[Illustration: DUGOUT CANOE ON THE MONTAGUA RIVER.]
Railroads are now needed more than anything else. Only four hundred miles of railroad in a state nearly as large as Illinois illustrates the difficulty of communication. For instance, the distance from Guatemala City to Totonicapan, a city of twenty-five thousand people, is only one hundred miles, yet it requires almost as long to travel this distance as it does to go from New York to San Francisco on one of our express trains. A mule path is the only road, and the average traveller will not make it in less than four days. Five hundred or a thousand miles of new railway lines would do far more to develop the country than anything else, for the telegraph and telephone would follow the iron rails. At present there are about three thousand miles of telegraph and a few hundred miles of telephone wires that spread over the country. These improvements would also go far toward establishing peaceful conditions, for they would enable the central government to learn promptly of any disaffection, and hurry troops there before the movement could become at all formidable.
Guatemala is a land of possibilities. Everything that can be raised in the temperate and tropical zones will grow here. If irrigation is provided in the _tierra templada_ there need be no unproductive season for the warm air and bright sun will propagate the seeds that are sown at any time of the year. Two crops of wheat and three crops of corn will reward the industry of the planter. Fertilizers are unnecessary, for the heavy rains of the rainy season wash down the rich soils from the sides of the mountains and fertilize the plains. The great secret is therefore for the agriculturist to adapt his cultivation to the nature of the climate and soil and his success is assured. Greater success will be realized on plantations where a colony of peon labourers is maintained, however, because otherwise it is difficult to secure labour when needed, and the farmer can not expect to do as much with his own hands as in a cooler climate. Continued peace, stability of government, construction of more railways and the investment of foreign capital are the four essential needs for the growth and prosperity of Guatemala. No one can travel through that republic, or the neighbouring one of Honduras, and note their nearness to the great markets of the world, variety of climate, wealth of natural resources and vast areas suited to profitable agriculture and not be deeply impressed.