234 



COSTA RICA. 



Government. The Constitution of 1859, modi- 

 fied in 1871, and finally in 1882, vests the exec- 

 utive power in a President, elected for a term 

 of four years. The legislative power resides 

 in a Congress composed of a Senate and a 

 Chamber of Representatives two Senators to 

 each province, and one Representative to every 

 10,000 inhabitants. Both Senators and Repre- 

 sentatives are chosen in electoral assemblies, 

 the members of which are returned by the suf- 

 frage of all citizens that are possessed of an 

 adequate means of living. The President of the 

 Republic is General Prospero Fernandez, elect- 

 ed August 10, 1882. The Cabinet was com- 

 posed of the two Ministers of the Interior, 

 Licentiate Bernardo Soto ; and Foreign Affairs, 

 Dr. Jos6 Maria Castro who also ranked re- 

 spectively as First and Second Vice-President. 

 Furthermore, the Minister of the Interior com- 

 bines in his portfolio the department of Po- 

 lice, Commerce, and Agriculture, and War and 

 Marine; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 those of Public Instruction, Public Charities, 

 Public Worship, and Grace and Justice. 



A ministerial crisis that occurred in the be- 

 ginning of the year, attributed to the urgent 

 necessity of adopting "radical measures of 

 economy " in the administration, terminated in 

 the resignation of the Secretaries of War and 

 Marine, Sefior Miguel Guardia, and of the In- 

 terior, Sefior Victor Guardia. It was then 

 decreed that the Cabinet henceforth should be 

 limited to two portfolios as above. 



Diplomatic and Consular Corps. The Minister 

 Resident of Costa Rica in the United States is 

 Sefior E. Gutierrez; and the Consul-General 

 at New York is Sefior J. Ji. Mufioz. The 

 United States Minister (accredited to the five 

 Central American republics, and resident at 

 Guatemala) is Mr. H. C. Hall ; and the United 

 States Consul at San Jos6 is Mr. A. Morrell. 



Army. The standing army, of the nominal 

 strength of 1,000 men, was in May, 1884, fixed 

 at 26,357 for the war footing. In the militia 

 are obliged to serve, when necessary, all male 

 inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and 

 fifty-five, not enrolled in the regular army. 



" The ' Gaceta Oficial ' daily chronicles the 

 discharge of army officers, and it is hoped that 

 Soto's broom may sweep out some of the use- 

 less barracks scattered through the country, 

 thus giving the people a respite from their 

 never-ending military duties. The only dis- 

 senting voices would be those of the discharged 

 officers themselves, who, perhaps, much to 

 their disgust, would be obliged to work. Mili- 

 tarism has ever been the stumbling-block of 

 the Spanish- American republics; but those 

 who can read the signs of the times here see a 

 general desire on the part of the republic, irre- 

 spective of political creeds or antecedents, to 

 sustain the present government in its measures 

 of retrenchment and economy." 



Education. Costa Rica, with all her failings, 

 seems never to lose sight of the importance of 

 fostering the cause of public education. In 



proportion to her population and revenue, she 

 supports a larger number , of public schools 

 of all grades than many of her more preten- 

 tious sister republics. In the early part of the 

 year the establishment of a Colegio de Segunda 

 J?nseflanza(8choo\. for intermediate instruction), 

 in the capital, out of the funds of the University 

 of Santo Tomas, was spoken of as probable. 



Finances. In the report of the Minister of 

 Finance, on the revenue from August 1, 1882, 

 to April 30, 1883, the national revenue and 

 expenditure were given at $1,550,019 and $2,- 

 796,468, respectively ; deficit, $1,246,449. This 

 deficit, however, the minister observed, was 

 not caused by increased expenditure on the 

 part of his government, but was the result of 

 debts left by the preceding administration, 

 which had since been funded into the bonds of 

 the home debt. 



In the budget for the fiscal year 1884-'85, 

 the revenue was set down at $2,559,886, and 

 the expenditure at $2,559,876, showing a sur- 

 plus of $10. 



The department of Limon had been partially 

 exempted from the payment of import duties. 

 Such articles as whisky, gunpowder, and tobac- 

 co, however, were not included in the free list, 

 and duties were collected thereon by a double 

 force of custom-house officials at Limon and 

 Carrillo, the southern terminus of the Atlantic 

 branch of the railway. 



National Debt. Here follows a statement of 

 the foreign debt of Costa Rica, in 1884, as pre- 

 sented by the council of foreign bondholders: 



Amount outstanding of 6 per 



cent, loan of 1870 941,200 OOs. 



Overdue interest 564,720 00 



1,505,920 00s. 



Amount outstanding of the 7 



per cent, loan of 1872 1,460,200 00 



Overdue interest 1,073,175 10 



2,553,273 10 



Total foreign debt 4,039,193 10 



Equal, at par, in United States money. . . $20,195,967 00 



To this statement the following report was 

 appended : " The council and the committees 

 were not without hope that after the refusal 

 of the Congress of Costa Rica to ratify the 

 agreement made with the bondholders by the 

 late President Guardia, some attempt would 

 have been made by that Government to renew 

 negotiations with the bondholders for an ar- 

 rangement of the debt. In July, 1883, the 

 Council received a copy of the ' Official Ga- 

 zette ' of Costa Rica, dated May 6, 1883, con- 

 taining a proposal from Mr. Minor C. Keith, 

 the contractor for the railway, to the Govern- 

 ment, for the completion of the line to San 

 Jose 1 , and the settlement of the external debt 

 of the republic. This proposal was laid be- 

 fore the committees of the 6 percent, and 7 

 per cent, bondholders, separately, at meetings 

 specially convened to consider it, and each 

 committee unanimously resolved to have noth- 

 ing whatever to do with such a scheme. The 

 decision was accordingly made known to the 

 President of the Republic, and also to Mr. 



