AMERICA. 



15 



are, the country is decidedly progressing. In 

 1875, 19,676,290 cwt. of grain was raised on 

 2,950,000 hectares, against. 16,000,000 cwt. on 

 2,733,370 hectares in 1874. The vineyards 

 have increased from 16,688 hectares in 1872 

 to 20,000 hectares in 1875. Vine-growing has 

 received a considerable impetus of late years, as 

 a large number of vine-growers from Southern 

 France, ruined by phylloxera, went to Algeria. 

 Fruit and vegetable growing is also making 

 considerable progress. Stock-raising still needs 

 considerable encouragement, horse-raising only 

 being satisfactory, so that Algeria on an av- 



erage sends 3,000 horses to the army an- 

 nually. In sheep, the country is very rich, 

 their number being estimated at 9,699,000. 

 The production of tobacco is also steadily in- 

 creasing. In 1875, 6,670 hectares produced 

 5,622,000 kilogrammes, against 4,700,000 kilos 

 on 6,460 hectares in 1874. Mining is also look- 

 ing up very favorably. In the first half of 

 1876, not less than 234,000 tons of iron ore, 

 2.438 tons of copper, and 727 tons of lead, 

 were exported. 



AMERICA. The negotiations between 

 Great Britain and the United States relative 

 to the amount to be paid by the latter for the 

 privilege of fishing in the bays and harbors and 

 creeks of the Dominion of Canada, were, by 

 the Treaty of Washington of 1871, to be con- 

 ducted by a joint commission. This body met 

 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 15th, and 

 awarded the sum of $5,500,000 to be paid to 

 Great Britain within one year. 



An nnusn-il interest pervaded the United 

 States at the beginning of the year, relative to 

 counting the votes cast for President of the 

 United States. It was manifest that the votes 

 of Florida and Louisiana, and perhaps some 

 other States, would be contested, and that the 

 decision of the final result might turn on a 

 single vote. The contested votes were there- 

 fore referred to a commission, created by act 

 of Congress, whose decision, unless reversed 

 by the action of both Houses of Congress, 

 should be final. As the Houses were of op- 



posite political opinions, no such united action 

 could take place. The Republican candidate, 

 Rutherford B. Hayes, was finally declared to 

 be the choice of the people. (See CONGRESS, 

 UNITED STATES.) 



An Indian war of more than usual im- 

 portance threatened to break out during the 

 year, but was finally averted. (See ARMT, 

 UNITED STATES.) 



The reduction of the wages of engineers and 

 brakesmen on the railroads of the Middle 

 States led to the most alarming and destruc- 

 tive riots. In many districts it was necessary 

 to summon the military 

 power to guard the lines. 

 (See LABOR STRIKES.) 



The financial embar- 

 rassments of the country 

 continued to increase 

 throughout the year, and 

 led to numerous sugges- 

 tions and propositions 

 relative to the currency. 

 (See CURRENCY.) 



The agricultural prod- 

 ucts of the country were 

 unusually abundant. 



The South and Cen- 

 tral American States and 

 Mexico have had a year 

 of comparative quiet, 

 though by no means 

 free from trouble and 

 anxiety, such has been the general depression 

 of commerce, industry, and, consequently, 

 finance, in all of them. Indeed, this discour- 

 aging condition has been the main topic of 

 interest in most, and the all-absorbing one in 

 many, of those countries, to the exclusion, in 

 a few cases, of questions involving the interests 

 of more than one at the same time ; as, for 

 instance, the boundary question between Chili 

 and the Argentine Republic. 



A miniature naval combat in the Pacocha 

 waters, off the coast of Peru, between two 

 British war-vessels and the Peruvian iron-clad 

 ram Huascar, took place in May last, and dis- 

 turbed for a time the amicable relations be- 

 tween the two countries. The event is, how- 

 ever, not likely to be followed by any serious 

 consequences of an international character. 



Colombia, after a lull of almost 15 years, 

 interrupted in 1875, seems once more to have 

 entered into a period of civil strife, though of 

 a less violent form than that by which she 

 suffered so considerably in the year preceding. 

 Mexico bids fair to regain, though by differ- 

 ent means, the ground lost in overthrowing 

 the constitutional government bequeathed by 

 Juarez, and establishing a new order of things 

 under the present military administration. 

 Indeed, were it not for the vexatious events 

 which have followed each other in such rapid 

 succession during 1877, frequently threatening 

 to involve the Republic in an armed contest 

 with the United States, the present state of 



