and glass, neither of the best quality, are manufactured, and there are a number of cigarette factories variously located. There are two important brewing companies in the Republic, the Cervecería Nacional, at Caracas, Valencia, and Puerto Cabello, and the Cervecería de Maracaibo. The approximate capitalization of the two companies is 2,500,000 bolivares and 1,700,000 bolivares, respectively. The Maracaibo company produced 321,195 gallons of beer in 1914 and 252,850 gallons in 1915. The Cervecería Nacional dates from the year 1894. Its original capitalization was 600.000 bolivares, the amount being increased to 2,500,000 bolivares in 1901.

Coal and electric power are both expensive, and it is believed that, following the completion of the petroleum refinery at Curaçao, considerable oil, produced locally, will be used for fuel.

FOREIGN CAPITAL IN VENEZUELA.

An estimate made in the year 1916 indicated that British investments in Venezuela amounted to approximately $39,905,300 United States currency. This included large holdings in Government external bonds, shares and debentures in four railways (the La GuairaCaracas Railway, the Puerto Cabello-Valencia Railway, the Bolivar Railway, and the Central Railway of Venezuela), interests in publicutility enterprises at Caracas, the National Match Factory, certain petroleum undertakings, etc.

A very fair amount of American capital has found its way to Venezuela. The interests of the General Asphalt Co. are large, the Caribbean Petroleum Co. and other American interests are important factors in the oil development of the Republic, and there are sugar enterprises financed in the United States. American banks have recently entered the field. The location of the Republic geographically is favorable to closer financial intercourse with the United States.

German interests hold a number of Government bonds, control the Great Railway of Venezuela, running from Valencia to Caracas,

etc.

France has from time to time controlled mining enterprises of more or less importance and has been interested in balata and rubber enterprises. The La Ceiba Railway, a local line of some importance, was constructed by French engineers, but whether any shares are held abroad is unknown.

The Royal Bank of Canada, a well-known Canadian institution, has recently opened a branch in Venezuela, while the VenezuelanCanadian Ore Co. was a Halifax enterprise.

Part 2.-CENTRAL AMERICA.

BRITISH HONDURAS.

INTRODUCTION.

England's Central American colony, British Honduras, has an area of 8,598 square miles, and is bounded on the north and northwest by Mexico and on the west and south by Guatemala. The population of the colony is approximately 42,000, of whom about 13,500 reside in Belize, the capital. This city is the principal seaport and by far the most important center in the colony. A very large proportion of its population consists of negroes. Other important towns are Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Corozal, and Punta Gorda.

BONDED DEBT.

The total bonded debt of British Honduras, as of the year 1915, amounted to £194,735, as compared with £34,736 in 1905. Part of the proceeds of bond issues has been used for the construction of the Stann Creek Railway (see a later paragraph). The annual charges on the debt amount to £9,390, as compared with £2,175 in 1905. The total revenue for the colony in 1915 was £103,718, as compared with £63,742 in 1905.

The bond issues of the colony consist of (1) £9,000 4 per cent bonds, dated 1888 and due 1918, repayable by means of a 2 per cent sinking fund, cumulative; (2) £20,000 41 per cent debentures, dated 1894 and due 1923, the sinking fund being 2 per cent per annum, cumulative; (3) £160,000 4 per cent 10-year bonds, principal payable 1921 and convertible until 1920 into 4 per cent inscribed stock, maturing in 1971 and with a sinking fund of 1 per cent per annum. Interest on both bonds and inscribed stock is payable January 1. The loan is now represented by bonds £43,100 and inscribed stock £116,900. The bonds and inscribed stock are not actively quoted.

BANKING.

The banking facilities of the colony are provided by an agency of the Royal Bank of Canada. There would hardly be any opportunity for the location of an American bank there, although it may be noted that the United States normally buys more than three-quarters of the colony's exports and sells about one-half of what the colony buys.

RAILWAYS.

