TRADE STATISTICS, 1903. The following summary of the value of Imports and Exports during 1903 is taken from the Report of the Minister of Internal Development : ECUADOR. (a) Six per Cent. First Mortgage Bonds of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company, guaranteed by the Government of Ecuador, Authorised Issue Of the above Issue there were outstanding on 31st July, 1904 (b) Bonds of the Special Series ... (b) Bonds of the General Issue ... Total $12,282,000 ... ... ... ... $468,000 8,098,000 $8,566,000 : (a) The Bonds of the External Debt of Ecuador (£693,160) have been exchanged for Bonds of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company (Special Series) at the rate of $175 of the latter for each 100 of the former. The total amount of Bonds earned by the Railway Company to 31st July, 1904, was $9,555,000. (b) Of the Bonds of the Special Series $59.000 have been redeemed and cancelled. Of the Bonds of the General Issue $931.000 have been purchased and are held by the Sinking Fund Trustees, making the total amount redeemed $990,000. (c) Assuming that the indebtedness of Ecuador is represented by the total authorised issue of Railway Bonds (less the Bonds of the Special Series cancelled by the Sinking Fund, and the Bonds of the General Issue held by the Sinking Fund Trustees) the Debt per head of the population would be about £1. 155. 6d. 1834. By the Convention of 1834, Ecuador was made responsible for 21 per cent. of the original Colombian Debt, or £1,424,579, upon which the arrears of interest amounted to £683,798. 1834-54-No interest was paid by Ecuador during this period. 1855. In this year an Arrangement was made by which : (1) The total Debt was fixed at £1,824,000, of which £400,000 was given in exchange for £1,000,000 of the arrears of interest. (2) The balance of the arrears amounted to £1,482,120. Of this, £400,000 was cancelled, and Land Warrants (subsequently taken over by the Ecuador Land Company, Limited, now holding about 200,000 cuadras in the Pailon and at Atacamas), were issued against £566,120, whilst $860,000 in Peruvian Four and a-half per Cent. Bonds were given in satisfaction of the remaining £516,000. These latter Bonds were paid by Peru to Ecuador in liquidation of a debt contracted prior to 1834 with the old Republic of Colombia of which Ecuador then formed part. (3) Interest on the New Debt was to be paid at the rate of 1 per cent. as long as the Customs Receipts at Guayaquil should not exceed $400,000 per annum. Of any excess over this sum the Bondholders were to receive one-fourth until the maximum rate of 6 per cent. was attained. 1868.- The Loan went into default in May, 1868. 1888-9. During this period various unsatisfactory proposals were made for the settlement of the Debt in default, which however led to no result. 1890.-In August, 1890, an Arrangement was drawn up for the conversion of the Bonds of 1855 (£1,824,000, with arrears of interest amounting to £422,560), into a New Consolidated Debt of £750,000 interest to be at the rate of 4 per cent. for the first five years, commencing 1st January, 1891, 4 per cent. for the second five years, and 5 per cent. thereafter. A Sinking Fund of per cent. for 5 years, and 1 per cent. afterwards, was to be applied by Drawings at par. The proceeds of an additional 10 per cent. Import Duty were assigned by Congress as security for the service of the Debt; and it was further provided that, in the event of the sum received from this source not being sufficient to meet the half-yearly service, the Government would make good the deficiency from other sources. This Arrangement was accepted by the Bordholders subject to the Old Bonds being deposited in the hands of Trustees, and cancelled only in the same proportion as the corresponding New Bonds were redeemed. The Government refused to accept this stipulation. 1891-2.-A Company called the Ecuador National Railway Company, holding the concession for the completion of an important Railway in Ecuador under a Government guarantee, offered to give £15 in fully paid-up Railway Shares in respect of each £100 New Bonds, provided the Bondholders accepted the Arrangement of August, 1890, unconditionally. The Bondholders consented to this proposal, and in November, 1891, ratified the Arrangement of August, 1890, without the reservation above mentioned. The existing Bonds of 1855 were converted at the rate of £40 New Bonds for each £100 principal of the Old Debt with all Arrear Coupons attached. The collection of the 10 per cent. additional Import Duties was ordered by the Government to commence from 1st June, 1892, and interest on the New Bonds to run from that date. Certificates of claim for the seventeen months' interest unpaid from 1st January, 1891, to 31st May, 1892, were issued by the Council. The Government refused to provide for the expenses of the Debt service, which had to be borne by the Bondholders. (The Concession held by the Ecuador National Railway Company has lapsed.) 1894. In July, 1894, after the payment of the third half-yearly Coupon on the "New Consolidated Debt," Congress passed a Law suspending the payment of interest, and ordering that |