748 



VENEZUELA. 



Territory ; and that the Utah Commission had 

 recommended it. 



Silver Demonstrations. A mass meeting 

 in favor of silver coinage was held at Salt Lake 

 City in July. The Governor presided. Great 

 enthusiasm was shown, and resolutions were 

 passed strongly in favor of a law fully restoring 

 silver, and recommending that "as many as 

 possible of the earnest men of Utah go to Wash- 

 ington to urge such legislation upon Senators 

 and Representatives, and that special invitations 

 be sent to all surrounding States and Territories 

 to unite with Utah in this appeal and to send 

 delegates to Washington instructed to organize 

 with and to work in concert with all silver dele- 

 gations to go enlisted for the war." 



Oh July 29 a mass meeting of women was 

 held at the same place and a memorial to Con- 

 gress was adopted. 



On April 10 the Ogden Chamber of Commerce 

 passed resolutions implying a boycott on the 

 insurance companies of Hartford, and especially 

 the Connecticut Mutual Life, because the Board 

 of Trade of that city had adopted a preamble 

 and resolutions, " composed of false statements, 

 designed to injure and oppress the cause of sil- 

 ver, and mislead the masses of the people." 



Political. The time of holding the general 

 and municipal elections has been changed to the 

 Tuesday following the first Monday in Novem- 

 ber. Members of the Territorial Legislature 

 were elected Nov. 7, and the results showed 

 large Republican gains. In Salt Lake City the 

 " combined Citizens' and Independent Citizens' 

 ticket " was generally successful, and in Ogden 

 the Republican ticket. 



The Trans-Mississippi Congress. The 

 fifth meeting of this congress was held in Ogden, 

 beginning April 24. The object is the discus- 

 sion of questions effecting the West that may be 



subjects of legislation at Washington. Among 

 resolutions adopted were the folllowing : 



Whereas, The overproduction of either gold or sil- 

 ver has been wholly impossible in the past and is 

 entirely improbable in the future ; and, 



Whereas, The drawing apart of the two metals in 

 relative value is due solely to legislation ; and, 



Whereas, In the opinion of the Trans-Mississippi 

 Congress, the Congress of the United States of Ameri- 

 ca can, without the co-operation of any foreign power, 

 restore silver to its ancient and rightful place as a 

 money metal of the world, and keep it there ; and, 



Whereas, What the whole world requires and 

 must have is more standard money to redeem with, 

 and not promises to pay in gold, the purchasing 

 power of which has been constantly increasing, 

 therefore, be it 



Resolved, That we demand that the Congress of the 

 United States immediately reopen the mints of our 

 country to the free and unlimited coinage of both 

 gold and silver on equal terms, at the present ratio of 

 sixteen to one, and that the Government use the coins 

 of both metals without discrimination. 



Other resolutions favored the admission as 

 States of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Okla- 

 homa ; approved the Geary law ; favored asking 

 Congress for appropriations for finishing the 

 work on Oakland harbor, constructing a deep- 

 water harbor near Los Angeles, completing the 

 opening of the lower Columbia, improving the 

 upper Columbia, the Snake, the Coeur d'Alene, 

 Kootenai, and Arkansas rivers, constructing a 

 fresh-water harbor on Puget Sound, restoring 

 the navigability of Texas rivers, making a deep- 

 water harbor at Rope's Pass, on Corpus Christi 

 Bay, and carrying out the provisions of the 

 Caminetti hydraulic mining law in California. 

 The silver free coinage resolution was passed by 

 a vote of 230 to 40. There was a vote of 71 

 against recommending Utah for Statehood, but 

 162 were in favor of it. It was opposed by 

 members of the liberal party of Utah. 



V 



VENEZUELA, a federal republic in South 

 America. Under the Constitution of June 21, 

 1893, the Senate is composed of 27 members, 3 

 from each State, who must be natives of the coun- 

 try and thirty years of age, and who serve four 

 years. The Chamber of Deputies has 63 mem- 

 bers, 1 for every 35,000 inhabitants, who are 

 elected for four years by direct universal suffrage 

 in each State. The President and the Council of 

 Government are elected for four years. 



Gen. Crespo was proclaimed President on Oct. 

 10, 1892. In the beginning of 1893 the Federal 

 Council was composed of the following members : 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, P. E. Rojas ; Minis- 

 ter of the Interior and Justice. L. Colina ; Min- 

 ister of Finance, M. Pietri : Minister of War and 

 Marine, Gen. Guzman Alvarez; Minister of Posts 

 and Telegraphs. L. Baptista ; Minister of Public 

 Works, M. Tebar ; Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion. S. Gandolphy. 



The area of Venezuela is 593,943 square miles, 

 and the population, according to the census of 

 1891, is 2,323,527, of whom 1,137,139 are males 

 and 1,186,368 females. 



Finances. In the budget of 1890-'91 the rev- 

 enue is figured out to be 35,976,000 bolivars, or 

 francs, and the expenditure the same sum. 



The debt on Jan. 1, 1891, amounted to 110,- 

 938,687 bolivars. Under the decisions of the 

 claims commission appointed in pursuance of 

 treaties made in 1885 and 1888 Venezuela was 

 bound to pay to the United States $824,301 in 

 10 annual installments with interest payable seini- 

 annually. In 1893 the Venezuelan Government 

 was in default for one installment and a year's in- 

 terest. An arrangement was sought in 1893 for 

 the settlement of the claim of the Venezuela 

 Steam Transportation Company, an American 

 corporation, for the value of property destroyed 

 twenty years before, amounting with interest to 

 about $750,000. 



Political Events. The delay of the Crespo 

 Government in establishing a constitutional 

 regime, and the arbitrary acts of revenge and 

 confiscation committed against the adherents of 

 Palacio, brought the country again to the verge 

 of revolution. An edict of confiscation was is- 

 sued against the real and personal property of 



