in their localities by the power of their position. But in trade, in plan- tations (except banana), the frugal foreigner has us beaten, for the good reason that capable in- dividuals are too weak—op too manly, perhaps— to carry on the battle with the miserable govern. 240 CENTRAL AMERICA ments when there are so many opportunities at home. The tourist you never see, except in Costa Rica. If he considers his stomach and is fond of cleanliness he is rightly advised in missing the glorious scenery of the highlands and spending his winter holiday in Cuba, Porto Rico, Bermuda or Jamaica. A fly on the albumen blanket of the fried eggs at the Grand in Guatemala seemed an established custom. Once I suggested to the waiter that by way of variety it might be de- posited between the yolks, but he seemed neither offended nor amused. It was at this hotel that on the third day I in- sisted on a clean towel. The hall boy scuffled away as reluctantly as if he were on the road to the scaf- fold, and after a quarter of an hour returned with one having the service stripes of a veteran. I appealed to the manager. He said certainly, and another came, a brown antediluvian that must have been the only one in a suite occupied by a large family. “I wanted a clean towel, not a different towel,” I explained, but my wit was lost on a desert mind. Such idiosyncrasies as this and calling for an orange for breakfast mark you as a Gringo. Does the dairy farmer eat grass? Should a well-to-do Central American descend to anything relatively as cheap and indigenous? Usually you ask in TYPES OF FOREIGN RESIDENTS 241 vain for the pineapples, the alligator pears, and all the other fruits which grow abundantly. The only way is to send out a boy to pick some or to bring them from market. Of course the poorer classes eat bananas and fried plantains, while the well-to-do seem to rate their standing in society by the amount of meat they consume, and a meat diet in a hot climate must be responsible for much of the disease. Peo- ple who will take a tablespoonful of tabasco as if it were a tablespoonful of catsup are addicted to certain hot dishes which no amount of hunger will make palatable to us. If you mistake the chiles in the center of the table for pickles and try one, as you rush for the pitcher the Filipino water cure appeals to you as a benign institution. One is disinclined to eat butter (mantequilla, as it is called) too freely after he has learned how itismade. Some cream is put in a skin, and then more cream with each milking is added until the skin is filled, when the churning is done by the motion of the donkey on the way to market— for Central Americans are ingenious at labor saving. A certain young secretary of legation was fond of tortillas with mantequilla. He and the consul of twenty years’ experience ate at Madame J ’s, whose hospitality I also shared tempo- rarily. The tablecloth was of a deep, rich brown tint, into whose color scheme any fresh meat 242 CENTRAL AMERICA stain sank harmoniously. On one occasion the boarders threw their stiffened napkins into the corner, as a hint for a change. The hostess put them back, and reminded the offenders that it was not a custom for guests to throw their servil- letas on the floor. One evening at dinner I was spreading a tortilla with mantequilla when I saw that some- thing—in fact, several little things—besides my knife was moving. An examination of the butter dish revealed a.mass of life which fairly blanched the secretary, as he recalled that he had always sat in the darkest part of the dining-room. The wicked, calloused old consul grinned. “I told you when you first came that I never ate butter,” he said. “You would not take the warning, and—well, I've found that experience is the only teacher.” You do, however, get the coffee of the gods everywhere in Central America. On every table is the bottle of essence which has dripped from the berries without boiling, and this you mix as you mix the Russian tea essence with hot water in a ratio to your liking. Rising at dawn to leave the steamer, and again in the evening, drenched from the trail, this is your life saver. The dis- comforts and the food could not prevent me from wishing to see more of Central America from the roadside. Of its skies and its mountains one never tires. CHAPTER TWEN TY-THREE MONEY AND FIN ANCE J ROM Texas to Panama you pass through ore custom houses than in going around the world and home again by the way of England, Germany, Russia and J apan, and in every coun- try is a different currency system. The Ameri- can eagle is the one dependable traveling com- panion. It is a modern idol held in something of the admiration of the gold idols dug out of Indian graves. As soon as it is known that you are Paying your bills in gold callers begin to appear at your hotel asking if you have any to sell. But if you should wish to buy eagles with the currency of the land in Nicaragua, Honduras or Guatemala, you may go from bank to bank without being able to secure any at the day’s rate of exchange, and the fellows who keep the cambio de moneda shops will charge 4 price startlingly at variance with what they offer. It is best to cross a boundary with your pockets empty. Whatever you have left in the way of nickels and filthy “shinplasters” will hardly; be 243 44 CENTRAL AMERICA considered worth purchase on the other side. Costa Rica is solidly on the gold basis, and so is Mexico, but otherwise the backing of the paper which the government issues is forced public con- fidence. The laborer on the plantation must ac- cept the official money as his wages, and as labor has real value, some sort of a ratio to gold is established through the sale of the country’s products abroad, with the flood of paper ever in- creasing and the metal which it gathers going to the credit of the foreign bank accounts of the rulers. Business is handicapped by the uncertainty of the medium; and contracts among foreigners and between foreigners and the government are made in gold as the only dependable way of reckoning. The rate frequently varies two or three points in a week. A drop of six points occurred in Guate- mala after the eruption of the volcano of Santa Maria. Cabrera is the most arbitrary Presiden- tial financier. When he saw his currency depre- ciating with each new issue, and all the silver leaving Guatemala, he issued a decree that paper must be accepted in payment of all debts con- tracted in silver. His ability to force obedience to such an unjust act gave him the confidence to include debts in gold in a second decree. This concerned many foreigners; it even meant ruin to some. All the foreign ministers protested at once, Our minister, at the time Mr. Coombs, MONEY AND FINANCE 45 however, concurred, until New York interests, which were concerned in a large way, appealed to the State Department successfully to the relief of smaller interests, which had spoken in vain; and thus Cabrera’s plan to pay bills to foreigners in scrip, while he still received his export coffee tax in gold, was balked. Money changers, large and small, thrive exceedingly, but take care not to carry too heavy a stock of greenbacks, lest revolution, assassination or a new issue may wholly upset the rate. Whoever is mystified by the monetary systems is advised not to waste his time by going into the history of the bonded indebtedness of Central America. For thirty years the Foreign Bond- holders Society has been meeting in London for grave discussion of how to save some portion of the principal. Honduras has the most brilliant record. She floated $5,000,000 in 10 per cents. in 1867, issued at 89, with which to build a trans- continental railroad; $12,000,000 in 6 2-3 per cents. at 75 in 1869; and $12,000,000 in 10 per cents. at 80 in 1870. With these sums she actually built 57 miles of the line for which the bonds were issued. All the rest of the money went into the pockets of her politicians and the loan agents. By 1873 Honduras had defaulted, and never a cent has been paid since. At present the total indebted- ness, with accrued interest, amounts to $100,000, R46 CENTRAL AMERICA 000, while the interest itself on that sum is more than three times Honduras’ total revenue. ‘A’ compromise settlement for $5,000,000 has been offered by the bondholders, but $5,000,000 seems almost as far out of reach as $100,000,000 to Honduran statesmen. Combining the foreign debt and the internal debts and “voluntary loans,” I am sure that, for population, Central America, miserably poor in all except natural resources, has a larger per capita debt than Great Britain. It is sufficient comment on conditions that accurate figures may be had only concerning the foreign debt, which must be known abroad. That of Costa Rica is $14,000,000 (with $4,- +200,000 of unpaid interest) ; of Guatemala, $10,- 000,000 (with $2,500,000 of unpaid interest) ; of Nicaragua, $4,500,000; of Salvador, $3,500,000. Thus, three Central American countries, Guate- mala, Honduras and Costa Rica, have continu- ously defaulted; the other two, Salvador and Nicaragua, have paid up by compromises tempo-' rarily in order to borrow more. + The first debt contracted was by the old Cen- tral American Federation in 1825, when sixes to the amount of $7,000,000 were offered in Europe, and $800,000 was subscribed at an issue price of 78. In 1840 Costa Rica paid off her portion on a basis of 85 per cent. of the principal. In 1860 Salvador compromised on 90 per cent. in cash. MONEY AND FINANCE EZ Guatemala defaulted until 1856, and Nicaragua until 1877. By borrowing anew eventually set- tlements were made by one compromise or an- other for all of this debt. Costa Rica has been the most successful in floating loans because her credit due to her pros- perity is best. Her per capita debt, less only than that of France, is $85, which, at the same rate, would mean a national debt of $2,840,000,000 for the United States. But her revenues are large, her prospects bright, and she is abundantly able at least to compromise; and without a shadow of excuse to continue her policy of repudiation. In 1889 Salvador borrowed $1,500,000 to build a railroad from Acajutla to Aténas, a distance of 85 miles. Seven miles were built, and the bal- ance of the money went to the politicians. In 1899, finding that the government railway did not pay, she converted her national debt into se- curities of the Salvador Railway Company by a process profitable to all concerned except the bondholders, agreeing to a payment to the com- pany of a subsidy of $115,000 a year. Still an- other financial scheme was worked recently, of which more later. Nicaragua in 1894, soon after Zelaya, took of - fice, compromised on her railroad debt by a re- duction of the interest from 6 to 4 per cent., and only half the coupons in arrears to be paid. In 1904 he made a 5 per cent. loan of $1,000,- 248 CENTRAL AMERICA 000 issued at 75, through New Orleans bankers, with the customs as security. In 1908 he tried to float a 6 per cent. loan of $6,000,000 in Paris on the guarantee of his horrible whisky and tobacco monopolies. With his palace in Belgium and retirement in prospect, every new loan scheme which he could devise meant a large sum for his own pocket. It is hopeless and unwarrantable without some form of international guarantee for any of these countries to secure further foreign loans on their credit as nations. They must mortgage their revenues. Here appear the financial geniuses, almost invariably German-American, who have made the greatest fortunes outside of the Fruit Company pioneers. Of these Adolphus Stall, of Guatemala, is the flower. Recently some one began buying up the bonds of a certain internal loan which had long been repudiated. When Stall was asked about this he said it was strange. He had heard the same news. He wondered who was responsible. As he had been extolling President Cabrera so ar- dently as a patriot and himself as the original, simon-pure friend of Guatemala, the listener could not help saying: | “Why, you have been buying them yourself all the way from 16 to 40, and in March it will be an- nounced that they will be paid at par out of still MONEY AND FINANCE 249 another loan fastened on coffee exportation at an extortionate rate of interest.” He does not play with Peter and Paul liquida- tion of foreign debts, which would attract atten- tion, but finds a higher profit in internal debts— and sticks to his “running account” with Cabrera, a triumph which has brought all other Central American financiers to his feet in admiration of the master. The “running account” is one of the secrets of State. No banker with whom I talked quite grasped its method in detail. But from what I could learn Stall is in the position of one who is receiving about 14 per cent. per annum on his bank balance. He loans Cabrera sums against the collection of the annual export duty on coffee in gold, which is perfectly good security, as the collection is practically in his hands. Mr. Bloom, in Salvador, has no “running ac- ‘count,” but he does all the government bond busi- ness, and in 1908 he actually succeeded in floating a 6 per cent. foreign loan for $5,000,000 at 70 to the agents and 75 to the public. At first it was poorly subscribed, but was taken up finally in London, where 8 per cent. interest is attractive to later generations of investors unfamiliar with Central American financial history. It is not for an outsider to estimate Mr. Bloom’s total profits. A part of the sum received went to the Payment of old loans, and the government re- 250 CENTRAL AMERICA ceived actually about $660,000, which went most- ly to paying arrears of salaries and contracts on the new palace. Already the sum is gone. Pretty soon salaries will again be in arrears, and what then? While Mexico spends her loans on railroads and bridges and other public works that will be an investment in developing resources, that is not so in Central America, where all goes into the pockets of statesmen or to pay the ordinary government expenses. Taxing the production of coffee, as I have already pointed out, means to Central America much the same thing as placing a tax on the export of wheat or steel in our own country. There is a limit—bankruptcy for the planter—which even the best coffee lands in the world cannot bear; a limit when no more money can be borrowed even on that security. There remains the recourse to “voluntary loans” and internal loans. “Voluntary loans” of one type simply represent a demand of the dic- tator for a certain sum of money, which an in- dividual must pay or go to jail. Formal internal loans are taken up by bankers and individuals under government pressure. Forced loans are public, and an example of a call of this kind in the official language of Zelaya, early in his ad- ministration, is worth quoting: “In prevision of a conflict between this Repub- lic and that of Honduras, on account of the hostile I~ | hl LTT m Hh eel El \ ‘ In the plaza of San Salvador City Our mules on the Sierra Road, Honduras MONEY AND FINANCE 251 attitude which the government of that nation has assumed against Nicaragua, and as it is absolute- ly necessary to prepare ourselves conveniently for the defense of the national honor and sov- ereignty, and as it is indispensable to secure the means necessary for that purpose by a forced loan because the exhausted condition of the public treasury does not permit their being taken out of the ordinary revenues of the government, using the faculties given it by decree of the Constituent Assembly of October 19, last, decrees: “1. Let there be assigned in the Republic a forced loan of $400,000, which shall be distributed in the following manner: Granada, $100,000; Managua, $80,000; Ledn, $60,000; Carazo, $28, - 000; Chinandega, $24,000; Rivas, $24,000; Ma- saya, $20,000; Matagalpa, $18,000; N. Segovia, $14,000; Chontales, $12,000; J inotega, $10,000; Esteli, $10,000—total, $400,000. “2. The collection of the present loan shall be made by the authorities, and the respective pre- fects shall name the assigning committees. The repayment to the voluntary lenders shall be made in the form and with the profits determined in the decree No. 8 of last August. “8. The distributing committees shall be guid- ed in the assignment of the contribution by Article 6 of the decree of the Constituent Assem- bly of October 19, already mentioned, which ex- 252 CENTRAL AMERICA empts from loans those owning less than $5,000 besides their dwelling-house. “4. Lenders who shall not make their payments within the dates mentioned in Article 1 of this decree shall be obliged to lend double the amount assigned