El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-17
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

BonilIs was president OF Honduras, the
same who now holds that oIIlce-
refused TO be tool or eltH@I % "a
rival leaders in Central America al
though ne did lengthen his term OF
office from four TO six years AeIay q
thought that was uncOn5IlIuIlOhel' ~
he decided to depose BonlIld anu NJ NJ
in a man of his own choosing BOhllla
called Salvador to his aid DuI was
defeated. and Cabrera and Zelaya com
promised on Davila- after Aelaya LaG
insisted on Sierra and Cabrera hau
urged the claims of Arias-
The Famous Peace Conference.
All this led to the famous Central
American peace conference calleu ~
the instance OF secretary ROOT -
the countries In this conference lllu -.
tuaIly pledged themselves 10 Keep gu.
Of each others political aLIalrs'
pledge which neither CABRERA nor y
lava meant to keep but Wnlcn CHc-s
sam made them stand by Ine next
revolution came a few years laleI.
when BOnilla led a revolution aSalhss
DaVila and succeeded He had helpeu
Estrada overthrow the Zelaya govern
ment in Nicaragua and in return the
Nicaraguan forces helped him 10 over
throw Davila. And now other forces
are ready TO overthrow him
One Roy Of Hope.
There is. however. this hope for the
future in Central America IN genera
and for Honduras in parucuIaI- -
state department unQeT sec! go
Knox does not intend 10 permit any
marty to the Washington peace con
ventiOn hereafter to wink al VIOLATIONS
OF the neutrality agreement Jnal va
entered into as result OF LAdL CO-l
venrtOn. The state department. without
c17stoune house control. is pOWerless
to prevent internal wars; but II does
hold that the United states mas lAe
right to demand a handsOf1 pollcy rom
the adjacent republics. and secretary
INF
mand will be insisted upon Ihls VIII
tend to lessen the number OF reFolu-
tiOns, since it viii not permit con
spiracies against one of the repuDllcs
10 be Matched up and carried INTO eI-
feet in another republic
In what bad case Honduras really
stands, may be seen from the 1act llldl
although ii Is a country or almost IN
finite possibilities agriculturaIIy, lI
rarely raises more corn. beans, rice,
etc. than will suffice TO tide IL over
until the succeeding crop 1t IS some
times extremely difficult TO buy pa
in the capital city. although two crops
Of corn may be grown annually with
out difficulty Honduras has tens o.
thousands Of acres of grazing land
and vet its cattle business is in a
depIOra BILE state. There has been no
new infusion OF blood IN their cattle
since the days of Spanish dominion
and they usually reverse the ordinary
procedure in selecting their breeding
stock Elsewhere the best cattle are
reserved for breeding purposes Here
the best cattle go 10 the butcher E
block. and the result has been great
deterioration in the character OF the
cattle on the ranges. The cattle ma
ture slowly BullOcks are not ready
for the butcher until they are about
five years old Butchering consists I'm
the hacking up OF the csrcasses into
chunks Of haggled meat and bone The
division into shapes and joints known
: In American butchershOps is unheard
4 OF here and properly cut rOasts and
steaks are never seen
The Foreigners.
WHAT little prosperity there may be
IN the republic IS result OF the pres
ence Of foreigners. II is charged and
perhaps fairly so, that the foreigner
who ask for concessions in Honduras
are a rapaciOus lot and that most OF
them. especially the Americans. obtain
their concessions for purposes Of spec
ulatiOn, and are humbugging both the
people Of Honduras and the American
investors This had resulted in a dis
inclination on the part Of the govern
ment TO grant concessions. and an in
Clination to hedge about those that are
granted with innumerable reserva tons
No ore ought 20 have any sympathy
with that class OF promoters who are
merely speculative. but there is some
thing TO be said in defence OF the le-
gItimate investor He goes into these
countries knowing the governments
are unstable. and not knowing when
Inc profits may stop if indeed the in
Vestment itself be not lost Under
these conditions IL is inevitable that ne
should demand large profits.
Yet so long as the stability Of the
government is so doubtful. Honduras
cannot expect capital from the outside
TO come in except under such COndi-
uons- 1t cannot realize on its holdings
Of natural wealth without the aid OF
outside capital, and that capital can
De secured only in small amounts and
upon nigh charges so long as present
conditions prevail And those cOndi-
tons the responsible authorities of