176 



COLOMBIA. 



re-elected, each time with an increased major- 

 ity. In the spring of 1865 he made an excur- 

 sion with a party of friends to California, and 

 after his return delivered an interesting lecture 

 entitled " Across the Continent." 



In May, 1868, the Republican National Con- 

 vention, assembled in Chicago, nominated on 

 the first ballot Schuyler Colfax for Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the United States, with Gen. Grant as 

 candidate for President. The Republican ticket 

 was elected by a large majority, and Mr. Col- 

 fax took his seat as President of the Senate, 

 March 4, 1869. At the convention held in 

 Philadelphia in 1872, his name was dropped 

 as candidate for Vice-President, Mr. Wilson, 

 of Massachusetts, taking the place with Gen. 

 Grant for the next term. In 1873 he was im- 

 plicated in charges of corruption brought against 

 certain members of Congress who had received 

 shares of stock in the Credit Mobilier of Ameri- 

 ca. A long investigation took place, and the 

 Judiciary Committee of the House was direct- 

 ed to inquire whether the evidence taken called 

 for the impeachment of any officer of the Gov- 

 ernment. This committee reported that there 

 was no ground whatever for the impeachment 

 of Schuyler Colfax, inasmuch as the alleged 

 offense, if committed at all, had been committed 

 before he became Vice-President. 



The latter years of Mr. Colfax's life were 

 spent mostly in retirement at his home in In- 

 diana. He took pleasure in delivering public 

 lectures, which he did quite frequently before 

 large audiences. He was also actively engaged 

 in the cause of Odd-Fellowship, and was one 

 of the most useful and valued members of that 

 organization. He was twice married, his sec- 

 ond wife being a niece of Senator Wade, of 

 Ohio. She and one son survive him. His death 

 was caused, as was supposed, by disease of the 

 heart, aggravated by exposure to the intense 

 cold in January. Public honors were paid to 

 his memory both in Congress and in Indiana. 

 His character as a man is regarded by those 

 who knew him intimately as irreproachable. 



COLOMBIA, an independent federal republic 

 of South America. The Union is composed of 

 nine States and ten Territories. The names of 

 the States are: Panama, Cauca, Anti6quia, 

 Bolivar, Magdalena, Santander, Boyaca, Cun- 

 dinamarca, and Tolima. The Territories are : 

 San Andres, Providencia, Caqueta, Goajira, 

 Nevada, Motilones, Bolivar, Casanare, San 

 Martin, and the Eastern Cordillera. The re- 

 public covers an area of 586,600 square miles 

 and has a population of 3,500,000, including 

 50,000 wild Indians. 



Governmsiit. The President of the republic 

 is Don Rafael Nunez. His Cabinet was com- 

 posed of the following ministers: Secretary of 

 State and Minister of War, Gen. Campo Serra- 

 no ; Public Instruction, N. Barrero ; Interior, 

 M. Castro ; Commerce and Communications, F. 

 Angulo ; Finance, J. M. Caro ; Foreign Affairs, 

 E. Salgar ; Public Works, J. J. Vargas. The 

 formidable insurrection against the Federal 



Government, which lasted from the beginning 

 of the year till the middle of August, thoroughly 

 disorganized the administration of most of the 

 individual States, each of which had its own 

 President. Only a few of the States remained 

 loyal, and it has become evident that some 

 thorough organic reforms will be necessary to 

 prevent in the future gigantic armed conspira- 

 cies against the authority of the nation. 



The United States Minister at Bogota is Mr. 

 Jacobs, and the Colombian Minister at Wash- 

 ington Senor Becerra. The Colombian Consul 

 at New York is Seflor C. Calderon, and the 

 American Consul at Panama Mr. T. Adamson. 



Army. In time of peace the Federal army, 

 previous to the late rebellion, did not exceed 

 2,000 rank and file ; but in future the strength 

 of available forces at the disposal of the Gen- 

 eral Government will be considerably increased. 



Navy. The absence of all war -steamers, 

 properly speaking, except the Boyaca and a 

 small coasting-steamer on the Atlantic side, 

 necessarily prolonged the civil war. Rather 

 tardily, when the rebellion was about collaps- 

 ing, the Government purchased the American 

 steam-yacht Utowana in August. This vessel 

 was built by Messrs. John Roach & Sons, at 

 their Chester ship-yard, in 1883. She is an 

 iron, flush-deck, schooner-rigged vessel, of 257 

 tons. Her dimensions are length over all, 138 

 feet; on water-line, 121^ feet; breadth, 20^ 

 feet ; depth, 11 feet 7 inches; draught, 8 feet 

 2 inches. She is fitted with compound invert- 

 ed engines, 15-inch high-pressure and 28-inch 

 low-pressure cylinders, 18-inch stroke. She 

 has a horizontal tubular boiler of 100 horse- 

 power, and steams about 14 miles an hour. 



Finance. Considering the population, the 

 magnificent and manifold resources of the 

 country, and its unrivaled geographical posi- 

 tion between two oceans, the future highway 

 of commerce, the national indebtedness of Co- 

 lombia, as it stood early in 1884, was a mere 

 trifle, the total indebtedness, home and foreign, 

 not exceeding at the time $19,911,383. If the 

 country had remained at peace internally, 

 nothing would have been easier, under an 

 economical administration, than to defray the 

 interest thereon and establish a solid credit in 

 the United States and Europe for public works, 

 such as harbor and river improvements, rail- 

 roads, and telegraphs. Unfortunately, the po- 

 litical conspirators threw back the country at 

 least a decade and compelled the Government 

 in its financial distress to levy forced loans in 

 the interior, and, when the rebellion had col- 

 lapsed, to confiscate the property of the insur- 

 gents so as to indemnify the people at large for 

 the ruin they had caused. These confiscations 

 have raised a nice point of law. Many of the 

 rebels were merchants and held stocks of goods 

 obtained abroad but not yet paid for. The 

 Colombian laws consider all the stock a mer- 

 chant holds his property, whether paid for or 

 not; and thus large amounts of goods have 

 been seized and sold for Government account 



