Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-23
own es.ooo,ooo Guatemala the first of the

own 100000. Guatemala, the first Of the
Central American states south Of Mexico,
has q population Of .200. 900 Salvador comes
next. with 665.O00 population; then Hon
Costa Rica. with 24O.OOO: Colombia. with
4.OOO.OOO; Ecuador. with 200, 900; Peru, with
100000: Brazil. with 100000; Argentina.
900. 600; Bolivia, with 1000 Chile, with
100000 and Paraguay. with 100000.
The products and resources Of all these
republics are valuable and exceedingly de-
sirable In North American commerce
Guatemala. with an area of $4,000 square
miles about equal to New York or Penn
sylvania), produces a great variety of ar
ticles useful to the United States. among
them being coffee, cocoa. bananas. hides
and hard woods. Her coffee crop alone
amounts to between eighty and one hun
dred million pounds annually. Even now
the United States imports from Guatemala
over SOO0OO0 worth Of goods every year.
which, from lack of facilities, are brought
principally by sea and enter at the port Of
san Francisco. Salvador, though the SMALL
est OF the Central American states. is pro-
portionately the most populous and prosper.
GUS OF them ALL Coffee, indigo, sugar, me-
olcinal plants and rare woods. together with
soio, silver, iron, copper and mercury.
are among her products. The exports of
ttonduras. one Of the largest of the Central
american republics, are chiefly cattle ma
hogany. cedar, hides. India rubber, ban
ahas' cocoanuts. bar silver and gold bullion.
Resources of Different Countries.
The resources Of Nicaragua are also very
great, especially In fine hard woods dye
woods. rubber, sugar. coffee. cocoa and in
digo. besides cattle corn and potatoes In
| oeeo' Nicaragua's trade with the United
States already is larger than with any
other country, amounting to about $4,000
ooO annually. In return for her exports
she imports from the United States ma
chinery. iron. steel, flour and manufactured
goods.
&c Costa Riea. with her exceedingly fertile
SOIL already ships to the United States
| large quantities Of coffee, bananas, hides
rubber and motherof pearl, and In return
imports SILK. WOODEN. linen and cotton
goods, machinery, agricultural implements
furniture and hardware Recently the
american trade there has almost entirely
superseded that of England and now
amounts to nearly 100000 a year.
| colombia, with her area Of sos, 900 square
miles, possesses enormous natural re-
sources, but heretofore. through lack of In
teliigent labor, transportation facilities and
means OF communication, she has been un-
able to develop them properly Among her
products are gold and silver, emeralds
opals and other precious stones marbles
mineral salts. coffee. hides. ivory nuts,
cocoa and cinchona bark. She imports ali
KINDS or manufactured goods. and her trade
| Win the United States amounts to about
Sl2OOOWO annually.
| AS to Ecuador owing to the fertility and
diversity Of her SOIL and the variety Of her
| climate, all sorts of plant life fourishes
| within her boundaries with remarks able lux
| uriance-rice. pepper and semi-t-opical
| fruits cotton, corn sugar, wheat and bar
| ley Her exports. mainly shipped to Eng
| land, include cotton. cocoa, rubber, ivory
nuts. cinchona. straw goods and precious
| metals. In Peru. besides her wonderful
| treasures Of gold and silver. and coal and
| iron. largely undeveloped. as yet, a wide
range Of agricultural crops is produced
| sugar to the amount of 100000 tons, cotton
| to the value Of 100000. wine to the value
| OF H.WU,OOO, and also enormous yields Of
| rice, cinchona, rubber, fruits and vegeta-
bies Corn also is extensively grown and
constitutes the staple food of all classes
Inc export OF wool brings 100000 a year
! ana other exports are guano, cubic inter-
| sugar cotton and sulphur. at present sent
| principally to England and Germany. But
! the construction Of a section Of railway
| through Peru Ecuador and Colombia to
| Cartagena on the Caribbean sea would put
| them in easy communication with the
| southern ports Of the United States and
very materially increase our trade, even
should there be delay In the construction
OF the entire sy stem northward.
1t is Practicable.
| The conclusions reached by the commits
sion based upon the expert reports of the
engineers are that the intercontinental rail-
way is absolutely practicable. and that as
| mere piece of engineering it can be built,
not simply without excessive outlay, but
really at a moderate average cost per mile
| The only question now remaining Is that
| Of commercial expediency.
| Everybody, OF course. can understand that
| 1t would be followed by great business and
political advantages to all the nations con-
| cerned. and that Ii would be perhaps the
most potent promoter Of unity and CO.
| herency among the republics Of the western
| hemisphere. Nevertheless. the expense Of