254 



ECUADOR. 



restricted by the Anglo-Portuguese agreement of 

 1891 to the coast region and the banks of the Zam- 

 besi as far as Zumbo. This territory, having an 

 area of 261,700 square miles, and an estimated pop- 

 ulation of 1,500,000, was organized by a decree of 

 Sept. 30, 1891, into the state of East Africa, divided 

 by the Zambesi river into the provinces of Mozam- 

 bique and Lourenco Marques. The revenue of 

 Mozambique was estimated in 1895 at 296,857, and 

 expenditure at 345,587. The imports in 1894 were 

 valued at 203,716, and exports at 155,380. The 

 chief articles of export are ivory, rubber, oil seeds, 

 earthnuts, and sugar. 



ECUADOR, a republic in South America. The 

 executive power is vested in a President, elected for 

 four years, and the legislative power in a Congress 

 consisting of two houses. Senators are chosen by 

 the provinces for four years, two from each prov- 

 ince, one being replaced at every biennial election. 

 The Deputies, elected by adult male Roman Catho- 

 lics who can read and write, serve two years. Gen. 

 Eloy Alfaro was Provisional President of the re- 

 public in the beginning of 1896. 



Area and Population. The undefined state of 

 the boundaries between Ecuador and the republics 

 of Peru and Colombia render uncertain any calcu- 

 lation of the area, which is vaguely estimated at 

 120,000 square miles, containing a population of 

 about 100,000 whites, 300,000 of mixed blood, and 

 870,000 Indians. The official estimate of the popu- 

 lation of the 16 provinces is 1,191,861, and of the 

 territory of Oriente 80,000. Quito, the capital, has 

 about 80,000 inhabitants, and Guayaquil, the sea- 

 port and chief commercial city, 45,000. The Roman 

 Catholic has been the religion of the republic to 

 the exclusion of all others, and the income of the 

 Church, in substitution for tithes, is provided in 

 the annual estimates of the Government. Educa- 

 tion is gratuitous and obligatory. 



Finances. Customs duties provide 70 per cent, 

 of the revenue ; taxes on cacao, land, rum, and to- 

 bacco, 15 per cent. ; salt and gunpowder monopolies, 

 6 per cent. ; and excise duties, rents of state prop- 

 erty, and the post office, 9 per cent. The budget is 

 voted for biennial periods. In 1888-'89 the revenue 

 was 7,356,606 sucres ; in 1890-'91, 7,766,957 sucres ; 

 in 1892- ? 93, 8,125,006 sucres. The customs receipts 

 for 1894 were 3,102,340 sucres. 



The debt consists of the balance recognized by 

 Ecuador as its share of the debt of Colombia at the 

 time of the secession in 1830. Interest unpaid since 

 1867 amounted to 428,640 in 1892, when the British 

 bondholders accepted 750,000 of new obligations 

 in exchange for their bonds. The Government 

 agreed to pay 4^ per cent, interest for five years, 

 4| per cent, for the next five years, and 5 per cent, 

 and a sinking fund of 1 per cent, thenceforward. 

 In 1895, the Government having withdrawn from 

 this arrangement, and refused to pay the coupons, 

 regarding the interest rate as too heavy, the bond- 

 holders agreed to reduce the interest to 4 per cent., 

 with a sinking fund of 1 per cent. For the service 

 of the debt a surtax of 10 per cent, was added to 

 the import duties. The foreign bonds outstanding 

 in 1895 amounted to 708,160. The internal debt 

 was 1,333,000 sucres at the end of 1893. The Gov- 

 ernment maintains an army of the nominal strength 

 of 3,341 officers and men, and a naval force consist- 

 ing of a cruiser, a torpedo launch, two river gun- 

 boats, and a transport. 



