154 



COLOMBIA. 



my consistent with wise administration, would, 

 it was expected, place the Government in a 

 position to meet its obligations without having 

 recourse to alternatives fatal to the credit or 

 prejudicial to the industry of the republic. 

 Appropriating one million to the payment of 

 interest on the whole debt (should the pro- 

 posed consolidation of the home debt be ef- 

 fected), and another million for the works of 

 improvement already begun, there would re- 

 main four millions with which to cover the 

 expenses of the Government. 



The following remarks are transcribed from 

 the annual report of the Council of Foreign 

 Bondholders, published in London, February, 

 1884: "The Council regret that they are 

 obliged to report that another year lias passed 

 without any decided step being taken by Co- 

 lombia to restore her credit in this country, 

 and that no serious attempt has been made to 

 resume payment on the external debt. Some 

 months ago a special commissioner was'sent to 

 Europe to open negotiations, one object of his 

 mission being to obtain, if possible, a loan for 

 the carrying out of railway works, of which 

 Colombia stands much in need. He has now, 

 however, been recalled, and the negotiations 

 toward which an approach was made by him, 

 for an arrangement of the 4 per cent, debt, 

 are consequently at a stand-still, pending the 

 arrival of his successor, who, the Council learn 

 from an authentic source, has been appointed 

 as Minister Plenipotentiary to this country, 

 and who, it is stated, will bear all the neces- 

 sary instructions for negotiations to effect an 

 arrangement." 



On Oct. 1, 1884, the returns for August 

 from the custom-houses had not yet reached 

 the capital ; but, estimating from the previous 

 eleven months, from September, 1883, to Aug. 

 1, 1884, when the receipts amounted to $3,- 

 500,322, it was presumed that the revenue 

 from that source for the whole fiscal year 

 would reach $3,818,533, which would show a 

 diminution of $541,879, as compared with the 

 years 1882- 1 83. A loan had been ordered, and 

 under that law $500,000 would 4 at once be 

 raised at 12 per cent, per annum the bonds 

 being receivable in all Government offices in 

 the proportion of one fifth of all payments." 

 A loan of $1,000,000 was also to be effected, 

 at par, the bonds to bear interest at 12 per 

 cent. A law had been passed establishing 

 custom-houses in Panama, Colon (Aspinwall), 

 Branca, and Orucue, where duties were to be 

 collected at 40 per cent, less than the actual 

 tariff rates. 



Commerce. "The decadence of our commer- 

 cial transactions," writes a native economist in 

 October, 1884, " which results from the low 

 prices realized by our few articles of export 

 which can be conveyed at a profit to the coast 

 over our horrible roads, the scarcity of manu- 

 facturing industries, owing to the impossibility 

 of transporting ponderous machinery into the 

 interior, and the fact that agricultural opera- 



tions are limited to the supply of mere local 

 wants, are the undoubted causes of the extreme 

 poverty of the nation. Work not being profit- 

 able, pauperism is engendered, and the love of 

 dabbling in politics ruins all efforts toward 

 social improvement." The foreign trade of the 

 republic for the year 1882-'83 was of the total 

 value of $26,361,198 (of which amount $11,- 

 504,028 represented the imports), against $30,- 

 869,671 for 1881-'82 (imports $12,355,555 ; 

 exports, $18,514,116). 



The value of the exports to the United States 

 in 1883 was $5,171,475; and that of the im- 

 ports therefrom, $6,868,971,* showing a bal- 

 ance of $1,697,496 in favor of the latter coun- 

 try. 



The exports to Great Britain and the im- 

 ports therefrom in 1882 were of the respective 

 values of $5,601,850 and $5,083,040. 



The exports from Sabanilla for the year 1883 

 amounted to $6,912,389, and included the fol- 

 lowing articles: Peruvian bark, $3,036,300; 

 hides, $1,162,000 ; coffee, $1,456,820 ; ores, 

 $574,020 ; tobacco, $247,040 ; India-rubber, 

 $80,130; ivory-nuts, $71,110; Panama hats, 

 $60,000; plants, $57,420; balsam, $52,740; 

 cigars, $44,500 ; deer-skins, $21,000 ; dividivi, 

 $14,839; goat-skins, $6,270; indigo, $4,620; 

 cotton, $4,570; sarsaparilla, $960, etc. Of 

 these exports, the largest share was taken by 

 Great Britain ($3,096,800) ; the United States 

 received $2,576,385 worth ; France, about 

 $724,000; Germany, $465,000. 



The exports from Cartagena during the sep- 

 tennial period 1877-'83 were as below : 



YEARS. 



Values. 



1877 $801,670 



1878 



1879 



1880 



YEARS. 



Value.. 



1881 $1,2S4,689 



1882 



986,736 



882,224 ! 1883 1,677,071 



1,154,795 I 



The principal staples shipped from that port 

 in 1883 were : Cattle (23,962 head), $579,422 ; 

 India-rubber, $371,135; ivory-nuts, $149,807 ; 

 hides, $113,202; mora-wood, $90,554; tobacco, 

 $80,501 ; balsam, $49,582 ; coffee, $35,061. 

 The shipments of cattle, unusually large in the 

 year mentioned, were divided between Cuba 

 and the Isthmus of Panama 21,906 head to 

 the former, and 2,056 to the latter. The ivory- 

 nuts were tolerably evenly distributed between 

 Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, 

 while this last country took by far the largest 

 proportion of the hides and coffee. 



With the opening of the digue, the commerce 

 of Cartagena would, it is asserted, increase very 

 materially, but at the expense of the river-port 

 of Barranquilla. 



In the official report of the commerce of 

 Mexico for the quarter ending March, 1883, 

 figure exports to Colombia of the value of 

 $116,367.50, of which $106,843.65 was for pre- 

 cious metals. 



In regard to national industries, the most 

 noteworthy incident of the year was the man- 



* Including $149,184 for merchandise not produced in, but 

 re-exported from, the United States. 



