NICARAGUA, AND AMERICAN “CO-OPERATION”
The morning after we sailed from Amapala in Honduras our steamer stopped
at Corinto, the chief Pacific port of Nicaragua. A railroad runs from
there to Managua, the capital, and beyond, touching the principal towns.
Except for some private tracks, it is the only railway in Nicaragua; yet
it is barely 175 miles long—a very small mileage, considering the
country’s size. Nicaragua’s area of nearly 50,000 square miles makes it
the largest country in Central America, though Guatemala really has more
land. Including its two big lakes, Nicaragua is about as large as the
state of New York. It extends from ocean to ocean, but most of its
650,000 people live in the western third of the country, which is higher
and more healthful. The central cordillera, or main mountain range,
between four and five thousand feet high, is only twelve to thirty miles
from the Pacific. As most of the country, east of this, is low,
unpleasant, and unhealthful, all the cities and big towns are on the
Pacific slope.
The railroad goes inland a short distance, then turns south. It skirts
the mountains, including smoking Momotombo. In this region are frequent
eruptions. Thirty miles from Corinto the train reaches León, formerly
the capital, then crawls on southward to Managua, the present capital,
on the southern shore of Lake Managua.
[Illustration:
Corinto, the principal Pacific port of Nicaragua.
]
León and Granada both wanted to be the capital. The dispute was settled
by giving the honor to neither, but to Managua. This city, unimportant
then, now has 40,000 inhabitants. It is not a pleasant place. For one
thing, it is only 140 feet above sea level, which is far too low in a
tropical country. Despite occasional breezes from the lake front, it
swelters in heat nearly all the time. Like Corinto and León, it is a
city of sand. A barren expanse of desert faces the old cathedral.
Vegetation sprouts from a fallen spire. Dust covers the grassless
central _plaza_; it is two inches deep in the main avenues; it settles
on the low roofs and seeps in everywhere.
[Illustration:
Panama Mail Steamship Co., San Francisco
This large and well-built school is in the city of Managua, Nicaragua.
]
There is no water fit to drink. When the Spaniards established
themselves in America they were usually careful to build their capitals
up in the mountains. But they did not bother so much about water. In
those days most of Europe thought bathing unhealthful, and as the people
drank wine to quench thirst, water was needed only for cooking and for
the horses. Nearly all the old Spanish capitals still have a very poor
water supply.
It is not strange that Nicaragua, being low and hot, with the least
invigorating climate in Central America, is one of the most backward
countries south of the United States. Nearly all of its people have the
hookworm disease, which makes them feel tired all the time. A big
American charitable foundation has been fighting this disease throughout
Central America; but it will probably remain as long as the people go
barefoot, for the parasites that cause it work their way in through the
skin.
Recreations of the People
However, there are some energetic Nicaraguans in the cities. Managua has
taken up baseball and even boxing—though that sport has long been
opposed in Latin-America as a brutal amusement of the barbaric
“gringos”! The aristocrats of Central America are very fond of
theatrical entertainments, and there is a national theater in nearly
every capital. But as the expense of bringing actors from Europe is
high, performances are rare in such little places as Managua, even
though the government helps to pay for them. Those who want amusement
usually fall back on the evening concerts in the _plaza_.
It may seem queer to speak of the composition of verses as a favorite
“indoor sport,” but that is just what it is among the educated young
men. In Spanish-America nearly everyone who knows how to write tries to
be a poet. The newspapers print many amateur poems, but do not pay for
them. However, the authors consider the honor of appearing in print
before all their friends sufficient reward. Occasionally a real poet is
discovered among the crowd, like one pearl in a ton of oysters.
Nicaragua gave to the world Rubén Darío, considered by some critics the
greatest modern poet writing in the Spanish language.
[Illustration:
Panama Mail Steamship Co., San Francisco
Loading coffee at a plantation in Nicaragua.
]
This country, with all its handicaps, has many natural advantages—good
rivers and thick forests, minerals in the ranges, and a large amount of
land suitable for cultivation. Men who should know say that it could
develop wealth greater than that of any other Central American country.
It has almost all tropical products. Mahogany, rosewood, logwood,
sandalwood, and other valuable hardwoods grow in its forests, in which
gums, dyes, and medicinal products also are found. The rich soil of the
western cultivated region grows splendid maize. Coffee, sugar and
bananas are produced. In the little-cultivated eastern and central parts
of the country, there are many herds. But the Nicaraguans do not make
the most of their opportunities. Their country is almost as undeveloped
as Honduras, and its exports and imports are less than those of the much
smaller Salvador.
