148 



COLOMBIA. 



several branches of the Colombian revenue for 



1878-'79 : 



REVENUE. 



Customs $4.025,112 



Bait monopoly 1,451,529 



Panama and Sabanilla Railways 884,923 



Post-Office 64,524 



Telegraphs 29,060 



Mint 11,613 



National property 9,503 



Church property 27,477 



Sundries 848,551 



Total $6,872,292 



In 1877-78 the following were the 



EXPENDITURES. 



Ministry of the Interior ($240,024) and of 



Foreign Affairs ($63,700) $303,724 



Ministry of Justice 27,832 



" ofFlnance 1,963,607 



" of War and Marine 1,138,160 



National debt 1,372,994 



Ministry of Public Works 2,821,433 



Treasury Department 76,084 



Public Instruction 881,120 



Pensions 116,220 



Post-Office 433,986 



Total $8,085,110 



It should here be observed that in the ex- 

 penditure of the Finance Department is includ- 

 ed an item of $813,177, amount of the cost of 

 collection of the revenue, or rather more than 

 one eighth of the entire national income ! On 

 comparing the revenue for 1878-'79 with that 

 for the year immediately preceding, an increase 

 of $2,033,992 is observable in the former. The 

 year 1877-'78 was marked by a deficit of 

 $2,433,113. 



In the budget for 1878-'79, the revenue and 

 expenditures were estimated at $5,998,644.8^ 

 and $9,622,709.81 respectively; a state of things 

 which, had it become real, would have saddled 

 the country with a deficit almost equal in 

 amount to the revenue itself, and embarrassed 

 the Government beyond all hope of immediate 

 recovery, or indeed of relief otherwise than by 

 resorting to a new loan, which, under existing 

 circumstances, could not have been negotiated 

 without considerable sacrifice. As it is, Presi- 

 dent Trujillo in his message to Congress frankly 

 stated that the financial situation was not good, 

 and that he saw no probability of improvement 

 before peace should be reestablished through- 

 out the country, and more serious and united 

 efforts made toward the development of the 

 .sources (abundant in themselves) of national 

 wealth. In order to the attainment of this 

 end, " it is indispensable not to damp the pub- 

 lic spirit of the people by inaction, or suffer the 

 destruction of the results of labor, but to direct 

 the endeavors of the State authorities and of Co- 

 lombian capitalists in one common channel with 

 those of the Federal Government." To ob- 

 viate the serious difficulties attendant upon a 

 deficit, the President found it necessary to avail 

 himself of the powers with which he was in- 

 vested by the law (No. 60) of 1878 to order, in 

 just such an emergency as the one referred to, 

 the emission of Treasury notes (pagares del 

 Tesoro) to the amount of $2,500,000. Means 



were used to effect certain payments which, 

 like those on account of the foreign debt, etc., 

 have to be made in coin ; and it was suggested 

 as expedient to unify the various public obli- 

 gations, at present so confusing from their va- 

 riety in the market as "not only to prejudice 

 public interests, but also to affect at times the 

 good name of the Government itself." Finan- 

 cially speaking, however, the Trujillo Admin- 

 istration has not proved less successful than 

 those immediately preceding it ; bonds payable 

 out of the proceeds of the custom-house and 

 of the salt monopoly have been redeemed to 

 the amount of $1,004,431 ; and other liabilities, 

 contracted in part by former Administrations, 

 have been liquidated to the amount of $1,586,- 

 614; the disbursements in coin on account of 

 the foreign debt having reached $745,388.60, 

 and those for ordinary current expenses, $1,- 

 509,691.60, during the same period. 



As seen by the foregoing tables, the yield of 

 the customs department for the year 1878-'79 

 was $4,025,112, or $1,025,112 larger than that 

 for the year 1877-'78; but a considerable fall- 

 ing off is apprehended in this branch of the 

 revenue consequent upon a sensible decrease in 

 the exports, while the imports scarcely experi- 

 enced any change either in quantity or value a 

 state, of things regarded as bidding fair to con- 

 tinue for one or two years at least. One incon- 

 venience immediately attendant upon such a 

 state would be the necessity for merchants to re- 

 sort to specie shipments to cover their balances 

 abroad ; besides which there would be the pos- 

 sibility of a greater evil, dependent on the first, 

 namely, a monetary crisis which might well 

 assume the proportions of a real disaster if 

 added to the already complicated situation. 

 The attention of the Congress was earnestly 

 called to these matters. A revision of the tar- 

 iff was suggested, together with the expedi- 

 ency of requesting merchants to communicate 

 to the members of the Legislature their views 

 on that important subject. With a view to 

 the extension of the foreign trade, it was rec- 

 ommended that the Executive should be em- 

 powered to make treaties with the different 

 friendly commercial nations for the admission, 

 duty-free or at much lower rates of duty than 

 those now in existence, of such Colombian sta- 

 ples as rice, sugar, coffee, hats, etc., with similar 

 concessions on the part of Colombia regarding 

 imports from those countries. 



The national debt in 1878 stood as fol- 

 lows: 



Foreign debt $10,392.500 



Home debt 5,606,804 



Total $15,999,304 



The imports in 1877-'78 reached a total 

 value of $8,708,797, and the exports, of $11,- 

 111,197, against $7,328,928 and $14,477,897, 

 respectively, for the year immediately preced- 

 ing. 



The exports in 1877-'78, in regard of desti- 

 nations, were distributed as follows : 





