COLOMBIA. 



189 



i representatives to bring forward a project of law 

 tin- 1'urpoae of establishing a periodical, to be 

 itihi-.i in Europe, in tbo French, English, and 

 nuii languages, for the purpose of making known 

 Inn..! Stated of Colombia in the great morcan- 

 oentres of Europe, in an industrial, political, 

 .-until.-, and geographical point of view." Kenora 

 sir. -I'D mid Aruujo fc>. were named as a committee. 



Aililitionnl testimony to the prosperous con- 

 dition <>f the republic is presented in the sum- 

 in :iry hereafter transcribed from President 

 Murillo's message to Congress, dated February 

 1, 1874: 



The I'n-M.l.-iit congratulates the assembled Sen- 

 ators mid Kupresentatives on the highly-satisfactory 

 un.l Hum-ring condition of the republic in general. 

 Tin- rU-cti<>iis for members of Congress and for the 

 next President of the Union have been effected with- 

 out any disturbances, which, with the confidence of 

 tin- people in peace and progress, have shown that 

 Colombia marches on firm ground, that liberty is se- 

 cure, and industry remunerative and increasing on 

 every side. 



The satisfactory condition of the national finances 

 at the present time places it beyond a doubt that the 

 Treasury will bo quite able, from this time hence- 

 forth, to meet the interests of a capital of not less than 

 $16,000,000, which will enable the country easily to 

 initiate the construction of the railways proposed as 

 parts of a great line of communication from ocean to 

 ocean, ana all of which, faithfully and honestly car- 

 ried out, cannot fail to place Colombia in a dis- 

 tinguished positition as a contributor to the general 

 productions of the world. 



With respect to the railway from Buenaventura to 

 Call, it as yet has gone on slowly. The contractor, 

 .Mr. Sniithj was daily expected at Buenaventura with 

 everv requisite to go on with the road. The task of 

 buililing this line is a gigantic one, and excuses for 

 its delay are found in the great obstacles to be over- 

 come. The railway from Sabanilla to Barranquilla 

 continues profitably and satisfactorily. Telegraph- 

 lines are or daily construction, so that before long the 

 territory of the republic will be crossed by wires irom 

 the port of Buenaventura on the Pacific to the Ve- 

 nezuelan frontier and near to Lake Maracaybo on the 

 Atlantic, making in all 969 miles of telegraph. 



Primary instruction continues to diffuse knowl- 

 edge, notwithstanding the opposition of the Church. 

 Religious teaching not being now recognized as a 

 function of the Government ? the schools and other 

 establishments supported by it are warned to abstain 

 from being in any way accessory to religious prppa- 

 gandism. The people in this question have sided 

 with the Government. 



All the foreign relations of the republic, especially 

 with Great Britain, are on the most friendly footing. 



The Government of Venezuela still refuses to con- 

 tinue the negotiation of treaties for the arranging of 

 the commercial relations and territorial limits be- 

 tween the two countries. 



General Bueventura Correosa, as minister from 

 Colombia to Costa Rica, succeeded in concluding 

 with that republic a treaty of amity, commerce, and 

 navigation, a postal convention^ and one respecting 

 the literary copyright, all of which are to be submit- 

 ted for the approval of Congress. 



The treaty of commerce with Peru, approved by 

 Congress, has been found beneficial to both coun- 

 tries. Senor Vallenzuela, who negotiated this treaty, 

 is now occupied in negotiating with a company that 

 has undertaken to lay a telegraphic cable between 

 _ Panama and the coasts of Peru, for the establishment 

 of a telegraph-station of this cable at the port of 

 Buenaventura, in exchange for the permission to land 

 one of its extremes on the coast of Colombia. In 

 order to secure the station at Buenaventura, it has 

 been found necessary to revoke a former permission 



of which advantage Las been token, but the continu- 

 ation of which would tend to prevent the certainty 

 of getting the above-mentioned acquisition. 



The relations of Colombia with Ecuador are ai 

 friendly a* possible. 



In Fasto wore collected $643.50 to assist in 

 printing copies of the Bible. 



By virtue of a decree, issued on November 

 1, 1870, public instruction ceased to be an ex- 

 clusively clerical charge, and was placed under 

 the immediate direction of the Government, 

 under whose auspices the entire school sys- 

 tem was reformed ; competent teachers were 

 brought from Europe principally from Ger- 

 many. Schools multiplied in every direction; 

 and, to insure the full measure of happy re- 

 sults fairly to be expected from a work inaugu- 

 rated by dint of patient labor and the liberal 

 expenditure of public funds, Colombia was first 

 among the nations of the New World to adopt 

 the measure of compulsory education. 



The beneficent influence of the school-reform 

 is already apparent, as is eloquently attested by 

 the extracts here transcribed from an official 

 report, dated October 16, 1874. 



In the State of Antioquia there were, in 

 December, 1878, the following schools: 



Primary public schools for males 07 



" " " " females 47 



Grammar ' " male? 88 



" " females 18 



Private schools for males 135 



" " females 155 



Normal School 1 



Total 486 



The attendance at these schools, exclusive 

 of the Normal School, was 21,416 ; and the 

 total expenditure for instruction, $121,455. 



In Bolivar there were but 44 schools open, 

 against 119 in 1872; but this decadence was 

 attributed to causes foreign to a lack of interest 

 in the education of youth. 



BoyacA possessed 208 public schools, 36 of 

 which were for females, with a total attendance 

 of 9,000. The amount annually contributed 

 by the various districts for the support of these 

 schools was $38,531. 



The schools in Cauca numbered 158 public, 

 22 of which were for females ; and 71 private, 

 35 being for females. The total attendance 

 was 9,925 ; and the annual outlay for the sup- 

 port of the establishments, $77,298. 



Cundinamarca had in 1873 the following : 



Public schools for males 180 



" " " females 8 



Private " " males BO 



" " " females 68 



Schools for both sexes 13 



Total. 



The number of scholars enrolled at these 

 schools was 16,489 ; and $76,000 were expend- 

 ed for teachers' salaries alone. 



In Magdalena there existed 49 public and 51 

 private schools, attended by 2,968 scholars, and 

 supported at an expenditure of $15,974, con- 

 tributed by the several departments. 



Santander had 800 schools, 279 of which 



