The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-10
NEW REPUBLIC
 RICH IN RESOURCES
From a Commercial View Point, Panama Isthmus A Land of AL
 most Boundless Possibility.
BY MERRILL A. TEAoUE.

the right sort of men. Rich in resources of all kinds. 1t remains to this day en- tirely untouched by the hand of devel- oping genius. The progress of commer- cial enterprise has never penetrated the interior of this country, where great stretches of plain lie wholly dormant. and where abound ranges of low noun tains teening with mineral wealth. That interior is place where the forests brood for well-nigh limitless miles; where the. vegetation grows with excess. eioquently testifying to the richness of the soil and where wealth is to be won by tho hardy and enterprieing in ex- change for a minimum amount Of iapor'
 As 1t stands today. however, Panama Is a land of absolutely no commercial con sequence. Its entire commercial activ- ity Is limited to the care of the trans isthmian traffic. Everything else or commercial nature in the new republic could be wholly destroyed without im- posing upon the world at large the slightest burden of deprivation. The fruit trade, which is carried on from Bocas del Torco in the extreme western DOT ton, could easily be supplied from other sources: the pearl fisheries about the Bay of Panama are not of general pub iic benefit; the cocoanut groves that line the beaches are not of sufficient import ance to entail any serious loss should they be destroyed, while the cattle rais- ing, rubber growing and gold mining in- dustries are in a condition of such pal Ing infancy as to be virtually negligible quantities.
 Colombia's Blighting Policy.
 For explanation of this backwardness one must look in the main to the blight ing effects of Colombian administration. Under the concession which Colombia granted to the Panama Raiiroad that concern was given an absolute monopoly over all transportation facilities on the entire isthmian strip. Result: the rail- road is the only highway on the isthmus, there being. except for it, no thorough fare over which so much as mule cart can be driven. Again, Colombia. by the terms of the cattle-killing concession, ruined all prospects in that direction. There was no opportunity to make money out of cattle on ythe isthmus while the herder was compelled to pay fee of $S a head to the concessionaire for the privilege of sIaughtering his stock. and then surrender the hide to the Colombian government. On a level with these poli- cies has been that of the Panama Rail- road--a policy in which there has been some recent modifcations-of fixing rates for local traffic over it's line at figure SD nlkn dS LO 8uuTGly S1lIltuhS0 tLl0 PO0- sibility, of money being made from the cultivation of the land.
 Coupled with these, there must be con- sidered the natural, slaiftlessness of the people and the lack of adequate govern pnent control over large areas of the country. The Panamaians are an habit rally lazy people. It is too easy for them to live by building matched huts for homes. by grubbing in the ground for yAlccas and yams. which grow wild; tapping birds and catching fish for meat eng by going into the jungle to gather brnanas and oranges for fruit, for them to think of exerting themselves when the only reward would be a little more, and e wholly unappreciated. comfort. From this condition or slothfulness Colombians never tried to raise the people. Rather did she encourage them in ridleness, for her policy has been to let out the land to concessionaires. thereby destroying the peoples opportunity to cultivate it.
 Land of Glittering Promise.
 It is impossible to expect that the Pan amaians will ever so raise themselves above their present condition of idleness as to properly make use of the resources that have been laid at their door. Ger tainly they will not do so except it be after long term of years, and until af-
  tages of examples set by more enterpris- ing races. Utilization of the country's natural resources and the development of her commercial possibilities must, ac- cordingly, wait the advent of men who are willing to labor as pioneers. For such as these. Panama is a land of gold en promise, for nobody knows, nor can anybody estimate, the extent of the coun- try's possibilities.
 l state, it offers glittering inducements. Here is an area equal in extent with that of the state of Indiana, having a climate like perpetual summer: too excessively watered, perhaps, by the enormous an nual rainfall, but with & soil of incom. parable richness and immeasurable pro- ductive capacity. Anything growable will grow here, and grow rapidly-proof oi this lies in the fact that green timber set down for fenceposts immediately takes root, and in less than a years time where was meant to stand a line of fenceposts will be a row of sturdy saplings.
 Under these conditions bananas oranges and all other tropical fruits flourish most abundantly. Along the sandy beaches cocoanut trees will reach the bearing stage in from five to six years, and thereafter produce an average of four nuts a month per tree, and cocoa. nuts are worth from $25 to $45 a thousand Rubber tress will begin to run gum al from six to eight years, reaching ma. turity at ten years, and produce an aver. age of g worth of gum to the tree. Corr grows well and two crops a year are possible; the meadows are perpetually green, furnishing year round grazing foI cattle; in the forests hardwoods of all sorts abound, and in the mountains are unknown and unprospected stores oi gold. manganese, coal and other min, erals.
 Along the coasts tortoises can be caught and stripped of their shells al no expense greater than that of going tc the beach at nighttime and turning them over on their backs. Richer fishing is nowhere to be found than in the streams bays and lagoons accessible from these coasts. Ivory nuts grow by the millions and sugar cane can be raised with little or no effort.
 The bamboo forests are plentiful, and the growth abundant; wild orchids grow so freely and in such variety that q foriculturist could quickly destroy theiI rarity in northern climates by showing a little enterprise in this one. The coral reefs are unworked; no attempt is made to quarry the stone of the country, and what Is even worse, there Is not a man. ufactory of any sort on the entire isth- mus
 Complete Paralysis Prevails.
 The scope of this commercial and in- dustrial paralysis can hardly be appre- ciated by those who have not been wit. ness to 1t. Complete is the one word in the English vocabulary which describes f. There are a few traders-Americans-