The foreign debt for loans, subventions and guarantees of interest on railways is payable in ya London and amounts to L3,923,720 or $19,051, 479, only $3.75 per capita. Law 69 of 1909 gave the control of the currency to a board of three persons, called the Junta de Conversion, the paramount duty of the board being to collect a conversion fund in gold coin with which to guarantee the paper money in circulation; and it appears that about 50 per cent of the gold value of the paper (in the proportion f1-500 paper pesos, for official payments, etc., as above) had been collected (1917). The banks doing business in Bogota have a total capital of $4,350,000. The law does not allow banking institutions to issue notes. In 1913 the exports were larger by $5,780,000 than the im ports, so that the liabilities assumed in the first six months of 1914 were not based on credit alone; and for that reason it was not found necessary, when the European War broke out, to grant a moratorium either in favor of the banks or of private business men.
Transportation and Communication,. About 700 miles of railway were in operation (1917). These railways belonged to different companies. As the commerce of the interior is carried on the river systems, with railways as their auxiliaries, the lines of the latter are short. Important in this respect are the follow ing rivers: Magdalena (navigable for over 900 miles), Cauca, Nachi, Cesar, Lebrij and Soga moso. Steamers ascend the Magdalena to La Dorada, 592 miles from Barranquilla, while smaller boats carry on traffic far into the in terior up the tributaries. About 50 steamers (1918) plied regularly on these waters. The only way of reaching the national capital from the Caribbean coast is up the Magdalena and thence over the mountains, partially by highway and partly by railway. The chief ports are (on the Caribbean side) Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Riohacha, and, on the Pacific, Buenaventura. The government had under con sideration (1917) a survey of the Bay of Malaga or Magdalena on the Pacific Coast, with a view of establishing a new port there with modern facilities. Points of export and entry on the Venezuelan frontier are Cucuta and Arauca. The ports are in communication with European and American countries. There were, before the European War, seven lines of mail steamers (three British and the others French, Spanish, Italian and German), and trade serrice between the United States and Colombia was furnished by The United Fruit Company, weekly sailings, American; Hamburg American Line, weekly sailings, German; Panama Railroad Company's steamers, weekly sailings, American; Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, fortnightly sailings, British. The number of post-offices is
given as 843 (in 1915), and there are 12,000 miles of government telegraph lines.
Army and Navy.— Military service is com pulsory under the law for from one to one and one-half years, but military training is bestowed upon a handful of young men only. The peace footing of the army is 6,000 to 7,000, consisting of three divisions of two brigades of two regiments of infantry, a total of 12 infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment of four squadrons, one artil lery section, one engineer battalion and one transport battalion of three companies. The infantry arms are Remington, French Gras and Mauser rifles; and the police strength in 1914 is given at 2,328 men. Vessels of the navy con sist of a few cruisers and gunboats, tugs and troopships. There are no modern or really valuable ships.
Bibliography.-- Acosta, J., (Compendio His torico del Descubrimiento y Colonizacion de la Nueva Granada) (Paris 1848) ; Bandelier, A. F.,