858 



URUGUAY. 



with a total population of 440,000, as officially 

 estimated in 1877. Montevideo, the capital, 

 had in 1879 a population of 73,353. 



The President is Dr. F. A. Vidal, elected 

 March 15, 1880, as successor to Colonel L. La- 

 torre. 



The Cabinet, previous to June, 1881, was 

 composed of the following ministers: Foreign 

 Affairs, Interior, Justice, Public Worship, Pub- 

 lic Instruction, and Agriculture, Dr. M. Maga- 

 rifios Cervantes ; * Finance, Senor J. Cuestas ; 

 War and the Navy, Senor M. Santos, " colonel- 

 major." 



The Consul-General of Uruguay for the whole 

 United States is Senor H. Estrazulas, resident 

 in New York. 



From the best information obtainable, it 

 would appear that the Uruguayan army num- 

 bers 2,360 rank and file, as follows : 1,667 foot, 

 232 horse, and 294 artillery, with a total of 167 

 officers. 



In the budget for the year 1881 the revenue 

 was estimated at $7,890,000, and the expendi- 

 ture as follows : 



Legislature $160.720 



Ministry of Foreign Affairs 63,524 



' of the Interior. 1,749,783 



" of War and the Navy 1,786,027 



" of Finance 605,584 



Service of the national debt 3,553,805 



Total $7,918,443 



The Senate had passed a bill authorizing the 

 issue of Treasury notes to the amount of $2,000,- 

 000, bearing interest at four per cent, in order 

 to cover the deficits of 1879 and 1880. It was 

 presumed that a new tariff bill, before the 

 Chamber of Deputies in January and February, 

 would have the effect of increasing the receipts. 

 One of the prominent measures of the bill was 

 the imposition of sliding duties on breadstuffs. 

 The minister expected that the yield of these 

 resources would balance the budget estimates 

 for 1881. The yield of the Montevideo cus- 

 tom-house for 1878 was $4,053,518, and that of 

 the Recebedor'w, $857,904; against $3,677,531 

 and $660,788 respectively for 1879. 



The total national debt consolidated, on Jan- 

 uary 1, 1880, was reported at $47,861,042, of. 

 which $30,812,692 represented the home debt. 

 In his message on the occasion of the closing of 

 the legislative sessions, July 15, 1881, President 

 Vidal, referring to the national finances, said : 

 "Thanks to wise measures of economy, the 

 revenue showed an increase of $1,200,000, and 

 the public funds had advanced from five to 

 fourteen per cent ; the cessation of the system 

 followed by my predecessor, of applying a con- 

 siderable share of the annual receipts to the pay- 

 ment of back liabilities (now funded from year 

 to year), has rendered it possible to make a more 

 equitable distribution among all the creditors ; 

 and the amortization debt (four per cent an- 

 nual sinking fund) is selling at fifteen per cent ; 



* On the resignation of Senor Magarinos, on September 9th, 

 Benor Vilara took the portfolio of the Interior, and Senor 

 Jose Vasquez Sagastumet, till then Minister at Kio de Ja- 

 neiro, the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. 



nor does it appear too much to say that it will 

 have doubled in value before the lapse of a 

 year. The improved condition of the Treas- 

 ury has enabled us to meet all liabilities punc- 

 tually." 



In January, 1880, there still remained unre- 

 deemed, to the amount of $3,495,506, an old 

 paper currency, no longer in circulation or 

 received in the banks, but for the redemption 

 of which there was an appropriation of $15,- 

 000 gold per month. 



Pursuant to the agreement of February 20, 

 1878, the Government is to pay to the com- 

 mittee of bondholders of the consolidated 

 home debt the sum of $105,000 in specie, tV> be 

 applied for the extinction of the debt. Owing 

 to a succession of monetary crises, the service 

 of the debt constituted by the " Uruguayan " 

 and the "Montevideo-European" loans was 

 suspended in October, 1875 ; but certain con- 

 ditions proposed to and accepted by the cred- 

 itors enabled the Government to resume the 

 service on January 1, 1878. The interest on 

 the two other debts has always been paid in 

 full. 



The following figures represent the values 

 of the foreign trade of the republic for the 

 quinquennial period 1876-'80 : 



Among the countries furnishing the imports 

 in 1879 and 1880, were the following: 



18?9. 



1880. 



Some of the countries to which Uruguay 

 sent exports in the same years were as under : 



