COSTA RICA. 



273 



COSTA RICA, one of the five Central Ameri- 

 can republics. The area is estimated at 19,980 

 square miles ; and on Dec. 31, 1885, the popu- 

 lation was 193,144. The frontier disputes be- 

 tween Costa Rica and Colombia on the one 

 hand, and between the former and Nicaragua 

 on the other, are to be settled by international 

 arbitration. 



Government. The President of the Republic 

 is Don Bernardo Soto, whose Cabinet was 

 formed of the following ministers: Foreign 

 Affairs, Don Ascension Esquivel ; Interior and 

 Public Works, Don Leon Fernandez; Finance, 

 Don Mauro Fernandez ; War, Don Santiago de 

 la Guardia. The United States Minister to the 

 five Central American republics, resident at 

 Guatemala, is Hon. H. C. Hall. The Ameri- 

 can Consul at San Jose is J. Schroeder. The 

 Minister Resident of Costa Rica in the United 

 States is Sefior M. M. Peralta, and the Costa 

 Rican Consul-General at New York is Seflor 

 Jose Maria Munoz. On May 5 the Costa Rican 

 Congress appointed Don Apolinar de Jesus 

 Soto, Don Ascension Esquivel, and Don Car- 

 los Duran, Designados or Vice- Presidents. 



Finance. The report of the Minister of Fi- 

 nance of Feb. 11, 1886, shows that on that 

 date the national indebtedness stood as fol- 

 lows : Consolidated foreign debt, 2,000,000 ; 

 home debt, $873,826. During the fiscal year 

 ended March 3, 1886, the income was $3,- 

 200,065, being $263,308 greater than it had 

 been estimated in the budget. The chief 

 sources of income were : Puntarenas custom- 

 house, $331,484; Limon custom-house, $535,- 

 780; liquor monopoly, $747,961 ; tobacco mo- 

 nopoly, $466,974; railroad, $112,760; post- 

 office, $15,918; telegraph, $14,220. The 

 outlay was $2,088,944, being $114,963 greater 

 than had been estimated. The budget esti- 

 mate for 1886 -'87 is $2,707,614 income, and 

 outlays to an equal amount. The conversion 

 of 4,810,812 debt of Costa Rica was negoti- 

 ated by the agent of the Government in June, 

 1885, ratified by the Costa Rican Executive on 

 Oct. 16, 1885, and accepted by the council of 

 foreign bondholders in December of the same 

 year. The arrangement arrived at was this: 

 In return for 100 of the 6 per cent, loan of 

 1871 the republic issued in bonds 50 at 5 

 per cent, interest, series A, the first coupon 

 payable July 1, 1886, and added thereto 22,- 

 101 in shares of the Costa Rica Railway Com- 

 pany. For every 100 of the 7 per cent, loan 

 of 1872 there were returned 50 new bonds at 

 4 per cent., series B, the first coupon payable 

 July 1, 1886, and there were added 22,101 in 

 shares of the Costa Rica Railway Company. 

 Series A bears 5 per cent, from the time of 

 issue ; series B, 4 per cent, during the first two 

 years, and thenceforward also 5 per cent. The 

 conversion was conditional, the Government 

 binding itself to make arrangements for the 

 carrying out of the concessions of April 21, 

 1884, relating to the railroad and its equip- 

 ments, within three years. The Union Bank 

 VOL. xxvi. 18 A 



of Costa Rica is to collect till the year 1888 

 the customs revenue pledged as security for 

 the new bonds; all money to be paid to 

 Messrs. de Murrieta & Co., London, to be 

 distributed by the River Plate Trust, Loan, 

 and Agency Company. 



Army. The actual strength of the army in 

 1886, including officers of all ranks, was 1,000, 

 with a militia reserve of 27,000. 



Post-office. In 1885 there passed through the 

 post-offices of the republic 1,828,392 items of 

 mail matter, as follows: 408,466 letters; 136,- 

 360 Government dispatches; 9,072 postal- 

 cards; 1,172,664 newapapers; 488 sample 

 packages; 1,202 business notitications ; 2,947 

 certificates ; 653 requests of notices ; 140 re- 

 ports ; 5,815 registered letters; and 191 postal 

 orders to the amount of $14, 972; together, 

 1,737,998 items. 



Telegraphs. There were in operation in 1886 

 three sections of telegraph : one, 135 miles in 

 length, connecting El Puriscal, Santo Domingo, 

 San Ramon, Grecia, and El Navanjo ; another, 

 101 miles, connecting Esparta with Liberia; 

 and a third, 48 miles, connecting Liberia with 

 the frontier of Nicaragua. There were twen- 

 ty-two offices, and they forwarded, between 

 March 1, 1885, and Feb. 28, 1886, 22,607 Gov- 

 ernment messages into the interior, and 38,039 

 private messages. There were also 2,480 pri- 

 vate messages sent to Nicaragua. There were 

 received, during the same twelvemonth, 2,500 

 telegrams from Central America, and 359 from 

 abroad. 



In January, 1886, twelve telephone-offices 

 were opened at the capital, and the system 

 was being rapidly extended. 



Railroads. At the close of 1885 there were 

 in operation the following lines : Alajuela to 

 San Jos6, 22 kilometres ; Puntarenas to Es- 

 parta, 22 ; San Jose to Cartago, 22 ; and Limon 

 to Rio Sucio, 113, together, 179 miles. The 

 rolling stock consists of 6 locomotives and 37 

 cars. The number of passengers conveyed was 

 158,338, and the freight carried to 7,072 tons. 

 The gross earnings were $23,045, and the ex- 

 penses $25,273, resulting in a loss for the year 

 of $2,228. On Aug. 20 work was begun on 

 the Reventazon or Atlantic Railroad. In June 

 a company was formed in London for the pur- 

 pose of buying the Costa Rica Railroad be- 

 tween the port of Limon and the village of 

 Carrillo, and between Cartago and Alajuela, 

 together with the wharf at Limon. The com- 

 pany furthermore intends building a branch line 

 from some point on the Limon-Carriilo line 

 near the river Reventazon, to connect with the 

 Cartago- Alajuela Railway. 



Early in 1886 the contract made between 

 the city authorities of the capital and Silas 

 Wright Hastings, for the construction of one 

 or more tramways, received the Government's 

 approval. 



Steamship Line. In August the Government 

 contracted with Charles F. Irigoyen and Jo- 

 seph F. March for the establishment of a line of 



