BRAZIL. 



77 



reis in paper for the Ministry of War, 10,771,000 

 milreis in gold and 67,177,000 milreis in paper for 

 the Ministry of Public Works, and 21.895,000 mil- 

 reis in gold and 71,815,000 milreis in paper for 

 the Ministry of Finance. The estimated surplus 

 of 9,322,000 milreis in gold and 32,946,000 milreis 

 in paper was to be devoted to redeeming paper 

 currency, augmenting the guarantee fund, re- 

 ducing the internal debt, and improving harbors. 

 The actual receipts in 1901 were 36,234 contos, or 

 ;;i ,.1^54,000 milreis, in gold and 236,304 contos, or 

 236,304,000 milreis, in paper, and at the end of 

 the year there was a surplus of 27,387,000 milreis, 

 reckoned in gold. The budget for 1903 estimates 

 the revenue at 43,120,000 milreis in gold and 255,- 

 540,000 milreis in paper and the expenditure at 

 42,600,000 milreis in gold and 238,498,000 milreis 

 in paper. 



The external consolidated debt outstanding on 

 Jan. 1, 1901, was 394,686,449 milreis, and the in- 

 ternal consolidated gold debt amounted to 27,- 

 259,000 milreis, making the total debt payable in 

 gold 421,945,449 milreis. The internal consoli- 

 dated debt payable in paper was 543,826,637 mil- 

 reis, and there was a floating debt of 165,577,335 

 milreis. The paper money in circulation amount- 

 ed to 689,000,000 milreis, making the total paper 

 debt 1,398,403,972 milreis. The states owe about 

 50,000,000 milreis in gold. 



The Army and Navy. The active army had 

 a nominal strength of 28,160 men in 1901, organ- 

 ized in 40 battalions of infantry, 14 regimenta of 

 cavalry, 6 regiments of field-artillery containing 

 24 batteries, 6 battalions of fortress artillery, 2 

 battalions of engineers, and 6 squadrons of train. 

 The army is recruited by enlistment, and its ac- 

 tual strength was much smaller. Since 1875 mili- 

 tary service in the National Guard is by law 

 obligatory. Although the law has not been en- 

 forced, the National Guard is being reorganized 

 and improved. The soldiers of the regular army 

 are armed with Mauser rifles of the caliber of 7 

 centimeters. The gendarmerie numbers about 

 20,000 men. 



The navy in 1901 consisted of 2 third-class bat- 

 tle-ships, 2 iron-clad coast-guards, 7 armored gun- 

 boats, 10 small cruisers, 18 gunboats, 10 first- 

 class torpedo-boats, 11 second-class torpedo- 

 boats, 2 submarine boats, 2 torpedo school-ships, 

 and 2 monitors. The old battle-ships Ria- 

 chuelo and 24 de Mayo have 11-inch armor and 

 carry in their turrets 4 9.2-inch breech-loaders, be- 

 sides which they have 6 4.7-inch quick-firers, 2 

 3-pounders, and 15 machine guns. The French- 

 builtv Deodoro and Floriano, of 3,162 tons, are 

 plated with 13.7-inch Harveyized armor and 

 armed with 2 9.4-inch guns, 2 6-inch howitzers, 

 and 2 4.7-inch quick-firers. The Tamandare, 

 built in Brazil in 1890, and the English-built pro- 

 tected cruiser Barroso have a strong quick-firing 

 armament. 



Commerce and Production. The main prod- 

 uct of Brazil is coffee, the supply of which has 

 of late years exceeded the world's requirements. 

