614 



NICARAGUA. 



ing the plant or extending the privilege for 

 another equal period, on the expiration of 

 which the plant becomes city property without 

 compensation. 



Railroads. There are in operation two lines 

 of railway, one between Corinto and Momo- 

 tornbo via Chinandega and Leon, and one be- 

 tween Managua and Granada ri Masaya, 

 measuring together 159 kilometres in length. 



Lake Navigation. In July the Government 

 made a contract for the establishment of a 

 new line of steamboats to ply on the lake be- 

 tween Managua and Momotombo; the tirst 

 steamer to begin its trips in eighteen months, 

 and no steamer of the line to register less than 

 150 tons burden. 



Commerce. During four biennial periods the 

 total foreign trade of Nicaragua was as follows : 



187V80 $6.644.816 I 1883-'S4 $8,699,630 



1831-'82 7,881,662 | 1SS3-'S6 8,41". l-* 



The imports and exports during the last two 

 were distributed as follow : 



During the last two years the products ex- 

 ported were: India-rubber, 23,007 quintals; 

 gold, 19,785 ounces; coffee, 142,472 quintals; 

 cattle, 406 head. 



The American trade with Nicaragua has 

 been as follows : 



Education. In 1887 there were 233 common 

 schools, attended by 9,033 pupils, who were 

 taught by 256 teachers, and 10 colleges, at- 

 tended by 998 students, taught by 64 pro- 

 fessors. The painter, Don Jose Maria Ibarra, 

 is about to open a school of arts at the capi- 

 tal ; simultaneously a young ladies' educational 

 institute is to be established. Dating from 

 May 1, the academies at Leon and Granada 

 were changed to national universities. The 

 Government in 1888 spent $1,940 monthly in 

 aid extended to colleges and universities, and 

 $5,362 per month for common schools; add- 

 ing thereto other subsidies for education, the 

 monthly state aid aggregated during the year 

 $14,046. 



Nicaragua Canal. The apparent collapse of the 

 Panama Canal and the slight interest taken 

 in the Tehauntepec Ship-Canal, bring into 

 prominence the Nicaragua Canal. The Mari- 

 time Canal Company of Nicaragua, which had 

 already received a charter from the State of 

 Vermont, received also a charter from the 

 Congress of the United States in February, 

 1889. After debates and investigations in 

 both houses of Congress, of the_most exhaust- 



ive nature, continued at intervals throughout 

 a period of more than a year, this act of in- 

 corporation was signed by President Cleve- 

 land in the same month, after careful exami- 

 nation by himself and cabinet of the constitu- 

 tionality of the measure, and of the claims and 

 objections of previous concessions. This meas- 

 ure is in line with the joint resolution of the 

 Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs that the 

 ship-canal should not be under European con- 

 trol. It requires the president, vice-president, 

 and a majority of the directors of the company 

 to be citizens of the United States. 



The first concession to build a ship-canal by 

 the route now proposed was granted by Nica- 

 ragua in 1849 to the Atlantic and Pacific Ship- 

 Canal Company. The original company was 

 succeeded by the Central American Transit 

 Company. This organization is still in exist- 

 ence, and its members claim that it has rights 

 prior to those of any other concern, which 

 must be respected by any company that at- 

 tempts to construct a canal on the route cov- 

 ered by the concessions. These claims have 

 be9n frequently denied by the Government of 

 Nicaragua, and the action of the United States 

 Congress and President in granting national 

 approval to the present company confirms this 

 denial. A report was made giving the cost 

 and description of the route of a ship-canal 

 from the harbor of San Juan Del Norte, or 

 (ireytown, on the Atlantic, to the harbor of 

 Brito on the Pacific, in Nicaragua. Two other 

 lines were surveyed, but were deemed imprac- 

 ticable. The estimated cost of the entire work 

 \v as $31,500,000. The undertaking was carried 

 on for several years with considerable energy. 

 It was purely an American enterprise ; and it 

 therefore encountered considerable opposition 

 through representatives of foreign govern- 

 ments. Complications with political intriguers 

 led to assurances by the Government at Wash- 

 ington, in 1858-'59, that the interests of citi- 

 zens of the United States would be protected. 

 The Bulwer and Clayton treaty was nego- 

 tiated partially in behalf of the company's in- 

 terests. In 1802 the Government of Nicara- 

 gua confiscated the property of the company. 

 Through the intervention of the United States 

 minister, the property was returned. Owing 

 to the civil war in this country the company 

 was left to protect its own interests, and in 

 1883 the Government of Nicaragua took away 

 the exclusive privileges held by the company, 

 and ratified a contract with Capt. Pirn, who 

 represented an English company that proposed 

 building a railroad across the Isthmus. After 

 the exclusive right had been taken away and 

 the charter of the company modified, it made 

 a new contract with Nicaragua, and proceeded 

 with its work. In 1868 the company's steam- 

 er on Lake Nicaragua was seized by the troops 

 of the Government, the franchises of the com- 

 pany were declared forfeited, and all its prop- 

 erty was seized for debt and sold. This last act 

 drove the company's employes out of the coun- 



