78 



BOLIVIA. 



BRAZIL. 



assimilation of private and communal schools 

 in respect to state subsidies ; amelioration of 

 the condition of the working classes by means 

 of necessary reforms ; protection of agricultural 

 interests; and a considerable reduction of the 

 term of military service. Hut a new party of 

 Catholic Democrats sprang up. especially in 

 Flanders, which went much further in propos- 

 ing remedial labor legislation, and which advo- 

 cated proportional representation and the estab- 

 lishment of Flemish as a language of Parliament 

 on an equal footing with French. The Collec- 

 tivists adhered to their dogma that "wealth and 

 the moans of producing it are the patrimony of 

 the entire human race, and must be restored to 

 mankind collectively." The Liberals attempted 

 ljust their platform by declaring in favor of 

 boards of conciliation to facilitate agreements 

 on wages and hours of labor, and of measures 

 for the amelioration of the lot of the working 

 as far as is compatible with respect for 

 individual property. 



The result of the elections was a complete 

 overthrow of the Liberal party by the Clericals 

 and Socialists and a great increase of the par- 

 liamentary .strength of the latter, who gained 23 

 seats from the Liberals and 2 from the Clericals. 

 The Clericals won in the capital on the second 

 ballot over the Liberals and the Socialists. The 

 new Chamber was composed of 104 Conserva- 

 tives, 29 Socialists and Socialist-Radicals, and 

 19 Liberals. 



BOLIVIA, a republic in South America. 

 The members of the House of Representatives, 

 04 in number, and the Senators, numbering 16, 

 as well as the President, are elected by the suf- 

 frage of all who can read and write. Mariano 

 Baptista was elected President for the quadren- 

 nial term cuing Aug. 6, 1896. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is 567,360 square miles, the loss of the 

 coast districts to Chili having reduced it from 

 842,729 square miles to that figure. The popu- 

 lation is officially estimated at 1,192,162, ex- 

 clusive of about 245,000 aborigines. La Paz, 

 the capital has 45,000 inhabitants. 



Finances. In the budget for 1893 the reve- 

 nue was reckoned at 5,737,200 bolivianos or sil- 

 ver dollars, and the expenditure at 5,937,200 

 bolivianos. The internal debt in 1891 was 4,484,- 

 916 bolivianos. The external debt had been re- 

 duced to $622,121. 



Commerce and Production. The silver 

 mines have been more profitably exploited since 

 the construction of a railroad from Ascolan to 

 < )ruro and to the port of Antofagasta, which was 

 opened to traffic on May 8. 1892. Gold is also 

 mined, and so are tin, antimony, copper, bis- 

 muth, and cobalt. The forests abound in the best 

 caoutchouc, and formerly cinchona was obtained 

 in great quantities, but the trees that were most 

 -ible have been destroyed. Other impor- 

 tant products are coca and" alpaca wool. The 

 cultivation of coffee is a growing industry. 



BRAZIL, a federal republic in South Ameri- 

 ca, proclaimed Feb. ->:,, is'.M. by a Constitutional 

 Assembly elected at the call of the Provisional 

 (Jovernmeni established by Marshal Deodoroda 

 Fonseca after the fall of the Kmperor Dom 

 Pedro II on Nov. 15, 1889. The Senate contains 

 63 members, 3 being elected by each State and 



3 by the capital for the term of nine years, one 

 third retiring every three years. The Chamber of 

 Deputies has 205 members, 1 for every 70,000 in- 

 habitants, elected for three years. The President 

 and Vice-President,who hold office four years, are 

 elected, as well as the members of both houses of 

 Congress, by the direct suffrage of all Brazilian 

 male citizens over twenty-one years of age who 

 are able to read and write or pay taxes or exer- 

 cise a trade or profession. Vice-President Flo- 

 riano Peixoto became acting President on Nov. 

 23, 1891, when Deodoro da Fonseca was com* 

 pelled to resign. The President's Cabinet in the 

 beginning of 1894 was composed of the follow- 

 ing secretaries of state: Agriculture, Com- 

 merce, and Public Works, J. F. Pereira ; Fi- 

 nance, Dr. F. Freire ; Justice and Interior, Dr. 

 Fernando Lobo ; Foreign Affairs, C. A. de Car- 

 valho ; War, Gen. Francisco A. de Moura ; Ma- 

 rine, Admiral F. Chaves. The President of the 

 Senate was Dr. Prudente de Moraes. 



Area and Population. The area of the re- 

 public is 3,209,878 square miles. The popula- 

 tion was officially estimated in 1888 at 14,110,- 

 936. The immigration in 1892 was 86,513, and 

 the emigration 16,776. Of the immigrants, 54,- 

 993 were Italians, 17,797 Portuguese, 10.468 

 Spaniards, 802 Germans, and 574 Austro-Hun- 

 garians. The city of Rio de Janeiro in 1890 had 

 422,756 inhabitants. 



Finances. The budget for 1894 estimated 

 the receipts at 233,521,890 rnilreis, and the ordi- 

 nary expenditure at 250,457,908 milreis. The 

 requirements of the various departments were 

 calculated as follow: Interior and Justice, 14,- 

 473,833 milreis; Industry, 100,716,824 milreis; 

 Finance, 85,645.244 milreis; War, 29,959,815 

 milreis ; Marine, 17,846,200 milreis ; Foreign 

 Affairs, 1,815,992 milreis. The Government ob- 

 tained besides extraordinary credits amounting 

 to 116,384,000 milreis, of which 44,694,000 mil- 

 reis were for war material, the campaign in Rio 

 Grande do Sul, and other military expenses, 

 30,184,000 milreis for the navy, 6,096,000 milreis 

 for the Interior Department, 33,769,000 milreis 

 for the Department of Industry, 1,429,000 mil- 

 reis for financial administration, and 400,000- 

 milreis for foreign affairs. 



The foreign debt in 1893 amounted to 29,- 

 453,500 sterling, equivalent to 261,809,000 mil- 

 reis, most of it funded at 4 per cent, interest. 

 The internal funded debts, paying from 4 to 6 

 per cent, interest, amounted to 445,686,000 mil- 

 reis, and other obligations to 203,356,000 milreis. 

 There were outstanding 215,111,964 milreis of 

 treasury notes, besides 355,173,310 milreis of 

 bank notes. The gold payments in Europe for 

 1893 were 5.550,195, of which 3,099,057 were 

 for the debt, and the balance guaranteed rail- 

 road interest, payments for war material, etc. 



Commerce and Production. Coffee and 

 rubber are the chief commercial products, and 

 as the extension of the foreign demand for them 

 keeps pace with the increasing supply the bal- 

 ance of trade is constantly in favor of Brazil. 

 The value of the rubber exports in 1893 was 

 $175,000,000. The cultivation of tobacco in the 

 north of Brazil has proved highly profitable and 

 is extending, as is also cotton-growing in Bahia, 

 Pernambuco, and Sergipe. During 1891-'92 

 there were 3,701,845 bags of coffee exported 



