662 



NICARAGUA. 



the five Central American republics and resi- 

 dent at Guatemala, is Dr. Cornelius A. Logan. 



According to tho new military code, all 

 Nicaraguans between the ages of eighteen and 

 fifty-five years are compelled to serve in the 

 army. The conscription list comprised, in 

 1878, a total of 44,788 men, as follows: First 

 category, 80,264; second category, 10,297; 

 third category, 4,227; conscripts from the 

 lir.-t category, 24,086 ; contingent assigned to 

 the departments, 646. 



In Nicaragua, as in the other Spanish-Amer- 

 ican states, much zeal and energy are dis- 

 played by the Government in promoting the 

 cause of public instruction. The number of 

 primary schools in the republic in 1879 was 

 135 (of which 107 were for males), with 137 

 teachers, and an aggregate attendance of 8,596. 

 There were, also, numerous private schools. 

 The annual expenditure for primary education 

 is reported at $50,000. The intermediate and 

 higher branches of learning are taught in seven 

 colleges and five schools distributed through- 

 out the country, with fifty teachers -and 612 

 scholars. Normal instruction is given in the 

 College of Granada and in that of El Espiritu 

 Santo, at Leon, pursuant to special contracts 

 with the Government. Efforts were being 

 made for the re-establishment of the old uni- 

 versity. 



The national revenue for the fiscal year 

 1879-'80 amounted to $2,436,093, of which 

 $906,347 were derived from the customs de- 

 partment; and the expenditure to $2,570,137 ; 

 thus constituting a deficit of $134,044. 



The national debt is set down by foreign 

 economists at $1,159,571 in consolidated bonds, 

 and $18,703 in bullion ; but national econo- 

 mists have of late taken pains to proclaim and, 

 if possible, to prove that " the republic has no 

 foreign debt, since the only one by which it 

 was encumbered the so-called ' Barclay debt ' 

 dating from the time of the Federation, has 

 been canceled long ago." Whether in the 

 form, however, of original obligations or gov- 

 ernment bonds, the indebtedness still exists: 

 consolidation may precede, but it does not in- 

 volve, extinction. 



The subjoined tables exhibit the values of 

 the foreign trade of Nicaragua for the years 

 1877-'80 : 



IMPORTS. 

 YEARS. Value.. I YEARS. Values. 



1S77 $1.217,716 1879 $1,466,369 



1878 913,461 [18bO 1,470,114 



EXPORTS. 

 YEARS. Values. YEARS. Values. 



1877 $1.276.069 1879 $1.650.709 



1878 1,319,18.311880 2,057,622 



The chief staples of export are India-rubber, 

 coffee, gold and silver, dye-stuffs (principally 

 indigo), deer-skins, cedar-wood, etc. 



The present era of peace affords the Govern- 

 ment an opportunity, which it has embraced, 

 of increasing the means of communication, and 

 particularly those facilitating the transport of 

 products from the interior to the coast. At 



the present time there is in course of construc- 

 tion a line of railway from the Pacific sea-board 

 to the great lake of Managua, via Corinto, 

 Chinandega, and Leon, the lake terminus being 

 at Moabita. The remainder of the route to 

 the Atlantic will be performed by means of 

 steamers of five feet draught. The work of 

 canalizing the river San Juan for that pur- 

 pose had already been commenced. On the 

 completion of the bridge across the Paso de 

 Caballos (a narrow arm of the sea separating 

 from the mainland the island on which the port 

 of Corinto stands), through trains will begin 

 to run between Corinto and Chinandega. The 

 branch from the latter point to Leon was being 

 rapidly pushed forward toward completion. 



That the project of opening an interoceanic 

 canal through Nicaraguan territory, far from 

 having been relinquished, is likely soon to be- 

 come an accomplished fact, is apparent from 

 the following report : 



WASHINGTON, December 15, 1881. 

 The bill introduced to-day by Senator Miller, of 

 California, "to incorporate the Marine Canal Com- 

 pany of Nicaragua," names as persons to be so incor- 

 porated, U. S. Grant, E. D. Morgan, H. J. Jewett, 

 Howard Potter, William R. Garrison, Frederick Bil- 

 lings, George B. Loring, William L. Merry, W'illiam 

 B. Franklin, Solon Humphreys, Frederick Butter- 

 field, E. F. Beale, William H. Barnum, George F. 

 Baker, Daniel Ammen, Edward C. Anderson, Alex- 

 ander Taylor, TJ. S. Grant, Jr., Edward M. Clvmer, 

 S. L. Phelps, Charles Dana, Robert Harris. Edward 

 F. Smith, Robert Ten Broeek, William Dennison, 

 Manuel Cuadra. Thomas De Franco^ and A. G. Me- 

 nocal. The bill proposes to authorize this company 

 " to do all lawful things to secure the full emjoyment 

 of the powers, privileges, rights, benefits, an(i grants, 

 contained in a canal concession made by the Republic 

 of Nicaragua to the Provisional Interoceanic Canal 

 Society, and confirmed May 22, 1880." The princi- 

 pal office of the company is to be in New York city. 

 Its capital rtock is to consist of not less than 500,000 

 nor more than 1,000,000 shares of $100 each, which 

 shall, in all respects, be deemed personal property, 

 and its affairs are to be managed by a board of eleven 

 directors, one of whom shall be appointed by the 

 President of the United States, and one by the Gov- 

 ernment of Nicaragua. The bill further provides, that 

 the United States shall guarantee to the said com- 

 pany, for the period of twenty years from and after 

 the completion of its canal and the commencement of 

 the passage of vessels through it from ocean to ocean, 

 that its net receipts shall not be less than three per 

 cent upon its capital stock ; but this agreement is 

 accompanied with stipulations that not more than 

 $1,000,000 shall be deducted from the gross receipts 

 in any one year for operating expenses, and that no 

 interest upon any indebtedness or the company shall 

 be paid out of its canal receipts until three per cent 

 upon its total capital stock shall have been earned, 

 and the United States thereby released from liability. 

 The ninth section provides that the aggregate tolls 

 and charges for the transit of any vessel through the 

 canal shall not exceed $2.50 per ton of weight, or of 

 forty cubic feet measurement (according to the usage 

 observed by the Pacific steamship companies), of all 

 cargo, fuel, and supplies on board any vessel m tran- 

 sit ; but the company may, at its option, charge _in 

 lieu thereof not exceeding $1.25 per ton, actual dis- 

 placement of any vessel, when in the canal. Section 

 10 requires the company to transmit, yearly, to the 

 Secretary of the Treasury a statement of the total 

 canal receipts and expenditures, and provides that, 

 whenever it shall be found that the net receipts 



