COMPARISON OF CERTAIN WORDS IN THE MAYA DIALECTS.
| Man. | Woman. | Father. | Mother. | Water. | Blood. | Day. | Night. | Good. | Bad. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huasteca | iník | uxúm | pailóm pap | mim | ja | xljtz | kl, aquichá | akál | alvuá | atáx |
| Maya | xib, xiblál | ch’uplál | yum | na | jaá | qu’i’c | k’in | ak’áb | utz | kas, loób |
| Chontal | vuiník | ixík | pap | naá | jaá | ch’i’ch | k’in | ak’ób | utz’án | ? |
| Tzental | vuiník | antz | tat | nan | jaá | ch’ii’ch | k’in | ajk’abál | lek | ma lek uc |
| Tzotzil | vuiník | antz | tot | me | joó | ch’i’ch | k’ak’ál | ak’ubál | lek | ma lek uc |
| Chañabal | vuiník | ixúk | tat | nan | ja | chic | k’agú | ak’uál | lek | mi lek |
| Chol | vuiník | ixík | tiát | niá | jaá | ch’i’ch | k’in | ak’ualél | utz’át | bibí |
| Quekchi | vuínk | ixk | yuvuá | na | ja | qu’iqu’él | cután | k’ojyí | us | ma us |
| Pokomchi | vinák | ixók | ajáu | tut | jotíc, jab | qu’iqu’él | k’ij | chak’áb | atób | ma atób tá |
| Pokomam | vinák | ixk’ón | tat | nan, tut | ja | qu’i’c | k’ij | chak’ám | quiró | ixc’á |
| Cakchiquel | achí, vinák | ixók | tatá | té, nan | ya | qu’iqu’él | k’ij | ak’á | utz | itzél |
| Quiché | vinák | ixók | tat | nan, chuch | ja, jorón | qu’i’c | k’ij | ak’áb | utz | itzél |
| Uspanteca | vinák | ixók | aj | xchuch | ja | qu’i’c | k’ij | ak’áb | tzi | étzel |
| Ixil | ná | ixó | bal | chuch | a | cajál | k’ij | a’kbál | ban | ycbanáx |
| Aguacateca | yáje, yaátz | xnan | ta | chu | a | chich | k’e | a’kbál | ban | yab |
| Mam | ca, íchang | ching, xuj | mán | chúy | a | chi’c | ? | ? | ban | ? |
The Lacandones, those unconquered Indios of the Usumacinta, speak a dialect cognate with that spoken in Yucatan, Campeche, and the sacred island Cozumel; and what gives additional interest to the Maya language is the fact that all the inscribed monuments of Tikal, Copan, Quirigua, and Usumacinta belong to this race, and if interpreted, this is probably the key.
The Quekchi language (6) is spoken by the Indios of Coban Cahabon, Senajú, and adjoining parts of Alta Verapaz, while close at hand (San Cristobal, Tactic, Tucurú, La Tinta, and Teleman) we have the Poconchi form. Externally both tribes are alike, although the Quekchis perhaps dress rather better.
CARIB PLAITING A PETACA.
The extant literature of the Quichés has been freely consulted in the preparation of this chapter. Would my readers like to see what the original language of the “Popul Vuh” is like?
| Are u xe oher tzih varal Quichbe u bi. | This is the beginning of the story of those who were formerly in the land that is called Quiché. |
| Varal xchekatzibah, xchikatiqiba vi oher tzih, u tiqaribal, u xenabal puch ronohel xban pa ’tinamit Quiche, r’amag Quiche vinak. | There begins and commences the knowledge of the earlier time, the origin and beginning of all done in the Quiché state in the home of Quiché men. |
Uspantán has a little dialect all to itself (4). Of the Cakchiquel language we have a most interesting remnant in the “Cakchiquel Manuscript,” next in importance to the “Popul Vuh.” In it the account of the creation is copied, as was natural, from the Quiché narrative; but the main portion of the work is a history of the revolution which led to the departure from Utatlan and the occupation of Iximché, and also of the advent of the Spaniards and the subsequent events until the establishment of Christianity as the State religion. The author was the grandson of the king who died of the pest in 1519; and his story goes to the year 1582, when another member of the same family continues it to 1597.
The Tzutohiles (10), who, it will be remembered, were a fighting tribe on the shores of the Lago de Atitlan, are still of the same spirit; and when Mr. Maudslay attempted to photograph them, the women shook their fists in his face. The unwillingness to be photographed I also found among the Quiché women (old ones) of Sacapulas; but a word from the comandante subdued their opposition.
The Ixils (1) dwell in the Sierras west of Coban, and the Mames (2) are found at San Marcos, Chiantla, and Huehuetenango, all westward to Soconusco and south to Ocós. The Aguacateca (3) occupies a small space north of Utatlan, and the vocabulary given by Stoll differs entirely from that of Dr. Berendt’s already quoted. Chorti (16) is spoken at Chiquimula and Zacapa, and in the opinion of some is the language of the sculptors of the glyphs at Copan. Sinca (13) and Alaguilac (17) are almost unknown, and Stoll cannot classify them.
