ECUADOR. 



271 



SOURCES. Amount.. 



Customs receipts $1,081,486 



Tobacco-tax 14 216 



Spirit-tax 95,604 



Salt monopoly 198,425 



Powder monopoly 14.S53 



Paper-stamps 8,9S5 



Income-tax 49.211 



Tax on sale of real estate 53 32? 



Tillies 181.596 



Pawn-office 13,288 



Register 6,754 



Po;-t-Offlce Department 34,649 



State property 41,533 



Sundries 24,908 



Total $1,838,778 



The expenditure rarely falls short of $2,000,- 

 000. The foreign debt amounted, in 1865, to 

 $9,390,554; and the home debt to $3,692,955. 

 The Bank of Ecuador paid 12 per cent, on the 

 paid capital ; the Hypothecary Bank, 10 per 

 cent. ; the Guayas Steam Navigation Company, 

 12 per cent. ; and the Gas Company, 12 per cent. 

 In reply to certain observations of a Colom- 

 bian journal, concerning the dissatisfaction of 

 British bondholders with the Government of 

 Ecuador, for its unwillingness to meet its obli- 

 gations, El Nacional, of Quito, in an arti- 

 cle under date of March 19th, explained the 

 prolonged insolvency of the republic on the 

 grounds that "Ecuador, like Colombia, has, 

 owing to inadequacy of the national revenue 

 to meet the current expenses of the Govern- 

 ment, been obliged to suspend the payment of 

 even the interest on the national debt." 



It may not, however, be improper to state 

 that, in view of the energy and disinterested- 

 ness of President Moreno, it is confidently be- 

 lieved that, as soon as the pressing causes 

 shall have ceased which rendered it necessary 

 to suspend the application of the fourth part 

 of the customs receipts upon the payment of 

 the debt, an equitable arrangement will be 

 made for the satisfactory settlement of the 

 claims. It is true, to accomplish that, innu- 

 merable difficulties must be overcome, and 

 immense sacrifices submitted to. In effect, 

 notwithstanding that, from 1855 to 1869, more 

 than $2,000,000 were paid to the foreign cred- 

 itors, the original debt ($7,000,000, at 6 per 

 cent.), far from being reduced, has increased by 

 upward of $1,000,000; for the 2| per cent, of 

 the customs receipts appropriated in favor of 

 the creditors was not sufficient to cover the 

 constantly-growing interest. 



It was announced in the official journal of 

 Quito, March 12th, that by order of the Gov- 

 ernment the eighth dividend of the North 

 American debt, say $10,333.28, was paid to 

 the United States consul by the Secretary of 

 the Treasury. 



Mr. Charles Weile, a citizen of the United 

 States, petitioned the Government of Ecuador 

 for an exclusive privilege to extract India- 

 rubber, for a term of three years, from the 

 forests of a certain territory comprised be- 

 tween the river Pesoadillo on the south, the 

 province of Esmeraldas on the north, the 

 river Bnlzar on the east, and the Cordillera 

 of the Mono on the west. The contract, for 



which he offered $1,000 per annum, was to be 

 put up at auction, and given to the highest 

 bidder. 



The highways of the republic still continue 

 to command a large share of attention. The 

 carriage-road from Guayaquil to Quito is prose- 

 cuted with energy ; and it has been determined 

 to build a railway on the portion reaching 

 from Sibamba to Pueblo Nuevo, a distance of 

 28 miles. Mr. H. G. McClellan was sent to 

 the United States to study the narrow-gauge 

 system of railways, purchase the necessary 

 materials, and engage an assistant engineer 

 and other employes required for the work. 



In November, 14 miles of the Iguache Rail- 

 way had been graded; and the works, on 

 which 380 hands were employed, were pro- 

 gressing satisfactorily. 



A Mr. F. de la Quadra, having received a 

 steamer from the United States, offered to 

 place it on the river to ply between Bnbahoyo 

 and Savaneta. It was to carry the national 

 flag, run from ten to twelve miles an hour, and 

 take the mails. The only condition upon 

 which the realization of the project depends 

 is that the Government shall have the river 

 cleared of the trunks of trees, aquatic plants, 

 etc., which would obstruct the passage of the 

 boat. The work on the Esmeraldas road was 

 far advanced ; and it was fully expected that 

 it would be entirely finished by the end of the 

 year. 



Much and remarkable progress lias been 

 made in the development of the natural re- 

 sources of the republic in the course of the year ; 

 light-houses in the harbors, dredging-machines, 

 public roads, and even railways, have been 

 projected, one at least between Guayaquil 

 and Quito, or at all events a portion of the 

 distance having been decided upon. Nor has 

 public education been forgotten by Dr. More- 

 no, the instigator of the improvements re- 

 ferred to ; primary instruction especially is one 

 of his favorite objects, and occupies much of 

 his thought; and the Government manifests 

 a laudable spirit of liberality in its appropria- 

 tions for multiplying schools throughout the 

 country. Some friends of the cause of educa- 

 tion, however, in the neighboring republics, 

 and particularly in Colombia, exclaim against 

 Dr. Moreno for persisting in leaving the 

 school system almost completely in the hands 

 of the clergy. An association for mutual in- 

 struction was organized at Guayaquil toward 

 the end of 1872. 



In February, 1873, the Government ordered 

 the payment of $12,000 to the Bishop of Guay- 

 aquil, as a compensation for the trouble and 

 expense he had been at consequent upon the 

 erection of an orphan asylum, some free 

 schools, etc., in that city. 



Subscriptions for a statue of Bolivar had 

 reached, in October, the sum of $10,891 ; nnd 

 the statue was in process of erection. 



Copper money was decreed to be a legal ten- 

 der throughout the republic. 



