BOLIVIA. 



BOOKBINDING, SPECIAL AMERICAN. SI 



of 1901 the electoral question was brought up by 

 M. Janson, who proposed to take the opinion of 

 the country on universal suffrage and the appli- 

 cation of proportional representation to all elec- 

 tions by means of a referendum. The motion ob- 

 tained 50 votes, and was rejected by a majority 

 of only 35, although there is no provision in the 

 Constitution for a popular referendum, which the 

 Ministerialists described as a dangerous and revo- 

 lutionary device. The Socialist party in a mani- 

 festo threatened revolution if pacific means should 

 fail to bring about the system of one man one 

 vote. On July 30 the Socialists in the Chamber 

 enacted an episode of unprecedented obstruction 

 and disorder. The Radicals and the Moderate 

 Liberals agreed to unite with the Socialists in the 

 campaign to secure the desired electoral reform 

 before or by means of the election of 1902, after 

 which Socialists and Liberals will resume their 

 liberty of action. 



BOLIVIA, a republic in South America. The 

 Congress consists of a Senate of 18 members, 2 

 from each department, elected for six years, one- 

 third being renewed biennially, and a House of 

 Representatives containing 69 members, elected 

 for four years, one-half being renewed biennially. 

 The President and Vice-Presideiits are elected for 

 four years by direct popular suffrage. The Presi- 

 dent for the term beginning Aug. 6, 1899, is Gen. 

 Jose Manuel Pando; the Vice-Presidents are Col. 

 Lucio Peres Velasco and Dr. Anibal Capriles. The 

 Cabinet in the beginning of 1901 was composed as 

 follows : Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship, 

 Dr. Eleodoro Villazon; Minister of Finance and 

 Industry, Dr. Demetrio Calvimontes; Minister of 

 the Interior, Carlos V. Romero; Minister of Jus- 

 tice and Public Instruction, Samuel Oropeza; 

 Minister of War and Colonization, Col. Ismael 

 Montes. 



Area and Population. The area of Bolivia is 

 567,430 square miles.. The population is estimated 

 at 2,270,000, including about 250,000 uncivilized 

 Indians. 



Finances. The revenue was estimated in the 

 budget for 1900 at 7,331,400 bolivianos, and ex- 

 penditure at 7,930,188 bolivianos. The foreign 

 debt in 1900 amounted to 6,550,830 bolivianos, the 

 internal debt to 3,934,250 bolivianos. 



The Army. The active army comprises 2 bat- 

 talions of infantry, each consisting of 220 men 

 divided into 4 companies, 2 regiments of cavalry, 

 2 regiments of artillery, 1 battalion in garrison in 

 each department, and the military college, the 

 total strength being 2,975 men. The National 

 Guard, in which obligatory service for two years 

 is prescribed by law, numbers 82,560 men, divided 

 into three classes. 



Commerce and Production. The value of im- 

 ports in 1899 was 12,839,962 bolivianos, and of 

 exports 27,365,747 bolivianos. The production of 

 rubber is increasing, much of it coming from the 

 Acre district, the export in 1898 reaching 3,000 

 tons. The value of coca exported annually is 

 about 3,000,000 bolivianos. The production of sil- 

 ver in 1898 was 9,961,433 ounces, and in 1899 it 

 was 11,155,190 ounces. The annual production of 

 concentrated tin ore is over 4,000 tons, and in 

 1899 the export of bars was 2,000 tons. About 

 3,000 tons of copper ore were exported. The value 

 of silver exported was about 10,000,000 bolivi- 

 anos; of rubber, 8,000,000 bolivianos; of tin, 

 5,000,000 bolivianos. Other exports are wool, cat- 

 tle, hides, and coffee. Of the imports 27 per cent, 

 come from Germany, 11 per cent, from Chili, 9 

 per cent, from Great Britain, 9 per cent, from 

 France, and 8 per cent, from the United States. 

 Of the exports 44 per cent, are shipped to Great 

 VOL. XLI. 6 A 



Britain, 35 per cent, to Germany, and per cent, 

 to France. 



Bailroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroad in operation in 1900 was 604 

 miles. 



The postal traffic in 1899 was 1,181,683 pieces 

 in the internal and 536,226 in the international 

 service; receipts were 369,715 francs, and expenses 

 489,173 francs. 



The telegraphs in 1899 had a total length of 

 2,254 miles, with 4,125 miles of wire. 



BOOKBINDING, SPECIAL AMERICAN. 

 The binding of a book, though attractive to some, 

 has had little or no significance to a very large 

 number of persons. The majority of men could 

 not tell the difference between a commercial or 

 machine-made binding and a special or hand-made 

 binding, and if the ordinary reader of the latest 

 ephemeral but transiently popular novel were 

 asked to pay $500 for a binding, even though it 

 had been executed by a Cobden-Sanderson, he 

 would feel sure that the price was extortionate, 

 and that he was being robbed. The mass of book- 

 readers consider that bookbinding belongs to the 

 publisher rather than to the purchaser of a book. 

 Cloth is good enough for them, especially when 

 the decorations are so ornate, as is now so fre- 

 quently the case in edition binding. They know 

 nothing of the charms of Levant morocco, tree 

 calf, pigskin, vellum, and the like, which are curi- 

 osities to them, nothing more. It is only within 

 very recent years that a binder whose ordinary 

 price for covering a book with leather and for 

 finishing it with inlay and gold tooling exceeded 

 $50 could have found it possible to secure enough 

 patronage to maintain an establishment. Prior 

 to 1875 the book world had been content with a 

 simplicity that was severe. Our forefathers 

 dressed the New England Primers in real board 

 covers, which were again covered with paper, 

 pasted on. Similar bindings of thin wood ap- 

 peared upon that standard book Locke on the 

 Understanding. With the passing of bindings of 

 this kind a dull covering of calf came into use 

 which now lingers in multiple specimen form upon 

 the bargain-counters of dealers in second-hand 

 books. 



The time came when collectors of books had spe- 

 cial bindings placed upon the volumes they cher- 

 ished, but to have this done properly the books 

 had to be sent to French or to English binderies, 

 and be subject to the perils of two transatlantic 

 voyages. Pioneer work in fine American book- 

 binding was perhaps done by William Matthews, 

 who exhibited a copy of Owen Jones's Alhambra 

 in this class of binding at the New York World's 

 Fair in 1853. Many notable bindings were after- 

 ward executed by him, and his reputation as a 

 special binder is exceedingly enviable. Following 

 him not quite thirty years later, Otto Zahn, 

 a binder who had studied and practised the art 

 of fancy bookbinding in many lands, found 

 enough encouragement to come to this country. 

 He finally established himself in Memphis, Tenn., 

 where he has since remained, and where he now 

 binds for book-collectors of note throughout the 

 United States. So great has become the demand 

 for bindings of this class that Mr. Zahn has been 

 obliged to limit his personal binding of books to 

 those the minimum price of which is $100. 



Other bookbinders that are or have been well 

 known in the practise of their art in this country 

 are as follow: Smith, McDonald, Blackwell, Pfis- 

 ter, Kuster, Launder, Stikeman, the Club Bindery, 

 and Schleuning & Adams, in New York ; Sanford, 

 in Pittsburg; P. Ringer and Hertzberg, in Chicago; 

 Peter Verburg, a pupil of Miss E. G. Starr, in 



