648 



PARAGUAY. 



and Cape King William looked upon Maclay 

 as their protector, and obeyed him as a ruler. 

 When he returned to St. Petersburg, in the 

 summer of 1886, he endeavored to induce the 

 Russian Government to assert a claim to this 

 district on the ground of prior possession. It 

 had been visited by Russian men-of-war, which 

 surveyed the two harbors, Port Alexis and 

 Port Constantino, and the islnnds off the coast 

 in 1871 and 1883. A project for the coloniza- 

 tion of this region was discussed in Russia, and 

 many young men were desirous of embarking 

 in the enterprise, but the Russian Government 

 refrained from interference with the rights 

 asserted by Germany. 



PARAGUAY, a republic in South America. 

 According to the census of 1886, the white 

 population was 300,000170,000 females and 

 130,000 males. There are besides, 60,000 

 Bemi-civilized Indians and 70,000 wild Indians. 

 The number of foreigners permanently settled 

 in the country was shown to be about 9,000, 

 of whom 1,500 were Italians, 5,000 Argentines, 

 600 Brazilians, 300 French, 550 Germans, and 

 100 Englishmen. The German population in- 

 creases rapidly. In 1886 Asuncion, the capi- 

 tal, had 25,000 inhabitants; Villa Rica had 

 11,000; Caazapa, 9,000; Villa Concepcion, 

 8,000; Villa San Pedro, 8,000; Luque. 8.000; 

 Carapegna, 8,000; San Estanislas, 7,000; Ita- 

 gua, 6,000; Ita, 5,000; Paraguari, 5,000 ; Villa 

 llumaita, 4,205; Villa Pilar, 8,621; and Ja- 

 guaron, 3,106. 



Government. The President is Gen. P. Esco- 

 bar, elected Nov. 25, 1886. His Cabinet was 

 composed of the following ministers: Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, Col. Mesa; Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Dr. B. Aceval ; Finance, A. CaQete; 

 Justice and Public Worship, M. Maciel ; and 

 War, Col. Duarte. The United States Charge 

 <P Affaires for Paraguay and Uruguay, resident 

 at Montevideo, is John E. Bacon ; the Ameri- 

 can Consul at Asuncion is Frank D. Hill. The 

 Paraguayan Consul-General at New York is 

 Rafael R. Barthold ; Consul at San Francisco, 

 Petrus J. Van Loben Sels; Consul-General in 

 the United States, John Stewart. 



Army and Navy. The effective strength of the 

 permanent army is reduced to 500 men; in 

 an emergency the National Guard is enrolled. 

 The navy consists of three small steamers. 



Finances. On Jan. 1, 1887, the home debt 

 had been reduced to $179,435 through the op- 

 erations of a sinking fund, created by sales of 

 public lands and the levying of 10 per cent, ad- 

 ditional customs duties. The converted foreign 

 debt, bearing successively 2, 3, and 4 per cent, 

 interest, amounts to $4,250,000. In exchange 

 for unpaid coupons of the old foreign indebt- 

 edness, a 145-acre land-warrant is delivered for 

 every 100 in coupons. 



The income of the republic in 1886 was $1,- 

 531,802. and the outlay, $1,377,756. The reve- 

 nue derived from customs was $844,218, as 

 Compared with $769,000 in 1885. 



During the summer the Government issued 



a decree admitting for circulation, on a par 

 with Paraguayan silver dollars, the silver dol- 

 lars of the Argentine Republic, Chili, Bolivia, 

 Peru, and Mexico, and also the five- franc pieces 

 of France, Belgium, and Italy that weigh 25 

 grains and are 900 fine. 



Postal Service. The number of items of mail- 

 matter reached 304,617 in 1886, 130,740 being 

 forwarded in the interior, 81,030 having been 

 received from abroad, and 92,847 sent abroad. 

 The receipts were $7,778, and the expenses, 

 $14,521. 



Telegraphs. A telegraph-line runs beside the 

 track of the Asuncion- Villa Rica Railroad, a 

 distance of 152 kilometres, and via Paso de la 

 Patria, Paraguay is linked to the world's ca- 

 ble system. 



Commerce. The merchandise imported into 

 Paraguay in 1886 was valued at $1,621,000 

 worth, compared with $1,524,000 the previous 

 year, while the exports were $1,571.000 and 

 $1,493,000 respectively. Chief among the 

 products exported in 1886 were: Tobacco, 5,- 

 306,000 kilogrammes ; yerba mate, or Paraguay 

 tea, 4,508,000 kilogrammes; hides, 81,000; 

 oranges, 25,000,000; and cabinet-wood, 151, 

 281 metres. 



Railroads. In November the Paraguayan 

 Legislature passed a bill empowering the Gov- 

 ernment to sell to William Stewart the Asun- 

 cion-Villa Rica Railway for $2,100,000 gold. 

 The purchaser engages to extend the line to 

 Villa Encarnacion, and on the cost of construc- 

 tion of this extension, at the rate of $30.000 

 per kilometre, the Government is authorized 

 to guarantee 6 per cent, interest for twenty 

 years. When this extension is in running 

 order, the operating expenses are estimated to 

 amount to 55 per cent, of the gross earnings. 



The remarkably prosperous condition of the 

 country has encouraged the Legislature to au- 

 thorize the Government to push railway enter- 

 prise, and a bill was passed, on September 23, 

 decreeing that a railroad and telegraph line be 

 constructed, which, starting from the right 

 bank of Paraguay river, are to traverse the 

 Chaco. and have their terminus at a point of 

 junction on the northwestern frontier of Para- 

 guay and Bolivia ; plans to be submitted to the 

 Government within two years from the date 

 of passage of the bill. The law establishes the 

 principle of absolute right of expropriation 

 of all the land necessary on the line. 



German-Paragnayan Treaty. A treaty of com- 

 merce and navigation was signed between 

 Germany and Paraguay in 1887, containing, 

 similar to the one concluded with Great Brit- 

 ain in 1886 and with Spain and Portugal pre- 

 viously, the " most-favored-nation " clause, 

 with this reservation, however, that Germany 

 waives the privileges conceded to the Brazilian 

 province of Matto Grosso by treaty as long as 

 they are not granted to a third nation. Fur- 

 thermore, Article III of the treaty grants Ger- 

 man consuls the right to perform the cere- 

 mony of marriage within their district in cases 



