374 



GUATEMALA. 



dians " ; the Indian population stood at 844, 774 

 (421,518 males and 423,256 females). The gen- 

 eral movement of the population in March, 

 1882, was as follows: births, 4,564; deaths, 

 2,298; and in April, births, 4,779; deaths, 

 2,482. The number of civil marriages regis- 

 tered in these two months was 165 and 155 

 respectively. Livingston, on the Atlantic coast, 

 has been declared a free port, and made the 

 capital of the Department of Izabal, in lieu of 

 the town of the latter name. 



The President of the Republic is General 

 Rufino Barrios, elected May 7, 1873. His term 

 of office was prolonged by decree of the Con- 

 stitutional Assembly, under date of October 

 23, 1876, and he was re-elected March 15, 

 1880, for a period of six years. 



The Cabinet was composed of the following 

 Ministers: Foreign Affairs, Dr. F. Cruz; In- 

 terior, Dr. C. Diaz M6rida; War, General J. 

 M. Barrundia; Public Instruction, Sefior Del- 

 fino Sanchez ; Agriculture and Public Credit, 

 Sefior A. Pefia; Public Works, Sefior M. Her- 

 rera. 



The Guatemalan Minister Plenipotentiary to 

 the United States was Dr. Lorenzo Montufar,* 

 and the Consul-General (for the Union), at New 

 York, is Sefior Jacobo Baiz. 



The United States Minister Plenipotentiary 

 to the live Central American Republics (and 

 resident in Guatemala) is Hon. H. 0. Hall, and 

 the United States Consul at Guatemala City, 

 Dr. F. H. Titus. 



The armed force of the country comprises 

 some 2,100 men in active service, and about 

 33,000 militia. 



The results of the annual school examinations 

 testified, as in preceding years, to the healthy 

 progressive development of the admirable sys- 

 tem of public instruction adopted in Guatemala, 

 and now established on so firm a basis as to 

 warrant the presumption that government aid 

 may soon be in a great measure dispensed with 

 in that direction. " Forty years ago," writes 

 a native journalist, " the estimated annual ex- 

 penditures of the University of Guatemala did 

 not exceed $6,600 ; at the present time upward 

 of $30,000 are disbursed yearly for the several 

 professional schools in which are taught the 

 branches that formerly comprised the univer- 

 sity course. Among the schools just referred to 

 are not included the schools of arts and trades, 

 of agriculture and of commerce, the annual 

 government outlay for which is $20.490, $5,900, 

 and $1,920, respectively. In the report of the 

 Minister of Finance, for 1881, the total expendi- 

 ture for public instruction figures at $360,039, 

 against but $245. 695. Measures had been taken 

 for extending the scope of the National Library ; 

 an additional librarian had been appointed, and 

 a catalogue of the volumes contained in the in- 

 stitution was in course of preparation. 



STATISTICS. The amounts and branches of 

 the national revenue and expenditures for the 



* Resigned in August, 1882. 



fiscal year 1880-'81 were as shown in the sub- 

 joined table : 



REVENUE. 



Balance from the preceding year $121,477 



Custom-house, wharfage, etc 2,143,161 



Spirit, milling, slaughter-house, and salt taxes 1,339,835 



Stamped paper 102,460 



Other indirect imposts 49,176 



Direct taxes &5 045 



Monopolies (saltpeter, tobacco, etc.) 889,130 



Eeimbursements and interest 157,390 



Loans 1,901,980 



Deposits 435,872 



National Bank 171,981 



Sundries 532,212 



Total $7,479,719 



EXPENDITURE. 



Administration '. $2,539,875 



National debt, etc 3,418,649 



Monopolies (exclusive of spirits and tobacco) 163,243 



Eeimbursements 43,638 



Deposits 322,040 



Sundries (including the spirit and tobacco monopo- 

 lies, Post-Office and telegraphs, Mint, charitable 



institutions, police force of the capital, etc 826,944 



Balance 165,830 



Total $7,479,719 



The balance in this table represents, of course, 

 a computed surplus, whose presence it is hard 

 to explain where deficits are the almost invari- 

 able rule. 



In the budget for the fiscal year ending June 

 30, 1883, the revenue was estimated at $5,158,- 

 096, and the expenditure as follows: 



Executive power $30,000 



Legislative power. 15,370 



Ministry of Foreign Affairs 77,480 



" Interior and Justice 278,660 



" Finance and Credit 450,000 



" War 1,443,175 



" Public Instruction 500,000 



" PublicWorks 553,857 



Payments guaranteed by import duties 567,992 



Payments guaranteed by export duties 797,798 



National debt (home branch) 189,021 



National debt (foreign branch) 230,804 



Total $5,134,157 



The Minister of Finance calls attention to 

 the circumstance of a conditional indebtment 

 of the Government to the unfinished branch of 

 the railway between Escuintla and Guatemala, 

 in the sum of $500,000, and to the line from 

 Charaperico to Retalhulen, now in process of 

 construction, in the sum of $700,000, and adds: 

 " These eventualities have not been included in 

 the estimated expenditures. Were the corre- 

 sponding bonds emitted, the redemption of 

 these would in all probability interfere with 

 the equilibrium of the budget ; but what mat- 

 ters a deficit representing a step forward on 

 the road of progress ? " 



According to official reports, the national 

 debt on January 1, 1880, stood as follows: 



Foreign debt ... $3,304,966 



Home debt 4,029,892 



Total $7,334,358* 



By January 1, 1882, it had been reduced to 

 $7,139,169. 



In 1882 an arrangement was entered into 

 between the Government and the holders of 



* See " Annual Cyclopaedia " for 1881, p. 380. 



