230 



ECUADOR. 



her of other persons who were implicated in 

 offenses were remanded to the local tribunals 

 for trial. 



ECUADOR (REpfiBLicA DEL ECUADOR). For 

 comparative statements of area and population, 

 and for territorial division, reference may be 

 made to the u Annual Cyclopedia" for 1873 

 and 1878. 



The President of the Republic is General 

 Ignacio de Veintemilla, inaugurated in Decem- 

 ber, 1876.* The first Designado was Settor L. 

 Salvador; and the second Designado, Seftor 

 J. N"ovoa. The offices of these Designados 

 correspond respectively to those of first and 

 second Vice-Presidents, and were created by 

 the Convention of Ambato in 1878. 



The Cabinet was composed of the following 

 Ministers: Interior and Foreign Affairs, Gen- 

 eral C. Bernaza ; Finance, Doctor Martin Icaza ; 

 and War and Marine, Colonel 0. F. Bolona. 



The Governor of Guayaquil was General J. 

 Sanchez Rubio. 



The armed land-force of the country is re- 

 turned at 1,200 rank and file, and the navy con- 

 sists of three small steamers. 



In the absence of official reports, little is 

 known of the real condition of the national 

 finances. The revenue in 1876 amounted to 

 2,317,000 pesos,t and the expenditure was set 

 down at 3,360,000 pesos; thus leaving a deficit 

 of 1,043,000 pesos! 



The average yield of the custom-house of 

 Guayaquil the chief port of entry in the 

 years 1870 to 1876 was about 1,450,000 pesos, 

 or considerably over one half of the entire reve- 

 nue of the republic for the last year of the sep- 

 tennial period mentioned. The receipts at that 

 port in 1879 may be estimated at about 1,800,- 

 000 pesos, assuming 25 per cent, as the aver- 

 age rate of duty on imports of all classes. 



The national debt of Ecuador was reported, on 

 January 1, 1877, at 22,938,000 pesos, of which 

 10,150,000 represented the home debt, the re- 

 mainder being the proceeds of a loan contract- 

 ed for in England in 1855. Interesting par- 

 ticulars concerning this debt have been record- 

 ed in our volumes for 1874 and 1875. 



The exports (exclusive of precious metals) and 

 imports through the port of Guayaquil in 1879 

 were of the approximate values of 7,500,000 

 and 8,684,330 pesos respectively. Chief among 

 the articles exported were cacao, 31,534,137 

 pounds, of the value of 6,937,510 pesos; Peru- 

 vian bark, of the value of 691,891 pesos; ivory- 

 nuts (tagua\ 573,675 pesos; India-rubber, 

 145,344 pesos; jipijapa (or the so-called Pa- 

 nama) hats, coffee, skins, etc. The precious 

 metals shipped were of the value of 693,598 



The year 1879 was one of unusual prosperity 

 for the province of Guayas, of which Guaya- 

 quil is the capital. The cacao-crop was par- 



* Declared Dictator for an unlimited period in 1878. 

 (See "Annual Cyclopaedia" for that year, p. 260.) 



t The Ecuadorian peso is at present equivalent to about 

 77 cents of United States money. 



ticularly abundant, having reached 81, 965.81 9 

 Ibs., against 10,330,900 Ibs. for the year pre- 

 vious. The crop of 1879 was of the value of 

 7,000,000 pesos. Large shipments of ivory- 

 nuts were also made, of the aggregate value of 

 some 1,000,000 pesos. The province named 

 produces also large quantities of woods, sugar- 

 cane, rubber, and hides. Straw hats are ex- 

 tensively exported. Fruits constitute an im- 

 portant article of commerce with Peru, while 

 many other articles of the production of the 

 country bring up the value of the miscella- 

 neous exports of Guayaquil to over 1,000,000 

 pesos. Taking into consideration the exports 

 of hats, cacao, India-rubber, tobacco, etc., etc., 

 from Manta, Bahia, and Esmeraldas, products 

 of the province of Guayas alone, the value of 

 the exports to the different markets of the 

 world was over 10,000,000 pesos a splendid 

 reward certainly for the labors of a district 

 containing only 180,000 inhabitants. In addi- 

 tion to this, Peruvian bark, almost the sole 

 product shipped from the interior, increased 

 the value of exports from the port of Guaya- 

 quil alone by at least 1,500,000 pesos. 



The import trade of Guayaquil increased 

 considerably during the year 1879 by the war 

 between the three more southerly republics of 

 the continent, in which that port has been 

 used as a sort of intermediary between Peru 

 and Chili, more particularly during the brief 

 period in which the commercial interdiction 

 between those two republics continued. This 

 trade was formerly done directly, and since 

 the late decree of President Pierola has re- 

 turned to its accustomed channels. 



The shipping movements at the port of 

 Guayaquil for 1879 were as follows: Entered, 

 226 vessels (of which 115 were steamers), of an 

 aggregate tonnage of 215,831 ; cleared, 221 

 vessels (including 115 steamers), with a total 

 of 216,056 tons. The Yaguachi Railway is re- 

 ported as being completed. 



The following decree was issued by the Mu- 

 nicipal Council of Guayaquil under date, No- 

 vember 18, 1879 : 



ARTICLE I. Craft loaded with any class of mer- 

 chandise which may arrive at the port of Guayaquil 

 will ray duty in accordance with the following tariff: 

 Small canoes, twenty-five cents ; covered canoes, fifty 

 cents ; large canoes, two pesos ; boats, fifty cents ; 

 launches, two pesos ; rafts, one peso ; small rafts, fifty 

 cents small sloops, one peso ; sloops, two pesos ; 

 launches discharging cargo from ships or steamers 

 (each voyage), two pesos ; small river-steamers (each 

 voyage), two pesos ; medium river-steamers, two pe- 

 sos ; large river-steamers, four pesos. Sailing-vessels 

 or steamers not exceeding one hundred tons register, 

 three cents per ton ; from one to five hundred tons, 

 two cents per ton; of larger tonnage, one and one 

 half cent per ton. 



ART. II. Craft which are loaded only with provi- 

 sions for general consumption, or goods i'rom the 

 province of Guayaquil, are excepted from the fore- 

 going duty. 



ART. III. The present order will come in force from 

 the 1st day of January, 1880. 



It would be particularly gratifying to record 

 the progress of the country in political and 



