COSTA RICA. 



COTTON. 



213 



the south and west, the Pacific Ocean. The 

 territory of the republic comprises an area of 

 21,490 -|iiaiv miles ; and the population is esti- 

 mated ivt 185,000, of whom some 6,000 are 

 civilized and 10,000 uncivilized Indians. 



The President (provisional) of the Republic 

 U I>r. Vicente Herrera. The Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs is Seflor Rafael Machado ; and the 

 Minister of Public Works, Seflor D. Saturnino 

 I.i/. mo. (No definite returns of the complete 

 formation of the new cabinet have been re- 

 reived up to the end of December, 1876.) 



The following tables exhibit the national rev- 

 enue and expenditure for the fiscal year ending 

 April 30, 1876 : 



REVENUE. 



National Bank $208,898 



Custom-house of Puntarenas 411,472 



Government monopolies : 



Brandy $811,860 



Tobacco 878,802 



Powder 5,107 



National property : 



Government lands $18,181 



Government printing-office 3,229 



National Institute 8,276 



Post-Office 24,511 



Telegraphs 6,372 



Railway 100,851- 



Publlc works 1,564 



Taxes, etc : 



Subsidies $17,453 



Stamp-duty 27,897 



Judicial fees 14,428 



Mortgage fees 15,827 



Spirit-license 



1,194,759 



152,934 



Sundry receipts. 



93,642 



186,063 



Deposits in '{rational* Bank """".."'.."*...".. 807/277 



Total $2,560,045 



EXPENDITURE. 



Ministry of the Interior $195,787 



Ministry of Justice 74,644 



Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1 1,497 



Public Instruction 102,430 



Public Worship 18,498 



Ministry of War and the Navy 861,218 



Ministry of Public Works 128,190 



Finance and Commerce 128,494 



Police 22,225 



Industry 787 



Benevolent institutions 595 



Itailway 857,867 



Government monopolies 53,005 



National debt * 1,098,868 



Total $2,554,045 



From an official report, under date of May 8, 

 1876, it would appear that the aggregate rev- 

 enue for the five years 1871-'76 exceeded by 

 $6,489,754 that for the five years immediately 

 preceding. 



In the estimated budget for the fiscal year 

 ending April 30, 1877, the revenue and expen- 

 diture were set down at $2,236,000 and $2,626,- 

 427, which would constitute a deficit of $390,- 

 427. 



The total value of the exports for the year 

 1875 was $4,259,333, of which coffee alone rep- 

 resented $4,116,902; and that of the imports 

 $2,850,000. 



In the course of 1876 some further progress 



* For details relative to the national debt, set the ANNUAL 

 - -*DIA for 1875. 



was made toward the completion of the Atlan- 

 tic division of the railway ; but several inter- 

 ruptions were caused in the work by lack of 

 funds. 



The line of telegraph across the republic, 

 from Puntarenas to Limon, was nearly com- 

 pleted. 



Seflor Aniseto Ezquivel, duly elected Presi- 

 dent of the Republic of Costa Rica, was in- 

 augurated in office on May 8, 1876 ; but early 

 in August following a revolution broke out, by 

 which he was overthrown, Dr. Vicente Her- 

 rera having been appointed as provisional 

 President. The movement appears to have 

 been of a purely military character. The pro- 

 nunciamientos were made at San Jose and 

 Alajuela, by General Quiroz and his brother, 

 both partisans of General Guardia, Ezquivel's 

 predecessor. It was presumed that Guardia, 

 at the time absent in a neighboring republic, 

 would soon return to resume his position at 

 the head of the Government. 



The following extract from a public corre- 

 spondent's letter, dated December 13, 1876, 

 will serve as a fair summary of the situation 

 of affairs in Costa Rica at that time : 



Coffee-picking in the interior had been suspended 

 on account of rams. The planters had held a meeting, 

 at which they decided that, if they could not get the 

 prices they thought just, they would ship on their own 

 account to whatever market suited them best. 



Politically, matters in Costa Rica are in a most de- 

 plorable condition. General Guardia has again gone 

 up the coast, accompanied by a batch of Costa-Kican 

 politicians, intended to lend significance to his mis- 

 sion, it is generally understood, for the purpose of ob- 

 taining the assistance of Guatemala and Salvador in 

 making war against Nicaragua. Guardia is not in odor 

 of sanctity in either Guatemala or San Salvador, nor is 

 it probable that, even with the influence of his politi- 

 cal companions, he will succeed in inducing either to 

 assist him. An embargo has been laid upon all com- 

 munication with Nicaragua. No mails are received 

 and no freight is shipped or entered. Sugar and cheese 

 that came down by last steamer to Puntarenas lie there 

 rotting in the hea't, and are not permitted to pass the 

 custom-house. Letters from Nicaragua bearing the 

 postal stamp of that republic are retained, and per- 

 sons wishing to correspond with Nicaragua must in- 

 trust their letters to private hands, or tsend them to 

 Salvador to have them forwarded from there. Steam- 

 ers get no clearance for Nicaraguan ports, and when 

 they enter Puntarenas on the down-trip they are re- 

 ceived as coming from Salvador. 



This hostility against Nicaragua, it is generally 

 understood, is wholly a matter of pecuniary interest 

 on the part of Guardia. It is only a few weeks since 

 Nicaragua abolished the state ot war in which that 

 republic had been for months previous, and reestab- 

 lished constitutional government. 



COTTON. According to the statement of 

 the New York Commercial and Financial 

 Chronicle, for the year ending August 31, 1876, 

 the cotton-crop of the United States reached 

 4,669,288 bales, while the exports were 8,252,- 

 994 bales, and the spinners' takings 1,356,598 

 bales, leaving a stock on hand, at the close of 

 the year, of 120,380 bales. The gross weight 

 of the crop was 2,201,410,024 pounds, the av- 

 erage weight of the bales being 471.46 pounds. 

 The production by States was as follows : 



