NEW YORK. 



NICARAGUA. 



661 



Charles J. Folger, Chief Judge of the Court 

 of Appeals, resigned his office on the 14th of 

 November, to accept the position of Secretary 

 of the Treasury of the United States. Tho 

 Governor designated Associate Judge Charles 

 Andrews for the vacant place, and appointed 

 Charles L. Benedict, of Brooklyn, to succeed 

 Judge Andrews. 



A National Tariff Convention was held in 

 the hall of the Cooper Union, New York city, 

 on the 29th and 30th of November, which was 

 taken up chiefly with a discussion of changes 

 in the national tariff. A declaration in favor 

 of abolishing the internal revenue taxes was 

 defeated. The general purport of the discus- 

 sion and declarations of the convention was 

 favorable to the maintenance of high protect- 

 ive duties. 



NICARAGUA (REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA), 

 one of the five independent states of Central 

 America. Lying between latitude 10 45' and 

 14 55' north, and longitude 83 15' and 87 38' 

 west, it is bounded on the north by Honduras, 

 on the east by tlie Caribbean Sea, on the south 

 by Costa Rica, and on the west by the Pacific 

 Ocean. The area of the republic is variously 

 given at from 52,000 to 58,000 square miles, 

 and the population is estimated at 300,000. 

 The northern boundary, with Honduras, is un- 

 settled, but the Coco or Segovia River is gen- 

 erally considered as the dividing line between 

 the two countries ; yet in some recent Central 

 American maps that line is placed northwest 

 of the stream first named. The territorial 

 division is into eight departments, which, with 

 their chief towns, are as follows : 



DEPARTMENTS. Chief towns. 



Managua Managua. 



Granada Granada. 



Leon Leon. 



Eivas Bivas. 



Chinandega Chinandega. 



Chontales Acoyapa. 



Matagalpa Matagalpa. 



Nueva Segovia Ocotal. 



The Mosquito Territory, or Reserva Mos- 

 quita, a narrow strip of land on the Atlantic 

 coast of Nicaragua, and inhabited by the Mos- 

 quito Indians, ruled by a cacique or king, is 

 under the protection of Great Britain. 



By the terms of the new constitution, adopt- 

 ed on August 19, 1858, after the filibuster war, 

 Nicaragua is under a popular representative 

 government, the power being divided into 

 three branches legislative, executive, and ju- 

 dicial. The legislative power resides in a Sen- 

 ate and a Chamber of Deputies, the first com- 

 posed of ten members, and the second of 

 eleven. The executive power is vested in a 

 President, aided by (at present) three minis- 

 ters. The presidential period is four years, 

 and no person can be re-elected to that office. 

 The judicial power is divided into two sec- 

 tions, one of which resides in Leon and the 

 other in Granada. They are composed of four 

 magistrates each, and appeals may be made 

 from either section to the other. The magis- 

 trates are elected by Congress for four years 

 each ; and one half of the members of each 

 section arc changed during each legislative pe- 

 riod. 



The present President of the Republic is 

 Sefior Don Joaquiu Zavala, inaugurated on 

 March 1, 1879 ; and the Cabinet of 1880 was 

 composed of the following ministers : Foreign 

 Affairs and Public Instruction, Dr. A. Car- 

 denas ; Interior, Justice, and Public Worship, 

 Licentiate V. Navas ; and Finance, War, and 

 Marine, Colonel J. Elizond. 



The President of the Senate is Sefior Don 

 A. II. Rivas ; and the President of the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies, SeQor Don A. Zavala. 



The Consul-General of Nicaragua in New 

 York is Mr. Alexander J. Cotheal, and the 

 Consul is Mr. C. R. Flint. 



The United States Minister, accredited to 



