El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-12

~
Eworld Honduras finds itself the
- deepest in debt per capita, and the
least able to meet its indebtedness
In fact. France and Portugal are the
only two nations on the globe which
show a greater per capita Indebtedness
than Honduras.
Apparently this little country owes
more than a hundred million dollars
three-fourths of which is interest that
has accumulated since 1873. 1t hap
pened in this way When the Central
! American republic fell to pieces, In 1921,
each of the constituents states assumed
its proportion of the general lndeoI-
edness. Honduras never paid its por-
| ton. and in 1867 went into the market
to borrow money TO build a transcon-
tinental railroad. Before the new loan
| could be floated arrangements had to
be made to satisfy the old indebtedness
! In Hands of ShylocE1s.
The upshot of the matter was that
Honduras fell into the hands OF shy
locks. who loaned her money and took
everything she had as security Twice
more she borrowed money, also for the
purpose of completing an interoceanlc
railway, but nearly all of it went into
/ private pockets instead OF going INTO
the building of a railway.
At last Honduras threw up its hands,
declaring that it had got no benefit
from the loans and that ii would not
satisfy the bonds. The British parlla-
ment was appealed to for an inVesti-
cation, and soon found the whole mat
ter so tainted with fraud that ii could
only throw II out of court, so TO speak
Since then many efforts have been
made to effect settlement, but no
mutually satisfactory basis has been
found. although the bonds once sold
e., eix- o. ia VallIa with
no allowance for accumulated interest.
$40 Per Capita Debt.
If Honduras were to pay this whole
debt with the accumulated interest it
would amount 70 $40 per capita. Our
own debt. upon such per capita basis,
would amount to more than twelve bill
lion dollars
Heavily handicapped by its practi
cal, if not actual. reputation of this
debt. Honduras finds itself in still
worse straits from the fact that its
export trade is of less value than its
imports Among the countries of the
new world only Haiti and Colombia
have a smaller per capita export trade
than Honduras
UndeveIoped Resources.
In the matter of internal improve
ments Honduras is the most backward
of all the Central American states. al
though none of them possess greater
natural resources. It's forests contain
vast areas of precious woods that are
all but untouched. and its rich mines
are lying idle for lack of capital to de-
velop them.
Americans have lately been taking a
deep interest in the possibilities of this
land of virgin resources, but a thousand
opportunities still await develOpmtnt
where one has been improved. While
there has been complaint among the
Honduraneans over the exaggerated re-
ports of their political disturbances
that are circulated in the United States.
they heartily welcome our capitalists.
AS a matter of fact there are few places
in the world not willing to profit by
the wonder working power Of Yankee
brains, capital and grit.
Edible Plantains.
A remarkable plant that grows in
Honduras is the plantain, which is not
unlike the banana. One authority es
Inmates that an acre of plantain pro-
duces a quantity of food equal to 1873
acres of wheat, or A acres or potatoes.
Flour is made from green plantains.
and both the ripe and green ones are
good to eat in their natural state. The
sap makes a fine indelible ink.
1t is estimated that the average bunch
of plantains will weigh 20 pounds. and
that an acre of them will produce more
than $50 tons of edible food in a single
season.
Banana growing is said TO yield a
profit of $50 per acre for the first
year. and $50 for the following 10
years. Honduras seems TO offer splen-
did opportunities for the agriculturist.
because its laws exempt him from la
5ility to military service
Protest Ice Cream Factory
The first ice cream factory ever built
in Central america was erected at San
Pedro Sula by a Mr.. Troy, a native of
Georgia. Shortly after il started there
was a downpour of rain in the very I
height of the dry season. thing almost /
unheard of. The natives thought the |
ice cream factory had changed the eli ]
mate of the country so they immedt !
ately sent petitions 10 the president of /
the republic asking him 70 revoke the |
ice cream concession.
Troy had with him a wild lrishnan /
who had been stranded, and this fellow /
cone eived the idea of peddling Ice /
cream on the streets. He was soon /
making from $40 to s15 day from his I
ingenuity and industry
A Lazy Mans Paradise.
The Bay islands belonging 70 Hon
duras. are said 70 be the nearest known !
approach to a lazy mans paradise. |
Cocoanut growing constitutes practic-
ally the only industry and, according TO
an enthusiast, all one has to do is to :