34 



BRAZIL. 



Millreia. 



Brought forward 4,932.966 



2. Ministry of Justice 3,283,070 



3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs 748,420 



4. Ministry of Navy 7,715,161 



5. Ministry of War 13,855,872 



6. Ministry of Finances: 



Public debt 15,882,013 



Pensions 1,506.449 



Tax levy 3,305,271 



Loan to the provinces 1,004,450 



Administration of finance* 6,733,560 



7. Ministry of Commerce : 



Interest securities 2,311,126 



Dom Pedro Railroad 1.400,000 



Subvention to steamboat companies 2,786,000 



Post-Office 770.741 



Other expenditures 4,551,833 



Total 70,786,932 



The public debt, in 1870, was as follows : 



Milreis. 



Foreign debt 113,606,445 



Domestic debt @ 4, 5, and 6 per cent 240,246,800 



Government notes in circulation, paper cur- 

 rency 150,397,628 



Treasury notes @, 2, 4, and 6 months (April 3, 



1870) 53,863,800 



Orphan and deposit money 10,776,495 



Banco do Brazil 12,432,262 



Total, 1870 581,323,430 



The army, on the peace-footing, consisted of 

 16,650 infantry, 4,231 cavalry, 4,322 artillery, 

 and 641 special corps ; total, 25,844 men. To 

 these must be added the corps of engineers, 

 the train, and the naval force. The total force 

 of the army in time of war is 73,784 men. 



In February, 1871, it was discovered in the 

 province of Minas Geraes that the slaves were 

 conspiring to assert their liberty. Three hun- 

 dred slaves on some estates adjoining the gold- 

 mines of the English companies in the prov- 

 ince attempted to induce the large bodies of 

 those employed in the mines to rise, ex- 

 pecting that the slaves of some other estates 

 would rally at once under the flag of lib- 

 erty, and that the movement would speedily 

 extend throughout the empire. The plot was, 

 however, discovered, and about thirty of the 

 ringleadei's arrested. This averted the insur- 

 rection for the moment, but was regarded as 

 an ominous indication of the approaching 

 doom of slavery, as it would be impossible 

 to conceal from the slaves of the empire that 

 only in Brazil, on the American Continent, 

 were human beings held in bondage. 



In May, the Emperor and the Empress left 

 Brazil for a protracted journey to the Old 

 "World. During his absence the Princess Im- 

 perial, wife of the Count d'Eu, was appointed 

 Regent, with full powers. 



The Brazilian Chambers were opened May 

 3d. The speech from the throne promised 

 reforms in the administration of justice, in the 

 electoral laws, in the organization of the Na- 

 tional Guard, and in the system of recruiting. 

 It also announced that the Government would 

 introduce a bill relating to the abolition of 

 slavery, the time having ccme for a final solu- 

 tion of the slavery question. In June a vote 

 was taken upon the clause of the speech from 

 the throne relative to the emancipation of the 

 slaves belonging to the crown, and resulted 



in a majority of 28 for the Government. 

 The long-protracted discussion on the eman- 

 cipation bill itself closed on September 27th. 

 The bill was adopted in the Senate by a vote 

 of 44 against 33. The declaration of the re- 

 sult of the vote was received in the crowded 

 Senate-house with great applause, and rose- 

 leaves were showered from the galleries upon 

 the Senators. On leaving the Senate, the 

 Visconde de Rio Branco, the Minister of 

 Agriculture, and the Senators who had taken 

 prominent part in the advocacy of the bill, 

 were warmly congratulated by their friends 

 and loudly cheered by the multitude outside. 

 In the evening a serenade was given by the 

 masons of Rio to the Visconde de Rio Branco. 

 The Government received congratulations from 

 all the foreign representatives in Rio and from 

 the local corporations, and felicitations con- 

 tinually came from other parts of the country 

 in proportion as the news reached them. Re- 

 ligious corporations immediately commenced 

 to set at liberty the slaves owned by them, 

 and there were evidences of a movement 

 among the slave-owners, in the direction of 

 either converting their slaves into free tenant 

 farmers or of freeing them upon conditions of 

 a few years' service. 



The main points of the bill for the abolition 

 of slavery, as passed by the Senate, are as fol- 

 lows : The children born of a slave from date 

 of this law, within the empire, are considered 

 free-born. "While minors, they are to remain 

 in the power and under the rule of the masters 

 of their mothers up to the full age of eight 

 years, the masters being required to feed and 

 to bring them up during this period. At this 

 age, the mother's master has the option, either 

 to receive from the Government a compensa- 

 tion of 600 milreis, or to avail himself of the 

 minor's services up to his full age of twenty- 

 one years. In the former case, the Govern- 

 ment takes charge of the minor and of his 

 professional education. Every minor IP ay 

 free himself of his bondage by a compensation 

 in money, offered by himself or any other 

 person to his mother's master, the amount of 

 which is to be previously fixed by estimating 

 the balance of his term of service, if no agree- 

 ment thereupon exists. The master is bound 

 to feed and educate the children born of the 

 daughters of his female slaves as long as the 

 mother's services shall continue. In case the 

 female slave is set free, her children under 

 eight years of age, who according to the law 

 are under the power of her master, are to be 

 delivered to her without any compensation, 

 unless they should remain with the master by 

 mutual consent of mother and master. In 

 case she is sold, her children under twelve 

 years of age follow her, the new master as- 

 suming the rights and obligations of his pred- 

 ecessor. The services of the children of 

 female slaves cease, in case it is. decided by a 

 court that the masters of their mothers have 

 ill-treated or beyond measure punished them 



