Mining and From mines near the Gulf of Nicoya the exports ofgold and silver bullion in a single year were $792,847. In 1913 gold and silver to the amount of $1,021,437 was mined and exported, and to the amount of $805,897 in 1915. The production of one of the three principal auriferous districts has exceeded the sum of $10,000,000; and in view of the circumstance that this sum has been produced by the crudest mining and metal lurgical methods, the reward which would fol low the proper application of capital sufficient to operate on a large and modern scale is sur misable. There are deposits of iron, nickel and manganese in several cantones. One manganese mine is in operation in Costa Rica. It began shipping in May 1916, and is now sending out about 300 tons a month, all in bags. It is making preparations to install an equipment of docks, furnaces, etc., with a capacity of 3,000 to 5,000 tons a month. An oil company has acquired rights to oil lands in Liman, Guana caste and Puntarenas.
There are very few manufacturing estab lishments in the Republic. Among these few are the National Foundry at San Jose and the National Liquor Factory.
Banking and The gold standard was adopted in 18%; in 1900 gold certificates were redeemed and gold put into circulation. The unit is the colon. The gold coins are 2, 5, 10 and 20 colones; the silver coins 5, 10, 25 and 50 centimos. The principal banks are the Banco Anglo-Costarricense, established 1863, the Banco de Costa Rica, established 1877, and the Banco Commercial (1908). In addition to these three banks the government has estab lished, as a temporary measure to cover the deficit of revenues and assist their merchants and farmers over the crisis which the Euro pean War intensified, the Banco Internacional, with a restricted issue of bank notes to the extent of 4,000,000 colons (or colones), secured by a new issue of 2,000,000 colones, 6 per cent interior bonds, in conjunction with 2,000,000 colones, exterior refunding bonds, which in 1915 were in escrow in a New York bank.
The unit of the monetary system, the colon, is divided into 100 centimos and is used only in Costa Rica. Its weight is 0.7780 grammes of .900-fine gold, or, say, 0.7002 grammes of pure gold, which gives it apar value of $0.46536, currency of the United States. The pat value of $1.00, currency of the United States, is 2.14887 Costa Rican colones. Under normal conditions, the commercial rate of exchange in Costa Rica for sight draft on New York fluctuates between 2.13 and 2.18 colones per $1.00 currency of the United States. (The cir culation consists of banknotes, backed by gold and other assets of the issuing banks. Foreign gold coins are legal tender in Costa Rica at the following rates: American dollar===2.15 colones; French franc °O.4125 colones; German mark ==.0.51 colones; English sovereign =10.45 colones. The situation in Costa Rica has been complicated by the failure, in February 1915, of the Banco Comercial de Costa Rica [of Liman, not the Banco Comercial of San Jose]. In order to facilitate the circulation of the notes issued by the new bank mentioned above, the government has decreed that all obligations which are to be liquidated in colones, or in other agreed-upon moneys, shall enjoy the privilege of a moratorium until one year after the signing of European peace, unless the cred itors are willing to accept payment in bills of the Banco Internacional de Costa Rica.* American Monetary Systems' ). One of the results of the Pan-American Financial Conference held at Washington in 1915 was noted, as follows: Costa Rica arranged with New York bankers for a credit of $500,000, making New York exchange available in transac tions between the two countries.
National Debt — The total debt in 1915 was $19,000,000, of which about $8,000,000 was English credit, $7,000,000 was French credit and $4,000,000 scattered. The economic prob lems of the government were acknowledged in the inaugural message of President Esquivel, 2 May 1902, to be (grave and The total foreign debt in 1901 was £2,080,000; it was contracted in England in 1871 and 1872. In
March 1901 Costa Rican bonds to the value of 642,300 colones were incinerated, having been issued in 1897 and 1899, and subsequently re deemed. The revenue of the government is derived from custom-house duties, the liquor monopoly, tobacco, stamped paper, post-office, etc., the export duty on coffee having been abol fished 1 Sept. 1901. The government revenue in 1915 was $2,945,517 and the expenditures for the same year amounted to $4,257,511. In 1917 the estimated income was $3,937,700 and the expenditure $4,407,200.
Weights and Measures.— The libra ==. 1.043 pounds; manzana = 1;f, acres; centaro = 42631 gallons; fanega =11 bushels. The metric sys tem was established by law, 10 July 1884, but has not entirely displaced old weights and measures.
Transportation and Communication.— The Costa Rica Railway runs from Limon to the cities of the central uplands, and has several branch lines; the Pacific Railway connects San Jose with a good harbor on the western coast In all, there were, in 1916 in Costa Rica, 693 kilometers (433 miles) of railways, of which 134 kilometers (84 miles) were owned by the gov ernment. The lines are the Northern Railway Company, 225 kilometers (140 miles), and the Costa Rica Railway, 334 kilometers (208 miles). As the latter is leased to the Northern they together form a system of 348 miles under one management. The rapid -growth of the banana trade has called into being railway lines in the coast regions. The Northern Railway has an exten sion down the coast southward from Bananito River, near Port Limon, with short branches running into the fruit districts. A line was also being extended northward in 1917. Be tween Limon and New Orleans and Mobile there is direct communication by steamship lines several times each week. Between Limon and New York steamers run weekly. There is a regular service between ports of the Central American coast, from Colon to Belize. Sailings to Jamaica, Cuba and England are fortnightly. French and Italian steamers call at Lim&I once a month. On the Pacific Coast there are three regular lines touching at Puntarenas: the Pacific Mail and the Chilean and British lines. There are (1915) 147 telegraph offices and 1,600 miles of wire and 640 miles of tele phone lines. Wireless telegraphy with 300 miles radius is in operation at Limon, and there is a small station at Colorado, at the mouth of the San Juan River.
Army.— All male citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 may be called upon to do military service; the standing army, however, and the militia together numbered 36,946 and consisted of 3 brigades, 1 battalion, 3 companies and 135 unclassified soldiers (1917). Supplementing land forces are two government-owned motor launches used principally for revenue purposes.
Bibliography.— Alfaro, R. J., 'Limites entre Panama y Costa Rica' (Panama 1913) ; Ander son, L., 'El Laudo Loubet: contribution al Estudio de la cuestion de Limites entre Costa Rica y Panama' (San Jose 1911) • Crosby, J. T., 'Latin American Monetary Systems and Exchange Conditions> (New York 1915); 'Financia l Conference, Proceedings of the First Pan American' (Washington 1915); James, W., 'The Mulberry Tree> (Chapters 13 and 14, London 1913) ; Pan American Union, 'Costa Rica' (Washington 1914) ; Perigny, M. de, 'Costa Rica' (in Bulletin de la Societe de Geographic Commerciale, Tome xxxii, Paris 1910) ; Shepherd, W. R., 'Latin America' (New York 1914) ; Barrantes, F. M.,
JoHN HUBERT CORN'YN, Editorial Staff of The Americana.