Guatemala, the country of the future

by Charles M. Pepper

The chief ports on the Pacific side are San José, Champerico, and Ocos. By far the largest amount of business is done through the port of San José, which is the terminus of the Guatemalan Central Railroad. It has extensive quays and other facilities for navigation.

Ocean Transportation Facilities.

Guatemala is well supplied with ocean transportation facilities, several of the steamship companies receiving aid from the government. On the Pacific coast there is the Pacific Mail which maintains a regular fortnightly service with extra vessels during the coffee season and which touches at the ports between San Francisco and Panama. The German line known as the Kosmos puts the Guatemalan ports in communication with the West Coast of South America as well as with the ports of California and Mexico. It carries both passengers and freight. There are also numerous small coasting vessels. It is probable that service will be resumed by the various Chilean lines which formerly proceeded to San Francisco, touching at Guatemalan and other ports, but which of recent years have not gone north of Panama. All the vessels have excellent passenger accommodations.

From the Atlantic ports there are ships engaged in the fruit trade with New York and Boston, some of which carry passengers. Usually, however, passengers prefer to travel by way of New Orleans or Mobile, from either of which cities every Thursday there is a vessel plying directly to Puerto Barrios. The most complete service is that maintained by the United Fruit Company.

In view of the growing development on the Atlantic slope and of the commerce which is certain to result there is an excellent opportunity for an increased steamship service with the ports of the United States. The time could be greatly lessened with advantages both in the transportation of freight and in the benefit to passengers. The policy of the government towards steamship lines both as relates to port charges and to other measures is a most liberal one and every inducement is offered to engage in furnishing additional facilities, which will shorten the time between the different points and increase the frequency of communication.

Growth of Railroad System.

The railway system of Guatemala under the administration of President Estrada Cabrera is certain to be the most useful means of developing the country. Every encouragement is given to capital to engage in railroad enterprises. The general plan includes both an interoceanic railroad and links in the intercontinental or north and south lines. No measure of President Estrada Cabrera's administration has been of greater importance than his action in securing the completion of the Northern Railway, which will be open for traffic throughout its entire length by the end of 1906. This places the capital and the whole interior of the country in direct communication with Puerto Barrios and insures a very heavy decrease in the cost of freight both for the agricultural exports and for the merchandise and other imports. The line runs from Guatemala City to El Rancho and thence to Puerto Barrios. At various times concessions were given for building the different sections, but circumstances caused many of them to be almost abandoned.

In the face of repeated discouragements President Estrada Cabrera took up the subject with resolute spirit and with the sanction of the National Assembly made a contract with a syndicate of which the principals were Sir William C. Van Horne, the celebrated railroad man, who completed the Canadian Pacific Railway in the face of monumental difficulties and who subsequently built the Cuba Central Railway; and Minor C. Keith, of the United Fruit Company, who for a third of a century had been identified with various successful enterprises in Central America. Subsequently the Guatemala Central Railway took a share in the enterprise and also German banking and coffee interests. Under the contract no export duty is to be laid on agricultural exports transported over the railroad except coffee and the Company is given the right to fix its passenger and freight charges on a gold basis. There were many engineering difficulties to be overcome, the chiefest of which was the bridging of the Motagua River. The material for this railway construction was imported principally from the United States, the rails from Maryland and the bridgework across the Motagua and other rivers from Pittsburg.

The importance of this Northern Railway to the development of Guatemala is incalculable. It insures the opening up of a very rich country which means a great addition to the exports of Guatemala and it also should bring a large immigration because of the facilities for easy communication and access to the markets of the United States which it will afford. With the operation of the Northern Railway in connection with the Guatemala Central, the country will have a through railway line from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, 270 miles in length. While the interior development is the chief benefit of this through railway system, it is not unlikely that during the years that must pass until the Panama Canal is completed some of the international traffic which cannot be accommodated on the railway line across the Isthmus will find a cheap and expeditious passage across Guatemala.