The Republic is a member of the International Postal Union. It has an excellent post-office service, both foreign and domestic. Complete information is given in the Postal Code of the Republic. During the last year the number of pieces of mail received in all the offices of the Republic was nearly 5,000,000, while the mail matter transmitted amounted to 3,653,000 separate pieces. The telegraph and telephone are nationalized and are controlled and operated by the Government, though there are also some private telephone lines in the capital. The national telegraph lines have a total length of about 5,300 kilometers, 3,290 miles, and the telephone lines of 500 kilometers, 310 miles. The number of telegrams transmitted in a given year was 1,106,832. The Government is constantly constructing new lines both for telegraph and telephone service. At the present time there are nearly 200 telegraph offices and about 100 telephone offices. The rates both for telegraph and telephone messages, which are payable in Guatemalan currency, are quite moderate. A telegram of 10 words to any part of the Republic costs about 5 cents in gold. The long distance telephone service is at the rate of about 15 cents for a five minutes' conversation. The cable service is maintained by the Central and South American Telegraph Company, whose main office is at San José. The following are the charges per word in gold: Guatemala to points in the United States 55 cts. " " " Great Britain 80 cts. " " " France 80 cts. " " " Germany 80 cts. " " " Canada 58 cts. " " " Central America 29 to 32 cts. " Havana, Cuba 66 cts. " points in Mexico 31 to 44 cts. " City of Panama 37 cts. " City of Colon 47 cts. CHAPTER II. A PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENT AND HIS POLICIES. Guatemala in order to fulfil its destiny as the country of the future must be assured of stable and progressive government hospitable to foreign capital. To insure these things it is necessary to have the right man at the head of affairs. No one now questions that Guatemala possesses this advantage in the person of Manuel Estrada Cabrera, whose term as President will not expire till 1911. The best test of any public man entrusted with the responsibility of government is the opinion of disinterested foreign observers whose position gives them the opportunity to judge. This opinion was voiced by Mr. Leslie Combs, the American Minister Plenipotentiary to Guatemala, on the occasion of a New Year's reception by President Estrada Cabrera (1905), when the diplomatic corps called on the President in a body. Speaking for himself and for his colleagues of the Diplomatic Corps Minister Combs on that occasion said: