BRAZIL. 



63 



was set down at $115,302,355, and the expen- 

 diture at $90,178,304, with a consequent sur- 

 plus balance of $25,124,051 for the year 18,9- 

 '80. 



In the budget for 1881-'82, the revenue and 

 expenditure were respectively estimated as 

 shown in the subjoined tables: 



General receipts (ordinary and extraordinary)... $58,029,000 

 Emancipation fund 450,000 



Total $58,479,000 



EXPENDITURE. 



Ministry of the Interior $4,001,107 



of Foreign Aff airs 481, (552 



of Finance 29,785,877 



of Justice 3,360,143 



of Agriculture 9,538,8:50 



of War 6,806,573 



of the Navy 5,26i>,166 



Total $59,143,378 



Deficit $664,378 



Later returns, however, published in Sep- 

 tember, 1830, gave the estimated revenue at 

 $57,129,000, and the expenditure at $57,073,- 

 423, whereby, instead of a deficit, as above, 

 there would be a surplus of $55,577. 



The total amount of the customs receipts 

 at Rio de Janeiro, for 1879, was $20,877,663, 

 against $20,339,380 for 1878, as follows: Im- 

 port duties for 1879, $15,977,499, against $16,- 

 072,746 for 1878; export duties for 1879, 

 $4,900,164, against $4,266,634 for 1878. The 

 receipts at the same custom-house bid fair to 

 show a still further increase for 1880, having 

 amounted in the first three quarters of that year 

 to $15,772,151, against $15,718,395 for the cor- 

 responding period in 1879. 



A report was current in July, 1880, that the 

 Brazilian customs tariif was again to be re- 

 vised, and that the Minister of Finance had 

 appointed a committee for that purpose. Such 

 intelligence is far from gratifying, observes a 

 Rio journal, as tariff revisions in Brazil have 

 become synonymous with "tariff elevations." 

 As stated in a previous volume,* the merchants 

 of Rio de Janeiro, on the occasion of the last 

 revision, were invited to take part in the work. 

 After bestowing much time and labor on the 

 question, they found that their suggestions had 

 been uniformly acted upon when favoring an 

 increase of duty, and disregarded when urging 

 the necessity of a reduction. The tariff went 

 into operation on January 1, 1880, and the 

 short period of six months was sufficient to 

 demonstrate that it was based on wrong prin- 

 ciples: continual conflicts between the mer- 

 cantile community and the custom-house offi- 

 cials, diminished importation and sale of cer- 

 tain kinds of commodities, enhanced cost of 

 all means of living for the working-classes, new 

 difficulties in the collection of duties, multiplied 

 complaints of the people, and a general de- 

 crease of receipts (spite of the promising state 

 of things at the Rio custom-house, as above 



* See " Annual Cyclopaedia -1 for 1ST;. 



referred to) such were the results produced 

 by its application. 



The subjoined table exhibits the amount and 

 branches of the national debt of Brazil on 

 March 30, 1880: 

 Foreign debt, at five per cent, interest, payable in 



gold $75,538,666 



HOME DEBT. 

 Payable in paper money, at four, 



five, and six per cent $t68,753,550 



Payable in gold, at six per cent 37,055,501) 



FLOATING DEBT. 



Debt prior to 1827 $100,365 



Orphans' and other funds 25,43s,29 



Treasury notes (at two, four, and six 



mouths) 6,166,350 



Paper money (Government notes *) 94,59y,7t>5 



205,812,050 



Total 



126,365,339 

 $407,716,065 



The following extract from a British finan- 

 cial journal will be found to contain interest- 

 ing remarks on the Brazilian home debt, and 

 Brazilian credit generally : 



In September, 1879, Brazilian five per cents, of the 

 1865 issue had a medium quotation of 93 : in the third 

 week of September, 1880, the corresponding price of 

 these bonds was 96. Some allowance must be made 

 for the fact that all securities have been gradually hard- 

 ening in price of late in consequence of the cheap- 

 ness of money ; but, even allowing for this, we think 

 it must be admitted that Brazilian credit has improved 

 during the past twelve months. When foreign bonds 

 fell into general discredit, four or five years since, on 

 the collapse of Paraguay, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Hon- 

 duras, Turkey, Peru, etc. (to say nothing of the par- 

 tial defaults of Spain, Egypt, and Uruguay), Brazil 

 found her credit seriously weakened, and she became 

 unable to negotiate further loans in London. Under 

 these circumstances, she adopted probably the best 

 and most sensible course which she could pursue 

 she raised a considerable loan at home. Although the 

 rate of interest attached to this internal loan did not 

 exceed 44 per cent, per annum, the operation proved 

 completely successful, and while it placed the Brazilian 

 Treasury in funds, it had the further advantage of 

 showing that Brazil possessed such ample resources at 

 home that she really could afford to dispense with 

 English assistance. The 4i per cent, internal loan 

 concluded by Brazil in 1879 marked, indeed, a new 

 era in Brazilian finance, and reestablished Brazilian 

 credit. The result has been an advance of three per 

 cent, in Brazilian five per cents, of 1865, and a still 

 greater hardening in the securities of railways guar- 

 anteed by Brazil. There certainly appear to be order, 

 regularity, and good faith in the financial administra- 

 tion of Brazil. In the bonds of Brazil issued in Lon- 

 don the Emperor of Brazil pledges his " imperial and 

 sacred word" that the conditions of the various Bra- 

 zilian loans shall be scrupulously adhered to ; and 

 thus far his Majesty's " imperial and sacred word" has 

 certainly been found to be thoroughly reliable. In 

 her present Emperor Brazil is blessed with a wise and 

 beneficent ruler, distinguished by tendencies at once 

 conservative and liberal. Brazil is deeply indebted 

 to Dom Pedro Segundo. 



The long-pending British claims against Bra- 

 zil have again come to the surface, and hopes 

 are entertained of their settlement through the 

 mediation of Mr. Ford, now accredited as Brit- 

 ish Minister to Brazil, and whose name was 

 associated with the famous fishery question be- 

 tween England and the United States. 



* Exclusive of the notes of the Bank of Brazil and of the 

 banks of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Maranhao, the aggregate 

 amount of which in circulation in 1S7U was about -f 13,500,000. 



