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Cotton
Cacao...
Coffee

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Indigo..
Rubber.
Sugar...

Ivory-nuts..

12,348

The quantities and destination of the coffee received at Panama from Central America (principally Guatemala and Costa Rica) in the first four months of 1879, were as follows:

The value of the imports from the United States it is impossible to determine with precision, Panama being a free port of entry, and Bark. no official record being kept of imports thereto; but Consul Wilson estimates that value at $450,000 for the year mentioned. The commodities received from the United States are chiefly canned goods, fruits, jellies, corn, beef, beans, etc.; bacon, hams, lard, butter, breadstuffs; prints and other cotton fabrics. Since 1878 the trade in American dry goods appears to have greatly increased, from one half to two thirds of the entire quantity imported being of American manufacture, while formerly the supply was almost exclusively from Europe (Great Britain, France, and Germany). Panama merchants attribute this change to the present superiority of quality and style of the United States products, together with their comparative cheapness, but more particularly to the quality and style, since they find our fabrics to be preferred to all others, even at equality of prices.

As all merchandise in transitu is carried over the Panama Railway, an idea of the extent of the trade may be formed from the total tonnage of that line for the years 1876-'79, as shown by the following schedule:

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DESTINATION.

Panama

South Pacific ports..
Aspinwall....

Europe (by British steamers)...

Europe (by German steamers).
Europe (by French steamers).
United States (by American and British steamers)..

Total..

Sacks.

8.047

5,094

37

106,816

44.122

86.400 24.706

219,742

The port of Aspinwall, with a population of some 3,000, imports now from the United States almost everything it requires of foreign production, except liquors and cigars. Heretofore, scarcely anything went from us save cotton fabrics, and these under guise of a British brand! The value of the imports from the United States, in 1879, was estimated at $800,000. The exports to the United States from Aspinwall, in 1879, were as follows:

COMMODITIES.

Bananas

Cocoa-nuts.

Hides..

Ivory-nuts

Rubber.

Tortoise-shell
Wood
Old rope
Sundries..

Total..

Values. $152,551 85

18.177 99 1,892 27 124.459 48

55,518 $5

5,510 00

773 72

1,513 60 86.614 14

$391,511 40

Cartagena, the finest and the only natural harbor in Colombia, bas, besides its own local trade, that of the Sinu and Atrato Rivers, for which it is the port of entry, and the prospect of controlling before long much of the commerce now carried on through Barranquilla. This diversion will be effected by means of a canal which,

tapping the Magdalena at Calamar, connects that river with the harbor of Cartagena, and which, reopened to navigation by the national and State governments, was under repairs as early as 1879, by an American engineer, and already navigable by craft of five feet draught. The cotton fabrics are almost exclusively from Great Britain and Germany: those from Manchester alone, in 1878, were of the value of $100,000.* United States products are little in demand, and the few articles received are regarded as inferior to similar commodities from Europe. French butter, for instance, brings $1 per pound; American, but 60 cents. imports and exports at Cartagena for the year ending August 31, 1879, were as below:

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Number of Quantities packages. (pounds).

Values.

88,194 2,106,688

12,772

576,510

17,507

1,813,106

7,148

479,864

552

93,130

259

45,622

Italy.

16,560

401,164

1

41

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$210,058 70,901 290.542 99,182 13,433 4,559 8,053 10) 40,781

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$5,104,000 $5,098,000 $5,535,000

Four lines of steamers make Panama their terminal port, namely: 1. The line from Panama to San Francisco; 2. That from Panama to Central America and Mexico; 3. From Panama to the South Pacific as far as Valparaiso; 4. From Panama to Guayaquil. The two first-mentioned lines are owned and managed by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, of New York; the two latter by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, of Liverpool, England. The line from Panama to San Francisco runs two and, during the coffee season, three steamers a month each way, calling at Punta Arenas, Costa Rica; La Libertad, Salvador; San José, Guatemala; Acapulco, Manzanillo, San Blas, and Mazatlan, Mexico. The Central American and Mexican line runs three steamers per month, each way, calling at Punta Arenas, San Juan del Sur, Corinto, Amapala, La Union, La Libertad, San José, Champerico, Port Angle, and Acapulco. The line from Panama to the South Pacific runs weekly each way from Panama to Callao, calling at the

*About $1,000,000 of the imports from France were from other countries and in transit through France; and perhaps a like proportion of the exports to France were likewise for other countries.

ports of Buenaventura, Tumaco, Guayaquil, Payta, connecting at Callao with their line to Valparaiso, and calling at eighteen different ports along the coast. The line from Panama to Guayaquil runs one steamer per month, each way, calling at Ballenita, Manta Bahia, Esmeraldas, Tumaco, Buenaventura.

