Perth Amboy evening news., 1924-05-09
HASKINS
LETTER
THE REVOLUTION IN
HONDURAS.
By Frederic j. Haskin.

| revolution that has already cost
9. OO0 lives and damaged much val
liable property-including the ba-
mana crop--has created surprisingly
| little comment in this country. ol
! course, Central American revoiu-
tions have ceased to be sensation'
but the dispatches concerning TINS
| one have been strangely scarce ana
| laconic. With the exception OF
mildly eloquent debate which occur
] rad in the United States senate upon
| the landing of American marines In
| Terucigalpa, the Honduran capital
against the protest of the de facto
| government, the revolution has been
rudely ignored.
This has always been Honduras
fate, and one which 1t has borne
with great equaniruity. Although II
has an excellent climate throughout
most of its territory, Is remarkably
rich in natural resources. and is the
| nearest and most nervous OF our nve
Central American neighbors, it re-
mains largely unknown to the
| American public.
Only two books Of any conse-
quence have been published in Eng
lish concerning 1t, and these appear
ed in the fifties of the last century.
They are said to be still fairly up
to-date. Without adequate methods
Of transportation, education or sani>
tation, and with a population tenn
peramentally antipathetic to Yam
kee enterprise and progress, Hon
duras is today much as it was in the
middle of the nineteenth century
largely undeveloped. irresolute and
wracked by petty political wrangles
like the one now being staged.
This conflict, like so many others.
was brought about by the presiden-
tial elections of last October when
curious deadlock occurred. To be
president of Honduras, the consti-
tuition provides, a man must receive
an absolute majority of the popular
votes cast, and none of the rival
candidates could succeed in obtain
ing such a majority. So the presi-
dent whose term was about to ex-
pire, Rafael Lopez Gutierrez, an
nounced himself dictator. under
which title he proceeded to sup
press the congress and constitution
and put the country under martial
law
There are two principal parties in
Honduras-the Liberals and Con-
servatives. They have no distinct
and separate policies, as their
names would suggest, but are iden-
tilted merely by the personalities of
their leaders.
Liberals Had Two Candidates
At the time of the elections the |
Liberal party. because OF Its long
term in office, was very strong, but
its strength was divided by two can
didates, each of whom refused to
stand aside in favor of the other.
These were DIR. Juan Angel Arias
and DIR. Policarpo Bonilla. Arias is
wealthy ranch-owner and physi-
clan, while Bonilla is an extremely
clever lawyer, an ex-minister to the
United States and a delegate of
Honduras at the Peace Conference
after the war. The retiring presi-
dent. Gutierrez, 1t is said, favored
Bonilla as his successor.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives had
nominated General Tiburcio Carias,
a man of great popularity with the |
masses and the army-a typical, |
sturdy soldier rather than a diplo- |
mat. 1t is allegfl, however, that |
the real choice of the Conservatives |,
Is General Fausto Davila, long a |
leader of their party, another ex-
to the United States, and |
so feared by the Liberals during the |
Gutierrez regime that they threw
him into prison.
To nominate this man while his |
powerful enamy still held command |
of the capital and army would have
been too dangerous, so they kept |
him carefully out of the way and |
nominated Carias instead. There |
was also another reason for this.
The United States has said that Il |
sweeps into office on a tide of revo-
luton, and Honduras admits that |
recognition by this country Is nee |
essary to its well-being. This factor |
would tend to eliminate Carias as |
a presidential candidate, even |
though he wins the revolution when |
Davila can then be brought forward |
as the eligible choice.
With the establishment of the
Gutierrez dictatorship hostilities
started. General Carias. as leader
of the Conservatives, gathered his
military supporters about him and
captured the city of Siguatepec, a
strategic move, as 1t cut the traffic
of the republic in two. DR.. Bonilla
of the Liberals also tried to rally his
military supporters to him for
somewhat similar move, which was
apparently unsuccessful. DR.. Arias,
the other Liberal leader, remained
in Tegucigalpa in order to aid
Gutierrez in maintaining peace.
Country In Confusion
The country at once became
plunged into confusion. Commerce
became paralyzed; industries ceased
to operate; crops remained unhar-
vested; all telegraphic and mail
communication was severed; print
ing was discontinued, and all life
and property became extremely In
secure. In the north of the repuo-
lie a huge crop of bananas, the first
good one in three seasons. was
jeopardized by lack of farm hands
to harvest 1t and the breakdown in
traffic facilities.
Under the strain of dictatorship,
Gutrierrez' health soon collapsed,
and he was compelled to flee, with
his wife, from Teguoigalpa to ANA
pala, where an American cruiser
was stationed. Before he could
make good his escape into exile, he
died. whereupon, his cabinet head
ed by DIR. Francisco Buesco, took
over the duties of dictator. still as
sisted by the able DR.. Arias. Since
+y.o, Aha otfra tim has ram aine6