176 



COLOMBIA. 



time the States are bound to furnish a contin- 

 gent of one per cent, of the population. 



Commerce. The following tabular statement 

 shows Colombian trade with some of the lead- 

 ing commercial countries : 

 EXPORTS. 



The United States' trade with Colombia in 

 two vears has been : 



Railroads. At the annual election of directors 

 of the Panama Railroad Company, held in New 

 York on March 26, the president, J. G. Mc- 

 Cullough, resigned, and his successor, Gen. 

 John Newton, was installed. The former re- 

 marked on the occasion : " The road was bought 

 in 1881 at $290 net per share. Dividends as 

 high as 10, 12, 16, 20, and 24 per cent, on the 

 capital stock of $7,000,000 have been paid. 

 For the past year a little less than 9 per cent, 

 was earned, and 6 per cent, was paid in Janu- 

 ary, leaving $660,000 in the treasury. The 

 company to-day has no floating debt, and 

 there is not a suit against it pending in the 

 United States. The physical condition of the 

 property is about perfect. Since the riots and 

 fires of 1885 the stations have been rebuilt of 

 corrugated iron, and the equipment of rolling- 

 stock is ample." 



In March a railroad company, limited, was 

 incorporated in London with a share capital 

 of 172,000 for the purpose of purchasing and 

 operating the El Dorado- Honda Railroad. 



In May a Franco-Belgian company was 

 formed with a capital of 2,500,00,0 francs, 

 2,400,000 francs paid in, for the purpose of 

 obtaining concessions for railroads in Colombia, 

 and building and operating them. 



Simultaneously the National Government of 

 Colombia approved the contract entered into 

 by the State of Antioquia with O. S. Brown 

 for the continuation and completion of the rail- 

 road between Puerto Barrio and Medellin, the 

 capital necessary being $6,000,000. 



Steamer Lines. Negotiations have been 

 opened between the Government of the State 

 of Panama and the Pacific Steam Navigation 

 Company for the extension of its line to the 



northern sections of Panama by the establish- 

 ment of a tri-monthly service of light-draught 

 steamers to run between Panama and Puerto 

 Pedregal, in the province of Chiriqui, and the 

 port of Sona, in the province of Veragua, a 

 subsidy to be paid the company of $700 for 

 each round trip. 



In April the steamer " Flamborougb " left 

 Colon for Kingston, Jamaica, being the pioneer 

 ship of a new line between Colon, Jamaica, 

 and Hayti. 



In August it transpired that the "West India 

 Lloyd Steamship Company had given orders to 

 build six steamers for the purpose of more 

 rapidly transporting tropical fruits to New 

 York and England. To this end, two of the 

 steamers will ply between New Orleans and 

 Savanilla, touching at intermediate ports and 

 connecting at Trujillo with two other vessels 

 of the line, which will run between New York 

 and Livingston, Guatemala, Nassau, Jamaica, 

 Trujillo, and the Island of Inagua, the nearest 

 of the West Indian Islands to New York and 

 Great Britain. The two largest and finest 

 steamers will ply between London and Colon, 

 touching at Plymouth, the Azores, and Ja- 

 maica, and connecting with the New York 

 steamers at Inagua. 



Telegraphs. On February 15 Bogota was 

 united w T ith Quito, the capital of Ecuador, by 

 telegraph, and in June with Carthagena; at 

 the same time telegraphic communication was 

 established between Panama, Barranquilla, 

 Carthagena, and Santa Marta, and a telephone 

 company was making arrangements for estab- 

 lishing communication by telephone between 

 Panama and Colon. 



In October the Panama Railroad Company 

 was authorized by the Government to send 

 public messages over the wires of its line be- 

 tween Panama and Colon till the Government 

 shall have constructed its own line. 



Wagon-Road. In May the government of the 

 State of Bolivar opened the wagon-road from 

 Tolu to Sinceljo. This road was built to bring 

 the rich region of Sabanas, Bolivar, in closer 

 communication with the coast. 



Mineral Resources. Colombia contains numer- 

 ous gold and silver bearing zones, and iron and 

 copper, lead, zinc, antimony, arsenic, and cin- 

 nabar are to be found among the metals, 

 while salt-beds abound, and sulphur, kaolin, 

 and fire-clay are to be found. Cundinamarca 

 and Boyaca are comparatively poor in gold 

 and silver bearing lands if we except the Ari- 

 ari and Guguaqui gold-beds, the silver-bear- 

 ing copper-lodes of Tosca, the gold veins of 

 Villa de Leiva and Loata, and the gold wash- 

 ings in the beds of the Guataque and Cocuy. 

 In the eastern ridge of the Cordillera, which 

 separates Pamplona from Bucaramanga and 

 covering a space of over fifty kilometres, the 

 primitive formations are interspersed by gold 

 and silver bearing ledges. Under the Spanish 

 rule these reefs were worked. The wealth ob- 

 tained from them is a matter of history, while 



