Copyright Convention, International: At Berne, discussed, 4919, 5090. Negotiations for, referred to, 4625. Copyright Laws. (See Copyright.) Corea. (See Korea.) Corisco Islands. (See Spain.) Corn. (See Agricultural Products.) Corporal's Guard.-A few soldiers under a corporal's command; in John Tyler's administration his few followers in Congress were facetiously referred to as a corporal's guard; thus the leaders of one political party ridicule the following of the opposition leaders by insinuating that they amount to only a corporal's guard. Corporate Securities, protection for investors in, 7079. Corporation Income Tax same as excise tax, 7391. Corporation Tax.-Taxes on corporations are levied by most of the states in proportion to the number of shares into which they are divided. The laws of the states are so diversified in this respect that many corporations find it profitable to become Incorporated in states distant from the scenes of their operation. President Roosevelt and Taft both recommended federal taxes on the earnings of corporations and in response to Mr. Taft's request Congress in 1909 passed a federal corporation tax requiring every corporation. joint stock company or association organized for profit, and every insurance company to pay annually an excise tax of one per cent upon its entire net incomes in excess of $5,000. This was justified by the existing deficit in the treasury. The law also provided for a form of publicity which gave the government supervision over all corporations. The income tax law of 1913. passed after the adoption of the sixteenth amendment. supersedes the Taft law. This measure provides for the payment of one per cent upon the net income from all property owned and of every business. trade or profession. joint stock company or corporation. The Revenue bill approved on Sept. 8, 1916, provided for a system of taxation upon corporations as follows: All corporations, not including partnerships, must pay a tax of 2% on their net incomes. Similar provisions are enacted providing for taxation to the same extent of foreign corporations doing business in the United States. the taxable basis of such foreign corporations being that amount of their incomes which is derived in this country. The following corporations. however, are exempt from paying the corporation tax: Labor. agricultural and horticultural organizations; mutual savings banks not hav ing capital stock represented by shares; fraternal societies or orders entirely of a beneficial and non-profit-making nature; domestic building and loan associations and co-operative banks. without capital stock. and operated for mutual purposes without considerations of profit; cemetery companies of a similar nature; corporations or assoclations organized and conducted for religious, civic, social welfare, scientific or educational purposes, and none of the income of which accrues to any individual representing them; clubs of a non-profitmaking nature; various farmers or other relief associations of a purely local character, and the asessments of which are paid merely to meet operating expenses; farmers', fruit-growers' or similar associations which operate without profit as selling agents only; holding corporations of any of the above. In addition, federal land banks and national farm-loan associations are exempt from the operations of the tax as are joint stock banks as to income derived from bonds or debentures of other joint stock banks or any Federal land bank belonging to such joint stock land banks. All corporations manufacturing any kind of explosives or military supplies are taxed 12% on their net profits. This tax is to be effective for one year after the close of the European War. This tax is to take effect only from Jan. 1, 1916, and excludes income derived from contracts made before that date. To determine net profits, provision is made that from the gross receipts shall be deducted the cost of raw materials, running expenses, interest paid on debts or loans, taxes, losses and depreciation of the plant. There is an additional tax of $0.50 on each thousand dollars of capital, surplus or undivided profits of all corporations capitalized above $99.000. In addition, there is a special tax of 1% on the net profits of smelters. when the amount thereof is between $25,000 and $1,000,000; and of 2% when it is above this latter figure. There are special taxes on brokers, amusement resorts, liquors, tobacco. An act of Congress approved March 3, 1917, places a tax of 8% on the amount by which the net income of a corporation or partnership exceeds $5,000 and 8% of the actual capital invested. However, from the income to be taxed is excluded income. from life, health and accident