133 



COLOMBIA. 



tons, annually, from Barranquilla to Honda, a 

 distance of 160 leagues, or rather more than 

 500 miles. 



The mouths of the Magdalena being obstruct- 

 ed by bars upon which there is too little water 

 to admit vessels of deep draught, it was found 

 necessary to construct a railway to connect the 

 bay of Sabanilla with the town of Barranquilla, 

 the lower limit of the navigable portion of the 

 river. This railway, fifteen miles long, was 

 built in 1871, by a German company, with 

 seven per cent, guarantee on the estimated cap- 

 ital of $600,000, but its returns have gone on 

 gradually increasing, so that the Government 

 has not been called upon to pay any part of 

 the stipulated guarantee for the last year. The 

 traffic of said railway consisted of 261,561 bales 

 imported and 345,217 bales exported in 1873. 

 The town of Barranquilla, the third in com- 

 mercial importance in Colombia, contains a 

 population of 11,000 souls, possesses an excel- 

 lent dock-yard, and is the entrepot for the 

 imports and exports of almost the whole com- 

 merce of the country. 



The population of Colombia, according to the 

 last census (1870), was 3,000,000, distributed, 

 as regards the territory, in the following geo- 

 graphical zones : 235,000 in the beautiful and 

 fertile valley of the Cauca, bordering on the 

 Pacific, whose interior traffic is partly car- 

 ried on through the rivers Cauca and Atrato ; 

 1,300,000 on the table-lands and slopes of the 

 eastern Cordillera, forming the States of Cun- 

 dinamarca, Boyaca, and Santander, on the 

 eastern banks of the Magdalena; 366,000 in 

 the mining State of Antioquia, embracing the 

 labyrinth of mountains formed by the spurs of 

 the central Cordillera, opposite the State of 

 Santander, on the western banks of the river ; 

 327,000 in the two Atlantic States of Bolivar 

 and Cartagena, comprising flat plains under 

 a burning climate, at the level of the sea. The 

 agriculture of the last two States, so favor- 

 ably situated for foreign commerce, with a 

 soil as fertile as that of Cuba, but possessing 

 the advantage of good facilities for inland navi- 

 gation by numerous navigable canals, has en- 

 tered upon an era of rapid development ; their 

 products representing at the present two-thirds 

 of the total agricultural exports of the republic: 

 206,000 in the isthmus of Panama ; 231,000 in 

 the valley of the Upper Magdalena, where the 

 river is still navigable above Honda, for a space 

 of 100 miles. This State, Tolima, on a flat coun- 

 try at the level of the river, was, until lately, 

 the most extensive exporting State in Colombia, 



A bill before the House of Eepresentatives 

 for colonizing the territories of Casanare and 

 San Martin passed its second debate. It makes 

 important provisions for reduction of the In- 

 dians who inhabit those territories, and for 

 the purpose of keeping at a distance by pa- 

 cific means the fierce tribes living beyond the 

 Guaviare. 



The revenue for the year 1872-'73 was 

 about $4,000,000, distributed as follows : 



Customs $2,775,450 



Salt-works 799,213 



Panama Railway 250,000 



Postal service 67,609 



State property 72,595 



Mint (about) 18,000 



Telegraphs 10,627 



Public lauds 8,507 



Total - fc4,002 T 001 



The expenditure during this time was 

 $3,150,000, leaving a balance in favor of the 

 Treasury of $852,001. The custom-houses 

 yielded $2,775,450.38. 



The laws promulgated by Congress during 

 the year, for the purpose of creating a sepa- 

 rate fund to be set apart for the redemption 

 and payment of interest on such loans as may 

 be contracted for the construction of railways, 

 were to take effect on September 1st. 



These laws established an increase of 25 

 per cent, in the import duties on four of the 

 five classes of the customs tariff, and of 20 

 cents in the price of each arroba, or 25 Ibs., of 

 the salt which is sold in the government works. 



The customs tariff is very simple ; it only 

 recognizes five classes for the valuation of 

 goods for duty, which latter is collected uni- 

 formly on the gross weight of the merchandise 

 as follows : 



First class, articles free of duty, in which are 

 comprised articles of food unprepared by 

 cooking, vessels put together and in pieces, 

 and all machinery exceeding 1,000 kilogrammes 

 in weight. 



Second class, paying 2 cents per kilogramme. 

 In it are comprised machinery of all classes, 

 not exceeding 1,000 kilogrammes in weight, 

 hydraulic pumps, paper for printing, agricultu- 

 ral implements, printing-presses, photographs, 

 lithographs and apparatus for the same. 



Third class, 10 cents per kilogramme, includ- 

 ing printed books, letter-paper, paper for hang- 

 ings, kitchen-utensils, nails of all sorts, safes, 

 wines and distilled liquors, furniture, drugs and 

 medicines, perfumery, matches, china, earthen- 

 ware and glass, paints and varnishes. 



Fourth class, 24 cents per kilogramme, com- 

 prising cotton fabrics of one color, metals made 

 into articles of good quality, dressed skins, 

 cutlery, manufactured India-rubber, watches 

 and clocks. 



Fifth class, duty on which was not increased, 

 but which pays and. contributes to pay 45 cents 

 per kilogramme, embracing ready-made boots, 

 shoes, and clothing, fabrics of silk, wool, and 

 flax, fabrics of cotton, figured or stamped, 

 jewelry, and in general all fine commodities 

 not comprised in the preceding classes. 



From the 1st of September, classes 2, 3, and 4, 

 were to increase in a progression of 5 per cent, 

 per month until the 1st of January, 1875, when 

 they will pay respectively 2, 12, and 30 cents. 



As this duty is moderate, since it is scarcely 

 equivalent to an ad valorem charge of 15 per 

 cent, on articles of the second class, of 35 per 

 cent, on those of the third, of 27 per cent, on 

 those of the fourth, -and of 25 per cent, on 

 those of the fifth, it is not feared that the in- 