The port of Aspinwall is visited by steamers making seventeen regular monthly arrivals and as many departures, as follows:

1. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, from Southampton; nine steamers; four arrivals per month.

2. The West India and Pacific Steamship Company, from Liverpool; twelve steamers; two arrivals per month.

3. The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, from St. Nazaire and Havre; three steamers per month.

4. Hamburg American Line, from Hamburg; seven steamers; two arrivals per month.

5. Harrison Line, from Liverpool; sixteen steamers; one arrival per month.

6. Atlas Steamship Company, from New York; two arrivals per month.

7. Pacific Mail Steamship Company (American); three steamers per month from New York.

Of the seven lines but one is American. The shipping movements at the port of Cartagena for the year ending August 31, 1879, were as follows:

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The number of passengers carried by the Panama Railway in 1876 was 22,940; in 1877, 22,110; in 1878, 24,921; and in 1879, 23,729.

There were, in 1880, 1,850 miles of telegraph in the republic, the number of dispatches having been 150,204. The post-office returns for 1879-'80 were as follows: Letters, 463,832; printed matter, 413,350 packets.

In the department of public instruction the spirit of reform persists with its characteristic energy. An industrial feature has of late been imparted to the educational system, for the development of knowledge in the direction of technical professions; and the conversion of all the higher schools into schools of mines, commerce, and agriculture is seriously talked of in the right places.

The construction of the four national railways is being assiduously carried on, writes a native journalist. The Honda and Girardot lines are far advanced. The Honda section avoids the falls of Magdalena River, and will be the first whose valuable services will be available. The link line which has been run along the east bank of the Magdalena is now completed, and is already rendering important aid as a means of communication between the

upper and lower Magdalena. The Colombian Guard, by their energy in forwarding these works, have increased their already numerous claims to national recognition. They can justly boast that their sappers are the best roadmakers in the country; five hundred and sixty of these are now working on the Girardot and Cauca lines. Engineers are now surveying the railways of Subachoque, Samacá, and Pacho, in the valley of the Andes, and the reports already furnished on the first two are highly satisfactory. That of Samacá, which is the joint work of the national and of the local government of Boyacá, is spoken of as "an honor to America." The Scientific Exploration Commission, instituted by legal appointment, is now fully organized, and will shortly initiate its valuable investigations. The dredg ing and deepening of the river Magdalena are progressing rapidly under the favorable auspices of scientific organization and ample funds. The national elections for the renewal of the legislative and executive staff, as well as those for the partial renewal of a part of the staff of government officials in some of the States, have now taken place, and have been characterized throughout the republic by perfect freedom of expression and tranquillity. Dr. Zaldua is the Federal President-elect of the Congress, and he will be supported by able representatives of every shade of political opinion. The result of the elections may be regarded as highly favorable to the existing national policy of the present Government. This sketch of political consolidation, and of slow but sure industrial and scientific development, is not without its drawbacks. The inhabitants of the towns south of the Tolima, and some in the center of Cundinamarca, are experiencing the ravages of small-pox; while the locusts, which have not yet abandoned the Atlantic coast, still desolate the Cauca, and have appeared on the other side of Chicamocha, in the State of Santander. The seaport town of Buenaventura was almost completely destroyed by fire in April, 1881.

COLORADO. The Legislature met on January 4th and adjourned on February 15th. In his inaugural address Governor Pitkin called attention to the mistaken policy of mining corporations in issuing an excessive amount of capital stock, that practice having a tendency to create a prejudice against mining investments. Upon the subject of Chinese immigration and the Chinese residents of Colorado he spoke at considerable length and with much earnestness, dwelling upon the unwholesome social and personal habits of the Chinese, and upon the evil consequences of bringing their labor into competition with American labor. He deprecated violent outbreaks, such as occurred in Denver in the fall of 1880, but declared that the State, through its Legislature, should unite with the Pacific coast States in demanding congressional action prohibiting further Chinese immigration. He referred to

the death of Lieutenant-Governor George B. Robinson, who died on November 29, 1880, having been shot by mistake by one of the armed guards stationed at his mine, as suggesting the propriety of some legislative restriction upon the power of private corporations to employ armed guards for the defense of their property. He thought it would be wise to impose a severer penalty upon persons guilty of "mine-jumping," which would in part remove the necessity for armed guards. He recommended the establishment of a reform school for boys in connection with a State farm.

