282 



ECUADOR. 



EGYPT. 





Guayaquil straw-hats, coffee, hides, skins, etc., 

 making up the rest. 



The Church. The concordat that Pope Pius 

 IX. imposed on the republic in 1863 conse- 

 crated the ensuing principles: 1. Neither lib- 

 erty of conscience nor liberty of association. 

 No religion to be tolerated but the Catholic, 

 nor any society condemned by the Church. 2. 

 Monopoly of education for the benefit of the 

 Catholic clergy. 3. The instruction of children 

 and young people generally in universities, 

 colleges, faculties, schools, both public and pri- 

 vate, to be entirely in harmony with the doc- 

 trines of the Catholic religion. 4. All ecclesi- 

 astical causes shall be judged by ecclesiastic law 

 courts only, Article VIII stipulating that this 

 relates specially and above all to matrimonial 

 suits, and all those concerning the faith. 5. 

 The establishment of tithes for the support of 

 the Church and clergy, one third of this tenth 

 to accrue to the Government. 6. The right of 

 refuge : criminals can not be arrested if they 

 take refuge in a church or any other holy 

 place. 



Climate and Resources. Early in January, 

 1884, it was reported from Guayaquil that 

 that section was suffering from continued dry 

 weather. The rainy season ordinarily begins in 

 November or December ; but early in January 

 the weather continued very dry, not more than 

 one fourth of an inch of water falling within 

 six months. This has had the effect of cur- 

 tailing the cocoa and coffee crops. 



Balsa-Wood. This wood, celebrated for its 

 extreme lightness, and therefore suitable for 

 life-saving rafts, etc., grows beside the Gulf of 

 Guayaquil, and is used for the construction of 

 craft to sail far out into the ocean for fish, and to 

 carry fruit to ships at anchor in the roadstead. 

 Balsa- wood, when dry, weighs about thirteen 

 pounds to the cubic foot, and has in salt water 

 a supporting power of fifty-one pounds per 

 cubic foot. Consequently, a raft of ten logs, 

 twenty feet long by sixteen inches square, will 

 carry one hundred people. 



Cocoa. The crop of 1884 was short, being 

 only 170,000 quintals up to Nov. 21, against 

 190,000 in 1883, and 210,000 in 1882. 



Local Industries. The American consul, Mr. 

 Beach, says in his latest report from Guayaquil 

 to the State Department : 



There arc in this city a fair variety of manufac- 

 tories, but none very extensive, the people relying 

 mainly on the outside world for manufactured sup- 

 plies. The supplies obtained from the United States 

 are large, and the amount is increased annually. The 

 United States supplies all of the sugar-making ma- 

 chinery, all of the saw-mills, all of the planing-inill 

 machinery, nearly all of the steam-engines, all of the 

 carts, all of the sewing-machines, nearly all of the 

 best saddles and harnesses, all of the street-cars, some 

 of the furniture, all of the store-tracks and wheel- 

 barrows, a large share of the axes, many billiard- 

 tables, a portion of the musical instruments, etc. The 

 articles supplied from the United States give good 

 satisfaction, and the trade promises to be largely in- 

 creased. In some instances the lack of thoroughly 

 skilled labor causes a great abuse of machinery. 



The two leading manufacturing establishments of 



Guayaquil are combined steam saw-mills, foundries, 

 and machine-shops. The two concerns use gang and 

 circular saws, both of which work slowly and indif- 

 ferently, because of the remarkably springy nature of 

 the wood, a log twelve feet long springing from two 

 to four inches out of line when a slab is taken off. 

 The two mills turn out about 150,000 feet of lumber a 

 year, which is sold at an average of $35. The foun- 

 dry and machine-shop work is mostly in the line 

 of repairs, and is quite extensive. Castings average 

 to sell at 15 cents a pound. About sixty men are em- 

 ployed in the two establishments, whose wages range 

 from TO cents to $3 a day, United States currency. 

 There is one steam planing, matching, turning, and 

 small-sawing establishment, whose entire outfit was 

 obtained in the United States. It does the general 

 work of such an establishment, but mainly for car- 

 penters and builders. There are two ice-manufac- 

 tories, both of whose machinery was obtained in New 

 York. They daily turn out a total of 3,000 pounds of 

 ice, which is sold at seven cents a pound. Each con- 

 cern employs four men, with wages ranging from $1 

 to $2 a day. The timber of Ecuador is excellently 

 adapted for ship-building. 



EGYPT, a principality of northern Africa, 

 tributary to Turkey. Mehemet Ali, the gov- 

 ernor, rebelled against the Porte in 1811, and 

 assumed the powers of government. In 1841 

 he was recognized, under the guarantee of the 

 five great powers of Europe, as Vali, or Vice- 

 roy, and the sovereign authority was made 

 hereditary under the Turkish law of succes- 

 sion. In 1866 Ismail obtained a firman cre- 

 ating him Khedive, or King, and establishing 

 direct male succession by primogeniture, in 

 return for which concessions he submitted to 

 the increase of the annual contribution to the 

 Sultan's civil list from $1,880,000 to $3,600,000. 

 By another firman, issued in 1873, he obtained 

 the rights of concluding treaties and maintain- 

 ing an army. In August, 1879, the Sultan was 

 induced to depose Ismail I, who was involved 

 in financial difficulties. His son Tewfik was 

 placed on the throne, and the government was 

 administered under the supervision of two Con- 

 trollers-General, appointed one by the French 

 and one by the British Government, who were 

 given the right of investigation into all depart- 

 ments of the public service, and an advisory 

 voice at the councils of the Cabinet. By a 

 second decree of the Khedive, issued April 5, 

 1880, an International Commission of Liquida- 

 tion was appointed to elaborate a financial law 

 to regulate the relations of Egypt with her 

 creditors. The scheme, consolidating the for- 

 eign debts, fixing the interest at 4 per cent., 

 and reserving certain revenues to meet it, was 

 sanctioned by the Khedive in 1881. That same 

 year a political movement was set on foot to 

 deprive the Controllers of the extraordinary 

 powers they had assumed over legislation and 

 administration, and place the powers of gov- 

 ernment in native hands. The French and 

 English governments refused to accede to the 

 demand, in the beginning of 1882, for the 

 transfer of legislative powers to a Chamber of 

 Notables. The movement, which was accom- 

 panied by military preparations, was treated as 

 a military rebellion. The British Government 

 sent an army to occupy Egypt, the French 



