114 



COLOMBIA. 



COLORADO. 



COLOMBIA*, UNITED STATES OF. A republic 

 in South America., President (April 1, 1866, 

 to March 31, 1868), General Tomas Cipriano 

 Mosquera. The ministry was, in 1866, com- 

 posed as follows : Interior and Foreign Affairs, 

 Joseph M. Eojas Garrido ; Finances, Francisco 

 Agudelo ; "War and Navy, Eudecindo Lopez ; 

 General Treasurer, Sinforiano Hernandez. The 

 statements about the area considerably differ, 

 as the southwestern and eastern frontier are 

 still subject to dispute. The Colombian Gov- 

 ernment claims altogether a territory of about 

 513,000 English square miles, while other state- 

 ments (not giving to Colombia all the disputed 

 territory) reduce it to 464,700. The Colom- 

 bian Government claims a population of 2,794,- 

 473, not including the uncivilized Indians, 

 whose number is estimated at 126,000. "With 

 regard to race, Mr. Samper (Bulletin de la 

 Societe de Geogr. de Paris, March, 1858), who 

 puts down the whole population at 2,692,614, 

 estimates the pure European population at 

 1,357.000, tho descendants of Europeans and 

 Indians at 600,000, Africans at 90,000, and all 

 others 465,000. The imports of the ports of 

 Panama and Colon were, in 1864, valued at 

 $35,000,000, and the exports at $67,000,000. 



On December 6th General Mosquera handed 

 in his resignation as President of the republic, 

 to the Supreme Court, giving as his reasons that 

 his predecessor ruled the country so miserably, 

 that lie found it impossible to replenish the 

 treasury; that the army was full of abuses, 

 and the treasury had been robbed of upward of 

 a million of dollars by false certificates; that 

 tho Archbishop of Bogota and other bishops 

 were in rebellion against the executive; that 

 the circular regarding public order had met 

 with no respect from the Governors of the 

 States ; that, in fact, there was a general de- 

 sire to disturb the public peace, and to make 

 way with him, the general, by assassination, if 

 necessary. It was expected that the Supreme 

 Court would not accept the resignation. 



In the latter months of the year a serious 

 difficulty occurred between the Government 

 of the United States of Colombia and the United 

 States minister at Bogota, Mr. Burton. It arose 

 out of remarks made to the Colombian Gov- 

 ernment by General Pinerez, who, in October, 

 had been sent on a special mission to Panama. 

 General Pinerez, in his report, thought proper, 

 in allusion to the Americans residing there, to 

 affirm as he alleged on the authority of Presi- 

 dent Olarte, the Citizen President of the State 

 of Panama that " the only ground for fearing 

 a revolution within the State was the cupidity 

 and ambition of the Yankees residing in Pana- 

 ma." As the report was published by the Gov- 

 ernment in its official organ, and as the Gov- 

 ernment took no notice of the remonstrance 

 of Mr. Burton, the United States minister, the 

 latter deemed it best to demand his passports, 

 especially as the Colombian Secretary of For- 



* For further information on the Legislature, finances, 

 trmy, etc., see ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1865. 



eign Affairs had left 'several official communi- 

 cations from him unanswered. The Colombian 

 Government then apologized, but declined the 

 request of Mr. Burton to submit the matter tc 

 the diplomatic corps at Bogota. At the end of 

 the year the passport question remained un- 

 settled. 



On December 25th President Mosquera pub- 

 .lished the following decree concerning the 

 Panama Railroad, which it was feared might 

 become a source of great trouble : 



T. C. de Mosquera, Grand General, President of 

 the United States of Colombia, looking to the 30th 

 and 35th article of the treaty between Colombia and 

 the Panama Railroad Company, dated April 17, 1850, 

 in which it is stipulated that the company shall pay 

 to the nation five per cent, of the amount of the 

 value of the mails passing across the Isthmus, and 

 three per cent, of the net profits of the enterprise, 

 and considering that' in view of the interests of the 

 nation it is necessary to have perfect cognizance of 

 the mails, number of passengers and treasure that 

 pass across the Isthmus, and having in consideration 

 the eminent sovereignty the Government exercises 

 over that part of its territory, decrees that : 



1. That postmasters and captains of the ports 

 of Colon and Panama on visiting vessels, and upon 

 view of documents presented to them, shall accu- 

 rately note : first, the total weight of the mails 

 that are to pass across the isthmus ; second, the num- 

 ber of passengers ; third, the amount of treasure, and 

 fourth, the total weight of merchandise. 



2. From these facts monthly returns are to be 

 made to the Treasury Department, so that from 

 them at the end of the year the commercial statistics 

 may be drawn up. 



The Colombian Congress, early in 1866, de- 

 clined to join the alliance of Chili and Peru 

 against Spain, but in September President Mos- 

 quera addressed a letter to the Presidents 

 of Peru and the other republics which had 

 taken part in the South American Congress 

 of 1865, to appoint a time for a new meeting 

 of the Congress for the purpose of effecting the 

 exchange of the ratifications of the treaties con- 

 cluded in 1865, and of presenting the treaty for 

 adoption to the other republics which had not 

 taken part in the first meeting. The new meet- 

 ing, in the view of Mosquera, was to discuss the 

 means for securing a permanent peace between 

 all the republics, and to that end fix certain 

 principles of international law, and especially 

 the mutual rights of belligerents and neutrals. 

 The proposition of President Mosquera was fa- 

 vorably received by all the presidents to whom 

 it was addressed. 



COLORADO. In the notice of Colorado, 

 published in the preceding volume of this work, 

 it was stated that on January 18, 1866, a bill 

 was reported in the United States Senate for 

 the admission of the Territory into the Union 

 under the constitution adopted by her people in 

 the autumn of 1865. Upon the subject coming 

 up for debate, a strong opposition to the bill 

 was manifested on the part of several Republi- 

 can Senators. Mr. Sumner spoke earnestly 

 against it, basing his' objections upon the in- 

 adequacy of the population, the denial of suf- 

 frage to colored citizens under the newly- 

 adopted constitution, and upon the fact that a 