Very few important bills were passed by the Legislature. Some local feeling was excited over a new apportionment law passed near the close of the session, in which the ratio of representation in the State Legislature was fixed as set forth in the following sections:

SECTION 2. The ratios for the senatorial apportionment shall be: First, one Senator for the first 5,000 population; second, one Senator for each 9,000 popufation thereafter, with one Senator for fractions over 7,000 population.

SEC. 3. The ratios for representative apportionment shall be: First, one Representative for the first 1,000 population; second, one Representative for each 5,000 population thereafter, with one Representative for fractions over 3,000 population.

The representation of certain counties was further specifically prescribed in the bill. Arapahoe County was allowed eight Representatives and Lake County four, the former having a population of 38,607, and the latter 23,787. In behalf of these counties there were many protests against the reapportionment. A law was passed forbidding, under severe penalties, any person to engage in, promote, or aid any lottery, gift-enterprise, or any similar scheme in the State, or to advertise in a newspaper or otherwise any matter relating to a lottery. A law was also passed authorizing the Governor to appoint a State Fish Commissioner, with a salary of $500 per annum, holding office for two years, and the sum of $2,500 was appropriated to purchase grounds and erect a building for a fish-hatchery. For the expenses of maintaining the hatchery during the year ending June 1, 1882, the further sum of $3,500 was appropriated, and for the second year $3,000. Under this law the Governor appointed Wilson E. Sisty to be Fish Commissioner. A fish-hatchery was erected on the river Platte, about three fourths of a mile from Denver. It was opened on the 14th of December and stocked with 400,000 brook-trout eggs from the Old Colony trout-ponds at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The hatchery has fifteen troughs, with a capacity of 1,000,000 eggs.

There were no political conventions held during the year, and no general election took place, the balloting on November 8th being for district judges, district attorneys, and in one district (the sixth) for State Senator. At this election the question of the permanent location of the State capital was submitted to

the people. The Constitution of 1876 contained a provision that the capital should be at Denver until the first general election of 1881, when the electors of the State should by ballot designate their choice for the permanent seat of government. The total vote on the capital question was 45,497, of which 695 were cast for Salida, 2,788 for Canton City, 4,790 for Colorado Springs, 6,047 for Pueblo, and 30,248 for Denver, which city, having thus received a majority of all the votes cast, became the permanent seat of the State government. The vote for Governor in the election of 1880, as officially declared in the Legislature, was: Frederick W. Pitkin (Republican), 28,465; Hough (Democrat), 23,547. Owing to the death before his inauguration of the Lieutenant-Governor-elect, George B. Robinson, the Lieutenant-Governor of the previous administration, H. A. W. Tabor, continues to fill that position. In 1880 the vote for Garfield was 27,450, Hancock, 24,647; Garfield's majority, 1,368.

By the removal of the Utes and the Uncompahgre Indians from the Colorado reservation to Utah the State is rid of several thousand very undesirable denizens, and vast tracts of the most fertile lands in Colorado are made available for settlers. By the terms of the agreement between the United States and the confederated bands of the Utes, as set forth in the act of Congress approved June 15, 1880, it is provided that "the Southern Utes agree to remove and settle upon the unoccupied agricultural lands on the La Plata River in Colorado, and if there should not be a sufficiency of such lands on the La Plata River and in its vicinity in Colorado, then upon such other unoccupied agricultural lands as may be found on the La Plata River or in its vicinity in New Mexico." As no such quantity of lands as was contemplated in this agreement could be found in the locality indicated, its terms were changed and the Indians were induced to consent to a transfer to equally fertile and desirable lands in the Uintah reservation in the Territory of Utah. The Ute Indian Commissioners, Messrs. Mears, Russell, and McMorris, had several parleys with the braves in the course of the summer, and found them not disposed to keep their agreement. The commissioners named the 25th of August as the day for removal. The White River Utes went peaceably enough, but the Uncompahgres were inclined to fight. Under the orders of the Secretary of the Interior, the assistance of General McKenzie and a force of 800 troops was invoked by the commissioners. Though they outnumbered the white troops and were equally well armed, the Indians decided to obey, and on the 28th they started for the Utah reservation. During the autumn months there was a good deal of complaint that the Indians returned to the valleys of the La Plata and Uncompahgre Rivers to hunt, and that they annoyed settlers and interfered with the surveys of the Utah extension of the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad then going forward. This matter was the subject of a correspondence between Governor Pitkin and Secretary Kirkwood. The Secretary called attention to the fact that as yet settlers have no rights upon the old reservation lands, for the protection of which they can properly invoke the aid of the Government, as those lands have not yet been formally opened for settlement. Nevertheless, white settlers flocked upon them as soon as the Indians retired, and for the most part the issuing of patents will be subsequent to taking possession. In the valleys of the streams on the reservation there is land enough for 1,500 ranchmen and stockinen, and the great fertility of the soil, the mildness of the climate, the abundance of fruit, vegetables, forage, fish and game of all kinds, will cause the whole region to be rapidly peopled. But few Indians now remain in Colorado, and these are in such close proximity to the whites, in the extreme southwestern portion of the State, that there is very little fear of any disturbance from them. The Uintahs and White River and Uncompahgre Utes are now located together along the Uintah River in Utah.

