Part 19

_Industries._--Stock-raising was one of the earliest industries of the country after that of mining. Horses, formerly successfully raised in certain parts of the north, have not flourished there since the introduction of a _peste_ from Brazil, but some are now raised in La Paz and other departments of the temperate region. The Jesuit founders of the Mojos missions took cattle with them when they entered that region to labour among the Indians, with the result that the Mojos and Chiquitos llanos were soon well stocked, and have since afforded an unfailing supply of beef for the neighbouring inland markets. Their inaccessibility and the costs of transportation have prevented a development of the industry and a consequent improvement in stock, but the persistency of the industry under conditions so unfavourable is evidence that the soil and climate are suited to its requirements. Farther south the llanos of Chuquisaca and Tarija also sustain large herds of cattle on the more elevated districts, and on the well-watered plains of the Chaco. There are small districts in La Paz, Potosi and Cochabamba, also, where cattle are raised. Apart from the cattle driven into the mining districts for consumption, a number of _saladeros_ are employed in preparing (usually salting and sun-drying) beef for the home markets. The hides are exported. Goats are raised in the warm and temperate regions, and sheep for their wool in the latter. On the higher and colder plateaus much attention is given to the breeding of llamas and alpacas. Another industry of a different character is that of breeding the fur-bearing chinchilla (_C. laniger_), which is a native of the higher plateaus. The Bolivian government has prohibited the exportation of the live animals and is encouraging their production.

The agricultural resources of the republic are varied and of great value, but their development has been slow and hesitating. The cultivation of cereals, fruits and vegetables in the temperate and warm valleys of the Andes followed closely the mining settlements. Sugar-cane also was introduced at an early date, but as the demand for sugar was limited the product was devoted chiefly to the manufacture of rum, which is the principal object of cane cultivation in Bolivia to-day. The climatic conditions are highly favourable for this product in eastern Bolivia, but it is heavily taxed and is restricted to a small home market. Rice is another exotic grown in the tropical districts of eastern Bolivia, but the quantity produced is far from sufficient to meet local requirements. Tobacco of a fair quality is produced in the warm regions of the east, including the _yungas_ valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; cacao of a superior grade is grown in the department of Beni, where large orchards were planted at the missions, and also in the warm Andean valleys of La Paz and Cochabamba; and coffee of the best flavour is grown in some of the warmer districts of the eastern Andes. The two indigenous products which receive most attention, perhaps, are those of quinoa and coca. Quinoa is grown in large quantities, and is a staple article of food among the natives. Coca is highly esteemed by the natives, who masticate the leaf, and is also an article of export for medicinal purposes. It is extensively cultivated in the departments of Cochabamba and La Paz, especially in the province of Yungas.

In the exploitation of her forest products, however, are to be found the industries that yield the greatest immediate profit to Bolivia. The most prominent and profitable of these is that of rubber-collecting, which was begun in Bolivia between 1880 and 1890, and which reached a registered annual output of nearly 3500 metric tons just before Bolivia's best rubber forests were transferred to Brazil in 1903. There still remain extensive areas of forest on the Beni and Madre de Dios in which the rubber-producing _Hevea_ is to be found. Although representing less value in the aggregate, the collecting of cinchona bark is one of the oldest forest industries of Bolivia, which is said still to have large areas of virgin forest to draw upon. The Bolivian product is of the best because of the high percentage of quinine sulphate which it yields. The industry is destructive in method, and the area of cinchona forests is steadily diminishing. Many other Bolivian plants are commercially valuable, and organized industry and trade in them will certainly be profitable.