to them; and they shall be paid by notes at two years’ time, earning only 6 per cent. an- nually. “5. The prefects shall publish immediately the present decree, which shall be in force from this date, proceeding to the organization of the com- mittees for compliance therewith.” The “voluntary lenders” never saw principal or interest, unless, for one reason or another, they could make repayment an object to Zelaya. A favorite method of meeting bills, for which mer- chandise has been actually delivered or service rendered, is to give bonds of the face value of the amount due. When I told a certain business man that I would like to see one of these bonds he put his hand in a drawer and said: “Certainly. I'll make you a present of this. You can see for your- self what it is nominally worth, with interest ac- crued. Of course, no interest has been paid. I'd like to sell you a bale of them for five cents apiece.” Government statistics rarely take any account of them. The financial responsibility of the Presi- dent consists of making up a so-called budget, MONEY AND FINANCE 253 which is submitted to Congress, with Congress having no real power of audit, let alone of appro- priation. It is largely fictitious—so much for the army and the other departments, which may have gone into the pockets of the President and his Cabinet or to the maintenance of his expensive Spy, system, CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE Xx are back to the beaten route of travel and in the realm of American energy at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, where the Fruit Com- pany is king. My last run on the west coast had been on a German steamer and my first run on the east coast was to be on another. But the con- trast between an eighteen-knotter of twelve hun- dred tons and the itinerant gatherer of cargo ply- ing from Hamburg to Seattle and return was that of the Pullman and the stage coach. The train ride from Puenta Arenas to Puerto Limon over the divide bridges the busy world of the Atlantic, with its trading population of Europe and America, and the quieter world of the Pacific. Up the gangway and you seemed out of Central America. The luxury was fairly overpowering. After weeks without iced drinks they were a shock to the system. The men in the smoking-room had an exotic air of fairly boastful prosperity ; the head steward, blond mus- tache at an angle, overlooking the march of the passengers to their places according to card in 264 PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE 255 the dining-room, where silver gleamed on sheets of snow, seemed a princely being. And the big white napkins! And no more frijoles and tortillas! You missed the frijoles, and with regret realized that there would soon be an end of the alligator pears, except at fifty cents apiece for pulp which had lost its taste. The silvered steam pipes in your cabin reminded you that soon you would be living behind closed doors. And that cabin steward appeared instantly you touched a button, with a perfectly willing air! And an expanse of clean bath towel and the wasteful generosity of two or three hand towels! I was fortunate to begin my return to old habits gradually in the Caribbean. One of those palaces with elevators and cafés that cross the Atlantic would have been too abrupt a transformation. As for those gentlemen in the smoking-room, literally chewing ice as they complained about the food and talked dollars on a gold basis by the millions, let them take a ride across Honduras, stopping at the local inns, if they would know that a shade of difference in the rareness of roast beef is a vanity of civilization. No danger! It is enough for them to touch at the ports of terra incognita. Perhaps twenty years from now ijt will be another story, and they will be discussing which place in the highlands they like best or which has the best hotel. But we were not through with Central Amer- 256 CENTRAL AMERICA ica yet. In the morning we were at Colon, and there was still another customs examination by brown officialdom in blue jeans. For Colon is in the Republic of Panama, and the little repub- lic’s authority sits proudly on the pier at the gateway to American enterprise. My battered trunk was officially passed in the course of time; and then one who had known Colon in 1908 saw Colon six years later. In 1908 the President of the United States played the greedy conqueror, crushing the weak under his mailed fist, and John Hay was party to the scandal. We desired to spend some hun- dreds of millions, four at least, in digging a canal which was to serve the commerce of the whole world. For generations the people of the Panama region had been rebelling ineffectually against Colombia, which gave them over to the extortion of jéfes sent down from Bogotd. In vain we tried to negotiate any reasonable treaty with the sister republic, which would not be free from European assault but for our protection, and the sister republic kept coquetting with Germany, which is such a good friend of weak, mismanaged States, and playing every trick bred of ladino politics. : So we recognized a revolution which won the Panamans freedom from a rule in which they were taxed without representation. People who hold our Declaration of Independence dear said PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE 27 their worst about President Roosevelt, who has saved us thousands of lives, millions of dollars, and perhaps the shame of failure before the na- tions of the world. All we asked for ourselves was that a zone ten miles broad, which grew a few bananas, should be under our sovereignty in order that its sani- tation might not be controlled by such men as General Medina. (See Chapter Fifteen.) For this we gave $10,000,000 outright to the little Republic of Panama, and with it went an an- nuity of $250,000 in perpetuity for territory of which it could make no use, A nuisance stood in the pathway of progress, and we were willing to pay for the privilege of removing it. Our scrupulousness, which amuses the Panamans, is a tribute to the abstract sense of Justice of Ameri- can public opinion. We took care to include no centers of population in our domain. So Colon and Panama, the towns at either terminus of the old railway, were excluded. In 1908 Colon was a sink of sewage, with some filthy saloons and money changers’ booths and a few shops. Nothing worse existed anywhere in Central America. Now you walk off the pier on to paved and sewered streets—paved and sewered as a part of the contract made by Presi- dent Roosevelt and his inexcusable abettors, Mr. Hay and Mr. Root—among stores and hotels which flourish as the result of our coming. Only 258 CENTRAL AMERICA a few rods and you are in the region of the Canal storehouses, shops and residences under our au- thority. The City of Panama on the Pacific side is paved and well lighted; her new government palace includes an ornate theater, where subsi- dized companies play; residences of the well-to- do and tenements have risen in the town and suburbs; business thrives; real estate soars, and a long street, with new buildings on either side, has taken the place of a muddy road with a few mean shacks on the main drive from the Canal colony of Ancon to the heart of the town. Across that barrier between the seas—thriving in the days when it was the pathway of the car. gadores, thriving again, with the taint of its unsanitary breath bringing death to the laborers, under De Lesseps, and then sinking into mori- bundity except for revolutions till we came—is a narrow belt of ordered industry working to the tune of the rattle of dirt-cars and the coughing spells of the steam-shovels under an autocrat, Colonel Goethals. It has its own schools, houses, barracks and kitchens, and feeds itself on an army system. The skepticism of those who said that the Canal diggers would die like flies is a forgotten incident of the early days. Labor agents have long since been withdrawn from abroad. The problem becomes one of choice of applicants. PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE 259 You hear people speak of the Isthmus as a healthy place to live, thanks to the effect of mod- ern sanitary regulations and precautions. The old contention that the Caucasian would succumb from malaria and sunstroke if he did manual labor in the tropics is disproved by the Gallegos and Italians, who seem to be none the worse for their day on the dumps at Gatun than in a West- ern railroad construction camp. Success has made the accomplishment of Dr. W. C. Gorgas seem easy. But it is primarily due to the fact that he had full authority in the beginning to apply all necessary measures, without continual interference by the officials of a ladino satrapy. The Panamans continue to complain. They know the weakness of our public. If they cry out that they are being treated badly, opinion at home will rise to their support. They say that our commissary is ruining business in Colon by supplying foodstuffs from refrigerator ships to all employees. This trade ought to go to the local storekeepers, who are foreigners— Americans, Germans, French, Italians. Their prosperity, however, means taxes for the treasury. Most of the original Panamans who are at all educated hold office. The plethora of officials, and particularly of policemen—eight hundred in the small communities of Colon and Panama to do the work that ought to be done by a hundred at most—is significant of tendencies when unre- 260 CENTRAL AMERICA strained. Then, too, the saloons do not thrive as they should, considering the number of the Canal employees and their good wages. The Ameri- cans in the Zone have their own places of amuse- ment, and they have learned the folly of drinking intoxicants in a hot country, even if the engineers did not disapprove of it in a way that means dis- charge for a continuation of the offense. The vagaries of Panaman legal practice is an- other deterrent. Not long ago an American con- ductor, arrested for forcibly ejecting a Panaman from a train, employed a Panaman lawyer, who drew his fee, filed a petition with the court, and the next thing that the conductor knew he was sentenced to three years in prison without trial or provision for a rehearing, while the President of Panama has not the power of pardon. So far have our customs changed since the days of our army’s first occupation of Cuba and Porto Rico that, generally speaking, it is the Panaman rather than the American who is truculent. If the employee gets into trouble across the bound- ary he receives little Sympathy from his superior, who asks him what business he had over in the saloon region, anyway. Indeed, the conduct of the Zone force, which has steadily improved in quality by elimination, is above reproach; a tribute to the good sense and good humor of the better element of working Americans under dis- cipline. PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE 261 There have been a number of outrages on in- dividuals by the abundant policemen, where jus- tice might well have demanded some action as a warning that there must be a limit to baiting the Gringo. Mr. Taft’s policy, which permeates every department, always gives the Panaman the advantage of the doubt. He has been the con- siderate nurse of the little republic, and we give way on minor points. In its work of remunerating the property own- ers for lands occupied for the Gatun Lake, the Zone legal department settled with many pri- vately for $5 a hectare for unimproved land. A commission, half American, half Panaman, was appointed to settle for the rest. Evidently the orders to the American members were to finish up the work some way or other without offense. They paid in the end from $200 to $600 for un- improved property, a most exorbitant price. We had been fair, no matter what the cost. Yet the Panamans did not forget their habit and cried for more. They grow restless when they think of the $6,000,000 residue of the origi- nal $10,000,000 in interest-bearing securities de- posited in New York; of a current account in New York amounting to over a million, which we watch with paternal care. They would like opera the year round, and circuses and roof gar- dens, and everybody’s brother, cousin and father- in-law in office. Pn tin ee eT . i 2 HE GAOT AEE a —— x 263 CENTRAL AMERICA Mr. Taft, always so punctilious about Pana- ma’s sovereignty, is not incapable of a “No;” and the Panaman has learned that his “No” is a real “No.” There are certain things of vital principle, such as not squandering their surplus, which they must not do, and certain things, too, which they must do. In their recent Presidential campaign we gave them a first lesson in self-government, which ought to bear fruit. Ricardo Arias, the cleverest lawyer in Panama, was the candidate of the Ama- dor faction, or the “ins.” His plan was to use the power of office and the police to hold a dum- my election and declare himself chosen. José Obaldia, his Liberal opponent, was popular with the masses, though not with the “ins.” No one thought he had any chance of winning until we concluded that the election should be a real one. The same government—ours—which was so careful that the property holders of the Gatun basin should get full value for their land, now sent two representatives of the Zone legal depart- ment, some of whom had to travel a week, to every polling precinct, to see that an actual list of voters was made. Then Arias withdrew. The Liberals did not fail to make the best of their success. In three months 700 Conservative policemen out of the 800 employed had been dis- missed to make room for Liberal policemen, and PANAMA UNDER TUTELAGE 263 the number of police sergeants had been increased twenty to forty-six. gi arlerts i the workers of the higher world, a minister and two secretaries are main- tained in Paris, and a minister and one secretary in London, with absolutely nothing to do. The minister to Great Britain was allowed to design his own uniform. He made a combination of the dress uniform of a full admiral, a field marshal and an ambassador. Why not? The time has come for these young nations to show the old ones what a waste of opportunity it is to limit oneself in the matter of gold lace by anything except your carrying capacity when you have the money it by the rod. 2 “nie society, with its subsidized operahouse (built out of the $10,000,000) and its balls, en- acting the Latin world in miniature, rather looks down on those brusque ditch-diggers rushing about impolitely. But put the question in an- swer to their complaints: “How would you like to return to Colombian sovereignty and the old days?” and they admit that they could not think of it. They are learning to like pavements and water- works and sanitation—although they do not see why we should not pay all the taxes for the up- keep—and if one of them happens to go to Corinto or Cartagena he finds that the new cus- toms have made certain insanitary odors, to which 284 CENTRAL AMERICA he was once habituated, offensive. Their school system is yielding results in the youth, and gen- erations to come may thank us for what we have done. And the prosperity, the order, and the clean- liness all proceed from the guiding hand which has pointed the way through the primer stage. What will happen when the army of workers on the Canal break camp? When the storekeepers no longer dip into the stream of American dollars? CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE MORAL CONDITIONS W HY do so many missionaries go to Japan, China, India, Turkey and Korea, and so few to Central America? They are as in- conspicuous in the country between the Guate- malan border and Panama as they are conspicu- ous elsewhere. Partiality for distant lands cannot explain their neglect, for Alaska is most abundantly supplied. Is it possible that the soul of a Cordilleran Indian in 25 cents’ worth of cotton drill is less worth sav- ing than the soul of an Aleut in furs? Latitude cannot matter, else the Fiji Islands, which have been well cared for, would be under the ban. Any excuse that Central America is already a Christian country is inconsistent, if not otherwise untenable. Mexico is a favorite field, and Mexico is a Christian country—far more Christian than Guatemala or Nicaragua. Although the Mexi- can State has made war on the Roman Catholic Church, the Mexican peon is a most devout re- ligionist, reverent and superstitious. All the missionaries in Mexico, where the gov- 265 266 CENTRAL AMERICA ernment is doing much for education, are most enthusiastic over their schools and their work in spreading the English language. They