El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-25
IS
FOREIGNERS
PARADISE
President Likes Americans
and Makes Them Pay
Well For Concessions.
HAS OPPORTUNITY,
BUT LACKS MONEY

Guatemala City, Guatemala, May %.
Under the Cabrera regime Guate-
mala has proved TO be something OF
paradise for the foreign Investor, es-
peciaIly the American, since -he die
tatOr IS good friend of Americans
with money, and as rule he Is able
to drive a good bargain with them
Guatemala has almost as many rail-
roads as all Of the other CentoraI
American countries together, and II
the Zacapa road is finished the mile
age of the Guatemalan roads will be
perhaps more than double in length all
OF the others.
Aside from the panAmerican road
which has recently connected the
Guatemalan frontier with the
capital, the newest road is the Guate-
mala Northern, built by interests al
lied with the United Fruit company.
The first spike OF this line was driven
al Puerto BarriOs in 1892 and Two
years later it had reached FL Rancho,
a distance of 129 miles from the Allan
tic ocean, leaving a stretch of some 81
miles to be completed between that
point and Guatemala City, the present
terminus.
Road saved From Ruin.
The finances Of the government ran
low and the line so far as completed
was leased TO company which Operat-
ed il for what it could make out Of It.
1t was by no means gold mine to the
cent out OF the income went for re-
pairs The ties soon decayed, one by
one the bridges were washed away in
the rainy seasons, and even long
stretches Of track vanished under the
unchecked encroachments Of raging
mountain torrents. The rolling stock
likewise was neglected, and in a few
years the line was practically aban-
dOned- Only one train a week was run
for a long time, and the service then
was little better than the donkey eX-
press over the mountain trail In 1902
the services of SIR William Van Horne,
the man who made possible the Ca
madam Pacific transcOntinental line
and who afterward built the Cuban
railways, were secured It took six
years to complete the road from FL
Rancho TO the capital The line lay
through some OF the most mountainous
country Of the republic, and some dir
ficult engineering was encountered.
The government nOminally built the
railroad But as q matter Of fact II
was built by private capital, with a
government guarantee on the invest
ment. The agreement was that the gov
eminent should guarantee an income
Of four percent on the cost Of building
the road After the road was built a
different company, although represent I
ing the same interests. bought the /
rolling stock for the line, and rents ii
TO the railroad. It so regulates its I
charges for the hire OF the rolling :
stock that it makes a big percentage on /
that invest ment, the hire of the equip i
ment suffictng to eat up all the net
earnings. Consequently the govern q
ment has to pay the full four percent I
on the investment.
The Banana Country.
The Atlantic end OF the Guatemala /
Northern runs through the great ba- /
mana belt Of the alluvial plains bOr- I
dering the Atlantic coast This is one I
Of the finest stretches Of banana land /
in the world in many places the soil /
being as much as 10 feet deep Al
ready thousands OF acres are under Cul-
tivatiOn, and other thousands are being /
cleared and set out in bananas. The
great MOtagua river, draining the
Guatemala highlands, frequently over
flows its banks and leaves as It re-
cedes q fine deposit Of rich mud, play
ing the role for the United Fruit COM
pany that the Nile plays for the peO-
pie Of Egypt
cleared away is one Of the densest in
the world. A well known traveller who
has been through nearly every jungle
region on earth, declares that none sur
passes that OF Guatemala The trees
are tall and some of them have trunks
Of from three to six feet in diameter.
And vet these are simply cut down.
The tropical climate does the rest Az
ter two years, except Tor an occasional
hardwood log, there is not the slight
est rem Under Of the great tropical for
est that once existed Instead there is
a banana plantation that already has
Is one Man Section.
The United Fruit company builds in
Vulnerable little branch and lateral
lines out from the main line, and TO
these are brought the bananas ready
Tor shipment to the port. Thousands
IF natives and Jamaicans are employed. ]
and the standard wage is 81 gold day.
The laborers are given sites upon which
10 erect their matched hutS, and these !
are nearly always along the line of the Z
banana railways and near the head /
quarters Of the various farms The Z
Whole banana region Is directed by one (
official It is divided into a number
lent and the districts are in turn df- ,
-ided into farms, and each farm has (
IS superintendent
When Guatemala gets on its feet fl
lancfalIv fl is probable that a num- ]
,er of new roads will be built One ,
II these may lead from Esquintla,
Guatemala to Santa Anna, Salvador. II
hat road goes through II will then be
.ossfbIe TO travel by rail from the capi-
al Of Salvador to the capitals Of the
'nited States and Canada But it is
ertain that whoever made the trip
nee would never undertake II again.
@ begin with. it would cost just about
vice as much as going from New
'Ork or New Orleans TO Barrios by
-ater. there would be innumerable de- 2
avs and waits and changes Of cars as 5
veil. The traveller would have to &C s
ept the discomforts of a narrow gage +
ailway for much of the distance, and ;
or more than 1000 miles would ride
trough alkaf deserts and the 'hOt l y
7ndsH of Mexico 1t is now possible }
o go from Guatemala City to Wash :
lgtOn by rail- but nobody ever does :
Government BorrOWs From People. 8
Many people in Guatemala have made :
honey BY lending money to the gov :
rnment and in dealing in its securi- :
les. USUALLY they are financial gen 1
Uses Of the German-American variety
he head and front of this aggregation ,
re the Stalls. of the BancO de Guat- y
lContinnsd on Nj PAL {