Mozos de Cargo, Quichó.
The personality of these tribes is wholly absent from Dr. Stoll’s learned treatise; and my own knowledge of their appearance and way of thought is too limited to lead me to venture to fill the void. I have noticed what every one else speaks of,—the sober bearing of the Guatemaltecan Indios; but I have often seen the face of my mozo de cargo brighten as I greeted him, and I have been even led to think that his mourning expression is worn much as civilized ladies wear their black,—to save themselves trouble. It is laid aside in the family, or with a friend they can trust. Many of the men are well formed, although small, and their faces are often very attractive. I believe them to be neater in their persons and garb than the ladino population.
Carved stone Seat (Museo Nacional).
CHAPTER X.
THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA.
Arms of Guatemala.
For almost three centuries Spain governed Central America (1524-1821) by the Audiencia Real. Every act of oppression that could be exercised upon the Indios was invented by the foreign rulers, and the native population was greatly reduced by this mismanagement; but such a course always reacts most terribly upon the perpetrators. The thirst for wealth that brought the foreigners to these shores pursued them still, and the brave resistance to wrongs unlimited, that the Spaniards themselves chronicle, does not seem to have awakened that respect in the bosoms of the Conquistadores that it now rouses in the heart of every generous student of the past. The Indios were lawful prey, it was “spoiling the Egyptians;” and although Las Casas and some of the missionaries tried faithfully to protect their flock, and although the King of Spain made decrees, the powers of evil seemed to have their own way in this distant colony. We cannot but admire the undoubted courage and indifference to personal hardship exhibited by the Conquistadores; but that must not blind us to the fact that they were little better than freebooters in their treatment of the American nations they subdued, and that their policy, so far as they had any, was of the most selfish and narrow kind. Jealousy of other nations, especially of England, who was now beginning to try her hand in ruling the sea, although in a rather irregular way, led to the establishment of all the important cities in the mountain region of the interior, where they might well escape the notice of other nations. The natural walls that Nature had provided were made very useful to their utmost extent; the ports were but conveniences to help the invaders to supplies from the mother-country and afford a necessary means for the exportation of their ill-gotten gains, and general commerce was discouraged in every way. The buccaneers helped to discourage the growth of ports, but the Home Government did quite as much in this direction. The atrocious system of encomiendas, by which the native population was reduced to an almost hopeless slavery, was permitted, if not encouraged, by the Church, and no attempt was ever made to develop the country on a basis of improvement in the Indian population; and the animal, vegetable, and mineral wealth of Guatemala were treated much in the same way,—a prey for the present robber. The Indios were all subdued, except the Lacandones far on the northern frontier, who were too poor to pay for subjugation; and the iniquitous policy of selfishness began to bear fruit. Unlimited power and immunity in the hands of the clergy begot intolerance. The shepherds became the wolves, and not only devoured their own flocks, but the entire country as well. Monopolies, corruption, oppression grew like true tropical vegetation, until the air became too close for healthful life; and then came the fermentation. Uprisings of the Indios had occurred before the death of Alvarado (1541),—for example, the brave attempt of the Cacique Lempira in Honduras; but these rebellions were all crushed by the iron hand of the Adelantado and by his generals. Now came the low murmur of a rising tempest over the land, and the winds were blowing from a different quarter of the heavens. Now the ruling caste was uneasy, and it was about to reap the inevitable harvest of the wind it had sowed.
Not in the province of Guatemala, not at the seat of the Audiencia Real, but on that disturbed strip of land along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and San Salvador, where earthquakes are on the most terrific scale, and volcanic vents bristle threateningly, appeared the first forcible remonstrances against this aged and encrusted tyranny. In 1811 there were risings, little pronunciamentos; but there was no combination to insure success. The false system of government taught a distrust of others; selfishness permeated individual character as well as the nation at large; and no man could put confidence in his neighbor. No leader appeared to unite the discordant elements, the evolution of a free state was very slow, and at last was as much owing to the supineness of Spain as to any forceful act on the part of the provinces. We have here no war of freedom, no Washington, no Bolivar. Sporadic murmurs were heard now and again; they came to the ears of the people and set a few men to thinking; the number of these thinkers grew, until in 1821 the then representative of Spain, Gavino Gainza, joined the rebels,—much as a disappointed politician of the present day leaves his party for the camp of its opponents,—and independence was solemnly proclaimed, September 15, in Guatemala. Spain seems to have acquiesced in an act which deprived her of her fair American colonies; but it may be supposed that her mismanagement had left little value in the possession.
