Six Provinces and six Districts; area, 19,325 square miles; population (1912) 675,000. Capital: Santo Domingo. National colors: Blue, red, white. President (provisional)... Adolfo A. Nouel Seated December 1, 1912. Term, six years. Salary, $10,800 per annum. Secretary of Fomento (Promotion) and Communication. Constitution and Government. .A. J. Montolio Arturo Grullon . Eduardo Ricart .Elias Blache ..M. J. Vinas ..S. Moya Jose M. Jimenez The Constitution bears the date of November 6, 1844, and was modified the last time April 1, 1908. The President is elected for six years by indirect vote of the nation. In case of the death or disability of the President, Congress designates a person to take charge of the executive office. The Congress is composed of a chamber of twenty-four members (two for each province and district), elected for four years by indirect vote of the nation, and a Senate of twelve members (one for each province and district), elected for six years, onethird being renewed every two years. Suffrage is free to all male citizens over eighteen years of age. Congress meets annually at the capital on February 27 for a period of ninety days, which may be extended for sixty days more. Military Service. The personnel of the army is about 1,300. There is also a rural guard with a force of 906 officers and men. The navy consists of six vessels, four of which are revenue cutters. Communications. Railways, 150 miles owned by the government and about 225 miles private lines on the large estates. Telegraph, 1,074 miles telegraph lines. Post, 85 offices. Inaugurated August 31, 1912. Term, four years. Salary, 24,000 sucres ($12,000). Vice-President By the Constitution of 1830, modified in 1897 and 1906, the executive is vested in a President, elected for a term of four years. The Vice-President is elected in the same manner for a term of four years, but two years after that of the President, so that he is a member of two distinct administrations. In case of the death or disability of the President and Vice-President the President of the Senate or of the Chamber of Deputies, in their respective order, exercises The third oldest university in the world is the University of Bologna, Italy, which was founded in 1119. the executive power. The legislative power is given to a Congress of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate has thirty-two members (two for each province), elected for four years; the Chamber of Deputies is composed of forty-eight members (one representative to every 30,000 of pouplation), elected for two years. Congress meets on the 10th of August of every year, at Quito, for sixty days. Senators must be over thirty-five years of age. Both Senators and Deputies are elected by citizens over twenty-one years of age who can read and write. Military Service. The permanent army in 1910 consisted of 7,810 officers and men and the first and second reserves, of about 100,000. The navy consists of one cruiser, a torpedo destroyer, one torpedo boat, three launches and one auxiliary cruiser, with a total force of about 200 men. Communications. Railways, 350 miles. Telegraph, 2.608 miles of telegraph lines, with sixty offices. Telephone, two telephone systems, with 400 subscribers. President. Twenty-one Departments. Area, 48,290 square miles. Population (estimated 1910), 1,992,000. Capital: Guatemala. National colors: Red, white, yellow, blue. ..Manuel Estrada Cabrera Re-elected April 3, 1910, for a third term. Inaugurated March 11, 1911. Term of office, six years. Salary, 60,000 pesos (about $3,600). Secretary of Foreign Relations. Cabinet. Secretary of Government and Justice. Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit. Secretary of Public Instruction (in charge) Constitution' and Government. .Gen. Mariano Serrano Gen. Manuel Duarte Luis Toledo Herrarte Jose M. Reina Andrade Guillermo Aguirre Gen. Luis Övalle Joaquin Mendez Joaquin Mendez The republic is governed under a Constitution proclaimed 1879, and modified 1885, 1887, 1889 and 1903. The President, elected for 6 years by universal suffrage, may be re-elected after the expiration of his term of office. Congress is composed of a National Assembly of 69 members (one for every 20,000 inhabitants), chosen by universal suffrage for 4 years, and a Council of State of 13 members, partly elected by the National Assembly, partly appointed by the President of the republic. Every citizen over 21 years of age is eligible as an elector. The National Assembly meets annually in the city of Guatemala March 1 for a period of two months, which may be extended for another thirty days. Military Service. on All able-bodied men who pay less than 50 pesos annual taxes, unless they be the only sons or superior officials, are liable to military service from the eighteenth to the thirtieth year in the active army, and from the twentysixth to the fiftieth year in the reserve force. The active army consists of 7,000 officers