COLOMBIA. 



123 



threefold system of science, theology, and medi- 

 cine the divine way taught and demonstrated 

 by the founder of the Christian religion, and prac- 

 ticed by his followers during the first three cen- 

 turies." (See METAPHYSICS, in this volume.) 



COLOMBIA, a republic in South America. 

 The legislative power is vested in the Congress, 

 consisting of a Senate of 27 members, 3 from 

 each department, and a House of Representatives 

 containing 66 members, 1 to 50,000 inhabitants, 

 elected by adult male suffrage on collective tickets 

 for the different departments. The President is 

 elected by electoral colleges for six years. If the 

 presidency and vice-presidency become vacant, the 

 Congress elects an acting President for the re- 

 mainder of the term. Since the abolition of state 

 sovereignty in 1886, the President has power to 

 appoint and remove governors, but the depart- 

 ments into which the former states were con- 

 verted still collect and expend their separate rev- 

 enues. The President elected for the term begin- 

 ning Aug. 7, 1898, was M. A. Sanclemente, and the 



enue of $225,000 a year from the Panama Railroad 

 concession, which in 1880 was paid up in advance 

 till 1908. The internal debt in 1899 amounted to 

 11,359,074 pesos, of which 5,725,358 pesos were 

 floating obligations and 5,633,716 pesos consoli- 

 dated debt, requiring 353,300 pesos a year for the 

 payment of interest, while for the payment of in- 

 terest and principal on the floating debt the fund 

 of 1,738,000 pesos is set aside. The paper money 

 in circulation in 1899 was 30,984,022 pesos in 

 amount. A law was made in 1894 to establish the 

 gold basis, permitting the free coinage of gold. 

 Silver has been issued in subsidiary coins to the 

 amount of 3,000,000 pesos, but no gold has been 

 coined. More paper currency was subsequently 

 issued until the premium on gold rose in April, 

 1900, to 550 per cent. The foreign debt, held 

 mainly in England, amounted with arrears of in- 

 terest to 3,514,442 sterling, when an arrange- 

 ment was made in January, 1897, to take it up by 

 the issue of 2,700,000 of new bonds which pay 

 only 1A per cent, interest till 1900, 2 per cent, then 



Vice-President was J. M. Maroquin. The Cabinet 

 at the beginning of 1900 was composed as follows: 

 Minister of the Interior, F. Palacio; Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, G. C. Cuerva Marquez ; Minister of 

 Commerce and Communications, Carlos Calderos; 

 Minister of Public Instruction. M. F. Suarez. 



Area and Population. The republic has an 

 estimated area of 513,938 square miles. The popu- 

 lation is supposed to reach 4,000,000, including 

 150,000 uncivilized Indians. The capital, Bogota, 

 situated on a lofty plateau, has about 120,000 in- 

 habitants; Barranquilla, on the Magdalena river, 

 connected by 20 miles of railroad with the coast, 

 has 40,000; the mining town of Medellin, 40,000; 

 the seaport Panama, 30,000; Bucaramanga, a 

 coffee market, 20,000; the seaport Cartagena, 20,- 

 000. There is a boundary dispute with Costa 

 Rica which has been referred to the President of 

 the French Republic for arbitration. The boundary 

 between Colombia and Brazil has not been set- 

 tled. The boundaries with Peru and Ecuador by 

 a convention of 1894 were referred to the Queen 

 Regent of Spain. 



Finances. The Congress votes supplies for 

 two years. For the biennial period 1897-'98 the 

 revenue was 37,461,000 paper pesos, and the ex- 

 penditure 41,429,180 pesos. Gold was worth 310 

 premium. For 1899-1900 the revenue was placed 

 in the revised estimate at 29,918,640 pesos, of 

 which customs duties provide 21,453,640 pesos. 

 The estimate of expenditure balanced the revenue, 

 the chief items being 2,524,848 pesos for military 

 affairs, 4,493,900 pesos for justice, 3,773,500 pesos 

 for debt charges, and 3,731,500 pesos for financial 

 administration. The Government receives a rev- 



till 1903, 2i per cent, till 1906, and 3 per cent, 

 thereafter. The revenues of the nine departments 

 in 1899 amounted to 16,986,756 pesos in currency, 

 and their expenditures to 17,346,040 pesos. The 

 peace strength of the army was fixed by the law 

 of 1898 at 1,000 men. In war time the President 

 has authority to call the entire male population 

 to arms. The naval force of the republic consists 

 of a river gunboat, a small armed steamer, and a 

 sailing vessel. 



Commerce and Production. The value of 

 imports in 1898 was 11,083,028 gold pesos and of 

 exports 19,157,788 gold pesos. The chief imports 

 were cotton goods, metals and hardware, kerosene 

 oil, foodstuffs, wine and beer, linen goods, chemi- 

 cals, and paper. The export of coffee was 39,100,- 

 102 kilogrammes; of tobacco, 6,216,740 kilo- 

 grammes; of rubber, 410,423 kilogrammes; of hides 

 and skins, 4,675,395 kilogrammes. Other exports 

 are dyes, cinchona bark, copaiba, cabinet woods, 

 various foodstuffs and vegetable products, live 

 animals, gold, silver, cinnabar, emeralds, man- 

 ganese, and other metals and mineral products. 

 The gold and silver production is $4,100,000 a 

 year in value, and is increasing. Lack of trans- 

 portation prevents the more rapid development 

 of mines of copper, lead, and other ores, and of the 

 rich agricultural resources of the country, while 

 the valuable forest products are diminishing under 

 wasteful methods of exploitation. Coal and iron 

 are mined and some iron is manufactured. The 

 Government salt mines near Bogota yield the value 

 of 680,000 pesos a year. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the port of Barranquilla in 1898 was 266, of 



