PARAGUAY. 



677 



was to be entirely voluntary, and to be used in view 

 of expatriation. The Chinese have no right to be 

 admitted under the circu in stances under which they 

 come here. They are usually brought in hordes in a, 

 condition of semi-slavery, and obligated to perform 

 a term of servitude. The privilege accorded to con- 

 tracting parties was upon condition that the immi- 

 gration to either country, by the citizens or subjects 

 of the other, should be a voluntary individual act. 

 China has wholly failed to have that consideration 



observed, and the United States ought to revoke the 

 privilege. 



Therefore, we, your said memorialists, pray your 

 honorable body to modify the treaty between the 

 United States and the Empire of China, so as to 

 stop and prohibit the importation or immigration of 

 Chinese and other Asiatic laborers to this coast. 



After a session of forty days, the Legisla- 

 ture adjourned. 



PARAGUAY (REpfj BLIOA DEL PARAGUAY), 

 an independent state of South America. For 

 territorial division, area, population, etc., ref- 

 erence may be made to the " Annual Cyclo- 

 paedia" for 1874. 



The President of the Republic is Seflor Don 

 Candido Bareiro, formerly Minister of Finance, 

 elected in 1876. The Vice-President is'Senor 

 Don Adolfo Saguier. 



The revenue of the republic is mainly de- 

 rived from duties on imports, amounting in 

 1876 to $295,564. The expenditure, exclusive 

 of the expenses of the legation at Buenos 

 Ayres, the interest on the home and foreign 

 debts, the maintenance of the army, etc., stood 

 as follows: 



Congress $24,570 



Executive . . : 22,020 



Ministry of the Interior 54,984 



Ministry of Foreign Affairs 5,280 



Ministry of Finances 14,544 



Ministry of Justice and Public Worship 83,876 



Ministry of War 73,356 



Total expenditure 



The public debt of Paraguay comprises the 

 war indemnity of $200,000,000 to Brazil, $35,- 

 000,000 to the Argentine Republic, and $1,- 

 000,000 to Uruguay ; the home debt of $2,- 

 088,212, and a foreign loan negotiated in 

 London in 1872, amounting to $7,350,000, and 

 bearing interest at 8 per cent. Another for- 

 eign loan of $2,500,000 authorized by the 

 Paraguayan Legislature in 1875, to pay the in- 

 terest on the foreign debt, having failed in 

 London, the Government has been unable to 

 meet its obligations toward the bondholders, 

 and the prospect for creating a bank under 

 English auspices no longer exists. The finan- 

 cial and commercial condition of the republic 

 has not been materially improved, although 

 the indications of local trade are gradually de- 

 veloping and the people appear quite ready to 

 devote themselves to industrial pursuits. 



The total value of the imports for the year 

 1862 was $1,234,196, and for 1876 $657,466. 

 The exports in 1862 were $186,939, and in 

 1876 $392,887. The chief staples exported 

 in 1876 were: Yerba mate or Paraguay tea 

 (Ilex Paraguayensis), 3,876,650 Ibs. ; tobacco, 

 868,574 Ibs. ; starch, 277,900 Ibs. ; maize, 239,- 

 950 Ibs.; preserved fruit, 32,500 Ibs.; 19,792 

 hides; 11,356,950 oranges; cigars, 26,039,992 

 Ibs. ; leather, lumber, etc. The principal arti- 



cles of import were silk, woolen, linen, and 

 cotton fabrics, wine, sugar, coffee, etc. 



The state railway, bought by Messrs. Tra- 

 vasso & Co., has been sold by the purchasers 

 to a North American joint-stock company for 

 100,000, who propose to extend the line to 

 Villa Rica. It is believed that this line, prop- 

 erly worked, will bring settlers and trade into 

 the healthiest and most productive and popu- 

 lated portions of the republic, and greatly 

 promote its recovery. This railway was com- 

 menced by Lopez I., in 1859, under the engi- 

 neers Burrel, Valpy, and Thompson, who had 

 6,000 soldiers for workmen. It was built in a 

 solid manner as far as Paraguary, 45 miles from 

 Asuncion, just half way to Villa Rica, the pro- 

 posed terminus, when the war broke out in 

 1863 and put a stop to the works. Subse- 

 quently the wear and tear of transporting the 

 Brazilian army and supplies from Asuncion to 

 Azcurra left the line in a ruinous condition, 

 until placed in good repair by Messrs. Travasso 

 & Co. in 1876-'77. Few railways in the world 

 traverse a more picturesque country. The 

 orange and palm groves of Luqne, the superb 

 lake of Ipacaray stretching out to the foot of 

 the Cordillera, the peak of Itaugua, the val- 

 ley of Pirayu, the Cerro Batovi, and the semi- 

 circle of mountains approaching Paraguary are 

 of surpassing beauty. The second section, to 

 Villa Rica, passes over a country scarcely les 

 interesting, and these regions offer an inex- 

 haustible field for scientific explorers. 



A treaty of limits was concluded between 

 Paraguay and the Argentine Republic, and 

 signed at Buenos Ayres on February 3, 1876. 

 It provides for the division of Paraguay, on the 

 eastern and southern parts, from the Argentine 

 Republic, by the middle of the channel of the 

 Parana River, from its confluence with the 

 Paraguay until its left bank becomes one of the 

 boundaries of Brazil, the island of Apipe be- 

 longing to the Argentine Republic, and the 

 island of Yacireta to the republic of Para- 

 guay, as was declared by the treaty of 1856. 

 On the western part, Paraguay is divided from 

 the Argentine Republic by the middle of the 

 channel of the Paraguay River from its conflu- 

 ence with the Parana, the Chaco Territory 

 being definitely acknowledged as belonging to 

 the Argentine Republic as far as the principal 

 channel of the Pilcomayo River. The island 



