COTTON TEXTILES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



55 



together with the per cent, by which the official valuation is made and 

 storage is estimated: 



EXCHANGE FLUCTUATIONS. 



The foregoing table includes about all the cottons that are sold in the 

 markets of the province by bale, bolt, or piece, and the duty is esti- 

 mated on an exchange basis of 24-} \ pence gold to a millreis, paper. 



Sight-drafts being nearly 2 per cent, below the ninety-day selling 

 value of gold in London, Paris, or Hamburg, and as ninety-day drafts 

 are about 26J pence to the millreis at present, it is impossible to 

 foresee what fluctuations may occur in a short time, when a manipu- 

 lation is commenced to effect a rise or fall of exchange, which has been 

 frequently done in this country. So, I have concluded that a lower rate 

 for the calculation of the duty would be the most reliable under all the 

 surrounding circumstances. 



STORAGE AND OFFICIAL VALUES. 



To estimate storage and official value it is necessary to cite an ex- 

 ample of the method of calculation. For instance, the duty on certain 

 brown, or unbleached, cotton is 15 cents per kilogram, and this sum is 

 followed in its proper column by 15 per cent, (called in the Brazilian 

 tariff table " razao")- This means that the duty of 15 cents per kilo- 

 gram is 15 per cent, of the official value of the goods. Whatever per- 

 centage follows the amount of duty on the unit indicated in the table, 

 then the duty is that per cent./>f the official value of the goods. As 

 storage on all goods entering the custom-houses of Brazil must be paid 

 for at least one month, if the goods do not remain one hour, it is a mat- 

 ter of interest to the exporter to know something of storage rates. 

 Now, under the tariff regulations, there are eleven different razaos, rang- 

 ing from 4 per cent, to 60 per cent., but as I only have to deal with 

 two in this report, will endeavor to show the full force of the regulations 

 on storage, or armazenagen, which is required to be calculated separately 

 for each month. Under a razao of 12 per cent, the storage for each month 



