732 



VENEZUELA. 



port the Insane Asylum, the Deaf andJ3umb Asy- 

 lum, the Institution for the Blind, the Reform 

 School, tlie State Normal School of Mines, (14.000 

 acres for a State School of Mines, the same tor a 

 State Capitol, and 50,000 acres for a miners' hos- 

 pital. Out of these munificent grants, 7,300.000 

 arrt-s in all, less than 500,000 acres have been 

 sold by the State. 



State Institutions. A hospital was added to 

 Hie l)e:if. Dumb, and Blind Institution in 1900. 

 The sum of $3,500 \v;is appropriated by the Le-i- 

 lature for the current expenses of the hospital. 

 Tin- expenses of the year were $5,542.03, but the 

 deficiency was paid from funds earned by the in- 

 stitution. A physical laboratory has been added 

 to the school, and the library has been increased. 



Three students have been graduated in the past 

 tuo years, and 13 since the institution was 

 founded. The total attendance in the two years 

 \\:ts 123: the present enrollment is 76. 



Fifty-seven acres of land belong to the institu- 

 tion. Valued at $15,000, .and the buildings at 

 $100,000. 



At a meeting of the board of the Insane Asylum 

 in November, Medical Superintendent Hardy re- 

 jxjrted as follows: In the asylum Oct. 31, 104 men 

 and 155 women. Requisition was made on the 

 Auditor for the sum of $3,302.73, to pay the ex- 

 penses for October. 



Political. In February Gov. Wells issued a 

 call for the special election of a Congressman to 

 fill the seat made vacant by the retirement of Mr. 

 Roberts, and on April 3 W. H. King was elected. 



On July 1 Mrs. J. M. Cohen, the first woman 

 delegate to a national convention, was sent by 

 the Democrats of Utah to Kansas City. 



On Sept. the Democratic State Convention 

 was held. James H. Moyle was nominated for 

 Governor: Fisher Harris for Secretary of State; 

 Lund for Treasurer; Whitecotton for Judge of 

 the Supreme Court; Weber for Attorney-General: 

 Porter for Superintendent of Public Instruction; 

 Hayes for Auditor. 



The Republicans nominated, for Governor, 

 lleber M. Wells; Secretary of State, J. T. Ham- 

 mond: Justice of the Supreme Court, George W. 

 Bartch: Attorney-General. M. A. Breeden; Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, A. C. Nelson; 

 Treasurer. John De Grey Dixon; Auditor, T. S. 

 Tingley. This ticket was elected. The plurality 

 was: Wells, 3.153: Hammond, 2.467; Bartch. 

 2.971; Breeden, 1.337; Nelson, 1.551; Dixon, 2,208; 

 and Tingley, 1,73.8. In the presidential election the 

 Republican electors received 47.139 votes, the 

 Democratic 45,006. 



The vote for presidential electors gave the Re- 

 publican candidates 47,139, and the Democratic 

 45,006. 



V 



VENEZUELA, a federal republic in South 

 America. The legislative power is vested in the 

 Congress, consisting of a Senate of 27 members, 

 3 from each State, and a House of Representa- 

 tives numbering 63 members, 1 to 35,000 inhab- 

 itants, who are elected for four years by the votes 

 of all adult male citizens. The Congress elects 

 tor two years a Council of Government, and for 

 the .-a me term the Council elects the President of 

 the republic. Gen. Ignacio Andrade, who was 

 elected for the term beginning March 4, 1898, 

 was deposed by a revolution and Gen. Cipriano 

 (astro was invested by Congress with supreme 

 power as provisional President on Oct. 21, 1899. 

 The Cabinet, appointed on Oct. 23, 1899, was com- 

 -|Msed as follows: Minister of the Interior, Fran- 

 cisco Castillo; Minister of Foreign Affairs, An- 

 duego Palacio; Minister of Finance, Tello Men- 

 do/a : Minister of War, Gen. Ignacio Pulido; Min- 

 i-tcr of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. 

 Manuel Hernandez; Minister of Public Works, 

 Victor Rodriguez; Minister of Public Instruction, 

 < lemente Urbaneja. 



Area and Population. Venezuela has an area 

 of 593.943 square miles. The population in 1894 

 consisted of 1,197,0(59 males and 1,247,747 females; 

 total. 2.444,816. The number of foreigners was 

 IU-!!>. comprising 11,081 Colombians, 518 other 

 South Americans, 232 North Americans, 13.558 

 Spaniards, (i.154 English, 3,729 Dutch, 3,179 Ital- 

 ian-. 2.545 French, 262 Germans, 82 Danes, and 

 2.089 others. The population was composed of 

 :::<>. 156 per-ons engaged in agriculture, 135,688 in 

 industry. 8341 in navigation. 1.052 in mining, 

 42.81(1 in commerce, 3.675 functionaries, 528 reli- 

 gious. (5.038 military. 9.311 in the liberal profes- 

 sions. 211.143 domestics, and 1.650.(KiS imnworkers. 

 The number of marriages in 1S94 was 4.612: of 

 births. SO.SH1: of deaths, 46,410; excess of births. 

 34.109. The immigration was 141, and for ten 

 yea is ending with 1S!>4 it was 5,548. 



Finances. The budget for 1900 makes the 

 total revenue 38,877,480 bolivars, or francs, of 



which 26,000,000 bolivars come from customs, 

 2,669,680 bolivars from stamps, 2,593,300 bolivars 

 from internal revenue, 4,722,500 bolivars from 

 transit dues, 2,860,000 bolivars from salt, and 

 32,000 bolivars from public lands. The expenses 

 were estimated at the same figure, 19,893,456 boli- 

 vars being allotted to the public service, 4,967,000 

 bolivars to the internal debt, 2,135,203 bolivars 

 to the exterior debt, 3,000,000 bolivars to the 

 Venezuelan loan, 887,321 bolivars to foreign cred- 

 itors, 2,340,000 bolivars to public works, and 

 5,654,500 bolivars to subsidies. 



The public debt on June 30. 1898, amounted 

 to 201,419,202 bolivars. When Venezuela seceded 

 from Colombia in 1830 the share of the debt in- 

 curred in the war of independence assumed w 

 1,888,396, for which, including unpaid interest, 

 new external bonds for 2,750,000 were issued in 

 1881, and of these 2,638,200 were outstanding 

 in 1898, in addition to which 50,000.000 bolivars 

 of 5-pcr-cent. bonds were issued in 1896 for the 

 settlement of arrears of railroad guarantees, mak- 

 ing the total foreign debt 4.587.900. The in- 

 ternal debt on Jan. 1, 1899, was 79,783,511 bolivars. 

 A law was made in July, 1896, ordaining that the 

 issue of paper money by the Government, and also 

 the coinage of silver and nickel without special 

 enactment by Congress, should cease from that 

 time, as it was intended that gold coins and gold 

 certificates should take the place of silver and un- 

 covered paper. There were 12.000,000 bolivars in 

 papcrand 8.000.000 bolivars in silver in circulation. 

 and the silver has since been kept practically on a 

 par with gold. The Bank of Venezuela, with 1-. 

 iioo.ooo bolivars capital, obtained in 1S97 the right 

 to collect and disburse the revenue for five year-. 

 receiving 2 per cent, commission on all collections 

 and payments, and was allowed 8 per cent, in- 

 terest on advances to the Government, which it 

 agreed to make up to 6,000.000 bolivars. At the 

 same date a charter was granted to the Bolivar 

 Hank, a new bank of issue, with 20.000.000 bolivar- 

 capital, which obtained the administration of the 



