Chapter XXXIV: Interoceanic Communication (21)

[XXXIII-4] In 1853 the several governments entered into
contracts with the Central Am. Steam Navigation Co., an
American concern, to run a line of steamers once a month
between Iztapam in Guatemala and Panamá, touching at
Acajutla, La Libertad, La Union, Amapala, Realejo, San Juan
del Sur, and Puntarenas, for the conveyance of passengers,
merchandise, and mails at fixed rates, each government paying
a subsidy, and allowing exemptions from port dues and other
privileges. The service began early in 1854, and continued
with repeated trips in each month, first by the Panamá
Railway Company's steamers, and subsequently by those of
the U. S. Pac. Mail Steamship Company. _Costa R._, _Boletin
Ofic._, Feb. 16, 1854; _Id._, _Col. Ley._, xii. 256-7;
_Salv._, _Gac._, Jan. 20, 1854; _Id._, _El Rol_, Dec. 1,
1854; _Cent. Am. Miscel. Doc._, 44; _Hunt's Merchants' Mag._,
xxiii. 113.

[XXXIII-5] Guatemala: chief articles of export, cochineal,
coffee, cotton, wool, sugar, India-rubber, hides, and indigo;
also rice, mules, cacao, pork, horns, timber, sarsaparilla,
vanilla, tobacco, etc. Cochineal at one time was a great
staple, the export being nearly 68,000 centals in 1860-4,
and about 59,000 centals in 1870-4; reduced to about 2,845
in 1879-83. The principal importations were comestibles,
wines and liquors, cotton, linen, woollen, and silk fabrics,
clothing, hats, fancy goods, furniture, arms, articles for
agric., arts, and sciences. Arms, lead, and gunpowder might
not be imported without special permission of the govt.
Some articles were exempt from duty, such as material for
ship-building, instruments for medicine, surgery, science,
schools, arts, implements of agric., machinery, and tools for
manuf., steam-engines, money, gold, silver, guano, mineral,
coal, etc. Articles of luxury paid an import duty; foreign
manufactures entered with a high duty. Small amounts should
be paid at the time of entry in cash; and larger sums, part
at the adjustment of the duties, and the rest in instalments
of from one to three months. The republic has several ports
open to foreign commerce on both oceans; namely, Santo Tomás,
Livingston, and Golfo Dulce, which is navigable only for
vessels of light draught, on the Atlantic, and San José,
San Luis, Champerico, and Ocós on the Pacific. Iztapam
or Independencia was closed in 1853, and the custom-house
removed to the roadstead of San José, which is sheltered by
a bold breakwater. Actual value of foreign trade: imports,
1851-7, $7,672,682; 1860-4, $6,268,227; 1871-5, $12,304,289;
1876-80, $15,054,152. The average of importations in the
five years 1880-4 was $2,700,000. The largest importations
in 1883 were from G. Britain, including Belize, $884,205;
U. S., $529,458; France, $149,687; Germany, $128,296;
Switzerland, $76,278; Spain, $65,470; China, $54,855. The
rest from Belgium, Cent. Am., Italy, Colombia, and Denmark.
The war between Guat. and Salv., and revolution in Pan.,
paralyzed trade in 1885. It is noticed that notwithstanding
the greater proximity and wealth of the U. S., Guatemala's
commercial relations are greater with England. Exports:
1851-7, $9,613,099; 1860-4, $7,386,541; 1870-4, $12,418,083;
1879-83, $22,552,867. Coffee loomed up from none in 1860-4,
695,671 centals in 1870-4, to 1,519,494 centals in 1879-83.
Sugar was also a prominent staple, followed by India-rubber.
The number of merchant vessels which visited Guat. ports on
the Pac. during 1883 were 7 steamers of the Pac. Mail S. Co.,
which made their periodical trips; 3 stmrs. of the Kosmos
(German) line, to which special privileges were granted by
the Guat. govt, in 1882. Sailing vessels, 6 Am., 1 Eng., 6
French, 3 German, and 1 Salvadoran. To Livingston, on the
Atlantic, came monthly 4 Am. and one Eng. steamer. Seven
vessels did coasting trade under the Eng. flag. Vessels
arrived in 1884, 171 with 173,982 tons; departed 168 with
173,758 tons, carrying away 109,402 packages of merchandise
and products of the country.

Honduras: exports consisted of bullion, mahogany, and other
woods, hides, sarsaparilla, tobacco, cattle, and indigo;
the imports, of cottons, silk, hardware, etc. The chief
ports are Omoa and Trujillo on the Atlantic, and Amapala
on the Pacific. Values of imports: 1856, $750,000, chiefly
from Great Britain; 1867, $750,000; 1873, $1,000,000; 1877,
$640,000; 1880, $750,000; 1882-3, $2,885,000; 1886, from
$2,000,000 to $2,500,000. The tariff was low. Exports:
1856, $825,000; 1867, $825,000; 1872-3, $2,370,000;
1876, $1,234,983; 1877, $595,000; 1880, $650,000; 1882-3,
$3,415,000; 1886, $2,000,000 to $2,500,000. British Hond.
or Belize: imports: 1873, $1,183,074; 1878-81, $1,923,000,
nearly two thirds from G. Britain, and the rest from the U.
S. Exports: $1,251,000, about two thirds to G. Britain, and
the rest to the U. S. The principal exports to the latter
country were woods, raw sugar, fruits, nuts, coffee, drugs
and dyes, rubber, hides, etc.

Salvador: articles of export, indigo, coffee, sugar, tobacco,
caoutchouc, rebozos, balsam, hides, and cotton. Imports:
comestibles, wines and liquors, cotton, linen, woollen,
and silk fabrics, hardware, etc. The ports of entry were La
Union, La Libertad, and Acajutla. Imported goods pay duties
according to the tariff, which were mostly specific, but many
articles paid, besides, 20 per cent ad valorem. Products
of the other Central American states on being imported,
reciprocity existing, paid only 4 per cent ad val. Articles
intended for the development of industries and education
were exempt. The importation of arms, without special leave
of the government, alcohol and common rum, cognac, gin,
absinthe, aniseseed, coriander, sassafras, saltpetre, and
obscene images was forbidden. Products of the country were
free from export dues, except indigo, ores, gold and silver
bullion, and jewelry. Import values: 1855-61, $6,816,879;
1864, $1,233,711; 1866-8, $5,799,912; 1871-4, $12,869,514;
1877, $2,186,000; 1880-3, $5,750,000. Exports: the greater
part to Great Britain, the U. S. occupying the second place:
1855-61, $8,831,990; 1864-8, $13,931,675, cotton counting
somewhat among the exports during the war in the U. S.; but
after its termination this staple ceased to figure; 1871-8,
$29,206,953; 1880-3, $8,708,000.

