Evening star., 1908-01-15

that the financial affairs Of the Honduras
government are SO confused that 1t Is diff
ficult to establish the truth of any propo-
sition.
How the Debt Has Grown.
At any rate. according to the accounts
Of the bondholders' association the debt
Of Honduras on the 1st of January, 1907,
including the principal Of the bonds now
outstanding and the accumulat ted interest
Of forty years, is as follows in American
money:
Five per cent loan Of 1867. $4,000
Accumulated interest. 66s. 500
Ten per cent loan of 1857 45os 500
Accumulated Interest .... 15,31l 800
Six per cent loan Of 1859. $40. $50. SO
Accumulated interest. of.667. .195
Ten per cent loan of 1870, ST.. .212 500
Accumulated interest,". Ss.l22,5oo
--- $40 3s5 Ooc
Grand total. ......................s slo5 764 saS
Several attempts have been made to
secure settlement Senior Ugarte, one
OF the delegates from Honduras to the re-
cent Central American conference in
washington, spent year or so in Lon
don recently trying to negotiate terms.
The bonds are now quoted from 2h to s
per cent He offered to fund them on a
8 per cent basis into new loan of e549.-
044. payable in twenty eight years at 4 per
cent interest. He submitted an alterna-
tive proposition to purchase in INSTALL
ments. through the bondholderS' associa :
tion. all of the bonds now on the market.
beginning at the price Of s per cent of
their nominal value and increasing by one
half per cent every other year until IL
per cent in reached, and qua ranteeing to
redeem the entire amount in twenty-five
years or less for a total sum OF G 5571S2
He also agreed to grant zoe, 900 acres OF
land In Honduras at places to be Sc
lected By the bondholders in exchange for
canceling the debt but the association re-
tected all of these propositions. Mr..
| Ugarte then appealed to the British gov
eminent. which declined to have anything
! to do with the matter.
Incubus on the Country.
There have been several attempts on
the part Of syndicates In the United States
and England to secure concessions from
the government of Honduras to construct
railways and introduce other internal i'm
provements in that country. Not long
ago syndicate composed Of the members
OF the Astor and Vanderbilt families and
other well-knoWn capitalists of New Yorl,
actually purchased the fifty three miles OF
railroad for which this enormous debt was
incurred with the intention Of extending
| 1t through to the Pacific coast. But the
bondholders' association promptly pro-
tested, claiming that the bonds they hold
are a perpetual lien. not only upon that
raiiway, but upon everything else. in the
| republic of Honduras. That contention
was sustained by the British government
and tacitly admitted by the United States
Mexico and the other republics of Central
| America And thus it Is impossible for
anything to be done toward the develop
ment of Honduras without the previous
settlement Of these enormous fictitious OBJ
legations. The government of the United
States has never undertaken to inter-
| cede and such an act would be contra ~
to our traditional policy, but it would
seem that II Mexico and the other Central
| American republics would unite with oul
government in using their good Of
fices perhaps q satisfactory adjustment
might be reached.