Three centuries of abasement had been a most inopportune school for the freedom of a republic, and one cannot be surprised that the change was no easy one, or that the results have not, even after two generations, been all that the patriots among these first rebels may have wished. Subjectively, “Be thou fed” is very easy; but objectively the result seldom meets the command. Slavery was abolished forty years before the great Republic of the North dared to do that right; but this eminently proper step was very embarrassing, for not only were there no means left for the forced repair of roads, bridges, and other means of intercourse, that in a tropical country need constant vigilance, but the commerce between town and town fell off, and the little traffic that had led a struggling existence for some years with Spain and other European countries now died out entirely, and the revenues of the State were affected with an atrophy that crippled every attempt of the Government to improve the internal communications of the country. The clergy, who had perhaps made the freest use of forced labor, in covering the land with elaborate churches and convents that all the revenues of the Government of the present day could hardly keep in repair, felt aggrieved and uneasy. All was in transition, and there were few wise men to guide the counsels. The stream was turbulent, and not easily kept within its proper channel. Is it wonderful that round blocks should be found in square holes under such circumstances; or that the political equilibrium, all unstable, should turn to this signal disturbance or that, without much reason?
There were two parties, around which rallied opposing elements,—the Conservative, Central, or Servile, as it was variously called, and the Federal, Liberal, or Democratic. To the former belonged the leading families, who possessed certain monopolies and feared to lose them; the clergy, who with these few families held themselves for an aristocracy; and a few of the lower classes, who from personal or religious feelings were satisfied with the existing order of things: and all these bitterly resisted any innovation, especially any attack upon the privileges of the Church. To the Liberals flocked all those who did not enjoy monopolies, and who could not be worse off under any change; but there came to this standard also men of intellect, who saw the dangers which threatened their country, and who rejected the superstition into which the local Church had fallen, but who in their eagerness to hold up the example of the United States of the North to their newly emancipated countrymen, forgot the radical difference between the Anglo-Saxon and Spanish stock and training. Then came in the feeling of race-prejudice; and when one remembers that three quarters of the population was Indian, and that of the other quarter was composed the entire ruling class, it will perhaps be a matter of surprise that more evil did not come from this threatening condition of affairs. If the Indios of Guatemala had not been the most peaceable and law-abiding of their kind known to history, they might have improved the opportunity to repay all the miseries inflicted upon their ancestors. As it happened, they could at least be conscious of their power.
With no fixed policy, the ancient States of the kingdom of Guatemala cut adrift from Spain. At one time all, except San Salvador, entertained the idea of union with the new Empire of Mexico under Iturbide, but they escaped that complication by the early collapse of the Mexican throne; and at last, on the 1st of April, 1823, representatives of the States met in the City of Guatemala, and the Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, after long debates and many propositions, in which, as might be supposed, the Church party had no unimportant influence, a Federal Constitution was proclaimed on Nov. 24, 1824.
Three years later the Vice-President, Flores, was murdered in Quezaltenango by a mob of female furies instigated, it is claimed, by the Church party, and his body was stripped and mutilated by the fiend-like women. This was done in the church as the wretched man clung to the altar, and it was done in the name of religion. The consequence immediately following was an absolute reign of religious fanaticism. San Salvador, however, sent an army to restore order, and on March 16, 1827, attacked the capital; but these troops of the Liberal party were driven back, and for two years a barren warfare was kept up. In 1829 General Francisco Morazan led the Salvadoreñan army to Guatemala; and now success attended the Liberals. After a battle lasting three days they entered Guatemala City in triumph, banished the leaders of the Central party, and suppressed the convents. In 1831 Morazan was elected President of the Republic or Confederacy, and for ten years his party held the government. It is not easy for a foreigner to get trustworthy information of the true value of Morazan’s administration; but while the man seems to have been patriotic and of excellent private character, he was not strong enough to control the warring elements around him. The Church was his bitter enemy; and while it long endured the low estate to which the party in power had reduced it, there was no lack of grumbling, nor of even more active endeavors to find a champion.
In the mean time an Indio of low birth[44] and wholly uneducated, but of great courage, had come into prominence as a leader of bands of marauding Indios. Rafael Carrera, young as he was, saw his advantage in the disturbed condition of his country, and after various defeats at the hands of the President, at last drove Morazan from Guatemala, and the Confederation came to an end (1839).
Carrera favored the Church party, but had not the slightest intention of letting the Church rule him. He knew how to use it, and the clergy generally submitted gracefully. In all previous revolutions the defeated party had been banished, and so the State was kept unanimous—a condition that could not obtain now, because neither party had much real power left after the constant struggles of the past few years. It was while our countryman John L. Stephens, whose fascinating account of his travels will always be a classic, was on a diplomatic mission to Central America that young Carrera was gathering his power, and it is to this distinguished traveller that most of the information about Carrera is due. Carrera, Fundador de la República de Guatemala (Founder of the Republic), is the title he claimed on the coinage of Guatemala during his administration; and after a long reign—the word is used intentionally—he was able to designate his successor and die in his bed, while his chief antagonist, Morazan, after a most persevering struggle for the union of Central America, was shot by his ungrateful countrymen. The tomb of Carrera is in the metropolitan church in Guatemala City.
Rafael Carrera.