Nicaragua: principal markets, U. S., Eng., France, and Cent.
Am.; chief exports, coffee, India-rubber, cattle, hides,
and gold; also cabinet and dye woods, indigo, sugar, rum,
cacao, dairy products, gums, pearl and tortoise shells, etc.
Ports San Juan del Norte, San Juan del Sur, and Realejo or
Corinto. The first named was declared a free port in 1860.
Import values: 1861-73, $3,355,600, exclusive of coin, and
not including the years 1870-2. _Nic._, _Gaceta_, Feb. 21,
1874. Lévy, a good authority, gives the imports for 1865-71
at $6,275,324, adding that in the first two years the
balance of trade was against Nic. to the amount of $453,429;
1873-6, $4,313,876; 1877-80, $5,117,661; 1881-4, $7,157,525;
these figures include about half a million dollars in coin.
Wholesale merchants sold at long terms, often 18 months;
most of the buyers disposed of the goods at once, with 20
per ct loss, but for cash, and during 17 months' use of the
capital making as much as 50 per ct profit, which enabled
them to pay for the merchandise originally bought. Exports:
1861-73, $4,153,677, without including for 1871-2. Lévy
has for 1865-71, $6,789,841; 1873-6, $5,694,009; 1877-80,
$6,303,589; 1881-4, $8,926,965. In view of the fall in the
price of coffee in late years in foreign markets, and of the
decrease in the production of rubber, there was cause to fear
that the day was not distant when the balance of trade would
be against Nic., unless with the facilities afforded by the
railroads the exportations of timber and dye-woods should be
greatly developed, as expected. The exports of cattle to the
other states of Cent. Am. have become quite considerable.
The two chief centres of internal trade were Granada and
Leon, which supplied their own departments. Chontales was
supplied from the former, Segovia from the latter, Matagalpa
from both. Rivas and Chinandega imported a portion of their
supplies, buying the rest respectively at Granada and Leon.
Rivas furnished cacao; Jinotepeque and Chinandega, sugar;
Leon, corn and salt; Masaya and other towns, edibles.

Costa Rica imported cotton, linen, woollen, and silk fabrics,
fancy articles, comestibles, wines, liquors, and other
things, from England, France, U. S., etc., and exported
chiefly coffee, tortoise-shells, hides, rubber, vanilla,
sarsaparilla, timber, etc. Her ports for foreign trade are at
present Limon on the Atlantic, and Puntarenas on the Pacific;
the latter being, down to 1883, almost the only port of Costa
Rica; but of late the former, owing to railroad facilities,
has obtained the first rank; shipments through Puntarenas
being mainly of produce from Esparta, and other places near
it. It was a free port at one time, but ceased to be such
in Jan. 1861. In earlier years Matina and Caldera had been
open ports, and even Guanacaste was made a free port in 1848.
Port Limon was created in Oct. 1852; it has a free zone under
decrees passed in 1883. Costa Rica's import values: 1845,
$463,000, through Matina and Puntarenas; 1852-9, $7,330,398;
1864, $1,718,000; 1871, $2,225,000; 1873-4, $6,980,000;
1877, about $2,000,000; 1880-3, $7,220,000. Exports: 1845,
$631,700; 1852-9, $7,458,913; 1864, $1,812,682; 1868,
$2,189,118; 1871, $2,288,450; 1873-4, $8,192,517; 1877,
$5,308,000; May 1, 1879, to Apr. 30, 1881, $7,724,810;
1882-3, $6,470,000. The exports of coffee from Puntarenas
and Limon in 1884 were 191,719 centals. Large quantities of
bananas were also exported from Limon. Vessels arrived in
1882-3, at Limon 86, at Puntarenas 75; in 1883-4, at Limon
77, at Puntarenas 110. _Marure_, _Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am._,
i. 147; _Baily's Cent. Am._, 158; _Squier's Cent. Am._,
269-70, 310, 458-9, 471-2, 526; _Squier's Travels_, i. 83;
_Molina_, _Bosq. Costa R._, 31-3, 64-6; _Belly_, _Nic._, i.
93; _Laferrière_, _De Paris à Guatém._, 34-7, 51-4, 168-9,
261-3, 436; _Am. Cyclop._, v. 290, 395; viii. 790; xiv. 610;
_Montúfar_, _Resúmen Hist._, v. 519; _Encyclop. Brit._ (Am.
ed.), vi. 398; xii. 135-6; _El Guatemalteco_, March 19, May
19, 1884; _Wappäus_, _Mex. und Cent. Am._, 322, 359; _Jülfs_,
_Die Seehäfen_, 36; _Lévy_, _Nic._, 512, 516-17; _Batres'
Sketch Guat._, 862-6, 73; _Camp's Year-Book_, 1861, 527;
_Salv._, _Constitucional_, no. 6; _Id._, _Diario Ofic._,
June 3, 7, Oct. 21, 1875; March 4, 1876; Sept. 17, 1878,
suppl.; Jan. 11, May 3, 1879; _Id._, _Gac._, Aug. 12, 1853;
Oct. 27, 1876; Feb. 27, 1877; _Nic._, _Gaceta_, Dec. 23,
1865; Dec. 15, 1866; Aug. 22, 1868; March 12, 1870; _Id._,
_Decretos_, 1869-70, 141-4; _Id._, _Boletin Ofic._, March 8,
1862; _Id._, _Mem. Min. Fomento_, for years 1867-71; _Id._,
_Mem. Min. Hac._, 1871-83; _Presid. Cárdenas_, _Mensaje_,
Jan. 15, 1885; _Guat._, _Recop. Ley._, i. 771, 785-92; _Id._,
_Gob. Democ._, i. 2-3; _Guat._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, for years
1880-4; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Fomento_, for years 1883-5; _U. S.
Gov. Docs._, _Comm. Rel._, for years 1856-77; _Id._, H. Ex.
Doc., Cong. 43, Sess. 1, vol. i. years 1873-4, 440-7; Sess.
2, xvi. 188-95, 200; Cong. 46, Sess. 2, xxv. pt 1, 27; Cong.
47, Sess. 1, xiv. 38; _Costa R._, _Col. Ley._, iv. 112-14; v.
232-4; vi. 301-3; x. 78-9, 142-4, 148-57; xvi. 199-200; xvii.
135-6; _Id._, _Col. Dispos. Legisl._, 1878, 113-14; _Id._,
_Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1853, 11-12; 1875, 34; 1880, annexes 15-23;
1883, annexes 11-12; 1884, 24, 246-66, 304, 308; _Id._,
_Informe Sec. Obras Púb._, 1878, 15-17; _Id._, _Informe Sec.
Agric._, 1879, 22, and table 4; 1880, 23-4; _Id._, _Gaceta
Gob._, Jan. 26, Feb. 16, 1850; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Marina_,
1883, 7, and two tables, annex 5; _Id._, _Regl. Franquicias_,
1883, 1-15; _Pan. Star and Herald_, March 23, 1881; Sept. 13,
1882; Jan. 17, Feb. 1, 17, March 23, 1883; March 8, 15, Dec.
16, 1884; March 9, Oct. 24, 1885; June 2, 1886; _La Estrella
de Pan._, Nov. 6, 1884; _Samayoa, J. M._, _Apuntam._, 1885,
5.

[XXXIII-6] The principal fairs were held at Chalatenango, San
Vicente, and San Miguel, in Salvador. That of San Miguel took
place in November, and lasted two weeks. There was another
fair at the same town about the beginning of Feb., to which,
as well as to the former one, large numbers of cattle were
taken from Hond. and Nic. In Guat. annual fairs were held in
several places; namely, Esquipulas, where large quantities
of merchandise were sold; it was also a cattle fair; Rabinal
in Vera Paz, for dry goods; Mazatenango, for cattle, cacao,
dry goods, etc.; San Pedro Ayampuk; Sololá, for dry goods,
fruit, and stock; Quezaltenango and Chimaltenango, for
woollen manufactures. In Jocotenango a fair was held every
Aug. In later times fairs have been authorized at several
other places, to wit, at the hippodrome, near the capital,
Salcajá, Santa Cruz del Quiché, Jalapa, Santa Rosa, and San
Pedro Pinula. _Squier's Cent. Am._, 309-530; _Guat._, _Mem.
Sec. Fomento_, 1882, 38; 1885, 39-40; _Pan. Star and Herald_,
Sept. 14, 1885.

