COLOMBIA Local Government.—Each of the nine departments is divided into provinces, and these into municipal districts, of which there are 991. The departments are under governors appointed by the President, and each has an elective assembly, meeting every two years. The municipal districts are under alcaldes, and each has an elective municipal council. The governors and alcaldes are agents both of the central and local authorities. ° Justice.—Justice is administered by a supreme court composed of seven members, the president of the court being elected by the members for a term of four years. In each of the judicial districts there are superior tribunals, lower courts, and magistrates. The law, both civil and criminal, is written and codified. The foundation of the Colombian legal system is Spanish law, modified in certain directions to suit local conditions. Many complaints are made of the administration of justice throughout the republic, and there can be no question that legal procedure is extremely dilatory. Religion.—The religion is the Roman Catholic. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of an archbishop, ten bishops, eight vicars-general, and 2170 priests of all classes, besides monks, who do not belong to the regular priesthood. The number of monks in 1894 in thirteen monasteries was 469, and the number of nuns in ten communities was 731. In' 1894 the number of churches was 714, and chapels 312, in the whole republic. Education.—Education, especially in the primary branches, has been much neglected, although attention has from time to time been directed to the subject. Primary education is under the control of the municipal authorities, grants in aid of the schools being given by the central Government. It is free, but not compulsory. The number of primary schools in 1898 was stated to be 2036, and the number of pupils on the rolls about 110,320. For secondary education there are thirty-four public colleges; fifteen normal schools, with 600 pupils; four technical colleges, with 800 students ; two academies of music, with 300 pupils ; one school of fine arts, with 160 pupils; a Salesian institute, with 200 pupils; and a national night institute for artizans, with 150 pupils. There is a national university, and four departmental universities. The national Government devotes a sum of nearly 800,000 pesos annually to educational purposes. There is a national library containing 40,000 volumes, and a museum of antiquities and natural curiosities, both situated in the capital of the republic. Seminaries for priests are maintained by their own revenues and are free from civil control. Defence.—The peace footing of the army was fixed at 2158 men in the budget for the biennial period 1899-1900. The military strength, however, consists principally of a national militia comprising about 130,000 men, with 3203 officers, who can be called to serve if required. The small arm in use is the Mannlicher rifle. The police force consists of 1000 men. Finance. —The actual revenue recorded in 1895 was 16,273,259 pesos; in 1896, 20,444,489 pesos; in 1897, 19,519,431 pesos; in 1898, 17,941,569 pesos. For the biennium 1897-98 the revenue was 57,461,000, and the expenditure 41,429,*180 pesos, leaving a deficit of 3,968,180 pesos. The principal sources of revenue are the duties on imports and exports, these yielding 10,750,889 pesos in 1895, 13,697,823 pesos in 1896, and 13,256,353 pesos in 1897. The failing off in 1897 was stated to be in consequence of the reduction of the duties on salt, and the suppression of the export duty on coffee. Other sources of income in 1897 were—the saladero tax, 1,767,607 pesos ; the sale of stamped paper, 733,762 pesos ; and the post office and telegraphs. The war department absorbs more than one-half of the annual expenditure ; but details of actual expenditure are not accessible. The budgets of revenue and expenditure are voted for periods of two years. For 1899-1900 the revenue was estimated at 34,305,000 pesos, and the expenditure at 34,000,000 pesos. The service of the foreign debt was suspended in 1880. The amount of this obligation was then £1,913,500, bearing interest at the rate of 4| percent, per annum. In 1896, when the debt and arrears amounted to £3,514,442, an agreement was made to issue bonds for £2,700,000 in exchange for old bonds, arrangements being made for a reduction in the rates of interest and amortization. Of the authorized issue the sum of £2,500,000 had been emitted in 1899, but the payment of interest by Colombia ceased in 1899. The internal indebtedness consists of a consolidated debt of 6,000,000 pesos ; a floating debt of 5,000,000 pesos ; and the paper money in circulation, increased by recent issues to 40,000,000 pesos. The total internal obligations are, therefore, 51,000,000 pesos in round numbers. Production.—Economic development has been retarded by the difficulties of transport, and by the frequent recurrence of revolutionary disturbances. The production of wheat and other bread stuffs is insufficient for local demand. The principal industry is coffee planting. The export of coffee in 1895 amounted to 21,504 tons ; 1896, 28,521 tons ; in 1897,17,564 tons ; in 1898, 38,480 tons. Colombian coffee shipped at the Venezuelan port of Maracaibo does not figure in the return of Colombian exports. Tobacco is exported in large quantities, amounting for 1898 to 6120 tons;