The industrial activities of the Bolivian people are still of a very primitive character. An act was passed in 1894 authorizing the government to offer premiums and grant advantageous concessions for the development of manufacturing industries, especially in sugar production, but conditions have not been favourable and the results have been disappointing. Spinning and weaving are carried on among the people as a household occupation, and fabrics are made of an exceptionally substantial character. It is not uncommon to see the natives busily twirling their rude spindles as they follow their troops of pack animals over rough mountain roads, and the yarn produced is woven into cloth in their own houses on rough Spanish looms of colonial patterns. Not only is coarse cloth for their own garments made in this manner from the fleece of the llama, but cotton and woollen goods of a serviceable character are manufactured, and still finer fabrics are woven from the wool of the alpaca and vicuna, sometimes mixed with silk or lamb's wool. The Indian women are expert weavers, and their handiwork often commands high prices. In the Mojos and Chiquitos districts the natives were taught by the Jesuit missionaries to weave an excellent cotton cloth, and the industry still exists. Cashmere, baize, waterproof _ponchos_ of fine wool and silk, and many other fabrics are made by the Indians of the Andean departments. They are skilled in the use of dyes, and the Indian women pride themselves on a large number of finely-woven, brilliantly-coloured petticoats. Tanning and saddlery are carried on by the natives with primitive methods, but with excellent results. They are skilful in the preparation of lap robes and rugs from the skins of the alpaca and vicuna. The home markets are supplied, by native industry, with cigars and cigarettes, soap, candles, hats, gloves, starch, cheese and pottery. Sugar is still made in the old way, and there is a small production of wine and silk in certain districts. No country is better supplied with water power, and electric lighting and electric power plants have been established at La Paz.

_Commerce._--The foreign trade of Bolivia is comparatively unimportant, but the statistical returns are incomplete and unsatisfactory; the imports of 1904 aggregated only L1,734,551 in value, and the exports only L1,851,758. The imports consisted of cottons, woollens, live-stock, provisions, hardware and machinery, wines, spirits and clothing. The principal exports were (in 1903) silver and its ores (L636,743), tin and its ores (L1,039,298), copper ores (L157,609), bismuth (L16,354), other minerals (L20,948), rubber (L260,559), coca (L28,907), and cinchona (L9197)--total exports, L2,453,638. These figures, however, do not correctly represent the aggregates of Bolivian trade, as her imports and exports passing through Antofagasta, Arica and Mollendo are to a large extent credited to Chile and Peru. The import trade of Bolivia is restricted by the poverty of the people. The geographical position limits the exports to mineral, forest and some pastoral products, owing to cost of transportation and the tariffs of neighbouring countries.

_Government._--The government of Bolivia is a "unitarian" or centralized republic, representative in form, but autocratic in some important

## particulars. The constitution in force (1908) was adopted on the 28th of

October 1880, and is a model in form and profession. The executive branch of the government is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by direct popular vote for a period of four years, and are not eligible for re-election for the next succeeding term. The president is assisted by a cabinet of five ministers of state, viz.: foreign relations and worship; finance and industry; interior and fomento; justice and public instruction; war and colonization. Every executive act must be countersigned by a minister of state, who is held responsible for its character and enforcement, and may be prosecuted before the supreme court for its illegality and effects. The legislative branch is represented by a national congress of two houses--a Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Senate is composed of 16 members, two from each department, who are elected by direct popular vote for a period of six years, one-third retiring every two years. The Chamber of Deputies is composed of 72 members, who are elected for a period of four years, one-half retiring every two years. In impeachment trials the Chamber prosecutes and the Senate sits as a court, as in the United States. One of the duties of the Chamber is to elect the justices of the supreme court. Congress meets annually and its sessions are for sixty days, which may be extended to ninety days. The chambers have separate and concurrent powers defined by the constitution. The right of suffrage is exercised by all male citizens, twenty-one years of age, or over, if single, and eighteen years, or over, if married, who can read and write, and own real estate or have an income of 200 bolivianos a year, said income not to be compensation for services as a servant. The electoral body is therefore small, and is under the control of a political oligarchy which practically rules the country, no matter which party is in power.

The Bolivian judiciary consists of a national supreme court, eight superior district courts, lower district courts, and _juzgados de instruccion_ for the investigation and preparation of cases. The _corregidores_ and _alcaldes_ also exercise the functions of a justice of the peace in the cantons and rural districts. The supreme court is composed of seven justices elected by the Chamber of Deputies from lists of three names for each seat sent in by the Senate. A justice can be removed only by impeachment proceedings before the Senate.

The supreme administration in each department is vested in a prefect appointed by and responsible solely to the president. As the prefect has the appointment of subordinate department officials, including the _alcaldes_, the authority of the national executive reaches every hamlet in the republic, and may easily become autocratic. There are no legislative assemblies in the departments, and their government rests with the national executive and congress. Subordinate to the prefects are the sub-prefects in the provinces, the _corregidores_ in the cantons and the _alcaldes_ in the rural districts--all appointed officials. The national territory adjacent to Brazil and Peru is governed by two _delegados nacionales_, appointees of the president. The department capitals are provided with municipal councils which have jurisdiction over certain local affairs, and over the construction and maintenance of some of the highways.