On the death of Carrera, in 1865, Don Vincente Cerna succeeded to the Presidency; but he did not possess the power over the Indios that Carrera held, and before his term of office had half passed, disturbances broke out on the northern frontier, where a man named Barrios had collected a gang of outlaws. This insurrection was suppressed, and Barrios executed; he however left a successor in the person of Serapio Cruz, a very corpulent man, but for all that a typical brigand, who for some time waged a guerilla war from his mountain retreats, capturing the distilleries of aguardiente (then a Government monopoly), and destroying what he could not carry away. Joined to this enemy on the outskirts of the republic was a no-less disturbing element in the legislature in the person of Don Miguel Garcia Granados, who was most active in attacking the Government. As the Presidential term of Cerna ended, a rival in the political field, General Victor Zavala, seemed likely to be elected; but by a close vote Cerna was re-elected. In 1869 a loan was negotiated in London which enabled the Government to pay its most pressing debts, and quiet was apparently secured. All this time, however, the insurgent Cruz was strengthening his band in the mountains, where he was joined by a man destined to hold the chief place in Guatemala, General J. Rufino Barrios; and in December, 1869, the rebel army approached the capital. The city was in a most excited state, expecting pillage if not destruction, when the unexpected news came that the head of Cruz would soon be in the city. It was true; a party of Indios had attacked and defeated the chief, and now brought his bleeding head to the President. This disagreeable trophy was photographed, and prints were sold in the shops for fifty cents. The rebellion was over for the time, and Barrios fled to Mexico. President Cerna was very lenient to his enemies, and Granados was merely banished, and put under ten thousand dollars’ bond not to return to Guatemala.
Banished men are always dangerous, and Granados was no exception. Seeing his opportunity in some dissatisfaction with the governmental policy, he invaded Guatemala, and was at once joined by General Barrios. The march from Mexican territory was almost a triumphal procession, and on the plain between Quezaltenango and Totonicapan (the Esdraelon of Guatemala) the decisive battle was fought. Cerna could not trust his generals, and so took the field in person. For a time the battle was with him; but Barrios brought up his troops in good time, and the national army had to give way. President Cerna rallied his forces at Chimaltenango, only to be again defeated; and after making a final stand at San Lucas, a small village between Antigua and Mixco, fled to Chiquimula, where he advised his followers to submit to the conquerors, while he went over into Honduras.
On the 30th of June the “Army of Liberators” entered the capital, and Granados was proclaimed President pro tempore. The new President found an empty treasury, and called upon the merchants for a loan. The authorities were very careful to say that this was not a forced loan; but the method was very much of that character, for a list was made out of all the merchants in the city, and the proportion each one was thought capable of paying set against his name. The “subscription paper” was then sent around, and few dared to refuse. No wonder that Central Americans do not wish to be thought rich or prosperous! Granados was nominally President; but no one doubted that the man soon to become his successor was in reality acting in that capacity even then, although it was convenient for him to have Granados arrange the finances as well as the disturbed politics. Several reforms were proclaimed, as freedom of the press, and the abolition of the monopoly of distilling aguardiente. Before three months had passed, the clergy began to make trouble, and in September, 1872, the Archbishop and the entire Order of Jesuits were banished the republic for inciting insurrection at Santa Rosa. The San Franciscans, Capucins, and Dominicans were expelled the following year. This was briefly the story of the beginning of the reign of Barrios.
On June 30, 1871, General J. Rufino Barrios was elected President of the independent republic that Carrera claimed to have founded; and from that date Guatemala began to make real progress. His iron will determined that Guatemala should indeed be chief of all the Central American States, so that when the time came to renew the union of all the States,—a cherished scheme of Barrios,—there could be no question of her leadership. He so far succeeded that his country has undoubtedly made more material progress in the ten years of his administration than the other Central American Republics have made in half a century.
Without going into even a brief history of the politics of the republic under Barrios, certain important acts must be mentioned, such as the adoption of a Constitution, Dec. 9, 1879, the expulsion of the Jesuits, the confiscation of much Church property and its appropriation to the uses of public education, as well as for hotels and government offices,—acts which have greatly advanced this once priest-ridden country. I would not have it thought that in speaking of the sequestration of the churches and monasteries I undervalue the offices of religion, or am at variance with the particular branch of the Church whose property was so treated. Guatemala needs more religion, not less; and could some of those pure and devoted priests of the Church of Rome whom I have rejoiced to meet in many a remote region, turn their energies to Central America, it would be well. It cannot, however, be too clearly stated that what was called the Church in these lands was a church for any other purpose than those truly religious men could approve. The evidences of corruption are too clear to admit a doubt that the clergy had ceased to do the people any good: they failed to do their duty, in their eager struggle for temporal power; and to-day the splendid churches they built are in ruins, or left to the ministrations of some itinerant priest. There are in Guatemala church edifices enough to contain the entire population, not a tenth part of which ever enters for worship, since the majority has been repelled rather than attracted by the unfaithful padres.
