PORTUGAL. 



651 



The exports of wine to Great Britain consti- 

 tute about one fifth of the total quantity im- 

 ported into that country. 



The movement of shipping in 1880 was as 

 follows : sail tonnage entered, 7,331,000 cubic 

 letres, of which 2,258,000 cubic metres were 

 mder foreign colors ; cleared, 7,637,000 cubic 

 letres ; steam tonnage entered, 3,278,000 cubic 

 letres, of which 2,407,000 cubic metres were 

 mder foreign colors; cleared, 3,110,000 cubic 

 letres. The Portuguese tonnage entered in- 

 luded sailing-vessels of 247,000, and steamers 

 778,000 metric tons in the coasting trade. 

 The merchant marine in 1881 consisted of 

 11 steamers, of 14,092 cubic metres, and 412 

 uling-vessels, of 88,829 cubic metres. 

 The length of railroads in operation in 1882 

 was 1,673 kilometres, or 1,045 miles. The 

 mgth of telegraph lines at the beginning of 

 1881 was 4,369 kilometres, or 2,715 miles; 

 length of wires, 10,889 kilometres, or 6,770 

 miles ; number of telegrams dispatched in 1880, 

 1,121,384, of which 423,937 were domestic. 

 The post-office forwarded 20,338,171 letters and 

 15,276,552 packets and newspapers in 1881. 



Army aod Navy. The army is raised partly by 

 conscription and partly by enlistment. The 

 effective is fixed annually by the Cortes. It 

 was nominally 78,200 on the war footing in 

 1882. The actual strength in that year was 

 reported as 26,059 men under arms. 



The navy in 1883 consisted of 31 steamers, 

 with 94 guns, and 16 sailing-vessels. The only 

 efficient vessels were the Vasco do Gama, an 

 iron-clad ram with 10-inch plates and two 18- 

 ton and three smaller guns, and two corvettes. 

 Finances. The revenue for ten years has 

 averaged $25,000,000, and the expenditure $28,- 

 750,000. The budget for 1882-'83 estimates 

 the yield of the different sources of revenue 

 as follows, in milreis (one milreis = $1.08) : 



SOURCES OF REVENUE. Amount. 



Land tax 3,152,000 



Other direct taxes 2,914,000 



Stamps and registry fees 3,075,700 



Customs, excise, eto 15,210,710 



Railroads, etc '. 2,573,234 



Repayments, etc . 1,104,673 



Extraordinary receipts 1,613,000 



Total 29,654,012 



The expenditures are stated in the budget as 

 follow : 



BRANCHES OF EXPENDITURE. Amount. 



Domesticdebt ... 7,137,866 



Foreigndebt 5,951,455 



Ministry of Finance 5,763,370 



the Interior 2,161,149 



Worship and Justice 627,372 



War 4,599,980 



Marine and Colonies 1,663,721 



Foreign Affairs 303,486 



Public Works... 2,727,084 



Total ordinary expenditures. . 

 Extraordinary expenditures . . . 



4,335,278 

 Total 85,276,21 1 



There has been no budget for thirty years 

 without a deficit. The revenue during the 

 same period increased about 60 per cent. The 



deficit in 1867-'68 was 6,811,560 milreia. It 

 was reduced to 1,156,000 milreis in 1879-'80. 

 The Minister of Finance in 1880 declared that 

 there was no control over the public purse, 

 that the balances shown in the budget for the 

 previous six years had been fictitious, and that 

 the appropriations had invariably been exceed- 

 ed, sometimes without the authorization of a 

 special law. During those years over 9,000,- 

 000 had been obtained by loans. 



The public debt on June 30, 1881, amounted 

 to 430,879,399 milreis, not including the old 

 debt, of which 1,927,399 milreis remained to 

 be converted in 1879, consisting mainly of pa- 

 per currency. Of the new debt, 232,929,349 

 milreis represented the internal loans, bearing 

 interest at 3 per cent. The foreign debt at 

 that date consisted of sterling loans to the 

 amount of 43,908,900, or 197,950,050 milreis. 

 In 1882 a new loan of 5,189,000 was issued. 

 There is also a large floating debt, estimated as 

 high as 4,000,000. In 1882 there were de- 

 faults in the interest of the new debt amount- 

 ing to 2,978,469 milreis on the internal, and 

 3,139,689 milreis on the external loans. 



Political Situation. The republican agitation 

 in Spam excited in Portugal the chronic dis- 

 content and hostility to the King, to a degree 

 which rendered the political situation critical 

 and grave. The Progressist party accuse the 

 King of repeated breaches of the Constitution 

 in keeping the Conservatives in office. The 

 Republican party in Portugal is exceedingly 

 numerous and energetic. The Congo question 

 was made a ground of attacks on the Fontes 

 ministry by the Republicans and Radicals, as 

 the Delagoa Bay negotiations were in 1881. 

 The changes in the ministry in October, though 

 attributed officially to differences of opinion in 

 relation to the Lisbon municipal elections, were 

 rather due to the general dissatisfaction. The 

 new members of the Cabinet were more liberal 

 in their tendencies than their predecessors. 



A revolt of peasants occurred at Couero in 

 October. It had its origin in religious fanati- 

 cism, and was only suppressed with difficulty 

 by troops sent from Lisbon. 



Sovereignty Rights over the Congo. The Portu- 

 guese have shown an ambition in recent years 

 to renew their ancient activity in Africa, and 

 share in the labors and the fruits of the com- 

 mercial development of the interior. Portugal's 

 claims to the west coast between 5 12' and 8 

 south latitude are recognized in treaties with 

 Great Britain and France. These limits include 

 the mouth of the Congo. The activity of the 

 French in these regions excited the jealousy of 

 the Portuguese. When the French occupied 

 Ponta ISTegra, the captain of the Portuguese 

 war-vessel Bengo, stationed in those waters, 

 protested, under the supposition that the an- 

 nexed district was within the territory claimed 

 by Portugal. He sent a dispatch home asking 

 for re-enforcements. The feeling aroused in 

 Portugal by the French annexation tendencies 

 shown in these regions was allayed when the 



