Evening star., 1915-12-05

of the railway stock they put in some
practical railway men of the United
States to manage the line. This sort
of management was able to do many
things that Nicaraguan government ad-
ministration could not do. 1t was able
to add to the revenues by cutting down
the passes 1t used to be that pretty
nearly everybody rode free on this gov
ernment line. Once in travelling from
Managua to Granada a peon and my
self were the only passengers who did
not have passes. though the two pas
senger coaches were crowded.
Not only the politicians. but the poets
and versifiers also travelled free. Mica
ragua, like all Latin American coun-
tries, has many poets. 1t is the birth
place of the greatest poet of the pres
ent generation in the Spanish language
The practice was for the local poet to
dedicate poem to the railway man
ager whenever there was a change in
the management No Nicaraguan rail-
way manager could afford to offend ma
tive susceptibilities and show lack of
literary appreciation by refusing a free
pass to the poet who dedicated a poem
to him. but American railway manag-
ers. being prosaic individuals, could
and 1t Is understood that they have
done so.
But 1t is in the administration of the
railway as transportation enterprise
In the manner of handling traffic that
has added most to the revenues and
made the investment a good one.
Dispatches not long ago were to the
effect that Nicaragua had made further
progress toward stability by going back
to the gold basis. There was a time
when the country had very sound
monetary system, and in spite of occa-
sional revolutions, maintained an ex-
cellent financial standing in London
but it drifted away until the whole sys-
tenn became badly demoralized.
Numerous efforts have been made to
rehabilitate the finances, and American
experts have given their views as to
how it should be done. The simplest
way was to have the banks maintain
the fixed gold reserve originally re-
auired. 1t Is assumed that they are
henceforth to maintain this reserve,
which is 40 per cent. Fuller confirma-
tion will be wanted before it can be
stable finances. but there Is undoubted
progress in that direction.
If any country in Central America
needs political stability and economic
development in order to improve the
condition of the great mass of the
native population it is Nicaragua.
Aside from the Mosquito Indians, on
the Atlantic coast, who are entirely
different from the Indians of the in
terror, the condition of the native popu-
lation is pitiable. They have been the
instruments of one dictator after an
other. without much actual oppression,
but with nothing done to improve their
material and moral condition.
There are. possibly, 100000 of them,
though some guesses at the population
place the number at above half a mil
lion. Their only hope lies in a decent
and progressive government which
may gradually develop the industry of
the country and rouse their dormant
energies by >ena abling them to improve
their own condition.
Like all the Central American coun-
tries. Nicaragua Is rich in natural re-
sources. The coffee and the cacao are
of excellent quality. and in peace times
have a steady market in Europe. 1t is
not a bad thing for either Nicaragua
or the United States that on account
of the war the United States has been
absorbing larger quantities of these
Nicaraguan products.
Bananas also are one of the greatest
natural assets. The development of the
banana industry is almost entirely in