PRESENT CONDITIONS AND FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
THE foreigner in Guatemala is absolutely safe, and travelling in that
country is as free from danger as in our own land. Sensational rumours
sometimes appear in American newspapers about the imprisonment of
American subjects, but, if the reports are true, the persons arrested no
doubt deserve punishment, for meddlers and persons seeking to escape
punishment for wrong-doing in other lands frequently seek an asylum in
the Central American republics. Were they innocent our own officials
would be called upon to right the injustice, and this government has not
deemed it necessary to interfere. The country is practically free from
robbers and it is absolutely unnecessary for the traveller to make of
himself a walking arsenal before visiting Guatemala. The natives are
harmless and trustworthy. One can entrust thousands of dollars with a
cargador to be carried across the country, and, if he is informed that
he will be held responsible for his charge, the native will accomplish
his mission or die in the attempt. This trait of fealty to trust is a
striking characteristic of the native character.
The cause of education has been promoted very much in recent years and
schools have been established in many of the villages. The “Festival of
Minerva” was instituted as an annual commemoration in the interest of
education. It was thought that a popular celebration would draw the
attention of the people to the value of education and would stimulate
the desire for greater learning. To a certain extent it has succeeded,
and there is no doubt that a larger percentage of people can read and
write to-day than was the case a decade ago. At least limited facilities
for primary education exist in most of the villages, but the schools are
entirely inadequate to accommodate those of school age. Education is
compulsory in theory, but practically voluntary in practice, because of
the non-enforcement of the laws. The appropriations are wholly
inadequate for efficient results.
There are six papers published in the capital. “The Diario Official” is
a government organ. Then the other more important publications are the
“Diario de Centro-America,” “La Republica” and “La Nacion.” In all there
are about thirty papers published in the entire republic. All of these
newspapers are subject to strict government supervision and censure. Any
mention whatever of a revolutionary movement would bring severe
punishment upon the head of the offending editor. It is even forbidden
to give an account of murders and assaults that take place. It is easy
to see that an editor’s position is not an easy one, for his range of
news is limited and an overslip might lead to confiscation and
imprisonment.
The fluctuating value of the currency of the country is an unfortunate
condition. There is absolutely no silver or gold money in circulation. A
customs examination of my baggage upon leaving the country caused me to
inquire the purpose of it. The reply was that the law forbids the taking
of silver out of the country. As I had not seen a silver coin in
circulation this explanation made the examination seem like a jest.
Paper certificates issued by the banks, together with minor coins of
alloy, constitute the sole currency. The value of these dollars
fluctuates from six to eight cents on a gold basis. This is rather to
the advantage of the investor, however, as he pays for all native
supplies and labour in the depreciated currency of the country and sells
all his productions at gold values. The wages of unskilled labourers are
very low, averaging from one to two and a half dollars in paper per day,
or from eight to twenty-five cents per day. The best results are
obtained by assigning a task to the peon. He will perform the allotted
task, but extra pay is no inducement for him to work overtime. The only
consideration that will move him to do extra work is the promise that
the overtime will be credited on another day in order to give him an
extra holiday.
The foreign trade of Guatemala slowly increases each year. The last year
for which statistics are available, 1907, show total exports amounting
to $10,174,486 and imports of $7,316,574. Of the exports, the bulk of
which is coffee, Germany is the largest consumer, taking 53.79 per cent.
of the total, while the United States uses only 21.6 per cent. In the
matter of imports the proportion is different and the United States has
a fair proportion of the trade. Of the total imports the United States
furnished 58.1 per cent., and its nearest competitor is England with
about 22 per cent. to her credit. Spain, the mother country, brings up
the rear with less than two per cent. of the whole. The value of the
goods imported from the United States for 1905 was only $1,442,000, and
those sent in return $2,292,000, showing a considerable balance of trade
in favour of Guatemala. The chief imports from the United States consist
of foodstuffs, hardware, railroad supplies and cotton goods. Germany has
the lead in machinery, and England provides by far the most of the
cotton manufactures, furnishing at least three-fourths of the entire
imports of that line of goods.
