New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-21
THE COFFEE REPUBLICS.
NOTES ON CENTRAL AMERICAN DIPLOMACY
COSTA RIGA A PROGRESSIVE coUNTRY-MNiA
TURE STANDING ARMIES AND INCENTIVES
TO REVOLUTION COMMENTS on
THE BARRUNDIA AFFAIR.
THE BARRUNDIA AFFAII
rnox A srAYp CORRESPONDENT on TnE Tribune.

FROM A sTAPP CORRESPONDENT on THE Tribune
Punta Arenas, April 2.
This is the cleanest and prettiest port 10 oe
found in Central America II stands upon mar
row reach Of sandy beach with background Oh
forcst-clad hills The Gulf of Nicoya, spacious
arm of the sea, lies in front Of the town, us tran
qul surface dotted with islands OF ehoh"huIs
loneliness. A broad river empties INTO the gun
and forms O safe harbor Of moderate oepth' ihe
town Is EMPOWERED with cocoanut clumps, OahaIia
tangles and tropical gardens. stroii aions Vi'e
heocb and across the outer rim of grass-grown
lanes and commons reveals nearly all the charac-
teristic trees of the tropics; magnonas shading the
sidewalks. mangOes and palms standing In the
fields. and tamarnds, bananas oranges ana aimohus
ornamenting the gardens. The luxu1ant Veroue
relieves eyes that are strained by the 'l'iu hshV
reflected from the white sand. The town Is un-
pretentlous, with clusters OF small shops ana CAFES
an unfinished church and rows Of bamboo huts
with matched roofs; but II is homelike cheerful
and briabt. The iron wharf on the waterfront
NAV no ont of keeping with the rustic surround
jncs. but this is quickly forgotten when glimpses
NJ the cactus hedges and fruit gardens are caught
and the simple. unaffected courtesy OF the people
is revealed.
Costa Rica has q population several degrees
Iiohtcr In complexion than that of Nicaragua and
markedly superior 10 il In education and refine
mont Land is subdivided until nearly every family
owns at least house and garden, and extreme pow
ertv is rare The people are cOntented, prosperous
and rht-hearted If the country is not Rich COAST
as It's name implies. il Is because II Is thinN popu
lated and its industrial resources undeveioped
In the interior there Is an elevated plateau DE-
tween Alajuela and Carriage Of limited extent
Here seyen-elghths Of the total population OF 2l4-
600 are centred in territory OF 100 square miles
San Jca the capita lies In the heart Of this fertile
tollcland and is encompassed with extinct volca-
noes ranging between 1000 and l2.500 feet above
the sea. II is described as handsome ana pro-
qressve city with comfortable hotels, marvellous
scenery and refined society. noted for hospitality
to foreigners Cartago the second city, lies close
at hand and Aauela and Heredia are connected
with the capital by the railway system Which eX-
tends nearly across the country from Punta Arenas
to Port Limon There is only one short break
in the line and that is on the Pacific side from
Fsparta to Alaiuela AS the coffee tract has di-
rect railway connection with Port Limon. the
chief staple of the country is now shipped mainly
from the Atlantic or Caribbean side. where the
ROYAL Mail, Atlas West India and Pacific and
Spanish steamers call regularly. Pnnta Arenas
seems destined to decrease as Port Lmon in
creases. The completion of the railway may re-
nair its shattered fortunes. but with the rival
ports superior advantages as q centre OF the ba-
mana trade IL cannot hope to regain It's commercial
suprpmacy The Caribbean coast. however. Is
markedly inferior to the Pacific side. being
marshy tract covered with scrub forest. and 1t IS
without n safe anchorage for vessels. The north
ern and southern sections of Costa Rca are uneX-
plorcd wilderness similar to the tr0ckcss forests
of the San Juan.
Costa Rica, while the least populous, IS the
most advanced of the five Central American re-
publics lis capital is lighted by electricity, and
II has cheap telegraphs. II has the best cduca-
tional and postal systems, and is displaying the
greatest enterprise in the completion of public
works and in the development Of lts resources.
II has IGl 1-2 miles of railway in operation, and
will Inc the first State to connect the oceans. A
railway from the 1inenez to the Frio on the border
of Nicaragua has been contracted for, aud this
Will he brought into connection with the main
lateral line. The completion OF the Nicaragua
Canal will open large section Of the northern
belt by rendering the San Carlos navigable through
the slack-wntcr of the Ochoa Dam. There is q
foreign debt amounting 70 81 ,000 900, but 1t Is
diminishing rather than increasing. There is no
other Central American country that offers equally
advantageous terms for European immigrants, but
they do not come. It's railway projects have been
dragging from lack Of labor, and the extension
Of its uuryallcd resources as a coiee-growing
State is retarded from the same cause. II has,
however, an industrious and orderly population, is
improving its position year by year. and Is to be
| considered the most promising community In this
| quarter of Spanish-America.
| The military resources Of Costa Rica are illus
trated here by q file Of boys in shirt-SleeyeS and
| bare feet armed with sword bayonets. The Off
GERS present a Drawer appearance, with their blue
uniforms and staggering air; hut there is nothing
really formidable about the force mustered at the
barracks There are not more than 700 soldiers
under arms In rho Republic. The standing armies
of Costa Ric0, Nicaragua, Honduras and Salvador.
| when maSsed together, would not exceed 1000
men. Guatemala has nominally under arms. q
larger force, but only about 1000 ordinar-
| lily on duty. War in Central America Is not 50
| terrible o calamity as il seems from a distance
| Most Of the shooting Is done by boys, and is IN
the air. would pit squad of Broadway police
| against any standing army Of which | have seen
ragged and ill-discipned files in Nicaragua and
| Costa Rica. Their military bands do not play with
sufficient spirit 10 keep colony of reaches on their
rounds, and as for the drumming heard on parade
and at roll-call. any brisk American lad would
hang bis head II he could not improve upon t. One
| only needs 10 look az JHcse central American wal
riors in order to understand why the mortality is
| very low in battle.
II ds not improbable that the political condition
Of these Spansh-American States could be greatly
| improved if the armies were recruited and rem
| dercd more efficient When the military force is
| 50 weak revolutionary conspiracy is enconra gpd
| and there are frequent outbreaks of civil war.
| There is not one Of these countries that is not
| constantly mcnaced with political disturbance
and open revolt. When 700 boys in shirt sleeves
and ragged trousers form the military guard of
| the republic, cabals are inevitably formed and
revolutions recur every year, elnco II Is practl-
| cable for intriguers with comparatively small
financial outlay 10 muster an army equally strong.
A good deal Of what is known as tieason In
Central America would DO more properly Chased
as political campaigning. An ambitions Cabinet
| Minister OF Parliamentary DICTATOR is anNions 70