BRAZIL. 



Finances. The revenue for 1899 was esti- 

 mated at 346,164,000 milreis, and expenditure at 

 346,000,423 milreis. The budget for 1900 made 

 the revenue 53,975,543 milreis in gold and 312,- 

 958,000 milreis in paper, and the appropriations 

 voted were 36,973,646 milreis in gold and 263,- 

 162,276 milreis in paper, including 9,026,670 mil- 

 reis in gold for the currency guarantee fund and 

 23,920,000 milreis in paper for redemption of cur- 

 rency. For 1901 the revenue was estimated at 58,- 

 869,000 milreis in gold and 286,082,000 milreis in 

 paper, the expenditure at 37,510,000 milreis in 

 gold and 244,514,000 milreis in paper. Of the 

 revenue 36,400,000 milreis in gold and 123,454,000 

 milreis in paper were import duties, 33,200,000 mil- 

 ries in paper railroad receipts, 15,500,000 milreis 

 in paper postal and telegraph receipts, 600,000 

 milreis in gold and 30,808,000 milreis in paper 

 revenue from stamps, etc., 105,000 milreis in gold 

 and 319,000 milreis in paper receipts from various 

 taxes, 39,886,000 milreis in paper excise receipts, 

 8,565,000 milreis in paper extraordinary revenue, 

 12,678,000 milreis in gold emission, and 9,026,000 

 milreis in gold and 34,350,000 milreis in paper 

 special revenue. Of the expenditure 16,094,000 

 milreis in paper were for the Department of the 

 Interior and Justice, 969,000 milreis in gold and 

 527,000 milreis in paper for the Department of 

 Foreign Affairs, 23,200,000 milreis in paper for the 

 Department of Marine, 45,581,000 milreis in paper 

 for the Department of War, 12,859,000 milreis in 

 gold and 61,818,000 milreis in paper for the De- 

 partment of Industry, Communications, and Pub- 

 lic Works, and 23,682,000 milreis in gold and 

 87,294,000 milreis in paper for the Depart- 

 ment of Finance. To secure the ' revenue re- 

 quired by the Federal Government taxation has 

 become very heavy, and the revenues of the states 

 and municipalities are obtained by a system of 

 taxation that is not simply burdensome, but irk- 

 some and discouraging to enterprise. The finan- 

 cial year 1900 closed with a surplus of 35,000,000 

 milreis. The payment of interest on the foreign 

 debt, which had been interrupted, was resumed 

 by arrangement of the British creditors on July 

 1, 1901, when the Government had more than 

 enough on deposit in London to meet the interest, 

 which amounts to 2,400,000 a year. The Gov- 

 ernment has agreed to reserve 25 per cent, of the 

 customs receipts for the purpose, and expects to 

 have a surplus of 4,000,000 a year, besides 1,- 

 000,000 allotted to the fund for guaranteeing the 

 currency. The revenue for 1901 was 27,000,000 

 milreis in gold and 281,000,000 milreis in paper. 



The foreign debt on March 31, 1900, amounted 

 to 38,639,281 sterling, consisting of 3,292,000 

 borrowed in 1883 at 4 per cent., 5,298,600 raised 

 at 4i per cent, in 1888, the 4-per-cent. loan of 18,- 

 388,200 obtained in 1889, 7,331,000 borrowed at 

 5 per cent, in 1895, and 4,328,881 obtained in 

 1898. The internal debt amounted to 511,197,100 

 milreis, composed of a gold loan of 20,549,000 mil- 

 reis paying 4 per cent, interest, one of 7,127,500 

 milreis paying 6 per cent., 119,600 milreis payable 

 in paper and bearing 4 per cent, interest, and the 

 5-per-cent. currency loan amounting to 483,401,000 

 milreis. The floating debt was 284,759 milreis, 

 and there were treasury notes for 10,175,000 mil- 

 reis. The paper money in circulation in July, 

 1900, amounted to 703,666,174 milreis. The debts 

 of the states on Jan. 1, 1900, amounted to 10,- 

 135,729 sterling. 



