HONDURAS. 



397 



n brunch monopolized by tho Ciovcrtun. nt. 

 Then tli>- . -\|., n.lituro, at all times greatly in 

 tg of tlio income, was coiiMilcraMy en- 

 hanced l<y tin- wars, and tin.' deficit cnn only 

 U- ma.!.- ;,|- l.v oppressive extraordinary taxa- 

 tion; for Honduras \\ith rc8OUrc68 BUtlici.-iit, 



if adequately developed, to swell tho revenue 

 to many time its hitherto usual standard, is 



led in Kuropo as being almost hopelessly 

 insolvent, and can no longer, or at least until 



iall ha\e retrie\cd her lost reputation, 

 report to her time-honored remedy of borrow- 

 ing. 



For the present state of the national debt wo 

 cannot do better than refer to the ANNUAL 



i-.miA for 1878, page 852, since which 



time no further payments have been made on 

 art-mint of either th tor.-ign or tho home debt, 

 of tlio homo del't nothing precise in known, 

 nor has any report thereon been published by 

 tho finance department for a considerable num- 

 ber of years. 



It was stated in a British publication that 

 tho holders of the 6 per cent, claims to be re- 

 deemed out of the custom-house receipts of the 

 port of Amapala were unable to obtain any 

 satisfaction either from Senor Gutierrez, ex- 

 1'resident Medina's old financial agent, and 

 now minister of Honduras at London, or from 

 Dr. Bernhard himself. 



After the foregoing statement, it would seem 

 almost superfluous to add that the name of this 





republic appeared in the same list with those 

 of the other defaulting countries published in 

 London in the course of the year. It was then 

 marked as in default, in the sum of 4,972,000 

 since April 1, 1874. 



As for the railway, which at first served as 

 the ostensible motive for the loans of 1867, 

 1868, and 1870, nothing further has been done; 

 the 56 miles opened in 1872 still represent the 

 only finished portion of the line ; and it is said 

 that the sections yet to be completed will re- 

 quire an outlay of $8,000,000. 



The political state of the republic is one of 

 uninterrupted peace, and, strange as this may 

 appear, has been so since last August. Sefior 

 Ponciano's administration is becoming daily 

 more popular ; and in the neighboring repub- 

 lics, even those who have heretofore been 



known as the systematic detractors of every 

 administration in Honduras, predict therefrom 

 the consolidation of peace at no far-distant day 

 in this the most ill-fated of the Spanish-Ameri- 

 can states, not even excepting Mexico. Sefior 

 Leiva, as mentioned in the volume for 1873, 

 having placed himself at the head of a revo- 

 lutionary movement for the avowed object 

 of superseding Sefior Arins, was proclaimed 

 President at Choluteca, on December 16, 1878 ; 

 and, thanks to the united aid of Guatemala and 

 San Salvador, the very powers who had but 

 some months before been instrumental in de- 

 posing Medina and setting up Arias in his stead, 

 succeeded in taking the capital and gaining pos- 

 session of the whole country by February, 1874. 

 Seflor Leiva's proclamation was issued in 

 November, 1873, and it sets forth some of the 



