NEW YORK CITY. 



NICARAGUA. 



429 



eluded 254,021,387 letters, 39,046,576 postals, and 

 391,700,501 pieces of other matter, an increase of 

 23,880,204 letters, 3,858,094 postals, and 11,146,- 

 149 pieces of other matter. In the local depart- 

 ment there were handled 177,821,100 letters, 27,- 

 357,102 postals, and 217,471,772 pieces of other 

 matter. There were received by mail 39,830,283 

 letters, 9,957,571 postals, and 103,613,684 pieces of 

 other matter. In the foreign department there 

 were handled 36,369,944 letters, 1,731,903 postals, 

 and 70,615,045 pieces of other matter. 



Immigration. The reception of immigrants 

 in New York is under national supervision. The 

 commissioner, who is appointed by the President, 

 is Thomas Fitchie. Ellis Island, in New York 

 Bay, is the landing place for the immigrants. The 

 report for the year ending June 30 shows that the 

 total number of aliens arriving during the year 

 was 341,712, of which 228,414 were males and 

 113,298 were females. By races and people the 

 immigration was: Armenian and Syrian, 3,600; 

 Bohemian, 2,329; Croatians and Dalmatians, 

 9,521; Dutch and Flemish, 1,516; English, Scotch, 

 and Welsh, 5,917; Finnish, 6,783;' French, 1,956; 

 Germans, 23,382; Greek, 3,734; Hebrews, 44,520; 

 Irish, 25,200; northern Italy, 16,690; southern 

 Italy, 82,329; Lithuanians, 9,170; Magyars, 11,- 

 353; Polish, 36,835; Portuguese, 3,779; Ruthe- 

 nians, 2,653; Scandinavians, 22,847; Slovaks, 25,- 

 392; Spanish, 309; all others, 897. In addition to 

 the foregoing, there were 99,760 American citizens 

 who came within the scope of the inspection, by 

 reason of the fact that they shipped in a manner 

 to secure tickets at immigration rates and to 

 save the ifsual expenses. Nearly one fourth of 

 this number shipped as steerage passengers. 



Customhouse. The passage of goods out of 

 the United States and the entry of foreign wares 

 are under the Federal supervision. The Custom- 

 house is on Wall Street, between William and 

 Hanover Streets, and the collector is George R. 

 Bidwell. In 1900 the imports of merchandise were 

 valued at $524,647,898. The amount of duties col- 

 lected on merchandise, miscellaneous receipts not 

 included, was $151,376,607.38. Imports of gold 

 and silver amounted to $29,039,783. Domestic 

 exports of nierchandise were valued at $525,807,- 

 605. Domestic exports of gold and silver 

 amounted to $99,311,005. The foreign exports of 

 merchandise were valued at $11,786,781. The 

 amount of merchandise in transit trade amounted 

 to $42,823,383. The transit trade of gold and silver 

 amounted to $4,063,955. The imports of mer- 

 chandise from Porto Rico from May, 1900, to 

 Jan. 1, 1901, were valued at $3,222,942, yielding 

 duties of $186,986.58. 



Political. The candidates for justices of the 

 Supreme Court in the First Judicial District were 

 Edward Patterson (Democrat and Republican), 

 Philip H. Dugro (Democrat), and James A. 

 Blanchard (Republican) : and for judge of the 

 City Court Francis B. Delehanty (Democrat) and 

 Robert C. Morris (Republican) were nominated. 