Guatemala, because of its nearness to our seaports, ought to be an
unusually good market for the United States. With the opening of the new
railroad to the Gulf, the Capital, which is the chief distributing
point, is placed within such easy communication of our southern ports,
such as Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile, that Europe can not
successfully compete if all other conditions are made satisfactory.
American concerns ought to furnish practically all the manufactured
articles needed by Guatemala, and can do so if the business is properly
looked after. Upon this subject a recent consular report says: “If this
field is properly worked and sufficiently long credit is given,
practically nothing but American goods need be found in the markets of
Guatemala, for they are generally conceded to be the best. The market is
worth cultivating, for the next few years will see great development
here. Everything points that way, and the national resources are great.
Packages should be very firmly nailed and bound by band iron, so that
they would be difficult to open, as there is much complaint about goods
being stolen from boxes in transit. It will pay exporters to pack well
everything they ship. Dollars spent in this line will bring hundreds in
profits.”
Another report says: “It must be borne in mind that the importers of
this republic are for the greater part Germans, and their interest and
inclination lead them to trade with the fatherland. England also is
preferred over the United States, possibly because Guatemala merchants
can more easily identify themselves in England, and get better credits.
American goods therefore are imported only when their quality places
them so far ahead of the European article that the merchant is almost
compelled to have them in stock. The American manufacturers should
become better acquainted with this trade, ascertain who are worthy of
credit, and extend it. The long voyage and delay _en route_ compel the
importers to ask long credits. It is sometimes two or three months after
shipments destined for this city leave the manufacturer, before they can
be displayed in the store of the importer. The custom duty on about all
cotton goods is collected on gross weight of the package. Great care
should be taken with invoices for custom-house purposes; the goods must
be described in exact phraseology of Guatemala custom tariff.”
A credit of nine months is generally asked, and this is readily granted
by European merchants, but Americans usually demur at this long credit
and trade is lost. Furthermore, American salesmen seldom understand the
Latin nature or even the language, and endeavour to hurry sales. They
want to get away by the next train or steamer, while a European drummer
will cultivate his trade leisurely. In the end the sales are large
enough to justify his methods and very little is lost by failures if
reasonable precaution is exercised.
The conquest of what have heretofore been regarded as the unhealthful
and disagreeable features of the lowlands of the tropics is now at hand.
Those localities where yellow fever has prevailed and that troublesome
mosquito, the _stegomya fasciata_, has heretofore held sway, will soon
come into their own. The transformation that has taken place at Panama,
Colon and Havana will be repeated along the whole Caribbean Shore and
great and prosperous ports will take the place of the little towns which
are now found. When modern methods of drainage and sanitation, sewerage,
and water supply have been installed, those coasts will be the site of
prosperous cities almost as desirable as those more distant from the
equator.
The possibilities of life in the tropics are so favourable that an
almost unlimited population can be supported. The island of Java, with
an area scarcely as large as Guatemala, supports a population of twenty
millions of people. Bangkok, the capital of Siam, located at sea level,
about the same distance from the equator as Guatemala, is a city of
wealth and good sanitary conditions and has a population of about four
hundred thousand. These comparisons might be made in great numbers, all
tending to show what capabilities of development now lie inert right at
our very doors.
The Spanish-Americans have a great many good qualities which we have
heretofore failed to appreciate. Americans are too much inclined to
thoughtlessly criticize everything and everybody that is not as we would
have it. The world would be a prosaic world indeed if all nations were
alike, just as it would be if all individuals were cast in the same
mould. Environment and heredity have given them different
characteristics which will always prevail. We should look upon our Latin
neighbours with more sympathy and aid them wherever possible, for
Americans themselves, though an especially favoured people, are not
perfect. The Spanish-Americans have an innate courtesy which is sadly
deficient in our own land, and they admire Americans, but they resent
that superior, not-as-good-as-I attitude adopted by so many of our
people.