insurance combined in one policy on the weekly premium payment plan. A similar tax, corresponding in its details to the tax upon corporations of the United States is placed upon the income derived by foreign corporations by activities in this country. The term actual capital in the above "excess profits" tax means the actual cash paid in, the actual cash value of assets other than actual cash paid in. and paid in or earned surplus and undivided profits, excepting money or property borrowed. Income is exempt when derived from a public utility or the exercise of governmental function by any state or subdivision of a state. Net income is to be ascertained by deducting from the gross income all ordinary and necessary expenses, including all usual and necessary rentals: all losses for which there is no compensation by insurance or otherwise, including a "reasonable" amount for depreciation of plant and property: the amount of interest paid in indebtedness, not in excess (a) of the entire amount of the capital stock outstanding, or if no capital stock, the entire amount of the capital employed in the business for the year for which the tax is to be paid, and (b) one-half of the corporation's interestbearing indebtedness; and taxes, etc. The fiscal year for which the tax is to be paid ends on Dec. 31. By March 1 of the following year, returns must be made to the collector of internal revenue for the district in which the corporation is located. The assessments on the returns must be handed in by June 1, and must be paid by June 15. There is a provision in the law that any collector, inspector, or other governmental agent making known in any manner except that prescribed by law any information concerning the conduct of a business which may have come to him through his investigations shall be punished by dismissal from the government service and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year. Any individual failing to comply with the provisions of this law shall be fined not less than $20 nor more than $1,000; and if the official of a corporation, shall be fined not more than $2.000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year or subjected to both penalties. which a tax might be levied. Of the 15 districts for collecting the corporation tax, the district in which New York City is located reported collections of more than $10,000,000, and the district containing Chicago more than $4,500,000. The report of the Federal Trade Commission (Bureau of Corporations) for 1915 indicates that the various states collect about $300,000,000 of their revenue from corporations, not including taxes of local subdivisions of the states. Railroad, banking and insurance corporations contribute about 40% of the total revenue of the states. War Corporation Tax.-By provision of the bill signed by the President on October 5, 1917, there is levied upon the income of all corporations, in addition to the tax described in the earlier bills, a tax of 4%. War Profits Tax.-In addition to taxes already existing, there is levied a tax of 20% of the net income on "excess profits." not in excess of 15% of the invested capital; 25% of the amount of the net income in excess of 15% and not in excess of 20% of the net capital; 35% of the net income in excess of 20% and not in excess For the fiscal year of 1916, there were collected from corporations $56,993,658. Returns were received from 336,443 corporations within the meaning of the law. Of these, 190,911 reported a net income of $5,184,442,000; and 175,532 reported either no profits or profits less than those on The returns of the corporation tax by states in 1916 and 1917 were as follows: of 1.790 $ 206.198 20.6 Arizona 1.286 467 165,232 137.7 Arkansas 2.353 1,518 110,958 27.6 887,906 49,132 637,993 306,310 25% of the net capital; 45% of the net income in excess of 25% of the net capital and not in excess of 33% of the net capital; 60% of the income in excess of 33% of such capital. For a definition of excess profits, the reader must be referred to the lengthy and complicated provisions of the act itself, as for a definition of the net income, net capital and businesses coming under this section. The years 1911, 1912, and 1913 are chosen as the years by which to gauge the normal income. Corporation tax a tax on privilege and not on property, 7391. Corporations (see Commerce and La bor, Department of): Bond issuance by, power of Territorial legislatures to authorize, 1757. Cost of Living.