The Army and Navy. The strength of the 

 army on the peace footing in 1899 was 484 staff 

 officers, 1,573 officers, and 9,035 men in the infan- 

 try, 606 officers and 3,179 men in the cavalry and 

 engineers, and 1,400 cadets. The active army con- 



sists of 40 battalions of infantry of 4 companion 

 each, 14 regiments of cavalry of 4 squadrons each, 

 6 regiments of field artillery of 4 battorios each, 

 6 battalions of fortress artillery, 2 battalions of 

 pioneers, and 6 transport squadrons. The gen- 

 darmerie numbers about 20,000 men. The Na- 

 tional Guard is being reorganized. 



The navy in 1900 consisted of 2 third-class 

 battle-ships built before 1885; the armored coast- 

 defense vessels Deodoro and Floriano, built in 

 1898 and 1899; 6 armored gunboats of various 

 dates; 2 old monitors; 4 small protected cruisers, 

 and 3 without armor; 18 gunboats; 4 torpedo- 

 cruisers; and 9 first-class and 17 second-class tor- 

 pedo-boats, besides 2 submarine boats built in 

 1895 and 1896. The fleet had 4,000 seamen, 1,000 

 stokers, 1,500 boys, and 450 marine infantry. 



Commerce and Production. The total value 

 of imports in 1897 was 671,603,280 milreis, and of 

 exports 831,806,918 milreis. The imports are cot- 

 ton and woolen goods, iron, hardware, machinery, 

 coal, flour, cattle, jerked beef, rice, codfish, pork, 

 lard, butter, corn, olive-oil, macaroni, tea, can- 

 dles, salt, kerosene, timber, wine and spirits, etc. 

 Of the imports at Rio de Janeiro in 1899 Great 

 Britain furnished 41 per cent., Germany 11 per 

 cent., France 10 per cent., the United States 8 

 per cent.; of the coffee exports 68 per cent, went 

 to the United States, and the rest to Europe. The 

 exports of coffee in 1899 from Rio de Janeiro, 

 Santos, Victoria, and Bahia were 9,284,412 bags 

 of 152 pounds, compared with 10,248,186 bags in 

 1898 and 10,353,197 bags in 1897. The fall in the 

 price of coffee has checked planting. The produc- 

 tion of rubber in the Amazon valley is increasing, 

 and rubber-trees have been planted in Bahia and 

 other districts. In Pernambuco 167,198 bales of 

 cotton were grown in 1898: There are sugar 

 plantations and factories in the same state. In 

 Rio Grande do Sul 232,000 cattle .were slaughtered 

 in 1900, against 270,000 in 1899 and 340,000 in 

 1898. In that state are fruit canneries,, breweries, 

 and tanneries. Rum and alcohol are distilled in 

 increasing quantities. In Minas-Geraes gold- 

 mines worked by foreign companies produce 148,- 

 000 ounces a year, and in that state and Bahia 

 40,000 carats of diamonds have been dug from 

 river beds annually, and the quantity has lately 

 increased. A company has erected machinery to 

 work diamond-mines in Minas-Geraes. In the 

 same state 65,000 tons of manganese ore were 

 raised. Great development has taken place in the 

 mining industry in a period of depression in other 

 branches of production. About 200,000 persons 

 are employed in cotton-mills, in which 100,000,000 

 milreis have been invested. There are also mills 

 for weaving woolen and silk, and for grinding 

 flour from Argentine and Uruguayan wheat. The 

 cultivators of coffee have not attempted to reduce 

 wages in order to escape from the financial em- 

 barrassment caused by the fall in the price of 

 their product and in the exchange value of the 

 currency, because attempts to lower the wages of 

 industrial operatives have resulted in strikes and 

 disorganization, and they fear that agricultural 

 laborers would refuse to work if their wages were 

 cut down. Large stocks of coffee were held over 

 from 1900 and the crop of 1901 was abundant. 

 The world's production of coffee, of which Brazil 

 furnishes 62| per cent., is being increased rapidly 

 by new plantings in all subtropical regions, al- 

 though the present production is at least 12J per 

 cent, in excess of consumption. The rubber, 

 sugar, cotton, and tobacco interests in Brazil suf- 

 fer from the falling rate of exchange, which 

 affects all branches of the export trade, owing to 

 the indebtedness, of local producers to foreign 



