The San Francisco call., 1909-02-27
SALVADOR Is
POCKET EDITION
OF REPUBLICS
While Smallest in the West,
Its Population Is the
Densest
Central American Methods Pre-
vail, to Disadvantage
of People
Bribery Is Encouraged Through
Prevailing System of
Tariff Duties
By Erederick PaLmer

Og IIC0cTfCK rainier
Copyright, 1909, by Tribune company. Chicago
When you look for Salvador on the
map be sure not to hide it with your
finger tip. 1t is the pocket edition
The smallest republic on the western
hemisphere, with the most people of
any of its size; but larger than Con
necticut, about equal to New Jersey.
and little larger than all the Hawai-
. ian islands, and a good deal larger than
Porto Rico. The density of population,
While less than that of Porto Rico, is
six times that Of the United States. one
aRd a half times that Of Spain, three
times that of Guatemala, its neighbor,
and eight times that of Nicaragua.
= From Salvador came the first indigo
ever. used for dyes. The balsam Of
medicine is exclusively a salvadoran
. pyodueL Salvador is the only nation
On the Asorth American hemisphere
which is not a transcontinental cross
: section. while Colombia is the only one
-jn: south America which is
NxIIED TO THE
. MOT NrAIN TOPS
;. srhough Salvador has no lowlands
en- .the Atlantic side to balance her low
3alids on the Pacific side, and despite
!: her earthquakes and the possession
~sftu another distinction-of the only
stctiVe volcano in Central America
-Whfsh is always smoking, rumbling
and flaming, she considers herself Sc
Clrefy nailed TO the CordiHeran range,
. Wlere the continent grows narrow. and
ll0r lin the slightest danger Of slipping
: 4 n into the sea
,. Acajutla. where I landed looks like
thanipeTico or any one of a half dozen
other Central America ports. In the
distance are the mountains and in the
foreground ashore q few white build
.ings and q line OF cocoanut palms. You
are lowered in a chair into a cargo
host and lifted out Of the cargo boat
10 "a pier. through whose steel spider
fJom a stretch Of Pacific broken only
by ISLANDS clear TO the African coast.
5000 miles away.
:: You pay for being hoisted up in the
chair, for getting of the pier. for your
..saggage. ana YOU give your name to
~the- comandante, who. finding to his
satisfaction that you have no revolu-
lows you to proceed.
STARTS WAR TO
EsD SPREE
And Salvador suffers from other char
. acteristic Central American maIadies.
: Former President Regalado, for exam
pie. had no more official position than
Niles or Corbin or any other retired
. general Whenever he went on one of
mis- long sprees his cry was for some
thing to break the monotony OF orderly
government While he lived the old
customs should not die out, and the
army thought him a devil of a fellow
and unconquersbIe-esp especially when
. drunk
Early one morning in the spring OF
- 1q06 he planted the artillery in the
plaza and blew of the front OF the
saliva doran White House. His action
: was due to his personal dislike of Es-
Gallon. who was president at the time.
Having paid this grudge he set out
- Ia pay another. That Cabrera Of Guate-
mala was a mean, half caste Indian,
r' WHO deserved 70 have his face slapped.
:. SO Rega alado led the troops across the
..Guatemalan frontier without any dec
! u ration Of war He had not yet Sob
erred up when he was killed in battle
= nsbile' the issue Of the war was still
: undecided at the time that Secretary
> Rect offered his good Offices" which
!. IS: diplomacy's name for the big stick.
CABRERA ALLIANCE
BRINGS WAR
: In. 1907 Zelaya OF Nicaragua was
? wroth with Figueroa. then president of
Salvador. He said that Salvador had
broken a secret pact made at Corinto
:With his own imperial person. Besides
this. be wanted a crack at his great
; rival Cabrera, through Cabrera's ally.
. Naturally, he did not precede hostilities
with any notice Of his intentions. A
.declaraton Of war is bound TO warn your
enemy Of your approach and plainly
destroys the value OF q surprise, which
every one agrees. is one OF the most
important elements Of military strategy
Zelaya found an ally ia Tomasso Al
e faro. former president and recognized al
SalyadOr's leading revOlutiOnist; in fact,
one of the foremost peripatetic rev
oIufionfsts in all Central America. He
had quota Of followers. consisting of
a STAFF ready 10 wear brilliant uniforms
as soon as they had the wherewithal
10 buy them
With them. band Of Nicaraguan
soldiers and a Nicaraguan commander
: landing was made from the Nicarag-
uan gunboat Momotombo al Acajutla
Marching inland the invaders captured
: Sonsonafe. a town on the railroad half
way. to the capital They were beaten.
but took away $4,000 in silver as part
Of their loot Alfaro thought that the
money belonged TO him, but Zelaya
took it for the expenses OF the expedi-
fIon. 1T seems that in this instance
Zclaya had Justice on his side. Had
he not. fearlessly risked his navy by
getting up steam2
Personal FREEDOM
EXCEPTTONAL
Now. in spite OF such occurrences,
Salvador has the most stable govern
.ment-of any republic in Central Amer
lea. except Costa Rica. II the climate
is the same the atmosphere is wholly
different from that Of Guatemala. One
OF my fellow passengers by rail from
Guatemala city. 10 the coast and thence
by steamer, when he came out of one
nr the hnfel rooms al Acaiutla. SALIVA