VENEZUELA. 



761 



1872, 3,642 ; sixty-seven per cent, being Uru- 

 guayans, and the remaining thirty-three per 

 cent, foreigners. 



The city of Montevideo, the capital, has a 

 population of about 60,000. 



The Government is based upon the consti- 

 tution proclaimed on July, 1831, by the terms 

 of which the executive power is vested in a 

 President, elected for a term of four years, and 

 a Vice-President, whose term of office is of the 

 same duration, and who is also Speaker of the 

 Senate. The legislative power resides in a 

 Congress, composed of a Senate and a House 

 of Representatives, whose sessions are annual, 

 and extend from February 15th to June 30th; 

 the legislative power, as also the general con- 

 trol of the administrations being confided dur- 

 ing the remainder of the year to a committee 

 of two Senators and five Representatives. 



The President of the Republic is SeOor Don 

 Jose Ellauri, who entered upon his official du- 

 ties on March 1, 1873. 



The Minister of Foreign Affairs is Dr. G. 

 Perez Gomar; Minister of the Interior (in- 

 cluding Justice, Public Worship and Instruc- 

 tion), Dr. 8. Alvarez ; Minister of Finance, J. 

 Peflaloa; and Minister of War and the Navy, 

 E. Fonda. 



The chief articles of importation are ma- 

 chinery, and almost all kinds of manufactured 

 articles, beer, ales, wines, etc. 



The following table shows the imports from 

 Great Britain for the five years therein ex- 

 pressed : 



Y<*n. Vilnr. 



186S I4.65Z.110 



189 5.SH.KX) 



1-7(1 4,032.025 



1871 5-S23.9S5 



Mm 9,088,915 



The exports to Great Britain during the 

 same period were as follows : 



Ton. V.loc. 



IMS. $5.091.275 



18B9 8,984,420 



WTO 4.999.625 



1971 6.159.966 



187* 7,084,665 



The single article hides stands in each of the 

 foregoing years for about one-half the total 

 value. 



There are two railways in the republic: 

 that from Montevideo to Florida, about forty 

 miles, opened in 1869 ; and that from Monte- 

 video to Tupando, about fifteen miles, opened 

 in 1878. 



The estimated budget for 1873 was: reve- 

 nue, $6,796,000 ; expenditures, $6,623,758, to 

 be devoted to the conversion of the public 

 debt (the twelve per cent, and nine per cent, 

 portions) into a new debt to be negotiated in 

 Europe, and to be applied likewise upon the 

 regulation of the floating debt, and the rees- 

 tablishment of equilibrium in the national 

 budget. 



The total custom-house receipts in 1870 

 were $4,538,854; in 1871, $5,312,318; and in 

 1872, $7,207,907. 



From an official publication by the "Junta 

 de Credito Publico," on January 1, 1873, the 

 public debt would appear to have been at that 

 time $41,481,235. 



Since the creation of the debt in 1859, the 

 Government has paid $10,305,406 upon the 

 capital, and $12,153,955 of interest, amount- 

 ing to a total of $22,459,361. 



In the second half of the year the elections 

 for Senators were held with the greatest tran- 

 quillity. 



A number of military chiefs of the republic, 

 who had served in the revolutionary army of 

 Jordan (see AKGENTINE REPUBLIC), found on 

 their return that they had been dismissed from 

 the Uruguayan service ; incensed at this meas- 

 ure, they threatened to recover by force their 

 restoration to the army ; and it was appre- 

 hended that a revolutionary outbreak would 

 take place in their favor. Cholera appeared 

 among the immigrants in December ; some 

 500 cases were reported, most of which termi- 

 nated fatally. The port of Montevideo was 

 immediately closed to all shipping; and all 

 measures possible were used to prevent the 

 spread of the malady. 



Y 



VENEZUELA (ESTADOS UNIDOS DB VENE- 

 ZT-ELA), an independent republic of South 

 America, extending from latitude 1 8' to 

 12 18' north, and from longitude 53 15' to 

 73 17' west. It is bounded north by the Ca- 

 ribbean Sea, east by Guiana, south by Brazil, 

 and west by the United States of Colombia. 



The territory is divided into nineteen States 

 and one Federal District : Apure, Aragua, Bar- 

 celona, Barqnisuneto, Carabobo, Coro, Cu- 

 innna, Giiarico, Gnayana, Matnrin, Mlrida, 

 Nn.-vn Espnrtn, Portuguese, Taehira, Trujillo, 

 Y.irarui, Zamora, Zulia, and the Federal Dis- 

 trict of Gardens. 



The area is computed at 463,336 square 



miles; and the population at 1,400,000, of 

 whom about one per cent, are whites, the only 

 pure race in the republic. The bulk of the 

 population are mestizoes, from the union of 

 whites and Indians ; mulattoes, from whites 

 and negroes ; and zambos, from Indians and 

 negroes. 



Caracas, the capital, has about 50,000 in- 

 habitants ; some 4,000 of whom are foreigners. 

 Other important towns are Maracaibo, 20,- 

 000 ; Ciudad-Bolivar, 15,000 ; Puerto Cabello, 

 12,000 ; and Lagunyra, 8,000. 



The President of the Republic is General A. 

 Guzman Blanco. He was elected on February 

 20, 1874. 



