Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-04

Of high standing organize little street
dances with guitar music A gay,
thoushtless population it is.
This of course, is the urban venezue-
Ian. In the hinterland the great mass of
population lives without working, too
easily. fed by wonderful nature. Most of
them have more or less Indian blood; in
some districts pure Indians may still be
found. The aborigines are simple minded
folk whose needs do not make them good
buyers of textiles, since q blue loin cloth
ordinarily serves for the whole rig.
The Spanish-speaking population has
been in Venezuela a long time-in fact,
about 400 years-long enough to have
built UP great empire. But Burke's
aphorism regarding little minds and
great empires holds good to an eminent
degree of Venezuela. Not means, but men,
have been wanting. The country has ex-
tent sufficient for an empire. It counts
nearly 100000 square miles-more than
France, Holland and Germany combined.
It is ten times the size of New York
State. And in variety of soil and climate
1t has marked advantages. OF the TWEEN
ty-three States, every one is said to con-
tain mountains. Back from the coast the
mountain range crops away to the broad
llanos OF the Orinoco. a plain of incredi-
BILE richness.
The land OF Venezuela, taken as a
whole, may be classed as either agricul-
tural, pastoral or sylvan, each division
showing almost boundless and untouched
possibilities. In the fertile mountain val
leys grow every crop known to man. Vast
forests of mahogany and cedar have
scarcely been disturbed. The mineral
wealth has long since excited the cupidity
OF the Briton, giving rise to the boundary
dispute of a few years ago. The gold
digsings in Yaruarri yielded 42.315 ounces
in 1899. Silver is abundant in Bermudez,
Lara and Anidos. Sulphur. coal. asphalt,
lead, kaolin and tin are found. Great
iron mines have been opened by an
American company at Imatica, on the
lower Orinoco- The pearl fisheries at
the island OF Margarita employ 400 boats
and still show no signs of exhaustion.
The grazing country now supports 10.0O0.-
600 head Of cattle, and could easily sup
port more.
= In all that concerns the necessities OF
life the Venezuelans have shown them
selves exceedingly lax. Prices in all the
cities run higher than anywhere else in
the world, outside Of mining camps. The
only cheap thing In Caracas is the VIC
let; you can buy a armful for twenty
cents. American sugar costs sc cents a
pound. flour, sl2 sack: eggs. so cents a
dozen; butter, Is cents a pound; coal, s24
a ton.
Everything else corresponds No eff
Gent street-car. service in the cities;
hence one mist take cab Charges on
the railroads are extraordinary. First
class passengers pay from to 10 cents.
second-class from to. cents per mile.
Merchants groan constantly regarding
freight charges It costs more to get a
ton of coffee to the SHIPS side from a
town Of 10 to Is miles back than to send
il to England. II is less expensive to
ship freight from Chicago to New York
than from Caracas to La Guayra, 50
miles by rail The freight rate on the
German Central railroad-the source of
present dificulties-is 80 cents a ton per
mile. as against a cent a ton per mile
on many American roads. No manufac-
turing industries have been developed
anywhere in the country. Even the
coarse sacking In which agricultural
products are wrapped has to be import
ed In such conditions commerce natur-