210 



ECUADOR. 



hv i ho latter after the Egyptians were driven out. 

 'fiie railroad, which will be the outlet of the trade 

 of southern Abyssinia, was completed in the be- 

 ginning of 1901 for 00 miles. The total length is 

 ISO miles. 



ECUADOR, a republic in South America. Ihe 

 legislative power is vested in the Congress, con- 

 sisting of a Senate of 32 members, 2 from each 

 province, elected for four years, and a House of 

 Representatives. 41 in number, elected for two 

 years bv adult male citizens who can read and 

 write. The President is elected for four years by 

 direct popular suffrage, and the Vice-President, 

 who is called upon to take the place of the Presi- 

 dent in certain contingencies, is elected for the 

 same term at the succeeding biennial election. 

 The President elected for the term ending Aug. 

 31, 1901, was Gen. Eloy Alfaro; the Vice-Presi- 

 dent is Freile Zaldumbide. The Cabinet at the be- 

 ginning of 1901 was composed as follows: Min- 

 ister of the Interior, Police, Public Works, Agri- 

 culture, and Public Charity, A. Moncayo; Minis- 

 ter of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Jose Peralta; 

 Minister of War and Marine, Gen. Nicolo Arel- 

 lano; Minister of Finance, T. Gagliardo. Gen. 

 Plaza was elected to the presidency, and Gen. Al- 

 faro peacefully handed over the Government at 

 the close of his term. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is about 120,000 square miles, including the 

 Galapagos Islands, which have an area of 2,950 

 square miles. The population is estimated at 

 1,271,861, of whom about 100,000 are whites, 300,- 

 000 of mixed blood, and the rest Indians. Quito, 

 the capital, has about 80,000 inhabitants; Guaya- 

 quil, the seaport, has 50,000. 



Finances. The revenue for 1900 was esti- 

 mated at 8,268,100 sucres, of which 6,476,100 

 sucres came from customs and 610,000 sucres from 

 salt, rum, tobacco, and powder. The estimate of 

 expenditure was 8,967,783 sucres, of which 2,129,- 

 705 sucres were for financial administration, 

 2,045,949 sucres for public works, 1,729,412 sucres 

 for the army and navy, and 1,071,713 sucres for 

 public instruction. The military force numbers 

 3,341 men of all ranks. The naval force consists 

 of a torpedo-launch and a transport-vessel. 



The foreign debt, amounting to 693,160, has 

 been assumed by the Guayaquil and Quito Rail- 

 road Company. The internal debt in 1897 was 

 4,580,000 sucres. 



Commerce and Production. The chief prod- 

 uct is cacao, grown in the coast provinces. The 

 production in 1899 was 26,413,571 kilograms. 

 Sugar, ivory-nuts, and coffee are exported in con- 

 siderable quantities. Minor products are cin- 

 chona, cotton, orchilla, and sarsaparilla. The 

 rubber forests have been so exhausted that they 

 are being replaced by planting. Gold is found in 

 many places, and American companies are getting 

 the value of 50 cents a cubic yard from gravel 

 and 1 ounce of gold per ton from quartz. Silver, 

 iron, copper, and lead ores are found in abundance, 

 and large deposits of coal and petroleum. The ex- 

 ports from the port of Guayaquil in 1898 were 

 16,781,700 sucres in value, consisting of cacao for 

 13,202,370 sucres, rubber for 933,400 sucres, coffee 

 for 422,350 sucres, Fugar for 276,500 sucres, hides 

 for 270.600 sucres, ivory-nuts for 230,800 sucres, 

 cotton prints for 160.000 sucres, raw cotton for 

 114.000 sucres, Panama hats for 89,000 sucres, 

 other articles for 782,680 sucres, and specie for 

 300,000 sucres. The quantity of cacao exported 

 from Ecuador in 1899 was 27,703,545 kilograms, 

 of which France took the most, Germany coming 

 next, and then Spain, Great Britain, and the 

 United States. 



EGYPT. 



Navigation. The port of Guayaquil was vis- 

 ited in 1899 by 207 vessels, of 305,800 tons, nearly 

 half the tonnage being British and the rest mostly 

 Chilian and German. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. The railroad to 

 connect Quito with Guayaquil was begun by the 

 Government, which built the section from Duran, 

 opposite the seaport, to Chimbo, 58 miles, and 

 then stopped. The railroad company that has 

 undertaken to complete the work will rebuild this 

 section and construct the remaining 292 miles, the 

 route passing through a rich agricultural country 

 producing coffee, cacao, and sugar. Laborers 

 brought from Jamaica to work on the railroad 

 struck in the beginning of 1901, but were com- 

 pelled to go back to work by soldiers, against 

 which proceeding the Jamaican Government 

 raised a protest. The telegraphs have a total 

 length of 1,242 miles. 



EGYPT, a principality in northern Africa, 

 tributary to Turkey, and under the military occu- 

 pation and political and financial control of Great 

 Britain. The Government is theoretically an ab- 

 solute monarchy of the Mohammedan type, but 

 the throne passes by the European law of primo- 

 geniture, and the Khedive, or Viceroy, is advised 

 by a Council of Ministers. The reigning Khedive 

 is Abbas Hilmi, born July 14, 1874, who suc- 

 ceeded his father, Mehemet Tewfik, on Jan. 7, 

 1892. The heir apparent is Prince Mohamed, born 

 Feb. 20, 1899. The British occupation has lasted 

 since the suppression of the military revolt led 

 by Arabi Pasha in 1882, and since Jan. 18, 1883, 

 an English financial adviser has possessed the 

 power of veto over financial measures, and has 

 generally exercised a decisive voice in all impor- 

 tant measures, imposing such as he and his Gov- 

 ernment consider expedient and desirable, and 

 preventing the enactment of others that they dis- 

 approve. A conference of representatives of the 

 powers, assembled at Constantinople to consider 

 the situation caused by the bankruptcy of the 

 Egyptian treasury, dissolved when England, after 

 the signature of a self-denying protocol, inter- 

 vened single-handed in Egypt. France having re- 

 fused to join in the intervention, the dual control 

 which France and Great Britain had previously" 

 exercised over Egyptian finances was abolished, 

 leaving Great Britain alone in control of the 

 Egyptian Government. The assurance was given 

 at that time, and reiterated afterward by succes- 

 sive British ministers, that Great Britain would 

 evacuate Egypt as soon as Egypt should be able 

 to maintain a firm and orderly government. 



The Cabinet of the Khedive consisted at the be- 

 ginning of 1901 of the following members: Presi- 

 dent of the Council and Minister of the Interior, 

 Mustapha Fehmi Pasha; Minister of War and 

 Marine, Mohammed Abani Pasha; Minister of 

 Public Works and of Education, Hussein Fakhry 

 Pasha; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Butros Ghali 

 Pasha; Minister of Finance, Ahmet Mazlum 

 Pasha; Minister of Justice, Ibrahim Fuad Pasha. 

 The British diplomatic agent was Viscount 

 Cromer; financial adviser, J. L. Gorst; command- 

 er-in-chief of the army of occupation, Lieut.-Gen. 

 R. A. J. Talbot. 



Area and Population. The area of Egypt 

 proper is about 400,000 square miles, but only 

 12,976 square miles are fertile and inhabited by 

 a settled population. The population at the cen- 

 sus of June 1, 1897, was 9,811,544, comprising 

 4,985,021 males and 4,826,523 females. The cen- 

 sus was not taken beyond Wadi Haifa, which 

 then marked the military frontier. The popula- 

 tion of Cairo, the capital, was 570,062; of Alex- 

 andria, 319,766; of Tunta, 57,289; of Port Said,. 



