page_title: Edward A. Burke
section_title: Honduras and treasury scandal
hierarchical_section_title: Edward A. Burke / Honduras and treasury scandal
caption_attribution_description: English: Louisiana baby bond with Burke's signature in violet. Copyrighted 1879; copyright expired.
context_page_description: Edward Austin Burke or Burk, was the Democratic State Treasurer of Louisiana following Reconstruction. Burke later fled to Honduras after it was discovered that there were misappropriations of state treasury funds. While in Honduras Burke became a major land owner and held government positions within Honduras' nationalized railway systems. He remained an exile until his death nearly four decades later.
context_section_description: Honduras was one of three Central American countries to exhibit at the exposition. While their display was modest in comparison to others, their exhibit was highlighted by a personal visit to the exposition by Honduran President Luis Bográn. During this visit Bográn's host was Burke. Bográn was impressed by Burke's personality. The two became fast friends. Bográn was looking for someone to market the wealth of natural resources Honduras had to offer the world. Burke envisioned New Orleans as being the primary importing port for all of Central America's exports. In 1886 as an inducement to Burke, Bográn offered two large mining concessions along the Jalán and Guayape rivers in return for Burke's promise to help build an industrial school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital city. Burke accepted and visited Honduras at least twice between 1886 and 1888. In 1888 a reform-minded opposition succeeded in defeating Burke. 
  
  The time Burke had used in connection with his position as state treasurer was now applied to develop his mining ventures. In 1889 Burke undertook a trip to London to secure financing for a modern mining operation. While in London his successor, William Henry Pipes, discovered significant discrepancies in amount of funds available in the state treasury. Burke was considered a primary suspect of this embezzlement. From London, Burke denied these allegations and stated he intended to return to New Orleans to confront his accusers. After reviewing the evidence on hand, a grand jury handed down nineteen indictments against Burke. The evidence indicated that Burke had failed to destroy state bonds which had been redeemed and issued additional baby bonds without authorization.  Sources place the amount of missing treasury funds anywhere from $64,000 to $2 million.  In early December, Burke decided not to return to New Orleans and was later personally welcomed by President Bográn to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Burke did not come empty-handed; he had succeeded in acquiring financing of $8 million for his mining venture. Arresting Burke was not an issue, because Honduras had not yet formalized a set of extradition treaties with the U.S.
  Burke's financial fortunes did not appear to fare well in Honduras. Burke had to contend with a number of financial panics in both London and Paris which caused investors to back out. He was also challenged with inclement weather and regime changes. In November 1893 Burke supported the losing side in a series of military skirmishes against Policarpo Bonilla. Burke and Domingo Vásquez had to flee to neighboring El Salvador. Eventually Burke came to terms with Bonilla and returned. During this same period of political upheaval, the opponents of the Louisiana Lottery succeeded in getting Congress to outlaw the interstate transportation of lottery tickets or lottery advertisements. The U.S. Supreme Court then affirmed that position. Instead of shutting down, the Louisiana Lottery decided to transfer its operations from New Orleans to Honduras. Very little is known, if Burke had any influence in steering the Louisiana Lottery to move to Honduras.
  In June 1904, Burke accepted a position as the assistant superintendent and auditor of the Honduras Interoceanic Railway, one of the government's nationalized railroads. He held this position till August 1906. From 1912 to 1926, Burke held various positions within the National Railway of Honduras, also known as El Ferrocarril Nacional de Honduras, another nationalized railroad. In February 1926 Burke's associates back in New Orleans succeeded in nullifying all of his indictments. Even though Burke was vindicated, he decided to remain in Honduras. In 1928, Burke was on hand to greet Charles Lindbergh who was on a goodwill flight through Central America. This was not Burke's first encounter with a famous aviator. In 1919, Burke had unknowingly hired local Lisandro Garay as a driver. Garay would later become famous as an aviator in his own right, picking up the moniker — the "Honduran Lindbergh."
caption: Louisiana baby bond with Burke's signature in violet
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