BKAZIL. 



87 



of 427 men ; twenty-one battalions of infantry, 

 9,864 men; five regiments and two battalions 

 of horse, 2,484; and three regiments and four 

 battalions of artillery, with one battalion of 

 engineers, 3,280; total, 16,055 men. 



The strength of the army in time of war is 

 fixed at 32,000 men. 



The police force consists of 9,900 men, of 

 whom 1,200 are in Kio de Janeiro. 



The National Guard has been disbanded, to 

 be reorganized in accordance with the results 

 of a new census. 



The sum appropriated by the Legislative 

 Chambers for the army expenses was $7,901,- 

 960 ; but the actual expenditure amounted to 

 $9,936,670. 



The new law governing military conscription 

 went into force on August 1st. 



On March 8th were issued new disciplinary 

 regulations, abolishing corporal punishment, 

 and depriving officers of the power to inflict 

 arbitrary punishment. The employment of 

 soldiers as servants, with the appellation of 

 comrades, is strictly forbidden, officers now 

 receiving an additional sum for the hire of 

 civilians as servants. 



The chief chaplain has the title of colonel ; 

 one of his assistants, that of lieutenant-colonel ; 

 and the other, that of major. There are, be- 

 sides these, 16 other chaplains, and 60 lieuten- 

 ant-chaplains. 



Decisions of courts-martial are to be sub- 

 mitted to the Supreme Tribunal of War and 

 Justice, which has the power to enhance or 

 diminish the severity of, or confirm or annul, 

 the sentences. 



"In the matter of military jurisprudence," 

 says the Minister of War, in his report, "there 

 seems to be a want of proper organization." 

 In 1865 a special commission was appointed, 

 with his Highness the Count d'Eu as presi- 

 dent, to prepare the projects for the military, 

 penal, and other codes now before the Legisla- 

 tive Chambers. The same commission was 

 engaged in the preparation of regulations for 

 victualing the army, for fortresses, and for the 

 internal discipline of each corps. Another 

 commission was inquiring into the improve- 

 ment of arms for the troops. A new rocket, 

 the invention of Lieutenant 0. A. Martins, of 

 the National Guard, was pronounced superior to 

 any other of the kind. It is shot from a gun, 

 requiring no stick, has a range of 3,000 yards 

 as an ordinary projectile, beyond which dis- 

 tance the rocket effect Is developed, and may 

 be projected with the utmost precision of aim. 

 New plans for army transport and the tele- 

 graphic systems, suited to Brazilian necessities, 

 were also recommended. 



In the Deposito de Aprendizes Artilheiros 

 there were, in December, 1874, 535 appren- 

 tices (the age for admission being between 

 twelve and eighteen) ; and in the Rio de Ja- 

 neiro war arsenal 248 apprentices were em- 

 ployed in the different workshops : these 783 

 youths, for the most part destitute orphans, 



are fed, clothed, and educated by the War De- 

 partment. 



Brazil possesses two gunpowder-mills, that 

 of Rio de Janeiro, capable of turning out 170 

 tons annually, and that of Matto Grosso. 



Down to December 31, 1874, $2,308,650 had 

 been paid to, and 506,385 ares (about 12,600 

 acres) of public lands distributed among, 15,391 

 volunteers returned from Paraguay. 



According to the report of the Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, Brazil has 22 diplomatic and 

 322 consular agents in foreign countries. 



The navy of the empire in 1875 consisted of 19 

 iron-clad steamers, 1 steam frigate, 8 steam cor- 

 vettes, 23 steam gunboats, 7 steam transports, 

 and 3 sail-of-the-line ; the total armament is 

 230 guns, and the aggregate horse-power of 

 the steamers 12,027. There were, besides, one 

 school-ship, and one brig for midshipmen, both 

 without armament. In process of construc- 

 tion, one steam iron-clad, and four steam cor- 

 vettes. There were in the navy 15 general 

 staff officers, 384 first-class, and 159 second- 

 class officers, a sanitary corps 65 strong, 24 

 almoners, 215 accountants, 78 guardians, 33 en- 

 gineers, 3,173 imperial marines, a naval bat- 

 talion 913 strong, and 3,129 apprentices to- 

 tal, 7,875. 



The year 1873-'74 was marked by a sensible 

 diminution in the chief branch of the foreign 

 trade of the empire, the exports, while the im- 

 ports varied but little in value from the year 

 immediately preceding, as is set forth in the 

 following comparative tables : 

 EXPORTS. 



1872-'78 $107,810,868 



1873-'74 * 94,849,000 



$12,461,863 



IMPORTS. 



1872-'73 $75,500,000 



1873- 1 74 76,371,000 



Increase $871,000 



The falling off of nearly $12,500,000 in the 

 exports was pretty regularly distributed among 

 the various articles, each one of the prominent 

 commodities, save India-rubber alone, contrib- 

 uting to enhance the depression, as is shown 

 in the subjoined table of some of the principal 

 export staples, with their values, for 1872-'73 

 and 1873-'74 : 



But, however meagre, comparatively, the ex- 

 ports for 1873-'74, the revenue reports for the 

 first half alone of 1874-'75, showing the duties 

 on exports to have been nearly one million 

 0,731) in advance of those of the corre- 



