794 



URUGUAY. 



propriated for missionary work in the West. 

 A resolution was adopted recommending the 

 churches to organize and sustain conference 

 and prayer meetings. A motion was adopted 

 to endeavor to complete the Murray Centenary 

 fund during the year. 



URUGUAY (REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URU- 

 GUAY), sometimes also called La Banda Orien- 

 tal, an independent republic of South Ameri- 

 ca, extending from 30 to 33 55' south lati- 

 tude, and from 52 40' to 58 west longitude. 

 It is bounded on the north by the Brazilian 

 province of Rio Grande do Sul, on the east 

 by the South Atlantic, on the south by the 

 Rio de la Plata, and on the west by the Ar- 

 gentine Republic. 



In an official statistical table for the year 

 1875, the area of the republic is set down at 

 72,170 square miles; and the population for 

 1874 at 450,000, against 221,248 for 1860. In 

 the department of Montevideo, the most im- 

 portant of the thirteen which constitute the 

 territorial division of the country, there were 

 127,496 inhabitants, comprising 70,609 Uru- 

 guayans, 16,761 Italians, 16,352 Spaniards, 

 7,829 French, and 15,945 of other nationalities. 



The President of the Republic is Colonel L. 

 Latorre, invested with dictatorial powers from 

 March 11, 1876, to March, 1877. 



The cabinet is composed of the following 

 ministers : Interior, J. M. Montero ; Foreign 

 Affairs, A. Velazco; Finance, A. Vasquez ; 

 and War and the Navy, E. Vasqnez. 



The consul - general of Uruguay for the 

 whole United States is Sefior E. 0. B. Garsia, 

 resident in New York. 



In the budget for 1875 the expenditure was 

 estimated at $5,902,350, exclusive of the na- 

 tional-debt service ; and in that for 1876 at 

 $4,552,571. The national revenue yielded, in 

 1873, the sum of $9,904,617.49 ; and in 1874 

 that of $8,739,131. 



It was estimated that for the fiscal year 

 1876-'77 the revenue, including the yield of 

 the new imposts decreed in 1875-'76, will not 

 fall short of $9,000,000. In this case there 

 would be a considerable surplus to apply upon 

 the payment of the national debt, which pay- 

 ment the Government proposes to resume as 

 soon as circumstances permit. 



The following table shows the amount of 

 the debt at the beginning of the year 1875 : 



Twelve per cent, home debt $1 5,750,41)8 42 



Nine " " 2.652.408 18 



Six " " 7,293,647 80 



Total home debt $25.696,654 40 



Foreign debt 14.874,560 00 



International debt 8,121,150 00 



Total national debt $43,692,264 40 



The foregoing figures include the titles for 

 interest corresponding to the year 1875 say, 

 $1,814,097.60. 



The interest and sinking fund services of the 

 home first, and afterward of the foreign debt, 

 were suspended in 1875, owing to the political 

 and financial crises by which the country was 



aiBicted ; but there was no interruption in the 

 service of the international debt. In the ab- 

 sence of official data, it is impossible to give 

 here a statement of the floating debt. 



Owing to the rescission of the contract made 

 in 1875 with the bank of Maua & Co., the 

 Government, by decree of April 26, 1876, as- 

 sumed the charge of the emission of that bank, 

 engaging, however, not to emit any uncon- 

 vertible paper-money, and setting apart fcr the 

 sinking-fund of the notes the yield of various 

 imposts, estimated to amount to $1,200,000. 



The proceeds of direct taxation in the de- 

 partment of Montevideo alone, for the seven 

 years 1869-'75, were as follows : 



YEARS. Amounti. 



1869 $169,000 



1870 31)0,000 



1871 32f),(K)0 



1872 330,000 



The interests of public instruction are sedu- 

 lously attended to in Uruguay. In the year 

 1875 there were in the republic 227 primary 

 municipal schools, with an attendance of 15,- 

 564, including both sexes ; and 142 private 

 schools, with an aggregate of 7,114 scholars 

 that is to say, a total of 22,678 (12,001 males 

 and 10,677 females) attending school through- 

 out the country or one out of every nineteen 

 inhabitants. 



The value of the foreign commerce for the 

 years 1872, 1873, and 1874, was as follows: 



YEARS. Amounts. 



1873 $360,000 



1S74 400,000 



1875 420,000 



It should be remarked that the figures for 

 1874 are only approximate, the commercial 

 statistics not having been completed before the 

 time of the publication of the report already 

 referred to. 



The shipping movement at the port of Mon- 

 tevideo for the year 1875 comprised 3,385 ves- 

 sels, with an aggregate of 1,927,887 tons; and 

 the coasting-trade at all the ports for the year 

 1874 was carried on by 13,208 vessels, including 

 all craft. 



In 1875 the total number of miles of rail- 

 way completed was 235. The branch of the 

 Central Railway from Santa Lucia to San Jose 

 was opened to traffic on May 20, 1876. 



The city of Montevideo has six lines of 

 horse-cars. 



The folio wing table recapitulates the reports 

 of the Emigration Board for the years therein 

 expressed : 



