of manufactured products of one nation for the raw materials of another. In practice, the process is much more complex, and a large part of world trade consists of the exchange of manufactured specialties and semimanufactures among the industrial nations. There is no reason to doubt that the spread of industrialism will continue to leave ample opportunity for regional specialization of production based upon differences in climate, resources, special skills, tastes, and styles.

It may therefore be concluded that the

trend toward the expansion of interAmerican commerce has been accelerated by the war. The volume of trade should grow as wartime energies are diverted into the channels of commercial production, and as transportation facilities are developed to meet the need of nations at peace. At the same time it is expected that all countries of the world should share in this expanding international commerce on the basis of fair competition in national markets and of equal access to supplies of raw materials, equipment, and techniques.

he was elected for the first time by his native city, Verrettes, to a seat in the Chamber of Deputies as a representative of the second district of the province of St. Marc. Though one of the youngest members of the Chamber, he held the place of Secretary. Later he was chosen by his colleagues to fill the post of First Secretary and then, because of his outstanding service, became Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies. Successively in the years 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1946 he was reelected to the Chamber. M. Estimé, under the government of Stenio Vincent (1931-1941), received the portfolio of Secretary of Public Education, Agriculture, and Labor, which he held with distinction. His work in the field of public education was particularly noteworthy.

M. Estimé is remembered as the only member of the old Congress to vote for former President Lescot in 1941. In 1944 he reversed this stand by voting against a second term for President Lescot when all other members of the National Assembly approved it. Last May, following the military coup d'état that overthrew President Lescot, he was elected a delegate to the Constituent Assembly. On August 16, 1946, Dumarsais Estimé was elected President of Haiti by the General Constituent Assembly and he took office on the same day. According to Haiti's new Constitution, effective in November 1946, his term will extend to May 15, 1952.

66

Honduran Hands

BESSIE REINDORP

"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you."

The truth of these words is nowhere more apparent than in Honduras, especially for the stranger who comes seeking to know how the people themselves think and live and what their hands accomplish.

Of course the first thing that one realizes is the intense beauty and the diversity of the republic's physical being. There are pine-covered mountains that loom high against the sky, some gently sloped, others harsh and arresting. The valleys are endlessly surprising with their cultivated fields, their cattle-filled pastures, their rose-roofed villages and their recurrent mounds that are as apt as not to be ancient temples. And there are the tangled jungles of Mosquitia Territory and the thousands of acres of banana lands.

Craft work usually connotes a small, perfect object, often of commercial value. But "hand work" may embrace a larger field and include the work of broad rough farm hands, of the long firm hands of potters and tile makers, of slender brown hands of palm weavers, or the bluntfingered hands of the true craftsman. Perhaps, as one thinks of Honduran hands, it is fair to think of two other kinds, similar to each other. There are the perfectly kept hands of the wealthy aristocratic officials, of bankers, of heads of large commercial houses, and of professional men. And there are the small white hands of the ladies of the land. Surely no country boasts more beautiful and cultured women than those of Comayagua, women whose hands rest like petals against the dark coats of their escorts at formal dances or receptions in that infinitely charming first capital of the republic.

Throughout Honduras other women whose hands are strong gossip together at the river as they wash their clothes on the smooth flat rocks and dry them on the

sunny banks-laying some smooth to simulate ironing, tossing others over the bushes. Where commercial soap is scarce (which means almost everywhere) the women make their own, but each for herself. A woman boils in earthen pots the oil from figs, olives, and sapotes, with lye secured by washing a mixture of lime and wood ashes.

The men very seldom share farm labor or farm machinery, however simple it may be, a plow made from a crotched limb, a yoke of carved wood. They till their own fields, build their own homes or hire the work done. This is also the general custom in El Salvador and throughout most of Central America. In the west coast republics of South America the situation is quite reversed there is a strong sense of community responsibility, and village or farm problems are usually handled by the neighborhood as an integrated group. Yet the Honduran men are normally gregarious in their social life, and in the warm dusk will gravitate to the nearest pueblo and form quiet groups at a small store. The "country store" is similar the world

Photograph by Elsie Brown

A HONDURAN FARMER

over, its wares varying in detail only. In Honduras there will be pottery plates on which to make tortillas, fresh eggs tied into banana skins, long square-sided cigars, large straw hats, round white cheeses, baskets of hard pointed rolls and among everything else are saints' pictures, imported needles, thread, yard goods, and liquors. The favorite drink for the average man is a locally made beer, usually drunk without ice. If beer is too expensive the lounger drinks huero, which is a native liquor similar to the Peruvian chacta, or to North American moonshine. The principal topics of conversation are more or less the same as in any country store-the crops, the weather, politics. And often in Honduras the talk turns to praise or condemnation of the ubiquitous Fruit Company.

The Comayagua and Choluteca areas furnish most of the dairy products for the republic especially butter and cheese. Fresh milk is not widely used, since transportation is difficult, and milk sours quickly in the moist heat. So it is not at all unusual to find Klim and canned milk sharing shelf space with green coconuts or baskets of medicinal herbs in the tiny open-front

stores.

Country children's hands are usually rather sticky, for tropical fruits grow almost everywhere and are universally eaten. There are mangoes, avocados, and oranges in nearly all home gardens over the republic. But the best commercially raised fruit comes from the northcentral area around Pespire of course, most of the bananas are from the north coast. Around Pespire the people are quite simple and unaffected, living in their lath and adobe homes, whose roofs are rose-tiled or thatched with vijao palm fronds. The mangoes from here are not particularly large but are a deep rose yellow and, while a bit fibrous, are almost

completely free of any strong "turpentine" flavor.

The farmers make specially constructed two-wheeled oxcarts to carry the fruit. The cart has a solid wooden floor, about 4 by 6 feet, to which are tied 8 to 12 small tree branches about 5 feet high, with lacings of henequen rope about half way up. The slender stalks from dried broom corn are bound into a mat some 3 feet high, 6 or so inches thick, and long enough entirely to line the inside walls of the cartthe floor is similarly padded. Then the mangoes (which are picked fairly green) are packed in as beautifully as plums or cherries are crated in the States, so they will not jar loose and bruise as the carts bump over the roads and I really mean bump.

Some of the women and children accom

A STREET IN TEGUCIGALPA Many new buildings bear witness to the skill of Honduran hands.

Photograph by Elsie Brown

NEAR THE TEGUCIGALPA MARKET The finest mangoes are rushed to the capital by truck.

pany their men on the 5-day trek from their village to Tegucigalpa. Camp is made for 5 or 6 hours in the middle of the day. Often precooked foods are carried. Black beans that have been boiled, mashed, and fried are packed in earthen pots. Roasted fowls are wrapped in banana leaves, as are highly seasoned tamales and baked bananas. As soon as the sun's rays fall at even a slight angle, the wooden yokes are again laid behind the curved horns of the oxen, and the caravan moves on through the evening, night and early morning. The carts are not filled clear to the back, so odds and ends of cooking pots, as well as barterable commodities, may be put in. Here the younger children sleep, and occasionally one of the women (or even a