The legislative power is in the Asamblea Nacional of Guatemala, which convenes on the 1st of March annually; and its ordinary sessions last only two months, although it may continue in session another month if necessary. Owing to the adoption of a code, the republic is generally saved the “hayseed” law of the Northern legislatures and the “judge-made” law of the courts; and the work of the Asamblea is greatly lightened. The deputies who compose the Asamblea are elected on the basis of one for every twenty thousand inhabitants, or for a fraction exceeding one half of that number. Each is elected for a term of four years; but the terms are so arranged that one half of the deputies is changed every two years. To these deputies the various Secretaries of State make formal reports regarding the matters usually contained in the President’s Message to the Congress of the United States.
The President of Guatemala is elected by direct popular vote for the term of six years; and the Asamblea elects two persons to succeed him in turn, should he die or cease to act during the term for which he was elected. Profiting by the example of the older republic, Guatemala has rejected the farcical election still used in the North, where the people are supposed to elect electors to elect a President. The President appoints the following Secretaries of State:—
| Relaciones Exteriores | Foreign Affairs. |
| Gobernacion i Justicia | Government and Justice. |
| Hacienda y Credito Publico | Treasury. |
| Guerra | War. |
| Fomento | Interior. |
| Instruccion Publica | Public Instruction. |
These officials, with nine Counsellors, form the Council of State. For the purposes of government the republic is divided into twenty-three Departments, which are subdivided into sixty-one Districts. In these Districts are eleven cities (ciudades), thirty-two towns (villas), two hundred and ninety-nine villages (pueblos), fourteen hundred and six settlements (aldeas), fifty-nine shore hamlets (caserios litorales), and three thousand seven hundred and forty-two interior hamlets (caserios rurales). The Departments, with their chief towns, are as follows:
| Departments. | Chief Towns. | |
|---|---|---|
| Guatemala | Guatemala | (ciudad) |
| Amatitlan | Amatitlan | ” |
| Escuintla | Escuintla | ” |
| Sacatepequez | Antigua | ” |
| Chimaltenango | Chimaltenango | (villa) |
| Sololà | Sololà | ” |
| Totonicapan | Totonicapan | (ciudad) |
| Suchitepequez | Mazatenango | (villa) |
| Retalhuleu | Retalhuleu | ” |
| Quezaltenango | Quezaltenango | (ciudad) |
| San Marcos | San Marcos | ” |
| Huehuetenango | Huehuetenango | ” |
| Quiché | Santa Cruz del Quiché | (villa) |
| Santa Rosa | Cuajinicuilapa | ” |
| Jutiapa | Jutiapa | ” |
| Jalapa | Jalapa | ” |
| Chiquimula | Chiquimula | (ciudad) |
| Zacapa | Zacapa | (villa) |
| Izabal | Izabal | (puerto) |
| Livingston | Livingston | ” |
| Baja Verapaz | Salamà | (ciudad) |
| Alta Verapaz | Coban | ” |
| Peten | Sacluk | (pueblo) |
The Executive appoints over each of these Departments a Jefe politico, or civil governor; and, like the Secretaries of State, they must be men in whom he has implicit confidence. I may add that I met fifteen of these Jefes in the course of my journey, and found them, with two exceptions, men of character and intelligence, who would compare favorably with the governors of any of the Northern States; nor is this surprising, since they are appointed for their fitness, and not elected, as the United States governors often are, by a handful of irresponsible politicians who use popular votes simply to forward their private ends.
The organic law of Guatemala is the Civil, or Roman. The code is the result of careful study and adaptation to the needs of the country, and not the result of the tinkering of village Solons and the decisions of wiseacre judges, as is that heterogeneous mass, amorphous and illogical, the common law. Wherever especial needs have arisen, the code has been supplemented by decretos conforming to the system. The judiciary is appointed, and the members hold office for four years. It cannot be denied that some of the lower judges are not always men of considerable legal attainments; but it will be remembered that they do not usurp the legislative function, as is too often the case with judges under the common law.
Although the country is of the Roman Catholic form of religion, the Constitution allows full liberty of worship to other sects, within their respective churches, but forbids acts subversive of public order, or which might invalidate any civil or political obligations.[45] Notwithstanding this liberty, there is, I believe, but one Protestant congregation worshipping in the republic. It seems that the offices of religion are used most by women and by the dying. Guatemala certainly cannot be called a religious community. The ruined churches, crumbling to dust and serving only as cemeteries of the dead, are monuments of a departed worship. Perhaps some day a purer religion may rebuild these fair temples and call within their walls all the Guatemaltecan children of the Great Father, to be refreshed with new life and courage.
In sad contrast with the religious life of Guatemala is the military vigor. It is difficult to obtain the exact statistics of the army, even in a time of peace; but it is said that the standing army numbers twenty-five hundred rank and file, with eighty jefes and two hundred and fifty-three other officers, while the militia, including all males not physically exempt, between the ages of eighteen and fifty, amounted in 1883 to 49,835 men. Under control of the War Department are the police, street-lighting, and the Polytechnic School. While it is possible that the army does not cost so much in proportion to the population as in some of the other Central American republics, it is nevertheless a terrible drain upon the resources of the people, apart from the bad moral effect of a military life, as seen in all history. May the time soon come when this beautiful republic shall throw off the incubus and devote all her energies to the development of her vast resources!
I pass to a more agreeable theme, the foundation-stone of a republic,—public instruction. On Dec. 13, 1879, President Barrios by decree established the present excellent system of compulsory and gratuitous elementary education. Under this in the primary schools are taught reading, Spanish, knowledge of objects, writing and linear drawing, geography, history, morals, and politeness.[46] For those who wish to go beyond these elements, equally gratuitous facilities are afforded for learning Spanish grammar, book-keeping, elementary natural history, geography, and history of Central America, and some other branches (complementary).
In 1883 there were in Guatemala eight hundred and fifty primary schools, divided thus,—for boys, five hundred and forty; for girls, two hundred and thirty-six; mixed, sixteen; artisans’ evening-schools, forty-seven; a Sunday-school for workmen, one also for women, and nine complementary schools. The attendance at these schools was 39,642 pupils, 27,974 males and 11,668 females; there were 735 male teachers, and 302 female teachers, while the cost was $241,499.14, or $6.09 each pupil. These schools, scattered all over the republic, meeting sometimes in old convents or other confiscated church buildings, sometimes in the cabildo or in buildings especially provided, are visited and inspected frequently by suitable persons appointed by Government, who do the duty laid upon them far more intelligently than most of the New England school-committee men,—I have had experience of both.
Teachers’ institutes are held in three places each year in November, and the teachers are expected to attend and gather what new matter or interest may be provided for them. As the Government appoints the teachers, it is responsible; and I believe there is a general care among these teachers to keep well up to the requirements. Wisely, the schools are not overloaded, as are those in many Northern cities, with every conceivable subject; but the aim is to give every child the beginning of an elementary education, which he can, if circumstances permit, greatly expand.
There are also fifty-five private schools, with 1,870 pupils costing $84,154, of which the Government pays $4,944.
The secondary instruction is given in several high schools or academies, of which the most important is the Instituto Nacional, Central de Hombres, in the City of Guatemala. The spacious buildings, formerly church property, well accommodate the physical and chemical laboratories, the meteorological observatory (the most complete in Central America), the zoölogical museum, mineral cabinet, and lecture-rooms, while within the courts is a good zoölogical garden. Besides the numerous class-rooms and offices are commodious dormitories provided with iron bedsteads and kept in very neat order. The corps of instruction consists of a director and twenty-seven professors, and in 1883 there were two hundred and fifty-three boarders, and one hundred and thirty day pupils, with twenty-three pupils in the normal department, and eleven free pupils. The day-pupils pay a matriculation fee of $10 annually, and $3 for an examination in each course. The institute costs $19,839.00, or $180.75 for each boarder, and $105.30 for each day-pupil. I have examined the work of the pupils, and found it very creditable, quite equal in many respects to that of the boys in the Latin and high schools of Boston. The girls are not neglected, although their instruction does not proceed to the extravagant lengths common in the eastern United States and in England, where the endeavor is made to train the female intellect to the standard of the male, and so wholly unfit for the privileges of matrimony and maternity the unfortunate girls who are subjected to such training. The Instituto de Belen, Central de Señoritas, has a faculty of one preceptress and ten female teachers in charge of one hundred and twelve pupils, costing the nation $78,000. This school occupies an extensive building, with suitable cabinets and a gymnasium. A kindergarten is attached to this school.
In Chiquimula is the Instituto de Oriente, with one director, six professors, and thirty-three boys, nine boarders, and fourteen day-pupils. More important than this is the Instituto de Occidente, in Quezaltenango, with a director, twenty-two professors, and two hundred and twenty-one pupils. Cabinets of minerals and other natural objects, a chemical laboratory and a meteorological observatory, help in the instruction. In the same city is a similar school for girls, with a preceptress (directora), eleven professoras, and eighty-two pupils.
Professional instruction, which in the United States of the North is not deemed a part of the system of free public education, is here undertaken by the Government; and four faculties are established to teach law (derecho y notariado), medicine and pharmacy, engineering, and philosophy and literature. Each of these faculties elects a dean, secretary, and four vocales who have charge of the courses of study and other matters peculiar to their branch, while the four directories (juntas directivas) form a council charged with the sole administration of the professional schools. Forty professors teach one hundred and thirty-three pupils at a cost of $24,903.96 to the nation. The law claims forty-two pupils; medicine, seventy; engineering, eleven; and literature, ten. Special instruction does not stop here, for there are also in the capital seven schools, costing $21,762.24, and teaching two hundred and forty-two pupils in the following branches:—
| Music and Oratory | 66 | pupils. |
| Commerce | 50 | ” |
| Design | 62 | ” |
| Arts and Occupations | 55 | ” |
A school for deaf-mutes has nine pupils. The Polytechnic School is under the direction of the Minister of War, and has eighty pupils. It is interesting to note that the system of marks in use in this institution has recently been adopted in Harvard University.