are also trying to teach the Mexican Indian that when a man and a woman live together and rear a family of children a marriage ceremony is a praiseworthy prologue. It is the woman who objects to this convention, and not wholly for the sake of saving the fee to spend it in shopping. She is acting out of the experience of her sex with the male kind in her own country. If her husband is tied to her by a contract she cannot dismiss him when she pleases and take another who is a better provider. The ‘majority of couples, though unmarried, live to- gether as virtuously as if they really had the knot tied. Only when they learn English do they learn what a virtuous thing of itself the knot is. And south of the Mexican border, where the Church has lost influence, ideas are not only more lax, but less moral. Mention Central America to the missionary in Mexico and he looks blank. You almost ex- pect him to ask where Central America is. It seems a wilderness to the missionary boards for the same reason that the American sees it only as a source of humor. A cynical trader of Hon- duras explained that the missionary has no in- terest in hot countries where the male inhabitants had learned to wear trousers and the women a MORAL CONDITIONS 267 Mother Hubbard. The pioneering work is fin- ished with such an expansion of the breech-clout or with the greater progress represented when there was not even a breech-clout to begin with. To me, however, the absence of missionaries in numbers was deplorable. The modern mission- ary who founds little communities in foreign countries where the humanities and hygienics are taught is a spreader of civilization regardless of his creed. For every one of him in Japan, that learned progress for itself, and in China, that is learning for itself, there ought to be a hundred in this field at our door, that cannot learn for itself. There is not a single Methodist worker in Cen- tral America; there was not even one Protestant worker of any sort except at Belize, Honduras, which is British territory, until 1882, when Presi- dent Rufino Barrios, as a matter of Liberal poli- tics in his war on the Catholic Church, sent an invitation to the Presbyterian Board, which re- sponded by sending the Rev. John Clark Hill and his wife, who had to flee the country after Barillas came into power. Afterward a successor came, and the mission still continues in a half-hearted fashion in strange contrast to the enormous field. Of late, the American Bible Society has shown some interest. In 1908 its colporteurs distributed 2,425 Bibles in Central America and Panama, exclusive of Nicaragua, from which they were 268 CENTRAL AMERICA barred by Zelaya; but Cabrera, who is as violent against the Catholic Church as Barrios was, wel- comed the agent, the Rev. Mr. Hayter. The op- pressed Indians of Guatemala, and particularly of Salvador, exhibited real interest. The Costa Rican government said permission to circulate religious literature was no more necessary in that country than in the United States, but the Costa, Ricans, who are good Catholics and en Joy popular education and free institutions, were rather luke- warm about a new type of Christianity. After our mission teachers have been going about the world translating the gospels into African and Asiatic dialects it remained for the Central American Mission, a new institution, with its headquarters in Paris, Texas, actually to put St. Mark into the tongue of the Quiches, which is that of an ancient American civilization. So we do make progress. On the Nicaraguan coast the German Moravians combined evangelization and rubber trading in such a way that Zelaya allowed them to remain. There you have the sum of all that has been done. Is the neglect due to absence of results? Hardly, considering the amount of missionary service it takes to get one Mohammedan convert in Asia Minor. Hardly, when the Salvadorians welcome the simple distribution of Bibles, Can the reason be that Japan is more picturesque? That the servants in China are better? That one MORAL CONDITIONS 269 who returns from Burmah is more of a hero at the missionary meetings than if he were back from Guatemala? Yet the Roman Catholics have sent American priests—and worthy men they are—to take the place of the Spanish friars in the Philippines, and the boards have sent Protestant clergy to the Philippines, where they are far less needed than in Central America. The truth is that even in China and Turkey governmental conditions are more favorable. Central America is Central America. It is the bad lands. The lone missionary who is sent down on trial, as the first Presbyterian was, finds him- self disheartened by political conditions. And what can he do? A protest in China has effect. But if he “made trouble” in a Central American country his converts would be singled out for secret punishment by the jéfes, under Presidents who have enjoyed an immunity from diplomatic pressure which would seem idyllic to the Sultan of Turkey. Only satire would call Central America Chris- tian to-day. Once it was Christian, but now its masses are lapsing into paganism, even as the Haitian negroes have lapsed into African voo- dooism. The history of the Church here is, broad- ly, its history in the Philippines and other Span- ish-American countries. The priests who came with the conquerors settled the Indians on the 270 CENTRAL AMERICA land and taught them agriculture and religion. When the movement against Spain culminated in La Libertad of the 16th of September, which is the Fourth of J uly south of the Rio Grande, the Church was regarded in many quarters as a part of the oppression. But in Mexico the martyr of independence was a heroic priest Hidal- 80, who first raised the banner of rebellion and was excommunicated for his act. To his career is due largely the attitude of the Mexican toward Church and State. A man could still be a good priest and fight the politics of the Archbishop. The peon who applauded Diaz’ outright confiscation of Church property and destruction of the Church’s temporal power is nevertheless the most devout of Roman Catho- lics—a Hidalgo Catholic. Undoubtedly the Church was on the side of Spain. Later, its influence was with the Con- servatives, who represented the well-to-do, the land holders, and the old Spanish element, which sought to rule by force of intellect and inherited position, but fell through its own factions and un- worthiness, and is now engulfed by the “liberal- ism,” so-called, of the Zelayas and the Cabreras— of the man who can gather a band of soldiers and capture the capital, which he holds as long as he can, or until his fortune is made. And the van- dal play of this new class of leaders on public opinion, so far as there is any public opinion, was Pure-blooded Indians of the mountains MORAL CONDITIONS 271 against the Church and the well-to-do, whose wealth they would despoil. In Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua the priesthood has fallen into the lowest state of any countries in Christendom not in the Caribbean region. The bayonet no longer considers it as a factor to be reckoned with. It has neither political power nor religious power of any ac- count. If you are looking for real church ruins go to Central America. Many churches are disused, and those that are not are almost invariably in disrepair. The people, poverty stricken and hopeless, take little interest in them. Religious ideas are dying, and with them moral ideas. A settled indifference of day-by-day existence char- acterizes the masses, who are reverting to Indian superstition. Whatever support there is for re- ligion comes from the women of the better classes. In morals the people have the examples of their leaders. Your hopeful politician in a Central American country, usually a lawyer, regards him- self as an “intellectual.” His views of life are formed on all the faults of Latin civilization, which are so frequently and wrongly mistaken for Latin standards. His ambition is any gov- ernment position or revolutionary opportunity that may win one. Gradually the old Spanish element is being driven to the wall; the old families are being 272 CENTRAL AMERICA rummed; their heads persecuted and assassinated Among the masses Spanish courtesy, which makes a Mexican peon a knight, is disappearin Added to the Indian blood and the FT strain is the infiltration of negro blood especiall predominant on the east coast of Wivnvagua e Honduras. The Indian strain is purest in Guate- mala. ; Some of the mountain tribes have never ho civilized, though they are within three days of yew Dlleens and they are better off than the a were Christians and have lapsed into Rw paper much is done for education. But : is to be expected in countries with consti- utions forbidding confiscation, when confisca- tion is regularly practiced, with constitutions that most amply protect the rights of its citizens when execution without trial is frequent. Everythin to which free and independent nations are ~ titled the military despots are bound to have Frequently they amend the constitutions in orde : to make them more liberal. They make progre : ive laws without any thought that laws ar oa to be obeyed. Shae All the glowing reports of pro i sent to the United States a tu In style. When the dictator tells you that scho 1 attendance is compulsory he is being polite H. knows that it is so in your country. If you we 2 equally polite you would say out of Cilia MORAL CONDITIONS 273 to the customs of his country that Mr. Taft had secretly had Mr. Bryan tied up by the thumbs and made him confess he was still for free silver at heart. When you examine the compulsory system more closely you see that it is suspended indefi- nitely, like the Constitution. But by this it must not be implied that education is altogether neg- lected. The sons of people with any means at all go to private schools, where they learn more French than science, while fewer go abroad on account of the general impoverishment. Capable as they are of better things, the military and political system demoralizes them. Every capital has some form of institution which is called a university, inferior to its pre- independence days, where the teaching is of the old-fashioned Spanish style. These universities bestow degrees as liberally as the army makes generals. You meet doctors of letters and philosophy at every turn. One President was introduced to me as “His Excellency, President, General, Doctor, Lawyer Every country has a few of the lawyer class, who speak English and French well. These are sent abroad, particularly to the States, as pleni- potentiaries to exert their imagination in telling of progress which does not exist; or they may be called in to write a report for foreign consump- EEO nds re e——— 274 CENTRAL AMERICA tion, which will mention everything that we think ought to be as a thing that is. The gifts of the ladinos (half-breeds) or the mestizos, as they were called in the Philippines, in this respect, the late Bishop Potter learned to appreciate. In the early days of our occupation he was a strong “anti-expansionist.” He had letters from Fili- pino leaders, worthy in their diction and their high ideals of the world’s greatest exponents of constitutional liberty. This style of correspond- ence was highly convincing to the late Senator Hoar, a man of the same distinctive nobility of mind and optimism as the bishop. After the bishop had been in the Philippines for a short time he concluded that the essential basis of char- acter necessary to stable and enlightened govern- ment did not always accompany a convincing epistolary style, and with that outspoken moral courage characteristic of him he changed his atti- tude on the subject. As a basis for republican institutions consider that at least 80 per cent. of the Central Ameri- cans cannot read a line of print! If they could, what would they have to read? No newspaper may print anything but praise of the dictator. Little literature is circulated except government proclamations. No knowledge of the outside world is spread. Barbarism, enervated by certain civilized forms, without barbarism’s vigor, tells all in a MORAL CONDITIONS 215 word. Scenes of disgust I might repeat to the point of nausea; utter lack of sanitation, of care of body as well as of mind, expose a scrofulous people to all the tropical diseases, which keep the ig list pretty well balanced with the birth rate. One who was in the Philippines early enough to see something of pre-American conditions knows that the rule which the Philippines knew under Spain and that of the old Kingdom of Guatemala was better than that of the Central American countries to-day; and a journey along Philippine roads showed far more evidences of prosperity than I saw south of the Mexican bor- der, particularly in Honduras and N icaragua. The Spanish captain-general ruled under laws which he could not altogether defy; and excellent laws they were for personal colonial government, founded on the same basis as English rule in India to-day, under which, as early as the six- teenth century, the rights of the natives were care- fully safeguarded. Personal corruption, not the laws, brought ruin to the empire. In Turkey the Pasha works under the Moslem Code; in China the viceroy is under a check of public opinion, which exerts itself in many ways. But in Central America the dictator goes on the principle that every law is a form as long as his army can keep him in office, 276 CENTRAL AMERICA Meanwhile, the missionaries look past the fields thick with ignorance and unbelief, to China and India and Africa, where the missionary teaches everything from hygiene to morals—everything that Central America lacks. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE MHE policy of the United States regarding Latin America is founded on the Monroe Doctrine, formulated ninety years ago. How many Americans have really read this doctrine? Those who have not will find jt among the appen- dices; those who have may not be familiar with the causes which made it a national shibboleth. Its origin was due to the Holy Alliance grow- ing out of the victory of the kings over N apoleon. In 1821 the Bourbons were on the throne of France; a French army had assisted in overcom- ing the revolution in Spain. The Spanish colo- nies of America were in revolt. Why should not the kings assist in the pacification in behalf of the rights of monarchy? At Verona, in November, 1822, Russia, Prussia, Austria and the incompe- tent head of what is now the French Republic signed. the following: “The undersigned, especially authorized to make some additions to the treaty of the Holy Alliance, after having exchanged their respective credentials, have agreed as follows: a 2718 CENTRAL AMERICA “ArTicLE I. The high contracting powers, be- ing convinced that the system of representative government is equally as incompatible with the monarchical principles as the maximum of the sovereignty of the people with the Divine right, engage mutually, in the most solemn manner, to use all their efforts to put an end to the system of representative governments in whatever coun- try it may exist in Europe, and to prevent its being introduced in those countries where it 8 not yet known. “Art. II. As it cannot be doubted that the liberty of the press is the most powerful means used by the pretended supporters of the rights of nations, to the detriment of those princes, the high contracting parties promise reciprocally to adopt all proper measures to suppress it, not only in their own States, but also in the rest of Europe.” It was the dying sputter of the divine right principle. At the time, the United States had about the population of New York and New Jersey to-day, and the memory of the War of Independence was fresher in the minds of living men than that of the Civil War in our generation. Europe was the mighty ogre, and we were a struggling young nation. In 1821 Alexander I, in view of the Russian ownership of Alaska, had issued a ukase claiming all the territory down to latitude 51, and forbidding any foreign vessel to THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 279 approach within one hundred miles of the coast- line. The effect of the Verona treaty in the United States created something of the sensation of the destruction of the Maine. Yet there was no real cause for worry. Great Britain had refused to Join her former allies. Canning saw that the British Commons and public would never listen to partnership in such reactionary ideas. More- over, as a matter of policy, he could not permit any threat of British command of the seas. So