carved furniture. The better lines of furniture are still imported, as are also the woods, silk, and stuffs necessary in trimming. The important feature of the exposition is not so much what it already presents as what it hopes and expects to offer. Every field of industry is to be tried by the Chileans before an acknowledgment is made that the foreign field is the only one able to supply the Republic's wants.

CHILEAN-BOLIVIAN RAILWAY TO THE COLLAHUASI MINERAL DISTRICT.

[From the "Diario Oficial," No. 7978.]

SANTIAGO, July 30, 1904.

1. Without prejudice to third parties permission is hereby granted to the Antofagasta (Chile) and Bolivia Railway Company (Limited) for the construction of a branch railway, the motive power of which is to be steam, starting at or in the vicinity of kilometer 402, to connect the mining district of Collahuasi with the main line of the railway from Antofagasta to Oruro.

2. The company shall submit to the approval of the Government the plans of survey and the drawings of the line before commencing the construction, and at latest within the period of four months, counted from the date of the present decree, in conformity with the regulations now in force in the Bureau of Public Works for the consideration of railways.

3. If the works should not be commenced within the period of two months from the date on which the Goverment approves the plans of the railway, and if the construction should not be completed within the space of eighteen months, the permit or concession shall be forfeited. 4. Should the railway transport passengers or merchandise belonging to persons other than the owners thereof, the rates or tariffs shall be approved by the Government.

5. The Government shall exercise the powers conferred upon it by the railway-police laws of August 6, 1862, the provisions of which, in all their parts, shall be observed by the concessionaire.

6. The concessionaire shall apply to the Department of the Treasury matters concerning the use of the public lands necessary for the roadbed, stations, and other buildings, and for the purpose of determining the time within which he may make use of said lands.

7. Let the present decree have the force of a public document after it is signed by the Director of the Treasury in representation of the exchequer, and the duly authorized representative of the Antofagasta (Chile) and Bolivia Railway Company (Limited).

Let it be noted, registered, communicated, and published.

RIESCO.

COLOMBIA.

CONVENTION WITH SPAIN FOR THE EXCHANGE OF DEGREES AND DIPLOMAS.

[From "Las Novedades” of October 20, 1904.]

The Department of Foreign Relations of Spain has published in the "Gaceta" the text of the convention celebrated between Colombia and Spain for the exchange between the citizens of the two countries of diplomas or degrees authorizing the holders thereof to practice the learned professions. The convention stipulates that citizens of these countries who shall have obtained a degree or diploma in either of the signatory States, issued by the competent national authority, for the exercise of the learned professions, shall be authorized to practice in either of the countries mentioned.

In order that the degree or diploma may be accepted in the manner described above, it is necessary to comply with the following requisites:

1. It must be presented to the proper authorities duly legalized.

2. The person in whose favor it is extended must be identified by means of a certificate issued by the legation or consulate nearest to the country in which it is to be used.

3. It must be shown that the degree or diploma of the soliciting party entitles him to practice the profession mentioned in said degree or diploma in the country in which it was issued.

The citizens of either of the two countries who may have been authorized to practice a profession in the other by virtue of the provisions of this contract shall be subject to all the regulations, laws, taxes, and duties which may, with respect to that subject, govern the citizens of the country in which the profession is to be practiced. It is also stipulated that the studies of the courses completed in either of the contracting States shall be accepted in the institutions of the other upon presentation by the interested party of a duly legalized certificate, attesting that the said studies have been approved by colleges or institutions whose examinations or certificates of proficiency are officially recognized in the country in which they were made. A certificate shall also be presented issued by the legation or consular office situated nearest to the country of which the interested party is a citizen, setting forth that the person therein named is the one to which said title or certificate was issued, and embodying the reports of the Board of Public Instruction of Spain, or of the Department of Public Instruction of Colombia, as the case n ay be, to the effect that the studies required by the laws of the country of which the appli

cant is a citizen are equivalent of those required abroad of the person who makes the application.

The convention was ratified on August 5, 1904, and is to continue in force for a period of ten years.

TARIFF MODIFICATIONS.

I. Decree No. 366, of April 26, 1904, suspending the execution of certain customs provisions.

[“ Diario oficial" No. 12062, of May 2, 1904.]

ARTICLE 1. The effects of decrees Nos. 1183 and 262 shall be suspended one month after the promulgation of the present decree.