While I am aware that a mere table of numbers, a census of pupils and teachers, even if illustrated with the courses pursued and the instruments for instruction, cannot convey to my readers a fair understanding of the results accomplished by the system of public education in Guatemala, I may be permitted to say that I have for six years performed with attention my duties on the school-board of one of the largest cities in the North, and my interest in the subject of education led me to examine the schools of this Southern city, with constant comparisons with the type most familiar to me; and the conclusion to which I arrived was that the system in Guatemala was excellently suited to the country and people, that the Government had done better than my own Government in the North, and if the results were not in every case all that could be desired, it was not the fault of schools or teachers. I have examined both public and private schools, containing both ladino and Indian children, and have found many well-instructed boys and girls, but never the execrable system of cramming so much in vogue at the North. I did not see the sallow, pimply, stooping, weak-eyed boys that form so large a minority of the public-school children at home. I am sure that if fewer “branches” are taught here, less ill-health results; and I am quite ready to honor good health before mere book-learning.
With some hesitation, I add to the means of education the modern newspaper. Before the election of Barrios there were but two official publications of this class,—“La Gaceta” and “La Semana,” both proceeding from one pen, and the journal of the Sociedad Económica. Now there are in the capital four printing establishments, and the list of publications is a very respectable one. The official “El Guatemalteco” presents four times a week all official announcements, including the text of all public grants or contracts,—a plan which must place a check on extravagance or improper favoritism. “La Estrella de Guatemala,” an independent daily; “Diario de Centro-América,” “La Gaceta de los Tribunales,” twice a month; “La Gaceta de los Hospitales,” monthly; “El Horizonte” and “El Ensayo,” weekly, are published in the capital. In Quezaltenango “El Bien Publico” is a well-written twice-a-week publication. In Mazatenango “El Eco de los Altos,” twice a month; in Antigua “El Eco del Valle,” daily; in Chiquimula “El Oriental,” weekly; in Salamà “La Voz del Norte,” in Coban “El Quetzal,” both weekly, have a considerable local circulation; and during the session of the Asamblea full stenographic reports of the proceedings are published in the “Diario de las Sesiones.”
I cannot say much about the Guatemaltecan libraries, although not for the reason that made the chapter “On Serpents” in the History of Norway so famous. The national library is very small, and the treasures of manuscript which survived the ungentle hands of the early rulers have been so carelessly guarded that the choicest are now in foreign hands (French and German); and the printed volumes relating to the history of Central America, or the publications of the native Press, are difficult to find. There are no important bookstores in Guatemala, and I had the greatest difficulty in obtaining a sight of Fuentes and Juarros, both of which I found only in private libraries. In an old curiosity shop a copy of Villagutierre Soto Mayor’s “Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza” was held at $50, or twice the price the old folio fetches in London.
With no Coast or Interior Survey (except the temporary work of the Commission on the Northern Boundary), there are few scientific or historical publications issued by the Government.
The debt of Guatemala is reported at a total (1885) of $5,817,947.19, drawing interest at six per cent. It is made up of the following items:—
| An English loan for which Guatemala became responsible in the days of the Confederation | $554,268.83 |
| An English loan of 1869 (by President Cerna) | 3,599,771.75 |
| Government bonds in circulation (Interior debt) | 1,663,906.61 |
| $5,817,947.19 |
For the payment of the bonds of the Interior, a sinking-fund is provided, consisting of fifteen per cent of the duties on imports, the sums received for exemption from military service, etc. The average duties on imports are between fifty-five and sixty per cent ad valorem.
The income of the republic during the year 1882 was:
| Direct Taxes. | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3% on real estate | $103,886.05 | |
| Road tax | 34,830.85 | |
| Military tax | 13,925.17 | |
| Abated taxes | 4,132.56 | |
| $156,224.63 | ||
| Indirect Taxes. | ||
| Duties on imports | $1,698,469.93 | |
| Duties on exports | 66,685.36 | |
| Harbor dues | 3,960.22 | |
| Stamped paper and stamps | 114,221.57 | |
| Impost on native flour | 47,198.19 | |
| Impost on salt | 27.454.58 | |
| Impost on legacies | 11,514.06 | |
| Beneficio de Reses | 99,964.59 | |
| 5% on transfers of real estate | 53,530.42 | |
| 2,122,998.92 | ||
| Tax for higher education | $10,127.87 | |
| Tax for municipios | 10,678.62 | |
| Tax for police in the capital | 113,296.13 | |
| Tax for hospitals | 119,507.26 | |
| Telegraphs | 55,575.96 | |
| Mails | 25,687.95 | |
| Mint | 19,518.51 | |
| Fondos judiciales | 6,513.19 | |
| 360,905.49 | ||
| Excise on liquors | $1,266,042.43 | |
| Excise on tobacco | 346,263.15 | |
| Excise on gunpowder and saltpetre | 23,994.31 | |
| 1,636,299.89 | ||
| Various income | 135,457.44 | |
| Contracts, etc. (anticipation of taxes) | 2,030,033.01 | |
| $6,441,919.38 | ||
Of the expenses of the Government for the same fiscal period, it will be seen from the following abstract that the army expenses form more than a sixth of the entire sum, even in a time of peace.