[XXXIII-7] The Am. Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Co. of
New York, of which Vanderbilt and White were the chief
owners, undertook to construct an interoceanic canal.
Their contract with the Nic. govt involved the privilege to
the company of exclusive steam navigation in the interior
waters, meaning Lake Nicaragua. The company concluded to
separate this privilege from the rest of the contract, and
succeeded, Aug. 1851, in obtaining from the Nic. govt the
monopoly of transit from San Juan del Norte to San Juan del
Sur. It is unnecessary to go into details as to how this
was consummated; suffice it to say, it was by fostering the
intestine war then raging. _U. S. Gov. Doc._, H. Ex. Doc.,
75, 141-5, x., Cong. 31, Sess. 1; _Id._, Sen. Doc., 68,
84-103, xiii., Cong. 34, Sess. 1; _Cent. Am. Miscel. Doc._,
45; _Stout's Nic._, 272-91; _Wells' Walker's Exped._, 203-5;
_Reichardt_, _Cent. Am._, 210-11; _Scherzer_, _Cent. Am._,
245-6.

[XXXIII-8] The first steamboat used in Nic. waters was
the _Orus_, wrecked on the Machuca rapids; the next, the
_Director_, was worked over the rapids, and plied on the lake
for several years, being the sole transport for passengers
from San Cárlos to La Vírgen. The increase of the Transit
company's business brought the _Central America_ and other
steamers. _Nic._, _Corr. Ist._, Sept. 5, 1850; _Stout's
Nic._, 65-6.

[XXXIII-9] The particulars of this transaction appear
elsewhere. Previous to this, in 1854, there had been serious
differences between the gov. of Nic. and the company, about
the settlement of accounts, and even then the govt threatened
to cancel the charter. _Guat._, _Gaceta_, May 13, July 8,
1853; _Perez_, _Mem. Hist. Rev. Nic._, 55-6; _Id._, _Mem.
Camp. Nac._, 27-30; _El Nicaragüense_, Feb. 23, 1856.

[XXXIII-10] In 1858 the Nic. govt confiscated the company's
property, and the next year made the transit free to all
nations. However, under a subsequent arrangement between
it and the original Transit co., under the name of Cent.
American Transit Co., ratified in March 1861, the latter
agreed to reopen the route; but failing to do it within
the required time, the govt seized all the property, as
agreed in the contract. The matter was settled in diplomatic
correspond. with the U. S. govt in 1863. _Rocha_, _Cód.
Nic._, ii. 133-4, 141-2; _Nic._, _Dec. y Acuerdos_, 1857-8,
44-5; 1859, ii. 78-9; _Id._, _Gaceta_, Jan. 16, 1864. The
company renewed its operations, and continued them until
annihilated by the overland railway to S. F., in 1869.
_Lévy_, _Nic._, 434.

[XXXIII-11] Costa R. in 1872 forbade the navigation of the
Colorado River by Hollenbeck & Co. _Nic._, _La Union_, June
29, 1861; _Id._, _Dec. y Ac._, 1861, iv. 57-68; 1869-70,
100-6; _Id._, _Gaceta_, Aug. 8, 1868; March 12, July 23, Aug.
20, 1870; Dec. 7, 1872; _Id._, _Mem. Min. Guerra_, 1872, 12;
_Semanal Nic._, Dec. 5, 1872; _El Porvenir de Nic._, May 26,
June 2, 1872. Trade between Granada and San Juan del Norte
was continued in piraguas and steamers, the former measuring
from 15 to 25 tons. There were river and lake steamers.
Merchandise was first transferred at San Cárlos, and often in
the summer a second time at the Castillo. For some time the
steamboat plying in the lower part of the river passed by the
Colorado branch because of scanty water in the San Juan.

[XXXIII-12] _Costa R._, _Informe Obras Púb._, for years
1876-80; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Fomento_, years 1883-4; _Belly_,
_Nic._, i. 321; _Lévy_, _Nic._, 412; _Nic._, _Mem. Min.
Guerra_, 1875, pp. x.-xv.; _Pan. Star and Herald_, Apr. 2,
1881; Feb. 1, 2, 1883; _Id._, _Cronista_, Jan. 20, 1883;
_Salv._, _Gac. Ofic._, Sept. 5, 7, 1876; _Presid. Barrios_,
_Mensaje_, 1876, 39-60; _Guat._, _Recop. Ley._, _Gob.
Democ._, 10-12; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Fomento_, for years 1880-5.

[XXXIII-13] Gold pieces of 10, 5, 2, and one dollar, the
first named having the weight of 16,120 grammes. In former
years it coined gold ounces with the weight of 25,836
grammes, worth $16, and halves, quarters, eighths, and
sixteenths; silver peso, and its subdivisions worth 50, 25,
10, and 5 cts. Copper one-cent pieces containing 95 parts of
copper and 5 of nickel. Silver in coins of 10 and 5 cts in
legal tender only to the sum of $100; and cents not exceeding
100. The money coined in Costa Rica in the years 1829-82 has
been as follows: gold, $2,351,808; silver, $56,648; total,
$2,922,138. _Astaburuaga_, _Cent. Am._, 41; _Costa R._,
_Gaceta_, Nov. 21, 1885; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1883, annex
no. 10.

[XXXIII-14] There is a nominal money used in retail trade
called peso sencillo, worth 80 cents. The old Costa R.
doubloon passes for $14.40 only, and the subdivisions in
proportion. The new Costa R. piece of $5 is worth only $4.50.
Chilian and Colombian condors pass for $9. _Lévy_, _Nic._,
370-1, 521.

[XXXIII-15] It paralyzed foreign trade, became depreciated,
and caused other evils. _Montúfar_, _Res. Hist._, iii.
277. The govt endeavored to retire this coin by a gradual
redemption every year.

[XXXIII-16] Foreign coins pass at their true valuation. Very
little money leaves Honduras. _Hond._, _Gaceta Ofic._, May
20, 1853; _Squier's Cent. Am._, 272; _Wells' Hond._, 567-72.

[XXXIII-17] In former times there was the ounce of $16 and
its subdivisions, and the silver peso with its subdivisions
down to medio real, or 6¼ cents. Most of the silver coin in
circulation was the macuquina or cut, which was a nuisance.
The government in 1873 ordered it retired, which was in the
course of time done. The system established in the law of
1870 found favor with the people as regarded gold coin. Not
so with silver; the public clinging to the old denominations,
and refusing to accept base metals which this law had also
provided for.

[XXXIII-18] Standard of the coin 0.900. Weight of the peso 25
grammes.

[XXXIII-19] Mex. eagle $20; its subdivisions in proportion.
Peruvian pieces of $20 and $10, and Colombian condors of $20
and $10, at their face value. Chilian condors of $10, $9.50.
German gold piece of 20 marks, $4.93¾. American, French,
and English gold coins have their full value; though they
generally command a high premium. Further details may be
found in _Guat._, _Recop. Ley._, ii. 578-82; _Id._, _Gob.
Dem._, i. 83, 197; _Salv._, _Diario_, Dec. 14, 1878.

