Chapter XII. POSTAL AND TELEGRAPH SERVICE. Nicaragua is a member of the Universal Postal Union. The mail service between the Republic and the United States is as follows: TO SAN JUAN DEL SUR AND CORINTO. From New York, by Pacific Mail steamers, via Colon, 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. From San Francisco, by Pacific Mail steamers, 3d, 13th, and 23d of each. month. TO SAN JUAN DEL NORTE (GREYTOwn). From New York, by Pacific Mail steamers, via Colon, 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month. Honduras and Central American line, twice a month TO BLUEFIELDS. From New Orleans, by Morgan line, every week; by Bluefields Banana Company's steamers, twice a month. RATES OF POSTAGE TO AND FROM NICARAGUA. Letters. Five cents in United States and 10 centavos in Nicaragua for each half ounce or fraction thereof. Postal cards.-Two cents in United States and 3 centavos in Nicaragua, each. Newspapers.-One cent in United States and 2 centavos in Nicaragua per 2 ounces. Registration fee. Ten cents in either country, but Nicaragua charges 5 cents for returned receipt. Poste Restante letters.-The length of time for retaining in the offices of destination of unclaimed correspondence addressed "Poste restante" is six months in the office of destination and six months longer in the dead letter office of the central administration. The postal service in Nicaragua is in excellent condition and the business transacted is rapidly increasing. A money-order system is in operation in all the principal towns of the Republic. The postal receipts as stated in the latest official report, which is issued biennially, were: For year ending- June 30, 1890. $24, 275.74 35, 774. 73 During the two years included in the biennial report referred to, 2,237,859 pieces of mail matter were handled. TELEGRAPH. The total length of telegraph lines in Nicaragua at date of the latest report was 1,549 miles, and of telephone 61 miles, as follows: During the two years embraced in the latest official report, thirteen new offices were opened and 250 miles of new lines constructed. The business done in the two years was as follows: Private messages, 215,413. Official messages, 190,034. · Value. $63,773.30 70, 074. 80 At San Juan del Sur, on the Pacific coast, connection is made with the submarine cable, by which dispatches can be sent from any port of Nicaragua to any telegraph office in the world. The rates charged for messages from New York via Galveston are: To San Juan del Sur ...... To all other offices in Nicaragua... ..per word.. $0.97 ....do.... Number of cable messages transmitted in the two years, 11,037. 1.02 Uor M Chapter XIII. IMMIGRATION AND COLONIZATION. The laws of Nicaragua in regard to immigration and colonization are very liberal. Foreigners can acquire real estate and dispose of it as freely as the Nicaraguan citizens. The provisions of the naturalization laws are also simple and liberal. Immigration has not as yet been carried on to such an extent as the Government and the people of the Republic could wish; but no efforts are omitted to encourage it and push it rapidly to success. The Government encourages it by all possible means, and immigrants are sure to find in Nicaragua the most friendly welcome on the part of both the authorities and the people. At present there are no more than one thousand foreigners of different nationalities in the whole Nicaraguan territory. Out of this number five hundred have settled in the principal cities and are engaged in industrial and professional business. The balance are to be found on the eastern coast, where they, as a general rule, have become as attached to the country as if they were native Nicaraguans. The following is the text of the principal laws of Nicaragua, having a bearing on the subject, with which the Bureau of American Republics has had any opportunity to become acquainted: LAW ON THE ACQUISITION BY ALIENS OF REAL ESTATE IN THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. The President of the Republic to the inhabitants of the same: Whereas, some difficulties may be encountered in the carrying into effect of the provisions of the decree of March 30, of the present year, concerning the acquisition of real estate by certain foreigners. NICARAGUA. 101 I do, therefore, decree: ARTICLE 1. All foreigners shall have the power, without losing thereby their own nationality, to acquire public unoccupied lands on the same terms and conditions as required by law from the citizens of Nicaragua. ART. 2. The decree of March 30, of the present year, and all other provisions heretofore enacted in regard to public unoccupied lands, which may in any way oppose the present decree, are hereby repealed. MANAGUA, May 8, 1875. P. JOAQUIN CHAMORRO. LAND AND COLONIZATION LAW. Decreed by the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives of the Republic of Nicaragua: ARTICLE 1. The Executive shall have authority to give to each family of immigrants, coming from the United States, or of any other nationality whatsoever, with the purpose of settling in the Republic, and becoming naturalized, a tract of public unoccupied lands not exceeding 120 manzanas; the said tract to be more or less extensive, within said limits, according to the number of persons composing the family. Single persons shall be allowed not more than 60 manzanas each. ART. 2. The immigrants herein referred to shall enjoy the same rights and privileges as native citizens in regard to commons and common lands. They shall be exempted, also, for the period of 10 years from municipal charges and from military service, unless such service is required for the preservation of the liberty and sovereignty of the Republic. ART. 3. The lands which shall be granted under the present law shall not be allowed to be sold, unless at least one-half of the area thereof be already under cultivation, and the grantee has become naturalized in due form of law. ART. 4. The Executive shall have also the power to grant similar concessions of lands to foreign immigrants, coming to Nicaragua, and who desire to preserve their respective citizenship; but these concessions shall not transfer to these immigrants the right of ownership of the land, but shall place them in the position of mere tenants or beneficiaries. The same shall be the case with those immigrants who come to the Republic with the purpose of becoming naturalized, but do not carry their intentions into effect within the period established by law. This right shall last for only 10 years, and shall not be transmissible to third parties, except by inheritance, unless at least half of the ground granted has been placed under cultivation. At the expiration of the 10 years the right shall cease, whether the land be in the possession of the immigrant him have elapsed since Lakes Nicaragua and Managua were connected by railroad and steamboat lines with the port of Corinto on the Pacific coast have been sufficient to demonstrate the immediate and gratifying effect that this improvement has had on the commerce and progress of the country, but the great necessity remains for rapid and cheap communication with the Atlantic coast. When goods reach the Pacific, they have to bear the expense of transportation over a circuitous route by way of Panama and the high freight charged by the Panama Railroad Company in order to reach either the United States or Europe. By this route and by railroad and steamboat to Corinto, the rate of freight on coffee to New York, in Nicaraguan currency, is: From Granada.... From Managua per ton.. $40. 40 36.80 The rates by steamers on the River San Juan to the Caribbean coast are high, although considerably less than the cost of transportation via the Pacific, but this is more than counterbalanced by the uncertainty and delay caused by the rapids and shallows which attend the river service. The rates of freight are low between the United States or Europe and the Atlantic ports of Central America; consequently, whenever the projected railroad in that direction from Lake Nicaragua is completed, a great reduction will be made from the rates now paid by way of the Pacific ports as above quoted. But the hopes of Nicaragua are centered on the Interoceanic Canal. When that great work shall have been completed, Granada will be virtually a seaport, and Atlantic liners will be able to load and discharge their cargoes at her wharves; in fact, Lake Nicaragua will become a vast dock, where, by means of railroads, the commerce of Central America will find its center and point of distribution. A complete list of freight rates between New York and the |