| Expenses of Administration. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Interior | $167,349.25 | |
| ” Treasury | 208,872.45 | |
| ” War | 1,164,521.37 | |
| ” Justice | 723,746.93 | |
| ” Public Instruction | 252,891.62 | |
| ” Foreign Affairs | 80,850.11 | |
| $2,598,231.73 | ||
| General Expenses. | ||
| Collecting direct taxes | $6,962.01 | |
| ” indirect taxes | 32,410.52 | |
| Excise on liquors | 126,031.04 | |
| ” tobacco | 96,289.65 | |
| Higher instruction | 25,418.55 | |
| Municipios | 15,704.77 | |
| Pawnshops and pensions | 45,053.54 | |
| Mails | 42,725.16 | |
| Telegraphs | 101,288.61 | |
| Mint | 20,539.59 | |
| Mobiliario | 2,986.76 | |
| Hospitals | 136,794.20 | |
| Police | 148,128.12 | |
| Confiscations | 581.52 | |
| Judiciary | 6,033.37 | |
| Extraordinary | 6,606.92 | |
| Gunpowder and saltpetre | 2,960.64 | |
| 816,514.97 | ||
| Interest | $200,325.81 | |
| Purchase of tobacco | 99,342.05 | |
| ” gunpowder and saltpetre | 5,795.70 | |
| Repayments (Devolutiones) | 14,373.07 | |
| Public property | 6,197.09 | |
| Accounts | 2,010.24 | |
| 328,043.96 | ||
| Funding bonds and obligations | 2,554,076.94 | |
| Subsidy to street-railroad | 833.33 | |
| Various payments | 205,721.45 | |
| $6,503,422.38 | ||
However dry long columns of figures may be, they tell the story in the shortest way, and will give to those interested in the work of a Government some insight into its methods. Like many other Governments, that of Guatemala anticipates taxes, borrows, and issues paper obligations. Its chief income is from the sale of liquor and from import duties. I have in another place described the method of taxing the sale of liquors, and I may say here that the tax seems to be collected with fairness; but the heavy import duties offer a premium on smuggling, and I was told some very ingenious and amusing methods that had been used to evade the customs. If the ports of Guatemala were not just what they are, it would be a very difficult matter to collect the revenue from imports.
The currency of Guatemala is silver, with the exception of about $50,000 of Government paper, and, like the silver currency of the United States, is worth only about seventy per cent of its face in gold; but, unlike the Northern Republic, Guatemala has not the power to float her debased coin, and the standard is therefore American gold. To meet its needs the Government sometimes mortgages to money-lenders its revenues in part, or even puts a custom-house in pawn; and cases have occurred where its subsidies have been suspended by arbitrary decree for a year, or even longer. Hence the unwillingness to embark in any enterprise that is largely dependent on Government aid. Even the mail-subsidies when paid are paid with orders on the customs. This, together with the very heavy import duties, certainly checks the investment of foreign capital; though to those within the country, and informed as to methods, the duties are much lightened by purchasing Government bonds at fifty per cent and paying 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 Internacional 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 (Compañia de los Muelles de San José 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 José, and between Champerico 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 connected by more than three thousand miles of wire, with seventy offices. The expenditures of this bureau seem to be nearly twice the amount of the receipts, and from the nature of the country the cost of maintenance must be very great, owing to the rapid growth of tropical vegetation and the destruction wrought by insects, especially the comajen; yet the tariff is reasonable, and one can, while paying for a message, pay also for the answer (contestacion pagado). Both the designs on the telegraph blanks and the paper used are much better than the companies in the United States supply to their customers. By cable Guatemala has communication with South America, Mexico, the United States, and Europe.
The mail service is excellent between the principal towns and foreign ports; but owing to the nature of the country the time consumed over the less-frequented roads is very great. As a fair indication of the development of the country since 1871 under the administration of President Barrios, the great increase in the amount of matter sent through the mails may be cited; for in that year the total number of letters, papers, and circulars did not reach fifty thousand, while in 1884 it exceeded three millions. Guatemala has joined the Postal Union, but demands ten cents per rate on letters leaving her ports. While so many of the great nations put upon their postage-stamps the portraits of their rulers or most distinguished men to be spit upon and defaced, this republic, with better taste, submits only the national bird (quetzal) to this rough treatment.[47]
What a people imports is always a matter of no slight moment in studying their social condition; and on examining the classified list which I have taken from the official publications, one will see several very curious facts. First a large amount of cinnamon is imported, chiefly to flavor chocolate, when it might readily be raised at home,—indicating that the enormous duty of one hundred per cent does not prevent importation or stimulate home production. The same may be predicated of white wax, wheat, and flour, for bees flourish in the uplands, and the wheat is of the best quality; but mills are scarce, and private enterprise is wanting. Few printed books are imported; and as the domestic publications are unimportant, we must infer that the Guatemaltecans are not a reading people. The table also gives an idea of the duties levied, and is worthy of attention. That the reader may see how little the commerce of the United States brings to Guatemala, I have given a table of imports by countries. Nearer than England or France, it is still cheaper to pass her by and go to the distant markets.