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cocoa and sugar are also grown—the former in sufficient quantities for export. Ivory nuts and dye-woods are collected for shipment abroad, and various medicinal products. Of india-rubber, 404 tons were exported in 1898. The .rubber trees are principally found in the low-lying forest regions bordering the Orinoco river, and southwards towards the affluents of the river Amazon. Pastoral industry extends over the whole country, but is practised on a large scale only on the great plains of the interior adjoining the rivers flowing into the Orinoco, where the number of cattle is estimated to be not far short of 3,500,000. Dried beef, tasajo, is prepared, and animals are driven to populous centres for sale; but the outlet is much restricted. In 1899 the scarcity of cattle in Cuba caused a demand, and a large number of live animals were exported from the port of Cartagena. Sheep, goats, and swine are raised for the home market. The mining industry has hitherto been chiefly directed towards the search for gold and emeralds, and, to a lesser extent, silver. The production of gold and silver in three years is given as follows, in troy ounces 1898. 1896. oz. oz. 109,470 107,734 106,416 Gold 5,484,725 3,407,610 5,048,257 Silver In July 1899 a sudden fever for speculation in emeralds set in and lasted for some weeks. During this period stones to the value of 4,000,000 pesos were stated to have changed hands, often at prices above the values in Europe. Iron ore of good quality is abundant. The salt mines are worked as a Government monopoly, and the supply is large. Manufacturing industry is only in its infancy. The Pradera ironworks to the north-east of Bogota have a capacity for a daily output of 30 tons of pig-iron, and this establishment also produces wrought iron, rails, sugar-mills, and castings. Manganese is found in the vicinity of these works. Breweries and distilleries have been established in the principal cities. Soap and candle factories, boot- and shoe-making, tanneries, and other small local industries are found scattered over the republic to supply the local needs of the population. Commerce.—imports consist mainly of tissues, groceries, wines and spirits, hardware, and other articles of common use or consumption, while the principal exports are coffee, gold and silver, tobacco, live-stock, hides and skins, bananas, and some medicinal products. The values of the imports and exports, expressed in sterling (gold peso = 4 sh.), for six years were as follow:— Exports. Imports, j Exports. Years. Imports. £ £ £ £ 1893 2,680,660 2,926,060 1896 3,389,420 3,719,470 1894 2,142,240 3,192,400 1897 3,627,400 3,364,080 1895 2,305,670 3,017,680 1898 2,216,610 3,831,540 In 1898 the imports at Panama and Colon amounted to the value of £722,468; and the exports to £212,220. The exports in 1898 from the ports of Panama, Colon, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta comprised coffee to the value of £1,384,184; gold dust, £595,343; silver and silver ore, £182,018; tobacco, £309,609; hides and skins, £175,684; live-stock, £192,507; bananas, £116,720 ; rubber, £84,822. Of the exports in 1898, the value of £1,061,175 went to the United States, £963,270 to Great Britain, £674,350 to France, £613,980 to Germany, and £200,130 to Venezuela. According to British statistics, the imports into the United Kingdom from Colombia in 1899 amounted to £574,021 ; and the exports of home produce from the United Kingdom to Colombia, to £668,986 of which £356,693 was for cottons. According to American statistics, the imports into the United States from Colombia in 1899 amounted to £1,067,900, of which £506,320 was for coffee ; and the exports of home produce from the United States to Colombia, to £622,830. The principal commercial centre for the direct trade of Colombia is Barranquilla, slightly more than one-half of the total passing by way of that place through the port of Sabanilla ; about one-quarter of the balance goes to Cartagena, and the remainder is chiefly divided between Buenaventura, Riohacha, and Santa Marta. The transit trade by way of Panama to and from Europe and the east and west coasts of North America averages annually about 130,000 tons for the outward freights, and about 120,000 tons for those to Europe and the Atlantic ports. The import and export trade is largely in the hands of British, German, Spanish, Italian, and French merchants. _ Shipping and Communications.—Thirty-three regular steamers visit Colombian ports monthly ; of these, 15 are British, 9 American, 4 German, 3 French, 1 Spanish, and 1 Italian. The number of ships entering Colombian ports in 189/ was 1897, vith a total
