The constitution adopted 28 Oct. 1880 provides for a government em bracing a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Cabinet of six ministers, a Senate and a Cham ber of Deputies. The President and Vice-Pres idents are elected for four years by popular vote. They are not eligible for re-election for the term immediately following. All unmarried males over 22, and married men over 18, who can read and write and own real estate, or have annual income of $40, are entitled to vote. The cabinet is appointed by the President. The Sen ate consists of 16 members (two from each department) elected for six years, one-third retiring every two years. There are 75 mem bers of the Chamber of Deputies, elected for four years, one-half retiring every two years. The Senate and Chamber meet annually for 60 days, or, when public business requires, for 90 days. During the sessions, senators and depu ties receive $200 each month.
Education and Education is state-aided, compulsory and gratuitous. Schools are under the control of municipalities, except those, relatively few, which the Church con trols. There are universities at La Paz and Sucre, where degrees may be obtained in law, medicine and theology; in the former city, the military academy, a normal school and a fac ulty of commerce; American institutes, under American professors, at La Paz and Cocha bamba; a mining and engineering school at Oruro. In 1915 there were 426 elementary schools with 3,960 teachers and 51,162 pupils. For secondary instruction there were 21 col leges, five clerical institutions and five private lyceos, with 180 teachers and 2,598 pupils. For superior education there were 19 establish ments with 78 professors and 1,291 students. At Sucre there is a second normal school for the training of teachers.
According to the constitution, the Roman Catholic Church is recognized by the state, but in practice toleration is extended to other forms of worship.
Bolivia contains all the nat ural products of the world. Wheat, meat, fuel, building material, metals for the industries, gold and silver, all are produced within its borders. The climate is such that several crops a year may be obtained with little effort in the wanner parts of the country. Bolivia has a varied flora and fauna. The alimentary plants include wheat, corn, beans, manioc, bananas, potatoes, barley, rice, olives, almonds, peanuts, cocoa, coffee, nutmeg, rubber and cotton. Peruvian bark, palm, cacao, bamboo and vegetable ivory are also plentiful, and balsam, vanilla, copal, tobacco, sugar and sarsaparilla are produced in considerable quantities. The forest growths in clude acacias, myrtles, mahogany, rosewood, vegetable silk tree, Spanish cedar, lignum vita, ebony and other woods suitable for various industries. At the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 Bolivia exhibited more than 1,000 dif ferent varieties of woods.
The views of the government of Bolivia on agriculture, as expressed by the Minister of Finance in a formal communication to the Financial Conference held in 1915 at Washing ton, are these: °It may readily be acknowl edged that our agriculture is still in an em bryonic state, and that it is being carried on with no other object in view than that of obtain ing from nature what she will give readily. This applies not only to foodstuffs and cattle breeding, but also to the production of rubber by a system that absolutely requires reorgan ization, with a view to establishing plantations that will in future be capable of competing against the scientifically devised East Indian rubber plantations. The field of arts and manu factures still remains virgin soil. The country may be said to be devoid of manufacturing enterprises in any of the manifold and profit able lines.° The government delegate to that conference, Senor Ballivian, writes that all Bolivia's energies have been employed in estab lishing a °complete railway net of communica tion and developing her mineral resources. The agricultural products have been insufficient to meet the demand of her domestic consumption.° He adds: °Bolivia and Brazil produce the best quality of rubber obtained from the trees of the Hevea or Syphonia Elastics, known in the market as Para rubber. But, owing to the fore sight and persevering endeavors of the English government to acclimatize those trees in their Asiatic dominions, plantations have spread all through the Orient, causing deadly competition in spite of the superior quality of the South American product. Nevertheless it would be wise for capitalists to undertake similar well-organized plantations in the habitat of the rubber tree in Bolivia and Brazil where lands can be easily acquired as well as estates where already exist fully ma tured rubber trees ready for exploita tion. In Bolivia there are new opportunities and inducements for such plantations on account of the recent installation of the railway built with American capital in connection, at Porto Velho, with ocean steamers of 4,000 tons, dur ing four months and of 2,000 tons all the year round.° It is true that the vegetation is poor and sickly on the lofty table-lands, but in the valleys which run from the sides of the eastern Cordillera into El Beni, Santa Cruz, Gran Chaco and the National Territory, it is rich and varied, comprising rubber, quinine and other valuable products. The vast eastern plains will be the source of abundant agricultural products when the rivers of the Amazon basin and of the Rio de la Plata watershed can be fully utilized for transportation to the Atlantic.