Panama to Patagonia

by Charles M. Pepper

All the cereals are grown in this central plateau lying under the torrid zone at an altitude of 10,000 feet. It is the growing of corn, wheat, and other grains at these heights which causes the Spanish writers, with their warm imaginations, to write so enthusiastically of cultivation in the clouds. The region offers great opportunities for stock-raising, and generally it may be said to be the field for future immigration and colonization. Public officials of Ecuador glow with enthusiasm over this section of their country. A cabinet minister, in his official report, thus poetically and prophetically voiced the national aspiration:

“Not much time will have passed when the inter-Andine railway, vanquishing all the obstacles which have halted our progressive march, will salute the wall of the Andes and come with the whistle of the locomotive to awaken the spirit, almost dead, of our mountain populations to the civilizing influence of industry and commerce, giving easy outlet to the richness of our fertile zones, and assuring us a broader life by placing us in immediate contact with the coast and bringing us nearer to the exterior at will, multiply the relations of common interest, break the yoke of preoccupations and routine custom to which we have submitted blindingly, and will stimulate us for work, and supply the deficiencies of our education.

“The line of iron and steel will traverse our climates and will go collecting in its train diverse productions, to bear them to our ports and deliver them to the commerce of the world. The struggle for subsistence will then be borne among the peoples of the interior, and from province to province will be established reciprocally the interchange beneficial to their respective provinces.”

The Montaña, or forest region lying on the eastern slope of the Andes and with its network of river basins stretching to the Amazon, is less exploited in the Ecuadorian than in the Peruvian territory. The rubber in these tropical forests will be secured in the process of time. The development of this region on the part of Ecuador is not remote. But there must be means of communication. The government, realizing this, decided to build a railway from Ambato, on the Guayaquil and Quito Railroad, 100 miles to the Curarey River, a branch of the Amazon with head-waters near Iquitos in Peru. This line will enable that district to export its rubber through Guayaquil instead of out through the Atlantic Ocean. The railway route lies east of the Andes.

Tobacco is grown in the north near the coast for home consumption. Sugar-cane is cultivated successfully on the nearer border of the Montaña and also nearer the coast, but it will be a long time before Ecuador exports sugar in appreciable quantities. This may be less true of cotton, which is becoming a national industry. A fine quality is grown in the northern districts, of which Ibarra is the centre, and the cotton tree thrives in other sections. The mills, which employ the cheap labor of the native Indian women, have proven successful, and they find a profitable home market, though it will be many years before Manchester is seriously hurt by their output.

The minerals of the country are principally in the southern zone, though there are rich placers in the rivers of the north. The southern province, of which Zaruma is the centre, in the last century was famous for its gold-mines, and it is still known as El Oro, or the gold country. In late years little has been done, though the quartz veins have been worked intermittently and in some of the streams gold-washing has been carried on. Minerals are abundant farther south in the district of which Loja is the centre. Some copper is found, and there are deposits of iron and anthracite coal, silver, and lead. The engineers who made the Intercontinental Railway survey were impressed with the richness of this district, but its development awaits the building of the links in the Pan-American railroad, for the lack of transport facilities under present conditions renders exploitation of the mines too costly to be attempted except with large capital.

In proportion to its size Ecuador, though sparsely populated, is as well inhabited as other South American countries. The population is very largely Indian, with the usual Spanish intermixture. The total number of inhabitants is 1,275,000. The whites and the mestizos, or mixed bloods, comprise about 25 per cent of the population. The central plateau easily could sustain an agricultural population of twice that number.

The volcanic Galapagos Islands, lying 600 to 700 miles west of the mainland, on the equatorial line, usually are considered an Ecuadorian asset. They are not, however, a source of revenue, and the 300 or 400 people who inhabit them are not likely to increase to a larger number. At different times the government has been willing to dispose of the islands under the form of a perpetual lease for coaling or naval stations. Tentative offers have been made in Europe, but European governments hardly would seek to lease them for naval purposes without ascertaining the wishes of the United States. Since the Monroe Doctrine as interpreted under President Roosevelt’s administration forbids military establishments of foreign Powers to be set up in the Southern Hemisphere, no European country is likely to come into their possession. Naval officers on various occasions have urged the purchase of the Galapagos group by the United States, but the high price at which they are held by Ecuador, or opposition in Washington, prevented a bargain. The last negotiation was by Secretary Blaine during the Harrison administration. With the authority of the United States established on the Canal Zone and with the Pearl Islands in Panama Bay under the same authority, the necessary naval base in the Pacific is secured, and no further suggestions for purchasing the Galapagos group are likely to be favored by public sentiment. The only ground would be that, through the control by the United States, European intrigues and, possibly, complications would be avoided.

Chile at different times has been credited with wanting to control the Galapagos Islands and establish a naval base at the Equator. Since the Chilean national policy is no longer one of unlimited naval expansion, it may be doubted whether that country now would care to undertake the expense of establishing and maintaining a station off Ecuador. But should Chile take this course, probably there would be no objection on the part of the United States, which, in the broad sense, as related to Europe, is a party in interest with Ecuador.

Of recent years Ecuador has maintained political equilibrium, if not absolute political stability. President Alfaro during his term was compelled to combat the reactionaries and the Church party, but his programme of Liberal measures was sustained. The greatest progress that has been made is toward financial stability. The money of the country was put on the gold basis, and that having been maintained for several years, the promise of its continuance is encouraging. The standard of coinage is the gold condor, equal to the English sovereign in weight and fineness. The common circulating medium is the silver sucre, ten of which constitute the condor, or the pound sterling. The sucre is equal to 48.66 cents. Paper money is circulated, but the outstanding issue is not very large. There are two banks of emission, each of which has a capital of 3,000,000 sucres. By the last report the total amount of bills emitted was 6,356,000 sucres.