1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bolivia
BOLIVIA (see 4.166).—No census had been taken up to 1921 since the rough enumeration of 1900 indicating 1,816,271 inhabitants. In 1910 a Bolivian publicist estimated the pop. at 1,744,568. An official estimate in 1920 set the pop. at 2,500,000. The inhabitants are scattered through eight departments and three "national colonial territories," the most densely populated region being the department of La Paz. The pop. of the city of La Paz in 1920 was estimated at 107,252.
Government.—The fundamental law of Bolivia was in 1921 still the constitution adopted in 1880. In 1910 some changes were made in the official nomenclature of towns and cities; and in 1914 a law was promulgated which abolished vice-cantons. Although—according to the statutes—Sucré is still the capital of Bolivia and remains the seat of her Supreme Court, the seat of government is the city of La Paz, where the National Congress assembles regularly, the members of the Cabinet have their bureaus, and where the president of the republic lives.
Communications.—In accordance with the Treaty of Petropolis, (1903), the Brazilian Government began in Aug. 1907 to construct a railway round the series of cataracts in the Madeira and Mamore rivers, from Sao Antonio on the Madeira river to Guajara Merim on the Mamore river (Brazil). The Madeira-Mamoré railroad was formally opened to traffic on July 15 1912. Bolivia then undertook to build a line between the Bolivian towns of Guajara Merim and Riberalta on the Beni river, in order to link her rubber-producing region with Amazonian navigation. In accordance with Bolivia's treaty of 1904 with Chile, that Government constructed a railway from Arica to La Paz, which was completed May 13. 1913. Thus Bolivia was furnished with a direct route to the Pacific. An electric railway, financed by New York capitalists, was being constructed in 1921 from La Paz to Corioco in the Yungas region, and is to be extended to Puerto Pando. The Antofagasta and Oruro railway now reaches La Paz by its own tracks. A branch line has been constructed from Rio Mulato to Potosí. In Nov. 1916 the Bolivian Government began the construction of a difficult spur from Potosi to Sucré. Another branch from Oruro to Cochabamba was inaugurated in July 1917. A most important road was being constructed in 1921 between Uyuni and Tupiza near the Argentine frontier; trains were running between Uyuni and Atocha, while automobile service had been established between Atocha and La Quiaca (Argentina). Many miles of newtelegraph lines have been built. Between July 1912 and Oct. 1916 the Marconi Telegraph Co. erected wireless stations at several points in Bolivia. On Oct. 20 1916 the first wireless message from La Paz was received in Lima.
Commerce.—Official figures show that in 1908 the total imports of Bolivia amounted to 40,807,856 bolivianos (see below under Money and Banking), while her exports came to 48,925,616. In 1915 the imports were 22,574,566 bolivianos; the exports 95,210,350. The countries taking the largest amounts of the exports were, in order: Great Britain, the United States, Argentina, France and Chile, while the countries furnishing the largest amounts of the imports were the United States, Peru, Great Britain, Chile and Argentina. The imports for 1918 amounted to 34,999,886 bolivianos, while the exports came to 182,612,850. This was an increase over the preceding year in imports of 1,519,055 bolivianos and in exports of 24,864,796. The chief articles imported into Bolivia in 1918 were valued as follows, in bolivianos: food products and beverages, 8,957,367; manufactured articles, 16,229,072; raw and slightly wrought materials, 7,022,630; live animals, 2,040,632. The most important articles of export were tin, 129,611,139 bolivianos, rubber, 11,038,042, wolfram, 10,591,429, and silver, 7,491,421. As contrasted with 1915 the figures for 1918 show that the United States had increased her imports from Bolivia about 200%, while Great Britain had increased hers about 37%; the figures for 1918 also show that the value of the imports of Bolivia from Great Britain had increased slightly, while imports from the United States had grown more than 137%.
