374 



GUATEMALA. 



members : Interior and Finance, Seflor F. Al- 

 burez ; War and Public Works, Sefior J. M. 

 Samayoa; and Foreign Affairs and Public In- 

 struction, Sefior Macal. 



The standing army is composed of 3,200 

 men, besides which there is a militia force of 

 13,000. 



fruitful in happy results. One of the first hn; 

 portant acts of Minister Macal, after his ap- 

 pointment to the portfolio of Foreign Affairs 

 and Public Instruction, was to visit the schools 

 and other educational establishments in the 

 several eastern departments, publishing at hia 

 return a report on the condition of the " schools 

 of the east," from which we extract the fol- 

 lowing particulars : 



The Government, not satisfied with merely 

 having established public schools throughout 

 the country, still continues to bestow upon 

 the cause of education a degree of care and 

 zealous attention which cannot fail to prove 



The number of scholars attending all schools, 

 public and private, in the capital, was 3,527 ; the 

 total monthly expenditure for the public schools 

 of the city being $15,824.25 per month. 



Sefior Macal proposes a complete reorgani- 

 zation of the public schools, especially those 

 for the primary branches, and some desirable 

 modifications in the present system of manage- 

 ment. It is also highly probable that gym- 

 nasiums will be established in connection with 

 the public schools. 



The department of the Interior and Public 

 Works was engaged in examining 'several 

 schemes proposed for the development of the 

 agricultural interests of the republic. 



No regular returns of the finances and com- 

 merce of Guatemala were published last year, 



GUATEMALA LA ANTIGUA. 



so that the most recent statistics to be con- 

 sulted ou these branches are those given in the 

 ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1875. 

 In the matter of the national debt the Gua- 



temala Government issued a decree on AprU 

 27, 1876, by virtue of which the loan decreed 

 on February 28th of the same year was iu- 

 creased to $500,000. 