the British prime minister—the real father of the Monroe Doctrine—turned to Mr. Rush, the American minister, with the proposal of a joint declaration by the mother country and her former colony to prevent Spain from recovering her colonies. Mr. Rush would not act without consulting Mr. Monroe, the most cautious of Presidents, whose name, however, was to become the authority for the jingo speeches of future generations. In a letter dated October 24, 1823, Ex-President Jefferson wrote to Ex-President Madison in part: “The question presented by the letters you have sent me is the most momentous which has ever been offered to my contemplation since that of independence. That made us a nation; this sets our compass and points the course which we are to steer through the ocean of time opening on us. And never could we embark on it under cir- 280 CENTRAL AMERICA cumstances more auspicious. Our first and funs damental maxim should be never to entangle our- selves in the broils of Europe. Our second, never to suffer Europe to intermeddle with cisatlantic affairs, . , . “Great Britain is the nation which can do us the most harm of any one of all on earth, and with her on our side we need not fear the whole world. With her, then, we should most sedulously cherish a cordial friendship; and nothing would tend more to knit our affections than to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause. Not that I would purchase even her amity at the price of taking part in her wars. But the war in which the present proposition might engage us, should 'that be its consequence, is not her war but ours. Its object is to introduce and establish the Ameri- can system of keeping out of our land all foreign powers, of never permitting those of Europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nations. It is to maintain our own principle, not to depart from it. And if, to facilitate this, we can effect a division in the body of the European powers and draw over to our side its most powerful mem- ber, surely we should do it. But I am clearly of Mr. Canning’s opinion that it will prevent in- stead of provoke war.” Now turn to the diary of John Quincy Adams for November 13, 1823, in which he wrote of President Monroe: THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 281 “I find him yet altogether unsettled in his own mind as to the answer to be given to Mr. Can- ning’s proposals, and alarmed, far beyond any- thing that I could have conceived possible, with the fear that the Holy Alliance are about to re- store immediately all of South America to Spain. Calhoun [then Secretary of War] stimulates the panic, and the news that Cadiz has surrendered to the French has so affected the President that he appeared entirely to despair of the cause of South America.” A few days later he wrote: “I soon found the source of the President’s despondency with regard to South American af- fairs. Calhoun is perfectly moon-struck by the surrender of Cadiz, and says the Holy Allies, with ten thousand men, will restore all Mexico and South America to the Spanish dominion.” But the Adams and Jefferson view prevailed. With the perfect certainty, thanks to the backing of British command of the sea, that its enuncia- tion did not mean war, the Doctrine was included in the message to Congress on December 2, arousing the whole country to a patriotic fervor and proving a good stroke of politics for the ad- ministration. It is one of the satires of history that our last violent outbreak on the sub ject in Mr. Cleveland’s Venezuelan message should have been directed against England, the first sponsor of the Doctrine. 282 CENTRAL AMERICA The action of both countries sprang from the opportunism of the moment, which destiny was to crystallize into a fetish to be construed altogether out of the original intention. Since 1828, the United States has grown to a nation of 90,000,- 000 people; its navy is second in size in the world; and it has been bold enough to put petitions about the mistreatment of his own sub jects before the present Czar, while worse outrages than any in Russia occur in regions at our door which the later interpretation of the Doctrine would seal up past all hope of reform. We throw the agis of its protection over all Latin America alike, without any further sense of responsibility; and we wonder why we do not get the trade of South America when we take no sympathetic interest in its real Latin civilization because we associate it with the type we see in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Recently, English reviewers of Mr. Arthur Ruhl’s “The Other Americans,” one of the most delightful and enlightening records of travel of recent years, said that the remarkable thing about the book was the surprise of Mr. Ruhl’s North American readers at the progress of Brazil, Ar- gentina and Chile, which had become a common- place to Europe. It was my pleasure to see some- thing of South America in 1907-8; and a few months later I sought in vain in Central America, until I reached Costa Rica, for the spell which THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 283 South America had cast over me. Central Amer- ica is not Latin-American, but “Indo-American.” The first thing, then, is to take the great South American nations out of the Central American category. That is only the simplest courtesy which proceeds from knowing something of those to whom you would be polite. According to Horace N. Fisher, who has made the subject a study, in Argentina the population is 91 per cent. white; in Chile, 85, and 88 in the four governing, temperate zone States. The difference in char- acter of the people makes a comparison even be- tween Mexico and Argentina fundamentally out of question. The hardy blood of northern Italy has flowed into Argentina, while Mexico is an Indian country, with only the thin upper crust of society of overwhelmingly Spanish strain. Except by sea, these distant sister republics can stand as their own sponsor for the Monroe Doctrine. Any European nation which inter- feres with their affairs will have to reckon with well-drilled armies and an unconquerable spirit. They are at work on their problems no less earnestly than we on ours. Their revolutions in time past, like our Civil War, have exemplified the struggle of a people toward stability and bet- ter government in the evolutionary stages of a new country; and in Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua or Haiti, every revolution seems to have sunk the nation concerned deeper in the mire. 284 CENTRAL AMERICA In South America and Costa Rica the insistent self-interest of the individual is the controlling factor; and in Central America the Indian and half-breed masses are the pawns of military ad- venturers, of whom one alone, Diaz, has proved himself a capable ruler. With a South American nation on the shores of the Caribbean, Central America as a political entity under present conditions could not long endure. A special commission of South Ameri- can statesmen traveling from the border of Guatemala to the border of Costa Rica would probably take the view that both the United States and Mexico were sadly derelict in their duty. They would see why the part that we have played in Cuba and in Panama no more suggests an aggressive policy against the Spanish-speak- ing peoples as such than the punishment of bri- gands is an assault on the rights of mountaineers. Knowing that they need never pay any debts which they contract, the dictators have, accord- ingly, borrowed what they could for their own pockets, paying exorbitant commissions to any swindling European loan agent who could fool foreign bondholders with false circulars and a promise of an unnaturally high rate of interest. The Drago Doctrine, which Brazil enunciated at The Hague Conference, holds that a nation need not suffer military aggression simply because she defalcates the interest of her debt. It did not THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 285 contemplate making the ruin of a nation’s sense of financial honor an international right or re- ward, or teaching a people that the repudiation of obligations at will is quite an honorable and in- telligent thing to do. Now, if a father saw his son picking a quarrel with another boy and the son asked parental aid in thrashing his enemy, the father, with a view to developing self-reliance, would, no doubt, tell him to fight his own battles. Certainly he could not do worse for his son than to encourage trucu- lence. Yet that is precisely our attitude toward Central America. The great republics of South America have free governments, vie jealously with one another in progress, and bear in their interrelations, which are often delicate, the re- sponsibilities of strong nations. In turn, our re- lations with them, in all dignity and mutual re- spect, aside from the continental bond, is on the same basis as with France and Germany. But we have refused to allow the Central Americans to develop any sense of responsibility whatsoever as nations. They have never stood on their own feet. Can we deny the logic of the Englishman, the German, the Frenchman and the South American when he reasons that the attitude of the average American is this: “We don’t need those coun- tries yet. Maybe we shall, by and by, and we are fencing them in, anyway. Let others keep 286 CENTRAL AMERICA off” Ts any doctrine thus conceived which pro- motes immorality a moral one? they ask. Can we expect them to see that our only culpability is self-deception due to our misconstruction of a policy which had its origin in conditions of ninety years ago? “You are salving your conscience,” we are told, “when you hold that the Doctrine leaves a number of weak little nations free to work out their own destiny.” When we laugh at Central America’s opéra bouffe warfare as something grotesque and amus- ing which does not concern us, we laugh at rapine, murder and degeneration which could not exist but for our position. The Monroe Doctrine is the ally of governmental régimes whose counterpart may be found only in the pages of pagan history. It has enclosed a field where the revolutionists may play their bloody game free from interrup- tion. The worst military despot that holds his place by the bayonets of a cutthroat army of ruffians can defy every foreign nation and all the customs of international civilization with perfect impunity. If it were not for our protection the dictators’ mischief-making ardor would soon have to be dj- verted to putting houses in order. They would no longer rely on the northern neighbor to repel invasions. How long before Mexico would sweep down to Panama? Ask any American in Mexico, giving him time to think of the novel hypothesis, THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 287 what form the succession to Diaz would take if the United States did not stand for the republican idea which has become the fetish for excusing the original sins of Central America. Diaz would be made an hereditary monarch by his followers. Every thought of international relations from the Rio Grande to the border of Brazil takes our atti- tude into consideration. We cannot escape the influence of our strength and geographical posi- tion. Our tender regard for the little sister republics has been shown in the past by the type of men we have sent to represent us. If there were a morally diseased and mentally defunct politician who had to be cared for, he was “Dreyfussed” to Central America as minister or consul, One minister, at least, was very generally charged with taking hush money from one of the dictators for keeping back a claim for damages by an Ameri- can citizen. But among the exceptions to type was a conspicuous one, that veteran William Lawrence Merry, formerly minister to Nicaragua and now minister to Costa Rica, a simple Ameri- can of the New England school. The Nicara- guans use the English word “straight” in ex- plaining his characteristics, which, in the early days of his career, were so puzzling to them. The position of any minister has been weak from the very nature of his instructions from Washington; and Washington’s handicap is pub- | \ : { 4 ! — ——— Ac et ed. i I — 288 CENTRAL AMERICA lic opinion at home. An American Secretary of State does not wish to make the administration trouble. Any act of his that savors of a show of authority in Central American affairs immediate- ly arouses the cry of imperialism. If a minister has been repeatedly lied to and deceived by a Central American minister of for- eign affairs till he finally makes a blunt demand or if he protests against any barbarous practice, he is promptly reminded from Washington to be cautious; to cultivate good relations; not to make himself non persona grata to the ruler of the country to which he is accredited—a ruler who never hesitates to appeal through his own minister in Washington direct to the State Department against the aggressive tactics to which his poor little country is being subjected. And Washington scolds the minister, and the dictator wins. In any contest of diplomatic cun- ning an American diplomatist is easily beaten. The Central American diplomatist is trained in the art of deception, promises and delay from boyhood up. It is this type which succeeds, while the honest man goes to jail. The dictators are just as familiar with the way that American public opinion works as with the limited powers of a minister. They know us, but we do not know them. The administration of President Roosevelt brought one general reform, peculiarly important THE REAL MONROE DOCTRINE 289 in its application to Central America, which had been one of the worst sufferers from the old Sys- tem. The consular service was put on a perma- nent footing, with examinations for entrance. An unofficial beginning of the same kind was made in the diplomatic service, which President Taft has since guaranteed by an executive order. No Secretary of State will again have to work with such agents as had John Hay, who, with his great gifts, his knowledge of Spanish and Span- ish civilization, won the respect and liking of the South Americans and at the same time showed an understanding and salutary firmness with the Central Americans. It remained for his successor, Mr. Root, who made Pan-Americanism his policy, as we shall see, to establish our position toward Central America as nothing less than tutelary and before the close of his term of office to advise a Central American nation as to its actions in the authorita- tive manner of a British political agent toward one of the Indian potentates. Mr. Knox’s action in returning the passports of the minister from Nicaragua, though different in method, was far from any reversion of Mr. Root’s policy; but, on the contrary, was in line with its inevitable de- velopment, or, at least, its inevitable conse- quences. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN MR. ROOT’S PLAN UR attitude has varied from Commander Hollins’ bombardment and burning of San Juan del Norte in Nicaragua, in 1854, to submitting to the regular opening of official mail by Zelaya; from countenancing the filibuster, Walker, to demanding no satisfaction for overt firing by the forts of Amapala, in 1893, on the merchant steamer Costa Rica, with women and children aboard, because it refused to give up a political refugee. Sometimes we have lost our temper and given the child a spanking; and again we have excused the child on the ground that it was Central American and did not know any better. The little nations have always been holding conferences; always planning a union of peace. By their own Compact of Corinto (Nicaragua), signed in 1902, all the Presidents agreed to assist in maintaining one another in power. Three years passed without an international war, though in the meantime Honduras had a coup d’état and 290 MR. ROOT’S PLAN 291 a revolution. Then the pent-up energies of her quiescent neighbors broke forth. In 1905 Cabrera, of Guatemala, was exposed for aiding a secret revolution against Salvador by Alfaro, which failed. In the spring of 1906 the troops of Salvador invaded Guatemala with- out any declaration of war. The military results were undecided, when the United States inter- vened. A treaty was arranged aboard the United States cruiser Marblehead, with the representa- tives of all five republics present and also the ministers to Central America of the United States and Mexico. Later, in 1907, they met at San J osé, Costa Rica, in conference and further bound themselves to good behavior. Zelaya, of N icaragua, refused to join the conference. The Compact of Corinto was still binding, he insisted, and he himself had strictly adhered to its provisions. To prove this he put his troops aboard his war steamer Momotombo, and without any warning, invaded Salvador and was beaten. Then Zelaya and Figueroa, President of Sal- vador, made a public treaty of “good will and amity” at Amapala, Honduras, where they pri- vately agreed to start a revolution in Honduras and put Sierra, whom they could control, in office as President. In the autumn of the same year, 1907, Nicaraguan troops invaded Honduras, cap- tured Tegucigalpa and drove President Bonilla 202 CENTRAL AMERICA into exile, with the assistance of an army of Bonilla’s enemies. Now Secretary Root took a hand with his “good offices in behalf of peace,” a phrase which always appeals to public imagination and may hide a determined and farseeing purpose. In a word, he said explicitly, if politely, that war must cease. If we are to regard the Central American nations as independent in the usual sense, then our action was equivalent, in outright breach of international etiquette, to a command from the United States to Russia and Japan after Lio- yang, or to Germany and France after Sedan, to lay down their arms. Mr. Root, who was to know his Central Ameri- cans much better a year later, planned a great reform. He issued a call to the five countries to hold a conference in Washington, under the aus- pices of Mexico and the United States. This conference drafted the most advanced arbitration treaty (see Appendix A) to which any set of nations ever agreed, and there was much talk of how a group of small, maligned American re- publics had blazed the path for the great powers who had made but slight progress toward dis- armament at The Hague. In the preliminary convention, which is char- acteristically Central American in its literary spirit, the delegates expressed every ideal which any one of them could suggest, while the secre- MR. ROOT’S PLAN 298 tary’s directing mind appeared in the conven- tion for the establishment of the court at Cartago, before which all questions of international dif- ference was to be decided. The delegates had preached peace; a legal method was provided to ensure it. Every possible contingency was fore- seen in this admirably logical document except incorrigible manifestations of Central American human nature and the necessity of a policeman to enforce the decrees of the court. A favorite means of warfare of one President on another was to support the organization of a revolutionary army within his borders to invade his neighbor’s territory when it was ready. This practice was now solemnly foresworn. If all the Presidents kept their oaths they could re-elect themselves to office as long as they pleased, be- + cause of recent years, with the lines of telegraph instantly apprising a dictator of any movement against him, the only hope of turning him out was by a force organized across the frontier, or by assassination or a palace plot. Up to the time of the treaty the different na- tions had, in most instances, no regular diplomatic representatives among themselves. Their rela- tions were those of primitive peoples before the plenipotentiary system was introduced. They kept informed by means of spies in rival capitals, and the lack of the usual form of returning his pass- 204 CENTRAL AMERICA ports to a minister in the event of war was con- sidered a strategic advantage. The treaty provided for the exchange of min- isters and for the establishment of a Pedagogical Institute in Costa Rica and a Central American Bureau in Guatemala, which should be a local counterpart of the valuable general bureau in Washington. To bankrupt Honduras, unable to pay her soldiers and clerks, this was a heavy tax. Aside from $10,000 American gold for her min- ister and $6,000 to her first secretary in Washing- ton, she had now to pay $10,000 a year for the court at Cartago and $8,000 each to the ministers to four other countries and to her representatives in the bureau. Enrique Creel, for Mexico, and W. I. Buchanan, for the United States, went to Car- tago to inaugurate the court with due formality as an epoch-making institution which was to put an end to armed strife in Central America. Meanwhile, Cabrera, Figueroa of Salvador, now Cabrera’s ally, and Zelaya, who had sent word to the Washington conference that he would gladly resign to ensure peace, had ordered con- signments of rapid-fire guns and other arms and ammunition, practicing the rule that this halcyon time of Mr. Root’s reform was just the occasion to prepare for war. Sittings were hardly begun when Zelaya put his troops aboard the gunboat Momotombo and Formal inauguration of the Central American Court of Justice MR. ROOT’S PLAN 205 other vessels for an invasion of Salvador. A revolution against Honduras was organized in Guatemala, without Cabrera’s consent, as he later represented; but the head of so elaborate a Spy system as he maintains must have been nodding if he did not know that one of his generals was absent in the region of the band that was being prepared and that its leader’s proclamations were printed in the government printing office, which may publish nothing without his permission. Mr. Root turned policeman for the court, fur- ther acknowledging our tutelary position, by sending word through our legation, firmly if quietly, that the revolution must stop and that Zelaya must not invade Salvador. Honduras then brought suit against Guatemala in the court for $500,000 damages for being party to an up- rising within Honduran borders. Everybody in Cartago was saying, when I was in Costa Rica, that the Salvadorian and the Guatemalan judges would take one side and the Nicaraguan and the Honduran the other. So it proved. José de Aguilar, the presiding judge, a Costa Rican, who had the casting vote, decided against any damages and tried to please all par- ties. Soon after, Mr. Carnegie gave a Peace Palace for the court, to the delight of the Costa Ricans, who are fond of fine architecture. But there was one way, as later events were to show, by which a revolution might be inaugu- 296 CENTRAL AMERICA rated without the assistance of a neighboring dictator. It needed the sympathy, in an isolated section, of American interests, which had suf- fered so far, or had so much to gain by a change of government, that they would supply arms and ammunition and a leaven of Americans who had fought in the Philippines or Cuba or knew how to handle rapid-fire guns. Thus, Juan J. Estrada, who had led the Zelayan army in the conquest of Honduras in 1907, became the head of an or- ganized force in rebellion on the east coast of Nicaragua in the autumn of 1909. Two Americans, Groce and Cannon, captured from the insurgent forces, were shot by Zelaya’s orders, and in view of this action, of conditions with which we are already familiar and of Ze- laya’s continued disregard of the Washington convention, the Secretary of State of the United States, now Mr. Knox, severed all relations with him; and in place of a cruiser, which Mr. Ro6t had used, he sent a force of marines to be in readi- ness if threatened disorders should occur. In the name of common morality, no action was ever more justifiable. For international precedent it had Mr. Root’s own arbitrary intervention. Ze- laya departed on a Mexican gunboat, the General Guerrero, with his wealth, leaving an empty treasury and the most pitifully exhausted country on the American continent. And this was only two years after the treaty of Washington, which MR. ROOT’S PLAN 207 was to cure Central American evils by means of . a piece of paper! As for the Pedagogical Institute provided for by the treaty, it remains visionary. When I was in Guatemala City I was shown through the new offices of the Central American Bureau, whose delegates had just held their first sessions. For each delegate a desk and an unused pad and an inkwell were arranged. The clerks were absent, but two brand-new typewriters told of their good intentions. It was an appropriate stage setting for what every foreigner whom I met in Central America and every Central American President and politician, I am sure, regards as a farce. But Cabrera had been eloquent in highflown welcome, with none of the candor of my con- versation with him, and every delegate had made a speech so eloquent that you might think that the angels had descended on Guatemala, where politi- cal suspects lay sore from lashings in prison. Copies of reports of the proceedings which I received later, in which every orator seems to have his fair share of space for disquisitions about liberty and Greece and Rome, do not change the original impression. Probably they have not changed Cabrera’s views. He said in my talk with him: “Central American union is a beautiful idea, a consummation toward which all true Central American patriots should labor with noble, un- 208 CENTRAL AMERICA selfish aims. But I fear that, like your own union and all other great nations, it will be made only with the bayonet”—and doubtless he would be glad to undertake the task with his own army if the United States and Mexico would permit. Surely these five countries, in which there are as many dialects as in Russia, I should say, are a unit in a geographical sense. But shall Costa Rica be yoked to Nicaragua, though many am- bitious Costa Ricans would like to be President of the new nation? For ninety years each coun- try has been a sealed satrapy. The natural course of traffic has been from the highlands to either coast. While one may ride by rail from the Cape to Cairo, the talk of through sleepers from the City of Mexico to Panama remains a series of concessions to the terminus at the Bay of Fon- seca, with such railroads as there are struggling to pay their interest under conditions that forbid prosperity. The dictator has seen in steel tracks a draw- bridge over the moat into his baronial castle. No railroad and no good highway crosses a single Central American frontier. Populations hug the interior towns, and the border regions have be- come uninhabited wildernesses through fear of impressment and depredations by revolutionary bands. If union failed after the Spanish régime, with its precedent of hegemony, would it succeed to-day without the direction of a sustaining hand? CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT THE FUTURE WE can hear the call of “Destiny,’’ which involved us in the work of order, edu- cation and sanitation across the Pacific, but not the call of neighborly duty and economic self. interest to remedy conditions far worse than the Philippines ever suffered in a richer tropical coun- try so devastated that it has fewer inhabitants than at the beginning or the end of Spanish rule. Time will change our view of Central America. We shall cease to think of it as the home of a, litter of mixed populations unhappily in the domain of our influence. We shall know that the gener- osity of nature did not end with the varied re- sources of our temperate zone. The tapering backbone of land between two oceans and the scattered islands which make the broken rim of the Caribbean form something better than a play- ground for winter holidays. They are to be a hothouse and a granary, making all the territory between the Lakes and the Canal an integer pro- ducing everything that man consumes close to our harbors, while less fortunate Europe is sepa- 299 300 CENTRAL AMERICA rated from tropical Africa by the spread of the Sahara. At Panama Dr. Gorgas has shattered the myth about the deadly climate of the lowlands, while the highlands are healthy in spite of all man’s neglect. Consider the marshy England of Al- fred’s time, when sanitation was on the same order as Central America’s to-day! Consider the Eng- land of Elizabeth’s time, with only three million population; of George III’s, with only fifteen million, which hygienic progress has given forty million to-day! Give him the means of trans- portation in Central America and a man may superintend his plantation in the lowlands dur- ing the day and return, without traveling farther than many commuters, to sleep under blankets at an altitude of 2,000 feet every night. “So much room here and so few people,” as the Japanese ma jor said. An acre of that rich soil of the highlands, which gives out its fertility in a riot of jungle waste, under the husbandship of skill and application, with dollars on a gold basis instead of jail as a reward for labor, would yield more to feed and clothe mankind than many a New England farm which our ancestors tilled. In Honduras, where marsh weeds now grow, crops of rice would rise, as they have in Texas and Louisiana. Yet no American, unless he is a part of a corporation strong enough to protect him, should go into busi- THE FUTURE 301 ness or planting in Central America until there is 4 more practical change in conditions than the succession of one President to another. Statistics slash the bubble of trans-Pacific des- tiny. The commerce of North and South Amer- 1ca, as a whole, is more than double that of all Asia; and that of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay (those thriving, growing countries of which we know so little) exceeds, including our small part, that of Japan, China and Korea, But the east coast of South America is far away, nearer to Europe with its cheap manufactures and greedy, efficient mercantile marines than to the United States. Central America and the West Indies are in our yard, and the commerce of the West Indies, thanks to flourishing Cuba and Porto Rico pay- Ing us back in the coin of trade for our interest In their behalf, equals that of the East Indies which drew Columbus to his discovery. Cuba’s area, 44,000 square miles, is a little less than Guatemala’s, and one-third that of the Philip- pines. Her foreign trade is $210,000,000, or $100 per capita a year, compared to Guatemala’s $15,- 000,000, or about $8 per capita, and the Philip- pines’ $65,000,000, or about $17 per capita. Costa Rica, the one stable Central American republic, has $50 per capita, which is sufficient comment on the comparative resources of Central America and the Philippines. 