134 



COLOMBIA. 



rate of increase was growing. In the Presbyterian 

 churches the additions from 1885, when the Cnns- 

 tian Kndeavi.r movement had become effective, to 

 against :M3.4!S1 in the decade 

 1875 to 1884. In the Congregational churches the 

 annual average of additions from 1875 to 1884 was 

 16 uS: the average from 1884 to 1894 was 30,842. 

 Tlu- oAotn did not presume to attribute the whole 

 of this impulse to church growth to the influence 

 of the Christian Kndca\ or Societies, but they main- 

 tained that it had been a factor in the matter, and 

 considered it demonstrated that they are not an 

 .> to rhurrh growth. 



( Ol.O M HI A. a republic in South America. The 

 Congress consists of a Senate of 27 members, elected 

 by the nine departments, and a House of Represent- 

 atives containing 66 members, for whom the peo- 

 ple votedirei-t. The President is elected by electoral 

 colleges of the departments for six years. On the 

 death of President Nufiez. on Sept. 18, 1894, Vice- 

 Proident Miguel Antonio Caro succeeded as acting 

 President for the remainder of the term, ending 

 7. l*!is. Tin- Cabinet was composed in the 

 uning of 1898 of the following members: Min- 

 ,.f the Interior. A. Koldan, who by the choice 

 of Congress acted as President during the tempo- 

 retirement of Vice-President Caro in 1897; 

 Ministerof Foreign Affairs, M. Tanco; Minister of 

 Commerce and Communications, M. Esquerre ; Min- 

 ister of \Var. (Sen. Molinta; Minister of Education, 

 .1. M. Carrasquilla; Minister of Finance, D. J. 

 !; \. i. 



Area and Population. The area of the repub- 

 lic is estimated at 513,938 square miles, and the 

 population at 4,000,000, including 150,000 uncivil- 

 ized Indians. 



Finances*. The revenue for 1898 was estimated 

 at 34,361,000 pesos, of which 19,500,000 pesos are 

 derived from customs duties. The estimated total 

 expenditure is 35,771,013 pesos. 



The domestic debt on June 30, 1896, was 7,525,- 

 156 JHJSOS, including 1,892,110 pesos of floating lia- 

 bilities. The foreign debt, according to the settle- 

 ment made with the creditors in January, 1897, 

 consists of 2,700,000 of new bonds bearing 1| per 

 cent, interest for the first three years, 2 per cent, 

 t he next, then 2$ per cent, for three years, and after- 

 ward 8 per cent. 



rumiiHTce. The export of coffee in 1895 

 amounted to 47,300,000 pounds. Other exports 

 are earthnuts gold, silver ore, cacao, cotton, dye- 

 stuffs, animals, tobacco, hides, rubber, and cabinet 

 woods. About 60 per cent, of the imports pass 

 through Barranquilla and 20 per cent, through 

 Cartagena. The exports from Barranquilla in 

 1896 were valued at 1,790,260 sterling, of which 

 sum 987,182 represented coffee, 452,201 gold 

 du-t and bars, 1*146,974 silver ore, 57,466 hides, 

 48,189 tobacco, and 24,742 rubber. 



< iiiiimiiiiinitioiis. There were 400 miles of 

 railroads in operation in 1H97, besides which 270 

 miles were building and 85 miles were under con- 

 tract. The Panama Railroad carried in 1896 from 

 Colon, on theGulf, to Panama, in the Pacific. 92,137 

 t-.n- of freight from Kurope and 51,417 tons from 

 New York, and from Panama to Colon 56,071 tons 

 going to Kuro|ie and '{3.701 tons for New York. 

 The IcKial traffic was 2H,-,M!i tons. 



Flection of a President. The Congress as- 

 sembled on July 20. The aged San Clemente was 

 elected President of the republic for the ensuing 

 term, but as his health would not permit him to 

 undertake the duties of the office the Vice-Presi- 

 dent elect. .i,,se Manuel Marroquin, was inaugu- 

 i in his stead. A new Cabinet was formed as 

 follows; Minister of the Interior, Aurelio Mutis; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, Seflor Paul; .Minister 



of Finance, Pedro Antonio Molina; Minister of 

 War, Oligario Rivera: Minister of Education, 

 Tomas Herran ; Minister of the Treasury, Mejia 

 Alvarez. 



Dispute With Italy. The Italian squadron of 

 four vessels stationed in the Caribbean Sea was 

 dispatched to Cartagena in July, and Admiral 

 Candiani was instructed to make a formal demand 

 upon the Colombian Government for the complete 

 and speedy execution of the decision pronounced 

 on March 2, 1897, by the President of the United 

 States acting as arbitrator in the case of Ernesto 

 Cerruti, an Italian subject, who claimed compensa- 

 tion for imprisonment and the confiscation of his 

 property in 1885 on account of his alleged implica- 

 tion in the attempted revolution of 1884. President 

 Cleveland awarded 60,000 to the claimant, includ- 

 ing 10,000 that had been paid already. Of the 

 balance 10,000 was to be paid within two months, 

 and the remainder within nine months. The in- 

 stallments were duly paid, but English and Italian 

 firms which had supplied E. Cerruti & Co. with 

 goods before the forcible collapse of that firm 

 claimed a lien upon the money. The award ren- 

 dered it obligatory on the Colombian Government 

 to guarantee and protect Signor Cerruti against all 

 liability on account of the debts of his copartner- 

 ship and to reimburse him for any that he might 

 be legally compelled to pay. The Colombian au- 

 thorities disputed the validity of this article of the 

 award and refused to pay any money to release the 

 indemnity from the embargo placed upon it by the 

 Colombian and Italian courts. It was an integral 

 part of the award, which would be illusory if the 

 creditors could appropriate the indemnity. Never- 

 theless the Colombian Government, although it had 

 submitted the case to arbitration unconditionally, 

 contested this last article of the award as being out- 

 side of the scope of the reference. Admiral Can- 

 diani presented an ultimatum on July 24, demand- 

 ing compliance with the Cleveland award within 

 twenty days. To avert the forcible seizure of the 

 customhouse and port of Cartagena the United 

 States Government intervened, and by the use of its 

 friendly offices induced the Italian Government to 

 extend to eight months the time in which Colombia 

 must satisfy all duly proved claims of the creditors 

 of the Cerruti company. It required, however, that 

 Colombia should announce her compliance with the 

 Italian demand within the term of the ultimatum. 

 The Colombian Government thereupon paid the 

 balance of 60,000 to Cerruti and deposited 1,000,- 

 000 pesos to be employed in paying claims of the 

 creditors when proved to the satisfaction of the 

 President of the United States. The Italian Gov- 

 ernment insisted that the Italian or the Colombian 

 courts of law should adjudicate the claims. The 

 sum of 20,000 was paid to Admiral Candiani as a 

 guarantee that Signor Cerruti should be released 

 from all the claims of his business creditors within 

 eight months. 



The Panama Canal. By an arrangement con- 

 cluded with the Colombian Government by the 

 liquidator of the Panama Canal Company on April 

 4, 1893, the concession for the construction of the 

 canal was extended for ten years longer on condi- 

 tion that the new company then being organized 

 should resume the work of construction before 

 Nov. 1, 1894, and pay over to the Colombian treas- 

 ury 17,000,000 francs in coin and stock. Work on 

 the canal was taken up again and has since been 

 continued, but the permanent organization of the 

 new company was left to be decided after further 

 study and experience. A decision was expected to 

 be reached before the close of 1898. There were 

 3,500 laborers employed in the early part of the year, 

 mainly on the work of reducing the Culebra hill. 



