ECUADOE. 



265 



Amid the discussions, the principle of rec- 

 ognizing the autonomy of the different nation- 

 alities of the provinces is gradually assuming 

 shape, and it is becoming yearly more evident 

 that the only scheme of permanent settlement, 

 and the one that will eventually give the great- 

 er security, must, rest upon it. Roumania and 

 Servia have already achieved a substantial in- 

 dependence, and made considerable progress 

 toward becoming established states. The rea- 

 sonableness of the demands of Greece for an 

 enlargement of its territories is acknowledged 

 by all the world, and has been strongly sup- 

 ported in Mr. Gladstone's paper, published in 

 November, 1876, entitled The Hellenic Factor 

 in the Eastern Problem. It may be satisfied 

 by giving to Greece the Grecian provinces 

 north of it, Macedonia, and the islands. The 

 surprising tenacity and strength which the 

 Bulgarians exhibited in their contest with the 

 Greek ecclesiastics, and their success, and the 

 energy they have manifested in building up 

 schools and creating a literature, have given 

 their friends a high opinion of their latent 

 qualities, and have strongly reenforced their 

 demand to be recognized as entitled to a sep- 

 arate independent existence. 



ECUADOR (REpfrsLicA DEL ECUADOR), an 

 independent state of South America, extending 

 from 1 5' north to 5 30' south latitude, and 

 from 69 52' to 80 35' west longitude. It is 

 bounded north by the United States of Colom- 

 bia and Brazil, east by the empire jnst named, 

 south by Peru, and west by the Pacific Ocean. 



The territory of Ecuador, with an area of 

 some 249,000 square miles, is divided into 13 

 provinces, including the Galapagos Islands, the 

 capital of which is Albemarle. 



The population of the republic, according to 

 an official report published in 1875, was 866,137, 

 exclusive of some 200,000 savage Indians, who 

 lead a nomadic existence in the vast plains east 

 of the Cordilleras, watered by the Napo and 

 other rivers of considerable magnitude, for the 

 most part tributaries of the Amazon. 



The capital, Quito, situated at an elevation 

 of 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, and 

 almost immediately under the equator, had an 

 estimated population of 80,000 ; but this figure 

 appears to be considerably exaggerated, 76,000 

 to 77,000 being, in all probability, a closer ap- 

 proximation to the truth. 



The President of the Republic is General 

 Ignacio de Veintemilla, who succeeded Dr. 

 Borrero, by force of arms, in December, 1876. 



The standing Army is usually about 1,200 

 strong ; the Navy consists of three small steam- 

 ers. 



Of the finances, no definite statement cnn be 

 given for the past year, nor for 1876, there 

 having been no official returns made since 1875. 

 The revenue rarely exceeds $2,500,000 United 

 States gold,* while the expenditure is seldom 

 below $3,000,000. Almost one-half of the 



* The Ecuadorian peso Is equivalent to about 71 cents of 

 United States money. 



national revenue is derived from Custom-house 

 receipts. 



The national debt was reported to stand as 

 follows at the beginning of 1875 : 



Peioi. 



Foreign debt, 1,824,000 British loan of 1855.. . 11,764,800 

 Home debt 7,250,000 



Total, in pesos 19,014,800* 



" in United States gold 14,267,500 



Owing to almost incessant civil strife in this 

 truly unfortunate country, the British bond- 

 holders, spite of repeated promises on the one 

 hand and vigorously-urged claims on the other, 

 have, so far, obtained little satisfaction, either 

 from Garcia Moreno's immediate successor, Dr. 

 Borrero, or from the present occupant of the 

 presidential chair, as will be seen from the fol- 

 lowing extract from a London financial journal 

 published early in 1877 : 



The memorial addressed by the Council of Bond- 

 holders, in conjunction with the old-established 

 Ecuadorian Commission of Agency, to the President, 

 Dr. Antonio Borrero, as mentioned in the council's 

 last annual report, was replied to in terms which en- 

 couraged the nope that the present Government of 

 Ecuador would be disposed to observe faith toward 

 its foreign creditors. The committee have taken 

 immediate steps to act upon a suggestion of the 

 President, and to appoint an agent for negotiating an 

 arrangement at Quito, between the republic and the 

 bondholders. A member of the committee, who has 

 for many years taken an active part in the Commis- 

 sion of Agency .offered his services to conduct these 

 negotiations. The committee have authorized him 

 to proceed to Quito, and to secure, in cooperation 

 with Mr. Douglas Hamilton, H. B. M.'s Minister in 

 Ecuador, for whose non-official assistance they have 

 throughout been under great obligations, some satis- 

 factory arrangement of the foreign debt of Ecuador. 



In the absence of official statistics of the 

 foreign commerce of Ecuador, the following 

 table will serve to show the approximate value 

 of the exports in each of the six years, 1871- 

 '76: 



YEARS. Valuo In pwot. 



1871 8,586,592 



1872 4,162,268 



1878 5,684,889 



1874 8,918,686 



1875 2,688.978 



1876 8,889,62T 



The quantities and value of the chief articles 

 of export, exclusive of precious metals, were as 

 follows in 1876 : 



The foreign trade is almost exclusively car- 

 ried on through the port of Guayaquil. 



Here follows a list of the exports from that 



* In the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1876 (p. 241), $20,095,000 

 pesos was the result of an error in reduction, 

 t = 100 Ibs. 