802 CENTRAL AMERICA Cuba has nearly four times the trade of all the Central American countries. Porto Rico, with a million people and 8,485 square miles, has over $50 per capita and a trade total surpassing that of all the Central American countries, if we ex- clude Costa Rica, with its $18,000,000 for its 350,000 inhabitants. Java, of the Dutch East Indies, with only 2,000 square miles more area than Guatemala, has 80,000,000 population and a trade of $225,000,000 annually. Central Amer- ica has 170,000 square miles and 3,500,000 popu- lation, compared to the smaller area of the whole Philippine archipelago with 127,000 square miles and 8,000,000 population. The Filipinos are in- creasing rapidly, but no more rapidly than the Central Americans would if hygiene rocked the crib and peace and opportunity waited at the door. In the region between the Mexican border and Colombia is room for 50,000,000 people, and in ten years of good government its trade might be quadrupled. We cannot stop our own growth of numbers and the expansion of our influence, or the de- velopment of new interests with the completion of the Canal. We are facing a problem which we cannot escape. Shall it be solved in a moment of violence when we suddenly become exasper- ated? If the average American could be trans- ported in spirit to Central America, I fear we should have drastic action at once. He would THE FUTURE 303 demand immediate occupation of the whole coun- try in the name of humanity. Or shall we accept the problem as inevitable and dea] with it de- liberately? It would seem that we have had enough of blind destiny with its fearful entail of expense. Common sense is a better leader. Whatever we do about Central America, we must bear in mind that the best philanthropy and the best humani- tarianism will begin and end only with such meas- ures as will mean economic at the same time as educational and governmental progress. can be no Prosperity without a drastic, perma- nent reform of conditions, How is this to be ac- complished ? One thing is certain: We should build and own legation buildings in Centra] American capitals, where our influence and position make our representative the leading man of the foreign community. Ownership of European embassies May wait on this more practical step, while men of great wealth, always glad to represent us in Lon- don, Paris and Vienna, c Through the agency of our ministers we can de- mand the limitation of armies to numbers in keep- Ing at least with our own standing force, the end of the execution of political suspects and of the confiscation of property; the reorganization of hational credit with the guaranteed payment of Interest on a compromise amount of the old loans, 304 CENTRAL AMERICA and the establishment of personal freedom and the right of trial. But the minister must have the support of the State Department and of the American public. His authority must not be undermined by the continual appeals of the dictator through his own legation in Washington. Our action must not subserve the intrigue of one despot against an- other, as it has so frequently. Will such a policy be effective? Is it possible by any outside influence to force a return to the elemental principles without which no people can help themselves? Misgovernment has become an ingrained habit with the ruling class. Centuries of tyranny have sunk the people lower than the state of the Egyptians before the days of British rule. They know nothing but fear and preju- dice. Let the money that now goes into the pur- chase of arms go into schools for a generation and we should have such a transformation in the Cor- dilleras as we have seen on the banks of the Nile and in the Philippines. The worst policy of all, robbing us of trade and the Central Americans of opportunities, is that patchwork opportunism which, when one dictator’s tyranny reaches a climax and becomes a scandal compelling our at- tention, gives our moral support to the induction in office of some successor who, in turn, will wring a fortune out of his people by the old methods. Shall temporary reform come at times through THE FUTURE 305 our connivance in a revolution financed by a cor- poration or a firm which wants its own man in power? This has happened repeatedly. The political factor in the time of Walker's filibuster- Ing was Commodore Vanderbilt's ownership of the American Transit Company plying on the waters of the Nicaraguan lakes and rivers. After ninety years’ trial of the Monroe Doc- trine, one Central American country alone, Costa, Rica, 1s worthy of the Doctrine’s later interpreta- tion. There we have protected a small, homo- geneous people of Caucasian extraction in the exercise of their sovereignty. All the better ele- ment of the other countries cries out for some as- surance of safety to life and property. Certainly even the powerful private interests would prefer our Intervention to having to gain their ends by corruption or allying their fortunes to those of a bandit army marching on the capital. Only a small class, which find thejr only profits in office and _extortion, prefer the present system of nominal independence from our direction. Every reason which called Christian Europe to the relief of the people of the Balkan provinces calls us to the relief of Central America from men of the Zelaya stamp, whose rule makes the Wey- lerism which roused our indignation in 1898 mild Ih comparison. We cannot shift the blame on to Spain’s shoulders in this instance; it is ours. For the last five years occupation has been warranted. 306 CENTRAL AMERICA in at least two of the republics. It is the one ure cure. Can we afford to miss any opportunity o effecting it whenever, in the name of the restora- tion of order, we can take charge without firing a shot? Shall we hesitate to do in Central pists what we have done in Cuba; to give these people a chance for a fair start, which they have ie had? Shall we accept the responsibility bo our continual intervention has acknowledged? APPENDIX A GENERAL TREATY OF PEACE AND AMITY @'reaty and Conventions signed by represen tatives of the Republics of Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costq Rica, at Washington, December 20th, 1907, estab- lishing the Central American Court of Justice at Cartago, Costa Rica, for the arbi- ration of all international differences, ARTICLE I THE Republics of Central America consider as one of their first duties, in their mutual relations, the maintenance of Peace; and they bind themselves to always observe the most com- plete harmony, and decide every difference or difficulty that may arise amongst them, of what- Soever nature it may be, by means of the Centra] American Court of J ustice, created by the Con- vention which they have concluded for that pur- Pose on this date, 807 CENTRAL AMERICA ArTIiCcLE II Desiring to secure in the Republics of Central America the benefits which are derived from the maintenance of their institutions, and to con- tribute at the same time in strengthening their stability and the prestige with which they ought to be surrounded, it is declared that every dispo- sition or measure which may tend to alter the constitutional organization in any of them is to be deemed a menace to the peace of said Re- publics. ArTticLE 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 con- flicts, Honduras declares from now on its abso- lute neutrality in event of any conflict between the other Republics; and the latter, in their turn, provided such neutrality be observed, bind them- selves to respect it and in no case to violate the Honduranean territory. ARTICLE IV Bearing in mind the advantages which must be gained from the creation of Central American institutions for the development of their most GENERAL TREATY 309 vital interests, besides the Pedagogical Institute and the International Central American Bureau which are to be established according to the Con- ventions concluded to that end by this Confer- ence, the creation of a practical Agricultural School in the Republic of Salvador, one of Mines and Mechanics in that of Honduras, and another of Arts and Trades in that of N icaragua, is espe- cially recommended to the Governments. ARTICLE V In order to cultivate the relations between the States, the contracting Parties obligate them- selves each to accredit to the others a permanent Legation. ARTICLE VI The citizens of one of the contracting Parties, residing in the territory of any of the others, shall enjoy the same civil rights as are enjoyed by na- tionals, and shall be considered as citizens in the country of their residence if they fulfil the condi- tions which the respective constituent laws pro- vide. Those that are not naturalized shall be exempt from obligatory military service, either on sea or land, and from every forced loan or military requisition, and they shall not be obliged on any account to pay greater contributions or ordinary or extraordinary imposts than those which natives pay. CENTRAL AMERICA ArTIicLE VII The individuals who have acquired a profes- sional degree in any of the contracting Republics, may, without special exaction, practice their pro- fessions, in accordance with the respective laws, in any one of the others, without other require- ments than those of presenting the respective de- gree or diploma properly authenticated and of proving, in case of necessity, their personal identity and of obtaining a permit from the Executive Power where the law so requires. In like manner shall validity attach to the scientific studies pursued in the universities, pro- fessional schools, and the schools of higher edu- cation of any one of the contracting countries, provided the documents which evidence such studies have been authenticated, and the identity of the person proved. ArTicLE VIII Citizens of the signatory countries who reside in the territory of the others shall enjoy the right of literary, artistic or industrial property in the same manner and subject to the same require- ments as natives. : ArTicLE IX The merchant ships of the signatory countries shall be considered upon the sea, along the coasts, GENERAL TREATY 311 and in the ports of said countries as national ves- sels; they shall enjoy the same exemptions, im- munities and concessions as the latter, and shall not pay other dues nor be sub Ject to further taxes than those imposed upon and paid by the vessels of the country. ArTticLE X The Governments of the contracting Repub- lies bind themselves to respect the inviolability of the right of asylum aboard the merchant vessels of whatsoever nationality anchored in their ports. Therefore, only persons accused of common crimes can be taken from them after due legal procedure and by order of the competent judge. Those prosecuted on account of political crimes Or common crimes in connection with political ones, can only be taken therefrom in case they have embarked in a port of the State which claims them, during their stay in its jurisdictional waters, and after the requirements hereinbefore set forth in the case of common crimes have been fulfilled. ArticLE XI The Diplomatic and Consular-Agents of the contracting Republics in foreign cities, towns and ports shall afford to the persons, vessels and ~ other property of the citizens of any one of them, the same protection as to the persons, ships and 812 CENTRAL AMERICA other properties of their compatriots, withou® de- manding for their services other or higher charges than those usually made with respect to their nationals. ArTIicLE XII In the desire of promoting commerce between the contracting Republics, their respective Gov- ernments shall agree upon the establishment of national merchant marines engaged in coastwise commerce and the arrangements to be made with and the subsidies to be granted to steamship com- panies engaged in the trade between national and foreign ports. ArTIicLE XIII There shall be a complete and regular ex- change of every class of official publications be- tween the contracting Parties. ArTIcLE XIV Public instruments executed in one of the con- tracting Republics shall be valid in the others, provided they shall have been properly authenti- cated and in their execution the laws of the Re- public whence they issue shall have been observed. ARTICLE XV The judicial authorities of the contracting Re- publics shall carry out the judicial commissions GENERAL TREATY 318 and warrants in civil, commercial or criminal matters, with regard to citations, interrogatories and other acts of procedure or Judicial function. Other judicial acts, in civil or commercial mat- ters, arising out of a personal suit, shall have in the territory of any one of the contracting Parties equal force with those of the local tribunals and shall be executed in the same manner, provided always that they shall first have been declared executory by the Supreme Tribunal of the Re- public wherein they are to be executed, which shall be done if they meet the essential require- ments of their respective legislation and they shall be carried out in accordance with the laws enacted in each country for the execution of Judgments. ARTICLE XVI Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes of disturbances in the Republics, the con- tracting Governments shall not permit the lead- ers or principal chiefs of political refugees, nor their agents, to reside in the departments border- ing on the countries whose peace they might dis- turb. Those who may have established their perma- nent residence in a frontier department may re- main in the place of their residence under the immediate surveillance of the Government afford- ing them an asylum, but from the moment when 314 CENTRAL AMERICA they become a menace to public order they shall be included in the rule of the preceding para- graph. ArricLE 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 Repub- lic, where he shall be submitted to trial according to law. ArTicLE XVIII With respect to the Bureau of Central Ameri- can Republics which shall be established in Guatemala, and with respect to the Pedagogical Institute which is to be created in Costa Rica, the Conventions celebrated to that end shall be ob- served, and those that refer to Extradition, Com- munications, and Annual Conferences, shall re- main in full force for the unification of Central American interests. ArTicLE XIX The present Treaty shall remain in force for the term of ten years counted from the day of the exchange of ratifications. Nevertheless, if one year before the expiration of said term, none of the contracting Parties shall have given special GENERAL TREATY 315 notice to the others concerning its intention to terminate it, it shall remain in force until one year after such notification shall have been made. ARTICLE XX The stipulations of the Treaties heretofore con- cluded among the contracting Countries, being comprised or suitably modified in this, it is de- clared that all stipulations remain void and re- voked by the present, after final approval and exchange of ratifications, ArTicLE XXI The exchange of ratifications of the present Treaty, as well as that of the other Conventions of this date, shall be made by means of communi- cations which are to be addressed by the Govern- ments to that of Costa Rica, in order that the latter shall notify the other contracting States. The Government of Costa Rica shall also com- municate its ratification if it effects it. Signed at the city of Washington on the twentieth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and seven, ADDITIONAL CONVENTION TO THE GENERAL TREATY ArTICcLE 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 the recognized Govern- ment, so long as the freely elected representatives of the people thereof, have not constitutionally reorganized the country. ArTicLE 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 strug- gle takes place. ArTicLE III The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are recommended to endeavor to bring about, by the means at their command, a consti- tutional reform in the sense of prohibiting the re- election of the President of a Republic, where 816 ADDITIONAL CON VENTION 317 such prohibition does not exist, secondly to adopt all measures necessary to effect a complete guar- antee of the principle of alternation in power. Signed at the city of Washington on the twentieth day of December, one thousand nine hyndred and seven, CONVENTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, OF A CENTRAL AMERICAN COURT OF JUSTICE ARTICLE I The High Contracting Parties agree by the present Convention to constitute and maintain a permanent tribunal which shall be called the “Central American Court of J ustice,” to which they bind themselves to submit all controversies or questions which may arise among them, of whatsoever nature and no matter what their origin may be, in case the respective Depart- ments of Foreign Affairs should not have been able to reach an understanding. ArTIiCcLE II This Court shall also take cognizance of the questions which individuals of one Central Amer- ican country may raise against any of the other contracting Governments, because of the viola- tion of treaties or conventions, and other cases of an international character; no matter whether their own Government supports said claim or not; and provided that the remedies which the laws of the respective country provide against 818 COURT OF JUSTICE 819 such violation sha]] have been exhausted or that denial of justice shall have been shown, ARTICLE III It shall also have Jurisdiction over cases aris- ing between any of the contracting Governments and individuals, when by common accord they are submitted to it, ARTICLE IV Court can likewise take cognizance of the tional questions which by special agree- ny one of the Central American Govern- ents and a foreign Government may have de- termined to submit to it, ARTICLE V The Central American Court of Justice shall sit at the City of Cartago in the Republic of Costa Rica, but it May temporarily transfer its pes;- dence to another point in Central America whenever it deems jt expedient for reasons of health, or in order to insure the exercise of jig functions, or of the personal safety of its mem- bers. ARTICLE VI The Central American Court of J ustice shall consist of five J ustices, one being appointed by 820 CENTRAL AMERICA each Republic and selected from among the Jurists who possess the qualifications which the laws of each country prescribe for the exercise of high judicial office, and who enjoy the highest consideration, both because of their moral char- acter and their professional ability. Vacancies shall be filled by substitute J ustices, named at the same time and in the same manner as the regular Justices and who shall unite the same qualifications as the latter. The attendance of the five Justices who con- stitute the Tribunal is indispensable in order to make a legal quorum in the decisions of the Court. ArTIiCcLE VII The Legislative Power of each one of the five contracting Republics shall appoint their respect- ive Justices, one regular and two substitutes. The salary of each