_Army._--The military forces of the republic in 1905 included 2890 regulars and an enrolled force of 80,000 men, divided into a first reserve of 30,000, a second reserve of 40,000, and 10,000 territorial guards. The enrolled force is, however, both unorganized and unarmed. The strength of the army is fixed in each year's budget. That for 1903 consisted of 2933 officers and men, of which 275 were commissioned and 558 non-commissioned officers, 181 musicians, and only 1906 rank and file. A conscription law of 1894 provides for a compulsory military service between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years, with two years' actual service in the regulars for those between twenty-one and twenty-five, but the law is practically a dead letter. There is a military school with 60 cadets, and an arsenal at La Paz.

_Education._--Although Bolivia has a free and compulsory school system, education and the provision for education have made little progress. Only a small percentage of the people can read and write. Although Spanish is the language of the dominant minority, Quichua, Aymara and Guarani are the languages of the natives, who form a majority of the population. A considerable percentage of the Indians do not understand Spanish at all, and they even resist every effort to force it upon them. Even the _cholos_ (mestizos) are more familiar with the native idioms than with Spanish, as is the case in some parts of Argentina and Paraguay. According to official estimates for 1901, the total number of primary schools in the republic was 733, with 938 teachers and 41,587 pupils--the total cost of their maintenance being estimated at 585,365 bolivianos, or only 14.07 bolivianos per pupil (about L1:4:6). The school enrolment was only one in 43.7 of population, compared with one in 10 for Argentina. The schools are largely under the control of the municipalities, though nearly half of them are maintained by the national government, by the Church and by private means. There were in the same year 13 institutions of secondary and 14 of superior instruction. The latter include so-called universities at Sucre (Chuquisaca), La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosi, Santa Cruz and Oruro--all of which give instruction in law, the first three in medicine and the first four in theology. The university at Sucre, which dates from colonial times, and that at La Paz, are the only ones on the list sufficiently well equipped to merit the title. Secondary instruction is under the control of the universities, and public instruction in general is under the direction of a cabinet minister. All educational matters, however, are practically under the supervision of the Church. The total appropriation for educational purposes in 1901 was 756,943 bolivianos, or L66,232:6s. There are a military academy at La Paz, an agricultural school at Umala in the department of La Paz, a mining and civil engineering school at Oruro, commercial schools at Sucre and Trinidad, and several mission schools under the direction of religious orders.

_Religion._--The constitution of Bolivia, art. 2, defines the attitude of the republic toward the Church in the following words:--"The state recognizes and supports the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion, the public exercise of any other worship being prohibited, except in the colonies where it is tolerated." This toleration is tacitly extended to resident foreigners belonging to other religious sects. The census of 1900 enumerated the Roman Catholic population at 1,609,365, and that of other creeds at 24,245, which gives the former 985 and the latter 15 in every thousand. The domesticated Indians profess the Roman Catholic faith, but it is tinged with the superstitions of their ancestors. They hold the clergy in great fear and reverence, however, and are deeply influenced by the forms and ceremonies of the church, which have changed little since the first Spanish settlements. Bolivia is divided into an archbishopric and three bishoprics. The first includes the departments of Chuquisaca, Oruro, Potosi, Tarija and the Chilean province of Antofagasta, with its seat at Sucre, and is known as the archbishopric of La Plata. The sees of the three bishoprics are La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Mission work among the Indians is entrusted to the _Propaganda Fide_, which has five colleges and a large number of missions, and receives a small subvention from the state. It is estimated that these missions have charge of fully 20,000 Indians. The annual appropriation for the Church is about L17,150. The religious orders, which have never been suppressed in Bolivia, maintain several convents.

