portations from the beginning of the work, and the custom-houses and guards which the Government may judge convenient for the collection of duties on merchandise destined for other portions of the republic shall be established, to prevent the practice of smuggling.

ART. XI. The passengers, money, precious metals, merchandise, and articles and effects of all classes transported by the canal, shall also be exempt from all duties. The same exemption is extended to all articles and merchandise, for interior or exterior trade, stored according to the conditions stipulated with the company, in their storehouses and

stations.

ART. XII. The ships which wish to pass through the canal shall present in the port of the terminus at which they arrive their respective registers and other sailing documents, prescribed by the law and public treaties, in order that the vessel may navigate without hindrance. The vessels which have not said papers, or which shall refuse to present them, may be detained, and proceeded against according to law.

ART. XIV. As an indemnity to the grantees for the cost of construction, maintenance, and operation, which are at their expense, they shall have during all the period of this privilege the exclusive right to establish, and to receive for the passage of the canal and the ports dependent upon it, imposts for lighthouses, anchorage, transit, navigation, repairs, pilotage, towing, hauling, and storage under the tariff which they shall establish, and which may be modified at any time under the following conditions:

1. These imposts shall be levied without exception or favor upon all ships, in identical conditions. 2. The tariff shall be published four months before it is put into effect, in the "Diario Official" of the Government, as well as in the capitals and principal commercial ports of the countries interested.

3. The principal tolls which shall be collected on vessels shall not exceed the rate of ten francs for each cubic metre resulting from the multiplication of the principal dimension of the submerged portion of the ship in transit (length, breadth, and depth).... 6. Special tolls for navigation shall be reduced in proportion to the excess, when the net profits derived from it shall exceed twelve per cent. upon the capital employed in the enterprise.

ART. XV. As a compensation for the rights and exemptions which are conferred upon the grantees by this contract, the Government of the Republic shall enjoy a participation equal to five per cent. of the gross product which shall accrue to the enterprise, according to the tariff which shall be fixed upon by the company.

ART. XVI. The grantees are authorized to require payment in advance of any charges which they may establish. Nine tenths of these charges shall be made payable in gold, and only the remaining tenth part shall be payable in silver of twenty-five grammes of a fineness of 900.

ART. XVII. The ships infringing the rules established by the company shall be subject to a fine which said company shall embody in its statutes, and of which it shall give notice to the public simultaneously with its tariff. If they refuse to pay said fine, or furnish sufficient security, they may be detained, and proceeded against according to law. The same proceedings may be observed for the damages they may have occasioned.

ART. XVIII. If the opening of a canal shall be deemed financially possible, the grantees are authorized to form, under the immediate protection of the Colombian Government, and in the time agreed upon, a universal joint-stock company, which shall undertake the execution of the work, taking charge of all financial arrangements which may be needed. As this enterprise is essentially international and economic, it is understood that it shall always be kept

free from political influences. The company shall take the name of "The Universal Interoceanic Canal Company" its residence shall be fixed in Bogotá, New York, London, or Paris, at the election of the grantees; branch offices may be established wherever necessary; its contracts, shares, bonds, and the titles which belong to it, shall never be subjected by the Government of Colombia to any charge for registry, emission, stamps, nor any analogous charge, upon the sale or transfer of these shares and bonds, or on any profits accruing on the same.

ART. XXI. The grantees, or those who in the future shall succeed them in their rights, may transfor those rights to other capitalists or financial companies; but it is absolutely prohibited to cede or hypothecate them, by any title, to any nation or foreign government.

ART. XXII. The grantees, or those who may represent them, may forfeit their acquired rights under the following circumstances:

1. If they do not deposit, within the term stipulated, the amount required as security for the execution of the work.

2. If in the first of the twelve years allowed for the construction of the canal the works are not begun. In this case the company loses the sum deposited as a guarantee, the which will remain to the credit of the republic.

3. If at the termination of the period fixed by paragraph 5 of Article 1. the canal is not navigable. 4. If the prescriptions of Article XXI. are not complied with.

5. If the service of the canal shall be interrupted for more than six months, except in an extreme case. In cases 2, 3, 4, and 5, the Federal Supreme Court shall decide whether the privilege has been forfeited

or not.

ART. XXV. The enterprise of the canal shall be considered of public benefit.

