676 



PARAGUAY. 



of the Sierra de Maracayu to the termination 

 of the latter ; thence, as nearly as possible, in 

 a straight line northward along the highest 

 ground to the Sierra de Amambay, following 

 the highest divide of that sierra to the princi- 

 pal source of the Apa, and along the bed of 

 that river (westward) to its junction with the 

 Paraguay. All the streams flowing north and 

 east belong to Brazil, and those south and west 

 to Paraguay." 



The republic was here constrained to aban- 

 don the very portion of her territory which 

 was so long coveted by her imperial neighbor, 

 and the northern limit of which was the mouth 

 of the Rio Blanco, 80 miles above the embou- 

 chure of the Apa. The computations of the 

 population are generally as discordant as those 

 of the area, ranging from 100,000 to 1,300,000. 

 The latest census (before the five years' 

 war), regarded as tolerably accurate, was that 

 ordered by Dr. Francia in 1840, the returns of 

 which gave 220,000. By the natural rate of in- 

 crease, that number would be doubled by 1865, 

 in which year the population would be 440,- 

 000 ; but the losses in the subsequent war may 

 be reckoned at half the total number of in- 

 habitants 170,000 males by battle and dis- 

 ease (chiefly the latter), and 50,000 women 

 and children by famine and exposure in the 

 forests ; so that the census-returns of January 

 1, 1873, were probably correct, viz., 221,079. 

 Of this number, 28,746 were males, and 106,- 

 254 females, over fifteen years of age ; and the 

 remainder, 86,079, of both sexes under that 

 age. The average proportion of male to fe- 

 male births is very nearly as eight to nine. 

 The inhabitants are chiefly Indians (Guaranis 

 and a few other tribes) ; the language of that 

 people is principally spoken throughout the 

 republic. The few hundred white natives 

 preserve their blood tolerably pure by inter- 

 mingling or by alliance with Europeans, and 

 are mainly grouped in or around Asuncion, the 

 capital. Next to the Indians, the most nu- 

 merous element is the mulatto or hybrid, from 

 the union of the early Spanish settlers and the 

 Indian women, and further modified by the 

 Mamalucas from Sao Paulo, in Southern Bra- 

 zil, and by the introduction of African slaves. 

 Pure-blooded Africans are, however, now in 

 comparatively small numbers. In 1873 there 

 were 2,300 foreign residents, made up of Ital- 

 ians, Germans, English, Austrians, Dutch, and 

 Swiss. 



By the terms of the new constitution, pro- 

 mulgated on November 25, 1870, and for the 

 most pai't based upon that of the Argentine 

 Republic, which in turn resembles that of the 

 United States, the legislative authority resides 

 in a Congress composed of a Senate and a 

 Chamber of Deputies ; and the executive au- 

 thority in a President elected for a term of six 

 years, with a non-active Vice-President, and a 

 cabinet of five ministers; the departments of 

 these latter being severally those of the Inte- 

 rior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Public Worship 



and Public Instruction, and "War and the Navy. 

 Settor Don Bautista Gil has been President of 

 Paraguay since October, 1874. 



There is no bank or other credit institution 

 in the country. 



The national revenue, which, in 1863, 

 amounted to $4,275,000, did not exceed $412,- 

 000 in 1873, the chief sources from which it is 

 derived being the custom-house, yielding in the 

 year last mentioned $348,000 for imports, and 

 $70,500 for exports ; rents of state property, 

 licenses, etc. The estimated expenditures for 

 1874 were $341,805. 



Previous to 1865, Paraguay was exceptional 

 among South American states, in that she had 

 no national debt ; on the contrary, she pos- 

 sessed a large surplus income ; but, at the pres- 

 ent time the republic is almost hopelessly insol- 

 vent, her name having figured side by side with 

 those of other bankrupt states in a list pub- 

 lished in a London financial journal in the sec- 

 ond half of 1874, and according to which she 

 was in default $2,903,000 since April of that 

 year; hence, her total indebtedness to Great 

 Britain principal and interest of a loan con- 

 tracted in 1871 is no less than $14,518,500. 

 But to this sum are to be added her liabilities 

 arising out of stipulations consequent upon tho 

 issue of the late war, and by virtue of which 

 she owes $177,000,000 to Brazil, the Argentine 

 -Republic, and Uraguay, in the following pro- 

 portions: $150,000,000 to the first, $26,250,- 

 000 to the second, and $750,000 to the third. 

 Hence her total foreign debt is, at the present 

 time, $191,518,500. There is, likewise, a home 

 debt, the amount of which has not transpired. 



Public instruction has of late been the sub- 

 ject of more serious attention than at any 

 period since the days of the Jesuits. Indeed, 

 Paraguay had in 1861 as many public primary 

 schools, in proportion to her population, as the 

 most advanced Spanish- American states ; in- 

 struction was then made compulsory and gra- 

 tuitous, and the justices of the peace were re- 

 quired to aid in carrying out that measure. 

 Grammar-schools were few; of higher instruc- 

 tion there was only such as the masters of a 

 single establishment in the capital could dis- 

 pense. But well-directed and determined ef- 

 forts have, since the end of the war, been suc- 

 cessful in extending primary education. In the 

 budget for 1874 is observed an appropriation 

 of $34,860 for schools. The total value of the 

 books imported during the decade ending in 

 1865 was but $3,299. ' 



The Roman Catholic is the religion of the 

 state, but all sects are tolerated. 



The present strength of the army is about 

 2,000 men, comprising two regiments of cav- 

 alry, two battalions of infantry, and a regi- 

 ment of artillery. The estimated expenditure 

 for the War Department for 1874 was set 

 down at $98,918. Manufactures are few, and 

 include coarse cotton and woolen fabrics, 

 utensils made of wood, hides, cigars, prepara- 

 tions of gums and resinons substances, the dis- 



