The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-06-23

prepared by tn. National Geographic So
ciety Washington, D. c.
The creation of United States of
Central America" and troubles be-
tween Panama and Costa Rica which
almost led to war, have drawn atten-
ton to the countries south of the
Caribbean sea recently more strongly
than at any time since the completion
of the Panama canal. Nowhere else
In the world has Nature been more
bountiful In her blessings of natural
resources than In the Caribbean re-
gion. Everything that her treasure
house holds has been bestowed with
lavish, and also with impartial, hand.
Someone has observed that If you
tickle the ground with a hoe it smiles
back with a yam and certain 1t Is that
in any one of these countries the
ground of natural resources may be
tickled with the hoe of foreign capital
and it smiles back with yams of
wealth.
These countries are nearly all ia
vored alike in natural wealth, but
there is a vast difference in the de-
velopment Of that wealth. differ
ence that may be attributed almost
wholly TO the character of the govern
ments in the respective countries.
In some of these lands the milk and
honey Of plenty flows in a bountiful
stream. Others are in wretched
poverty, where the masses never have
enough to keep the gaunt wolf of
hunger from gnawing at their vitals
day and night and year in and year
out. In travelling through these coun-
tries, one is impressed with the fact
that prosperity abides with good rule
and poverty dwells with misrule.
Differences In Development.
Starting out with the easily demon
strated fact that there is very little
difference between these countries In
their natural resources, 1t is interest
ing to look around and notice what
vast difference there is In the use that
is being made of this natural wealth.
One need not go out of the confines
of Central America to see this 1t
one Honduras, and yet Salvador has
twice the population of Honduras and
larger foreign commerce. Costa
Rica is less than half as big as
Nicaragua. and yet its foreign COM
MERGE is greater than that country's.
And yet, when Salvador and Costa
Rica are compared with Porto Rico,
10. s-1a In. lnfFs
development. Porto Rico is so small
that seven islands like IL would be re-
CURED to cover an area equal to that
of Costa Rica. yet II has foreign
trade more than fifteen times as great
as that of the Banana Empire. Porto
Rico is less than half as large as
Salvador, yet ii has a foreign trade
over thirteen times as great.
Little Porto Rico is so small that 1t
could be buried i'm a single Central
American lake; 1t would take 81 Is
lands of its size to equal Central
America in area and yet Porto
Rico enjoys about three times as
much foreign trade as all Central
America together from Tehuantepec
10 Colombia. The reason? Because
compared to these Central American
republics Porto Rico has an ideal gov
eminent. The trade Of the island has
increased sevenfold since Uncle Sam
took possession there. The number of
children enrolled in the schools has
increased skiold The wages of the
laboring class has multiplied three
fold even before the war.
Honduras Is a Lagpard.
Honduras in some ways lags behind
its nelghbors. And yet IL IS rich in
natural resources almost beyond i'm
aginaiion.
With vast deposits Of minerals of
all kinds. with untold thousands of
acres OF the finest tropical fruit and
vegetable lands in the world and with
vast areas Of magnificent grazing and
coffee lands, Honduras is ut our very
doors. 1t is 700 miles nearer to Chi
cago than that city Is 10 San Fran
cisco; It is closer to Washington than
Denver Is; IL Is farther from New Or
leans 10 Chicago than IL Is from Puer-
to Barrios and Livingston to New Or
leans. With stable government,
Honduras must become a kingdom of
plenty instead Of princlpallty of
/ poverty.
Across the border Is prosperous lit
tie Salvador. II is as different from
Honduras as night is from day. 1t