El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-28

~ AN JOSE, COSTA RIGA, Sept Is
- I have just had a talk with Costa
~ Rica's democratic president. His
name is Don Ricardo Jimenez and he
was elected two years a3o by a ma
jority vote of the people. This was so
Ill spite of the opposition of the admin
istration and the Catholic church. How
ever, the voters told the priests that
they were electing L president and
not a bishop, and they preferred Don
Ricardo. The new president is demo-
cratic in his administration, and ] am
told he has even subleased y part of
the presidential mansion to private par
ties to increase the government rev.
cnueS. 1t was in the audience room of
this house that he received me. The
president IS man of good education
and fine address A lawyer by profess
sion. ne speaks several languages, and
1t was in good American English that
our conversation was carried on
The Government of Costa Rica.
But first let me give you some idea
OF the government of this little repub-
lie Costa Rica is the quietest and best
ruled of all Central America, and its
presidents are the choice of the people
and not the result of revolutions, as in
Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras
The country got its independence about
13 years ago, and it was in 1S47 that it
formally adopted the title of the repub-
lie of Costa Rica- It now has a preSi-
dent and congress, each elected for
term of four years, and that only The
president cannot have a second con-
secutiYe term. The manner of the cleo
ton is by an electoral college, just as is
our custom at home 1 asked president
Jlmenez what he thought of this meth
Cd He said it was mistake and that
the best way would be to choose the
executive by the direct vote of the
people.
The president of Costa Rica has a
little different form of administration
than president Taft He has a cabinet,
it is true, but he has also government
council, which consists of the cabinet
and such other citizens as he may
choose to appoint The salary of the
Of president Taft He gets little. over
$4,000 a year, or, in the money of this
country. $4,000 colonies.
Costa Rfca and the Canal.
During our talk the Panama canal
was refepred 70, and l asked his eN-
celency what effect this would have
upon Costa Rica- He replied that il
would benefit it. said he:
1t will open some excellent lands,
which we have not far from the coast
on the western side of the mountains
There are large tracts there which
would raise the best of coffee, and by
the canal we shall be able to have
cheap outlet for that crop to the mar
kets of Europe. In the past we have
been much hampered by having only
one railroad. 1 mean that from here to
Port LimOn on the Atlantic coast That
road has been controlled by the United
Fruit company, whose chief interest is
in the shipment of bananas and it has
let the coffee wait knowing that it had
the monopoly and that there was no
other way for it to get to the coast We
have bettered that condition by build
ing a government railway to the Pa
cific and we have now no trouble. When
the canal is finished there will be a
demand for our Pacific coast lands and
that part of Costa Rica will grow.
We expect also an increase in our
traffic on the Caribbean side of the
mountain 4 competition has arisen as
to the trade in bananas, and with two
companies operating the business
should greatly increase The banana is,
as you know, our chief money crop. 1t
amounts to something like 100000
punches a year and sells for 100000
and upward. Our exports of coffee are
often in the neighbOrhood of 81, 600, 900
our principal sources of income"
The Investments in Coffee Lands.
rs there much undeveloped land in
Costa Rica, your eXcellency2" asked L
There is a great deal, but it needs
capital to bring it under cultivation If
We had that and the right shipping IA
cilities We could produce nine or 10
times as many bananas as now and
could materially increase our coffee
plantations. What we need is more
money and I should be glad to see
American capital brought here. The
trouble with your moneyed men, how
ever, is that they are too visionary.
1 GU snow them a piece OF rock Win
a little gold in it. and they will open
their pocketboOks almost without in
TeStigation. They may also put money
into bananas if they are properly
of Costa Rica they do not appreciate.
This land produces some of the best
coffee of the world. The conditions OF
cultivation are well known. and the
opportunities for money making in it
are excellent L am hoping that your
people will take up the coffee lands on
. ha --T 1esN
open to trade"
4 suppose money invested in Costa |
Rica would be safe?" said I, inter- !
negatively.
Most certainly it would if put in !
the right place and with due regard !
to the examination Of title system in /
this country. and you can buy land /
just as safely here as you can at your I
home. There is no danger of revOlu- |
lions and the conditions are quite as |
reliable as anywhere in the world"
Why Costa Ricn Has No Revolutions. |
why is it, your eXcellency, that |
Costa Rica does not have revolutiOnS2 !
They are common in other Central 1
American republics and also in Mexico !
now"
"There are a number of reasons" re-
piled Don Ricardo. I'm the first place /
this is a small country and our people /
have plenty to do to make living
without wanting to fight. Our nation /
is a peace loving one. The population /
is not like that of Guatemala. Nicara-
qua and Honduras, which is largely COM
posed of indian blood. The most of /
our inhabitants are pure white. You /
will see this as you walk through the |
streets, and as you walk through the /
country. You will see many barefoot
ed and the faces and feet are as white
as you own. These people are the de-
scendants of Spaniards from the
northern part of the Iberian peninsula.
We have comparatively few indians 4
and our ancestors did not intermarry
with them.
Another reason why Costa Rica has
no revolution" continued the presi-
dent lis because the lands here are
very evenly distributed. We have a
large number of real estate owners.
and nearly every cOuntryman has his
own little farm with his patch Of
bananas. his garden of fruit, his fields
of vegetables or grain and his little