Commerce. The principal exportable product 

 is cacao, which was exported in 1894 to the amount 

 of 7,783,884 sucres. The value of the coffee exports 

 was 1,158,336 sucres; of rubber exports, 164,520 

 sucres. The export of ivory nuts in 1893 was 636,- 

 528 sucres in value. Gold mines are operated by 

 American companies at Cachavi, Uimbi, and Playa 



d'Oro. Placer mines are worked by domestic com- 

 panies. The country is rich in petroleum, silver, 

 copper, lead, iron, and coal. The total value of 

 imports in 1893 was 10,052,163 sucres ; of exports, 

 14.052,514 sucres. 



Communications. A railroad connects Chimbo, 

 opposite Guayaquil, with Duran, 58 miles. Various 

 projects for continuing it to Riobamba having 

 failed, the Government decided to go on with the 

 work at its own expense. During all the disturb- 

 ances of the civil war in 1896 the construction was 

 proceeded with. The money is raised by special 

 taxes on freights and insurance. 



The telegraphs of Ecuador have a total length of 

 1,242 miles. 



Attempted Counter Revolution. When Gen. 

 Eloy Alfaro triumphed over the Government forces 

 in September, 1895, and installed himself as Pro- 

 visional President at Quito amid the joyous ac- 

 clamations of the people, he began to disband the 

 revolutionary army. Before the end of the month, 

 however, there were outbreaks of the Conservatives 

 against his authority, and combats took place at 

 several places in the province of Imbambura. The 

 clergy showed an unappeasable antagonism to his 

 rule. An attempt on his life was made and a 

 widespread conspiracy to bring about his over- 

 throw was unearthed. Danger of war with Colom- 

 bia arose. He restored outward tranquillity for a 

 time by expelling from the country a large number 

 of his adversaries, including the Government com- 

 mander who had fought against him, and, by en- 

 forcing vigorous measures for the maintenance of 

 his authority. In January, 1896, fresh plots against 

 Alfaro were scented, in consequence of which many 

 other malcontents were sent into exile. The ru- 

 mors of an intended rising created such serious ap- 

 prehensions in the mind of Alfaro that he issued a 

 decree providing that in the event of an outbreak 

 the property of the leaders concerned in it should at 

 once be seized as a means of meeting the expenses 

 of suppressing the revolt, such property to be dis- 

 posed of as he should dictate. Before March Gen. 

 Plutarco Bowen raised the cry of revolt in a mani- 

 festo denouncing Alfaro as a man incapable of gov- 

 erning the country and as a robber of the public 

 treasury. Gen. Ventamilla was put forward by the 

 exiles in Peru as a revolutionary leader. Numerous 

 political arrests gave an additional stimulus to the 

 revolutionary movement. In April bands of hos- 

 tile guerrillas appeared in the north. A manifesto 

 predicting the speedy downfall of the usurper cre- 

 ated considerable agitation. In May fighting bodies 

 of the Conservative party, which was supposed to 

 have been obliterated, appeared in the field and de- 

 fied the Alfarists. The President called out his 

 army again. Bodies of Clericals entered the coun- 

 try from Colombia. A serious conflict occurred at 

 Cuenca, where the rebels, headed by Col. Mufioz, 

 were beaten. There was more fighting in other 

 places, the election of Deputies having roused po- 

 litical passions anew. The election was an unquali- 

 fied triumph of the Liberal party. The revolt spread 

 from province to province until in June Alfaro was 

 compelled to organize a campaign and go to the 

 field, leaving one of his ministers, Dr. Homero 

 Morla, as acting executive. At the head of a force 

 of 3,000 men he proceeded to Cuenca, which had 

 fallen into the hands of the enemy. Alfaro met 

 the enemy in the mountains while on the march. 

 He defeated the force of Gen. Rivadeneira. after 

 a hard fight, in which 80 rebels were killed or 

 wounded. They fled, leaving their fieldpieces, 

 arms, and ammunition, and Alfaro marched on the 

 enemy's stronghold in the district of Cuenca, rup- 

 tured it, and dispersed its defenders after a hard 

 campaign. When Gen. Alfaro assembled his forces 