In the annual report of the Director of the Mint, Colorado is credited with a production of $3,400,000 in gold and $15,000,000 in silver for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1881, a total of $18,400,000. The production of the previous fiscal year was somewhat larger, being $3,200,000 in gold and $17,000,000 in silver, a total of $20,200,000. Local estimates put the total bullion product of the calendar year 1881 at $23,500,000, of which more than half, or $13,170,576, was turned out by the smelting-works in and about Leadville. There was more hard, intelligent, and well-directed work done in the mines of Colorado in 1881 than in any previous year. The falling off in the out-put was due to failure of one or two leading mines previously yielding large amounts of ore, and the closing of half a dozen others through the incessant flow of water in their best workings. Some new mines were opened, but nothing in the nature of a "bonanza" was brought to light. A more serious falling off in the aggregate production was prevented only by a better system of working existing mines, the avoidance of wasteful methods, and a more careful attention to small results. By the use of better machinery the cost of treatment was in many cases materially reduced; grades of ore which were formerly considered worthless, and were thrown into the waste-dumps or left in heaps in the mines, were taken out and treated with fair profits. Not only in and around Leadville but throughout the mining districts there was evidence that the era of wild speculation and extravagant expectations is rapidly passing away. There is a growing disposition to take a more sober and sensible view of the business of mining, to be content with returns which would be recognized as liberal in any other business, and to manage a mine with a

view to a production within reasonable limits, but constant, rather than in the foolish hope of sudden and enormous gains. Instead of issuing an excessive amount of capital stock and trying to pay a dividend on the first batch of ore smelted, mine-owners are now beginning to put faith in the wiser policy of moderate capitalization, with a sufficient amount paid up to develop the mine and put it in order for uninterrupted and productive working. In fissure-mining, for instance, experience has proved that a manager can not undertake to pay dividends before the shaft has been sunk 500 feet, with four or five levels at intervals of from 75 to 100 feet; and, until adequate hoisting and pumping machinery has been provided, and a large reserve of ore is on hand or in sight, no prudent manager will attempt to divide any money among the share-holders. It was through following the old, reckless methods of mining development that the state of things described in the following paragraph from an article in a Denver newspaper was brought about:

The records of each mining county, and those of the Secretary of State, are burdened with mining corporations with capital stocks ranging from ten thousand to twenty million dollars. Outside of Leadville very few of these have paid any dividends at all. It is safe to estimate that ninety-five hundredths of them never will pay dividends as at present organized and conducted. A large proportion of them are conceived in fraud and full of iniquity from top to bottom. great many are dangerous schemes, to be avoided by honest men.

A

The horizontal veins in the vicinity of Leadville have thus far yielded large returns. It is the opinion of the State Geologist that upright or inclined fissures will ultimately be found in the granite formation beneath the volcanic rocks in which ores are now being mined. This theory is confirmed by discoveries lately made in various parts of the State. Some of the telluride veins are of enormous richness. One mine yielded ores which, for nearly two years, gave an average of over five thousand dollars per ton in gold, and some ores yield as high as eighty dollars per pound.

Coal, iron, and petroleum are now among the products of Colorado, the two former being turned out in considerable quantities. At Rico, coking coal of a high quality is found in great abundance. A valuable lignite is produced at Como, in the South Park; and unlimited quantities of anthracite and bituminous coal are found at Gothic, Irwin, and Rugby mining-camps. The lignitic coals, found in the northern part of the State, are very dense, jet-black in color, of a high luster, and without any fibrous or woody structure. They have an average specific gravity of 1.33, are remarkably free from sulphur, the average admixture not exceeding one per cent; and they burn readily and freely, with a high heating power, and a small residuum of ash. Some of the mines from which these coals are obtained have been worked continuously for twenty years. None

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