526 



NEW YORK CITY. 



NICARAGUA. 



of the Declaration of Independence at White 

 Plains, N. Y. On Aug. 27 the Metropolitan 

 Opera House was almost entirely destroyed by 

 fire. On Nov. 19 a conference of Roman Catho- 

 lic bishops was held in New York city. On Dec. 

 27 the corner stone of the Protestant Episcopal 

 Cathedral of St. John the Divine was laid by 

 Bishop Potter, with appropriate ceremonies. 



NICARAGUA, a republic in Central America. 

 The legislative power is vested in a Congress 

 consisting of a Senate of 18 members, elected 

 lor six years, and a House of Representatives 

 containing 21 members, elected for four years, 

 all by universal suffrage. The President holds 

 office for four years. Dr. Roberto Sacaza was 

 elected President in January, 1891. 



Area and Population. The area of the 

 republic is estimated at 49,500 square miles. 

 The population in 1889 numbered 282,845, of 

 whom 136,249 were males and 146,596 females. 

 There are, besides, about 30,000 uncivilized In- 

 dians. The population is made up of aborigines, 

 mulattoes, negroes, mixed races, and a small 

 number of pure whites. Leon, the former capi- 

 tal, has 25,000 inhabitants, and the new capital, 

 Managua, has 18,000. 



Finances. The revenue for 1888 was $3,814,- 

 140, and the expenditure $4,024,602. Govern- 

 ment monopolies of spirits, tobacco, and gun- 

 powder produce two thirds of the revenue, and 

 the rest is derived from import duties and a tax 

 on slaughtered cattle. The maintenance of an 

 army of 2,000 men, and the interest on the 

 public debt, consume most of the revenue. 



The debt amounts to $1,592,000, in addition 

 to an English loan of 285,000 which was raised 

 in 1886, the interest on which, at 6 per cent., is 

 guaranteed by the hypothecation of the customs 

 and by a mortgage on the railroad owned by the 

 Government. 



Commerce and Production. The raising of 

 cattle is the chief occupation of the people, and 

 there is an export trade in hides, and of late 

 years in bananas. The coffee industry has 

 grown to considerable dimensions, and is ex- 

 tending. About 28,000 acres are planted to 

 coffee. In 1890 nearly 49,000 acres were pre- 

 empted mainly for coffee and banana planta- 

 tions. In 1890 there were 19,786,000 pounds of 

 coffee exported. The imports in 1888 amounted 

 to the total of $2,146,000, and the exports to $1,- 

 522,000. In 1889 there were $2,738,500 of im- 

 ports and $2.376,500 of exports. The exports 

 from Greytown to the United States in 1890 

 were valued at $985,480. The telegraph lines 

 have a total length of 1,700 miles. The length 

 of railroads in operation is 99 miles, and 274 

 miles are projected. 



NORTH CAROLINA, a Southern State, one of 

 the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 Nov. 21, 1789 ; area, 52,250 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 was 393,751 in 1790; 478,103 in 1800; 555,500 in 

 1810 ; 638,829 in 1820 ; 737,987 in 1830 ; 753,419 

 in 1840 ; 869,039 in 1850 ; 992,622 in 1860 ; 1.071,- 

 361 in 1870; 1,399,750 in 1880; and 1,617,947 in 

 1890. Capital, Raleigh. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Lieutenant-Governor 

 and acting Governor, Thomas M. Holt, Demo- 

 crat ; Secretary of State, Octavius Coke ; Treas- 



urer, Donald W. Bain, who died on Nov. 16 and 

 was succeeded by Samuel McD. Tate, appointed 

 by the Governor ; Auditor, George W. Sanderlin : 

 Attorney-General, Theodore F. Davidson ; Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, Sidney M. Fin- 

 ger ; Commissioner of Agriculture, John Robin- 

 son ; Railroad Commissioners, J. W. Wilson, T. 

 W. Mason, and E. C. Biddingfield ; Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Augustus S. Merrimon, 

 who died on Nov. 14 and was succeeded by James 

 E. Shepherd ; Associate Justices, Joseph J. Davis, 

 who died on Aug. 8 and was succeeded by James 

 C. MacRae by appointment of the Governor; 

 James E. Shepherd, promoted to be Chief Justice 

 Nov. 16, and succeeded by Armistead Burwell by 

 appointment of the Governor, Walter Clark, and 

 Alphonso C. Avery. 



Finances. By an act of the General Assembly 

 of 1891 the time within which holders of State 

 bonds other than construction bonds might ex- 

 change them for new 4-per-cent. bonds under the 

 provisions of the funding law of 1879. was ex- 

 tended to July 1, 1892. Up to that date the 

 amount surrendered to the State was $11,405,- 

 545, in exchange for which 4-per-cent. bonds 

 were issued to the value of $3,298,950. There 

 are bonds still outstanding, which might have 

 been funded under this act, to the amount of 

 $1,221,500, for which the State would have is- 

 sued new 4-per-cent. bonds to the amount of 

 $316,820. The bonds known as construction 

 bonds, bearing 6 per cent, interest, have been, 

 by act of March, 1879, exchanged for new 6-per- 

 cent, bonds to the amount of $2,720,000, and 

 $36,000 is the remainder of the issue which has 

 not been presented for exchange. The dividends 

 arising from the State stock in the North Caro- 

 lina Railroad Company are applicable to the pay- 

 ment of interest upon these 6-per-cent. bonds. 

 As the railroad stock yields $180,000 in annual 

 dividends, there is, after paying interest on the 

 6-per-cent. debt, an excess of $16,800 annually, 

 which remains in the treasury. The State debt, 

 therefore, consists of 4-per-cent. bonds amount- 

 ing to $3,298.950, and 6-per-cent. bonds amount- 

 ing to $2,720,000. This may be increased by the 

 refunding of the outstanding $36.000 of con- 

 struction bonds. The Governor recommends 

 that the funding act of 1879 be still further ex- 

 tended to January, 1895, in which case, if the 

 outstanding bonds subject to this act should be 

 refunded, the debt would be still further in- 

 creased by the amount of $316,820. 



For the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 1892. the 

 statement of the public or general fund of the 

 State treasury is as follows : Balance on Nov. 30, 

 1892, $146,006.27; total receipts for the year, 

 $1,217,623.90; total disbursements, $1,053.229.- 

 24; balance on Nov. 30, 1892, $310,400.93. The 

 educational fund statement is as follows: Bal- 

 ance on Nov. 30, 1892, $15,723.67; total receipts 

 for the year, $15,500.24; total disbursements, 

 $2,655.08 ; balance on Nov. 30, 1892, $28,568.83. 

 There is due from the public fund, for various 

 appropriations, the sum of $225,198.30. leaving 

 an available balance of $85,202.63. The State 

 treasury also holds, as an investment, in 4-per- 

 cent, bonds $146,750, and in Alexander County 

 bonds $13,750, making a total of $160,500. 



The Board of Education has, as an investment, 

 in 4-per-cent. bonds $99,250, in bonds recently 



