VENEZUELA. 



813 



their direction, and the provisions of the ''Ed- 

 munds law," an election for delegate to Con- 

 gress was held on Nov. 7th. The total num- 

 ber of registered voters was 33,266, of whom 

 18,772 were males and 14,494 females. About 

 12,000 men and women were excluded from 

 registration by reason of polygamy. The elec- 

 tion resulted in the success of John T. Caine, 

 the candidate of the " People's party," or Mor- 

 mons, who received 23,039 votes, while Philip 

 T. Van Zile, the candidate of the " Liberal par- 

 ty," or Gentiles, received 4,884. 



But the most important election was that of 

 Aug. 6, 1883, a general election for Territorial 

 and county officers ; 960 were elected, all of 

 whom, as well as all the voters, are monoga- 



mists. The total vote of the People's party was 

 20,508; Liberal, 1,453 ; from which it appears 

 that large numbers of the Liberals refrained 

 from voting. The Legislature is composed 

 wholly of Mormons, none of whom, however, 

 live in polygamy. 



The commissioners, in their reports to the 

 Secretary of the Interior, make many state- 

 ments and recommendations; the chief one 

 being that Congress should pass a comprehen- 

 sive marriage law, requiring marriages to be 

 solemnized publicly and registered, and mak- 

 ing the first wife a competent witness in prose- 

 cutions for polygamy. 



Acts are now before Congress embodying 

 the recommendations of the commissioners. 



V 



VENEZUELA, a republic of South America. 

 Capital, Caracas. (For details relating to area, 

 territorial divisions, population, etc., see " An- 

 nual Cyclopaedia " for 1881.) The President is 

 Gen. A. Guzman Blanco. The Venezuelan 

 Minister Resident, accredited to the United 

 States in 1880, is Senor Sirnon Camacho. 



The Army and Navy. The regular army has a 

 strength of 2,545 men ; in times of war the 

 militia is enrolled. The navy is restricted to 

 two small steamers and two schooners, mount- 

 ing together eight guns. 



Finances. The budget for 1882-'83 estimated 

 the income from duties at $19,425,000; from 

 internal revenue at $2,596,667 together, $22,- 

 021,667; and the outlay : General administra- 

 tion, $12,285,000 ; interest on home debt. $2,- 

 097,900; interest on foreign debt, $2,097,900; 

 payments in settlement of foreign claims, $1,- 

 010,100; public works, $4,530,767 together, 

 $22,021,667. 



The internal debt amounts to $45,376,064, 

 and the foreign debt to $278,403,659. 



Decree of 1883. The Venezuelan Govern- 

 ment issued in 1883 the following decree : 



The products, goods, and merchandise exported 

 from Europe and the United States to Venezuela, and 

 accompanied with all the documents required by the 

 customs laws, may be transshipped in foreign colonies 

 from one vessel to another to proceed to their destina- 

 tion, and will be considered as arriving directly from 

 the original points of export. When, by lack of im- 

 mediate transport, it may become necessary to disem- 

 bark the said products, goods, and merchandise in 

 foreign colonies, they may be re-embarked for Vene- 

 zuela without being considered as colonial exports, 

 always provided that, in addition to the consular 

 documents from the port of original dispatch, the 

 owners or consignees present at the custom-house of 

 the republic where the goods are landed a certificate 

 from the Venezuelan consul in the colony^ asserting 

 that the said goods were only there on deposit for lack 

 of vessels to take them to their destination. 



This decree removed the extra import duty 

 of 30 per cent, upon goods introduced into 

 Venezuela by way of the Antilles. 



Railroads. The railway from La Guayra, the 

 port of Caracas, to the latter city, recently 



opened, though only twenty-four miles long, 

 encountered great obstacles from the fact that 

 a mountain 7,000 feet in height separates La 

 Guayra from the capital. Another line of rail- 

 way was in operation from Tucacas to the 

 Aroa mines, seventy miles. A line was being 

 built from Caracas to the Tuy river, and work 

 is begun on the railroad that is to connect 

 Puerto Cabello with Valencia. 



Telegraphs. On Sept. 1, 1880, there were in 

 operation 356 miles of line. In 1883 the west- 

 ern line had reached the Colombian frontier, 

 with branch lines from Valencia to San Carlos, 

 from Valencia to Nirgua, San Felipe, and Bar- 

 quisirnento, and from Valencia to Puerto Ca- 

 bello ; the southern had extended to Villa de 

 Cura, and the eastern to Guacara. From Villa 

 de Cura the southern will be carried to San 

 Fernando, the western from San Carlos to Ba- 

 rinas, and from Puerto Cabello to Maracaybo. 



Education. In 1873 there was spent by the 

 nation only $129,042 for gratuitious instruction 

 of children and youths; in 1877 the amount 

 spent was $507,962, and in 1882 $1,349,039 

 was thus expended. Various Federal col- 

 leges and normal schools have also been found- 

 ed, there being four of the former of the higher 

 order, and fifteen of a degree lower, including 

 five for girls and five normal schools. 



Agriculture. The only plow in use (says the 

 United States consul) is of domestic manufact- 

 ure, made by pointing a round stick about six 

 inches in diameter and incasing the point in 

 iron. This iron-pointed stick set in a frame 

 at a suitable angle and drawn by a team turns 

 a furrow each way, very much as a hog would 

 root it. Most of "the tilled land is cultivated 

 by hoeing. Of the cultivated crops, corner 

 maize is the most important. Near the cities 

 it is grown expressly for horse-feed, and it is 

 likewise the principal food of all the ox-teams, 

 horses, mules, and donkeys used for the inte- 

 rior transportation of merchandise. The trade 

 in green corn-stalks is heavy and regular. In 

 places remote from the large towns the corn 

 fully matures and is sold in the -grain. The 