[Illustration:
Panama Mail Steamship Co., San Francisco
A glimpse of Lake Nicaragua, famous in the history of attempts to open
a passageway between the Atlantic and the Pacific.
]
The Nicaraguan Canal Question
Lake Nicaragua, which bears an important relation to the history of the
country, is the largest body of fresh water between our Great Lakes and
Lake Titicaca in the Andes. It is 115 miles long and 45 miles
wide—almost as large as all Salvador. A little north of this lake and
twenty-five feet higher is Lake Managua, thirty-five by twenty miles in
extent. When gold was discovered in California, many Americans went
there by way of Nicaragua, before the Panama Railroad was built.
Commodore Vanderbilt ran steamers across Lake Nicaragua to a low place
in the mountains and he had stagecoaches carry the prospectors from
there to the coast, where they embarked for California. Many of them saw
gold in the rivers, and on their return from California some stayed in
Nicaragua. Thus Americans came to control the mines in that country, as
they do in other parts of Central America and in Mexico.
[Illustration:
Map showing proposed Nicaragua Canal route, with opening cut between
Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific. The San Juan River connects Lake
Nicaragua with the Caribbean Sea (Atlantic Ocean).
]
For a long time Nicaragua was considered a better location than Panama
for a canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Lake Nicaragua is only
110 feet above sea level, and drains into the Caribbean through the San
Juan River. Moreover, the cordillera, between Lake Nicaragua and the
Pacific, is quite low. Dredging the San Juan River would allow ocean
vessels to come up to the lake, and from there a canal could be dug to
the Pacific, only eleven miles away.
The possibility of a Nicaraguan canal was discussed in the United States
Congress as early as 1826, and Henry Clay was sent to investigate. The
principal disadvantage of a canal in that location would be the long
distance between the two oceans. Much dredging would be required, for
most of the San Juan River is so shallow that only small launches can
navigate it. Yet if ever traffic outgrows the Panama Canal, which is
quite possible, Nicaragua will furnish another steamer road between the
Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1916 the United States paid Nicaragua
$3,000,000 for an option of ninety-nine years on this canal route. This
gives us first rights there until the year 2015. As a matter of fact,
the $3,000,000 never left New York. It was paid to the bankers who had
loaned money to Nicaragua.
An Interesting History
The history of Nicaragua is especially interesting to us, because the
United States Government and individual Americans have had so large a
part in it. Like the countries north of it, Nicaragua was once a center
of Indian civilization. There are stone sculptures and ruins of an early
civilized race, and remains of ancient Indian dialects. Columbus sailed
along the Mosquito Coast in 1502; Granada was founded in 1524. During
the three centuries of Spanish rule Nicaragua was part of the one
Central American colony, with its capital at Guatemala City. Two years
after it became independent in 1821, Nicaragua joined the Federation of
Central America, which lasted for sixteen years. Then came civil war,
followed by war not only with Honduras and Costa Rica but with England.
The English claimed all the Mosquito Coast, but gave up their claim,
except to Belize, in 1860. Since then there has been the usual Central
American story of one dictator after another, with not very many
presidents getting their office legally. From 1893 to 1909 Nicaragua was
ruled by José Zelaya, a dictator much like Diaz of Mexico. He began
well, but soon became a great tyrant. Because the illiterate peons, who
made up so large a part of the population, took no interest in political
matters, he could run the country much as he pleased. Zelaya helped
Nicaragua to make some progress, but he took away from the people what
little political self-confidence they had gained.
Our Relations with Nicaragua
Americans as individuals had already been much interested in Nicaraguan
affairs before official United States “co-operation” began in 1909. As
in Mexico, large investments had been made by American capitalists.
Zelaya had been having himself re-elected over a period of seventeen
years when a revolution was started by General Juan Estrada at
Bluefields, an isolated port on the Caribbean. Zelaya incurred the
displeasure of the United States, through the execution of two
Americans, and he was finally forced to resign and flee to Mexico.
American Marines were landed at Bluefields to protect our interests.