We assume to exercise a guardianship over the Latin-American republics.
Whether the Monroe Doctrine is a good thing for those countries or not
depends upon ourselves. It can be made a good measure or it may become a
curse. European domination would be better than political chaos, and the
Latin-Americans resent the Monroe Doctrine. It is advisable for us to
study our wards. It behooves all classes, professional and business, to
realize the importance of Latin America, which comprises three-fourths
of the two Americas, and study her economic and political needs. In that
way any barrier that may still exist will be broken down. Seventy
millions of people are found among those nations and such an aggregation
of people are worthy our interest and friendship.
“_Mañana_” and “_no es costumbre_” are expressions that explain two of
the elements in the Spanish-American character which account for his
non-progressiveness. The first is the “to-morrow” spirit—the desire to
put everything off until the future. It is almost impossible to get him
to do anything promptly, but it is delayed from day to day in the
blandest way imaginable. It can well be called the land of “to-morrow”
and “wait-a-while.” The other expression means “it is not the custom”
and illustrates the adherence to usage which is so prevalent. If you
attempt to do anything in a different way, and even a better way, he is
not interested because it has not been the custom to do it that way with
his forefathers. He meets your argument with the terse expression “_no
es costumbre_” and the matter is dismissed. It is for this reason that a
crooked stick with an iron point is still used in plowing, for that has
been the unchanging method since “the memory of man runneth not to the
contrary,” as Blackstone, the great law giver, would say. This habit
makes the Guatemalan slow to adopt new devices, even though they might
be a convenience and labour-saving. He is satisfied until his neighbours
adopt it, and then his pride is aroused and he will begin to use the
articles or adopt the new methods himself.
Guatemala will never be a manufacturing country unless coal is found in
greater abundance than has yet been done. Even the fuel used in
locomotives is imported, and it becomes very expensive because of long
and difficult transportation. Some waterfalls exist which might be
utilized to develop electric power. This would be a profitable
undertaking at this time as some small factories for domestic needs
always exist, and electric energy for light and electric street railway
system is needed. The only factories that are now found are for the
manufacture of coarse textiles, hats, pottery, foundry products and the
necessary railway repairs. Pottery ware in the average home is used for
flour barrels, cisterns, stoves, baths, stew-pans, coffee-pots, dishes,
lamps, floors, etc. The looms in use are of the very crudest pattern,
being simply two harnesses worked by the foot of the weaver, and the
bobbins are wound on bamboo sticks which are shoved in and out through
the web.
The mineral riches have been practically unexploited. The mining
archives of the old colonial government show that during the three
centuries of Spanish occupancy more than thirteen hundred mines of gold,
silver, lead, copper, tin and iron were successfully worked and were a
source of great revenue to both church and state, and that enormous
quantities of gold and silver were taken from those mines. From one
group of mines the records prove that nearly fifty millions of dollars
in silver were coined besides large amounts that were shipped to Europe
in bullion. From 1627 to 1820 more than thirteen hundred mines of
valuable metals were discovered and worked under the Spanish domination,
for that government kept an elaborate and accurate record of the mines
of the precious metals. On the banks of the Montagua River a few gold
mines are being worked. Judging from the few American miners I met, not
all of them, at least, are getting rich out of the precious metal.