-The historian of the future, in evaluating the different forces which affected the status of society during the first decades of the twentieth century, will be compelled to give much attention to the phenomenon described as the high cost of living during that period. Excepting only the war in Europe, no other factor seems to have played so large a part in the daily lives of the entire population of the United States. Although the rise in the cost of commodities was steady from 1896, the years following the outbreak of war in 1914 saw a tremendous acceleration. In 1916, food prices increased 125% from the prices in 1896. From October, 1915, to December, 1916 alone, the increase was 50%. (The increase in food prices from 1900 to 1910 was only about 20%, although during this period the price of butter increased 30%, of eggs 60%, and of bacon and pork, 135%.) The rapid increase in the war years may be seen by comparing these figures with the increase of only 60% in the 23 years between 1890 and 1913. In September, 1917, it was calculated that the increase in the cost of living over only 1 year had been 40% and over 3 years, 70%, with an increase of 100% in the ten year period from 1907. Considering some particular foodstuffs. from 1900 to 1916, the rate of increase was as follows: Wheat, 140%; Corn, 190%; Flour, 130%; Beef, 80%; Milk, 90%; Eggs, 118%; Bread, 20%; Pork, 200%; Butter, 40%; Codtish, 95%; Sugar, 50% Potatoes, 365%. In the ten years preceding 1910, the general wholesale price level increased 14% %, with wages increasing about 15%. In 1914, wholesale prices had increased about 55% from 1896. Of particular commodities between 1900 and 1916, the increase was as follows: Hides and leather, 93%; cotton, 125%; ginghams, 60%; steel billets, 45%; copper, 75%; lead, 55%; anthracite coal, 30%; bituminous coal, 100%. The significance of these figures can be understood only by comparing them with increase in wages during the same periods. Speaking generally, it must be said that wages did not increase proportionately to the cost of living, and to that fact may be ascribed much of the unrest in the ranks of labor, as typified by the increase in the strength of such organizations as the I. W. W. and the Socialist Party. From 1890 to 1913, it is estimated that the cost of living increased 60%, with the increase in wages only about 30%. From 1907 to 1915, wages increased 12%, but their purchasing power decreased 10%. From 1915 to 1916, wages increased about 28%, but prices increased 38%. The increase in income, however, came to only a slight extent to those working on salaries rather than on wages; and the middle class was probably harder hit, comparatively, by the high cost of living than those receiving wages. In studying the above figures, it must be remembered that the increase in food prices was greater than the increase in other commodities. Thus figures of $844.94 as the minimum on which a family of five could subsist decently in New York increased in 1917 to $980.41, or only 16%. It is extremely difficult to get the exact figures for wages in recent years. Cost of Living: International Commission on, 7724. Costa Rica.-Costa Rica occupies part of the southern and narrowing isthmus of Central America, between Nicaragua and Panama, with a regular coast line on the Atlantic of about 200 miles, and a broken and varied coast on the Pacific, with two bold promontories-that of Nicoya in the north and Dulce in the south, each enclosing a gulf of the same name. Physical Features and Climate.-The country is mainly an elevated tableland, intersected by lofty volcanic ridges, running from northwest to southeast. Although close to the Equator (between 8° 17-11 10 N. latitude), and lying entirely within the tropical zone, the climate of Costa Rica is not unhealthy. Malaria and rheumatism are common in the coastal regions, but the climate of the plateau (at an elevation of 3,000-5,000 feet) is equable, with a mean temperature of 68° and a variation of only 5° between the ex tremes. History.-For nearly three centuries (1530-1821) Costa Rica formed part of the Spanish American dominions, the seat of administration being Cartago. In 1821 the country threw in its lot with the other Central American provinces and became independent of Spain. From 1824-1839 Costa Rica was one of the "United States of Central America." AREA AND POPULATION Area in Provinces and Capitals English Sq. Miles Alajuela (Alajuela). Cartago (Cartago). Guanacaste (Liberia).. Puntarenas (Puntarenas) Heredia (Heredia). Limon (Limon). San José (San José)....... Total.. Population 1912 95,382 61,439 34,952 43,304 19,617 20,591 124,109 23,000 399,424 Ethnography.-The Inhabitants are mainly of Spanish blood, descendants of the colonists of the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, with an admixture of mestizos or Spanish Indians. The aboriginal Indians were almost exterminated under three centuries of Spanisu rule, and number about 4,000, while there are about 25,000 negroes, mostly Jamaicans and mainly employed on banana farms. The foreign white population amounts to 5,000 or 6,000, mainly Spaniards and Italians, with some German, British, and United States settlers. Government.