In 1910 Estrada was elected president by the Nicaraguan Congress and his
government was recognized by the United States; but he resigned after a
few months. In 1912, when Adolfo Diaz was president, another revolution
broke out, and again American forces were landed. As a result, Diaz’
position was strengthened. Thereafter a “legation guard” of a hundred
Marines was retained at Managua for a number of years. By keeping
political conditions stable under several administrations, the presence
of these troops was of benefit to American bankers and others whose
money was being used to develop the country’s resources. After the
withdrawal of United States troops in 1925, political unrest and
intrigue again appeared. In 1926 when, after an interval, Diaz had again
taken office as president, his election was contested by a former vice
president, Juan B. Sacasa. Diaz, recognized by the United States and
other leading nations, asked for American aid. Again Marines were landed
to help preserve order.
[Illustration:
Panama Mail S. S. Co., San Francisco
Loading coffee at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. It has to be carried
out from shore in a lighter and then transferred to the ocean-going
vessel.
]
Some European and American newspapers, and some of our members of
Congress and public speakers, criticize the United States Department of
State for its Nicaraguan policy, speaking of it as unjustified
“intervention” rather than beneficent “co-operation.” The policy is not
popular, either, with all the people of Nicaragua. The wisdom of doing
as we have is too debatable to go into here. I have given an outline of
the facts because our policy has been affected not only by the need to
protect American lives and property, but also by the possibility that
some day the United States may wish to take up its option on the
Nicaragua route for a new canal.
The Results of “Co-operation”
Unsettled conditions led American bankers to take charge of the huge
Nicaraguan national debt, and to arrange to manage the railroad. They
came, in time, to control nearly everything of value in the republic. It
is undoubtedly true that Nicaragua made some progress under American
supervision, but not much is visible to the hurried visitor. Managua is
in no better repair now than when the Marines first came; most of the
cities and towns are more dilapidated than those of Honduras. But the
national debt was reduced from $32,000,000 to $9,000,000, and the
_córdoba_, or Nicaraguan dollar, was brought up to the same value as our
dollar.
In the old days anyone who thought he was important expected at least a
pass on the railroad, and if he was very influential he expected a
private car. The car would be attached to a regular passenger train, and
this train would have to stop and wait several hours while the
private-car man paid visits along the line. This was all changed under
American “co-operation.” The railroad began to run on a schedule and to
pay a profit. The Nicaraguan Government proceeded to buy back control of
both the railroad and the national bank.
The Adventurous William Walker
It would be too bad to leave Nicaragua without telling the story of
William Walker. That most notorious filibuster in Central American
history was born in Tennessee. In his youth he studied medicine in
Edinburgh and Heidelberg. Later he worked for newspapers in New Orleans
and San Francisco. Public attention was first attracted to him in 1853
when he attempted to conquer the state of Sonora, just across the
Border, and was nearly killed by Mexicans.
Believing that some day the North would force the abolition of slavery
in the United States, Walker decided he would establish a slave monarchy
in Nicaragua. When the two political parties of Nicaragua, the
aristocrats and the democrats, were fighting tooth and nail in 1855,
this American adventurer landed with fifty-eight blue-shirted men who,
though carrying few weapons, soon captured Granada. Walker had himself
appointed secretary of war and commander-in-chief of the Nicaraguan
army. By the end of the year he had induced the United States Government
to recognize his puppet president. Not long afterward, accusing this
president of conspiracy, Walker ordered him shot and declared himself
president. Then he fought a war with Costa Rica, and proclaimed English
the official language. Nicaragua did not allow slavery, but Walker had
the anti-slavery clause in its constitution annulled, and offered
American slave owners a land of refuge.
However, his rule led to an insurrection. He had taken Commodore
Vanderbilt’s steamers on the Nicaraguan lakes and sold them to another
American capitalist. By way of reprisal, Vanderbilt loaned money to
Walker’s enemies and helped to get him defeated. Walker surrendered to
the commander of an American naval vessel and was taken back to New
Orleans. From there he went on a lecture tour!
Always restless and ambitious, he returned to Nicaragua in 1857 with a
following of American adventurers. The Nicaraguans drove him out, and he
turned his attention to Honduras. On his first attempt to invade that
country he was shipwrecked. Later he took the city of Trujillo, but he
could not hold it. In time he was captured by a British warship, handed
over to the Honduras Government, courtmartialed, and shot.
[Illustration:
United Fruit Company
Old Spanish church in Trujillo, the Honduras coast city once captured
by William Walker.
]