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128
INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE.
population, so much so that the popnlation of
ca~Jl'a
00
5!:!,458
sqna.rekilometers
seem oot to have been counted at
all,
bnt i11clnded
iu
that of th
e Stateof Boli>ar.
It is dif!:icnlt to estímate th
area and popul
atiounorth of the Orinoco and Apure.
The greater mass of tbe population líes upou
t.becomparativel.'i' narrow rim of tbe
Republic in the el<'vated regious bordcring on t
he Uaribbean Sea aod Lake Mar?.eaiuo,
whicb extends soutbwardly to the t>lopes
of
the Andes.
Theob,·ionsly lcatlin"· thonghts of both the rnlers
and
the busine;:s meu of Vene–
zuela are to conucct its populon ·
:wd
protlnctive uplands with the Caribbean sea-ports
by railways. Tl..Jose uplands occupy precil:lel,v the relations to thol:le port · wbicb the
ea tern ports of tbe Missi:;t-ippi Valley doto the:Atlantic sea-board cxcept tbat the liues
of commnnication betwecn tlte former must bA frout north
to sonth.
A
ra i] ·,\'<LY is
alrea(ly in successfnl opera! ion fron1
La
Gnayra to Caracas
a.mla
few miles bPyond.
Ir. Bir(1, Unitet1 Sta.tes comml at the fonum· ]Jlacc, snggeR
t.· inbis report of May
1,
18 4,
that it should be extended
1
brongh the monotains sonth\Tanlly to tbeOriuoco val–
ley. From Puerto Cabello a railway is in conrse of coustrnction southwardly to
\·a–
lencia, and tbe late very progres.·ixe rnler
of
Veueznela., General Guzman Blanco,
macle Goverument
coutract~
for the construction of
a
ra.ilway from Grita in the heart
of the mountains in tbe State of Los Andes, clown to Lake l\Iaracaibo. After tbe Ttc–
cesses of OHr own engineer!:l in overcoming the obstacies of our Rocky Monntains, the
Andes in Pern, and even in the shorr.line wbich has been bnilt in Venezuela itself
aronnd tbe 8,000 feet high mouutain bet\Yeen La Guayra and Caracas aodof Enropean
engineers in Switzerland and Inclia, it .is a question onl.v of energy and capital bow
loug it will be before all the really salubrions parts of Venezuela will be coonecterl
by raihvays with the ports on the Uarribbean Sea."
The following is a brief statemeu t of railroad building in Venezuela taken from tbe
Statistical Annnary of Venezuela for
1887 :
Railways open to traffic.
From Caracas to La Guayra ... -...... -.- . . __ .... ___ ...•. __ . o.. __ .. ____ .. _..
Tucacas to Aro
a ... .. _.. ... _.. __ . ... _. __ ... ___ ............. __ .. __ ..•.
L:1
Ceiba to Sabana 11eudoza ......................... _.. ____ .... ·--.
Caracas to El Valle ... _... ___ .o ___ ...... . ... _..
o ••••••
o. ..... _.. .... .
Ma.rquetia to l\lacuto ·--- --··
0---
o--- ____ ···-----···- .... ··- --·- -- -··
Carenero toRio Chico. ___ ·- __ ... ·-_--· __ ._ ·----·.
o. ___ •••••• ·-·---· ••
Caracas
to
Petare. ____ .... _•... _... _.. __ . _....
o_ . ... ___ ... _.... _. _...
Caracas to Antimano . . __ ... __ .
o
__ •
__ •• o ••••
_o .. _.... _... ___ ....... _..
Rail1cays
in
constnwtion.
From Puerto Cabello to Valencia. ..... . . _. _.. _. _.
o_ ••• _. _
•• ___ •••• __ •• __ •
_. _
Petare to Santa Lucia .. ___ . . . _--·._. __ ...... _.... ___ .··-_-· .. __ .. --··
Santa Cruzto La. Fria. ... _·-·· --- - ·- ---··-----·----··---··---· .... ___ _
Orinoco to Yuruari ... __ .. _... .. _.. . .. ___ . _.. o. __ ..... ___ .. __ .. ·- __ ...
Barcelona to the CoalMines-o ·----- ···- ·-·- .... ·---
·- 0---. -·-- ··-· ·-.
Lines contmcted and belng studied.
From Caracas toLa Victoria. ___ ·---.·- ·· ·--- ··-· ........ ·-·-·----···---- __
Petare to Ciuda(l BoliYar (tbrough Guarenas, Guatire, Rio Chico, etc.) ..
Puerto Cabello to Zamora .. .
o
•
_
•• _. __ •
_. __ •• _ __ _ ••• ___ •• __ ••• ___ •• __ •
~1:::~~i~~ ~e~~j_o_r_~ :~: ~ :~:~:: ~~:::
::::::::::::
~~:
:::::::::::::::::::
San Cristobal
to
Uribante .... --·.o·---·
o. ___ •
____ ----
·---0-
o•. ___ ·--·
La
~llZ
toBar uisimeto, Tocuyo, and Trujillo
···0-- ···--· ·----··----·
Mer1da
to
-:Y1ncuchies and Bob
n
res ... ___ .. ___ •. __ •. _.... __ . . . _______ .•
Miles.
23.6
55.
25.1
3.4
4. 3
19.8
6.~
5.5
143.8
33.5
27.3
55.
o
124.
o
11.
252.4
62.0
449.5
1
G.
O
96.1
7.4
49.6
217.0
161.2
1, 2"28.
o
A French company
ha
recently acquiretl
a
concession to bnild
a
railwa.y from San
Carlos
del Zulia.
M
:Merida,
aud to
operate
a
line of stea111ers in connection witb" it
bctween San Cado'! on tbe Escalante aml :Maricaibo.
Most of these railways have obta.ined guarantees from the Governmentof7 per cent.
int6r5st
u
pon their capita! proportionate to the co:st
ofthe road,
to t}Ontinne
for
ninety·