BOLIVIA. 



81 



out of the country, owing to the lack of easy 

 means of communication with the coast. In 

 the event of persistent droughts, such as those 

 of 1877 and 1878, especially that of the latter 

 year, famine spreads desolation over such lo- 

 calities as, by the difficulties of transport, are 

 out off from immediate relief. Of all Bolivian 

 products, that most assiduously cultivated by 

 the Indians is the coca-shrub (Erythroxylon 

 coca), the leaves of which they use as the Asi- 

 atics use betel. The annual sales of this arti- 

 cle at La I'az, the seat of government of the 

 republic, vary in amount from $4,000,000 to 

 $5,000,000. Cattle, sheep, horses, and mules 

 are abundant, the last being the chief animals 

 of burden on the western slopes of the Andes; 

 while in the elevated regions there are great 

 numbers of llamas, vicuflas, gunnacos, and al- 

 pacas (varieties of what may be termed the 

 American camel), with the hair of all of 

 which the Indians manufacture hats, fine 

 cloths, etc. 



Notwithstanding the absence of positive 

 statistics, a.s the Bolivian imports are known 

 to consist mainly of manufactured goods, an 

 approximate idea of their minimum values may 

 be arrived at thus : Let the population be re- 

 garded as made up of (1), 825,000 Indians in a 

 state of savagery, and not submissive to the laws 

 of the land; (2), 1,000,000 civilized Indians; 

 (3), 500,000 whites, forming the first or upper 

 class; and (4), 500,000 mestizos, constituting 

 the second class. The civilized Indians, the 

 most useful element of Bolivian society, being 

 for the most part land-owners, farmers, cattle- 

 rearers, etc.. in fine, the factors of the nascent 

 industries of the country may, in order to 

 avoid possible exaggerations, be excluded from 

 the proposed estimate. Nevertheless, these In- 

 dians, besides their usual dress, which is ex- 

 clusively of home manufacture, make liberal ex- 

 penditures on gala-dress for their carnival and 

 other feasts, in the regular observance of which 

 they yield to none. If, then, the moderate sum 

 of thirty dollars be assumed as the yearly out- 

 lay of the 1,000,000 individuals of the first and 

 second classes (500,000 whites and 500,000 

 mestizos), for dress and such other necessaries 

 or luxuries as are not produced in the repub- 

 lic church ornaments, jewelry, watches and 

 clocks, house ornaments, fancy wares, station- 

 ery, books, school supplies, musical instruments, 

 hardware, cutlery, wrought and cast iron, agri- 

 cultural and mining implements, machinery, 

 etc., etc. the total value of the foreign mer- 

 chandise annually imported into Bolivia will be 

 $30,000,000. And it may be affirmed, without 

 fear of challenge, that this estimate is far be- 

 low reality. Now, if the imports amount to 

 $30,000,000, and two millions be assigned as 

 the value of merchandise free of duty, the 

 custom-house duties on the remaining twenty- 

 eight millions should be, according to the 

 Bolivian tariff, from six to seven millions, of 

 which perhaps not one million goes into the 

 Government Treasury 1 Do the Peruvian cus- 

 YOL. xix. 6 A 



turn-houses and smuggling on the Bolivian 

 coast and frontiers absorb the rest? 



The following table shows the national rev- 

 enue and expenditures aa estimated in the bad- 

 get (voted in 1872) for the fiscal year 1878-'74, 

 since which time no official statement of the 

 finances has been published : 



Customs (duties on Import*) : 



Arica $406,000 



CobU** 250,000 



$666.000 



Mint, export duty on silver 198,096 



Guano sales 800,000 



Stamped paper 87,268 



Import duty on cattle (from the Argentine Re- 

 public) 20,880 



Colonel Church's loan 660,000 



Indian contribution 666,807 



Sundries 896,428 



Total $2,929,574 



EXPENDITURES. 



Ministry of the Interior $597.458 



Ministry of Foreign Affairs 168,940 



Ministry of Finance (inclusive of home debt) 2,072.018 



Ministry of Justice and Public Worship 899,167 



Ministry of War. 1,126,916 



Expenditures extraordinary 156,010 



Total $4,605,504 



Deficit $1,575,930 



This deficit would, of course, be reduced 

 somewhat by the proceeds of the sale of pub- 

 lic lands at Mejillones, in the coast region, ex- 

 port duties on silver from the coast mines, and 

 other sources of revenue, the yield of which 

 could not be accurately estimated. 



The national debt amounted in June, 1875, 

 to 3,400,000 ($17,000,000), including an item 

 Colonel Church's loan of 1,700,000, nego- 

 tiated in London in 1872 which for some 

 years past has been a subject of angry debate 

 in British financial circles, and the details of 

 which are as follows : The loan is designated as 

 the "Bolivian six per cent, of 1872"; the 

 nominal amount was 1,700,000; the issue 

 price, 68; interest and sinking fund, 8 per 

 cent, per annum ; and the number of years to 

 run, twenty-four. The net produce t to the 

 borrower was set down at 1,156,000 ; the 

 annual charge throughout at 136,000; and 

 the total cost to borrower, including capital 

 repaid at redemption, at 3,285,440. The 

 proceeds of the loan were to be applied to the 

 construction of railways. 



The regulation strength of the army in time 

 of peace is 8,000, as follows : 8 generals, 1,012 

 subaltern officers, and 2,000 men ! The annu- 

 al cost of this force is about $2,000,000, or two 

 thirds of the revenue. After the commence- 

 ment of the war, the number was almost im- 

 mediately raised to about 20,000 men, neither 

 raw levies nor disciplined soldiers, but men 

 accustomed to fighting and the use of arms. 



Bolivia, formerly called the Presidency of 

 Charcas, and afterward Upper Peru, formed 

 from 1767 a part of the viceroyalty of Buenos 



* Port of entry on the Bolivian coast. 

 t See " Annual Cyclopedia" for 1876. 



