Guatemala, the country of the future

by Charles M. Pepper

Support of Liberal Principles.

In his participation in public affairs President Estrada Cabrera always has supported liberal principles. It was therefore natural that he should be prominent in the councils of the Liberal party and should become the leader of that organization. His career has been one to familiarize him with all the departments of the government. He served as Secretary of Government and Justice, and it was while, holding this position that in order to investigate a land controversy he went out into the wilderness himself and spent several weeks going over the sections concerning which he desired to be fully informed. The result was that this controversy which had been in dispute for a long term of years was finally settled in the manner most equitable and just for the parties interested. This is the way President Estrada Cabrera works when the interests of the State are involved.

In 1898 when President-General José Maria Reyna Barrios was killed, Mr. Estrada Cabrera was Primer Designado, the position which corresponds to vice-president in the United States and under which he became acting President until an election could be held. At that election he was chosen President by a substantially unanimous vote. An indication of his public policies was given by him when he outlined his programme on coming into the responsibility for the government of Guatemala during the interim which he served in the character of Primer Designado. On that occasion he said:

"My administration will be brief and of a temporary character, but not for that reason shall it be left for History to demand of me a strict account of my acts during this period. I declare in the most solemn manner before my fellow citizens that I wish to hand back the beautiful standard of my country without stain. I desire that the Constitution, the sacred repository of our liberties, be not soiled in my hands. My hope is that all of my compatriots may enjoy the life and public liberties that are rightfully theirs. I wish that all the guaranties may protect them in the moment when they approach the ballot boxes to cast their vote for the person to whom it will be given to direct the destinies of our common country."

It was after this declaration and after several months' experience under President Estrada Cabrera's administration that in September, 1898, the people chose him to fill out the full presidential term and then in 1904 re-elected him for the term which will expire in 1911.

When President Estrada Cabrera became charged with the full responsibility of power in 1898, Guatemala was in the midst of political complications and of a very severe industrial crisis. His first labor was to insure political tranquillity. When this was accomplished he gave all his energies and his talents to developing the resources of the country and to the improvement of public administration. From this point a recent writer, confirming the eulogy of Minister Combs, said:

"Guatemala now enjoys unalterable peace. Her progress is most notable and instead of investing the public funds exclusively in swords and cannons there have been instituted the annual festival of Minerva, the most splendid work of Estrada Cabrera as ruler and as patriot, arousing in this manner in the people the desire for instruction and fostering by all possible means the material progress of the country; giving facilities and opening new ways to traffic and commerce; nourishing industries, science and the arts; beautifying the cities and villages; affording to all the advantages of modern improvements and spreading the knowledge of hygiene among the masses."

A Record of Achievement.

In a general way the administration of President Estrada Cabrera has been described as the political emancipation and the administrative emancipation. The former topic will be considered in the explanation of Guatemala's international relations. The administrative reforms which President Estrada Cabrera has introduced are numerous. He has reduced in a large measure the public debt and has paid almost entirely the recognized foreign claims incurred by previous administrations, has given marked impulse to the construction of highways, bridges, and other public works; has systematically fostered agriculture; has reformed and liberalized the Civil Codes and Proceedings; has extended the system of posts, telegraphs, and telephones; has established patriotic celebrations of an industrial, agricultural, literary and scientific character; has reorganized the army and the branch of military hygiene, has enacted rigorous measures of quarantine against yellow fever, smallpox, and the bubonic pests; has enlarged considerably the public schools and the charitable institutions by constructing the fine Asylum for Invalids and Convalescents which bears his name: has improved the fiscal systems of the municipalities by bringing them to a modern basis, and has secured special advantages in supplying them with light, water, and other municipal necessities.