398 ECUADOR judges, commercial judges, and municipal al- caldes. Criminal cases only are tried by jury. Capital punishment is inflicted by shooting. There being no penitentiary, offenders are con- demned to labor on public works. In trials by jury, witnesses are examined, not by the attorneys, but by the judges; and if a witness fails to appear, his original deposition may be read even in criminal cases. A petit jury consists of nine members. Nearly one half of the revenue is derived from the customs receipts. These were in 1865, $417,697; in 1866, $560,916; in 1867, $565,382; in 1868, $567,193 ; in 1869, $663,356 ; in 1870, $1,037,- 247; and in 1871, $1,097,151. The total revenue in 1870 amounted to $1,451,096, and the expenditure to $1,119,737. Through in- creased imposts and the undertaking of public works, the revenue for the first half of 1872 was raised to $1,510,072, and the expendi- ture to $1,446,737. By a tariff law which took effect Jan. 1, 1872, excessive duties are laid upon many of the most indispensable articles of import. Articles for agricultural and educational purposes are admitted free of duty ; firearms and all commodities of war are absolutely prohibited ; and the publication, introduction, and sale of books and prints offensive to religion and good morals are prohibited. The foreign debt in 1865 was $5,634,332 ; the home debt $2,214,773. For some years past Ecuador has suspended pay- ment of both debt and interest. English bond- holders in 1873 complained of this, and were assured that one fourth of the customs receipts would at an early day be applied toward the liquidation of their claims. In 1863 there were a university and 310 schools, attended by 14,000 pupils. In 1873 the number of schools was nearly doubled. An academy of arts and sciences and a school of agriculture were to be established in Quito, and the advantages of the Guayaquil normal school were to be extended to Indian children. In 1872 prospectuses were issued for a school of obstetrics and one of sculpture to be opened in Quito under the di- rection of European professors. The course of teaching in the primary schools embraces reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion ; in the higher schools, Latin and sometimes Greek. The university course comprises the Spanish language and literature, Latin, Greek, law, med- icine, &c. The income is small and the salaries of the professors very low. The established religion is the Roman Catholic, and no other is tolerated in public. There is an archbishop at Quito, and bishops at Cuenca and at Guaya- quil. After the conquest of the inca domin- ions (see PERU, PIZARRO, and QUITO), the king- dom of Quito was made a presidency of the viceroyalty of Peru, and remained under Span- ish rule from 1533 to 1822. It was one of the most productive of the Spanish colonies. In 1809 it revolted, and after many fruitless struggles achieved its independence by the battle of Pichincha, May 22, 1822. The ter- ritory was incorporated into the republic of Colombia, on the disruption of which in 1831 it became an independent republic under the name of Ecuador. But a series of civil wars ensued, lasting almost without intermis- sion for more than 20 years. In 1852 a quar- rel arose with Peru, whose government was accused of openly favoring a revolutionary ex- pedition under Gen. Flores against Ecuador. Desultory hostilities continued for six years, and in 1858 Guayaquil was blockaded by sea and land. The contest was terminated in Au- gust of that year. In September, 1859, Presi- dent Robles was compelled to quit the coun- try, and in the same year Guayaquil was al- most totally destroyed by fire, and Quito laid in ruins (March 22) by an earthquake. In 1862 Guayaquil again suffered from a conflagration. Several important improvements were accom- plished about this time, among which were the adoption of the French metrical system, the construction of a road and later of a tele- graphic line from Guyaquil to Quito, and the paving of Guyaquil and supplying it with gas and water. In consequence of the interference ofyMosquera, president of New Granada, who was endeavoring to bring about the reconstruc- tion of the Colombian republic, Ecuador de- clared war against him, Nov. 20, 1863. The Ecuadorian army, under Flores, was completely routed, with the loss of all its baggage, 1,500 killed, and 2,000 prisoners; these, however, Mosquera released on their promise not to serve again in that war, and signing a petition in favor of the Colombian republic. Garcia Moreno, elected president in 1861, tendered his resignation March 23, 1864; but it was refused by the assembly. An unpopular measure of Moreno's was the concluding a concordat with the see of Rome, which gave the care of public education to the priests, and restricted the tol- eration of creeds hitherto enjoyed. He was forced to revise and modify the measure. He assumed the dictatorship Aug. 30, 1864, and perpetrated many cruelties in his efforts for the prevention of civil war. Don Geronimo Carri- on was elected president in May, 1865, and was inaugurated in August folloAving. In January, 1866, the government joined with Peru and Chili in an alliance against Spain, and banished all Spaniards. Carrion, whose administration had become unsatisfactory to the congress, was censured, and resigned in November, 1867. Congress in its next session revoked the power of the president to imprison persons regarded as dangerous to public order, set at liberty all who were in confinement, and recalled those who had been expatriated. By a decree of Oct. 25, 1867, Bolivians, Chilians, Peruvians, and Colombians may become naturalized with- out a previous term of residence. Ecuador was visited in August, 1868, by one of the most awful earthquakes on record. It was especial- ly destructive in the province of Imbabura, completely overthrowing the capital, Ibarra ; 30,000 persons are said to have perished.
