El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-22

natives speaking Of II Tor the llrsl
time he is likely 10 confound it with
Cincinnati" IL is situated in the
COAST plain region OF Salvador, and is
therefore the center of the sugar grow
ing section of the republic. A large
number of the sugar estates Of Saliva
dor are owned by foreigners, some Of
them BY Americans. Among these for
eign owners OF SaIvadOrean sugar
properties are the father and brothers
Of Johnny BIoissant, the reckless pIO-
neer aviator who was killed by a fall
something over year ago. MOissant
was something of a soldier Of fortune.
and there was a saying after his death
that at least three Central American
presidents slept better thereafter. for
soissant had his finger in almost eV-
err. revolutionary pie baked in that re-
The railroads OF Salvador are British
built, and their bonds are British
owned. The government pays a heavy
subsidy to them, and in this way the
bulk of the SaIvadOrean debt is Sc
cured by debentures on the railways
Most of the mining interests are also
in the hands of the English, and there
are gold and silver mines which pay
well. While the merchandising busi-
ness is largely in the hands of the Ger
mans, the United states Is able 10 hold
llESL place IN the matter OF safes OF
goods and supplies to Salvador, with
England close second In the mat
ter Of exports the United states again
hOldes the place OF primacys with Ger
many in second position While the
German merchant does not yield 10
any person in his love for the land Of
lIis birth, he is yet ready to buy where
he can buy the best, so when the Eng
lish drummer comes around with bet
ter prices than the German salesman
can offer him, he is not averse 10 max
ing the most of it. Indeed, there are
stores owned by GeEmans over whose
doors is the legend "CiUdad de Lon
ores, which means City OF London
These are encountered in many -
republics.
Good Trade Balance.
A study OF the foreign trade statis-
ties reveals the fact that in spite OF
its dense population, Salvador is able
u keep a remarkable balance of trade
In its favor. The country exports
nearly double as much as il imports.
the annual export trade amounting to
S65OO,OOO as compared with an import
trade Of S5,45O,00U- In other words. al
though more than half Of the area o.
salvador is made up of volcanic noun
talns, the country IS yet able to sup
Fort q population more than seven
times as dense as that of the United
states and IN addition thereto 10 sell
produce amounting TO 81 per capita
over and above its home consumption
and impOrtatiOnS. Few countries IN
the world can show better results
than this
Nevertheless. the foreign bondhoId-
crs who hold SalVadOr's ObEgatfOns are
somewhat nervous about the financial
condition of the republic 1t may be
stated on direct authority that Eng
lands representative in Salvador DO
rot see how the country can continue to
meet its heavy interest charges and
cOnfessedly a feeling obtains that there
is imminent danger Of a default Sal
yadOr viii probably fight off such a
catastrophe as long as possible. for
this country has a reputation Of meet-
ing its obligations promptly. no matter
how much hardship the payments en-
Costly Army Maintained.
Many conditions have led up to this
embarrassing situation. To begin
with, Salvador has been much bur
dened with the necessity of maintain
ing heavy military establishment,
largely through the pretentiOnS OF
Guatemala aimed against its indepen-
dence. The SalvadOreans complained
utterly 70 secretary Knox about this,
ana IL IS hoped that the complaint has
done good Then there were many
considerations which made il highly
desirable that good highways should
be built. and these represented a heavy
Grain upon the treasury. Add to these
things the railroad subsidy and the in
terest on the national debt. watch
amounts to $4,000. 600. and il viii be
seen Ihat there have been very heavy
In fact, during a period of 10 years
ending in 1910 a deficit Of over 1900
VgU colOnes. cOlOne being worth
ABOUT 4S cents. was created Salvador
Eas set aside a special lot Of customs
duties for the liquidation Of the foreign l
oeDt, which amounts to over $4,000 00O I
A SPECIAL tax Of $3.50 on each 220 {
pounds Of imports brought into the {
country, and of 80 cents on each 100 /
pounds Of coffee, is levied for the I
uquldatiOn Of the foreign loan Of sos /
Nnlch amounts to little more than I
SaIvndOrean Owned ship Line.
salvador has made a persistent fight ]
20 get It's products TO the worlds mar
hets under advantageous terms Hav-
ing no outlet 10 the Atlantic SeabOard. I
and being practically under the DOM
nation Of a single steamship line on
the west coast, the SalTadOreanS con-
GUIDED that the best way out of the
0lIIlculty would be 10 establish a
steamship line of its own 1t subsi-
ulzed little steamer built IN the
yards that produced the Titanic. and
Which is the smallest ship ever built in
IhOse yards. 1t was brought over and
put on a run from Acatjutla. Salvador,
to Salina Cruz. Mexico, in connection
with the Salvador railway. Thus Sal
Nador's coffee, silver. gold, indigo, SUI
gar oaIsam Of Peru ETC. IS now able
10 find an advantageous outlet over
the Ienauntepec railroad
Numerous writer's say that the new
La Union TO Zacapa, Guatemala. is TO
be part OF the Pan american rail-
road of which so much has been talked
and written since the days of Hinton
Rowan Helper and the time OF James
g. Blaine But Rene c. kelihaur, the
personal representative OF Minor c.
Keith, the man behind the enterprise
says that it has nothing to do with I
the Pan-American project. In the first
place il is not being built in direc-
ton that would make much OF it avail /
able for that purpose Its northern
terminus Will be nearly 200 miles east /
OF the line which would be required to
fiji in the gap between the lines OF |
western Guatemala and that of the /
Salvador railway Another cOnsidera- /
tion is the fact that the road is narrow /
gage. Furthermore, the road is being
constructed without any consideration
for its future conversion into a stand I
ard gage. This is one road where even
mahogany is not regarded as good I
enough for ties. The specificatiODs
call for the very hardest OF hardwoOds /
and the more nearly the ties approach ]
the hardness of the ISnum vitae. the /
wood of which bowling balls are made I
the better pleased are the builders /
Many of the ties are native, although q I
large number are shipped in on sailing /
slOOps from Nicaragua
Available Land Occupied.
The fact that nearly every available |