Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-04-23

that there is no such thing as a fair
election In Ecuador. The land is one
of revolutions. The present president.
Don Alfaro. has been revolutlonlst
ali his life and has at last gotten into
power. He has had number of mar
row escapes. some of which Captain
Power the commander of one OF the
little Ecuadorian men of-war, has des-
scribed to me. At one time when
Power was with Alfaro his boat was
captured by the enemy and Alfaro
escaped by swimming to the shore on
n barrel, and at another time he lived
for weeks In the wilds of Ecuador ana
Colombia hurted by the state troops
President Alfaro has limited somewhat
the power of the priests. although L
am told that he is afraid Of them. He
ia progressive in his views and he Is
very DESTROYS that foreign capital
should come to Ecuador and develop it,.
The president lives at quito, He has
n salary of $4,000 sucres, or about
$40. 900 a year. and his term of office
is for four years. He has cabinet,
one of the ministers Of which repre-,
sents the church. In addition to the
president the government consists or
a congress, u system of courts and of
governors of the various provinces,
who are appointed by the president
and may be removed by him.
TAXES AND THE SALT REEVE
NuES.
Ecuador has very small national
debt and its direct taxes are low.
Much of the government income Is de-
rived fiom the tariff on Imports which
covers almost everything, and also
from the tax on salt. Salt is a gov
eminent monopoly here. Every city
has its government salt warehouse.
where the merchants or private cons
sumers must come to buy, and where
they pay several times as much for a
very poor article as they would II salt
were free. / visited such a warehouse
at the town of Bodegas the other day.
There were hundreds of tons of dirty
salt banked up in large barnlike
rooms, and | saw some being weighed
out to purchasers on pair of Amer
lean scales. II costs the government,
/ am told, about so cents n hundred
weight to make 1t. and its price at the
warehouses Is almost cents pound.
The revenue from this source amounts
to about 100000 year.
QUEER ECUADOR SCHOOLS AND
CEMETERIES.
Ecuador has now a public school
system, but only about one-tenth OF
the people, as l have said, can read
and write. There are in the coun-
try in the neighborhood of 1000 prima-
ny schools and also number of those
these schools all study out loud, and
the din Is as great as that of the
schools of China. Quito has unlver-
sity, largely managed by Jesuits. ana
there is also n college at the city OF
Cuenca. Here at Guayaqull there are
two newspapers, both of which get
short cable dispatches. The papers
are cried by newsboys on the streets
They are printed on old American
presses from type made in the United
States, although their paper and ink
come, / am told, from Germany
Among the other institutions OF
Ecuador are hospital here
and hospital, lunatic and
leper asylum at quito. The Gene
terry at quito is on the pigeon hole
system. You rent box in the wal
for your cofiln.and 1t stays there as
long as your relatives or friends pay
the rent. When the pay stops tht
authorities pull out the coffin ant
dump the remains into great ciste-I