ART. XXVI. This contract, which will serve as a substitute for the dispositions of Law 33 of May 26, 1876, and the clauses of the contract celebrated on the 28th of May of the same year, shall be submitted to the approbation of the President of the Union, and the definite acceptance of the Congress of the nation.

In witness whereof they sign the present in Bogotá on the 20th of March, 1878.

EUSTORGIO SALGAR.
LUCIEN N. B. WYSE.

BOGOTÁ, March 23, 1878.
Approved: The President of the Union,

AQUILEO PARRA. The Secretary of the Interior and of Foreign AfEUSTORGIO SALGAR.

fairs,

Toward the end of 1878 the political state of the country was reported as exceedingly satisfactory. The September elections in Cundinamarca had resulted in a majority in the Assembly in favor of the National Government; while those in Boyacá had returned but two members for the opposition. The elections in Santander had been acknowledged by the doctrinarios to be an additional triumph for the new administration.

A law was passed by the Colombian Congress on July 5, 1878, authorizing the appropriation of $25,000 and $5,000 respectively to be applied in behalf of the development of the agricultural interests of the republic, in accordance with sentiments expressed by President Trujillo in his message of May last respecting the establishment of gardens for the acclimatization of the quina-tree in the cities of Bogotá and Popayan.

COLORADO. The State election occurred on the first Tuesday in October. It was for the choice of a member of Congress and State officers. The Democratic Convention for the nomination of candidates was held at Pueblo on July 17th, and was permanently organized by the choice of M. B. Gerry as chairman. The following platform was adopted:

The Democracy of Colorado, in presenting their candidates to the people for their suffrages, solemnly renew their devotion to the Constitution and the Union, and affirm the following as the cardinal principles of the Democratic faith:

A strict construction of the Constitution with all its amendments; the supremacy of the civil over the military power; a complete severance of Church and State; the equality of all citizens before the law; opposition to all subsidies, monopolies, and class leg islation; the preservation of the public lands for the bona fide settler; the maintenance and protection of the common-school system; and unrestricted home rule under the Constitution to the citizens of every State in the American Union.

Resolved, That every honest voter should approve the investigation and thorough exposure of the monstrous frauds by which the will of the American people, as expressed at the ballot-box, was set aside, and their choice for President and Vice-President deprived of the high offices to which they were elected; and while we disclaim any purpose of interfering with the title of the fraudulent President (made valid by the order of Congress), to the end that such grave crimes against the Constitution and laws of the land may be rendered impossible in the future and their perpetrators made infamous for ever, we demand that such investigation be fair and searching, and the authors of the crimes be held to a full accountability under the law for their criminal action.

Resolved, That the commercial and industrial distress that has so long prevailed throughout the country is the legitimate result of the vicious financial legislation of the moneyed power, effected through the agency of the Republican party in Congress; that by the demonetization of silver, the enactment of the resumption law, the retirement and destruction of legal-tender notes, the exchange of bonds originally redeemable in greenbacks for those which (under the law) are to be redeemed in coin, and the maintenance of the national banking system, this same moneyed power have prostrated labor, bankrupted merchants, robbed widows and orphans, filled our poor-houses with paupers, transformed industrious men into tramps and outcasts, and filched from real estate and personal property (all over the land) more than one half of what ought to be the minimum

value.

Resolved, That unequal taxation is a plain violation of the fundamental law of right, and no republican form of government can long endure under which the property of one class is entirely exempt from taxation, while that of others must bear all the burdens; and we denounce as tyrannical and unjust in the extreme the action of the Republican party, by which hundreds of millions of dollars in national bonds have been exempt from taxation, while every other species of property must be taxed for their protection.

Resolved, That before trade and business enterprises can be checked in their downward course, an increase in the volume of the currency is imperatively required; that, as one measure for the end sought, we demand the free and unlimited coinage of silver, so that the owners of bullion may at pleasure have it coined into standard silver dollars at the mints of the United States, and, without further interference upon the part of the Government, circulate the same in the channels of trade and commerce; and

also that the Government shall issue to the depositors of silver bullion coin certificates for circulation as money; and we denounce as a cheat and fraud the Senate amendments to the silver bill passed by Congress, because they have enabled the Secretary of the Treasury to entirely control the coinage of silver and to hoard the same in the Treasury vaults, to the detriment of the business of the country.

