COLOMBIA. 



COLORADO. 



151 



account of the late war with Chili and the paper 

 currency, amounting, on Sept. 30, 1889, to 11,932,- 

 780 pesos, the limit established by law being 12,- 

 000,000 pesos. The foreign debt, which is owed 

 for the most part in England, amounted in July, 

 1889, with the addition of ten years' accrued in- 

 terest, to 2,878,203. Negotiations for a reset- 

 tlement are on foot. 



Public Affairs. Import duties were imposed 

 on alcoholic liquors, salt, and tobacco in the 

 session of 1890. When the law was promulgated 

 the Chamber of Commerce raised the objection 

 that under the Constitution no law imposing new 

 taxation can take effect until six months after 

 publication. The Government therefore post- 

 poned the operation of the act till Jan. 10, 1891. 

 The chief object of the merchants was to gain 

 time to import free of duty such quantities of 

 the taxed articles as to render the law useless 

 for revenue purposes for two or three years. 

 This design is defeated by an amendment of the 

 act making all articles specified in the act that 

 are in stock on Jan. 10, 1891, liable to duty. A 

 popular petition in favor of the exclusion of 

 Chinese immigrants was made the basis of legis- 

 lative action by the Assembly of the Depart- 

 ment of Panama. 



Commerce. The imports in 1887 were valued 

 at 8,592,689 pesos, and the exports at 13,963,227 

 pesos. In 1888, according to a British consular 

 report, there was an improvement in trade, the 

 imports rising to 10,642,250 pesos, and exports to 

 16,668,180 pesos. The chief imports are food 

 substances and textile fabrics, and the chief ex- 

 ports coffee, cinchona bark, the export of which 

 has fallen away in recent years, earth-nuts, grain, 

 silver ore, cacao, dye stuffs, live animals, and to- 

 bacco. Of the imports in 1887 Great Britain 

 furnished 3,611,755 pesos; France, 1,790,778 

 pesos; the United States, 937,495 pesos; and 

 Germany, 843,725 pesos. Of the exports, 3,456,- 

 608 pesos went to England in 1887 and 4,005,890 

 pesos in 1888; 3,020,716 pesos to the United 

 States in 1887 and 4,776,660 pesos in 1888 ; 1,311,- 

 436 pesos to Germany in 1887 and 1,483,420 pesos 

 in 1888 ; and 1,073,096 pesos to France in 1887 

 and 1,157,430 pesos in 1888. Coffee was exported 

 of the value of 3,781,260 pesos in 1888; hides, 

 1,604,860 pesos ; gold in bars and gold dust, 

 1,491,300 pesos; coin, 1,325,860 pesos. In the 

 trade returns the 'imports and exports of the 

 Isthmus of Panama are not included. The transit 

 trade of the isthmus is estimated at $75,000,000 

 a year, two thirds representing the shipments 

 from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and one third 

 those in the opposite direction. 



Navigation. During 1888 there were 772 

 vessels, of 714,194 tons, entered at Colombian 

 ports, not including those of Panama. Of these 

 557, of 693,632 tons, were steam vessels. Of the 

 total tonnage, 410,939 tons were British. 



Railroads. There were two lines of railroad 

 complete and five others partly built in 1888, the 

 total length being 148 miles. 



The Post-Offlce and Telegraphs. The post- 

 office carried 1,063,504 letters, 411.988 papers, 

 etc., and 15,813 registered letters and packets in 

 The telegraph lines had a total length of 

 2,800 miles, with 200 miles more in construction. 



Boundary Questions. Disputes that have 

 anaen between the Colombian Government and 



the governments of Costa Rica and Venezuela 

 regarding boundaries, have been referred for 

 arbitration to the Spanish Government. The 

 debatable territory on the Costa Rican frontier 

 has been surveyed with the view of ceding it to 

 an American company, of which Minor S. Keith 

 is the head, for the purpose of colonization, if 

 the claim of Costa Rica is upheld. 



The Panama Canal. The French company 

 formed by Ferdinand de Lesseps to pierce the 

 Isthmus of Panama and unite the Atlantic and 

 Pacific Oceans with a canal 46 miles long raised, 

 up to June 30, 1886, 772,545,412 francs of capi- 

 tal. It was estimated that nearly as much more 

 would be required to bring the work to comple- 

 tion. An effort was made in December, 1888, to 

 raise 600,000,000 francs by a loan, but only a few 

 bonds were subscribed for, and the company be- 

 came embarrassed. An attempt to organize a new 

 company proved unsuccessful, and the company 

 was compelled to suspend payments, cease opera- 

 tions, and go into liquidation. The work was 

 stopped in March, 1889, and provisional adminis- 

 trators were appointed by the French Civil Court 

 in the Seine Department. A commission of in- 

 quiry appointed by the receiver reported in May, 

 1890, that the completion of the canal on the lock 

 system would probably cost 485,000,000 francs, to 

 which 20 per cent, should be added for unfore- 

 seen expenses and 29 per cent, for interest and 

 management during the eight or nine years re- 

 quired for the completion of the work, making 

 a total of 900,000,000 francs. The annual cost 

 of maintenance and administration after com- 

 pletion was estimated at 10,000,000 francs, and 

 the net receipts at 38,000,000 francs for the first 

 three or four years, rising to 61,000,000 francs 

 twelve years after the opening. The material and 

 work of the old company are placed at a valu- 

 ation of at least half of the 900,000,000 francs 

 still required. The commission suggested that 

 the governments of maritime states should 

 guarantee the interest on the capital. The toll 

 that was calculated to pay the interest, 15 francs 

 per ton, the commission considered to be too 

 nigh, and suggested 12 francs, which is still 

 about 25 per cent, above the Suez Canal tolls. 

 Negotiations for the renewal of the concessions 

 were carried on during the summer of 1890 by 

 Lieut. Wyse on the part of the company and the 

 Colombian Government. 



COLORADO, a Western State, admitted to 

 the Union Aug. 1, 1876 : area, 103,925 square 

 miles. The population, according to each de- 

 cennial census since admission, was 194,327 in 

 1880, and 410,975 in 1890. Capital, Denver. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, Job A. 

 Cooper, Republican ; Lieutenant-Go vernor, Will- 

 iam G. Smith ; Secretary of State, James Rice ; 

 Treasurer, W. H. Brisbane ; Auditor, Louis B. 

 Swanbeck ; Attorney-General, Samuel W. Jones ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, Fred. 

 Dick ; State Engineer, James P. Maxwell ; Chief 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, Joseph C. Helm; 

 'Associate Justices, Charles D. Hayt, and Vic- 

 tor A. Elliot. 



Population. The national census returns of 

 1890, showing the population of the State by 

 counties, are compared with similar returns for 

 1880 in the following table : 