[XXXIII-20] There were in 1883 two banks, the Internacional
and Colombiano, in the city of Guatemala; both having ample
capital for a time stood high. The former, founded in 1878,
suspended in 1885. The latter, founded in 1879 by capitalists
who were mostly Colombians, has no agencies, and limits
its operations within the capital of the republic, and to
the sale of bills of exchange on foreign markets. There was
also the Banco de Occidente at Quezaltenango with a capital
of $100,000; its main object being to assist agriculture
and manufactures in the wealthy departments of Los Altos.
Its standing was somewhat shaken by its bills having been
largely counterfeited in Sept. 1882; but it managed to
weather the storm. The Banco de Nicaragua, a bank of issue,
loans, and discounts, with a capital of $600,000, has been
quite successful. It was chartered in May 1871. The Banco
Anglo-Costaricense went into operation at Managua in 1873,
with a capital of $100,000, under the management of Allan
Wallis. The Banco Internacional of Salvador began business
on the 20th of Aug., 1880, and has since been prosperous,
excepting in 1885, owing to the war with Guatemala, and a
subsequent revolution. However, the results of the first
six months were satisfactory. In 1867 the Banco Nacional de
Costa Rica went into operation at San José, with a capital of
$500,000, and power to increase it to one million dollars,
under a contract for ten years between John Thompson and
the government. Dec. 1, 1876, the government decreed the
statutes of the Banco de Emision, with a capital of $500,000
secured with mortgages on real estate to the amount of
$1,000,000. But the stockholders failing to pay in the
capital, the government suspended the bank, which had been
operating, and ordered the books transferred to the Banco
Nacional of San José, which was to redeem all notes of that
bank in circulation. The Banco Nacional had been created by
a decree of Dec. 25, 1877, with a capital of $250,000. Its
operations were not to include the issue of notes. A charter
was granted in Jan. 1881, to establish a Banco Hipotecario
Franco-Costaricense with a capital of $500,000. The by-laws
were approved by govt in July 1881. The bank was to have a
branch in Paris. _Batres' Sketch Guat._, 24; _S. F Cronista_,
Feb. 3, 1883; Jan. 31, Apr. 25, 1885; _Nic._, _Gaceta_, Aug.
3, 1867; July 8, 1871; _Id._, _Semanal Nic._, Apr. 10, 1873;
_Pan. Star and Herald_, Aug. 3, 1867; Sept. 2, 1885; _Costa
R._, _Col. Ley._, xvii. 45-50, 51-5; xx. 4-19, 110-16, 295-7,
304-6, 311-12; xxiv. 197-205; xxv. 245-60; Id., 1878, 104-6;
1881, 17-26, 64-6, 143-68; _Guat._, _Mem. Sec. Fomento_,
1882, 37.

[XXXIII-21] In 1809 there was a postal service between
Guatemala and David in Panamá, via Cartago in Costa Rica, by
which route correspondence was kept up with South America.
In 1811 a tri-monthly mail was established between Guat. and
Mex., Merida, the Windward Islands, and Spain. In 1829 there
was a monthly packet between New York and the Isthmus. After
that, some sort of mail service was kept up till it became
regular with the establishment of steamship lines. In 1844
the first mail steamer touched at Chagres, and in 1845 a
line was established between Panamá and Valparaiso. In 1846
a post-route between the two oceans was established under a
grant of the Brit. govt. At this time the U. S. contemplated
establishing a line of steamers from Pan. to Or. via Cal.
The present Pacific Mail Steamship Company was organized in
1847 for that purpose, and on the 5th of Oct. their pioneer
steamship, the _California_, went to sea, followed at short
intervals by the _Panamá_ and _Oregon_. At the inception
of the enterprise, success was looked for only from the
agricultural resources of the Pacific coast. The discovery
of gold in Cal. secured that success. The company kept up the
service between N. Y. and Colon, and between Panamá and S. F.
via Acapulco and Manzanilla, and later sent ships to China.
_Niles' Reg._, xxxvii. 242; _Pan. Constitucional del Istmo_,
Oct. 30, 1834; _Mayer's Mex. as it Was, etc._, 369-74;
_Pan._, _El Movimiento_, Dec. 22, 1844; _Seemann's Hist. Ist.
Pan._, in _Pan. Star and Herald_, Apr. 17, 1847; _Crosby's
Statem._, MS., 3-10.

[XXXIII-22] Costa R. has been quite successful. The number
of pieces received at and forwarded by the main office at
San José in 1883 were 1,377,243, against 549,096, in 1880,
and 1,172,259, in 1882. In Nic. the service is a source of
considerable expense to the govt. In 1861-2, the expenses
were only $5,349. In 1881-2, $39,327; the receipts $19,476,
leaving a deficit of $19,851. This is owing to long distances
and sparse population. In Hond. the exchange of mail matter
amounted in 1880 to 937,331 pieces; the expenses of the
department, $17,102. In Guat. the aggregate amount of mail
matter was as follows: 1880, 835,906; 1881, 1,039,652; 1882,
1,400,043; 1883, 2,111,366; 1884, 2,912,411. The receipts
in 1884, $48,342; expend. $46,017. The appropriation for
the fiscal year 1886-7 was computed at $58,812. _Costa R._,
_Mem. Sec. Gobern._, years 1883-4; _Id._, _Guerra_, 1880,
1883; _Id._, _Hac._, 1884; _Id._, _Gaceta_, Feb. 3, 1885;
_Pan. Canal_, Jan. 13, 1883; _Id._, _Star and Herald_, July
2, 1881; Feb. 8, 1883; Sept. 9, 1885; _Nic._, _Informe Sec.
Hac._, 1875; _Id._, _Id._, 1883; _Id._, _Mem. Sec. Gobern._,
1883; _Salv._, _Diario Ofic._, Feb. 18, Nov. 30, 1875;
July 12, Nov. 2, 1878; March 5, 1879; _Guat._, _Mem. Sec.
Fomento_, 1880-5; _Id._, _Presupuesto Gen._, 1886, 18-19;
_Encyc. Brit._, xvi. 492; _El Guatemalteco_, Feb. 2, Sept.
24, 1884; _Batres' Sketch Guat._, 69-76.

[XXXIII-23] _Crosby's Statem._, MS., 3-10. At the sailing
of the _Panamá_ there were 2,000 persons to embark for
S. F.; four steamships to sail for the same destination;
namely, _Sarah Sands_, _Carolina_, _Isthmus_, and _Gold
Hunter_. Early in the summer of the same year there were
4,000 passengers waiting for vessels to take them to Cal.,
in a place which could hardly afford accommodations for 100.
Hundreds of deaths occurred. _Pan. Star_, March 29, 1850;
_Sac. Placer Times_, i., Apr. 26, 1850; _Advent. of a Capt.'s
Wife_, 18; _Cal. Courier_, Sept. 14, 1850. The steamer _W.
H. Aspinwall_ then began to ply on the River Chagres, between
Chagres and Gorgona, which did away with the bongos nuisance.
_Sac. Transcript_, March 14, 1851.

[XXXIII-24] 1850-5 were years of brisk business for the
Isthmus. Gold circulated so abundantly that few did not
handle gold coin. Provisions ruled high. Silver was so
scarce that in 1850 a five-dollar gold piece could buy only
40 dimes. Americans said that Panamá was a better place for
business than S. F. _Maldonado_, _Anales Polít. Pan._, MS.,
7.