Justice shall be eight thou- sand dollars, gold, per annum, which shall be paid them by the Treasury of the Court. The salary of the Justice of the country where the Court re- sides shall be fixed by the Government thereof. Furthermore each State shall contribute two thousand dollars, gold, annually toward the or- dinary and extraordinary expenses of the Tri- bunal. The Governments of the contracting Republics bind themselves to include their re- spective contributions in their estimates of ex- COURT OF JUSTICE 821 penses and to remit quarterly in advance to the Treasury of the Court the share they may have to bear on account of such services. ArTIicLE VIII The regular and substitute Justices shall be appointed for a term of five years, which shall be counted from the day on which they assume the duties of their office, and they may be re-elected. In case of death, resignation or permanent in- capacity of any of them, the vacancy shall be filled by the respective Legislature, and the Justice elected shall complete the term of his predecessor. ArTicLE IX The regular and substitute Justices shall take oath or make affirmation prescribed by law be- fore the authority that may have appointed them, and from that moment they shall enjoy the im- munities and prerogatives which the present Con- vention confers upon them. The regular Justices shall likewise enjoy thenceforth the salary fixed in Article VII. ARTICLE X Whilst they remain in the country of their ap- pointment the regular and substitute Justices shall enjoy the personal immunity which the re- spective laws grant to the magistrates of the 322 CENTRAL AMERICA Supreme Court of J ustice, and in the other con- tracting Republics they shall have the privileges and immunities of Diplomatic Agents. ArTticLE XI The office of Justice whilst held is incompatible with the exercise of his profession, and with the holding of public office. The same incompati- bility applies to the substitute Justices so long as they may actually perform their duties. ArticLE XII At its first annual session the Court shall elect from among its own members a President and Vice-President; it shall organize the personnel of its office by designating a Clerk, a Treasurer, and such other subordinate employees as it may deem necessary, and it shall draw up the estimate of its expenses. . ARTICLE XIII The Central American Court of J ustice repre- sents the national conscience of Central America, wherefore the Justices who compose the Tribunal shall not consider themselves barred from the dis- charge of their duties because of the interest which the Republics, to which they owe their ap- pointment, may have in any case or question. COURT OF J USTICE 323 With regard to allegations of personal interest, the rules of procedure which the Court may fix, shall make Proper provision. ArTicLE XIV When differences or questions subject to the Jurisdiction of the Tribunal arise, the interested Party shall present a complaint which shall com- prise all the points of fact and law relative to the matter, and al] pertinent evidence, The Tribunal shall communicate without loss of time a copy of the complaint to the Governments or individuals interested, and shall invite them to furnish their allegations and evidence within the term that it may designate to them, which, in no case, shall exceed sixty days counted from the date of notice of the complaint. ArTicLE XV If the term designated shall have expired with- out answer having been made to the complaint, the Court shall require the complainant op com- Plainants to do so within a further term not to exceed twenty days, after the expiration of which and in view of the evidence presented and of ay ex officio have seen fit to obtain, the Tribunal shall render its decision in the case, which decision shall be final, CENTRAL AMERICA ArTIiCcLE XVI If the Government, Governments, or individu- als sued shall have appeared in time before the Court, presenting their allegations and evidence, the Court shall decide the matter within thirty days following, without further process or pro- ceedings; but if a new term for the presentation of evidence be solicited, the Court shall decide whether or not there is occasion to grant it; and in the affirmative it shall fix therefor a reasonable time. Upon the expiration of such term, the Court shall pronounce its fina] Judgment within thirty days. ArTIicLE XVII Each one of the Governments or individuals directly concerned in the questions to be consid- ered by the Court has the right to be represented before it by a trustworthy person or persons, who shall present evidence, formulate arguments, and shall, within the terms fixed by this Convention and by the rules of the Court of J ustice do every- thing that in their Judgment shall be beneficial to the defense of the rights they represent. ArTticLE XVIII From the moment in which any suit is insti- tuted against any one or more Governments up COURT OF JUSTICE 325 to that in which a final decision has been pro- nounced, 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. ARTICLE XIX For all the effects of this Convention, the Cen- tral American Court of Justice may address it- self to the Governments or tribunals of Justice of the contracting States, through the medium of the Ministry of Foreign Relations or the office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Justice of the respective country, according to the nature of the requisite proceeding, in order to have the measures that it may dictate within the scope of its jurisdiction carried out. ArTicLE XX It may also appoint special commissioners to carry out the formalities above referred to, when it deems it expedient for their better fulfilment. In such case, it shall ask of the Government where the proceeding is to be had, its co-operation and assistance, in order that the Commissioner may fulfil his mission. The contracting Governments formally bind themselves to obey and to enforce 326 CENTRAL AMERICA the orders of the Court, furnishing all the assist- ance that may be necessary for their best and most expeditious fulfilment. ArTicLE XXI In deciding points of fact that may be raised before it, the Central American Court of J ustice shall be governed by its free Judgment, and with respect to points of law, by the principles of In- ternational Law. The final Judgment shall cover each one of the points in litigation. ArTIcLE XXII The Court is competent to determine its juris- diction, interpreting the Treaties and Conven- tions germane to the matter in dispute, and ap- plying the principles of international law. ArTicLE XXIII Every final or interlocutory decision shall be rendered with the concurrence of at least three of the Justices of the Court. In case of disagree- ment, one of the substitute J ustices shall be chosen by lot, and if still a majority of three be not thus obtained other Justices shall be success- ively chosen by lot until three uniform votes shall have been obtained. COURT OF JUSTICE ArTicLE XXIV The decisions must be in writing and shall con- tain a statement of the reasons upon which they are based. They must be signed by all the Jus- tices of the Court and countersigned by the Clerk. Once they have been notified they can not be al- tered on any account; but, at the request of any of the parties, the Tribunal may declare the in- terpretation which must be given to its judg- ments. ArTicLE XXV The judgments of the Court shall be communi- cated to the five Governments of the contracting Republics. The interested parties solemnly bind themselves to submit to said judgments, and all agree to lend all moral support that may be neces- sary in order that they may be properly fulfilled, thereby constituting a real and positive guarantee of respect for this Convention and for the Central American Court of Justice. ArTicLE XXVI The Court is empowered to make its rules, to formulate the rules of procedure which may be necessary, and to determine the forms and terms not prescribed in the present Convention. All the decisions which may be rendered in this re- spect shall be communicated immediately to the High Contracting Parties. CENTRAL AMERICA ArTticLE XXVIII The High Contracting Parties solemnly de- clare that on no ground nor in any case will they consider the present Convention as void; and that, therefore, they will consider it as being always in force during the term of ten years counted from the last ratification. In the event of the change of alteration of the political status of one or more of the Contracting Republics, the func- tions of the Central American Court of Justice created by this Convention shall be suspended ipso facto; and a conference to ad Just the consti- tution of said Court to the new order of things shall be forthwith convoked by the respective Governments; in case they do not unanimously agree the present Convention shall be considered as rescinded. ArTIicLE XXVIII The exchange of ratifications of the present Convention shall be made jn accordance with Article XXT of the Genera] Treaty of Peace and Amity concluded on this date. PRrovISIONAL ARTICLE As recommended by the five Delegations an Article is annexed which contains an amplifica- tion of the jurisdiction of the Central American COURT OF JUSTICE 329 Court of Justice, in order that the Legislatures may, if they see fit, include it in this Convention upon ratifying it. ANNEXED ARTICLE The Central American Court of Justice shall also have jurisdiction over the conflicts which may arise between the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Powers, and when as a matter of fact the judicial decisions and resolutions of the Na- tional Congress are not respected. APPENDIX B Letter of Secretary of State Know, returning the passports of Felipe Rodriguez, Minister from Nicaragua to the United States. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WasHINGTON, December 1, 1909. Si: Since the Washington conventions of 1907 it is notorious that President Zelaya has almost continually kept Central America in tension of turmoil, that he has repeatedly and flagrantly violated the provisions of the conven- tions, and by a baleful influence upon Honduras, whose neutrality the conventions were to assure, has sought to discredit those sacred international obligations to the great detriment of Costa, Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, whose Governments meanwhile appear to have been able patiently to strive for the loyal support of the engagements so solemnly undertaken at Washington under the auspices of the United States and Mexico. It is equally a matter of common knowledge that under the régime of President Zelaya repub- lican institutions have ceased in Nicaragua to exist except in name; that public opinion and the 830 LETTER OF SECRETARY KNOX 831 press have been throttled, and that prison has been the reward of any tendency to real patriot- ism. My consideration for you personally impels me to abstain from unnecessary discussion of the painful details of a régime which unfortunately has been a blot upon the history of Nicaragua and a discouragement to a group of republics whose aspirations need only the opportunity of free and honest Government. In view of the interests of the United States and of its relation to the Washington conven- tions, appeal against this situation has long since been made to this Government by a majority of the Central American republics. There is now added the appeal, through the revolution, of a great body of the Nicaraguan people. Two Americans, who this Government is now con- vinced were officers connected with the revolution- ary forces and, therefore, entitled to be dealt with according to the enlightened practice of civilized nations, have been killed by direct order of Presi- dent Zelaya. Their execution is said to have been preceded by barbarous cruelties. The Consulate at Managua is now officially reported to have been menaced. There is thus a sinister culmination of an ad- ministration also characterized by a cruelty to its own citizens, which has, until the recent out- rage, found vent in the case of this country in a succession of petty annoyances and indignities 332 CENTRAL AMERICA which many months ago made it impossible to ask an American Minister longer to reside at Managua. From every point of view it has evi- dently become difficult for the United States fur- ther to delay more active response to the appeals so long made to its duty to its citizens, to its dig- nity, to Central America, and to civilization. The Government of the United States is con- vinced that the revolution represents the ideals and the will of a ma jority of the N icaraguan peo- ple more faithfully than does the Government of President Zelaya, and that its peaceable control is well nigh as extensive as that hitherto so sternly attempted by the Government at Managua. There is now added the fact, as officially re- ported from more than one quarter, that there are already indications of a rising in the western provinces in favor of a Presidential candidate intimately associated with the old régime. In this it is easy to see new elements tending toward a condition of anarchy, which leaves at g 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 in- terests in N' icaragua. In these circumstances the President no longer feels for the Government of President Zelaya, that respect and confidence which would make it LETTER OF SECRETARY KNOX 333 appropriate hereafter to maintain with it pu diplomatic relations, implying the will and the ability to respect and assure what is due from one State to another. The Government of Nicaragua, which you have hitherto represented, is hereby notified, as will be also the leaders of the revolution, that the Gov- ernment of the United States will hold strictly accountable for the protection of American life and property the faction de facto in control of the eastern and western provinces of the Republic of Nicaragua. As for the reparation found due, after careful consideration, for the killing of Messrs. Groce and Cannon, the Government of the United States would be loath to impose upon the inno- cent people of Nicaragua a too heavy burden of expiating the acts of a régime forced upon them, or to exact from a succeeding Government, if it have quite different policies, the imposition of such a burden. Into the question of ultimate reparation there must enter the question of the existence at Managua of a Government capable of respond- ing to demands. There must enter also the ques- tion how far it is possible to reach those actually responsible and those who perpetrated the tor- tures reported to have preceded the execution, if these be verified, and the question whether the Government be one entirely dissociated from the 334 CENTRAL AMERICA present intolerable conditions and worthy to be trusted to make impossible a recurrence of such acts, in which case the President, as a friend of your country, as he is also of the other republics of Central America, might be disposed to have indemnity confined to what was reasonably due the relatives of the deceased and punitive only in so far as the punishment might fall where really due. In pursuance of this policy, the Government of the United States will temporarily withhold its demand for reparation, in the meanwhile taking such steps as it deems wise and proper to protect American interests. To insure the future protection of legitimate American interests, in consideration of the inter- ests of the majority of the Central American re- publics, and in the hope of making more effective the friendly offices exerted under the Washing- ton conventions, the Government of the United States reserves for further consideration at the proper time the question of stipulating also that the Constitutional Government of Nicaragua obligate itself by convention for the benefit of all the Governments concerned as a guarantee for its future loyal support of the Washington conven- tions and their peaceful and progressive aims. From the foregoing it will be apparent to you that your office of chargé d'affaires is at an end. I have the honor to inclose your passports for LETTER OF SECRETARY KNOX 835 use in case you desire to leave this country. I would add at the same time that, although your diplomatic quality is terminated, I shall be happy to receive you, as I shall be happy to receive the representative of the revolution, each as the un- official channel of communication between the Government of the United States and the de facto authorities to whom I look for the protection of American interests pending the establishment in Nicaragua of