Diario las Américas., 1958-03-21
Know thy
Nei9hbor
n AA14AAn@ Nifty
BY ANToNIo RUIZ


In 1921 Tegucigalpa acquired the
right to be called a city, as 1t had
already 6,029 inhabitants. In the
census taken that year, the num-
Der of persons employed was listed
as follows: six ecclesiastics,
$40 laborers, Al storekeeperS,
7 miners, Al carpenters, 81
tailors, 81 shoemarkerS, 43 Weav-
ers, % blacksmiths, 20 musicians,
4 painters, IA SilversmithS, 8 ex-
plosive makers Cor the mines), 3
shelters, 5 BARRIERS, 9 tanners, 3
carvers, 10 scribes, 10 tile makers,
2 sculptors, and 50 slaves.
The Mayoralty of Tegucigalpa
was suppressed in 1778, and the
territory administer from Coma
yagua, but in 1872 the "Alcaldia
Mayor" was restored. The last
mayor under the colonial regime
was Narciso Mallol. The bridge
cross the Choluteca River still
bears his name. Its construction,
begun in 1917, represented the
Joint efforts of the citizens of Te-
gucigalpa and Comayagiiela.
At this time Spain's colonial en-
pire was in the process OF desinte-
grafton. In 1908, Napoleon, having
forced Charles w from the throne
of Spain. tried to install his broth
er Joseph (Pepe Botellas) Bona
parte, as king, but the SpaniardS
refused to acknowledge him and
desired to be ruled by Ferdinand
VIII, son of Charles w. In the
meantime, "juntas' Or committees
of government were set up in
Spain. These events, by diminish
ing the authority Of the Mother
Country over its possessions, set
the various antagonistic groups
within the colonies free to wrangle
over the issues among themselves.
At first Honduras, like the other
Central American countries, felt
relatively unmoved by the far-off
discussions, and disposed to cling
to its loyalty to the Spanish Crown,
as long as such a course was pos
sible.
In 1921, on September is, a
consultative council set up at Qua
temala City declared the Indepen-
dence of Central America. The
PROCLAMATION was read and en-
Enthusiastically supported by the
authorities in Tegucigalpa on Oct.
%. A Constituent Assembly, meet
ing in Guatemala City in 1923,
adopted a system of federal gov
eminent for the Central aAmerican
States. This experiment lasted un-
til 1888 when the Federal Con.
gress declared the member states
free to adopt whatever form Of
government they chose and closed
its sessions.
The growth of Tegucigalpa dur,
ing the 18th. century was slow
In 1924 the. first Honduran Con
gress decreed that the seat of gov
eminent should alternate between
Teguciglapa and Comayagua, which
was not very practical. In 1880, TIE
g%ucigalpa was chosen as the per
J manent capital. Up until 1898 TIE
gucigalpa and Comayagiiela hat
continued as separate towns, bu'
in that year it was decreed that tn,
two should become one, with the
novel provision, however, thai
each should have its own munich
pal council 1t was in 1888 that
with other outlying and smaller
communities, they were joined il
the new Central District, which to
day has a population Of over 100,
900.
Promising cultural and materia
advance in Tegucigalpa took place
under the administration of Marco
A. Soto, President of Hondura!
from 1875 to 1888. His accomplish
ment ranged from the promulga
ton of the codes on governing pro
cedure in the several branches O
civil, penal military, mining, ant
customs law, to the Inauguration
of the first postal and telegraph
service and of the first genera
hospital Besides organizing tn,
system of public education, h
founded the National Library an,
the National Archives, had tn
parks laid out, and erected in ther
monuments concentrating tn
18th century heroes Morazon, v,
lie, Cabahas and Padre Reyes.
Spanish Version Page 3