-The present constitution rests upon the fundamental law of Dec. 22. 1871, as modified in 1882, 1903, and 1913, and is that of a centralized Republic, with a President elected by direct vote for four years (and ineligible for an immediate term) and a single chamber legis lature. President of the Republic (May 8, 1910-1914).-Ricardo Jimenez, born Feb. 6, 1859. Primary Education is compulsory and free, the schools are well attended, and the proportion of illiterates is being rapidly reduced. There are secondary schools at San José, Cartago, Alajuela and Heredia, and colleges of law and medicine at San José. Debt. An agreement, made between the Costa Rican Government and Mr. Minor C. Keith, providing for the issue of £2,000,000 Gold Refunding, to be applied to the Conversion of the External Debt, with all arrears of interest, and the Limon Sanitation Bonds (for which together £1,617,200, the balance, £382,800, being reserved for the Government's requirements), was finally accepted by the Foreign Bondholders in July, 1911. These Bonds are payable in 1958, through the operation of a cumulative sinking fund of not less than 1 per cent. annually, commencing in 1921, and bear interest at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum for the first ten years, and at the rate of 5 per cent. thereafter, and are secured by a first charge on the Customs Revenue. The July, 1911, coupons and subsequent coupons were duly paid, and the conversion has been duly made. In November, 1911, the Government of Costa Rica issued in Paris a new 5 per cent. Loan for 35,000,000 francs, for the purpose of paying off the Bonds of the Pacific Railway and the Internal Debt. This Loan is secured by a first charge on the Government Liquor Monopoly, and has been given a quotation on the Paris Bourse. The proceeds of this issue have been applied to the payment of the Internal Debt and Pacific Railway Bonds in the early part of 1912, the Government, under the agreement with the French Bankers, having received 80 per cent. of the nominal value of the Loan coupons paid. The internal Debt amounted, on Dec. 31, 1912, to 2,465,272 colones. The gold colon is equal to 462 cents of United States money. Production and Industry.-More than two-thirds of the population are engaged in agriculture, the most important crops being cofee and bananas, the latter in annually increasing quantities. Coffee, rice, maize, sugar-cane, potatoes and beans are grown in the interfor and bananas, cocoa, and rubber are produced in the coast lands. The soil is extraordinarily fertile, and for this reason the republic fully deserves the name of "Rich Coast,' bestowed upon it (possibly on account of its reputed auriferous wealth) in the sixteenth century. There are vast forest-covered tracts on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes where cedar, mahogany, rosewood, ebony and dye-woods are obtained. Gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and zinc are believed to exist in many districts, but the gold fields alone are worked. Chief Exports (1912).-Bananas 10.647,702 bunches, value £1,018,918: coffee 196,211 bags, value £729,527; gold and silver bullion, £155,514; raw sugar, cacao, rubber, cedar and hides. Percentage of Imports (1912).-nited States, 50.58 Germany, 17.11: United Kingdom, 16.59; France, 4.82; other countries, 11.40. Railways-About 420 miles of railway were open for traffic in 1911. the Pacific and Atlantic being connected via the capital. The Costa Rica Railway runs from Limon to the capital. San José (104 miles), in six hours, and is continued 13 miles to Alajuela. The Northern Railway runs from Limon as terminus, and comprises 142 miles of main line and branches, running through the banana districts on the Atlantic coast. The Government own and operate the Pacific Railway, from San José to Orotina (46 miles), and the coast section of the same, Esparta to Puntarenas (13 miles); a new section from Orotina to join the Puntarenas section was opened in 1910. The journey from the capital to Puntarenas (76 miles) takes 5 hours. Shipping.-In 1912, 552 foreign vessels (1,256,093 tons) entered at Costa Rican ports, the mercantile marine of the country consisting only of a few small sailing and motor-driven vessels. The chief port is Limon, on the Atlantic coast, through which the whole of the important banana trade with the United States is done, as well as by far the larger part of the other exports and imports. Puntarenas is the most important harbor on the Pacific coast. Towns.