306 
GUATEMALA. 
them for duties at par. By this and similar practices, 
which I do not think it best to describe, large mercantile 
establishments derive great profit at the expense of the 
revenues. 
To meet the needs of commerce there are but three 
banks; two, “ El Banco Internacional ” and “ El Banco 
Columbiano,” are in the City of Guatemala, while the 
third is in Quezaltenango. These have between them a 
capital of perhaps $5,000,000, and they do the business of 
banks of circulation, deposit, and exchange. The usual 
rate on deposits subject to sight drafts is three per cent 
per annum, and on current accounts and discounts twelve 
per cent; while they pay their stockholders from twelve 
per cent to twenty per cent in dividends. The Banco In¬ 
ternacional has called in but seventy per cent of its capital 
stock. These banks date only from 1875, and their notes 
are hardly current outside the larger cities. Many of the 
principal mercantile houses do a larger banking business, 
and hold extensive private deposits. 
Of large corporations Guatemala has but few. That 
of the Piers (Compania de los Muelles de San Jose y 
Champerico) has a capital of $250,000; its profits are 
said to be immense, as it holds the monopoly of all the 
landing facilities on the Pacific coast. The railroads 
between Guatemala and San Jose, and between Cham¬ 
perico and Retalhuleu, are capitalized at about $5,000,000. 
The proposed railroad from Puerto Barrios (Santo Tomas) 
to the capital, at present mostly owned by natives, will, 
it is supposed, cost from twelve to fifteen millions. The 
street railway in Guatemala has a capital of $200,000. 
The Government owns the entire telegraphic system of 
the republic, and all the towns of any importance are con- 
