THE COUXTRIES OF THE CARIBBEAN 



233 



GUATEMALA 



A trip through the countries of the 

 Caribbean is a trip of remarkable con- 

 trasts. In some ways Guatemala is the 

 most interesting of them all. Guatemala 

 contains a larger proportion of pure- 

 blooded Indians than any other of the 

 republics. 



In northern Guatemala one sees many 

 tribes of Indians who have never felt 

 the rude touch of an outside civilization. 

 They are not even acquainted with Span- 

 ish, and still speak the uncorrupted 

 tongues of their Aztec and Alayan an- 

 cestors who ruled the country before 

 Columbus discovered America. They are 

 an honest and cleanly race. They will 

 not tolerate loose women among them, 

 and in their transactions with outsiders 

 their word is as good as old wheat in a 

 granary. 



A little illustration of this it was my 

 good fortune to see when I was in Guate- 

 mala City with Secretary Knox. Indians 

 from every part of the republic were 

 compelled lO go to the capital and par- 

 ticipate in the big parade. \Miile calling 

 on Consul General Bucklin, a ]\Irs. Owen, 

 who has spent 30 years among them, 

 brought in two typical San Cristobal In- 

 dian girls to be photographed. One of 

 them had a very unique set of native- 

 wrought silver ear-rings, which I bought 

 from her, and also a silver ring sur- 

 mounted with a little spread-winged dove. 

 Then she had another ring which I 

 thought was a hand-carved gold one. 

 She replied that she would not sell it, 

 since it was not gold. Mrs. Owen as- 

 sured me that she has never known one 

 of them to misrepresent anything in 

 order to efifect a .sale. 



Yet it is these splendid types of people 

 who become slaves to the Guatemalan 

 cofifee planters and are forced to work 

 their lives away trying to pay their debts 

 on a wage of less than nine cents a day. 



WHAT AN AMKRICAX CORPOR.\TIOX DOKS 

 FOR Tllli; INDIANS 



It is in Guatemala that one begins 

 ])roperly to appreciate the great civilizing 

 influence of a much-maligned .American 

 corj^oration — the l^iited h'ruit Com])any. 

 That corporation has many thousands of 



acres of banana plantations along the 

 lowlands of the Motagua River and ex- 

 tending to the Caribbean Sea. It pays 

 its laborers a dollar in gold a day, eleven 

 times as much as the laws of Guatemala 

 say shall constitute a day's wage. One 

 readily can imagine what a boon this is 

 to poor Indians who have formerly been 

 paid only nine cents. Yet the United 

 Fruit Company voluntarily pays this 

 wage, and is able to give work to every 

 Guatemalan Indian who applies for a job. 

 It is the advent of such organizations 

 as these — powerful enough to protect 

 their own interests when disputes with 

 the local governments arise — that spells 

 the economic salvation of these countries 

 and promises an honest w^age to the la- 

 boring classes. I hold no brief for the 

 United Fruit Company, but it must be 

 said that that great corporation has done 

 more for Central America than all other 

 agencies combined. 



HONDURAS IS VERY UNFORTUNATE 



Honduras is in a very bad way from 

 whatever standpoint one views it. It has 

 a smaller population now than it had a 

 half century ago, and it has gone to 

 wreck and ruin to such an extent that 

 nothing but outside help can ever lift it 

 again to a plane where growth and de- 

 velopment are possible. And yet it is 

 rich in natural resources almost beyond 

 imagination. 



With vast deposits of minerals of all 

 kinds ; with untold thousands of acres of 

 the finest tropical fruit and vegetable 

 lands in the world, and with vast areas 

 of magnificent grazing and cofifee lands. 

 Honduras is at our very doors. It is 700 

 miles nearer to Chicago than that city is 

 to San Francisco ; it is closer to Wash- 

 ington than Denver is ; it is farther from 

 New Orleans to Chicago than it is from 

 Puerto Barrios and Livingston to New 

 Orleans. A stable government for Hon- 

 duras, and it must become a kingdom of 

 plenty instead of a principalitv of pov- 

 erty !' 



A KINGDOM OF PLENTY 



Across the border is prosperous little 

 Salvador. It is as dififerent from Hon- 

 duras as night is from day. It has a 

 population so dense that if ours were of 