Resolved, That, as further measures of relief and as acts of justice to the business and laboring classes, we demand:

1. The repeal of the resumption act, and the lawful liberation of the coin hoarded in the Treasury.,

2. The substitution of United States legal-tender paper for national-bank notes, and its permanent reestablishment as the sole paper money of the country, to be made receivable for all dues to the Government and of legal tender with coin, the amount of such issues to be so regulated by legislation or organic law as to give the people assurance of stability, in the volume of the currency and consequent stability of value.

3. It is the exclusive right and duty of Congress to furnish to the people of the country their circulating medium, whether the same be gold, silver, or paper; and it should always maintain the value of such currency so as to meet the demands of trade. The full faith and credit of the Government should be pledged to maintain whatever currency it may furnish, of equal value and of equal power.

4. No further increase in the bonded debt, and no further sale of bonds for the purchase of coin for resumption purposes.

5. A gradual extinction of the public debt by the redemption of the interest-bearing portion thereof in such currency as the law will permit-in United States notes where coin is not demanded by the letter of the law, and in silver equally with gold wherever coin is required.

6. A rigid economy in the management of our own affairs, both State and national, and a reduction of expenditures in every branch of the public service consistent with efficacy.

United States, except to execute the laws and mainResolved, That the employment of the army of the tain the public peace, is contrary to and destructive of the principles of free government, and we express our gratitude to the present Congress for the law making it illegal and punishable by fine and impris onment to use the army as a posse comitatus without the express authority of statute or of the Constitu

tion.

Resolved, That we condemn the extravagance and incompetence of the late Republican Legislature, as exhibited in the unnecessary and extraordinary length of its session, and the bungling and incomprehensible laws which it enacted. And we further condemn the Republican State officials for their attempt, under the guise of equalizing taxes, to add millions of dollars to the assessed value of property owned by our citizens, which was the subject of taxation.

Resolved, That a mint for coining gold and silver should at once be established in Colorado; and we most heartily commend the energetic and unremitting efforts of Hon. Thomas M. Patterson, our member of Congress, to procure the establishment of such mint in our State.

Thomas M. Patterson was renominated for Congress, and W. A. H. Loveland was nominated for Governor; for Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas M. Field; for Secretary of State, J. S. Wheeler; for State Treasurer, Nelson Hallock; for State Auditor, John H. Harrison; for Attorney-General, Caldwell Yeaman.

The Republican State Convention assembled at Denver on August 7th, and was organized

by the choice of James P. Maxwell as chairman. The following platform was adopted:

The Republicans of Colorado, in convention assembled, do hereby declare and resolve:

1. That the American people are one people; that the American States are a nation, the sovereignty of whose Government is supreme.

2. We demand the equality of all men before the law, that equal justice shall be done to all, and especial privileges conferred on none.

3. That in the present financial condition of the country and the Government, no subsidies in money, bonds, public lands, endorsement, or pledges of the public credit, should be granted by Congress to associations or corporations engaged in private enterprises, and that strict economy is demanded in the administration of public affairs, both State and national.

4. That it is the primary and sacred duty of the national Government to protect and maintain every citizen in all his civil, political, and public rights; and until this principle of the Constitution is cheerfully obeyed, and, if need be, vigorously enforced, the work of the Republican party is unfinished. The Republican party is committed to unremitting efforts to secure all the legitimate beneficial results of the late civil war, the sovereignty of the Union, equal rights for all citizens, untrammeled suffrage, and the redemption of every pledge made by the Government to those who furnished the means or gave their services to save the Union.

5. That we recognize the fact that while in Colorado, on account of its peculiar industry, labor is well rewarded, and the laborer still foundworthy of his bire," yet in many other sections of the country all branches of industry-manufacturing, mechanical, and mining-are at this time greatly depressed; and we deprecate any legislation that in its naturo must further unsettle values and bring the labor of America in competition with the ill-paid labor of the Old World; and since it is now necessary to raise a large part of our national revenues by a tariff on imports, we demand such duties on those imports as shall afford the greatest protection to American labor and productions, yet not be a burden on the con

sumer.

6. That the General Government should provide and be responsible for honest national money, sufficient for all the legitimate needs of the country, with gold, silver, and paper equal in value, and alike receivable for all debts, public and private. The interest-bearing debt of the nation should be as soon as possible reconverted into a popular loan, represented by small bonds, or notes within the reach of every citizen.