British Honduras possesses only one railway that may be called a common carrier. This is the Stann Creek Railway, 25 miles, running

from the minor port of Stann Creek inland toward the foothills of the Cockscomb Mountains. The railway has erected a pier near the town, and a breakwater enables steamers to load and unload in safety. The cost of the line was approximately £173,000. Gross receipts for 1914-15 were approximately $28,200 and expenses $54,000. No further particulars are obtainable. The railway's limited freight traffic consists mostly of bananas and lumber.

In addition to the Stann Creek Railway, there is a small mileage of privately operated tramways to agricultural and timber properties. These lines are of little importance.

There have been projects from time to time for the construction of a line to extend across British Honduras and into the Peten district of Guatemala. This would open to the world some of the finest known tracts of hardwood forests, both in Guatemala and British Honduras. The construction of such a line would be fairly costly and would probably hardly warrant the investment, unless carried out by a company sufficiently supplied with capital to cut enough timber to develop a large proportion of the traffic. Doubtless this proposed line, through the construction of spurs and branches to reach various timber stands, would in time earn a substantial profit, but its business as a common carrier, for a time at least, would hardly prove remunerative. The possible construction of this line is further discussed in the chapter on Guatemala (p. 416).

PUBLIC UTILITIES.

The public-utility field is, of necessity, a very limited one, being confined for the present decade at least to such opportunities as may arise following the possible further growth and development of the town of Belize, which at the present time has but few modern improvements. At present its most important utility is a small electric plant, sufficient for its needs.

PRODUCTS OF THE COLONY.

British Honduras is primarily a producer of forest products. It contains fine forests of mahogany, rosewood, cedar, and other hardwoods, and is capable of supplying large quantities of chicle, rubber, cohune oil, mangrove bark for tanning purposes, logwood, etc. The logwood industry, once the most important in the colony, has been replaced by chicle gathering and hardwood cutting. Chicle exports in good years have exceeded 2,000,000 pounds, valued at more than $600,000. The rubber industry in the colony has not assumed importance, being confined primarily to the gathering of wild rubber from the forests. The logwood supply has diminished, owing, it is said, to the fact that the supply within easy reach of markets has been nearly exhausted. There is said to be an abundance of the logwood situated in more or less inaccessible places, which will doubtless be marketed at some future time.

As has been stated, a very large portion of British Honduras is under forest. The splendid mahogany trees of the colony have been marketed readily and their exploitation has attracted fair sums of foreign capital, partly American; 10,000,000 feet might be considered a fair annual yield and this production is likely, under normal

conditions, to be maintained or exceeded for many years to come. The numerous rivers and creeks in the colony aid the lumbermen greatly, enabling them to transport the product at moderate costs. Much of the future in the mahogany industry will depend upon possible railways or short railway spurs connecting with the rivers and creeks. Other hardwoods, such as rosewood and cedar, are cut and exported, although not in as large quantities as the mahogany. Mangrove bark is exploited in a moderate way, there being considerable quantities of mangrove trees in the lower parts of the country and bordering the rivers and creeks. Pine is also found in large quantities, although it is probable that little could be done with it commercially.

Labor conditions in British Honduras are not bad nor are wages excessive, and the general field offers an opportunity to those provided with sufficient capital.

Bananas, plantains, and coconuts are exploited in British Honduras and the various planters in the colony are said, on the whole, to be prosperous. The United Fruit Co. has not taken up banana growing there, and the total annual exports of this fruit do not exceed $250,000. Coconut growing has been carried on with considerable success, and of late years some attention has been given to sugar

cane.

Little or no exploration work for minerals has been done in British Honduras. There are no mines of any description in actual operation.

One of the largest companies operating in British Honduras is the Belize Estate & Produce Co., a British corporation, capitalized at £70,000 stock (£60,000 paid up) and £30,000 debentures of 1920 and 1922. No statements of income are made public by the company, but dividend payments are generally at the rate of 10 per cent per

annum.