Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1425

 M'JNKT, ETC.— DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATIVES 1373

There are about 11,160 miles of navigable water in Venezuela. The Compafua Venezolana <le Navegacion has a virtual monopoly of the navi- gation of the river and its tributaries ami the Lake of Maracaibo.

The telegraph system has (1920) a network of 6,081 miles; 215 telegraph offices; messages 15,722. Receipts amounted to 496,192 bolivars (362,361 bolivars in 1917). A British company supplies telephonic communication in most parts of the settled country in the neighbourhood of Caracas. Length of telephone lines in the Republic (December, 1914) 12,511 miles. There are 309 post-offices (1917), which handled 4,663.251 letters, 368,346 official communications, 380,153 postcards, and 6,075,922 pieces of printed matter.

There are wireless stations at Maracay, Maracaibo, and San Cristobal.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The Bank of Venezuela (capital 12,000,000 bolivars) had on Mav 31, 1920, a reserve fund of 2,244,823 bolivars; cash holdings of 47,161,030 bolivars. The Bank of Caracas has a capital of 6,000,000 bolivars, with reserve amounting (July 31, 1920) to 1,218,901 bolivars. There are also two other banks, the Bank of Maracaibo with a capital of 1,250,000 bolivars, and the Commercial Bank of Maracaibo with a capital of 400,000 bolivars.

The new Venezuelan banking law (1918) authorises the free establishment of banks in Venezuela, which, provided they are incorporated as native com- panies, shall have power to issue notes to bearer convertible on presenta- tion. Two British banks, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Commercial Bank of Spanish America, have established branches at Caracas, and the former has also branches at Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, and Ciudad Bolivar. The latter has also ojjened a branch at Puerto Cabello. The National City Bank of New York and the Mercantile Bank of America have also opened branches at Caracas. The former has also opened branches at Maracaibo and Ciudad Bolivar. A Dutch bank, the ' Hollandsche Bank voor West -Indie,' has opened a branch at Caracas.

The official monetary unit is the Bolivar (equivalent to 0*293230 grammes fine gold), which corresponds to the franc. It is divided into 100 centimos. The face value of £1 is 2525 bolivars ; in 1919 the average rate of exchange was 22 bolivars to the 1/. According to the monetary law of June 15, 1918, it is intended to coin pieces of gold (100, 20, and 10 bolivars), silver (5, 2, and 1 bolivar, and 50 and 25 centimos), and nickel (12* and 5 centimos).

The bank notes in circulation are as follows (the figures in brackets showing their values at par) : 1,000 bolivars (£39 lis. 8d.);800 bolivars (£31 13s. id.) : 500 bolivars (£19 15s. lOd.); 400 bolivars (£15 16s. 8d.) ; 100 bolivars (£3 19s. 2d.); 50 bolivars (£1 19s. Id.); 20 bolivars (15s. 10rf.); and 10 bolivars (7s. lid.).

Gold coins are the old Spanish onza (80 bolivars) (very rare) and 20 bolivars. Silver coins are 5-bolivar pieces, commonly called fuerte (3*. ll$d.) ; 24 bolivars (Is. llfrt.) ; 2 bolivars (Is. Id.) ; 1 bolivar (9Jd.) ; A-bolivar, called a real(i\d.)\ and \ bolivar, called a medio (2|d.). Nickel coins are 0125 bolivar, commonly called a cuartillo or a locha (li<2.), and 0*05 bolivar, called a eentavo (W. ).

A decree of May 18, 1912, provided that the official system of weight* and measures shall be the metric system.

Diplomatic and Consular Representatives.

1. Of Venezuela in Great Britain. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister. — Dr. Pedro Cesar Dominici. S' j. — Julio F. Mendez. Commercial Attache". — Guillermo Todd.