132 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES LEGIONS. 



The same body chooses the vice-president, who, under certain circumstances, may- 

 replace the president either for a time or absolutely. The executive is exercised 

 by eight ministers (interior, fomento or ^^ progress" instruction, board of works, 

 finance, credit, war, and foreign affairs), all responsible to Congress, whose decrees 

 cannot be vetoed by the president. 



The revenue, derived chiefly from customs, ranges from £1,600,000 to 

 £1,800,000, but is insufScieut to meet the expenditure, so that the national debt is 

 gradually increasing. Although religious tolerance is guaranteed, the " Roman 

 Catholic and Apostolic " State Church alone enjoys the privilege of holding public 

 processions and other outward displays. The hierarchy comprises three members 

 only of episcopal dignity — the Archbishop of Caracas and the Bishops of Merida 

 and Bolivar. 



In 1891 the standing army stood at 5,760 men of all arms ; but during the 

 frequent civil wars the militia — that is, all men between 18 and 45 years of age — 

 are liable to serve. This force is estimated at 250,000, but not the tenth part has 

 ever been induced by bribes, hope of plunder, or by more forcible means to 

 take service with either faction. Another fiction, carried further than in any 

 other state, is that of the military staff, which in 1889 comprised no less than 

 7,032 generals. The official census of the state of Carabobo for 1875 returned 

 nearly one-seventh of the male population above 21 years as " superior officers." 

 It appeared, in fact, that Carabobo, with about 170,000 inhabitants, had at its 

 disposal 449 generals, 627 colonels, and over 2,000 other officers, but no troops. 



The territorial divisions shift their borders with every revolution, and have 

 consequently no permanent value. A vote of Congress, however, has recently 

 decreed the re-establishment of the 21 original states, which in 1881 had been 

 merged in eight political divisions and a certain number of territories, some of 

 which have since been surrendered to Colombia in virtue of the award of the 

 Spanish arbitrators. In the Appendix is given a tabulated statement of these 

 divisions, taken from official documents. 



