VENEZUELA. 







789 



ratification be proclaimed by the President of 

 the United States/' 



The Constitution was submitted to the people 

 on the first Monday of August, and ratified by 

 a vote of 13,195 to 502, the non-Mormons gen- 

 erally not voting. In December it was sub- 

 mitted to Congress by Delegate Caine, accom- 

 panied by a memorial from the Convention 

 praying for the admission of Utah to the 

 Union. 



Political. In accordance with section 22 of 

 the Edmunds-Tucker act, which abolishes the 

 existing legislative districts of the Territory 

 and provides for a redistricting and reappor- 

 tionment of the members of the Legislature by 

 a commission consisting of the Governor, Sec- 

 retary, and Board of Utah Commissioners, a 

 meeting of these officials was held at Salt Lake 

 City in May, at which the Territory was di- 

 vided into twenty-four representative and 

 twelve councilor districts, giving approximate- 

 ly one representative to every 7,000 inhab- 

 itants, and one councilor to every 14,000. 

 Elections were held in these new districts on 

 August 1 for members of the Legislature of 

 1888. The Mormons elected ten of the twelve 

 councilors, and twenty-one of the twenty-four 

 representatives. This is the first time that the 

 anti-Mormon party has elected as many as five 

 of its candidates. Three of these were chosen 

 in Salt Lake City. 



The Edmunds-Tucker Act. In addition to the 

 provisions already referred to, this law enacts 

 that every marriage in the Territory shall be 

 duly recorded in tlie Probate Court; that the 

 judge of each Probate Court shall be appointed 

 by the President, with the advice and consent 

 of the Senate; that all laws of the Territory 

 recognizing the capacity of illegitimate children 

 to inherit shall be annulled ; that every widow 

 shall have a dower of one third of her hus- 

 band's estate ; that females shall not be allowed 



to vote; that in prosecutions for bigamy or 

 polygamy the husband or wife may testify with 

 the consent of the other, and persons desired 

 as witnesses may be arrested by order of the 

 Court, in order to insure their attendance, if it 

 is thought they will not obey a subpoena; that 

 prosecutions for adultery may he begun by per- 

 sons other than the husband or wife; that 

 every voter shall be required to state on oath 

 whether he is married or single, and, if married, 

 the name of his lawful wife, and shall promise 

 to support the Constitution and obey the laws, 

 especially those against polygamy; that the 

 corporation known as the Mormon Church and 

 the corporation called the Perpetual Emigrat- 

 ing Fund Company are hereby abolished, and 

 that the Attorney-General of the United States 

 shall take measures to secure the forfeit and 

 escheat of their property to the United States, 

 the proceeds thereof to be invested for the 

 benefit of the common schools of the Territory. 

 In pursuance of this act, the Attorney-General 

 in August instituted suits in the Territorial Su- 

 preme Court against the above-named corpora- 

 tions, praying for a decree of dissolution and for 

 the appointment of receivers of their property. 

 The amount owned by the Church is estimated 

 at $3,000,000, and that of the Fund Company 

 at $1,000,000. In November the prayer of the 

 bill was granted, and a receiver appointed, who 

 proceeded to take possession of such property 

 as could be found. These proceedings are re- 

 garded merely as preliminary to the real issue 

 upon the constitutionality of the act authoriz- 

 ing this confiscation. 



Under the various acts of Congress, 160 con- 

 victions for polygamy and unlawful cohabita- 

 tion were obtained during the year; 71 in the 

 First, 26 in the Second, and 63 in the Third 

 District Court of the Territory. Sentence was 

 suspended as to 15, upon their promising to 

 obey the law in the future. 



VENEZUELA, a republic in Sonth America; 

 area, 1,639,398 square kilometres. The popu- 

 lation on Jan. 1, 1886, was 2,198,320. The 

 cities having over 20,000 inhabitants were : 

 Caracas, the capital, 70,509 ; Valencia, 36,145 ; 

 Maracaybo, 31,921; Barquisimento, 28,918. 



The sum of 5,000,000 francs has been set 

 aside for facilitating immigration, and two 

 agricultural settlements have been founded. 



Government. The President is Gen. Don 

 Hermogenes Lopez, whose term of office ex- 

 pires on Feb. 20, 1888. His Cabinet was com- 

 posed of the following ministers: Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Dr. D. B. Urbaneja ; Interior and Justice, 

 Dr. F. Gonzalez Guinan; Public Works, Gen. 

 T. C. de Castro: Public Credit, Sefior A. A. 

 Herrera ; Public Instruction, Gen. T. M. Ortega 

 Martinez ; Finance, Dr. T. P. Rojas Paul : War 

 and Navy, Gen. F. Carabafio. The United 



States Minister Resident at Caracas is Charles 

 L. Scott. The American consul at La Guayra 

 is Winfield Scott Bird. The Venezuelan charge 

 d'affaires in Washington is Seflor Jose Antonio 

 Olavarria. The Venezuelan Consul-General 

 at New York, is Sefior Francisco Antonio 

 Silva. 



Army and Navy. The effective strength of 

 the permanent army is 1,842 men. The na- , 

 tional militia numbers 265,000 men, who can 

 easily be formed into an active army of 100,000, 

 for which there 1 are in the arsenal theneci'>sarv 

 arms and material. 



The navy is composed of 3 steamers, 1 

 schooner, and 1 schoolship, manned by 7 offi- 

 cers, 8 marine guards, 8 naval cadets, 8 soom<l 

 officers, 27 boatsmen, 6 machinists, and K"J 

 marines. 



Postal Service. There are in operation in the 



