Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-25

Salvador are very high. 1t costs more
than i've million dollars year to run
the little republics government. The
duties are levied on the basis OF weight,
a pound Of barbed wire paying almost
as much as pound OF the finest lace.
and when they are all met the man
who buys an imported article makes
a very liberal contribution to the
country's treasury. A barrel Of -four
dollar in the states. is worth seven
here 1t IL easy to understand why
the people eat but little wheat bread
and go to bed with the chickens.
Salvador feels itself under the necessi-
ty of maintaining large army AS will
be explained in
Feels the Need later letter.
Of q Large Army. brera Of Guate-
mala is q thorn IN the flesh Of Salvador.
and the Salvadoran mothers quiet their
children by telling them Of the dreadful
Guatemalans, just as American mothers
talk to their little ones about DOGGY men,
Salvador tries to be ready at all times
for the swarming down Of the barbarian
horde from the north, and so a large
army is maintained. The standing army
consists Of 10000 officers and men, and
they are a we'll drilled fighting force. In
addition to this there Is a sort of national
guard which can be made ready on short
notice, with about 1900 officers and
men. Then there is the unorganized
militia. Salvador keeps its regular army
In the prime of condition, both as regards
paid well and regularly. This is a heavy
drain on the finances Of the country, the
annual expenses on this account being
million and a quarter dollars gold.
Salvador has novel idea in operation
with reference to it's elections. Every
citizen more than eighteen years Of age
is not only entitled to vote, but is COM
PEELED to do 50. OF course, the law that
makes voting compulsory Is more honor
ed in Its breach than in its keeping, and.
80 far as 1t affects the choice Of presi-
dent, 1t does not amount to a great deal.
While there is much more of the sub
stance OF republicanism in Salvador than
in many of the other republics there be-
ing no attempt to evade the law concern
ing presidential succession, on the other
hand the same tactics are used to choose
successors there that sometimes are
in vogue elsewhere.
At the present time the President of
Salvador is DR.. Manuel e. Araujo. He is
popular man in
President Popular the republic, and
w.xl ~ mixes with the
"AslA VAC 1o"PAe' people almost as
freely as any private citizen. He was
the family physician OF the American
minister, Maj William Heimke. before
being called to the presidency. and Mai
He1mke speaks very highly Of him both
as man and as a ruler. One who
travels over Salvador just before election
time sees posters nailed up on every way
side tree and building in which the
virtues Of the several candidates for pres
ident are extolled. 1t is an approach to
representative government that is lamen-
tably absent in some Of the other Carfb-
bean republics
Salvador-Strlctly speaking 1t is Ell Sal
vadorLs progressive in many ways In!
1909 1t looked as II an epidemic of small
pox would sweep the whole country. But
the National Institute of Vaccination un-
dertook to furnish the serum for whole
sale vaccination Of the people. and the re-
suit was that within few months the
last trace OF the dreaded disease was
wiped out of the republic The govern
ment maintains a good department of!
agriculture. and Is energetic in bringing
to the people all the newest ideas in
farming and mining. The traveller finds
Salvador an attractive country to visit,
and classes II next to Costa Rica as an
example Of what a people. liberated from
the horrors Of continual revolution, may
do for themselves.