Omaha daily bee., 1912-07-07
Rubber R2ankakioa
Owued 4y A1aerica1s

- "Hu PioHsdtioHS VI various ktnOS. Inere
is steady rise of real estate values also
both at Panama and Colon. I have prop
erty here which is worth ten times what
i paid for 1t a few years ago, and have
put up building at Colon which cost me
only $1,000 aud which has been netting
me 500 per month In rents. That prop
erty is now paying for the building every
year. I know of buildings here in Pan
anna which are doing as well. Rents are
exceedingly high and we have a number
OF men who have grown rich out Of their
real estate deals. We have several mil
lionaires and some of them have incomes
OF over $4,000 year. The Panamanian
minister at Washington receives some-
thing like $500 per month from his real
estate investments. and I venture that
M. Espinoza Of this city does equally
! we'll"
Banks Which Pay Dividends.
And then there is great deal Of
money in banking" continued the presi-
| dent. you can loan here all the money
you have on good security, at s or 8
per cent. The old rate of interest used
to be "a per cent. but we have cut that
down by establishing our national bank,
which makes loans on real estate at
per cent, and on jewelry and other COL
lateral at per cent. That bank has
million and half capital, and its net
profits last year were $4,000. The other
banks make more
What is Panama doing to open up
the interior of the country?
Not as much as we could wish" re-
piled the president. I'VE have some
roads and we expect to build more, We
have had plans for railroads but the
time is not yet ripe to build them All
that will come, and in the end we shall
be thickly populated land"
Gold and Pearls.
How about your mines?' ..
I'VE have some gold mines working
right here in the central part of the
isthmus, and there are others at Darien.
We know that We have copper and other
minerals, but the country has not been
thoroughly prospected."
How about your pearl fisheries?
They have produced great deal in
the past, but we have not been taking
care OF them and they do not yield
what they did. I have been interested
in pearls myself. and my father sold
one pearl for $500. 1t weighed twenty
three carats, and was Of a beautiful
shape and fine color. That pearl would
bring $1,000 today, think II we should
let the pearl fisheries lie still for q while
and keep a closed season for fishing that
we might make that profitable in
dustry.''
/ How about the hidden gold of Pan
anna? 1t is said that you have islands
near your coasts where the treasures
of the Incas are buried and also that
there is gold under Old Panama."
THAT is the stuff that dreams are
made Of" replied the president. Many
have hunted for those treasures, and
have never found them. We have now
made road to Old Panama, and 1t is
probable that something may be dis
covered there"
Panama and American Trade.
TELL me something about your trade
with the United States"
I'VE are buying more Of you than Of
any other nation, and the trade steadily
increases. 1t might pay your merchants
to establish great warehouse here for
the display Of American goods. There
will be continuous stream of merchants
passing through the canal and that
house could take orders for both North
and South America. AS it is now, our
foreign commerce amounts to $11 100000,
per year, and of that about $5,75o,0Oo
goes to the United States. Next to you,
our chief consumer is Great Britain, and