a government with which the United States can maintain diplomatic relations. Accept, Sir, the renewed assurances of my high consideration. (Signed) P. C. Knox. To Felipe Rodriguez, Esq., Washington, D. C. APPENDIX C THE MONROE DOCTRINE N December 2, 1828, in his annual message to Congress, President Monroe submitted the following recommendation, which has since borne his name: “At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Gov- ernment, made through the minister of the Em- peror residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal had been made by his Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have in- variably attached to the friendship of the Em- peror and their solicitude to cultivate, the best understanding with his government. In the dis- cussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate 836 THE MONROE DOCTRINE 337 the occasion has been judged proper for assert- ing, as a principle in which the rights and inter- ests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as sub jects for future colonization by any Europeon pow- ors. oe “It was stated at the commencement of the last session that a great effort was then making in Spain and Portugal to improve the condition of the people of those countries, and that it appeared to be conducted with extraordinary moderation. It need scarcely be remarked that the result has been so far very different from what was then anticipated. Of events in that quarter of the - globe, with which we have so much inter- course and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and inter- ested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly in favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow- men on that side of. the Atlantic. In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to them- selves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, 388 CENTRAL AMERICA and by causes which must be obvious to all en- lightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This dif- ference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled fe- licity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to: our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their inde- pendencce and maintained it, and whose inde- pendence we have, on great consideration and on Just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new governments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their THE MONROE DOCTRINE 339 recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this government, shall make a cor- responding change on the part of the United States indispensable to their security. i 1 “The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the Allied Powers should have thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain, To what extent such interposition may: be carried, on the same principle, is a question in which all independent powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even those most remote, and surely none more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which! have so long agitated that quarter of the globe nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its Powers; to consider the government de facto as' the legitimate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm and manly policy, meet- - Ing, in all instances, the Just claims of every | power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to these continents circumstances are | eminently and conspicuously different. It is im- | 340 CENTRAL AMERICA possible that the Allied Powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness; nor can any one believe that our south- ern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposi- tion in any form with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new governments, and their distance from each other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to them- selves, in the hope that other powers will pursue the same course.” HE Ea SE RS a SRE sere nk Se CENTRAL AMERICAN BIBLIOGRAPHY ARNOLD AND FROST: The American Egypt. 1909. BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE: History of the Pacific States. 1883. BARRANTES, FRANCISCO M.: Elements of the History of Costa Rica. 1892. BriGEAM, WILLIAM T.: Gautemala, the Land of the Quetzal. 1887. BRINTON, DANIEL G.: Yucatan. Casas, BisHOP DE LAS: Spanish Invasion of Mezico and Cen- tral America and Many Other Works. 1699. CHARLES, CECIL: Honduras, the Land of Great Depths. 1890. CHARNEY, DESIRE: The Ancient Cities of the New World. 1887. CorANADO, JUAN V.: Cartas de Conquistador de Costa Rica. 1908. CRICHFIELD, GEORGE W.: American Supremacy. 1908. Davis, R. H.: Three Gringos in Venezuela. 1896. Di1Az DEL CASTILLO, BERNAL: True History of the Conquest of New Spain. 1844. Dunn, HENRY: Guatemala in 1827-8. Fancourr, C. St. Joun: History of Yucatan. 1854. FisHER, HORACE N.: Ethnology and Commercial Importance of Latin America and the West Indies. Senate Document. 1909. FraBEL, JULIUS: Seven Years’ Travel in Central America, Northern Mexico. 1859. GOMEZ, Jost pe: Historia de Nicaragua. 1889. GUARDIA, RiCARDO F.: El! Descubrimiento ¥Y la Conquista de Costa Rica. 1905. HuMBoOLDT, ALEXANDER VON: Political Essay on New Spain. 1811. KEANE, A. H.: Oompendium of Geography of Central America and West Indies. 1901. LA FERRIERE, J.: De Paris @ Guatemala. 18717. MARURE, A.: Memorias para la Historia de la Revolution de Centro-America. 841 342 CENTRAL AMERICAN BIBLIOGRAPHY MAUDSLEY, A. C. AND A. P.: Glimpse at Guatemala. 1899. MENDOZA, JUAN M.: Una Vez por Todos. 1902. MoRELET, CHEVALIER ARTHUR: Travels in Central America. 1871. MorraN, A. 'P.: A Hoosier in Honduras. 1897. PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS. RUHL, ARTHUR: The Other Americans (South America). 1908. ScCHERZER, DR. CARL: Travels in the Free States of Central America. 1857. SCHERZER, DR. CARL, AND DR. MORITZ WAGNER: Die Republik Costa Rica. 1856. SQUIER, E. G.: Honduras. 1870. SQuiEr, E. G.: Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery and Monu- ments. 1852. SQUIER, E. G.: Waikna, or Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. 1856. SQUIER, E. G.: The States of Central America. 1868. STEPHENS, JOHN L.: Incidents of Travel in Central America. 1841. STEPHENS, JOHN L.: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. 1843. VINCENT, FRANK: In and Out of Central America. 1896. WALDECK, FREDERICK DE: Voyage Pittoresque et Archéologique dans le Province d’Yucatan. 1838. WELLS, WILLIAM V.: Explorations and Adventures in Hon- duras. 1857. WHETHAM, J. W. BopbAM: Across Central America. 1877. WINTER, NEVIN O.: Guatemala and Her People of To-day. 1909. INDEX Acajutla (Salvador), 105, 247. Adams, John Quincy, 280. Agriculture, 14, 29. Aguilar, José de, 295. Alfaro, José, 168. Alfaro, Tomaso, 107, 291. Alger, Consul, 133, 144. Alvarado, Pedro de, 57, 59, 60, 62, 63, 68. Amapala, 115, 290. Amatitlan, 78. American Club, 19. American Transit Company, 168. Americanophobia, 25-27. Americans, The, 1, 22, 27, 86, 100, 142, 168, 170, 212, 232, 239. Antigua, 60, 62-63. Area, 12, 101, 105, 115, 302. Argentina, 283, 301. Arias, Ricardo, 262. Aristocracy, Landholding, 62, 70, 92, 111, 199. Armies, 11, 26, 38, 41-42, 82- 83, 106, 139, 202, 225. Assassination, 6, 73-74, 80, 87, 92, 94, 97, 100, 109, 137, 293. Aténas, 190, 247. Atitlan, 75. Aztecs, The, 2, 24. Bananas, 126, 142, 215. Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 64, 165. Banks, 98, 141, 160, 179, 249. (See Finance.) Barillas, President, 73. Barranca River, 190. Barrios, Juan, 81, 89. Barrios, Pres. J. Rufino, 70- 73, 80, 84, 175, 267. Barrios, Pres. Reina, 73. Bible Society, The, 182, 267. Bogot4, 266. Bonilla, Pres. Manuel, 134. Bonilla, Pres. Policarpo, 134, 141. Brazil, 283, 301. British, The, 21, 167, 279. Buchanan, W. I., 294. Cabrera, President, 48, 73-74, 79, 81, 86, 87, 102, 107, 111, 134, 244-245, 291, 297. Cadets, Guatemalan, 87. Cadets, Honduran, 138. Calabash tree, 120. Calhoun, John C., 281. California, 168, 171. Campo de Marte, 81-82. Canadians, The, 13. Canal, Isthmian, 45, 256, 268. Canal Zone, 46, 186, 257. Canning, Prime Minister, 279-280. Capital, 13, 29, 30, 72, 100, 181, 305. (See Finance.) Captains-general, Spanish, 57, 66, 68, 116, 275. Caribbean, The, 299. Carnegie, Andrew, 206. Carrera, President, 68-69, 200. Cartago, 203, 213. Cartago, Court of, 135, 137, 206, 294, 318. Catalans, The, 21. Cattle, 15, 121. Central American Bureau, 294. 848 344 INDEX Central American Federation, 66, 166, 200, 246. Central American Union, 297. Central American Union, Restoration of, 73. Cerda, Antonio, 166. Cerna, President, 69. Cerrato, Sefior, 119. Champerico, 51. Chapultepec, 36, 38. Chiapas, 61-62. Chile, 283. Chileans, The, 48. Chinandega, 158. Chinese, The, 77-78. Cholera, 69. Church, The, 10, 40, 60, 62, 71, 73, 84-85, 102, 188, 201, 204, 265, 269-270. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, 168. Clergy, The, 69, 108. Climate, 20, 81, 101, 109, 125, 129, 300. Clubs, 19, 188. Coffee, 52-53, 112, 127, 156, 181, 213-214, 232, 242, 250. Colon, 256. Comandancias, 52. Comandantes, 148, 182. Compact of Corinto, 290. Concessions, 51, 151, 179, 239. Conguistadores, The, 121, 195, 200. Conservatism, 69, 72, 262. Constitutions, 38, 66-67, 72, 169, 273. Costus, American, 45-46, 52, 303. Convicts, 230. Coombs, Leslie, 244. Cordoba, Hernandez de, 57. Corinto, 151. Corporations, 9, 29, 142, 168, 179-181, 209-210, 218, 304. Corral, Ramon, 40. Cortez, Hernando de, 58, 165. Costa Rica, 61, 66, 68, 171, 175, 186-212, 246, 298. Costa Rican Congress, 209. Creel, Enrique, 294. Cruz, Serapio, 70. Cuba, 67, 260, 301. Currency, 98, 109, 159, 188, 243-244. Customs, 152, 256. (See Tar- iffs.) Dévila, Gil Gonzalez, 61, 162. Davila, President, 111, 137. Davis, Commander, 173. Deboyle, Luis H., 180. Debts, National, 245-250. Designado, 74. Diaz, Madame, 40-41. Diaz, President, 3-11, 23, 26, 28-29, 32-33, 35-43, 69, 287. Drago Doctrine, 284. Drunkenness, 179. Earthquakes, 63, 106. Education, 24, 27, 30, 64, 69, 71, 84, 97, 188, 206, 272. Engineers, Mining, 15. Escuelas Practicas, 80, 84. Escuintla, 77. Esparta, 190. Estrada, General, 296. Fiestas, 100, 142. ! Figueroa, President, 107, 291. Finance, 29, 34, 98, 179, 243- 263, 261. Fincas, 52, 94, 156, 211. (See Haciendas.) Fonseca, Gulf of, 114. Foreign Bondholders’ Socity, 245. French, The, 21, 26, 150. Frijoles, 24. Fruits, 78, 132, 191. Gallegos, The, 259. Gatun Lake, 261. Germans, The, 21, 46-48, 177, 90, 102, 110, 232-233, 254. Goethals, Colonel, 258. Gonzalez, President, 3. Gonzalez-Vigez, President, 203. Gorgas, Dr. W. C., 259, 300. Granada, 166, 172. Granados, President, 70. Greytown, 167. Griswold, Mrs. Mary E., 92. SEER Ee RS ER & : INDEX Guatemala, 44, 46, 57-101, 111, 165, 244, 291. Guatemala, Kingdom of, 57, 64, 66, 275. Guatemala City, 60, 62, 78-79. Guatemala, University of, 97. Guatemalan Congress, 93. Guzman, President, 174. Haciendas, 22, 24, 52, 61, 64, 192 Hay, Secretary of State, 32, 256, 289. Hayter, Rev. Mr., 268. Health and Hygiene. (See Sanitation.) Herrera, Salvador, 89. Highlands, 75-78, 166, 197. Hill, Rev. John, 267. Hoar, Senator George, 274. Hollins, Commander, 290. Holy Alliance, The, 277. Honduras, 57, 66, 73, 88, 111, 114-143, 174, 245, 291, 295. Honduras, British, 68. Hotels, 45, 116, 121, 146, 159, 190, 240. Iguanas, 120. Independence (La Libertad), 24, 64, 66, 137. Indians, The, 23-31, 42, 61, 67, 71, 76-77, 94, 200, 226, 266, 2171. Tuskitate, Pedagogical, 294, Intervention by the United States, 135, 137, 168, 173, 266, 262, 281, 287-289, 292, 295-296, 303. Tobizian Canal Commission, Italians, The, 184, 233, 259. Iturbide, Emperor, 36, 66. Izalco, 105. Japitiens, The, 30, 48, 103, 105, Jétes Politicos, 54.55, 93-94, 182, 227-228, 256. Jefferson, President, 279, Jeffs, Mr., 129. Jesuits, The, 6, 71, 175. Keith, Minor C., 209. Knox, Secretary of State, 289- 290, 330. Labor, 16-17, 60, 215, 244, 258. Ladinos, 63, 69, 71, 77, 96. Landa, Bishop, 58-59. Language, 2, 19, 64-65, 71, 76. La Libertad, Port of, 110. La Union, 115, 147. La Venta, 126. Las Casas, Bishop, 61. Legations, 168, 303. Legitimistas, 170 . Leon, 166, 175 . Liberalism, 68-70, 179, 262, 270. Limantour, José Yves, 28, 30, 34. Limantour, Madame, 41. Loans, Forced, 131, 261. (See Finance.) Lowlands, 145, 158. Magdalena Bay, 34. Maguey Plant, 23. Malaria, 215. Managua, 159. Mantequilla, 241. Manufactures, 22. Manzanilla, 35. Mariscal, Ignacio, 32-34, 41-42. Martinez, President, 174. Matagalpa, 156, 175. Maximilian, Emperor, 4. Mayas, 58-59, 162. Maya-Quichés, 59. Medina, General, 154, 188. Merry, William Lawrence, 215, 287. Methodists, The, 267. Mexican Congress, 10, 37. Mexico, 1-43, 59, 66, 250, 286. Mexico, City of, 12, 18-19, 44, 68, 60, 203. Mexico for Mexicans, 23-31. Mines, 15, 234, 239. Miralda, General, 224. Missionaries, 61, 71, 265-269. 346 INDEX Molifia, Oligario, 28. Momotombo, The, 108, 294. Money Changers, 243. (See also Finance.) Monopolies. (See Conces- sions.) Monroe, President, 279. Monroe Doctrine, The, 168, 184, 277-289, 305, 336. Montezuma, 38. Montoros, General, 58-59. Mora, Juan, 201. Morals, 154, 182, 265-276, 304. Moravians, The, 268. Morazén, Francisco, 67-69, 166, 200. Mormons, The, 14. Mosquito Coast, 167. Mosquitoes, 155, 183, 215. Mount Aguacate, 196. Mozos, 94, 120. Mules, 120, 124, 131, 190. Nacaome River, 123. Nagualas, The, 59. Namizique, 135. Namizique, Battle of, 229. Navigation. (See Steamers.) New Orleans Lottery, 143. Nicaragua, 657, 61, 66, 111, 144-185, 296, 330. Nicaragua, Chief, 163. Nicaraguan Congress, 168, 176. Nicoya, Chief, 162. Oaxacans, The, 7. Obaldia, President, 262. Oil Fields, 21. Orchids, 125. Orizun, Colonel, 138. Panama, City of, 258. Panama, Republic of, 257-264. Pan-American Railroad, 55. Pan-Americanism, 289. Paseo del Reforma, 83. Passos, Joaquin, 180. Paulding, Commodore, 174. Pearson and Son, 41. Pelicans, 118. Peonage, 16-17, 94. Peons, 28.24, ' Peralta, Don Carlos, 189, Peru, 67. Pespire, 121. Petén, 101. Philip II., 3, 63. Philippines, The, 57, 200, 269, 274-276. Pilgrim Fathers, The, 61. Plantations, 52, 94, 232. (See Fincas.) Populations, 12, 105, 110, 156, 166, 298, 302. Porto Rico, 260, 301. Potter, Bishop, 274. Presbyterians, The, 267. Presidential Guard, 82. Press, The, 11, 18, 93, 208. Prisons, 88, 223. Prowe, Dr. Herman, 87, 91. Puenta Arenas, 187. Puerto Caballos, 115. Puerto Limon, 209. Quezaltenango, 76. Railroads, 9, 11, 42, 44, 52-53, 65, 72, 76, 100, 109, 115, 189, 194, 219, 245, 247, 298. Rains, The, 51, 119, 126, 187. Ramagoza, Sefior, 187. Regallado, President, 106. Repartimiento System, 16, 63- 64, 70. (Bee Peonage.) Resources, 9, 12, 21, 30, 49, 101, 106, 113, 125, 129, 184, 186, 217. Revolution as a Profession, 222-231. Revolutions, 5, 43, 68-70, 107, 130, 136-137, 166, 168, 174, 178, 197. Reyes, Bernardo, 40. Rivas, President, 171. Rodrigues, Felipe, 330. Roosevelt, President, 56, 91, 256-257, 288. Root, Secretary of State, 34, 88, 107, 135, 292, 296. Rosario Mine, 124, 129, 142, Rubber, 18, 181, 214. Rurales, 4, 40. INDEX Sabana Grande, 126. Sacasa, President, 176. Salina Cruz, 35, 44, 46. Salvador, 66, 107-1183, 175, 247, 291. Salvador City, 109. San Benito, 49. San Domingo, 190. San Jacinto, 142. San José de Costa Rica, 73, 172, 186, 208, 291. San alose de Guatemala, 51, 108. San Juan del Norte, 168, 290. San Juan del Sur, 171. San Lorenzo, 117, 145. Sanitation, 46-47, 116, 155, 203, 2567, 300. Santa Maria, 75-76, 244. Sierra, President, 134. Smith, Don Alberto, 127, 144. South America, 281-284, 301. Spanish, The, 21, 24, 57, 65, 97, 122, 162. Spanish Theatrical Company, 45, 104. Spies, 90, 92, 137, 229. Steamers, 47, 103, 147, 181, 219, 254. Stoll, Adolphus, 248. Tacana, 75. Taft, President, 261-262, 289. Tajamulxo, 75. Tampico, 35. Tariffs, 112, 152, 180, 210. Taxation, 23, 98, 112, 210. Tegucigalpa, 115, 132, 134. Tehuantepec, 44-45. Teya, Bishop of, 71. Theaters, 99, 204. Tortillas, 18, 24, 125. Torture, 87-89, 178, 229. Tourists, 240. Trade, 21, 30, 112, 203, 2317, 268, 301-302. Tramps, 236. Treaty of Marblehead, 291. Teeply of Washington, 206, United Fruit Company, 209- 210, 215-221. United States, 10, 66, 90, 173, 279, 330. (See Americans; also Intervention.) Uruguay, 301. Vanderbilt, Commodore, 168. Vera Cruz, 85, 58. Vera Paz, 62. Villasenor, General, 200 Virgen Bay, 171. Volcanoes, 75, 106. Walker, William, 170, 202. Wars, 4, 7, 67, 59, 73, 107, 135, 165, 169, 174, 183, 200, 229, West Indies, 75, 199. Yaquis, The, 7. Yellow Fever, 46. Yucatan, 6, 8, 57. Zavala, President, 175. Zelaya, President, 88, 100, 102, 107, 111, 134, 154, 161, 177-185, 196, 247, 290, 295. Zollinger, Oscar, 73. END OF REEL PLEASE REWIND.