GUATEMALA. 



427 



EXPENDITURE. 

 Department of Finance $208,872 



Interior and Justice 728,747 



Public Instruction 252,892 



College Education 25,419 



Foreign Affairs 80,850 



collection 264,654 



sions and state aid 45 054 



Municipalities 15,705 



Post-Office and telegraphs 144,014 



Mint 20,540 



Charitable institutions 186,794 



Police force 154,161 



Extraordinary expenses 203,254 



Beimbursements , 828,'044 



Sinking fund '. 2,554,077 



Various creditors 81,920 



Interest and premiums 



against 1,039,652 in 1881. Receipts, $56,989; 

 expenses, $68,924. 



Commerce. There entered and left Guatema- 

 lan ports, in 1882, 168 steamers and 62 sailing- 

 vessels together, 230. 



IMPORTS. 



J?JT $8,134,000 



1878 $28*000 



1879 8,827,000 



$8,647,000 



1381 8,665000 



1882 2,652|000 



EXPORTS. 



18J7 $3,773,000 



1878 8,919,000 



1879 4,606,000 



1880 $4,425,000 



1881 4,0*4,000 



1882 8,719,000 



Total $6,607,750 



PUBLIC INDEBTEDNESS JAN. 1, 1883. 



National debt (home branch) $3,021,050 



National debt (foreign branch)* 8,466,019 



Total $6,487,069 



Railroads. The first line of railway that went 

 into operation in Guatemala was the one from 

 San Jose to Escuintla, 22 kilometres, opened 

 June 18, 1880. Other lines are being built, 

 from Escuintla to Guatemala, 

 and from Ohamperico to Retal- 

 hulen. 



Champerico a few years ago 

 was almost an unknown port. 

 Now it has a fine iron mole, 

 and every Pacific Mail coasting 

 steamship calls there to receive 

 or discharge the many thousand 

 tons of cargo which constitute 

 the life of the Costa Grande, 

 Costa Cuca, and Retalhulen dis- 

 tricts. A few years have en- 

 tirely changed the aspect of af- 

 fairs, and more capital being in- 

 vested every day in agriculture, 

 cheap and easy transport has 

 become a necessity. To supply 

 this a company was formed 

 in San Francisco, called the 

 " Champerico and Northern 

 Transportation Company of 

 Guateaiala," and its first effort is to establish 

 rail communication between Champerico and 

 Retalhulen, via Caballo Blanco in the vicinity 

 of the Costa Cuca, the most productive coffee 

 district in Guatemala. 



Telegraphs. There was a length of lines in 

 operation in 1882 of 3,114 kilometres, served 

 by 63 offices, the number of messages sent dur- 

 ing that year being 219,744. The receipts 

 were $56,989, and the expenses $68,924. 



Postal Service. In 1882 there passed through 

 the mails forwarded 280,123 private letters, 61,- 

 724 Government dispatches, 50,807 letters sent 

 and delivered in cities, 8,406 registered, 291,- 

 893 newspapers, 644 sample packages, 250 

 other packages total items of mail matter, 

 693,847; received, 706,196 total, 1,400,043, 



* Of which Federal debt, $672,714 ; other debts,. $2,798,805. 



The leading export articles in 1882 were: 

 coffee, $3,132,716 worth; skins, $116,663; 

 woolens, $22,935; oil-cloth, $224,890; cochi- 

 neal, $11,869 ; specie and bullion (silver), 

 $44,755. 



Of some of the causes which operate against 

 the American trade in Guatemala, the princi- 



THE CATHEDRAL, GUATEMALA. 



pal is a strong prejudice against Americans and 

 their goods. Nearly all of the importers are 

 foreigners, mostly Germans; and of the pro- 

 fessed American houses only one or two of any 

 importance are conducted by native Ameri- 

 cans ; the rest, chiefly by naturalized Ger- 

 mans. The majority of the importing estab- 

 lishments are branches of European houses, or 

 have European connections in some way. 



Cinchona-Bark. The Republic of Guatemala 

 has arranged with a well-known Ceylon plant- 

 er to select seeds for 5,000,000 cinchona- trees.' 

 Central America has been explored for a thou- 

 sand miles to determine the best sites for 

 planting these ; and the rapid increase in the 

 number of uses to which cinchona - bark is 

 put, not only for the manufacture of quinine 

 and as an ingredient in the substitute for hops, 

 but also for commercial purposes, has led Pres- 



