0 O L O M B O —C O L O N In 1892 President Nunez was again elected to the Presidency for a term of six years, his continued ill-health, however, forcing him to place the active performance of his duties in the hands of the Vice-President, Senor Miguel Caro. In 1895 the Liberals made another attempt to seize the Government of the country, but the movement was suppressed without any very great difficulty. In this same year Nunez died, and Vice-President Caro became the actual President, an office he had practically filled during the three previous years. In 1898 Senor M. A. Sanclemente, a strong Conservative, and supported by the Church party, was elected to the Presidency for the period ending in 1904. In October 1899 the Liberals organized another revolutionary outbreak for the purpose of trying to wrest the power from Conservatives, but this attempt had no better success than the movements of 1885 and 1895. In January 1900, however, Vice-President Marroquin seized upon the Government, imprisoned President Sanclemente (who died in prison in March 1902), and another period of disturbance began. The rebels were defeated in May in a desperate battle at Cartagena ; and continuous fighting went on about Panama, where British marines had to be landed to protect foreign interests. As the year 1900 advanced, the conflict went on with varying success, but the Government troops were generally victorious, and in August Vice-President Marroquin was recognized as the acting head of the executive, with a Cabinet under General Calderon. In 1901 the rebellion continued, and severe fighting took place about Colon. Further complications arose in August, when trouble occurred between Colombia and Venezuela. On the one hand, there were grounds for believing that the Clericals and Conservatives in both countries were acting together; and, on the other, it was expected that President Castro of Venezuela would not be sorry to unite his own countrymen, and to divert their attention from internal affairs, by a war against Colombia. The Colombian revolutionary leaders had made use of the Venezuelan frontier as a base of operations, and the result was an invasion of Venezuelan territory by Colombian Government troops, an incident which at once caused a diplomatic quarrel. The United States Government in September offered its good offices, but President Castro refused them, and the state of affairs became gradually more menacing. Meanwhile both Panama and Colon were seriously threatened by the rebel forces, who in November succeeded in capturing Colon by surprise. The situation was complicated by the fact that the railway traffic on the Isthmus was in danger of interruption, and on the capture of Colon it became necessary for the American, British, and French naval authorities to land men for the protection of the railway and of foreign interests. The chief foreign treaties entered into by Colombia in the last quarter of the 19th century were :—(1) A treaty with Great Britain, signed on 27th October 1888, for the extradition of criminals ; (2) a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Italy, signed 27th October 1892 ; (3) two protocols with Italy, signed respectively 24th May and 25th August 1886, in connexion with the affair of the Italian subject Cerruti; (4) a consular convention with Holland, signed 20th July 1881 ; (5) a treaty of peace and friendship with Spain, signed 30th January 1881 ; (6) a convention with Spain for the reciprocal protection of intellectual property ; (7) a concordat with the Vatican, signed 31st December 1887 ; (8) an agreement with the Vatican, signed 20th August 1892, in connexion with ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; (9) an agreement with the republic of San Salvador, signed 24th December 1880, in regard to the despatch of a delegate to an international congress; (10) a treaty of peace, friendship, and commerce with Germany, signed 23rd July 1892 ; (11) a treaty with the republic of Costa Rica, signed in 1880, for the delimitation of the boundary ; (12) the postal convention, signed at Washington, 4th July 1891 ; (13) a convention with Great Britain, signed 31st July 1896, in connexion with the claim of Messrs Punchard, M‘Taggart, Lowther, & Co. ; (14) a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Peru, signed 6th August 1898 ; (15) an extradi-
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tion treaty with Peru, signed 6th August 1898 ; (16) a treaty of peace, friendship, and defensive alliance with Venezuela, signed 21st November 1896, and on the same date a treaty regulating the frontier commerce. _ . Authorities.—Borda, J. J. Cowipcndio deIHstoTict de Colowwia. Bogota, 1890.—Camacho Roldan, Salvador. Escritos Varios. Bogota, 1892. Notas de Viaje. Bogota, 1890.—Etienne, C. P. Nouvelle-Grenade: aper^u general sur la Colombie. Geneve, 1887. Demos, Angel. Compendia de geografia de la llcpublica de Colombia. Medellin, 1894.—Nunez, Ricardo, and Jalhay, Henry. La Republique de Colombie. Bruxelles, 1898. Paz, M., and Perez, F. Atlas geografico 6 histories de la Republica de Colombia. Paris, 1889.—Palau, Lisimaco. La Republica de Colombia. 1893.—Periera, R. S. Les Etats Unis de Colombie. Paris, 1883.—Perez, Felipe. Geografia general fisica y politica de los Estados Unidos de Colombia. Bogota, 1883.—Reclus, Armand. Panama et Darien. Paris, 1881.—RAclus, Eliseo. Geografia de Colombia. Bogota, 1893. — Restrepo, Ernesto. Ensayo etnografico y arqueologico de la Provincia de los Quimbayas. Bogota, 1892.—Restrepo, Ernesto. Estudios sobre los Aborigenes de Colombia. Bogota, 1892.—Restepo, Vicente. Estudio sobre las Minas de Oro y Plata de Colombia. Bogota, 1888. Scruggs, W. L. The Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. London, 1899.—Vergara Velasco, F. J. Nueva Geografia de Colombia. Bogota, 1892.—Handbook of Colombia; Bureau of the American Republics. Washington, 1892. —British Foreign Office Diplomatic and Consular Reports. London.—United States Consular Reports. Washington.—Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. Translated by Bernard Moses. Philadelphia, 1893.—Report of Council of Corporation of Foreign Bondholders for 1898-99. London, 1899. (w. W. K. j C. E. A.) Colom bO, the capital and principal seaport of Ceylon, in the west coast. It has greatly changed since 1875. The formation of a commodious harbour (though the works are still in progress), and of 300 miles of railway, has made the port a very important one, mail steamers calling regularly, as well as men-of-war and mercantile marine of all nations, while the island’s export traffic is concentrated in it. The demolition of the landward side of the old Dutch fort enabled new roads and buildings to be constructed; much land was reclaimed; and the banks, many commercial and steamer offices now occupy fine buildings. A new suburb has been built over with handsome bungalows beyond the Public Museum (a very fine structure) and Victoria Park. The water supply is drawn from a hill region 30 miles off. A scientific scheme of drainage is contemplated. Most of the town is lighted by gas, and certain quarters with electric light, and electric tramways have been laid over 7 miles of city roads. The packing, blending, and shipping of tea (rather than of coffee) is now the great industry, along with the preparation and packing of cocoanut oil, cocoa (chocolate) plumbago, spices, &c. 607 steamers called to coal in 1900. Population (1891), 128,870; (1901), 154,279. There is a floating population in the harbour of from 5000 to 15,000. Colon, formerly known as Aspinwall, a city and port on the northern coast of Panama, in the republic of Colombia, South America, on the north-east side of the Bay of Limon, 41 miles north-west of Panama by rail. Having been burned down during the revolution of 1885, it was rebuilt on improved plans, but owing mainly to carelessness in the administration and the untidy habits of the inhabitants, chiefly West Indians from Jamaica, it is still rather unhealthy. The streets, though wide and originally well paved, are badly kept, but are lighted by electricity. The harbour is only an open bay, and therefore dangerous at certain seasons. There are four piers, affording accommodation for eight ocean steamers at one time, in addition to a number of sailing craft. The northern portion of the city, owned by the Panama Railway Company, is supplied with water from the Chagres river, but the remainder depends mainly on rain water. There are a number of important commercial houses, an aerated water factory, and a distillery. The average tonnage of vessels entering is over 500,000 annually. Colon possesses a bronze statue