[XXXIII-25] 1852-66: passengers, 517,852; gold and silver,
$849,157,076; paper money, $19,062,567; jewelry, $513,001;
1855-66: merchandise, mail matter, baggage and coal, 614,535
tons. Mail matter averaged 380 tons yearly. Merchandise
steadily increased from 10,658 tons in 1856, the lowest, to
93,414 tons in 1866, the highest; and coal from 8,934 in 1856
to 13,418 in 1866. In 1860 and 1861, the coal transportation
exceeded 16,000 tons a year. The total tonnage transported
across the road in 1856 was 20,053, which increased every
year till it reached 107,590 tons in 1866. The largest
number of passengers crossed was in 1859, 46,976, nearly
5,000 in excess of 1858; the smallest number was in 1862,
26,420, being 5,280 less than in 1866. The large travel of
1859 was due to great reduction of passage money by steam
lines running in opposition. The gold transported in 1856
was $48,047,692; in 1866, $48,234,463; at no other period
did it equal these amounts. Silver showed a gradual increase
from $9,439,648 in 1856 to $18,653,239, declining in 1866 to
$14,331,751. Paper money was transported by the U. S. govt
during the war. Jewelry varied from $192,718 to $844,490,
but gradually declined. The tariff rates established by the
company Jan. 1, 1865, were as follows: passengers, foreign,
$25 each, children of 6 to 12 years one half, under 6, one
quarter; Colombians, $10 each. Baggage exceeding 50 lb., 5
cts per lb. Merchandise, special rates: 1st class paying 50
cts per cubic foot; 2d to 6th 1½ cts to ¼ cent respectively
per lb. All payments in Am. gold, or its equivalent.
_Otis' Hist. Pan. R. R._, 139-45; _Bidwell's Isth. Pan._,
277-86, 389-93. In 1867, the value of the transit trade in
merchandise and treasure over the route was $92,191,980, and
35,076 passengers. In 1872 the road conveyed 194 millions
pounds of weight, 2½ millions of feet, besides 215,000
gallons of oil, 13,952 of wine, and 13,952 passengers.
_Jülfs_, _Die Seehäfen_, 11. 1878-9, merchandise, 314,220
tons; 1880-4, 1,033,596 tons; the quantity in 1884 was
287,243, not including 10,000 tons of bananas, an increase of
71,518 over 1883. 1880-4, passengers, 1,024,128; the number
in 1884 was 515,520, an excess of 75 per cent over 1883;
the large increase being mainly due to the operations of the
interoceanic canal company, and the transportation of their
vast material. _Pan. Star and Herald_, May 2, 14, 1867; May
17, Sept. 5, 1877; June 23, 1881; Apr. 22, 1885; _S. F. Ev'g
Bulletin_, Apr. 12, 1878; Apr. 2, 1884; _S. F. Chronicle_,
Apr. 3, 1884; _Superint. Burt's Report_, March 7, 1885; _U.
S. Govt Doc._, Comm. Rel., years 1857-77.

[XXXIII-26] The steamship lines doing such service in 1867
were the following: 1st. The Pacific Mail Co. of N. Y., whose
capital in 1847 was $400,000; raised in 1850 to $2,000,000;
in 1860 to $4,000,000; and in 1866 to $20,000,000; the
lowest estimate of its property being set down in 1867
at $30,000,000. This company has passed through many
vicissitudes, as indicated by the stock market. The highest
rates attained by its shares were 248 in 1863, 325 in 1864,
329 in 1865, 234 in 1866. Every other year they have been
under 200, the highest being in 173½ in 1867. From that time
they sank very low, even to 16¼ cents in 1876, the highest
that year being 39¼. 2d. Brit. and W. India and Pac. running
between Liverpool, W. Ind., W. coast of S. and Cent. Am., and
Colon. 3d. Brit. Royal Mail, between Southampton, W. Ind.,
eastern coast of Mexico, S. and Cent. Am., and Colon. 4th.
Brit. Pan., New Zealand, and Australia. 5th. Brit. Pac. Steam
Navigation Co., between Pan. and ports of Colombia, Ecuador,
Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. 6th. Pan. R. Road Co.'s steamers
between Pan. and Acapulco, touching at all Cent. Am. ports.
This line finally was merged in the Pacific Mail Co. 7th. Am.
Cal. Or. and Mex. Co.'s line running between S. F. and Mex.,
and between S. F. and Portland, Or., and Island of Vancouver.
It was afterward discontinued. 8th. French Transatlantic
Co. running between St Nazaire in France, W. Ind., Mex., and
Colon. 9th. German line. In 1871 the following arrivals of
vessels occurred: steamers, Brit., 84, with 158,579 tons;
Am., 25, with 66,813 tons; German, 36, with 42,740 tons;
French, 24, with 15,782. Sailing vessels, 56 Brit., 43 Am.,
12 German, 4 French, 8 Italian, 112 Colombian, mostly small.
Grand total of tonnage, 316,271 tons. _Otis' Hist. Pan. R.
R._, 50-6, 148-60, 169-232; _Pan. Star and Herald_, May 2,
1867; Apr. 14, 1877; _U. S. Gov. Doc._, Comm. Rel., 1871-2,
252, 263; _Bidwell's Isth. Pan._, 353-7. The author of the
last-quoted work was British vice-consul at Panamá, and
enjoyed leisure and opportunity for gathering facts from many
sources, concerning the past and present history of Panamá,
as well as on her resources, trade, etc. The arrangement of
the book, as he acknowledges, is defective, there being no
order—chronological or other—in the information he gives. The
description of the social and political condition of the city
and country, to the time of his writing, is quite accurate.

[XXXIII-27] Between 1825 and 1830 the expense of conveying a
bale of goods overland, including duties and taxes, was $10
or $12.

[XXXIII-28] In 1820 it was deplorable. _Córtes_, _Diario_,
1820, iv. 180-2; _Gordon's Hist. and Geog. Mem._, 48-9.

[XXXIII-29] It was said that $45,000,000 of English
manufactures unlawfully crossed the Isthmus for Sp. Am.
between 1810 and 1817. _Arrillaga_, _Inf._, in _Cedulario_,
iv. no. 1, 72; _Alaman_, _Hist. Méj._, iv. 473-4.

[XXXIII-30] Communication was kept up on the Atlantic side
with Jamaica by a Brit. man-of-war which twice a month
carried letters and specie; with Cartagena by government
vessels bimonthly; and with the same and other points by
independent traders. On the Pacific traffic was better along
the whole coast. In 1825 the spirit of enterprise was rash.
Exclusive of small coasters, there came to Chagres 1 ship,
7 brigs from France, 21 schooners from the W. Indies, 6
schooners from the U. S., and 3 from Cartagena. In 1828,
these numbers were reduced to about 20 all together. In the
same years the entries at Panamá were respectively 17 and 24
vessels. In 1830 trade was in a state of stagnation. _Lloyd's
Notes Isth. Pan._, in _Roy. Geog. Soc._, i. 96-7; _Niles'
Reg._, xxxviii. 141.

[XXXIII-31] Bocas del Toro was also made a free port. _El
Arco Iris_, July 25, 1847; _Molina_, _der Freistaat, Costa
R._, 58-9; _S. F. Californian_, ii., Sept. 29, 1847.

[XXXIII-32] The passengers from Cal. no longer remained in
Pan., but were hurried off to Colon; thus the expenditure
formerly made by the thousands of passengers ceased. Many
business houses had to close in 1855 and 1856. Later the
influx of passengers from Europe, who stop longer at Panamá,
helped to support the hotels, etc. _Bidwell's Isth. Pan._,
263.

[XXXIII-33] A portion of the imports was paid for in
remittances of specie, or in bills on Europe, sold from time
to time by foreign men-of-war and steamship companies. The
amount of exports may be augmented some $100,000 by produce
sold to steamship companies. Besides pearls and pearl shells,
ivory, nuts, and India-rubber figured considerably among
the exports. The recklessness with which the rubber-trees
have been cut down has reduced the production in 1886 to
an insignificant quantity. The imports from 1856 to 1863
inclusive reached $6,386,135; the exports from 1857 to
1863 probably $5,000,000 or $6,000,000. Data on this point
are unreliable. _U. S. Govt Doc._, Comm. Rel., 1859-61;
_Bidwell's Isth. Pan._, 265-7, 277-8; _Pan. Star and Herald_,
May 2, 1867.

[XXXIII-34] Adopted in 1853. _Pan._, _Crónica Ofic._, Aug.
20, 1853.

[XXXIII-35] The national government of Colombia, on the 3d
of May, 1861, decreed that the notes of the National Bank,
silver coin of the fineness of 0.500, and nickel coin, should
be the only legal tender receivable at public offices of the
nation, states, and department of Panamá. The enforcement
of the decree in Panamá, where the money in circulation is
sufficient for all purposes, is deemed ruinous, as the paper
thus forced into circulation is irredeemable. There are no
manufactures nor products that merchants can send abroad
in payment of the articles of daily necessity which are
imported. _Pan. Star and Herald_, May 31, 1886.

