80 



BOLIVIA. 



BOLIVIA (KEptfBLicA DE BOLIVIA). This 

 republic, so rarely the scene of events of inter- 

 est to the rest of the world, now emerges from 

 obscurity and claims her share of the attention 

 attracted by a war ranking among the most 

 disastrous in its course, and likely to prove one 

 of the most sterile in useful results, that have 

 ever been waged ou the Pacific coast of South 

 America. A brief review of Bolivian statis- 

 tics, and Bolivia's relations with the neighbor- 

 ing states, for some years past, will suffice to 

 throw into conspicuous relief the true origin 

 of the strife. 



With an area (assuming the lowest estimate) 

 of rather more than 500,000 square miles, and 

 a population of 2,325,000,* Bolivia is nearly 

 the equal of Peru in both respects, while she 

 is slightly the superior of Chili in the second 

 and four times her superior in the first respect. 

 But in spite of the vastness of her territory, a 

 large proportion of which comprises cultivable 

 lands of unsurpassed fertility, and notwith- 

 standing the richness and variety of her min- 

 eral products, she is commercially and indus- 

 trially the inferior of both. Possessing but a 

 few miles of seaboard, with two small ports 

 accessible only over a narrow strip of desert 

 wedged between her maritime neighbors, her 

 landlocked position condemns her to the fatal 

 necessity of carrying on through Peruvian ter- 

 ritory and Peruvian ports the main bulk of 

 her commerce, which thus becomes a tributary 

 of the Peruvian Treasury. In the official re- 

 turns last published, for 1875, but which are 

 asserted to give figures far below the truth, 

 the imports and exports were set down as of 

 the total value of $5,750,000 respectively, for 

 the most part through Peruvian ports Arica, 

 etc. The duties on the imports went to the 

 Peruvian custom-houses, and to Bolivia was 

 paid over the sum of $500,000, or little more 

 than one third of the total amount collected, 

 assuming the average rate of duties to have 

 been 25 per cent. ! But the official returns, as 

 above suggested, have been pronounced in- 

 correct by some writers, one of whom remarks 

 substantially as follows: The subjoined table, 

 from the " Tableau general du commerce de la 

 France," exhibits the value of the Bolivian, 

 Chilian, and Peruvian trade with the French 

 Republic in 1876 : 



Bolivia (Imports $45,956 



Bolivia.... "{Exports 685 



r<j,iii J Imports 6,523,430 



^ niu 1 Exports 6,492,008 



~_, I Imports 11,906,876 



rera 1 Exports 4,094,903 



These figures show a striking disproportion 

 between the Chilian and Peruvian imports and 

 those of Bolivia, although the population and 

 the consumption of foreign commodities are 

 nearly equal in the three republics. The canse 

 of the discrepancy is to be found in the fact 

 that Bolivia's purchases from Valparaiso and 



* For the territorial division, area, population, etc., see 

 " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1872 and 187S. 



Tacna, which constitute the great bulk of her 

 foreign supplies, do not figure in the list of her 

 imports. Conversely, the full value of her ex- 

 ports is not represented either, as they are 

 transmitted through Peru and Chili, in pay- 

 ment of the merchandise received through 

 these countries. From 1825 to 1840 the value 

 of the silver purchased annually by the Banco 

 National, which was then very generally sup- 

 posed to monopolize that metal, was from 

 $2,000,000 to $2,500,000; but large quantities 

 have always been exported secretly, the value 

 of which there is no means of determining. 

 Certain it is, however, that all the silver sent 

 out of the country is in payment of imports. 

 Ever since 1850 the yield of the silver mines 

 has steadily increased, and it is now estimated 

 at an annual value of not less than $10,000,- 

 000, exclusive of the product of the Caraco- 

 les mines. Gold, too, has at all times been 

 exported on an extensive scale, but secretly. 

 Yet, as nowhere in the republic is gold-mining 

 systematically carried on, and as all the gold 

 brought to market is in the shape ofpepitas or 

 nuggets, laid bare by descending torrents in the 

 rainy season and gathered by the Indians, it is 

 probable there has been no progressive increase 

 of quantity, notwithstanding the increased ne- 

 cessities of the Indian population. Another 

 important article of export is copper from the 

 Corocoro mines, which, in spite of greatly re- 

 duced prices, continues to be extracted on ac- 

 count of its superior quality. Tin, though 

 very abundant, is now almost wholly neglect- 

 ed. Merchants who have attentively studied 

 this subject are of opinion that the aggregate 

 value of the gold, copper, and tin at present 

 exported is about $5,000,000 a year; which, 

 with $10,000,000 for silver, constitutes an an- 

 nual value of $15,000,000 for metal exports 

 alone. The various branches of agricultural 

 industry in Bolivia are for the most part lim- 

 ited by the demand for home consumption. 

 The great Yungas valleys of the east, watered 

 by the snow-covered Cordilleras, extending 

 from the giant peak of Illimani to that of So- 

 rata (a distance of some 300 miles), and with a 

 climate no less favorable than that of tropical 

 Brazil, yield coffee and cacao of excellent qual- 

 ity. Indeed, the cacao is said to be superior 

 to that of Guayaquil ; and the quina or cali- 

 saya-bark of the same region is esteemed for 

 the strength and general superiority of its sul- 

 phates. In the absence of necessary data, it 

 would be rash to form an estimate of the quan- 

 tity exported of these commodities ; but it is 

 evidently very much smaller than it might be 

 with improved means of transportation. The 

 sugar-cane is cultivated in the valleys above re- 

 ferred to, and in that of Santa Cruz ; but the 

 sugar and molasses manufactured do not ex- 

 ceed the home requirements. Cereals, legu- 

 minous plants, and almost every variety of 

 fruits peculiar to the tropical and temperate 

 zones, are abundant and cheap, but, like the 

 products above enumerated, are never sent 