Army.—The Bolivian soldiery is composed of the regular army and the reserves. Ordinarily the number of soldiers belonging to the regular army is fixed by Congress each year; in 1914 it was placed at 4,600 men. All male citizens between 19 and 49 years of age are compelled to serve in the regular army or in the reserves. The reserves in 1914 were estimated at 187,178 men.
Education.—A Bolivian sociologist declared in 1910 that less than 13% of his fellow-countrymen could read. Primary instruction is still managed by towns and cities. Considerable attention has recently been paid to the establishment of rural schools, as well as to the instruction of aborigines in the Spanish language. According to a report of the Secretary of Public Instruction, there were in 1916 about 450 primary schools in the Republic. In 1919 some 60,000 pupils were attending primary, secondary and normal schools. Secondary education is mainly carried on in colegios nacionales or in private academies. Methodists from the United States have founded an "American Institute" at La Paz, and also at Cochabamba: these academies are probably the best secondary schools in Bolivia. Bolivian teachers are mostly trained at four normal schools, the more important of these being at La Paz and Sucré. Higher education in Bolivia is peculiarly organized; for in addition to ecclesiastical seminaries, each department has at its capital an institution which is styled a university. Certain of these institutions have few university students: their instruction is mainly secondary. The university of La Paz furnishes instruction in law, medicine and theology.
Finances.—Early in 1908 Bolivia had only a small internal debt composed of bonds of various sorts. In Dec. of that year the Republic negotiated a loan with J. P. Morgan & Co. of New York amounting to £500,000. Subsequently three loans were floated in France to secure funds to promote banking enterprises; and another loan was raised in the United States for the construction of the railway from Tupiza to La Quiaca. Bolivia's proposed budget for 1919 estimated the revenue at 39,089,000 bolivianos, and the expenditure at the same amount. Proposed expenditures by departments were as follows in bolivianos: Treasury, 14,600,000; War, 6,300,000; Interior and Public Improvements, 5,50,000; Public Instruction, 3,100,000; Justice, 1,870,000; Worship, 58,000; and other expenditures, 7,661,000. On June 30 1919 the total foreign debt was £3,114,682. The internal debt was composed of bonds aggregating 19,456,165 bolivianos, and a floating debt of 10,477,471 bolivianos.
Money and Banking.—By a law of Dec. 31 1908 Bolivia virtually adopted the gold standard. Her monetary unit is the boliviano, which when at par is the equivalent of $0.389, U.S. currency. Both the English £ and the Peruvian libra (pound) are legal tender and ordinarily circulate at the equivalent of 12.50 bolivianos. A considerable amount of paper money is in circulation. Silver coins of 50 and 20 centavos circulate, as well as nickel and copper coins of smaller value. In 1919 the Anuario Estadístico listed the banks of Bolivia with capital in bolivianos as follows: the Banco Nacional de Bolivia, 9,000,000; the Banco de la Nacion Boliviano, 18,962,500; the Banco Mercantil, 10,000,000; the Banco Francisco Argandona, 4,000,000; the Credit Hipotecaria de Bolivia, 750,000; the Banco Garantizador de Valores, 100,000; and the Banco Hipolecario Nacional, 100,000.
History.—On Aug. 6 1909, President Monies was succeeded by Elidoro Villazon. Under him much economic progress took place: foreign commerce and national revenues increased, and railway and telegraph lines were constructed. Gen. Ismael Montes was again inaugurated president on Aug. 6 1913. During his new administration Bolivia felt the effects of the World War; there was a marked decline in her imports. Increased attention was paid to the mining of copper, tin and wolfram. José N. Gutiérrez Guerra, a Liberal who had served as Secretary of Finance under Montes, was inaugurated president in Aug. 1917. Shortly afterwards the agitation for an outlet to the Pacific reached an acute stage. In July 1920, because of intense opposition to his policy which apparently aimed at a rapprochement with Chile, Guerra was forced to resign, and was escorted out of Bolivia by way of Arica. Early in the following year Bautista Saavedra, a Republican, was elected president. He was inaugurated Jan. 29 1921.
