200 



COSTA RIGA. 



CREMIEUX, ISAAC A. 



duces a revenue at present, which is stated at 

 something like $100,000 per annum, while ex- 

 penses, etc., are placed at $150,000. The Min- 

 ister of Public Works urges the early comple- 

 tion of the road on the Pacific side, and also 

 the construction of the remaining portion be- 

 tween San Jose" and Limon. He furnished 

 figures showing that the enterprise, on its own 

 footing, will be a success, but a slight exami- 

 nation of these fails to convince us of the cor- 

 rectness of his estimates. In his calculation of 

 expenses, etc., he has forgotten several impor- 

 tant particulars, among which is the probable 

 cost of maintenance, renewals of stock, and 

 working expenses on the Atlantic division, 

 which, from its heavy grades and sharp curves, 

 will always be considerable. His judgment is 

 also decidedly at fault as to the relative cost of 

 railway operation in the high and compara- 

 tively dry lands of the interior, and the low, 

 damp, swampy lands of the coast, with their 

 innumerable rivers, which, in the rainy season, 

 are practically uncontrollable. His estimates 

 of revenue discuss probabilities concerning the 

 entire commerce of the country, while his con- 

 siderations of expense, maintenance, renewals, 

 and contingencies concern only the Pacific di- 

 vision. The Government, according to reports 

 current in September last, had made a contract 

 with a Mr. J. Mosca Chiarin, for the construc- 

 tion of an elevated railway from San Jose to 

 Rio Sucio, to connect at the latter place with 

 the surface railway now in course of prepara- 

 tion thence to Limon. The line was to be 

 finished in six months from the date of the 

 contract (August 9, 1880), and tc cost $200,000, 

 payable in monthly installments of $25,000, 

 bearing interest at 12 per cent, per annum. 



There are at present in operation in the 

 republic 392 miles of telegraph, with sixteen 

 offices. 



Costa Rica has been without a Constitution 

 for the past two years, that of 1871 having 

 been suspended in 1878. The Constituent As- 

 sembly was convoked in 1880, Seftor Valio pre- 

 siding, for the purpose of framing a new Con- 

 stitution, but their deliberations were brought 

 suddenly to a termination in less than three 

 weeks, by Dictator Guardia, on the plea that 

 an appeal had been made to armed force to 

 sustain the Constituent Assembly in its deter- 

 mination to depose him. 



Though at peace with the neighboring states, 

 the relations of the republic were by no means 

 harmonious with all. Besides the old bound- 

 ary question with Colombia, referred to at 

 the commencement of the present article, she 

 protested against the canal contract made by 

 the latter without consulting her, and in viola- 

 tion, she claims, of the treaty of April 15, 

 1858, qualifying at the same time that act 

 as an infringement of her territorial rights. 

 The protest elicited from Nicaragua a lengthy 

 reply, in substance briefly as follows: That, 

 even admitting as still in force the treaty al- 

 luded to, and in pursuance of the eighth article 



of which no canal was to be contracted for 

 without first hearing the opinion of the Costa 

 Rican Government, the circumstances attend- 

 ing the present contract had been of a nature 

 so urgent as to leave no time for consulting any 

 government without the risk of losing, per- 

 haps for ever, a favorable opportunity for the 

 realization of a colossal enterprise of so much 

 promise for Central America; that, while 

 granting the right that one nation possesses to 

 demand that another should keep her engage- 

 ments, and that the existence of a pact is suffi- 

 cient to render its fulfillment a necessity, if 

 loyalty and good faith are to form the basis of 

 international relations, yet when the omission 

 of a formality involving no principles of funda- 

 mental importance has been caused simply by 

 circumstances at once exceptional and unavoid- 

 able, and the nature of which has been clearly 

 and frankly explained, there was here no rea- 

 son for condemning the conduct of a nation, 

 if peoples in their mutual relations are to be 

 actuated by a spirit of fraternity and recipro- 

 cal regard ; and that, as to the claim that Costa 

 Rica's territorial rights had suffered, such claim 

 could readily be proved to lack foundation, in- 

 asmuch as the projected canal would nowhere 

 touch upon the limits of that country. 



The aggregate attendance at all the schools 

 of the republic was reported to have been 26,- 

 000 in the past year. Copious educational sta- 

 tistics were given in the " Annual Cyclopedia " 

 for 1879. 



CREMIEUX, ISAAC ADOLPHE, French states- 

 man, born of Jewish parents at Nimes, April 

 30, 1796 ; died at Paris, February 10, 1880. 

 After studying law at Aix, he was, at the age 

 of only twenty-one years, admitted to the bar 

 of his native city, and soon gained great repu- 

 tation by his brilliant speeches, especially in 

 the case of the murder of Marshal Brune. 

 He moved to Paris in 1830, and defended be- 

 fore the Court of Paris M. de Guernon-Ran- 

 ville, one of the Ministers of Charles X. In 

 this case he was not successful, as, overcome 

 by too great exertions, he fainted, and was 

 unable to complete his defense. Soon, how- 

 ever, the prestige which he had previously ac- 

 quired was restored. After purchasing from 

 M. Odilon Barrot his office and functions as 

 advocate, he defended a number of Liberal 

 journals and several distinguished republicans 

 who were prosecuted by the Government of 

 Louis Philippe. In 1837 he paid the debts of 

 his father, who had died a bankrupt, and se- 

 cured his rehabilitation. In 1842 he became 

 a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the 

 arrondissement of Chinon, and took his seat 

 on the extreme left. Having been reflected 

 in 1846, he took a prominent part in the re- 

 form agitation of that time, and was among 

 those who signed the demand for the impeach- 

 ment of M. Guizot. When the Revolution of 

 1848 broke out, he urged Louis Philippe and the 

 Queen to leave France immediately. He was 

 reported to favor the regency of the Duchess 



