The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1917-10-12
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AA1I.ahi

countries had materially Increased
since these figures we're taken In the
last census He sald that h total
population 81 the new republic would
he much larger than that given. for
the reason that u had been q good
many years since soiae Of the republics
had had an actual census. and II was
known that they had crown materially
In population In the last few year,. in
fact. he snid hat since the Central
American court Of Justice was es,sb-
iished a wave Of prosperity had been
passing over all the republics. aud
they had made great progress, not
only in the Increase " population, hut
likewise also In the development: OF
their resources.
II II OF interest 10 note that each
~ these little republics maintain an
army. San Salvador has q military
rtreusth Of 37s officers and Se.SSt
men. Costa Hica stands ready to put
into the field any day 5?.29s soldiers,
and on a war basis this can he quickly
doubled. Guatemala is stronger n
them all In a military sense. hut the
figures were moi available. Honduras
can throw 50. 900 into war az a ma
ment's notice, 30 10 speak. II white
Nicaragua Keeps only 1000 troops In
barracks. she can on q war basis, no
bilize 10000. according to the military
I system upon which her army is based.
These figures are significant. They
! show that should these tiny republics
unite they would extend almost to the
portals Of the Panama Canal. which
! would mean u considerable army on a
ticklish part OF the map.
In case the new republic formed al.
liHnces with powerful nations abroad
there are railroads which extend from
the Atlantic 10 :hc Pacific. The prin.
cipal seaport on the Atlantic side. per.
haps, would he Puerto Cottes. in Hon
duras. and on the Pacific, La Union
or Amapala There are however. sew
crtl ports which are surrounded By
cities OF nearly 5000 population.
There Is great wealth Ia, these l.ttlo
domains, consisting chiefly OF agricul-
tural products. The coffee industry ~
first am7n the business interests ~
Salvador. In this country alone there
are l66.039 acres In coffee. ana the
annual production is around 1900
600 pounds. Some efforts have been
made to the production OF
cotton, nut with Indifferent success.
The tradt OF Salvador has been mostly
with the United States, Germany and
France. There are many foreign in
Nestments In this country. mainly IN
timber, mineral, and railroads.
Honduras is distinctly a cattle coun-
try. though this industry has never
been developed Ia anything like the
degree TO which It may he. IL is also
wealthy in minersl. There are rich
deposits Of gold platinum. silver and
copper, and . large sum u foreign
money IL invested In these mines. or
course, the bulk Of the export trade
Is In tTuit-bananas, cocoanuts, IA
% ON. Social conditions in Honduras
are well advanced. The systems II
education and health are good. There
are few children in Honduras ~ school
age who have not had educational ad.
%vantages.
Costa Rica Is productive OF fruit and
coffee. and these constitute the bulk ~
her trade. The United Fruit com.
pany, formerly under the British flag
but IN recent years transferred to the
United states flag, has proved a great
power in ~ development ~ Costa
ltica. There are railroads between the
larger cities which pretty well traverse
tn" entire country, one Of them. 3S5
miles In length. connecting the A..
iantic and Pacific ~seacoasts 81 Costa
NiCa.
Il is generally believed by the con.
Sular Representatives 81 aE these Con.
tral American republics stationed in
New York that the plan Of unity viii
80 through They are of the opinion
that the people Of their countries are
in high glee over the prospect OF hay.
ing zone big republic On the Istu,
mus instead Of being 80 widely sepa
rated IN political government Then
people are of the same raoos-abor!.
gines aud SpaniJrds and mixed Indian
races. Their language Is the same
spanish. Their our and prod
ucts are MISUNDERSTANDING, timber
ana mineral ~ forming one counti,
they could look mo ships IN the Pa
cific from one door "a o ship
that ply the Atlantic from the othel
door and from their huusetops the
all might look over poor little Panama
and see
The Great canal