7. That the national honor and credit alike demand that the national debt be held sacred, to be paid as agreed upon at the time such debt was contracted.

8. That we approve of the action of the Republican Senate in attempting to make greenbacks receivable in payment of Government dues, and we denounce the action in the Democratic House in defeating that measure.

9. That while we demand rigid economy on the part of the Government, both State and national, in their expenditures, and such reduction of taxation as may be consistent therewith, we denounce the action of the Democratic House of Representatives in withholding proper and necessary appropriations under the specious cry of "economy" and reform," to the great inconvenience and detriment of the service, as the veriest claptrap, conclusively proved by their making good the deficits in a succeeding Congress by deficiency bills, a piece of trickery unworthy the legislation of a great and free country.

10. That the arid lands of Colorado, like the swamp-lands of other States, should be donated by the General Government to the State, for its benefit

and advantage, in aid of the construction of irrigating ditches and highways through the mineral regions of the State.

11. That we accept the resumption of specie payments as practically accomplished, and denounce the fraudulent practices of the Democratic party in now making war on the resumption of specie payments, after declaring, in 1872 and 1876, that the same ought to be brought about at the earliest practicable period.

12. That the army and navy of the nation have earned for themselves the admiration and gratitude of every true and patriotic citizen, and that they should be maintained in efficiency, and in such force as to protect the nation from attack without, and from commotion, treason, and rebellion within; and we condemn the present Democratic House in seeking to destroy the efficiency of both, especially while our brethren and their wives and children are being ruthlessly murdered by savages in the northwestern territory of the nation.

13. Inasmuch as the production of gold and silver constitutes one of the great industries of our country, and we are largely interested in everything which increases the demand therefor, we declare it to be the duty of the General Government to increase the coinage of the precious metals; and especially declare it to be the duty of Congress, without delay, to establish one or more coinage mints in Colorado, whereby the production of our own mines can be put into circulation bere, without the expense and annoyance of first shipping our bullion east for coinage and then back again for use.

14. That we view with alarm the growing tendency of great and powerful corporations to consolidate their capital and influence, in order to shut out competition on the great lines of trade and travel, and thus leave the people at the mercy of merciless speculators and unscrupulous but aspiring politicians. 15. That we also view with alarm the action of the present Democratic House of Representatives in seating a man as a member of that body who had not received, under the forms of law or otherwise, the endorsement of the people of his district. We declare the act a gross outrage upon a free people, subversive of the fundamental principle of a popular government; an act done in violation of right, justice, and law, in a partisan spirit, to accomplish partisan ends, and one which can not be too severely condemned by every honorable man, by every patriot and every lover of popular institutions.

16. That Thomas M. Patterson, by becoming a party to this great fraud and outrage perpetrated upon the people, and in accepting a seat in the House at the hands of an unscrupulous and partisan majority in that body to which he was in no sense entitled, and against the expressed wish of the people of Colorado, has forfeited their respect and confidence, and has well earned for himself the contempt of all honorable and high-minded men.

17. That we commend to our State government our system of free schools, and all our educational interests, which should be preserved, fostered, and built up with a faithful care and a generous liberality.

18. That the legislation of the nation should be such as to promote both the interests of capital and labor; that we are opposed to sumptuary laws and laws in the interest of any special class, and demand that legislation be in the interest of the whole people. 19. That we protest against the payment by the national Government of the millions of rebel claims already presented, and the billions more to be presented, if a precedent is once established by the payment of one dollar of these claims-claims that are at once illegal, presumptuous, and impudent. 20. Lastly, we affirm our unfaltering faith in the principles, the patriotism, and the political honesty of the Republican party, and in its preeminent fitness over all other parties to administer the govern

ment of both the State and the nation wisely and well; and in evidence thereof, we hereby pledge ourselves to do our utmost both to advance its principles and elect its nominees.

21. That in Governor Routt the Convention recognizes an executive who has faithfully, honestly, and well discharged the duties imposed on him, and has thus gained for himself what this Convention cheerfully accords to him, the confidence and the respect of the people of this State.

