The Republic of Panama is one of the smallest countries in the world, its territory being about equal to that of the State of Indiana. It has no national debt, and has $7,000,000 invested in mortgages, on real estate in New York City. When it received $10,000,000 from the United States, in payment for the rights under which the Panama Canal was built, it immediately invested about 75 per cent of it, using the remainder for paying the expenses of the revolution, and for setting the new government on its feet. It now receives $250,000 a year from the United States as rental for the Canal Zone, and this, with the $350,000 received as interest from its real estate mortgages in New York, gives it an annual income of $600,000 outside of money raised by the usual processes of taxation. Under the treaty with the United States, Panama has its independence guaranteed, and recognizes the right of the United States to maintain order within its boundaries. This entirely does away with the necessity of maintaining an army and navy. The result is that with no appropriations required for military purposes, and with a $600,000 income from the Canal Zone, it enjoys one of the lowest tax rates in the world. Although the Republic of Panama has its Declaration of Independence and its Glorious Fourth, the former was written by a foreigner, and the latter occurs in November. There is some dispute as to who wrote the declaration of independence, but the best information points either to Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a Frenchman, or to William Nelson Cromwell, an American. These two gentlemen differ upon this subject, each claiming that he was the Thomas Jefferson of Panama. When the $10,000,000 was paid to Panama by the United States, one of the first things done was to build a university, locally known as the National Institute. Some $800,000 was spent in the construction of the buildings, which are located near the line of the Canal Zone. But it so happens that Panama has few teachers qualified to hold university chairs, and fewer students qualified to pursue university courses; and the result is that the university is more a place of buildings than a seat of learning.