PARAGUAY. 



PATENTO. 



PARAGUAY, a republic in South America. 

 Tin- ConMitution of Nov. 25, 1870, vests the 

 l.-i,M>lative p.i\M-r in a Senate and House of 

 ;ie>. tin- memlH'rs of which are elected by 

 dire' -I siill'ra-e. (tin- Senator to 1'J.OOO and one 

 Deputy t.i d.iMK) inhabitants. The President, 

 who i> elected for four years, exercises the ex- 

 ecutive power in consultation with a Cabinet of 

 four ministers, who are responsible to Congress. 

 Juan G. Gonzalez was elected President on >[.!. 

 25, 1890. His Cabinet is composed of the fol- 

 lowing members: Juan C. Centurion, Secretary 

 for Foreign Allah's; Juan Sosa, Minister of Fi- 

 nance; Dr. Carlos Gondra, Minister of Justice; 

 and (!en. Duarte, Minister of War. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is 91,970 square miles. The population 

 was reduced by war from 1,887,489 m 1857 to 

 221,079 in 1873. The COIIMIS of March 1, 1887, 

 which is imperfect, made the population in that 

 year 329,64"), comprising 155,425 malea and 174,- 

 220 females. This does not include about 00,000 

 half-civilized and 70,000 savage Indians. The 

 number of foreigners was estimated at 17,000, of 

 whom 5,000 arc Argentinians, 2,500 Italians, 

 1.500 Spaniards, 1,150 Germans, 700 French, 600 

 Brazilians, 600 Swiss, 450 Austro-Hungarians, 

 and 200 British. The number of immigrants in 

 1888 was 1,064; in 1889, 1.495: in 1890, 1,419. 

 Asuncion, the capital, had 24,038 inhabitants in 

 1886. The Government maintains a military 

 force of only 100 officers and 1,400 men, and 

 has no navy except a screw steamer of 440 tons, 

 carrying four guns, and two small river steamers. 

 Finances. The receipts of the treasury in 

 1890 amounted to 2.736,113 pesos, of the approxi- 

 mate value of 6(5 cents. Of this sum, 1,183.426 

 pesos were derived from custom duties, 337,527 

 pesos from sales and leases of land, and 215,160 

 pesos from other sources. The disbursements 

 were 2,116,357 pesos, 913.104 pesos being spent 

 for war and the navy, 623,324 pesos for the in- 

 terior, 193,569 pesos for financial administration, 

 284,511 pesos for justice, worship, and public in- 

 struction, and 101,849 pesos for foreign relations. 

 The public debt on Jan. 1, 1890, amounted to 

 3-J,!Mi!),471 pesos, of which 23.701,046 pesos repre- 

 sent the external debt, 724,485 pesos the internal 

 debt, 194.934 pesos deposits, 2,768,506 pesos float- 

 ing liabilities, and 5,580,500 pesos cedillas. 



Commerce and Agriculture. The imports 

 in 1890 were valued at $2.726,000. and the ex- 

 ports at $3,564.000. The principal exports are 

 yerba or mate, called sometimes Paraguay tea, 

 cigars and>tobacco, hides and skins, oranges, and 

 woods. There were 730.000 cattle in the coun- 

 try in 1887. The production of corn, wheat, 

 rice, and manioc are not more than sufficient for 

 home consumption. There are three agricult- 

 ural settlements of foreigners a.-sisted by the 

 Government. The value of the public lands 

 alienated durinsr 18S9- < 90 was $809,125, and the 

 rent paid for Government forests in that year 

 was $14,045. The plants and trees growing 

 wild in the country yield an extraordinary va- 



riety of commercial product*, including algaroha 

 and qucbnincho for tanning; indigo, aiitmtio, 

 and many other coloring material*; pulm, pine- 

 apple, imipajo. and other liber-: copal, dnip.n's 

 blood, gum elastic, and balsams in great variety; 

 and copaiba, jalap, sarsaparilla, nux vomica, and 

 other medicinal drugs, in issji then- were 933 

 vessels, of 36,503 ton>. entered and !i:;o. ,f 38,785 

 tons, cleared at the port of Asuncion. Tl 

 is connected with ; Villa Hica by a railroad 92 

 miles long, on which the receipt's in 1*H7 were 

 161.550 pesos and the expenses 111,887 pesos. 

 Hevond Villa Rica an extension through the 

 southern part of the republic in the direction of 

 the Parana river had been carried 60 mi. 

 fore the beginning of 1891. Another exi 

 is projected, which will join the Brazilian svs- 

 tem at Santos. About $5.000,000 of Rnfltth 

 capital has recently been invested in the country. 

 The Anglo-Paraguayan Company has bought a 

 large tract in the neighborhood of Villa Rica for 

 the purpose of settling an agricultuial colony 

 upon it. To encpurage immigration the (Ji.v- 

 ernment offers free passage to agricultural colo- 

 nists and their families. The small farmers are 

 now at a disadvantage, however, because the 

 good land within access of the markets has been 

 bought by companies which hold it for enhanced 

 prices. The small breed of native Brazilian cat- 

 tle is being improved by crosses with European 

 stock. The Argentine crisis affected the banks 

 and mercantile houses of Paraguay, and caused 

 a decline in the exchange value of the paper 

 money. Buenos Ayres speculators had begun to 

 buy large quantities of land in Paraguay in the 

 hope of an immediate rise. The crash has pro- 

 duced a check in the rate of progress and a with- 

 drawal of capital. 



Attempted Revolution. The Liberals, who 

 were defeated in the elect ion? of 1890. attempted 

 to overthrow President Gonzalez in October, 

 1891. A spirit of hostility to the Government 

 had been growing for some time, and at last the 

 opponents of the Administration collected and 

 armed the most desperate of their adherents, is- 

 sued an address to the people accusing the Pn-.-i- 

 dent of a tyrannical abuse of power and breaches 

 of the Constitution, and, led bv Major Vera and 

 Deputy Machin. attacked the barracks at Asun- 

 cion, which were occupied by the regiment of 

 CoK Mino. The fighting was fierce and bloody 

 for a few minutes, and then both the leaders of 

 the insurrection fell. The loss of their com- 

 manders demoralized the rebels, who broke and 

 lied, leaving 10 killed besides their leaders. They 

 escaped to the Argentine frontier and surrendered 

 their weapons to the Argentine authorities. On 

 the Government side Col. Mino, Col. Ossura, 

 and 6 men were killed. This ended the revolu- 

 tion. 



PATENTS. The receipts, expenditures, and 

 work of the United States Patent oili. e f-<r the 

 three years ending Dec. :',i. isicj. are condensed 

 from the commissioner's reports in the table on 

 the next page. 



