Government and The legisla tive power is vested in the National Assembly (a single house), whose members (deputies) number one for every 20,000 inhabitants, and are elected for four years by popular vote. The executive power is vested in a president, elected for six years by direct vote of the people. The administration is carried on under the president, by secretaries of state,' each of whom has charge of a separate department (ministerio). These departments are: Government and Jus tice, Foreign Relations, Public Instruction, F'ro motion of Public Welfare (Fomento), Treas ury and Public Credit and War. The council of state is an advisory board, of which five members are chosen by the assembly and four, in addition to the Cabinet, appointed by the President.
The 'Political head' (fete Politico) of each department of the republic is appointed by the president, whose authority he exercises in pro vincial matters. The local officials locally elected are the Alcaldes (one or more for each municipal district) and the Regidores or mem bers of the municipal council (Alcalde and Reg idor correspond respectively to mayor and alder man).
The Supreme Court of justice consists of a chief justice and four associates, elected by the people. There are six courts of appeal, each consisting of a chief justice and two associates, also elected by the people. Courts of the first instance are 29 in number. Their judges are selected by the president among the candidates approved by the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Public instruction, supported by the govern ment, is secular and gratuitous; primary in struction is obligatory; free education is guaranteed by the constitution. The chief in stitutions for secondary education in Guatemala are the Central National Institute for Boys, with an enrollment in 1913 of 553 pupils: the Central National Institute for Girls, with 385 pupils; the National Institute and Normal School Annex for Boys, at Chiqumula, with 274 pupils; and a similar school for girls in the same city, with an enrollment of 80 pupils; the National Institute for Boys and Practical and Commercial School Annex at Quezaltenango, with 40 pupils. The national library contains 30,000 volumes and many valuable unpublished documents. Other libraries accessible to the public are those of the professional schools, the Supreme Court, national institute for men and academy of teachers. Public libraries are maintained in the larger towns. The national printing office at the capital is regarded as one of the best establishments of its kind in Latin America. More than 30 daily papers and other
periodicals are published in the country. The constitution guarantees liberty of conscience. The government is no creed. The pre vailing religion s Roman Catholicism.
AgricultUre, Commerce and Industries.— Coffee grows in the regions between 1,000 and 6,000 feet above the sea-level. The districts best suited for growing coffee are Antigua, Barberena, Costa Chuvii, Alta Verapaz, Costa Cuca, Costa Grande, Pochuta and Tumbador. The total production for the 1916-17 season was 80,000,000 pounds valued at from $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 gold. The average yield per acre was approximately 800 to 830 pounds, the total area under coffee cultivation being 98,800 acres. Germans own and control between 50 and 60 per cent of the coffee plantations; only a very small proportion represents American invest ments. In 1915 the United States took 66 per cent of the crop, and between 75 and 80 per cent the year following, the going to the Scandinavian countries. Sugar cane grows between sea-level and 5,000 feet. In 1915, 30,000,000 pounds of sugar were produced, an increase of 20 per cent over the crop of 1914. The bulk of this production was ex ported to the United States and British Colum bia. Cacao grows in the lowlands or those regions having an altitude of less than 3.000 feet. Tobacco and wheat are also produced in large quantities. Corn or maize and beans or frijoles form almost exclusively the daily food of nearly three-fourths of the people of Guatemala. The production of corn is suf ficient for local consumption, amounting to 600,000,000 pounds. a yield of 1,300 to 1,800 pounds per acre annually. Of beans the an nual production is about 180,000,000 pounds. Stock-raising has been encouraged in the de partments of Izabal, Zacapa, Peten and Alta Verapaz, by decrees authorizing the political chiefs of those departments to make grants of land to persons who establish ranches. Money premiums have been offered to cultivators of India rubber, cacao, sarsaparilla and hemp; grants of land to those who engage in the cultivation of wheat and bananas. Proprietors of large cotton or tobacco plantations, and reliable day laborers on large plantations of coffee, sugar cane, bananas or cacao, are ex empted from military service. No tax of any kind is levied for 10 years upon plantations of hemp, flax, ramie, cotton, grapes and several other products. The chicle industry is growing fast, particularly in Peten. In 1915, 7,238 quintals, valued at $231,624, were exported.