URUGUAY. 



781 



Tines planted. Agriculture has been extended by 

 immigrant settlers who obtain land on easy terms 

 from land companies. There were 21,045 farmers 

 in 1900, of whom 10,853 owned their farms. In 

 the northern departments of Uruguay gold-mines 

 are worked, chiefly in Rivera, where 74,708 

 grams of gold were obtained in 1898, and an aver- 

 age of 95,447 grams since 1885. 



The value of imports of merchandise in 1899 

 was $25,551,788, and of exports $30,574,164. The 

 imports of articles of food and drink were $7,135,- 

 859 in value; of raw materials and machinery, 

 $6,875,652; of textile goods, $5,042,176; of cloth- 

 ing, $1,308,547; of tobacco, $224,434; of other 

 merchandise, $4,965,120. The exports of live ani- 

 mals were valued at $260,006 ; of animal products, 

 $35,539,134; of agricultural products, $2,354,919; 

 of other products, $420,105. The exports of wool 

 in 1898 were $10,716,158 in value; of jerked beef, 

 $5,474,856; of hides and skins, $6,300,344; of beef 

 extract, $1,447,185; of tallow, $1,255,493. In 1898 

 the imports of merchandise were $24,784,360, and 

 of coin $7,095,381; exports of merchandise were 

 -$30,276,916, and of coin $6,060,576. The special 

 imports in 1900 were $24,000,000 in value; special 

 exports, $29,400,000. The principal exports were 

 hides and leather for $8,174,000; wool, $8,025,000; 

 meat, $6,005,000; tallow, $1,662,000; wheat, $1,- 

 -546,000; meat extract, $1,319,000; animals, $534,- 

 000. The commerce was distributed among vari- 

 ous countries as shown in the following table, 

 giving the values of the imports from and the 

 exports to each country: 



Owing to the fall in the price of wool a con- 

 siderable part of the wool produced in 1899, esti- 

 mated at a quarter, was held back for higher 

 prices. This caused a decrease of about $3,000,000 

 in the Government receipts from export duties 

 and made the total value of exports less than it 

 would have been if this temporary cause of dis- 

 turbance had not been in operation. In 1900 the 

 wool-clip was promptly exported, though at lower 

 prices, but a failure of the wheat-crop caused a 

 great shrinkage in the exports of agricultural 

 produce. The total trade was lower than in any 

 year since 1897, which was a year of civil war. 

 A depression has existed for several years, which 

 has been attributed in a large measure to the 

 system of excessive taxes and duties and to offi- 

 cial regulation of commerce and industry. The 

 high protective tariff has helped to build up 

 some industries, but in general commercial activ- 

 ity there has been a decline. In 1901 the wool- 

 clip was above the average and prices were better. 

 Its value was estimated at $12,000,000. The 

 wheat-harvest promised to be abundant, and was 

 estimated at $10,000,000. The number of cattle 

 slaughtered was almost double that of 1900. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the port of Montevideo during 1899, including 

 coasting and river vessels, was 3,974, of 4,105,102 



tons; cleared, 4,048, of 4,107,017 tons; entered at 

 other ports, 13,903, of 7,20:},955 tons; cleared, 13,- 

 426, of 7,046,075 tons. In 1808 the number of 

 vessels entered at Montevideo in the ocean trade 

 was 969, of 1,945,884 tons; cleared, 911, of 1,888,- 

 325 tons. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. The railroads of 

 Uruguay have a length of 1,080 miles, and there 

 are 146 miles of street-railroads. A new line 

 completed in 1901 passes through one of the rich- 

 est parts of Uruguay and forms a new and shorter 

 route to Buenos Ayres. 



The post-office in 1899 forwarded 10,311,256 

 pieces of mail-matter in the internal and 8,176,255 

 pieces in the external service; receipts, 1,875,041 

 francs; expenses, 1,938,138 francs. 



The length of telegraph-lines is 4,525 miles, in- 

 cluding 995 miles belonging to railroads. The 

 number of messages in 1898 was 346,359. 



Political Affairs. President Cuestas, a leader 

 of the Colorado party, came into office after the 

 assassination of Idiarte Borda on Aug. 25, 1897. 

 The administration of government since the civil 

 war, which cost the country $13,000,000, is ad- 

 mitted to have been honest and economical. Civil 

 rights have been respected, and the financial obli- 

 gations of the nation have been met with punc- 

 tuality. On the other hand, public indebtedness 

 has increased and taxation has steadily risen. 

 While incipient manufacturing industries have 

 been encouraged, the pastoral and the rising agri- 

 cultural industries of the country have suffered 

 from a prolonged depression, which has produced 

 a reaction against the Government. President 

 Cuestas has refrained from official interference in 

 elections, adhering to the promises made to the 

 revolutionary leaders in 1897. In the elections to 

 fill 6 vacancies in the Senate 5 members of the 

 Blanco party were elected just before the begin- 

 ning of 1901, placing the Colorados, who have con- 

 trolled Uruguayan affairs since 1865, actually in 

 the minority, since the 2 Constitucionales, who 

 with 8 Blancos and 9 Colorados composed the 

 Senate, voted usually with the Blancos. On tak- 

 ing the presidency Serior Cuestas assured the 

 Blanco party that the administration would be 

 neutral, and he has since had the support of that 

 party as well as that of the majority of the 

 Colorados, the only opposition coming from a 

 section of the Colorado party composed of parti- 

 zans of the former administrations of Borda and 

 Herrera. When the Senate was convened Dr. 

 Juan Carlos Blanco, a Colorado, was elected presi- 

 dent as the administration candidate. The presi- 

 dent of the Senate, who is elected for twelve 

 months, is ex-oflicio Vice-President. 



While customs declined in 1900, all the internal 

 revenues showed an increased yield. The Gov- 

 ernment out of its previous surplus revenue con- 

 tributed to the fund for the construction of the 

 new port of Montevideo, which was begun by 

 French engineers on July 18, 1901, when that 

 fund had reached $1,000,000. The work had been 

 projected for sixty-eight years, and was at last 

 undertaken with national resources alone, with- 

 out an appeal to foreign capital, and also without 

 imposing a burden on the people. A Latin-Ameri- 

 can Scientific Congress was held at Montevideo 

 in March, at which a resolution was adopted in 

 favor of compulsory arbitration between South 

 American republics, Chile alone dissenting. In 

 April the Government issued an order prohibiting 

 the landing of Jesuit and other clerical immi- 

 grants from Europe. A commission was appointed 

 by the Government to alter the customs tariff 

 and to diminish and distribute more equally 

 among the population the heavy taxes. A xe- 