_Finance._--No itemized returns of receipts and expenditures are ever published, and the estimates presented to congress by the cabinet ministers furnish the only source from which information can be drawn. The expenditures are not large, and taxation is not considered heavy. The estimated revenues and expenditures for 1904 and 1905 at 21 pence per boliviano, were as follows: 1904, revenue L632,773:15s., expenditure L748,571:10s.; 1905, revenue L693,763:17:6, expenditure L828,937:19:9. The revenues are derived principally from duties and fees on imports, excise taxes on spirits, wines, tobacco and sugar, general, mining taxes and export duties on minerals (except silver), export duties on rubber and coca, taxes on the profits of stock companies, fees for licences and patents, stamp taxes, and postal and telegraph revenues. Nominally, the import duties are moderate, so much so that Bolivia is sometimes called a "free-trade country," but this is a misnomer, for in addition to the schedule rates of 10 to 40% _ad valorem_ on imports, there are a consular fee of 1-1/2% for the registration of invoices exceeding 200 bolivianos, a consumption tax of 10 centavos per quintal (46 kilogrammes), fees for viseing certificates to accompany merchandise in transit, special "octroi" taxes on certain kinds of merchandise controlled by monopolies (spirits, tobacco, &c.), and the import and consumption taxes levied by the departments and municipalities. The expenditures are chiefly for official salaries, subsidies, public works, church and mission support, justice, public instruction, military expenses, and interest on the public debt. The appropriations for 1905 were as follows: war, 2,081,119 bolivianos; finance and industry, 1,462,259; government and fomento, 2,021,428; justice and public instruction, 1,878,941.

The acknowledged public debt of the country is comparatively small. At the close of the war with Chile there was an indemnity debt due to citizens of that republic of 6,550,830 bolivianos, which had been nearly liquidated in 1904 when Chile took over the unpaid balance. This was Bolivia's only foreign debt. In 1905 her internal debt, including 1,998,500 bolivianos of treasury bills, amounted to 6,243,270 bolivianos (L546,286). The government in 1903 authorized the issue of treasury notes for the department of Beni and the National Territory to the amount of one million bolivianos (L87,500), for the redemption of which 10% of the customs receipts of the two districts is set apart. The paper currency of the republic consists of bank-notes issued by four private banks, and is therefore no part of the public debt. The amount in circulation on the 30th of June 1903 was officially estimated at 9,144,254 bolivianos (L800,122), issued on a par with silver. The coinage of the country is of silver, nickel and copper. The silver coins are of the denominations of 1 boliviano, or 100 centavos, 50, 20, 10 and 5 centavos, and the issue of these coins from the Potosi mint is said to be about 1,500,000 bolivianos a year. The silver mining companies are required by law to send to the mint 20% of their product. The silver boliviano, however, is rarely seen in circulation because of the cheaper paper currency. To check the exportation of silver coin, the fractional denominations have been slightly debased. The nickel coins are of 5 and 10 centavos, and the copper 1 and 2 centavos.

The departmental revenues, which are derived from excise and land taxes, mining grants, tithes, inheritance taxes, tolls, stamp taxes, subsidies from the national treasury and other small taxes, were estimated at 2,296,172 bolivianos in 1903, and the expenditures at 2,295,791 bolivianos. The expenditures were chiefly for justice, police, public works, public instruction and the Church. The municipal revenues aggregated 2,317,670 bolivianos in 1902, and the expenditures 61,510 bolivianos in excess of that sum. These revenues are derived from a lighting tax, leases and ground rents, cemetery fees, consumption and market taxes, licences, tolls, taxes on hides and skins, personal and various minor taxes. There is a multiplication of taxes in trade which recalls the old colonial _alcabala_ tax, and it serves to restrict commerce and augment the cost of goods in much the same way, if not to the same degree.

