COSTA RICA. 



199 



reduction is estimated to diminish the annual 

 State revenue by nearly one hundred thousand 

 dollars. An act had also been passed by both 

 Houses reducing the State tax in general, but 

 it was subsequently rescinded, An act em- 

 powering the Railroad Commissioners to regu- 

 late the practice of the steam - whistle, so 

 called, with a view to its abatement. An act 

 ordering fire-escapes to be made in all build- 

 ings where twelve or more persons are em- 

 ployed for work in one room. An act raising 

 the jurisdiction of the Hartford and Fairfield 

 courts, in civil cases, to one thousand dollars ; 

 and the judges' salaries to three thousand a 

 year. 



The collective sums appropriated to public 

 institutions by the Connecticut Legislature of 

 1881 amount to nearly a quarter of a million. 

 Among them, besides the $75,000 before men- 

 tioned for a normal school at New Britain, are 

 $50,000 for a hospital at Bridgeport, $12,000 

 to the Reform School for Boys, and $10,000 to 

 the Industrial School for Girls. 



In the early part of the session, January 18th, 

 the two Houses separately voted for the elec- 

 tion of a United States Senator from Connecti- 

 cut, to occupy the seat of "William W. Eaton, 

 whose term was to expire on March 3d ; the 

 candidates in competition for that office being 

 Joseph R. Hawley, the Republican nominee, 

 and Mr. Eaton himself, renominated by the 

 Democratic members of the General Assembly. 

 The voting in either House resulted as lollows : 

 In the Senate Hawley 16, Eaton 4, one of the 

 Democratic Senators having been absent; in 

 the House of Representatives Hawley 161, 

 Eaton 68. Joseph R. Hawley was elected. 



At the election for members of the Legisla- 

 ture in November the Republican candidates 

 were returned in far greater numbers than the 

 Democratic. The Senate consisted of 24 mem- 

 bers Republicans 17, Democrats 7 ; the Lower 

 House of 247 members Republicans 148, 

 Democrats 99. By these results the Repub- 

 lican majorities, as compared with those of 

 1880, are reduced in the Senate from 11 to 

 10; in the Lower House from 84 to 49 ; and 

 on joint ballot from 95 to 59. 



COSTA RICA (REPLICA DE COSTA RICA). 

 Detailed statements concerning area, territorial 

 division, population, etc., may be found in the 

 "Annual Cyclopsedia" for 1877. 



The President of the Republic is General 

 Tomas Guardia; the Vice-President is General 

 Pedro Quiroz ; and the Cabinet was composed 

 of the following ministers : Interior, Sefior S. 

 Lizano; Foreign Affairs, Justice, Public In- 

 struction, and the Poor-Commission, Dr. Jose 

 Maria Castro ; Finance and Commerce, Senor 

 Salvador Lara ; Public Works, Licentiate M. Ar- 

 gnello ; and War and Marine, General V. Guar- 

 dia. 



The Bishop of San Jos6 is the Rt. Rev. Ber- 

 nardo A. Thiel. 



The Costarican Minister Resident in the 

 United States is Sefior Peralta ; and the Con- 



sul-General of Costa Rica at New York is Seflor 

 Jose Mufioz. 



The United States Minister (resident in 

 Guatemala, and accredited to the five Central- 

 American republics Guatemala, Honduras, 

 Nicaragua, Salvador, and Costa Rica) is Dr. 

 Cornelius A. .Logan ; and the United States 

 Consul at San Jos6, Mr. A. Morrell. The 

 transfer of Consul-General Hall from Havana 

 to Central America, as Minister Plenipotentiary 

 from the United States, has been spoken of. 



In the absence of later official returns re- 

 lating to finance, commerce, etc., than those 

 given in our volume for 1880, the following 

 extract from a letter addressed by a Costarican 

 bondholder to a London journal, in August, 

 1881, will be found interesting, as it contains a 

 summary of financial, agricultural, and railway 

 matters for that year : 



Under the heading of " Trade and Finance," in 

 your last issue, a paragraph is assigned to the Presi- 

 dent and the railway of Costa Eica, and, while you 

 refer to rumors that the former is endeavoring to raise 

 money irrespective of the bondholders, you justly add 

 that the latter is distinctly pledged to them. Kegard- 

 ing the railway, therefore, as the property of the hold- 

 ers of the loan, it might be well briefly to examine 

 into the value of that property, should they be able to 

 get it into their own hands. From Port Limon on the 

 Atlantic, seventy miles of narrow-gauge line have been 

 constructed, and now reach the Eio Sucip. From this 

 point to the capital, San Jose 1 , twenty-six miles have 

 still to be made, and of these eighteen are over uneven 

 and difficult ground. Up to the present time $17.000,000 

 have been expended on the railway, and it is estimated 

 that $2,000,000 more will be required to complete it, 

 so that the total cost will amount to $19,000,000. The 

 commerce and agriculture of the whole republic are 

 confined to four provinces, those of San Jose, Cartage, 

 Heredia, and Alajuela, which together cover an area 

 of only eight square leagues. They have no means 

 of exporting their produce, or of introducing imports, 

 except through Punta Arenas, on the Pacific coast ; 

 and the cost of carriage to and from that point, rang- 

 ing from a minimum of $20 per ton to a maximum of 

 $40, according to the season, sometimes exceeds the 

 whole treightby sea to Europe, even by the expensive 

 route of Panama. The imports and exports make 

 together a very considerable tonnage, which, if brought 

 over the line when completed, would form an item of 

 importance in the traffic returns. From Europe the 

 imports consist of cloths, iron, provisions, machinery, 

 etc., and amount to 20,000 tons per annum ; and from 

 the United States 2,500 tons of corn, etc., are annually 

 introduced. The coffee exported reaches 10,000 tons, 

 and leather and other items 1,000. Consequently we 

 have a grand total of* imports and exports amounting 

 to 33,500 tons, all of which will have to pass over the 

 whole length of line, to or from the consuming and 

 producing provinces already mentioned. The cost of 

 treight per ton, via Cape Horn from Europe to San 

 Jose, including the land-passage from Punta Arenas, 

 is at least 7 ($35), and via Panama 10 ($50) ; con- 

 sequently, considering the time that is lost by the 

 former route, and the double transshipment by the 

 latter, a charge of 8 10s. ($42.50) per ton from San 

 Jos6 to Europe via Port Limon would be extremely 

 reasonable to the producer and consumer, and, allow- 

 ing 30s. ($7.50) per ton for the Atlantic voyage, we 

 have 7 ($35) per ton for railway freight front San 

 Jose 1 to Port Limon. At this rate the line would give 

 upward of 5i per cent on the whole capital, and I 

 have not taken into account the enormous timber-trade 

 tha_t must be opened up as soon as there is any possi- 

 bility of bringing it to the sea-shore, nor have 1 made 

 any allowance lor any passenger traffic and other 



