El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-24

as of land for $500! That is ono
az The possibilities that Panama is
oovg offering.
nov w. land can be mortgaged or sinh
..1s{Ia5 and sold. Formerly the 1oor
u ", Who took up public land couId
ma borrow money on it, for he had
NJ +itIe until he had cultivated 1t for
- years Now he can sell a portion
- 5fs purchase or he can make a loan
u Il and put in such crops as coffiee
csc9o or rubber, which take some years
IN come into bearing.
" VIII Establish Banks of Issue,
1Anofher thing we expect to do"
cold the president Of the republic, ais
70 establish here at Panama banks of
;es77a with charters from the govern
ST The laws for these will 20 info
Fo-ce very soon. As it is now there
- Tractically no opportunity for the
mall land owner to borrow money on
lone time. The banks here will not
usually loan for more than six or nine
months and some years ago before
Tho national bank was established the
interest paid was often as high as 10
or 70 percent a month.
These new banks will loan money on
MORTGAGES, which may extend as long
as 20 years, according to contract,
and the interest must not exceed {
1aTcent per annum. We expect that
he neOple who will take up these pub
liz lands and pay for them will Dor
rCvv money of these banks to main
tain themselves until their lands come
into bearing.
Plans TO Build Two Railroads.
srWnlt are you doing az to other
nublic works?" 1 asked.
eve have laid out the construction
MANS for two railroads that will form
me initial development of the interior
Of the country One of these is in the
province of Chiriqui, Of which I have
already told you and the other is in
Los Santos, which slopes down to the
CuIf of Panama Both Of these roads
will be electric Fuel Of all kinds is
very high here. but We have swift
flowing rivers with great falls which
will give US enough electricity to light
all our villages and cities, to run our
railroads and in addition move many
great industries.
eve have already tested the Caldera
river. which is to supply the power
for the Chiriqui road, and also for the
road which will run in Los Santos. The
Chiriqui road will be about 30 miles
long. It will go from David to Be-
uuete, with a branch to Conception.
There is now at BOquete a colony Of
about 20 American families and five
English families. The most Of them
are raising coffee, but they cannot ex-
port their crop on account Of the cost
Of ca ing it to the seacoast. When
the road is completed 1t will 30 down
upon it"
VIII Cater to Tourists.
What do you expect to do for the
tourists when the canal is completed?'
Eve shall make them comfortable"
replied president POrras. we have
already put up several hotels in Pan
anna and Colon and we have just now
made a contract with an English firm
for a big hotel to accommodate at
least 500 people. This viii be located
on the sea, but facing the canal on the
edge of Panama City. 1t viii be large
" patrOnized and It ought to pay
from the start. We had $4,000 tourists
here last year and we expect to have
40, 900 during 1914. If they spend SIS
apiece, which IS not a high estimate,
they viii leave on the isthmus one
million gold dollars"
What are your plans connected with
the completion Of the canal2" I asked.
I'VE have a number of important
measures under way" president POrras
replied. Fer one thing we expect to
have a large exposition here in 1919
This viii be participated in by the
countries Of North and South America
and we hope by those Of Europe and
Asia as well. We want the merchants
Of the world to bring samples of their
goods and show them at Panama, and
we hope that many of them will leave
the samples here, making a permanent
commercial museum along the line of
the canal. All such samples will be
admitted free Of duty"
Expects Rapid Growth.
rs It your idea that Panama VIII