I0 6 2 THE LATIN-AMERICAN REPUBLICS 



The Ho-Nam Railway has a length of 175.8 miles; and the Seoul-Wonsan line, 136.3 miles, 

 is being extended by a length of about 20 miles. . 



Formosa. 1 In the chief industry of this island, namely, agriculture, the following were 

 the yields of products in 1910 (ooo omitted): Rice 20,769.9 bushels, Tea 36,708.0 Ibs., 

 Sugar 444,642.9 Ibs., Salt 265,251.8 Ibs., Cane sugar 5,762,394.5 Ibs., Sweet Potatoes 

 1,712,886.4 Ibs., Indigo 42,580.8 Ibs. Of the mineral products coal was the chief, the output 

 for 1910 amounting to 275,800 tons. Sulphur, camphor, gold and silver are also mined. 

 The value of imports and exports was as follows (ooo omitted): (1910) exports 1,198.6, 

 imports 1,985.2; (1911) exports 1,217.5, imports i,955-5- 



Saghalien. 2 ^The chief industry of this island is, fishing, for salmon and trout. The 

 manufacture of herring oil-cake is also carried on. Agricultural industries have been en- 

 couraged since 1906, and at the end of 1911, 1,737 families had settled on the land and every 

 encouragement was being given for the production of cereals and for stock-raising. During 

 the last few years Saghalien has been proved to possess good indications in regard to oil 

 deposits, and prospecting and development work has been carried out. 



(SYDNEY H. NORTH.) 



LATIN REPUBLICS OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA 



General Survey. 



The 42oth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus (October 12, 1492) 

 occurred in 1912. The remarkable transformation in both the political, commercial 

 and social conditions of the twenty different American Republics, lying to 

 ^Y^ s tne South of the United States, and known geographically as " Latin- 

 Am erica. America," which began with the struggle for independence early in the 

 1 9th century, is, however, a matter of quite modern development; and 

 year by year, particularly in the case of the more important South American countries, 

 national progress now becomes more and more marked. Since 1909, on the whole, 

 the rate has been well maintained. The improvement has not alone been noticeable 

 in those States which possess the largest extent of territory: it is, perhaps, the smaller 

 and less-important countries which have shown the more remarkable advance. In the 

 case of Argentina, Brazil and Chile, a stage had already been reached several years ago, 

 in commercial expansion and social development, which makes at least a further normal 

 progress each year more or less a matter of course. But, while Mexico, with its 767,000 

 square miles of territory and its population of nearly 14,000,000, has lately retrogressed 

 owing to a continuous state of revolution which began in November 1910, it is interesting 

 to note that the Republic of El Salvador, with but little over 9,600 square miles of superfi- 

 cial area and 1,200,000 inhabitants, has shown improvement in each department of its 

 administration, while it has remained commendably free from such disturbing influences 

 as have affected other neighbouring States, notably Nicaragua, Honduras and Cuba. 



The year 1912 proved politically trying for some States and financially perilous for 

 others. Nicaragua has been in a continual state of revolution since 1909 when the 

 disturbances in the internal affairs of that country provoked interference by the United 

 States. Honduras has been likewise affected by the affairs of her neighbour; while Para- 

 guay has violently changed her Government four times after as many revolutions within 

 two years. Santo Domingo and Haiti have continued their perpetual internal and ex- 

 ternal quarrels, while Ecuador has experienced serious and sanguinary fraternal encoun- 

 ters, resulting in the deaths of several pf her prominent politicians. Mexico has known 

 no political peace since the displacement of General Porfirio Diaz in 1910, after a quarter 

 of a century's faithful public service. Argentina, Brazil and Chile have suffered and 

 arc still experiencing financial tension, due to a propensity for large expenditure, which 

 is a natural consequence of the rapid exploitation of their natural resources. Nothing 

 like a financial crisis can be said to have occurred to any one of these latter States, but 

 the serious attention of their respective Ministers of Finance has been devoted to 

 curtailing disbursements, in order to avoid injury to the national credit. The somewhat 

 cool reception which the investing public in Europe has offered to several recent govern- 

 ment-supported loans in Brazil especially shows that the notice of lenders abroad 

 has been attracted to the danger of extravagance. 



1 See E. B. \, 669 ft scq. * See E. B. xxiv, 54. 



