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. On the Pacific slope the leading railway system is the Guatemala Central. It was built by C. P. Huntington and is one of the best railroads anywhere south of the Rio Grande. Though of narrow gauge the roadbed was laid for standard gauge, and this change can be made at any time. Unlike most foreign railways the Guatemala Central maintains the American system of checking baggage. Its main line and branches cover the coffee-raising districts of the Pacific coast section of Guatemala. The Occidental Railroad has about 50 miles of track and the Ocos line 20 miles. Both of these are on the Pacific slope. COMPREHENSIVE RAILWAY POLICY. It is worth knowing that while the interoceanic line approaches completion Guatemala is making decided progress in the links of the Pan-American or intercontinental north and south trunk line. From a junction with the Northern a branch will run south to Zacapa and ultimately will be extended into Salvador. Towards the north there is only a section of 30 miles to be completed in order to prolong the Guatemalan system to Ayutla on the border of Mexico and this will be done as soon as the extension of the Mexican lines to the boundary are completed. These extensions are to be finished within two years, so it may reasonably be said that by the end of 1907, if not sooner, a through railway journey will be possible from San Francisco, Chicago, or New York to the capital of Guatemala. The importance of this railway building was shown by Senator Stephen B. Elkins, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce, in a speech made at the dinner given the Pan-American Railway Committee by the Hon. H. G. Davis. In his speech Senator Elkins said that the freight on coffee, which now approximates $20 per ton or $1,000 on a carload of 50 tons, would be cheapened till it came down to $250 per carload, or $5 per ton. [Illustration: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS.] The railroad laws of Guatemala are thus explained in my official report as Commissioner of the Pan-American Railway: