166 



COLOMBIA. 



Burmah, were considered at the meeting of the 

 council, and a delegate was appointed to repre- 

 sent the union at the Swedish convention. 



COLOMBIA, a republic in South America. 

 The legislative power is vested in the Congress, 

 consisting of a Senate of '27 members, 3 from 



>ach department, and a House of Representatives 

 ,)f tit> members, elected for four years by man- 

 hood suffrage in the departments in the propor- 

 tion of 1 to f>0,0(H) inhabitants. The President 

 is elected by electoral colleges for six years. 

 The President elected for the term beginning 

 Au". 7. 1S9S. is M. A. Sanclemente. J. M. Mar- 

 roquin is Vice-President. The Cabinet at the 

 beginning of 181)9 was composed of the following 

 members: Minister of the Interior, Aurelio Mu- 

 tis; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Felipe Paul; 

 Minister of Commerce and Communications, 

 Pedro Antonio Molina: Minister of War, Ole- 

 gario Rivera: Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Tomas Herran: Minister of Finance, Luis M. 

 Mejia Alvarez. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is 513,938 square miles; the population is 

 estimated at 4,000,000, including 150,000 uncivi- 

 lized Indians. Bogota, the capital, has about 

 120.000 inhabitants. 



Finances. The revenue for the biennial period 

 1S99-1900 is estimated at 34,305,000 pesos, and 

 expenditure at 34,000,000 pesos. The revenue 

 from customs is about 24,000,000 pesos. The 

 chief expenditures in the preceding two years 

 were 0,129,500 pesos for war, 4,016,300 pesos for 

 internal development, 4,683,600 pesos for justice, 

 3,659,300 pesos for interest on the debt, and 

 3.378.900 pesos for financial administration. 



The internal consolidated debt on June 30, 

 1896, was 5,633,046 pesos. The floating debt 

 amounted to 1,892,110 pesos, which was to be 

 extinguished by a sinking fund of 604,000 pesos 

 a year. The foreign debt, which amounted with 

 arrears to 3,514,442 in 1896, was compromised 

 by the issue of 2,700,000 of new bonds, paying 

 ]\ per cent, interest three years, then \ per cent, 

 more every succeeding three years till the rate 

 is 3 per cent. The paper currency amounted in 

 1896 to 30,862,352 pesos. The law of 1894 pro- 

 viding for its redemption in gold has not been 

 carried out because there is no gold in the coun- 

 try available for coinage, but 3,000,000 pesos of 

 token silver pieces have been put into circula- 

 tion. At Panama and Colon the Colombian 

 paper money is not accepted, but the Peruvian 

 silver sol is legal tender. 



Defense. The strength of the standing mili- 

 tary force was fixed in 1898 at 1,000 men. The 

 President has authority to summon every able- 

 bodied citizen into military service in case of war. 



Commerce and Production. Colombia is a 

 country of great mineral wealth and of great 

 agricultural resources also, but these are not yet 

 developed, owing to the lack of transportation. 

 The gold and silver production amounts to 

 $4,100,000 a year. In Antioquia are 3,398 gold 

 mines, alluvial and quartz: in Tolima and Cauca 

 are 1.365 gold and silver mines. There are 32 

 mines producing $100,000 worth of emeralds per 

 annum, 14 mines of cinnabar. 7 of manganese. 

 Copper, lead, platinum, quicksilver, and iron are 

 mined also. The Government salt mines at 

 Xipaqnira almost supply the whole country. 

 Coal and petroleum are also found. 



The cultivation of coffee is profitable, as the 

 berry grown in Colombia is of fine flavor. Cacao, 

 tobacco, and sugar are staple products of longer 

 standing. The export of rubber is decreasing 

 because the forests are being exhausted by kil 



COLORADO. 



ing the trees and not replanting. Copaiba trees 

 are also tapped, but not cultivated. Tolu balsam 

 is a cultivated product. Vegetable ivory is ex- 

 ported. The forests produce various dyewoods. 

 Cattle, horses, asses, mules, sheep, goats, and 

 hogs are reared. The total value of the imports 

 in 1895 was 11,528,365 pesos; of the exports, 

 15,088,406 pesos. Articles of food and drink, 

 textiles, iron manufactures, and hardware con- 

 stitute the bulk of the imports. The chief ex- 

 ports are coffee, gold, silver and silver ore, to- 

 bacco, cacao, live animals, hides, cotton, rubber, 

 dyestuffs, and cabinet woods. 



Navigation. Colombian ports are visited 

 regularly by 15 English, 9 American, 4 German, 

 and 3 French steamers. The number of vessels 

 entered at the port of Barranquilla in 1895 was 

 261, of 392,573 tons; cleared, 258, of 391,668 tons. 

 The number entered at Panama, Colon, Santa 

 Maria, and Cartagena was 923, of 1,203,110 tons; 

 cleared, 919, of 1,210,629 tons. The ships owned 

 in Colombia in 1896 were 1 steamer, of 457 tons, 

 and 7 sailing vessels, of 1,770 tons. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. The length of 

 railroads in operation in 1897 was 400 miles, 

 while 270 miles were building and 85 miles under 

 contract. 



The telegraphs have a total length of 6,835 

 miles. 



The Panama Canal. The company founded 

 by Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1881 for the purpose 

 of constructing a tide-level ship canal, 46 miles 

 long, across the isthmus of Panama went into 

 liquidation in 1889, having expended 772,545,412 

 francs, and failed to obtain a loan of 600,000,000 

 francs for the completion of the work. A new 

 company was finally organized in 1894, and about 

 3,000 laborers have since been employed on the 

 canal, which it is hoped will be completed in 

 about ten years. The work done so far is only 

 provisional, intended mainly to keep the conces- 

 sion valid while fresh capital is being raised. 

 The sum raised up to June 30, 1897, was 48,420,- 

 184 francs, of which 18,976,987 francs were de- 

 posited as a guarantee, 25,334,662 francs were 

 expended on the canal, and 4,108,534 francs re- 

 mained in bank. 



The Cerruti Claim. The Colombian Govern- 

 ment finally paid over to the Italian Govern- 

 ment 60,000, the sum awarded by President 

 Cleveland to Signer Cerruti as an indemnity for 

 loss and arbitrary imprisonment inflicted upon 

 him by the Colombian authorities, and to com- 

 pound with his business creditors. The creditors 

 of the Cerruti firm, who demanded 6-per-cent. 

 compound interest in addition to* their original 

 claims, were constrained to accept 20-per-cent. 

 interest for the whole time. 



COLORADO, a Western State, admitted to 

 the Union Aug. 1, 1876; area, 103,969 square 

 miles. The population in 1880 was 194,327; in 

 1890 it was 412,198. Capital, Denver. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1899: Governor, Charles S. Thomas-; 

 Lieutenant Governor, Francis Carney ; "Secretary 

 of State, Elmer F. Beckwith; Treasurer, John F. 

 Fesler; Auditor, George W. Temple; Attorney- 

 General, D. M. Campbell; Superintendent of Edu- 

 cation, Helen L. Grenfell. The above named were 

 elected on a fusion ticket of Silver Republicans, 

 Democrats, and Populists. State Engineer, John 

 E. Field; Commissioner of Mines, Harry A. Lee; 

 Regents of the University, W. E. Anderson, C. R. 

 Dudley, O. J. Pfeiffer, William J. Orange, D. M. 

 Richards, Harold Thompson; Chief Justice of the 

 Supreme Court, John Campbell, Republican; As- 

 sociate Justices, Luther M. Goddard and William 



