98 



BRAZIL. 



Thus it is observed that the revenue exceed- 

 ed the estimate by $12,561,406 ; and that the 

 expenditure was likewise inferior to the esti- 

 mated sum by $9,161,795. But a more pros- 

 perous state of things is observable in the ex- 

 cess of $14,095,940 in the revenue over the ex- 

 penditure. 



The estimated budget for 1 873-' 74 was: rev- 

 enue, $51,064,940 ; expenditure, $45,331,370 ; 

 leavings surplus of $5,733,570. 



That for 1875-'76 stands as follows : 



Recei pts ordinary and extraordinary ......... $53,000,000 



Slave liberation fuud ......................... 566,535 



$53,566,535 

 EXPENDITURE. 



Ministry of the Interior ...................... $3,777,762 



Ministry of Justice .......................... 2,861,495 



Ministry of Foreign Affaire .................. 596,780 



Ministry of the Navy ......................... 5,799,903 



Ministry of War ............................. 7,862,297 



Ministry of Finance .......................... 21,561,206 



Ministry of Commerce ....................... 8,847,582 



$51,307,025 

 Surplus ................................. $2,259,510 



During the decade, 1864-'73, the revenue 

 has been uniformly in advance of the sums esti- 

 mated for the respective years. 



The paper-money in circulation at the be- 

 ginning of the year was as follows : 



National (March 31, 1874) ..................... $74,773,315 



bank-notes (January 31, February 28, and 

 March 31) ................................... 16,774,062 



These notes are of the following banks and 

 issues : 



Bank of Brazil (March 30) .................... $15,960,000 



Bank of Bahia (February 28) ................. 695,587 



Bank of Maranhao (January 31) .............. 118,475 



Total, at 5 per cent, interest ...... ..... $16,774,062 



The customs receipts for the whole empire 

 in 1872-'73 amounted to $4"0, 705,708, being an 

 increase of $1,567,962, as compared with the 

 years 1871-'72. 



The custom-house of Rio de Janeiro alone 

 yielded no less than $19,358,792, against $17,- 

 448,679 in the previous year. 



All kinds of machinery going into the em- 

 pire are now free of duty, as are, likewise, 

 the following articles : live trees, shrubs, and 

 plants, of whatever species they may be ; sods, 

 roots, bulbs, and in general every thing useful 

 in horticulture and agriculture. 



Mr. Partridge, the United States minister to 

 Brazil, had several conferences with the Minis- 

 ter of Foreign Affairs on the subject of duties 

 on American products, representing how de- 

 sirable it would be to have these relieved of all 

 imposts, as was Brazilian coffee at American 

 ports. But when the new tariff was published 

 (March 31st), the only article on which the duty 

 had been even lightened was found to be kero- 

 sene, which , is extensively imported. Flour is 

 subject to a duty of 54 cents per barrel; lum- 

 ber, to about $7 per 1,000 feet; turpentine 



pays some 9 cents per gallon ; rosin, $1.15 

 per barrel ; and the impost on lard was posi- 

 tively advanced rather more than f cent per 

 pound, the duty on that article being now 4| 

 cents. 

 The foreign debt on December 31, 1872, stood 



at..... $68,723,111 



The installments paid thereon in 1873 amount- 

 ed to 1,820,000 



Amount of the foreign debt on Dec. 31, 1873. $66,903,111 



The following table exhibits the state of the 

 home debt : 



Debt at four, five, and six per cent $142,954,200 



Debt prior to 1827 171,446 



Orphans' fund and deposits 15,589,838 



Treasury notes (two, four, and six months). . 8.052,000 

 Paper-money 74,773.315 



$241,540,799 

 Total amount of the national debt $308,443,910 



A new loan was contracted in October for 

 5,000,000, issued at 98, with five per cent, in- 

 terest. 



The debt of the Argentine Republic to the 

 empire, reduced to $10,308 in December, 1873, 

 was paid off in June ; while that of Uruguay 

 amounted, with interest, to 1,245,092. 



The chief banks in the empire, eighteen in 

 number, are, with their capitals, etc., in 1872, 

 enumerated in the following table : 



The postal treaty, provisionally concluded 

 with the Argentine Republic in 1870, was rati- 

 fied in December, 1873. 



The Bishop of Olinda, whose arrest was or- 

 dered on January 2, 1874, was conducted to 

 Rio de Janeiro and arraigned for trial before 

 the Supreme Tribunal of Justice on a charge 

 of contempt and usurpation of the imperial 

 authority. Having been convicted, he was sen- 

 tenced to four years' imprisonment with labor, 

 and to pay the costs of the legal proceedings. 

 The sentence was afterward (March 12th) com- 

 muted to simple imprisonment for four years 

 in the fortress of Santa Cruz. On being in- 

 formed that the order for his arrrest emanated 

 from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, he de- 

 nied the competency of that or any other civil 

 court to take cognizance of acts asserted by 

 him to be of a purely spiritual character, and 

 consequently amenable to the pontifical au- 

 thority only. 



