618 



NICARAGUA. 



ertions in the cause of reform. In politics Mr. 

 Tilden has always been a Democrat. 



Soon after the organization of the Legislature, 

 in 1875, FRANCIS KEBNAN was elected to the Uni- 

 ted States Senate for six years, from March 4, 

 1875, to succeed Hon. Reuben E. Fenton. Mr. 

 Kernan was born in Wayne, Steuben County, 

 N. Y., January 14, 1816. After graduating from 

 Georgetown College in the District of Colum- 

 bia, he studied law in the office of Joshua A. 

 Spencer, and subsequently became his partner. 

 He was Reporter of the Court of Appeals from 

 1854 to 1857, and in 1860 was elected to the 

 Assembly from a district which the previous 

 year had elected a Republican by a large ma- 

 jority. In 1862 he was elected to Congress, 

 where he rendered valuable service as a mem- 

 ber of the Judiciary Committee. He was a 

 member of the Constitutional Convention in 

 1867, and of the Constitutional Commission, 

 whose work was ratified at the election of 

 1874. In 1872 he was the unsuccessful can- 

 didate of the Democrats and Liberal Republi- 

 cans for Governor. In politics, Mr. Kernan 

 has always been a Democrat; in religion, a 

 Catholic. He possesses, in a preeminent cb- 

 gree, all the qualifications essential to the dis- 

 charge of the duties of the high position to 

 which he has been elected; and his election 

 gives general satisfaction. His efforts in be- 

 half of the public schools of the State have 

 identified his name with that cause. He holds 

 a high rank as a jurist and a statesman, and is 

 described as " very forcible in debate and ar- 

 gument, being cleat- and concise in his state- 

 ments, logical and direct in reaching conclu- 

 sions, pointed and pertinent in illustration, 

 chaste and strong in diction, attractive in man- 

 ner, and commanding in presence." 



NICARAGUA (REP(JBLIOA DE NIOAEAGUA), 

 a republic of Central America, situated be- 

 tween Costa Rica and Honduras, and the shores 

 of which are bathed by the Caribbean Sea on 

 the east and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. 

 It comprises an area of 39,000 square miles, 

 and has a population of 350,000. 



By the terms of the existing constitution, 

 promulgated on August 19, 1858, after the 

 filibuster war, the country is under a popular 

 representative government. The power is di- 

 vided into three branches legislative, execu- 

 tive, and judicial. The legislative power is 

 vested in a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, 

 the first composed of two members for each 

 of the seven departments of the republic, and 

 elected for a term of six years ; and the sec- 

 ond of one representative from each of the 

 four common districts, and two from each of 

 .the seven head-districts of departments : in all, 

 eighteen deputies, their term of office being 

 four years. 



The legislative period embraces two years, 

 and commences on the 1st of January. Two- 

 thirds of the senators are changed at a time, 

 and one-half of the deputies. Every senator 

 must be a native of Nicaragua, or of Central 



America, and have resided ten years in the re- 

 public, and possess landed property equal to 

 an income of $2,000 per annum, be a layman, 

 and not less than thirty years of age. 



The only indispensable requirements for a 

 deputy are five years' residence in the repub- 

 lic, if born in any part of the territory of Cen- 

 tral America, and to have completed twenty- 

 five years of age. 



The executive power is vested in a Presi- 

 dent, aided by a number of ministers, to bo 

 determined by Jaw. Of these there are at 

 present four. The presidential period is four 

 years, and no one can be reflected to that 

 office. 



The judicial power is divided into two sec- 

 tions, one of which resides in Leon and the 

 other in Granada. They are composed of four 

 magistrates each, and appeals may be made 

 from either one to the other. 



The magistrates are elected for four years 

 each ; and one-half of the members of each 

 section is changed during each legislative pe- 

 riod. They are elected by the Congress. 



The first constitutional Congress was in- 

 augurated on January 1, 1859; and the first 

 constitutional on March 1st of the same year. 



Since then there have been eight uninter- 

 rupted congressional, and four presidential 

 periods. The first two presidential periods 

 - were embraced by the administration of Gen- 

 eral Tomas Martinez ; the third, by that of Gen- 

 eral Fernando Guzman; and the fourth, by 

 that of Sefior Don Vicente Quadra, to end on 

 March 1, 1875. 



The members of the Quadra cabinet were as 

 follows: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Public 

 Instruction, Agriculture, and Commerce, SeQor 

 Don Anselmo H. Rivas ; of the Interior, Justice, 

 and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Dr. Francisco Bar- 

 berena; of War, Marine, Police, and Public 

 Works, Licentiate Isidoro Lopez; and of Fi- 

 nance, Dr. Teodoro Delgadillo. 



The outgoing administration is the only one 

 in Nicaraguan annals throughout the whole 

 course of which peace has been preserved, 

 with the single exception of the first presiden- 

 tial period, inaugurated with the common con- 

 sent of the various ' parties which had been 

 exhausted by a three-years war that began in 

 May, 1854, and terminated in the expulsion of 

 the filibusters in June, 1857. The junta guber- 

 nativa, composed of Generals Martinez and 

 Jerez, was then intrusted with the reorgani- 

 zation of the country. 



During-the last period of peace the interests 

 of agriculture, commerce, and public instruc- 

 tion, have been considerably developed. In 

 the departments of Leon and Chinandega the 

 sugar-cane has been more extensively culti- 

 vated than ever before ; and the same may be 

 said of coffee and indigo in Granada and Rivas. 

 The wealth of Matagalpa, Chontales, and Nue- 

 va Segovia, chiefly consists of cattle; and in 

 the last two there is a mining-district of con- 

 siderable importance. 



