_Ecuador_
From Panama the steamers of the Pacific mail start on their voyage down
the long Pacific coast. That they should carry a curious medley of
passengers is only natural, seeing that they stop at the ports of four
republics. So numerous are these ports that some of the steamers have to
miss many of them, and smaller coastal vessels serve the needs of the
few voyagers who visit the smaller and more insignificant places; but
still there are enough stoppages to enable the voyager to see something
of the curious coast towns, even if he has no time to penetrate into the
interior of all the republics. The changes in the character of the coast
from the tropical mountain-slopes of the north to the dry-aired coast of
the mid-continent are the distinguishing features of the voyage.
Travellers from Valparaiso are filled with admiration and delight when
their eyes rest upon the sea-board of Ecuador and Colombia, for after
the arid monotony of the Chilian and Peruvian coast-lines, where
scarcely ever a drop of rain falls to freshen the verdure, the change is
to a tropical paradise. The expanse of glorious greenery refreshes the
vision--an exhilarating exchange from the dun-coloured vistas which have
been left behind. Guayaquil, the principal port of Ecuador, is one of
the best situated on the whole of the Pacific littoral, but,
unfortunately, is perhaps the most unhealthy. It lies on the bank of the
Guayas River, nearly thirty miles from the bar. The city is large for a
South American port, and has a population of over sixty thousand, and a
railway connects it with the capital of the republic, Quito. The city of
Guayaquil is badly drained, insanitary, and swarms with the germs of
disease. Its authorities do little or nothing to improve the health
conditions, and the recent decision of the United States Government to
insist upon drastic improvements being carried out will be hailed by all
who have traffic with this port. When the Panama Canal is opened, it is
only natural that Guayaquil will assume a new maritime importance, and
it is obviously impossible for such a pestilential hole to continue so
near to the great connecting link between the Atlantic and the Pacific.
The history of Ecuador runs on parallel lines with that of the other
South American republics, and its fortunes have been closely interwoven
with those of its neighbours, Peru and Colombia. Its aboriginal
inhabitants--Indians of a very low order--were, so the legendary history
runs, subjugated early in the Christian Era by a superior race named the
Caras, who in their turn were reduced to subjection by those aristocrats
of South America, the Incas of Peru. Ecuador was part of the disputed
territory which led to the sanguinary struggle between Atahualpa and his
brother Huascar, a struggle which gave Pizarro his opportunity of
conquering Peru. The conquistadores enslaved the Indians of Ecuador, and
found them more docile and complacent than those of any of the allied
tribes in South America. The Roman Catholic priesthood established
churches, schools, and seminaries, scattering these institutions about
with such a lavish hand that Quito, the capital, has been aptly called
“The City of Convents.” The natives accepted the Spanish yoke, and
toiled as hard as they were obliged to satisfy the exactions of the
alien governors. They were among the very last to feel the revolutionary
impulses which were born when the power of Spain was broken, and it was
not until the Argentine General San Martin, and after him Bolivar, had
kindled the torch of liberty, that Ecuador made any attempt to break
away from its old allegiance. It was too near to many other insurgent
areas to stand aloof from the movement, and it has the distinction of
being the second South American republic whose independence was formerly
recognised by Spain. Its history since then has been turbulent, but few
of the men who have been thrown up by the seething mass of successive
revolutions have been of outstanding calibre. The bulk of them have been
self-seekers, degraded of character and mean of intellect. Advancement
has striven with reaction, and the victory has generally been to the
latter, with the result that Ecuador is the worst governed and most
backward of all the South American countries. Of course, a few men stand
out as having something approaching statesmanlike qualities. It would be
strange if it
[Illustration: A DWELLING BY A RIVER-SIDE, ECUADOR.]
were otherwise, for nearly a hundred years have passed since Ecuador was
left to work out its own salvation. On the liberal side, Rocafuerte, the
first President, has some claims to be remembered, for he did much to
establish the constitution by which the country is governed, and to
found institutions modelled on those existing in more enlightened
countries. Moreno, who seized the supreme power in 1860 and held it for
fifteen years, is the greatest figure on the reactionary side. Although
he had little or no conception of individual liberty, he proved himself
a capable administrator, and since his assassination at the instigation
of the revolting liberals, Ecuador has not produced the article which
she so badly requires, “the still strong man in a blatant land.” It is
the case of an unceasing see-saw between the contending parties or
factions, but always the liberal regime is short-lived, for the
reactionaries or clericals have a strong hold upon the people. At the
moment reaction reigns supreme, and the events of January, 1912, tidings
of which have leaked out from Quito and Guayaquil by way of the Madrid
journals, reveal an exhibition of savagery which is almost incredible.
The Generals, Alfano and Montero, who headed the latest liberal revolt,
were hopelessly defeated by the Government forces, and then the
authorities set about devising fitting punishments for them. We read
that Montero, the President of the dissolved revolutionary Junta, was
dragged out of prison and taken to a public street. A huge fire, already
lit, awaited him, and the General was flung into it despite his
desperate resistance and cries of horror. When he was already half burnt
alive, he was fished out of the fire and flung into a vat of water to
cool. He was again dragged forth and thrown back into the fire, and
before the end came his martyrdom had lasted an hour. This was at
Guayaquil. At Quito, the capital, hidden away on the slopes of a
volcanic mountain, 200 miles from the sea-board, even worse horrors were
perpetrated. The favourite torture was cutting out the victims’ tongues
and then taunting them to make a speech. The newspaper correspondents,
even those representing the Ecuadorian Government journals, confessed
themselves horrified at the barbarities they had to witness. One of them
remarked, “If the events which we were condemned to witness yesterday
happened once in twenty or once in ten years, we should feel compelled
to emigrate from this country.” These well-nigh incredible happenings
occurred in January, 1912, and are not a lurid excerpt from a page of
the history of the Dark Ages. The only hope for Ecuador’s salvation lies
in its proximity to Panama. If the United States in 1898 put an end to
Spanish misgovernment in Cuba on the pretext that they could not allow
butcheries to go on at their door, there is all the stronger reason that
a vigilant eye should be kept on affairs in Ecuador, which lies so close
to the great highway, in itself a symbol of modern civilisation, and all
that it entails in the way of order, justice, and good government.