ART. 2. From and after the same time, the effects of article 1 of decree No. 99, dated January 29 of this year ("Diario oficial" No. 11994, of February 1, 1904), shall be suspended; but alimentary products mentioned therein shall be deemed to be included in article 2 of the same decree for the purpose of the reduction of the duties referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of the decree No. 99 aforesaid.

II.-Resolution No. 7, dated April 26, 1904, relating to the import duties to be levied in paper currency in the custom-houses of the Atlantic coast and of Buenaventura.

[“ Diario oficial" No. 12063, of May 3, 1904.]

The import duties to be collected in the custom-houses of the Atlantic coast and of Buenaventura by post-offices and the national postal administrations shall be levied in paper currency at the rate of exchange of the day for American gold, as it will have been fixed by the Council of National Amortization in Bogota, and by cosectional councils of amortization nominated by the latter in accordance with the Law No. 33 of 1903.

COSTA RICA.

TARIFF MODIFICATIONS.

I. Decree No. 35, of July 23, 1904, approving the additional convention entered into between Costo Rica and Honduras on May 27 of the same year, respecting articles subject to "regie" or prohibition.

["La Gaceta" No. 23, of July 27, 1904.]

By virtue of the present decree the following additional convention signed at Tegucigalpa on May 27, 1904, is approved:

SOLE ARTICLE. The exemption from duty provided for in Clause XXII of the Treaty entered into between Costa Rica and Honduras on

September 28, 1895, shall not apply to tobacco, alcohol or its compounds, or to any other goods at present subject to "regie" or prohibition in either of the two countries, even though one of the two Governments should subsequently allow the same to be freely dealt in.

II. Decree No. 36, of July 28, 1904, relating to the importation and exportation of female neat cattle.

["La Gaceta" No. 25, of July 29, 1904.]

of age and

ARTICLE 1. A bounty at the rate of 5 colons per head is granted on the importation of female neat cattle of from 2 to 6 years suitable for breeding purposes.

This bounty shall be paid by the Public Treasury.

ART. 2. From the date of publication of the present decree a tax of 10 colons per head of female neat cattle exported shall be collected. If any animal imported under the foregoing article 1 is subsequently slaughtered, 10 colons shall be levied on account of the Public Instruction Budget of the respective district without prejudice to the duties and taxes at present in force.

ART. 3. The Executive will issue the necessary regulations for the execution of the present decree.

III.—Decree of August 15, 1904, relative to the importation of wooden furniture.

["La Gaceta" No. 41, of August 17, 1904.]

By virtue of the present decree, letter A of article 1 of the Law No. 28, dated July 3, 1902, is amended as follows:

"A. Furniture of common wood, plain or worked but neither carved nor veneered with fine wood, and without mirrors, even with turned parts or caned seats, 25 centimes per kilogram."

COFFEE EXPORTS, 1902-1904.

The Bureau of Statistics of Costa Rica has published, under date of September 30, 1904, statistics showing the exports of coffee from the Republic in 1903-4, compared with those of 1902-3, an extract of which is as follows:

The exports of coffee from the crop of 1903-4, from October 1, 1903, to September 30, 1904, are shown in the following table:

Less 18 per cent on 8,961,998 kilos coffee in the husk or parchment..

Quantity.

Value.

Sacks. 180, 862 26, 996

Kilos. 10,909,221 1,610.251

207,858

12,519.472 1,613, 10

Net kilos exported..

10,906, 312

A comparison of the crop of 1902-3, of which the exports amounted to 17,332,613 kilograms, with the exports of the crop of 1903-4, amounting to 12,519,472 kilograms, shows a decrease in the exports of the latter year as compared with the former of 4,813,141 kilograms, or about 28 per cent.

TROPICAL FRUIT TRADE WITH THE UNITED STATES.

The United Fruit Company, organized in March, 1899, and which, in the year following, exported approximately 15,000,000 bunches of bananas from Jamaica, Costa Rica, and the plantations in Cuba, Honduras, etc., is now in control of probably 75 per cent of the banana business in the United States. In four years the business was so developed that in 1903 it amounted to 23,413,892 bunches, while preliminary estimates for the year ending September 30, 1904, indicate that the total shipments will aggregate about 26,000,000 bunches. The company now works a fleet of 83 steamers, collecting fruit from a number of points in Central America, from Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti. and Santo Domingo, and delivering it at New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston, Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston by direct lines.