[XXXIII-36] _Dunlop's Cent. Am._, 39-40; _Wagner_, _Costa
R._, 458-65; _Squier's Cent. Am._, 457. The exportation of
shells on a large scale upon the coasts of the mainland,
gulfs, and islands was farmed out in Oct. 1885, to a private
party for 16 years, the lessee paying for the privilege as
follows: 1st. $1,000 a year during the first six years, and
$2,000 a year for each of the other ten. 2d. $6 for every
1,000 kilog. of pearl shells taken out in the first six
years, and $8 per 1,000 kilog. the next ten years. _Costa
R._, _Gaceta_, Nov. 7, 1885.

[XXXIII-37] _Findlay_, _Directory_, i. 236. _J. Laferrière_,
_De Paris à Guatémala_; _Notes de Voyages au Centre Amérique_,
Paris, 1877, fol. 448 pp., 4 sheets, and wood-cuts, is
a narrative of a commercial traveller of three journeys
to and through the five republics of Cent. Am., in 1866,
1870, and 1874-5, containing general information on their
history and resources, agriculture, and other industries,
and the character, manner, and customs of their inhabitants.
Statistical tables, and numerous cuts of important towns
and of natives are accompanied. The style is plain, clear,
and concise, and the mode of treatment shows an intelligent
observer. In an unpretentious manner the author gives much
that is valuable on those countries.

[XXXIII-38] The information which has reached us for the
years previous to 1817 is both meagre and contradictory.
One authority has it that Spain undoubtedly received every
year till 1809 a net revenue of a little over 50,000 pesos;
another claims that a yearly allowance of 150,000 pesos came
from the treasury of New Spain. _Torrente_, _Revol. Hisp.
Am._, i. 23-5; _Mex._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1875, 65. In 1812
the Sp. córtes abolished the tribute till then exacted from
the Indians. _Córtes_, _Diario_, 1811-12, xi. 376.

[XXXIII-39] Including 157,681 pesos from excise, 3,872 pesos
from gunpowder, and 256,975 from tobacco. During those five
years the tobacco monopoly had sales amounting to 2,920,316
pesos, the expenses being 1,325,869 pesos, leaving a clear
profit to the treasury of 1,594,447 pesos, or an average of
318,890 pesos a year. _Dunn's Guat._, 214.

[XXXIII-40] 'Habia desaparecido durante la esclavitud del
imperio.' _Marure_, _Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am._, i. 140.

[XXXIII-41] The public debt amounted to $3,726,144, and
the yearly expenses were nearly $900,000, to meet which the
revenue was totally inadequate. The several states were in no
better condition, inasmuch as the revenue from stamped paper,
rum, excise, and other small sources, which had been assigned
them, was not enough for their needs.

[XXXIII-42] A security for the payment of the interest and
of the sinking fund to extinguish the principal, the revenue
from tobacco and customs was hypothecated. Under the contract
the interest was payable quarterly together with $50,000 for
the sinking fund. It was calculated that the debt would be
extinguished in twenty years, and that the interest would
come to $482,571. _El Indicador de Guat._, Apr. 21, May 18,
1826; _Guat._, _Mem. Min. Hac._, 1830-1.

[XXXIII-43] A natural result of selling $100 bonds at $30,
and paying $100 the next year. The govt was shamefully
swindled by the few men who had a share in the transactions.
_Id._, 1846, 51-6. On the other hand, the funds received from
the loan were misapplied. _Marure_, _Bosq. Hist. Cent. Am._,
142-7.

[XXXIII-44] Direct imposts: Guatemala's sources of revenue
were 3 per thousand on the assessed value of real estate,
military, and road taxes. Several others existing as late as
1882, such as a tax on sugar-cane, were suppressed. Indirect
duties on imports and exports, and port charges paid by
ships. Stamped paper, slaughtering cattle, imposts on native
flour, salt, inheritances, and endowments, and 5 per ct on
sales and transfers of real estate. Monopoly of spirituous
liquors, tobacco since 1879, gunpowder, and saltpetre. To
these are to be added a number of other means of lesser
import, but which in the aggregate yield considerably over
$100,000.

[XXXIII-45] From the following sources, namely: direct
taxation, $176,908; indirect ditto, $1,916,987; govt
monopolies, $1,549,173; special revenue, $323,212; divers
and extraordinary receipts, $88,577; contracts and divers
negotiations, $2,569,418, being for temporary loans, etc.
The total amount of revenue from customs included in the
item of indirect taxation was $1,485,280, mostly collected
at the general custom-house in Guatemala city; to which
must be added $52,793 collected on the frontiers, $3,734 for
export duties, and $1,530 for port charges. The revenue from
imports in the four preceding years were: 1879, $1,501,729;
1880, $2,008,237; 1881, $211,765; and 1882, $1,679,047.
The total revenue from all sources from 1852 to 1862 footed
up $8,442,835; from 1863 to 1871, $8,547,529; 1871 yielded
only $750,848; 1872-9, $19,571,233; 1880, $4,158,199; 1881,
$4,423,964; 1882, $4,131,945. The net proceeds or actual
revenue from the sale of spirituous liquors for 1878-83 was
$6,178,095; from tobacco, 1879, for licenses, $8,656; 1880,
two months, $32,232; 1881-3, $484,263. The total amount of
municipal revenue throughout the republic was $485,622 in
1883, and $535,364 in 1884. _Guat._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1873,
1880-4; _Id._, _Fomento_, 1885.

[XXXIII-46] The outlay in 1855 appears to have been $993,522,
including $317,094 applied to payment of the public debt;
1864, $1,130,708; 1879, $4,526,263, as follows: Ordinary
expenses, $2,728,457; public works, $27,837; advance to the
railway company, $200,000; payment of warrants, reimbursement
of temporary loans, etc., $1,569,969; 1881, $7,313,889, of
which only $3,333,470 was for expenses; $163,241 was for
purchase of tobacco, powder, and saltpetre; the balance to
payment of debts; 1882, $6,503,422, of which $3,414,747 was
for the actual expenses. _Astaburuaga_, _Cent. Am._, 84-5;
_Camp's Year-Book_, 1869, 1527; _Guat._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._,
1880-4.

[XXXIII-47] In order to be enabled to meet expenses, and
payments of the internal debt, the rate of duties on imports
was raised in 1873 and again in 1879. It also established
an export duty of 12½ cents per quintal on coffee. In 1879,
after consolidating the whole debt, 40 per cent of the
customs revenue was reserved for its gradual payment.

[XXXIII-48] The interest and portion of the sinking fund
were made payable twice a year; viz., April 1st and Oct.
1st. After several deductions, the amount actually received
in Guat. was $1,351,069. One of the deductions was of
£15,000 for retiring from the London market £20,000 five per
cent bonds of the federal loan, purchased at 75 per cent.
_Samayoa_, _Apuntam._, 1885, 29-37; _U. S. Gov. Doc._, H.
Ex. Doc., Cong. 48, Sess. 1, pt 1, 72; _Mex._, _Informe
Sec. Hac._, 1873, 24-5; _Pan. Canal_, Jan. 13, 1883; _Id._,
_Cronista_, Feb. 21, 1883; _Guat._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, 1880-4.

[XXXIII-49] According to the calculation of the secretary
of the treasury, it had become increased on Apr. 1, 1880, to
$3,404,967.

[XXXIII-50] _Guat. Presupuesto Gen._, 1886, 111-14.

