VENEZUELA. 



783 



are brought down rubber, tonga-beans, copaiba, 

 and vanilla. Nearly 200,000 acres are planted to 

 coffee, and about 52,000 tons are annually ex- 

 ported. The sugar plantations are not so pros- 

 perous as when the importation of sugar was 

 prohibited, but efforts have been made to intro- 

 duce modern methods and machinery in this and 

 other branches of agriculture. In the gold-fields 

 of the Yuruari territory 42,315 ounces were pro- 

 duced in 1899, against 39,500 ounces in 1898, 43,- 

 , 500 ounces in 1897, and 60,674 ounces in 1896. 

 In 1884, when the alluvial deposits were first 

 opened, 233,935 ounces were produced; in 1885, 

 172,037 ounces; in 1886, 217,135 ounces. Gold- 

 mines at Callio were formerly very productive. 

 The district was deserted after great amounts of 

 French, American, and German capital were in- 

 vested there, the revolution by which Guzman 

 Blanco fell having made the property insecure. 

 Silver ore is abundant in the states of Los Andes, 

 Lara, and Bermudez. Copper exists in great quan- 

 tities, and asphalt, sulfur, and coal are mined 

 and petroleum, lead, and tin are found. The 

 Government works salt-mines in different locali- 

 ties, Iron is mined by an American company at 

 Imataca. Natives dive for pearls in the waters 

 off the coast surrounding Margarita and other 

 small islands, and the annual production is val- 

 ued at $100,000. In 1900 a concession was granted 

 of the exclusive right to fish for pearls, sponges, 

 and tortoise-shell on a commercial scale without 

 prejudice to the rights of the native fishermen, 

 the Government to receive 10 per cent, of the 

 profits. Coal exists in great deposits, but it is 

 not mined. Petroleum also is to be found in large 

 quantities. 



The trade of the United States with Venezuela 

 has grown faster than the French or German 

 trade. In 1899 the exports from Venezuela to 

 the United States were $5,669,900; to France, $7,- 

 604,000; to Germany, $2,237,200; to Great Brit- 

 ain, $222,000. The imports from the United States 

 were $2,641,400; from Great Britain, $2,407,200; 

 from Germany, $952,000; from France, $636,900. 



The total value of imports in 1898 was 42,797,- 

 500 bolivars, and of exports 74,497,550 bolivars. 

 Coffee is exported to France, the United States, 

 and Germany; cacao to France, Spain, and Ger- 

 many; hides to the United States. The export 

 of cacao from La Guayra, Puerto Cabello, Ciudad 

 Bolivar, and Maracaibo in 1899 was 5,828,784 

 kilograms ; of hides, 6,956,285 kilograms ; of coffee, 

 50,931,233 kilograms; of goat and deer skins, 256,- 

 802 kilograms; of rubber from Ciudad Bolivar, 

 826,471 kilograms; of copra from Puerto Ca- 

 bello, 202,685 kilograms; of tobacco from Ciudad 

 Bolivar, 99,612 kilograms; of cattle from that 

 port, 9,860 head; and from Maracaibo 6,506,- 

 217 kilograms of fustic, 1,766,180 kilograms of 

 divi-divi, 12,778 kilograms of cinchona, 42,732 kilo- 

 grams of copaiba, 39,261 kilograms of fish-sounds, 

 396,548 kilograms of sugar, and 79,330 kilograms 

 of asphalt. The principal imports are textile 

 goods, hardware, machinery, provisions, flour, 

 coal, kerosene, and timber. Manufactures are 

 imported from Great Britain, the United States, 

 and Germany, articles of food from the United 

 States and South American countries. 



Navigation. In 1899 there visited Puerto 

 Cabello 291 vessels; at La Guayra 217 were en- 

 tered and 371 cleared with cargoes; at Ciudad 

 Bolivar 80,- of 25,973 tons, were entered and 83, 

 of 27,734 tons, cleared; at Maracaibo 356, of 25,- 

 306 tons, were entered. 



The merchant marine in 1900 was composed of 

 18 sailing vessels, of 50 tons and over, having a 

 tonnage of 2,836, and 12 steamers, of 2,567 tons. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. There were 529 

 miles of- railroad completed in 1899. A contract 

 was made for the construction of a line between 

 Puerto Cabello and Yarita^na. A company in 

 accordance with an agreement made in 1896 has 

 placed steamboats on Lake Valencia in connec- 

 tion with branch railroads and tramways. 



The telegraphs had a length of 3,882 miles in 

 1899. 



The Army. The regular army in 1900 num- 

 bered 3,600 men garrisoned in 20 towns and in 

 the Government vessels, of which there are 3 

 steamers, 2 sailing vessels, and some small gun- 

 boats. Every Venezuelan belongs to the militia, 

 and in the late civil war about 60,000 men were 

 under arms. 



Political Affairs. In the early months of 

 1901 a dispute over the rights of rival American 

 companies to an asphalt lake near the mouth of 

 the Orinoco river led to a controversy between 

 the Venezuelan Government and the American 

 minister at Caracas, Frank B. Loomis, who v was 

 recalled to explain the misunderstanding and was 

 eventually succeeded by Herbert W. Bowen. The 

 company which had been working the pitch lake 

 was informed by the Venezuelan Government 

 that its concession did not include the lake, which 

 had been leased to another company. The older 

 company .refused to give up the property, and 

 the United States minister defended its claims, 

 which were only faulty through a false descrip- 

 tion and an erroneous Government survey, as 

 the concession which had been sought, and ob- 

 tained from the Venezuelan Government was in- . 

 tended to cover the lake. A similar false descrip- 

 tion has been the ground on which concessions 

 have been annulled before by the Venezuelan 

 Government, as in the case of the Orinoco Trading 

 Company. The valuable Imataca iron-mine was 

 for a long time closed because the survey w r as at 

 fault. President Castro before proceeding to dis- 

 possess the older asphalt company for the benefit 

 of the younger one laid the matter before the 

 Venezuelan courts. Mr. Loomis, however, insisted 

 on the equities in the case, and the rich and 

 powerful asphalt company armed its employees, 

 declaring that it would defend its property by 

 force, and appealed not only to the United States 

 Government, but to President Castro's political 

 enemies in Venezuela. Revolutionary disturb- 

 ances occurred in the vicinity of the pitch lake. 

 American gunboats were sent to the coast to 

 protect American lives and property, if necessary. 

 When the Venezuelan authorities threatened to 

 seize the arms of the asphalt company the United 

 States Government requested that no arbitrary 

 action be taken pending a judicial decision. The 

 court to which the New York and Bermudez 

 Company had gone decided against it and in favor 

 of the new claimants, the Warner and Quinlan 

 Company. It was to carry out this decree that 

 the Venezuelan Government intended to oust the 

 parties in possession in spite of their threatened 

 armed resistance. At the request of the American 

 Government, President Castro agreed to wait till 

 the matter could be adjudicated by a higher > 

 court; but he requested the recall of Minister 

 Loomis. 



The Venezuelan Government endeavored to 

 float a loan in the United States for the purpose 

 of consolidating the public debt. A loan of $30,- 

 000,000 was desired, of which $5,000,000 would be 

 deposited in the treasury and $25,000,000 be em- 

 ployed in redeeming all Venezuelan debts, the 

 new debt to bear 6 per cent, interest and to be 

 secured on the customs receipts of some of the 

 ports. Negotiations were first opened with Ger- 



