COLORADO. 



858 tons, entered at the ports of Colombia, of 

 which 626, of 775,783 tons, were steamers. Of 

 the total tonnage, 51 per cent, was British, 18 

 per cent. French, 13 per cent. Spanish, and 12 

 per cent. German. At the port of Barranquilla 

 365,509 tons were entered, and at Cartagena 309,- 

 622 tons. There are 7 lines of steamers that 

 touch monthly at the Colombian ports, of which 

 4 are English, and the others German, French, 

 and Spanish. 



Communications. The length of railroad in 

 operation in 1890 was 218 miles. There were 

 3 railroads completed and 5 others partly built. 

 A contract for the construction of a railroad to 

 Antioquia, which will open a large and produc- 

 tive country, was signed in September, 1892, with 

 a firm of English engineers. 



There were 5,000 miles of telegraph in 1890. 

 The number of dispatches in 1889 was 504,720. 

 There were sent through the post office in that 

 year 1,044,486 letters and postal cards, 397,134 

 samples and printed inclosures, and 10,379 pack- 

 ets and registered letters. 



Political Condition. The era of peace en- 

 joyed under the administration of President 

 Nunez has improved the economical and finan- 

 cial condition of the republic. In 1892 the Gov- 

 ernment took steps to restore the metallic cur- 

 rency. Formerly the silver coins, soon after 

 they entered into the circulation, were shipped 

 abroad wholesale for the settlement of foreign 

 balances. In the spring of 1892 silver coins of 

 various denominations, 835 fine, were struck in 

 Birmingham, England, and placed in circulation 

 to the amount of 1,000,000 pesos by the National 

 Bank at Bogota. In the Congress which was 

 opened on July 21 the Government commanded 

 a large majority, and carried through some im- 

 portant measures without opposition. 



The Panama Canal. The company formed 

 by Ferdinand de Lesseps to build a canal, 46 

 miles long, across the Isthmus of Panama, went 

 into liquidation on March 15, 1889, and provis- 

 ional administrators were appointed by the 

 Civil Tribunal of the Department of the Seine. 

 Operations on the canal were suspended, and 

 since then various plans for the reorganization 

 of the company and the completion of the enter- 

 prise have been discussed. The French Govern- 

 ment has been urged to come to the rescue of 

 the undertaking, which has swallowed up about 

 1.300,000,000 francs of the savings of 700,000 or 

 800,000 French people. The terms of the con- 

 cession, as extended by the Colombian Govern- 

 ment, required that work should be resumed be- 

 fore March 1, 1893 ; otherwise the concession is 

 forfeited, and the Colombian authorities can 

 take possession of the works. The canal as far 

 as it was dug was used by the people of the coun- 

 try for the transportation of lumber and other 

 produce until the company placed a barrier across 

 the entrance. This was removed by the Colom- 

 bian authorities, whereupon the canal people ex- 

 tended a chain across the canal itself. The canal 

 is navigable for 12 miles, and affords communi- 

 cation with the upper Chagre? and Rio Trinidad. 



COLORADO, a Western State, admitted to 

 the Union Aug. 1, 1876 ; area, 103,925 square 

 miles. The population, according to the decen- 

 nial census, was 194,327 in 1880, and 412,198 in 

 1890. Capital, Denver. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, John L. 

 Routt ; Lieutenant-Governor, William W. Story ; 

 Secretary of State, Edwin J. Eaton : Treasurer, 

 James N. Carlile ; Auditor, John M. Henderson ; 

 Attorney- General, Joseph H. Maupin ; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, Nathan B. Coy ; 

 Railroad Commissioner. William A. Hamill ; 

 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Joseph C. 

 Helm ; Associate Justices, Charles D. Hoyt and 

 Victor A. Elliot; Court of Appeals, Presiding 

 Judge, George Q. Richmond; Judges, Gilbert B. 

 Reed and Julius B. Bissell. All the State offi- 

 cials are Republicans except the Treasurer, At- 

 torney-General, and Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction. In September Judge Helm resigned 

 from the bench, in order to accept the nomina- 

 tion for Governor of the State, and Governor 

 Routt appointed Judge G. W. Allen, of the dis- 

 trict court of Arapahoe Co., to the vacancy. 



Finances. The amount in the State treasury 

 at the beginning of 1891 was $2,052,955.45 ; the 

 receipts during the year were $1,371,192.64, and 

 the disbursements $1,571,338.88. The interest 

 received on deposits and turned into the treasury 

 was $33,562.84. 



Following is the report of the mint at Denver 

 for the year ending June 30, 1892 : 



Valuations. The aggregate of assessed valu- 

 ations of the counties for 1892 was $217,824,- 

 342.98, showing a falling off from the assessment 

 of 1891, which was $231,405,296.04. Five of the 

 counties refused to levy taxes for the payment 

 of theUte-war debt and'for the Capitol-building 

 bonds ; two others made the levy, but deducted 

 the amount irom the general-revenue levy ; and 

 still another refused the Ute-war-debt levy, and 

 deducted that for Capitol-building bonds from 

 the general revenue. 



The tax levy for State purposes was fixed as 

 follows : For general revenue, 2^ mill ; mute 

 and blind, mill; university, mill ; agricul- 

 tural college, mill ; School of Mines, mill ; in- 

 sane asylum, mill: stock inspection, -fa mill; 

 Capitol building, mill ; military poll, $1 each 

 male inhabitant not exempt bylaw; for normal 

 school, mill. 



It was further ordered that -ft- of 1 mill, in 

 excess of the general levy, be levied upon and 

 collected out of and from each and every dollar 

 of the taxable property of the State for the year 