AUTHORITIES.--M.V. Ballivian, _Apuntes sobre la industria de goma elastica, &c._ (La Paz, 1896); _Noticia Politica, Geografica, Industrial, y Estadistica de Bolivia_ (La Paz, 1900); _Breves Indicaciones para el Inmigrante y el Viajero a Bolivia_ (La Paz, 1898); _Monografias de la Industria Minera en Bolivia_, three parts (La Paz, 1899-1900); _Relaciones Geograficas de Bolivia existentes en el Archivo de la Oficina Nacional de Inmigracion, &c._ (La Paz, 1898); M.V. Ballivian and Eduardo Idiaquez, _Diccionario Geografico de la Republica de Bolivia_ (La Paz, 1900); Andre Bresson, _Sept annees d'explorations, de voyages et de sejours dans l'Amerique australe_ (Paris, 1886); Enrique Bolland, _Exploraciones practicadas en el Alto Paraguay y en la Laguna Gaiba_ (Buenos Aires, 1901); G.E. Church _The Route to Bolivia via the River Amazon_ (London, 1877); G.E. Church, "Bolivia by the Rio de la Plata Route," _Geogr. Jour._ xix. pp. 64-73 (London, 1902); C.B. Cisneros and R.E. Garcia, _Geografia Comercial de la America del Sur_ (Lima, 1898); Sir W.M. Conway, _Climbing and Exploration in the Bolivian Andes_ (London, 1903); M. Dalence, _Bosquejo estadistico de Bolivia_ (Chuquisaca, 1878); J.L. Moreno, _Nociones de geografia de Bolivia_ (Sucre, 1889); Edward D. Mathews, _Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers, through Bolivia and Peru_ (London, 1879); Carlos Matzenauer, _Bolivia in historischer, geographischer und cultureller Hinsicht_ (Vienna, 1897); M.F. Soldan, _Narracion de Guerra de Chile contra Peru y Bolivia_ (La Paz, 1884); C.M. Pepper, _Panama to Patagonia_ (Chicago, 1906); A. Petrocokino, _Along the Andes, in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador_ (London, 1903); Comte C. d'Ursel, _Sud Amerique: Sejours et voyages au Bresil, en Bolivie, &c._ (Paris, 1879); Charles Wiener, _Perou et Bolivie_ (Paris, 1880); _Bolivia, Geographical Sketch, Natural Resources, &c._, Intern. Bur. of the American Republics (Washington, 1904); _Boletin de la Oficina Nacional de Inmigracion, Estadistica y Propaganda Geografica_ (La Paz); _Sinopsis estadistica y geografica de la Republica de Bolivia_ (3 vols., La Paz, 1902-1904); G. de Crequi-Montfort, "Exploration en Bolivie," in _La Geographie_, ix. pp. 79-86 (Paris, 1904); M. Neveau-Lemaire, "Le Titicaca et le Poopo," &c., in _La Geographie_, ix. pp. 409-430 (Paris, 1904); _British Foreign Office Diplomatic and Consular Reports_ (London); _United States Consular Reports_; Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_, vol. i., _South and Central America_ (London, 1904). For Geology see A. d'Orbigny, _Voyage dans l'Amerique meridionale_, vol. iii. pt. iii. (Paris, 1842); D. Forbes, "On the Geology of Bolivia and Peru," _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._ vol. xvii. (London, 1861), pp. 7-62, pls. i.-iii.; A. Ulrich, "Palaeozoische Versteinerungen aus Bolivien," _Neues Jahrb. f. Min._ Band viii. (1893), pp. 5-116, pls. i.-v.; G. Steinmann, &c., "Geologie des sudostlichen Boliviens," _Centralb. f. Min., Jahrg._ (1904), pp. 1-4. (A. J. L.)

HISTORY

The country now forming the republic of Bolivia, named after the great liberator Simon Bolivar (q.v.), was in early days simply a portion of the empire of the Incas of Peru (q.v.). After the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards in the 16th century the natives were subjected to much tyranny and oppression, though it must in fairness be said that much of it was carried out in defiance of the efforts and the wishes of the Spanish home government, whose legislative efforts to protect the Indians from serfdom and ill-usage met with scant respect at the hands of the distant settlers and mine-owners, who bid defiance to the humane and protective regulations of the council of the Indies, and treated the unhappy natives little better than beasts of burden. The statement, moreover, that some eight millions of Indians perished through forced labour in the mines is a gross exaggeration. The annual diminution in the number of the Indian population was undoubtedly very great, but it was due far more to the result of European epidemics and to indulgence in alcohol than to hard work. The abortive insurrection of 1780-82, led by the Inca Tupac Amaru, was never a general rising, and was directed rather against Creole tyranny than against Spanish rule. The heavy losses sustained by the Indians during that outbreak, and their dislike and distrust of the colonial Spaniard, account for the comparative indifference with which they viewed the rise and progress of the 1814 colonial revolt against Spain, which gave the South American states their independence.

War of Independence.