 The fall in prices caused a commercial crisis in 

 Brazil, but now the depression is more severely 

 felt in other coffee-growing countries where the 

 cost of production is greater. The supply of rub- 

 ber from the valley of the Amazon increases, but 

 it is brought from remoter districts. In Bahia 

 and other states rubber-trees have been planted 

 in anticipation of the exhaustion of the supply 

 from the forests. The production of sugar in 

 Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro. Bahia. and other 

 states was 250,000 tons in 1901. In Pernambuco 

 rum is distilled in increasing quantities. In 

 Minas-Geraes about 148,000 ounces of gold are 



produced annually, and the production of dia- 

 monds in that state and in Bahia is about 40,000 

 carats. The export of manganese ore from Minas- 

 Geraes is valued at 660,000 milreis. The exports 

 of coffee in 1900 amounted to 8,924,469 bags of 

 132 pounds; of sugar, 2,573,338 bags; of cotton, 

 94,139,655 pounds; of rubber, 27,416 tons; of 

 hides from Bahia, 290,581 tons; of tobacco from 

 Bahia, 305,703 bales; of cacao, 221,974 bags; of 

 piassava, 60,683 bales. The total value of ex- 

 ports in 1900 was about 340,000,000 milreis. The 

 value of imports, consisting of cotton cloth, wool- 

 ens, machinery, hardware, coal, flour, cattle, jerked 

 beef, rice, codfish, salt pork, butter, corn, olive- 

 oil, macaroni, tea, salt, petroleum, lumber, wine, 

 etc., was estimated at 200,000,000 milreis. The 

 serious agricultural and commercial crisis 

 through which Brazil has been passing since the 

 fall in the prices of coffee and sugar has been 

 aggravated by a decline in the price of india-rub- 

 ber. The coffee industry has adjusted itself to 

 the new conditions and still competes success- 

 fully with all other coffee-growing countries. A 

 general recovery is noticeable in the economical 

 situation, and since the finances of the Govern- 

 ment have been placed on a sounder basis Euro- 

 pean capital is expected to flow into Brazil again. 

 The undeveloped resources of the country are 

 enormous. Besides gold, which is now mined by 

 English companies, the states of Minas-Geraes 

 and Bahia contain nearly all kinds of minerals. 

 Another field of enterprise yet untouched is pre- 

 sented in the virgin forests that cover the states 

 of Para, AmazonaS, and Matto Grosso, full of 

 valuable timber that can be easily floated down 

 the deep rivers. 



Navigation. The number of vessels in the 

 foreign trade entered at the port of Rio de 

 Janeiro during 1900 was 843, of 1,522,754 tons, 

 and 790, of 1,409,122 tons, were cleared; the 

 number of coasting-vessels entered was 860, of 

 445,016 tons, of which 760, of 260,338 tons, were 

 Brazilian. At Bahia 554 vessels in the foreign 

 trade, of 1,140,978 tons, were entered, and 1,445 

 Brazilian coasting-vessels, of 240,386 tons. A 

 law restricting the coasting-trade to Brazilian 

 vessels has been in force since 1896. The mer- 

 chant marine on Jan. 1, 1901, comprised 358 sail- 

 ing vessels, of 79,807 tons, and 233 steamers, of 

 92.028 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 railroads in 1899 had a total length of 8,718 

 miles, and 4,989 miles more were begun, 4,670 

 miles surveyed, and 8,440 miles projected. Many 

 of the railroads were built with a guarantee of 

 6 or 7 per cent, interest on their capital from the 

 Government, which has purchased some of these 

 lines and leased others after having paid out 

 large sums for guaranteed interest. 



The post-office in 1899 carried 38,085,000 let- 

 ters and postal cards and 29,250,000 pieces of 

 printed matter and samples. 



The telegraphs have a length of 12,630 miles of 

 line, with 25,220 miles of wire. The number of 

 despatches in 1898 was 2,662,711. 



Politics and Legislation. The congres- 

 sional session which began on May 3, 1902, was 

 the last one of the presidency of Campos Salles. 

 When his term began gold payments were sus- 

 pended and 788,000 contos of reis in paper 

 money were in circulation. The^rate of exchange 

 for the paper milreis averaged 7^d. and Brazil- 

 ian bonds were at 50 per cent, discount. There 

 was due on the loan of 1897 the sum of 1,122,- 

 000 and 275,000 for war material, and the treas- 

 ury owed 20,350 contos in bills and 11,000 contoa 

 to the Bank of the Republic, while the President 