According to a treaty with Peru, Sept. 17 1909, a survey of the Bolivian-Peruvian boundary was begun by a mixed commission in June 1910. By 1915 the commission had virtually completed the demarcation of limits, and wooden posts had been set up to mark the boundary. In the following year the two governments agreed to replace those posts by pillars of iron. Commissioners, appointed in accordance with the Treaty of Petropolis (1903), to survey the boundary line between Bolivia and Brazil, had by 1920 practically completed the task of demarcation. According to the protocol between Bolivia and Argentina dated Sept. 15 1911, surveys of the Bolivian-Argentine boundary line, which had been suspended since Oct. 1902, were resumed in 1913, and a joint commission placed iron stakes along parts of the line. A treaty signed at Asuncion on April 5 1913 between Bolivia and Paraguay provided that their boundary dispute should be adjusted by direct negotiations. Commissioners of the parties soon undertook negotiations, documents were submitted in support of the respective claims, but no definitive decision had been reached in May 1921. Bolivia asserts a claim to territory on the right bank of the river, Paraguay from the mouth of the Pilcomayo river at least as far as lat. 22° S.
Early in the World War, Bolivia showed her sympathy with the cause of the Allies. Some young Bolivians proceeded to Europe and enlisted under the French flag. In Feb. 1917 Bolivia, issued an invitation to the American nations asking them to unite in a declaration that submarine attacks upon neutral merchant vessels were contrary to all law. On April 13 1917 her Secretary of Foreign Relations gave the German envoy at La Paz his passports, declaring that, as a steam-ship navigating neutral waters with the Bolivian minister to Berlin on board had been torpedoed by a German submarine, the Government of Bolivia could no longer maintain diplomatic relations with the Imperial Government. Bolivia was represented at the Versailles Peace Conference, and on June 28 1919 her representative signed the Treaty of Peace with Germany. The Bolivian Government ratified the treaty on Nov. 16 1919. As a signatory of that treaty Bolivia became an original member of the League of Nations.
The question of an outlet to the Pacific raised by the territorial cessions of Bolivia to Chile as the result of the "War of the Pacific," was in 1921 a crucial international problem. The policy of Bolivia under various presidents had been to secure the sovereignty over territory containing an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. At times she had wished to secure the return from Chile of her former department upon the Pacific; at other times by negotiations with Chile she had aimed to acquire at least a portion of the former provinces of Tacna and Arica. Ex-President Montes, who was dispatched to France as Minister of Bolivia by President Gutiérrez Guerra, presented to the Peace Conference a plea that his country should be given an outlet through Tacna. Evidently the new Bolivian régime was in 1921 in harmony with the Peruvian Government with regard to the question. Bolivia's aspirations had apparently again turned toward the "revindication" of Antofagasta.
Bibliography.—Anuario de Leyes, Resoluciones y Disposiciones Supremas (República de Bolivia) (1911); Anuario National Estadístico y Geográfico de Bolivia (1917–9); Boletín de la Oficina National de Estadística (1910–5); Comercio Especial de Bolivia, Exportatión, Importatión, Bancos, 1915–1916; E. Díaz de Medina, Bolivia, Breve Resumen Histórico, Físico y Politico (1914); Informe y A nexos del Ministerio de Instructión Publica y Agricultura (1916–9); 'Memoria presentada al Congreso Ordinario . . . el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores y Cullo (1910–9); Ministerio de Hacienda, Memoria presentada á la Legislatura (1911–9); Mensaje del Presidente Constitutional de la Republica al Congreso (1910–9); Monthly Bulletin of the International Bureau of the American Republics (1910–21); Pan-American Union, Bolivia, General Descriptive Data (1909–20); P. Walle, Bolivia: Its People and Its Resources, etc. (1914). (W. S. Ro.)