140 



COLOMBIA. 



COLORADO. 



State Department on the subject of water- 

 works to the following effect from Barran- 

 quilla: " Within the next five years not less 

 than one hundred cities of South America will 

 establish water- works, and all the material for 

 these will be furnished by England. Large 

 works are now in process of construction at 

 Bogota, and all the material for them is landed 

 at this port. It comes from England and is 

 carried in English bottoms. Speaking to the 

 contractor the other day while looking at the 

 material being put on river steamers steamers 

 mostly built in England I told him that the 

 United States could furnish better pipes than 

 those he shipped to Bogota. ' I know it,' said 

 he, ' but these are good enough for all pur- 

 poses, and 35 per cent, cheaper than any I 

 priced in the States. I would prefer to deal 

 with your people, but business is business.' 

 An English syndicate of iron-manufacturers 

 the same that had operated so extensively in 

 Chili during the last few years has just pur- 

 chased a 200-mile railroad concession in this 

 country. It might be as well to remember 

 that if English capital controls the railroad 

 system of this continent, as it is in a fair way 

 of doing, the same capital will control all the 

 commercial and industrinl avenues of this vast 

 and extremely rich country second, in fact, 

 to no other land in the world in natural re- 

 sources of all sorts." 



Coal and Phosphate Discoveries. Sefior Jorge 

 Isaacs, in his explorations during the summer 

 on the shores of the Gulf of Uraba, discovered 

 some excellent coal-fields near the shores of 

 the gulf, and valuable phosphates in large 

 quantities on an island in the gulf. 



Mining-Schools. The Government has resolved 

 to establish two mining- schools, one at Ibague 

 and another in the department of Antioquia. 

 The sum of $10,000 each is set aside to build 

 the schools, and $20,000 annually, each, toward 

 assisting them. 



Cinchona-Bark and India-Rubber. Messrs. Nieto, 

 Rocha & Co., of Baranquilla, informed the Gov 

 ernment, in December, 1886, that their " qui- 

 nnl" or plantation of cinchona-trees, "El Do- 

 rado," in the chaparral district, Toll ma, was 

 then in a flourishing condition, there being 600,- 

 000 trees in an advanced state of growth, to- 

 gether with 130,000 India-rubber trees. The 

 samples of bark sent to Europe proved richer 

 in quinine than those sent from Jamaica, and 

 there was every inducement to give impulse 

 throughout Colombia to this pursuit. At the 

 same time they offered the Government seed 

 for gratuitous distribution among farmers. 



New Textile Fiber. A concession was granted 

 to Don Wenceslao Campuzano for the extrac- 

 tion and elaboration of the " fique " fiber, the 

 contractor engaging to furnish the Govern- 

 ment, within two years after his factory shall 

 be in operation, 20,000 yards of fine carpet- 

 tissue, 80 centimetres wide, of fast colors. 



Chinese Immigration. One of the laws passed 

 by the Colombian Legislature prohibits the im- 



portation of Chinese workmen into Colombia. 

 This law is not retroactive, and affects no con- 

 tracts made with Chinamen prior to its passage. 



Literary Property. A treaty was concluded 

 between Colombia and Spain on Nov. 28, 1885, 

 mutually guaranteeing and securing literary 

 property, and. on Nov. 22, 1886, a decree was 

 published at Bogota promulgating the law. 



Diseases. The "Medical Bulletin" of Cali, 

 Cauca, contained an article in its June issue on 

 leprosy, of which many cases are to be found 

 in the interior of Colombia. The writer be- 

 lieves the disease can be acquired without con- 

 tact, and cites the case of a man who had never 

 been in a locality where the disease exists, and 

 yet became afflicted with it through falling into 

 a river while heated from a hard day's sport. 



"El Tiempo," of June 15, of San Jose de 

 Cucuta, Santander, says that very few cases 

 of yellow fever now occur there, and adds, 

 that the doctors were about to make a report 

 declaring that inoculation had been the con- 

 queror in the struggle against yellow fever. 

 About ten per cent of the inoculated patients 

 were attacked but none of them died. 



Claims of Foreigners. Toward the close of 

 1886 a very important law was promulgated at 

 Bogota respecting the claims of foreigners who 

 suffered losses during the late revolution. It 

 provides that the Minister of Foreign Affairs 

 shall receive all such claims and pronounce 

 judgment on them ; claimants will be allowed 

 to appeal from such decisions to the Supreme 

 Court; the nation will not hold itself responsi- 

 ble for damage suffered at the hands of the 

 revolutionists ; all claimants must prove their 

 nationality by duly authenticated documents ; 

 foreigners who have not remained neutral can 

 not present claims under this law ; no claim 

 will be received after the expiration of one 

 year from the time of the publication of this 

 law, even should the claimants be children, 

 women, or persons residing abroad, otherwise 

 entitled to claim this law, and all contracts will 

 be null and void which may have been made 

 between revolutionists and foreigners. 



COLORADO. State Government. The State of- 

 ficers during the year were as follows: Gov- 

 ernor, Alva Adams, Republican; Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Norman H. Meldrum; Secretary of 

 State, James Rice ; Treasurer, Peter W. Breene ; 

 Auditor, Darwin P. Kingsley ; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Alvin Marsh ; Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction, Leonidas S. Cornell ; Railroad 

 Commissioner, A. D. Wilson ; Chief-Justice of 

 the Supreme Court, William E. Beck ; Associate 

 Justices, Joseph C. Helm and S. H. Elbert. 



Legislative Session. The sixth biennial ses- 

 sion of the General Assembly began on Janu- 

 ary 5 and adjourned April 4. It adopted a 

 conservative course, refusing the demands of 

 those seeking radical legislation against cor- 

 porations, especially the railroads. It changed 

 the basis of representation for its own mem- 

 bers, allowing one senator for every 9,381 in- 

 habitants, and one representative for every 