[XXXIII-51] The chief sources are import duties and port
charges, export duty on woods, tax on spirituous liquors,
stamped paper, tobacco, and gunpowder monopoly, etc. Squier,
_Cent. Am._, 271, estimated the revenue in 1856 at about
$250,000; but Astaburuaga, _Cent. Am._, 71-3, sets it down at
$154,248, and deducting $37,713 for loans and other receipts
not belonging to ordinary revenue, and $24,000 for two years'
interest on the English debt, there remained $92,535 to meet
an expenditure calculated at $116,898. The assembly voted
for 1857, $134,253; 1858, $119,852; 1859, $132,912. In 1857
and 1858 $40,000 more had to be added, owing to political
disturbances. _Wappäus_, _Mex. und Cent. Am._, 306. In 1867
the receipts seem to have been about $200,000, exceeding the
expense some $17,000. _Camp's Year-Book_, 1869, 527. Those of
1869 are set down at about $560,000. _Mex._, _Informe Sec.
Hac._, 1873, 88. For 1872 they were estimated at $400,000.
_Am. Cyclop._, viii. 791. According to President Soto's
message in 1883, the revenue in 1881 was $1,120,175, and in
1882, $1,298,878. _Pan. Star and Herald_, March 23, 1883;
June 2, 1886.

[XXXIII-52] It is understood that President Bogran, in his
efforts to diminish the expenditures, reduced in 1886 his own
and other salaries. _Id._, June 2, 1886.

[XXXIII-53] Pres. Soto, in his message of 1883, says
that the opinion prevailed in Europe that Honduras had
been victimized; he believed that in truth and justice
the republic cannot be held responsible for the enormous
debt. Indeed, it is of a very questionable origin. It
was contracted for the alleged purpose of constructing an
interoceanic railway. There were four loans negotiated;
namely, two in London, in 1867, for the nominal amount of
£1,000,000, issued at 80 with 10 per cent interest; another
in 1868 at Paris for the nominal sum of 62,252,700 francs,
issued at 75 and 6 per cent interest, and the last in
London in 1870, for £2,500,000, issued at 80 and 10 per cent
interest. _Am. Cyclop._, viii. 791; _Pan. Star and Herald_,
March 23, 1883; _La Estrella de Pan._, Jan. 10, 1884.

[XXXIII-54] The chief sources were customs, monopoly of
spirituous liquors, tobacco, and gunpowder, stamped paper,
etc. The receipts of 1848-56, including $175,419 for loans
in 1856, were $3,408,068, averaging $359,183 a year; for
1866-9, $3,224,348, or $806,087 per year; for 1870-4,
$4,930,238, or $1,232,560 yearly; for 1875-8, $7,880,316, or
an average of $1,970,079. Expenditures: 1848-56, $3,251,802;
1867-8, $1,468,850; 1873-8, $9,269,113. _Squier's Cent.
Am._, 307; _Salv._, _Gaceta_, Oct. 31, 1851; March 20, 1877;
_Id._, _Diario Ofic._, March 24, 25, 1875; March 13, 14,
1878; _Costa R._, _Boletin Ofic._, March 14, 1855; _Nic._,
_Gaceta_, March 23, 1867; Feb. 22, 1868; _Astaburuaga_,
_Cent. Am._, 76; _Camp's Year-Book_, 1869, 527; _Pan. Star
and Herald_, Apr. 1, 1869; Aug. 29, 1874; May 10, 1875; Feb.
26, 1884; Sept. 29, 1886; _Id._, _Cronista_, Jan. 20, 1883;
_Jülfs_, _Die Seehäfen_, 36; _Mex._, _Informe Sec. Hac._,
1873, 88; _Salv._, _Mem. Min. Hac._, 1875-9; _Laferrière_,
_De Paris à Guatém._, 190-1.

[XXXIII-55] The greater portion was Salvador's share of the
federal debt; which was augmented by several foreign claims
aggregating about $100,000. No interest on the federal debt
had been paid since 1848. _Squier's Cent. Am._, 308.

[XXXIII-56] I find that the republic paid up in 24 years,
prior to 1875, $4,833,775 to cover both the federal debt and
its own—an equivalent of about a million and a quarter every
five years by a population of only 600,000 souls. _Salv._,
_Diario Ofic._, Apr. 6, Aug. 4, Oct. 28, 1875; Oct. 17, 1878;
_Id._, _Gaceta Ofic._, Feb. 15, 1878; _Am. Cyclop._, xiv.
610; _Mex._, _Informe Sec. Hac._, 1873, 25; _Laferrière_,
_De Paris à Guatém._, 191; _Salv._, _Mem. Min. Hac._, 1875;
_Nic._, _Semanal Nic._, Apr. 16, 1874; _Pan. Star and
Herald_, Feb. 26, 1884.

[XXXIII-57] The chief sources of revenue are those of
customs, slaughtering cattle, and sales of spirituous
liquors, tobacco, gunpowder, and stamped paper. The total
revenue of 1845 amounted to $74,911, a sum entirely
inadequate to meet the most necessary expenses of the
government. The import duty was 20 per cent ad valorem, to
which was added 8 per cent. The only export duty was 1 to
3 per cent on gold, silver, and precious stones. A transit
duty of 5 per cent was levied on goods passing through
Nic. to the other states. Merchant vessels paid 50 cts per
ton. The total revenue from customs in 1846 was $51,818;
from internal taxation, $3,626; from rum, etc, $24,260. The
revenue from tobacco was pledged to the Brit. govt, in order
to ransom the port of San Juan del Norte. Other sources
were insignificant. Receipts of 1851, $122,686; 1857-60,
$1,327,637; 1861-70, $5,665,877. The tariff of imports was
modified in Dec. 1868, and increased 10 per cent in Feb.
1870. Agricultural implements, materials for mining, and
other articles, were exempted from import duty by a law of
Nov. 2, 1869. The revenue from customs became flourishing,
and yielded in 1883 $1,275,506, due to the law of Sept.
25, 1879, which raised the duties on several articles, and
changed the mode of collecting from ad valorem to weight.
It seems that most goods paid no more under the new system
than formerly; but much fraud was averted. Imports generally
paid 50 per cent ad val. The port of San Juan del Norte and
the Mosquito reservation have a free zone, the merchants of
San Juan paying a tax in lieu of import duties. Receipts of
1871, $958,922; 1873-80, $8,416,879; 1881-2, $3,351,767, an
increase of $951,674 over the preceding two years. _Belly_,
_Nic._, i. 311; _Lévy_, _Nic._, 353-8; _Nic._, _Gaceta_,
March 6, 1863; March 18, Apr. 29, 1865; Jan. 20, 1866; March
21, 1868; Jan. 2, 23, 30, Nov. 6, 1869; May 27, 1871; Jan.
20, 1872; _Id._, _Decretos_, 1869-70, 123; _Pan. Star and
Herald_, Feb. 1, 1883.

[XXXIII-58] Expenses of the supreme powers, $112,548;
departments of the interior, $513,069; war, $389,466;
treasury, $1,353,612; foreign relations, $762,457; sundries,
$109,787. During this term was paid $57,586 outstanding from
the preceding, the ordinary expenses of administration; for
improvements, $563,918; and extraordinary expenses caused
by disturbances. The expenditures in 1846 and 1851 were
$106,145 and $173,646, respectively, in both cases creating
deficits; in 1859-60, $652,515; 1861-70, $5,316,951; 1871-2,
$1,721,355; 1873-4, $1,995,040. Those of the following
years kept pace with the increased revenues; but large sums
were appropriated to internal improvements, education, and
other purposes conducive to the intellectual and material
advancement of the republic. _Nic._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._, for
years 1846 to 1883; and the _Gacetas_ quoted in the preceding
note.

