Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-01-03
A VIEW OF VENEZUELA.
Some Facts as to the Nature
of the Country.
A RIUH AND UnDEVELoPBD LAND

Has Marked Advantages, Says
Frederick w. Coburn, ana All
known Crops Grow In the Fertile
Mountain VhlIeys-Curious Ideas of
Honesty Held by the Natives.
1t is significant that the capital of
!, Venezuela, Caracas, eight miles from
La Guayra as the bird flies, occupies
the crater of an old volcano, says
Frederick w. Coburn in the Boston
Transcript. The people are as eruptive
as the land they inhabit. With the ra-
cial egotiSm goes self asSertiveness cas-
lily excited. easily allayed. The Vene-
zuelan is just now blowing his head
off, or, rather, having it done for him.
| Occupation has heen found for the
crowds of idle men and boys who loaf
in Caracas streets, always well dressed,
well groomed and with no visible sus-
ceptibility toward job. A gay place
Caracas is, miniature Paris, though
Parisians make wry faces at it. a
town 1t is where everybody wears dia-
monds, even if the shirt is ragged;
where champagne is used Ito put out
f1res" and ''banknotes to kindle them,"
where debtors are far wiser than their
creditors.
1t is contrary to Venezuelan char
acter to pay Il bill which can be re-
| pudiated tomorrow. Present 4 claim
for a small amount to a Caracas citi-
zen, and he will engage high priced
lawyer to discover a loophole in your
| contract. OF course the lawyers bill
is never settled either. Yet these Ven
rr.ida ,Y1,Or,
scrupulous honesty. You may leave a
bag of nuggets in the streets of Ca
racas. and nobody will disturb it unless
you lay claim to it or some other for
eigner does. Sneak thieves. according
to our former minister, Mr. f. b.
Loomis, one almost never encounters |
anywhere in the country. Thieving is
low, dishonest, unworthy proud de-
scendant of grandees, but cheating |
ah, that is otherwise! That is game. |
The people are singularly alive to the |
dramatic, the artistic Tile towns teen
with versifiers who fill half the columns |
of provincial newspapers with classical /
effusions. Painters there are, too, strong |
men in landscape and religious art. /
Grand opera from Europe draws i'm
mense audiences, and by night, when |
of high standing organize little street /
dances, with guitar music. A gay, i
thoughtless population it is.
This, of course, is the urban Venezu-
elan. In the hinterland the great mass
of population lives without working, 4
too easily, fed by bountiful nature.
Most of them have more or less Indian
blood. In some districts pure Indians
simple minded folk whose needs do not
make them good buyers of textiles since
a blue loin cloth ordinarily serves for
the whole rig.
The Spanish speaking population has
been in Venezuela long time-in fact,
about 400 years-long enough to have
built up great empire. But Burke's
aphorism regarding little minds and
great empires" holds good to an emf B
nent degree of Venezuela. Not means, Il
but men, have been wanting. The coun-
try has extent sufficient for an empire
1t counts nearly 100000 square miles
more than France, Holland and Ger
many combined. 1t is ten times the
size of New York state. And in variety j
Of soil and climate it has marked adj
vantages. OF the twenty-three states
every one Is StlO 10 COlllsllIl
Back from the coast the mountain range
crops away to the broad llanos of the
Orinoco, a plain of incredible richness.
The land of Venezuela, taken as
whole, may be classed as either Cgri-
pastoral or sylvan, each divi-
sion showing almost boundless and I'M
.ouched possibilities. In the fertile
mountain. valleys grows every crop
Known to man. Vast forests of ma
logany and cedar have scarcely been u
disturbed. The mineral wealth has
ong since excited the cupidity of the =
3riton, giving rise to the boundary
lispute of a few years ago. The gold
Iiggings of Yaruarri yielded 42,315
unces in 1899. Silver is abundant in
Sermudez Lara and Les Anidos. Sui
,hur, coal, asphalt, lead, kaolin and tin
re found. Great iron mines have been
pened by an American company at
matica on the lower Orinoco. The
earl fisheries at the island of Mar
arita employ 400 boats and still show
o signs of exhaustion. The grazing
ountFy now supports 100000 head
f cattle and could easily support more.
In all that concerns the necessities of 3
fe the Venezuelans have shown them
elves exceedingly lax. Prices in all
he cities run higher than anywhere
lse in the world outside of mining
amps The only cheap thing in Ca
lcas is the violet-you can buy an
rmful for 20 cents. American sugar
Osts 80 cents a pound; -four, S12
lex; eggs, 90 cents a dozen; butter.
) cents pound; coal, S24 ton.
Everything else corresponds. No eff
cient street car service is in the cities;
ance one must take cab. Charges
/ tie railroads are extraordinary.
irst class passengers pay from TO 10
ints, second class from to cents Il
II mile.