Guatemala is not as highly a mineralized section as Mexico. Little
scientific prospecting or exploiting has been done as yet. In Honduras
several valuable gold mines are being worked, and Guatemala, sandwiched
in between that country and Mexico, must contain some gold. Silver mines
are being worked profitably in some parts of the country, and very rich
veins of argentiferous lead have been located. Lead, tin, copper,
antimony, marble of superior quality, sulphur, asbestos and alabaster
have been discovered, and coal in small veins. Mining experts have
reported extensive veins of all those metals, but little has been done
since the establishment of the republic in working them. These mines
will offer great inducements as soon as the transportation facilities
are improved and new cyanide mills constructed for the thorough and
economical working of the raw ores. The very isolation of the mines and
difficulty of establishing communication have heretofore prevented the
working of the veins already known. The small quantity of coal is a
serious detriment to the development of manufactures, for fuel becomes
an expensive item in manufacture. There are a number of waterfalls,
however, which might easily be used for the generation of electric power
for manufactures and railroads. This field remains entirely undeveloped
at the present time, but it is certainly worth investigation.
[Illustration: DUGOUT CANOE ON THE MONTAGUA RIVER.]
Railroads are now needed more than anything else. Only four hundred
miles of railroad in a state nearly as large as Illinois illustrates the
difficulty of communication. For instance, the distance from Guatemala
City to Totonicapan, a city of twenty-five thousand people, is only one
hundred miles, yet it requires almost as long to travel this distance as
it does to go from New York to San Francisco on one of our express
trains. A mule path is the only road, and the average traveller will not
make it in less than four days. Five hundred or a thousand miles of new
railway lines would do far more to develop the country than anything
else, for the telegraph and telephone would follow the iron rails. At
present there are about three thousand miles of telegraph and a few
hundred miles of telephone wires that spread over the country. These
improvements would also go far toward establishing peaceful conditions,
for they would enable the central government to learn promptly of any
disaffection, and hurry troops there before the movement could become at
all formidable.
Guatemala is a land of possibilities. Everything that can be raised in
the temperate and tropical zones will grow here. If irrigation is
provided in the _tierra templada_ there need be no unproductive season
for the warm air and bright sun will propagate the seeds that are sown
at any time of the year. Two crops of wheat and three crops of corn will
reward the industry of the planter. Fertilizers are unnecessary, for the
heavy rains of the rainy season wash down the rich soils from the sides
of the mountains and fertilize the plains. The great secret is therefore
for the agriculturist to adapt his cultivation to the nature of the
climate and soil and his success is assured. Greater success will be
realized on plantations where a colony of peon labourers is maintained,
however, because otherwise it is difficult to secure labour when needed,
and the farmer can not expect to do as much with his own hands as in a
cooler climate. Continued peace, stability of government, construction
of more railways and the investment of foreign capital are the four
essential needs for the growth and prosperity of Guatemala. No one can
travel through that republic, or the neighbouring one of Honduras, and
note their nearness to the great markets of the world, variety of
climate, wealth of natural resources and vast areas suited to profitable
agriculture and not be deeply impressed.
Stability of government will come, I believe, very soon. The
Spanish-American character is developing. The prosperity of Mexico and
railway connections with that country will have a far greater influence
in bringing about that result than any one other condition. The peace
conference held at Washington in 1907, composed of prominent
representatives of all the Central American republics, was a notable
event, and will have a far-reaching effect in bringing about permanent
peace among those turbulent states. The meetings were characterized by
an earnestness of desire and seriousness of intention that were pleasing
to one interested in the welfare of those countries. Already many
millions of foreign capital, including about eight millions of American
gold, are invested in Guatemala, and the aggregate is increasing each
year. Tourists and commercial salesmen are going there in greater
numbers, and each one comes back enthusiastic over the possibilities of
development of that country.
Guatemala is the most important of the Central American republics and is
the nearest to the United States in geographical situation. It is a
short journey for the traveller in search of new and novel sights, and
should not be overlooked by the merchant or manufacturer on the lookout
for new fields of conquest. The near-west is just as good a field as the
far-east and the exertion is less. The land is yet virgin, for the wants
of the people have not been developed. The leaven is working, however,
and the transition period is near at hand. It began in Mexico and is
slowly working its way downward toward Panama. Its progress can be
hastened by judicious and studied effort. It is not a thankless or
profitless task, for the returns will compensate for the effort
expended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------