and men; the reserve and auxiliary force of 30,000. Communications. Railways, 450 miles. Telegraph, 200 offices and lines aggregating 4,000 miles. Post, 200 offices. Tancrede Auguste Term of office, seven years. Salary, $24,000. Elected August 8, 1912. The fall of water at the Iguazu Cataract, in the Argentine Republic, is estimated at 140,000,000 tons an hour. Nicholas Leger Edmond Lespinasse Secretary of Public Works and Agriculture. Under the Constitution of October 9, 1908, the legislative power is vested in a chamber of the Communes, composed of 96 members (one for each Commune) elected for 3 years by direct popular vote of all Haitiens over 21 years of age, and a Senate composed of 39 members and chosen from a list made out partly by the President and partly by the electors. The Senators, whose office is for 6 years, are renewed to the extent of one-third every 2 years. Representatives must be 25 years of age, Senators 30 years of age. The two chambers meet on the first Monday in April of every year for a period of three months, and in joint session are empowered to elect the President. Members of both houses receive $150 per month during session. Military Service. The army is recruited by conscription or voluntary enlistment. Military service is seven years for conscripts and four years for volunteers. The army, in addition to 2,000 grendarmes, has 12,060 officers and men. The navy comprises six cruisers. Communications. Railways, 64 miles. Post, 30 offices. Telegraph, 124 miles of telegraph lines. Trade with the United States. President HONDURAS. Seventeen Departments and one Territory. Area, 46,250 square miles. Population, 1910, 553,446. Vice-President Inaugurated February 1, 1912. Dr. Manuel Bonilla Dr. Francisco Bogran The President receives an annual salary, with allowances, amounting to 42,000 pesos ($16,800). Cabinet. Minister of Foreign Relations, Government and Justice. Fausto Davila Constitution and Government. Gen. Maximo B. Rosales The republio is governed under the charter of 1894, amended in 1904, and in force again since 1907. The President and Vice President, nominated and elected by popular vote for 4 years, must be native citizens of Honduras and at least 30 years of age. Congress is composed of 42 members, is chosen for 4 years directly by popular vote, at the rate of one deputy for every 10,000 inhabitants, and meets for 60-90 days on January 1 each year. For the electoral right, as well as for eligibility to Congress, the age of 21 is required (or 18 for married citizens who can read and write). Military Service. Every citizen must serve in the standing army from the age of 21 to 35, and in the reserve from the age of 35 to 40. Exempt from service are foreigners and naturalized citizens only during the first ten years of citizenship. The standing army numbers about 2,000 and the reserve has 54,000 officers and men. Communications. Railway, 106 miles; Post, 264 offices; Telegraph, 3,220 miles of telegraph lines, with 226 offices. Telephone, 100 miles of line and 95 stations. The capital invested in the manufacture of women's clothing in the United States was $129,301,000 in 1909. MEXICO. The territory of the United Mexican States is divided into twenty-seven states, three territories and one federal district, whose organization follows to a great extent that of the American Union. The area of the republic is 767,097 square miles. The population of the entire republic was 13,545,462 in 1905 and 15,063,207 in 1910. The population of the Federal District in 1910 was 719,052, and of the City of Mexico (capital), 470,659. President. Capital: City of Mexico. National colors: Green, white, red. The President's salary is $25,000. (Inaugurated November 5, 1911.) .Jose Pino Suarez For an account of the various unsuccessful revolutions that disturbed Mexico since the beginning of the Madero government see Index, "Important Events of 1912." Under the Constitution of February, 1857, modified last in April, 1904, Congress is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, the former consisting of fifty-six members (two for each state and the Federal district), elected indirectly for a term of four years, one-half of the Senate being renewed every two years. Senators must be at least thirty years of age. The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 233 members (one Deputy for every 40,000 inhabitants or fraction exceeding 20,000), elected indirectly for two years by popular vote. Electors as well as eligibles are all married Mexicans from the eighteenth year of age and unmarried males from the age of twenty-one. A permanent committee, consisting of fifteen Deputies and fourteen Senators, represents Congress during recess and is consulted by the President on all matters affecting legislation. The President and Vice-President of the republic are chosen by electors for a term of six years. The President receives a salary of 50,000 pesos ($25,000), the Secretaries of State 15,000 pesos each. Under the amended articles 98 and 109 of the Federal constitution the President and Vice-President will enter office on December 1, and are not eligible for re-election. The President is not eligible for election as Vice-President for the succeeding term, nor can the Vice-President be elected President for the following term. The Secretary of "Despacho" in charge of the executive power at the time of holding the elections is ineligible for election as President or Vice-President. Governors of States are elected in the same manner as the President of the Republic, as are also the legislators and the judiciary of each state. The territories are administered by Governors appointed by the President, while the government of the Federal District, which includes the capital, Mexico City, is in the hands of three officials, likewise appointed by the President. Military Service. The Enlistment in the service is voluntary, but is supplemented by conscription. The army is divided into the active army, the reserve and the auxiliary troops. permanent army consists of 28 battalions of infantry, 14 regiments of cavalry, 8 field batteries, 4 mountain batteries, 4 batteries of horse artillery, 1 machine gun company, 1 squadron of 16 quick firing guns, 6 companies of engineers and 2 transport companies. The full strength of the army in September, 1912, was given officially as 6,343 officers and 49,332 men. The navy of the republic, though unpretentious, is quite sufficient to protect its coast line of some 5,518 miles in case of emergency. The vessels which she possesses are destined for purposes of instruction, patrol duty and transport service. The principal classifications of her men-of-war include 9 gunboats, 5 torpedo boats and 1 protected cruiser. Communications. Railways, 24,559 miles. Post, 2,856 offices. Telegraph, 491 stations, 6 wireless telegraph stations. Telephone, 23 stations. The immigrants into Canada in the fiscal year ending March 31, 1910, numbered 208,794, of whom 108.798 were from the United States. NICARAGUA. Thirteen Departments, three Districts and two Camarcas. Area, 49,200 square miles. Population (estimated 1910), 600,000. President Vice-President Capital: Managua. Adolfo Diaz .. Fernando Solorzano ..Diego M. Chamorro Pedro Rafaelo Cuadra Alfonso Ayon .Luis Mena Alejandro Canton The republic is under the government of the amended Constitution of March 30, 1905. The President, who must be at least 25 years of age and a citizen of Nicaragua, or of one of the republics of Central America, is elected for 6 years by universal suffrage. The Legislature, composed of 36 members, is elected for 6 years by the 36 provinces, and meets every 2 years on September 1 for a period of 90 days, but may at any time be convoked by the President. Military Service. The active army consists of about 4,000 men, and the reserve force of about 36,000 additional, military service for at least one year being compulsory. Communications. Railway, 171 miles. Post, 135 offices. Telegraph, 130 offices, with 3,637 miles of wire. Telephone, 805 miles telephone lines, with 29 stations. Panama, since November 3, 1903, a republic independent of Colombia, is divided into the following seven provinces: Panama, Colon, Cocle, Los Santos, Veraguas, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro, comprising an area of 32,380 square miles, with a population (estimated, 1910) of 419,029. On November 3, 1903, a revolution broke out in the City of Panama, which soon spread to other parts of the State of Panama and resulted in the complete obliteration of Colombian sovereignty. Independence was proclaimed by a provisional junta, composed of José Augustin Aranjo, Federico Boyd and Tomas Arias. One of the first acts of the new Panama government was to propose the conclusion of an Isthmian Canal treaty with the United States. A special commission, consisting of Federico Boyd, a member of the provisional junta, and Dr. Manuel Amador, Minister of Finance, was sent to Washington to conduct the negotiations. A canal treaty was drawn and signed in Washington on November 18. It was ratified by the Panama government on December 2, 1903, and was submitted for ratification to the United States Senate by President Roosevelt on December 7. This convention, the full text of which can be found under "Treaties Ratified, second session 58th Congress," page 87, Tribune Almanac for 1905, was approved by the Senate on February 23, 1904. For Panama Canal see under "Isthmian Canal Zone." Constitution and Government. Under the constitution of Panama promulgated on February 13, 1904, the President is elected for a term of four years by popular vote, and he cannot be re-elected for the term immediately following his own. His salary is $18,000 The centenary of Norway's adoption of a constitution will be celebrated by a national exposition at Christiania, May 15 to September 30, 1914. |