[XXXIII-59] She had on the 15th of Sept., 1867, recognized
£45,000 as her proportion. _Nic._, _Gaceta_, March 28, 1868.

[XXXIII-60] _Presid. Cárdenas_, _Mensaje_, Jan. 15, 1885,
in _Costa R._, _Gaceta Ofic._, Feb. 4, 1885. For further
information, see the biennial reports of the minister of the
treasury; _Lévy_, _Nic._, 358-60; _Am. Cyclop._, xii. 424;
_Pan. Star and Herald_, Feb. 1, 1883.

[XXXIII-61] From customs, $427,395, which was less than had
been expected; liquor monopoly, $200,168; stamped paper and
stamps, $63,033; paper money issued, $310,764; the balance
from sundry sources. The receipts in specie were $1,046,967.
The law of Dec. 10, 1839, first established the sources of
revenue for the state govt as follows: Maritime and internal
duties on merchandise; purchase and coinage of bullion; sales
of public lands; monopoly in cultivation and sale of tobacco;
sale of gunpowder, stamped paper, domestic and foreign
liquors; postage, excise, confiscation of contraband goods,
and fines. _Montúfar_, _Reseña Hist._, iii. 272, 570.

[XXXIII-62] A new tariff, to go into effect Jan. 1, 1886,
was decreed, subjecting imported merchandise to specific
duties, and considerably modifying the tariff of 1877.
Gold and silver in bullion, bars, dust, or coin, as also
fence wire, lightning rods, machinery for agriculture,
material and tools for ship-building, ships, and animals
were exempted from duty. _Costa R._, _Gaceta_, Sept. 12,
13, 1885; _Id._, _Col. Ley._, xxv. 15-47. The following
figures show approximately the receipts of the government
for about forty years past, to wit: 1845, $132,000—there is
no published history of the finances of Costa R. prior to
1845; 1847-50, $1,006,207; 1851-60, $5,956,873; 1861-70,
$8,518,636; 1871-82, $30,475,828, less amounts included,
which were merely casual receipts, $4,545,277, leaving for
actual revenue, $25,930,551. _Molina_, _Bosq. Costa R._, 45;
_Squier's Cent. Am._, 470-1; _Astaburuaga_, _Cent. Am._, 43;
_Encyclop. Brit._ (Am. ed.), vi. 398; _Costa R._, _Informe
Sec. Hac._, 1852-85.

[XXXIII-63] As near as I have been able to ascertain, the
outlay of the Costa Rican treasury has been, for 1847-50,
$986,245; 1851-60, $6,637,124; 1861-70, $9,682,265; 1871-82,
$32,362,189. _Id._; _Pan. Star and Herald_, Aug. 14, 1886.

[XXXIII-64] 'Se logró la total cancelacion de la deuda
inglesa.' _Costa R._, _Informe Min. Hac., etc._, 1848, 16.

[XXXIII-65] The history of these loans, as furnished in
the reports of the Costa Rican treasury department, is the
following: In 1871, Costa Rica contracted with Bischoffsheim
and Goldsmidt for a loan of the nominal amount of £1,000,000,
at 72 with 6 per cent interest, and 2 per cent for a sinking
fund; however, per agreement of May 5, 1871, the rate was
reduced to 56, and only yielded £560,000. Bischoffsheim
and Goldsmidt retained £105,000, which reduced the proceeds
to £455,000, and this sum was further diminished £42,000,
leaving only £413,000, or somewhat less than 42 per cent.
A new loan was negotiated in 1872, with Knowles and Foster
of London, which appeared as for £2,400,000, but did not
exceed £2,226,500, the difference not having been taken up.
The negotiation was at 82, with interest at 7 per cent, and
1 per cent for a sinking fund. This loan actually yielded to
Costa Rica £598,611 18_s._ 5_d._, which is explained thus:
Knowles and Foster paid over to E. Erlanger and Co. of London
in money £1,576,240 9_s._ 1_d._, the difference between this
sum and that taken up being £650,259. Erlanger and Co. were
the syndics of the loan under the 8th clause of the contract
with Knowles and Foster, and had bound themselves to take
up £800,000 of it. Under the 3d and 4th clauses, they were
empowered to repurchase bonds for account of Costa Rica,
though subject to the following conditions: 1st. That the
repurchasing should be indispensable to secure the success
of the loan; 2d. It was not to be done with the £800,000
Erlanger and Co. were bound for; and 3d. The operations were
not to be effected but within 30 days of the issue. This
condition was violated. Erlanger and Co. claimed to have
repurchased with the money received by them bonds of both the
6 per cent and 7 per cent loans to the value of £1,426,500.
The result of this transaction was that the loan, save the
£800,000 taken up by Erlanger and Co., was exhausted; and yet
it was said, in and out of Costa Rica, that her government
had received $17,000,000. _Encyclop. Brit._ (Am. ed.), vi.
398. The whole yield of both loans was but £1,011,611 18_s._
5_d._, or $5,058,060. Besides the £105,000 retained by
Bischoffsheim and Goldsmidt, under the pretext of securing
the interest of the 6 per cent loan, the government remitted
for interest and sinking fund £135,000, which were taken
from the very funds received, and reduced them to £876,611
18_s._ 5_d._ Moreover, under an agreement with Erlanger and
Co., the government of Costa Rica was authorized to draw on
them for £150,000. Its drafts were allowed to go to protest,
and the amounts drawn for had to be replaced. The government
felt that it had been victimized, and in order to protect
the country's good name, after consultation with legal lights
of London, established suits at law against the parties. The
suit has cost a great deal of money; early in 1877 $373,380
had been paid for expense. _Costa R._, _Mem. Sec. Hac._,
1874-7. Should the decisions of the British courts be against
Costa Rica, her financial situation should not be deemed very
alarming, as is made apparent. The 7 per cent loan, reduced
to Costa Rican money at 9 per cent, £2,226,500, nominal
$12,134,425.

Bonds repurchased, £1,026,500 $5,594,425

Received from Erlanger and Co., and appearing among
the liabilities, £598,611 18_s._ 5_d._ 3,262,435

Amount not appearing among the liabilities,
£601,388 1_s._ 7_d._ 3,277,565
-----------
$12,134,425

Accepting the responsibility for the whole 7 per cent loan,
it would amount to $12,134,425, deducting $3,262,435, and
$5,594,425 for repurchased bonds, the total sum not included
in the liability in 1876 would be reduced to $3,277,565, to
which must be added $13,517, balance of the 6 per cent loan,
making $3,291,082. Advantageous offers were received from
Europe to extinguish the debt, which, if accepted, would
reduce the nominal indebtedness of $11,990,000 to $2,398,000.
This loan was negotiated for funds to build a railway. The
road has cost $12,239,296, and its three sections are valued
in 1883 at $6,600,000. _Id._, 1872-5, 1883, annexes 7 and 8.

[XXXIII-66] _Pan. Star and Herald_, March 29, 1884; _Costa
R._, _Gaceta_, Sept. 4, 1885. Half a million dollars was
voted by congress in July 1886 to the extinction of the
internal debt. _Id._, Aug. 14, 1886.

[XXXIII-67] From customs, $145,000; rum, $24,000; loans,
$42,500; received from Spain, $10,000; voluntary and forced
contributions, $150,000; judicial deposits, $101,000; papal
dispensation bulls, $27,000—were among the items. _Lloyd's
Notes Isth. Pan._, in _Roy. Geog. Soc._, _Jour._, i. 99.

[XXXIII-68] Including $4,527, balance from the preceding
year; $86,820 of loans; $70,000 from customs; $15,820, duties
on tobacco. _Id._, 98.