COLOMBIA. 



113 



is understood that M. de Lesseps is the author 

 of the arbitration scheme, with a view to con- 

 centrate upon the Isthmus a European influ- 

 ence as against the United States, whose gov- 

 ernment is antagonistic to the Panama Canal." 

 The President of Colombia was General Ra- 

 fael Nunez (from April 1, 1880, to March 31, 

 1882) ; and the Cabinet was composed of the 

 following ministers : Foreign Affairs and Pub- 

 lic Instruction, Sefior R. Beeerra (ad interim) ; 

 Interior, Sefior C. Calderon ; Finance, Sefior 

 S. de Herrera ; Commerce, Sefior A. Roldan ; 

 Public Works, Post-Office, etc., Sefior Grego- 

 rio Obregon ; War and Marine, General Eliseo 

 Payan. 



* The chief magistrates of the nine States were 

 as follows : 



Antioquia Sefior P. Restrepo. 



Bolivar 

 Boyaca, 



Cauca 



Cundinamarca 

 Magdalena . . . 



Panama 



Santander 



Tolima... 



B. Noguera. 



J. E. Otalora. 



G. E. Hurtado. 



W. Ibafiez. 



N. Campo-Serrano. 



D. Cervera. 



8. Wilches. 



J. Santos. 



Each of the foregoing functionaries has the 

 title of president, except those of Cundina- 

 inarca and Tolima, who are styled governors. 



The Colombian Minister Plenipotentiary to 

 the United States is General R. S. D.Vila; and 

 the Colombian Consul-General at New York is 

 Sefior Luis de Pombo. 



The United States Minister Plenipotentiary 

 to Colombia is General Manney (accredited in 

 1881) ; and the United States consuls at Bogota 

 and the chief Colombian seaports respectively 

 were as follows : Bogota, Mr. B. Koppel ; Pa- 

 nama, Mr. John M. Wilson; Aspinwall, Mr. 

 James Thorington; Cartagena, Mr. Edmund W. 

 P. Smith ; Sabanilla and Barranquilla, Mr. E. P. 

 Pellet; Rio Hacha, Mr. N. Davies (vice-con- 

 sul). 



The regulation strength of the army in time 

 of peace is 3,000, and in time of war each of 

 the nine States is required to furnish a con- 

 tingent of one per cent of its population. The 

 total number of officers in the Guardia Colom- 

 biana was officially given at 1,927 in 1880. 



The revenue and expenditure of the repub- 

 lic for the fiscal year 1879-'80 were officially 

 reported at $5,651,905 and $5,773,575, thus 

 showing a deficit of $121,670. In the budget 

 for the same year, the revenue and expendi- 

 ture were estimated at $4,910,000 and $8,634,- 

 571; while in the President's message to Con- 

 gress, on February 1, 1880, the revenue was 

 set down at $10,469,291.07i, and the expendi- 

 ture at $9,926,013.52^ ; but in these last figures 

 must have been included items of expenditure 

 extraordinary and loans to cover deficits. 



"Owing to the peace which has been main- 

 tained, and which still reigns throughout the 

 country," observes a Colombian newspaper 

 correspondent, " a considerable rise is notice- 

 able in national stocks. The custom-house 

 department, for example, will produce in this 

 financial year (1881-'82) from $4,250,000 to 

 VOL. xxi. 8 A 



$4,500,000 ; and it is anticipated that the nec- 

 essary and increasing development of our in- 

 dustry and commerce will swell this return 

 within two years to at least $6,000,000." 



The national debt was reported as follows, 

 on August 31, 1880: 



Foreign debt $9.95T,000 



Home " 7,526.189 



Total $17,488,189 



The subjoined communication on the sub- 

 ject of the debt was published in London, in 

 1881 : 



SIR : The bondholders of the United States of Co- 

 lombia may congratulate themselves upon the era of 

 Erosjierity now dawning on that country. Colom- 

 ia, favored by nature and the world's commerce, ia 

 destined to become, via the Panama Canal, the con- 

 necting link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 

 and the medium of the commerce of two hemispheres. 

 The Colombian Government, recognizing the impor- 

 tant position thus assigned to it, has decided to re-es- 

 tablish its credit by recognizing at once its obligations 

 to its foreign creditors, and has, by a circular, dated 

 March 3, 1881, agreed hereafter to pay all coupons on 

 its foreign debt as they fall due, and will pay imme- 

 diately the coupon due October 31, 1879, in arrear, 

 and also fund six quarterly coupons in arrear, giving^ 

 bonds bearing 5 per cent interest. The secretary of 

 the Foreign Bondholders' Committee has called a 

 meeting for the 17th instant, to enable the bondhold- 

 ers to accept and ratify the above arrangement. The 

 position of each bondholder will then be as follows : 

 each holder of 100 stock will receive interest quar- 

 terly, on and from July 1st next, at the rate of 4J per 

 cent per annum, hereafter to be increased to 5 per 

 cent, and will receive in addition one coupon in arrear 

 in cash, and six coupons in arrear in stock, making 

 the nominal value of his holding 111 6s. 3d. for each 

 100, bearing interest at the rate of 4 J and 5 per cent, 

 the present price of which is 45. Colombia, with such 

 a future before her, necessitating her borrowing in the 

 money markets of the world for the construction of 

 railroads and other public works, has the strongest 

 incentives to maintain her credit. Hence her creditors 

 may be of good cheer. 



March 10, 1881. 



In September of the same year, however, 

 the Council of Foreign Bondholders communi- 

 cated that they had received authentic infor- 

 mation from Bogota, under date July 6th, that 

 the Colombian Congress had closed without 

 any steps having been taken to secure the rati- 

 fication of the convention of the 3d of March, 

 1881, with the bondholders. The resumption 

 of payment was consequently indefinitely post- 

 poned. 



The foreign trade of the republic, in the 

 year 1879-'80, was of the total value of $24.- 

 391,984 (of which $13,804,981 was for exports), 

 against $24,499,165 (of which $13,711,511 

 stood for exports). 



The chief export staples are gold, silver, Pe- 

 ruvian bark, coffee, skins, tobacco, Panama 

 hats, India-rubber, and cotton. 



The trade carried on through the port of 

 Panama is of two kinds, local and transit. Of 

 the former, we shall here mention only that 

 with the United States, whither the exports 

 for the year ending December 31, 1879, were 

 of the classes and values exhibited in the an- 

 nexed tabular statement : 