The nominations were as follows: for Congress, James B. Belford; for Governor, F. W. Pitkin; for Lieutenant-Governor, H. A. W. Tabor; for Secretary of State, M. H. Meldram; for Treasurer, U. S. Culver; for Auditor, E. K. Stimson; for Attorney-General, C. W. Wright. The Greenback State Convention assembled at Denver on August 14th; delegates were present from fourteen counties. It nominated R. G. Buckingham for Governor, P. A. Simmons for Lieutenant-Governor, J. E. Washburn for Secretary of State, W. D. Arnett for Treasurer, G. W. King for Auditor, Alpheus Wright for Attorney-General, and Childs for Congress.

The platform arraigned the Democrats for their advocacy and support of African slavery, teaching the wild and cruel phantasy that man could hold property in man, and the Republican party for legisĴation in the interest of the money power; demanded the issue by the Government of absolute paper money as a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, in sufficient volume for the entire needs of trade, and in payment of the whole of the interestbearing debt, and to be paid directly to the people without the intervention of banks or agents; tho immediate repeal or the resumption act and all laws authorizing the national banks; an enactment by Congress prohibiting any further issue of bonds, and a constitutional amendment making such issue impossible, and an income tax on all incomes above $1,000.

The election in October was the second one held for the choice of State officers. Besides these officers, a member of Congress and members of the State Legislature were also chosen. Unusual interest was awakened in the Congressional election, as the same individuals were candidates as at the previous election, and a contest had been raised by the Democrat as to the right of the Republican to the seat. This dispute came up in the session of Congress commencing in December, 1877. The contestants were James B. Belford and Thomas M. Patterson. The question was referred to the Committee on Elections, a majority of whom reported in favor of giving the seat to Mr. Patterson, three reported in favor of Mr. Belford, and one in favor of declaring a vacancy. The points of the case were as follows: On March 3, 1875, Congress passed an act to enable the people of the Territory of Colorado to form a State Constitution. This act contained the following section:

That until the next general census said State shall be entitled to one Representative in the House of Representatives of the United States, which Representative, together with the Governor, and State and other officers provided for in said Constitution, shall be elected on a day subsequent to the adoption of

the Constitution, and to be fixed by said Constitu tional Convention; and till such State officers are elected and qualified under the provisions of the Constitution, the Territorial officers shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices.

In the month of August, 1876, Colorado was admitted into the Union as a State. Upon the third day of October of that year a Representative to the Forty-fourth Congress was elected, and at the same time votes were cast for a Representative for the Forty-fifth Congress. Mr. Belford at that time received a majority of votes thus cast. On the 7th day of November of the same year an election was held in the State for the Forty-fifth Congress, at which Mr. Patterson received a majority of votes. Mr. Belford claimed the seat by virtue of the vote cast in October. Mr. Patterson claimed it by virtue of the election in November. The report of the Committee alleged that November 7, 1876, was the day fixed by law for the election of a Representative in the Forty-fifth Congress from Colorado. This was under the act of Congress passed February 2, 1872. The report of three members alleged that Octuber 3, 1876, was the day. This was under the enabling act and the State Constitution. The report of one member in favor of declaring a vacancy was made on the ground that by law no day was fixed on which a member of Congress could have been elected in Colorado. After a debate in the House of Representatives a resolution was adopted on December 13, 1877, giving the seat to Thomas M. Patterson by a vote of yeas 116, nays 110. This election of member of Congress was also regarded as important, as, in case the election of President in 1880 should devolve upon the House of Representatives, the vote of the single member from Colorado would have equal weight with that of the thirty-three from New York. The result of the State election was: Belford, 14, 294; Patterson, 12,003; Childs, 2,329. Bel ford's plurality, 2,289.

It would be the duty of the new Legislature to elect a member of the United States Senate in the place of Senator Chaffee, whose term would close on March 4, 1879. The total number of members to be chosen was sixty-three; twelve Senators held over, of whom eight were Republicans and four Democrats. To have a majority in the Legislature, it was necessary for the Republicans to elect thirty of the new members. In like manner, for the Democrats to have a majority, it was necessary for them to elect thirty-four of the new members. The Democrats elected three Senators and ten members of the House, and the Nationals one, leaving the Republicans in a large majority. For Regents of the University there were 26,880 Republican votes, 25,462 Democratic votes, and 2,886 National votes. The votes for other State officers are canvassed at the subsequent session of the Legislature. This commences on the first Wednesday of January, 1879, and is limited to forty days. The more important