SANTO DOMINGO. 



SERVIA. 



643 



in 

 ed 



the coral reef outside. Commander Tilley was 

 appointed to the governorship of Tutuila as well 

 as to the command of the naval station at Pango 

 Pango. Peace and contentment prevailed on all 

 the islands after the division, and especially on 

 Tutuila, where native chiefs were appointed to 

 rule districts and villages under the guidance and 

 control of the naval governor, but according to 

 native customs. A steel building was constructed 

 for the storage of coal at Pango Pango. 



SANTO DOMINGO, a republic in the West 

 Indies, occupying the eastern part of the island 

 of Hayti. The Congress is a single chamber of 

 24 members, elected by direct qualified suffrage 

 for two years, 2 members for each province and 2 

 for each maritime district. The President is 

 chosen by an electoral college for four years. Gen. 

 Juan I. Jiminez was elected President, and Ho- 

 racio Vasquez Vice-President, after the assassina- 

 tion of President Ulisses Heureaux and a sub- 

 sequent revolution, for a term ending in 1903. 

 Gen. Jiminez appointed as members of his Cabinet 

 the following: Secretary of the Interior and Po- 

 lice, Gen. J. Pichardo; Secretary of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Enrico Henriquez; Secretary of Justice and 

 Public Instruction, S. E. Valverde; Secretary of 

 Fomento and Public Works, Gen. T. Cordero; 

 Secretary of Finance and Commerce, J. de J. 

 Alvarez ; Secretary of War and Marine, Gen. T. D. 

 Morales. 



Area and Population. The republic has an 

 area of 10,045 square miles and a population esti- 

 mated at 610,000. The people are a mixed race of 

 Spanish, Carib, and African blood, with a much 

 smaller proportion of pure negroes than in the ad- 

 jacent republic of Hayti. Santo Domingo, the 

 capital, the most ancient town in North America, 

 lias 14,150 inhabitants. Many Cubans have set- 

 tled in the country in recent years. Elementary 

 education is free and nominally compulsory. 



bout 10,000 children attend school. 



Finances. The revenue in 1898 was $1,550,- 

 194 in gold, mainly derived from duties on im- 

 ports and exports. The foreign debt was con- 

 verted in 1897 into a unified loan of 2,736,750 

 paying 25 per cent, interest, and a loan of $7,500,- 

 000 paying 4 per cent., both secured by the cus- 

 toms and other assigned revenues, the collection 

 of which was intrusted to the Santo Domingo Im- 

 provement Company of New York, which under- 

 took to complete the railroads and harbor im- 

 provements for which these sums had been bor- 

 rowed. The contracts with the company were not 

 carried out, and in April, 1899, the Government 

 defaulted in the payment of interest. The United 

 States gold dollar was adopted as the legal stand- 

 ard on July 1, 1897, and in international trans- 

 actions and in the customhouse it alone is ac- 

 cepted, though in the country debased silver coins 

 and the depreciated paper currency are all the 

 money that is in circulation. The silver circulat- 

 ing on March 31, 1899, was estimated at $2,200,- 

 000 ; old bank notes, $600,000 ; the new note issue, 

 $3,600,000. It was attempted without success to 

 raise a foreign loan of $1,375,000 for the redemp- 

 tion of the paper currency, and subsequently 

 more bank notes were issued. The financial dif- 

 ficulties of the new Government prevented Presi- 

 dent Jiminez from instituting the reforms that 

 the people hoped for. A new arrangement was 

 made with the Santo Domingo Improvement Com- 

 pany for the liquidation and readjustment of the 

 debts of the Government. The Congress approved 

 the contract in April, 1900. Belgian bondholders 

 objected to it on the ground that it deprived them 

 of the lien on a part of the customs duties that 

 "ey possessed as security for their bonds. In De- 



cember the National Bank failed, which by the au- 

 thority of Congress had issued all the paper money 

 with which the country was flooded, and for the re- 

 demption of which the Government was respon- 

 sible. A change in the Cabinet followed this new 

 development of the crisis, Seiior Hernandez be- 

 coming Secretary of the Interior; Seiior Cuello, 

 'Secretary of War; Senor Brache, Secretary of Fi- 

 nance; Sefior Despradel, Secretary of Agriculture; 

 and Seiior Joubert, Secretary of Posts and Tele- 

 graphs. 



The Army and Navy. The permanent army 

 is employed to garrison Santo Domingo and the 

 provincial capitals Azua, Macoris, Samana, 

 Puerto Plata, Santiago, Moca, La Vega, and Vic- 

 toria a regiment in each place. 



The naval force consists of the gunboat Inde- 

 pendencia, of 350 tons, armed with 5 Hotchkiss 

 and 3 revolver guns; El Presidente, of 888 tons, 

 carrying 9 guns; and the Restauraccion, of 

 1,200 tons, carrying 9 guns. 



Commerce and Production. The chief prod- 

 ucts are sugar and coffee. The coffee plantations 

 have increased, and cacao has been planted with 

 success; tobacco, too, by the Cubans, and ba- 

 nanas with American capital. The rearing of 

 cattle is another new industry. Over 85 per cent, 

 of the land is suitable for cultivation, and a con- 

 siderable area is covered with forests, which are 

 profitably exploited. The high duties retard for- 

 eign commerce. The total value of imports in 

 1898 was $1,696.280. Exports amounted to 

 $5,789,997. There were exported 49,300 tons of 

 sugar, 929,980 feet of mahogany, 7,535 tons of 

 tobacco, 2,616,908 pounds of coffee, 7,578,438 

 pounds of cacao, 2,182 tons of logwood, and 469.- 

 000 bunches of bananas, and in addition to these 

 staples hides, honey, beeswax, divi-divi, and rum. 

 The chief trade is with the United States and the 

 islands of the West Indies, but with Germany, 

 England, Spain, and France there is also consider- 

 able. During 1898 there were 554 vessels entered 

 at the port of Santo Domingo and 380 cleared. 

 In 1899 the value of imports was $1,867,702; of 

 exports, $4,539,185. Iron, copper, and coal exist 

 in Santo Domingo, but are not worked. Salt is 

 mined profitably, and other minerals are found. 

 Gold has always been obtained in dust and nug- 

 gets from the beds of streams in the Yague valley 

 and elsewhere. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The rail- 

 road from Sanchez, on Samana Bay, to La Vega, 

 62 miles, is being extended to Santiago, 54 miles 

 having been built. Another line is to be built 

 from Barahona to Cerro de Sal, the salt moun- 

 tain. 



The number of letters, newspapers, etc., dis- 

 patched through the post office in 1897 in the in- 

 ternal service was 342,081, and in the interna- 

 tional 286,051; in 1898, in the internal service, 

 396,946, and in the international 238,897. 



The telegraph lines constructed by the Antilles 

 Company have a total length of 430 miles, con- 

 necting with the French cable. 



SERVIA, a kingdom in southeastern Europe. 

 The legislative body is a single chamber called the 

 Skupshtina, composed of 198 members, elected by 

 all male Servians who pay 15 dinars of direct 

 taxes. The reigning King is Alexander I, born 

 Aug. 14, 1876, who succeeded to the throne abdi- 

 cated by Milan I, his father, on May 6, 1889, and 

 on April 13, 1893, dismissed the regents, and as- 

 sumed the kingly authority. The ministry con- 

 stituted on Oct. 23, 1897, and with some changes 

 still in office at the beginning of 1900. was com- 

 posed at the later date as follows: President of the 

 Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Via- 