 These were the only local officials to be voted for, 

 and the election resulted in the success of the 

 Democratic candidates. Congressmen for the first 

 16 districts of New York were voted for, and 

 the election resulted in the choice of the Demo- 

 cratic candidates, except in the First (Queens, 

 Nassau, and Suffolk Counties), Third (Brooklyn), 

 Fourth (Brooklyn), and Fourteenth (New York 

 city), where the Republican candidates were suc- 

 cessful. Twenty-two State Senators were chosen, 

 and of these 14 were Democrats and 8 Repub- 

 licans. Of the 35 members of the Assembly from 

 New York County there were chosen 26 Demo- 

 crats and 9 Republicans; from the annexed dis- 





trict, 2 Republicans; from Kings County, 10 

 Democrats and 11 Republicans; from Queens 

 County, 1 Democrat and 2 Republicans; and from 

 Richmond County 1 Democrat; making a total 

 representation of 38 Democrats and 23 Repub- 

 licans from New York city. An interesting fea- 

 ture of the campaign was the great sound-money 

 parade held on Nov. 3, when for seven hours " the 

 flower of the business and professional interests 

 of New York/' to the number of 85,000, marched 

 in a steady downpour of rain through streets 

 slippery with mud, in -acknowledgment of their 

 belief in the gold standard. 



NICARAGUA, a republic in Central America. 

 By the Constitution as revised on July 11, 1894, 

 the legislative power is vested in a Senate of 24 

 members elected for four years by the provinces, 

 and a House of Representatives elected by uni- 

 versal male suffrage for the same time, 2 members 

 of each house for each province. The Congress 

 meets without convocation for ninety days every 

 year. The President is elected directly by the 

 people for four years. Gen. Santos J. Zelaya was 

 elected President of the Republic for the term 

 ending Jan. 30, 1902. The Cabinet appointed on 

 Dec. 3, 1898, was composed as follows: Secretary 

 of the Interior, Justice, Police, and Ecclesiastical 

 Affairs, Gen. Fernando Abaunza; Secretary of 

 War and Marine, Jose Dolores Estrada; Secretary 

 of Foreign Affairs and Public Instruction, Dr. 

 Joaquin Sanson; Secretary of Finance and Public 

 Credit, Col. Felix Pedro Zelaya; Secretary of Pub- 

 lic Works, Dr. Leopoldo Ramirez Mairena. 



Area and Population. The republic has an 

 area of 49,200 square miles, with a population of 

 420,000, including 40,000 uncivilized Indians. In- 

 dians, negroes, and mixed races form the bulk of 

 the population. The descendants of the Spanish 

 settlers of pure blood are few, but recent settlers 

 from the United States and Europe have aug- 

 mented the white element. Managua, one capital, 

 has about 20,000 inhabitants; Leon, the other, has 

 34,000. The system of public education is very im- 

 perfect. Although there are 1,020 elementary schools 

 officially reported and 2 higher schools for boys and 

 1 for girls, only a small percentage of the children 

 of school age receive a fair elementary education. 



Finances. The tax on commerce in 1897 

 yielded $2,645,249; liquor tax, $620,090; export 

 duty on coffee, $187,529; tax on slaughtering ani- 

 mals, $132,742; direct tax, $134,248; national rail- 

 road and steamboats, $693,391 ; telegraphs and 

 telephones, $47,559; post office, $33,726; other re- 

 sources, $223,527; total revenue, $4,688,061. The 

 expenditure on the departments of Government 

 was $2,667,012, of which $850,013 went for internal 

 development, $429,303 for war, $446,719 for finance, 

 and $132,804 for public instruction; besides $899,- 

 441 for supplementary appropriations and $176,124 

 for special war expenditure. The total expendi- 

 tures were $3,852,750. For 1898 the expenditures 

 authorized by Congress were $5,097,588, of which 

 $663,008 were for war, $1,099,888 for internal de- 

 velopment, and $1,735,816 for military and naval 

 purposes. 



Nicaragua raised a sterling debt in 1886, issuing 

 bonds for 285,000 at 6 per cent. In 1894 default 

 was made in the payment of interest, and in 1894, 

 by arrangement with the English creditors, the 

 rate was reduced to 4 per cent., and coupons in 

 arrears were made redeemable at half their face 

 value. On July 1, 1899, the amount of principal 

 outstanding was 276,500 and of coupons unpaid 

 9.530. There is an internal debt amounting in 

 1898 to $7,500,000. The national wealth is esti- 

 mated at $33,972,690 for rural and $8,590,429 for 

 urban property. 