-Capital, San José. Estimated population (1912) 32,449. Other towns are Heredia, Limon, Alajuela, Cartago, Puntarenas, and Liberia. Trade with the United States.-The value of merchandise imported into Costa Rica from the United States for the year 1913 was $3,514,908, and goods to the value of $3,098,735 were sent thither-a balance of $416,173 in favor of the United States. Costa Rica: Boundary question with Colombia discussed, 4627, 5868. Boundary question with Nicaragua― Settlement of, indspensable to com- British protection over, correspond- Commission to adjust, discussed, 2664. Convention for adjustment of, 3175, 3185. Commercial relations with, 3885. Consul of United States in, referred to, 3832. Correspondence regarding, transmitted, 2722, 2894. Dispute with Panama settled by arbitration, 7657. to Fugitive criminals surrendered United States by, 5868. Negotiations with, transmission of information regarding, refused, 2690. Transmitted, 2695. Outrages committed on American citizens in, 3048. Postal convention with, 3284. Relations with, 2690, 2691, 2695. Rupture with Nicaragua amicably settled, 6325. Territorial controversies between States on San Juan River, 2736. Treaty with, transmitted and discussed, 2675, 3175, 3185. Exchange of ratification of recommendations regarding, 3201. Costa Rica, Treaties with.-July 10, 1851, a treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation was concluded, containing the most-favored-nation clause, granting equal treatment and equal trade privileges to the citizens of each country in the territory of the other; exempting from military duty the citizens of either country in the territory of the other, and providing for the exchange of consular and diplomatic officers. It was provided that at any time after seven years either of the contracting parties might give notice of termination. Claims. July 2, 1860, a claims convention was concluded providing for a commission to act upon all claims for damages to persons and property sustained by citizens of the United States in Costa Rica. The commission met in Washington Feb. 8, 1862, and adjourned the following November, and awarded $25,704.14 against Costa Rica. President McKinley by proclamation of Oct. 19, 1899, extended copyright privi leges to Costa Rica, and in 1900 a protocol was concluded for the construction of an inter-oceanic canal. Arbitration.-Differences which may arise of a legal nature or relating to the interpretation of existing treaties which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy shall be referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, according to a convention signed at Washington Jan. 13, 1909. Costa Rica also became a party to the convention between the United States and the several republics of South and Central America for the arbitration of pecuniary claims and the protection of inventions, etc., which was signed in Buenos Aires in 1910 and proclaimed in Washington July 29, 1914. (See South and Central America, Treaties with.) Cotton Cases, suits pending in Court of Claims known as, 4003. Cotton Crop.-The cotton plant is indigCot. enous to tropical India and America. ton cloth is mentioned by Herodotus, was known in Arabia in the time of Mahomet, and was introduced into Europe by his followers. It was used by the Chinese in the thirteenth century, and was grown and woven in Spain in the tenth century. Cotton fabrics were worn by the American Indians when first visited by Columbus. The first cotton factory in America was set up at East Bridgewater, Mass., in 1787. The first effort to cultivate cotton in the United States was made in Virginia in 1621. Later, experiments in cotton_culture were made in Maryland, Delaware. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but conditions of climate in those states were found unsuitable. It was introduced into South Carolina in 1733 and into Georgia in 1734. It was being grown in Louisiana in 1741. Cotton was not grown as a staple crop, however, until 1770, at which time shipments of American cotton to Liverpool were recorded as: "Ten bales from Charleston, three bales from New York, four bags from Virginia, and three barrels from North Carolina." After the Revolutionary War the cultivation of cotton spread more rapidly. The crop of 1790 produced 3.138 equivalent bales of 500 pounds each, 379 of which were exported. Sea Island cotton was first grown in 1786. Cotton is grown in many localities within a globe-encircling belt about five thousand miles wide, but the total area devoted to its cultivation constitutes only a small part of the entire land surface within this belt. A number of conditions are requisite for the |