RAILWAYS OF BRAZIL. 



281 



majority belong to Brazilian or foreign companies, some of which have obtained 

 grants of land along the lines, besides guaranteed interest on the outlay and other 

 subsidies securing them from any pecuniary loss. 



They have moreover stipulated that no rival companies shall be allowed to 

 construct any parallel or converging lines within a determined zone. Thus are 

 gradually being created exclusive monopolies, such as that of the railway between 

 Santos and Jundiahy, which, although itself inadequate to meet the growing com- 

 mercial requirements of this region, claims the preposterous right of preventing 

 the producers from forwarding their merchandise by any other routes. The case 

 is somewhat analogous to that of certain English railway companies, which, to 

 secure the traffic, forward foreign imported goods at lower rates than British 

 produce. In the more remote districts, some of the Brazilian lines, being masters 



Fig. 121.— Rio, Minas and S. Paulo Railway Systems. 

 Scale 1 : 10,000,000. 



Jaboticabai 



AbaeU. 



JJber^Bi 



250 Miles. 



of the situation, are pursuing a suicidal policy, as so often results from the enjoy- 

 ment of undue privilege. The traffic is often cut down to a single train once a 

 week between two derelict stations, that being sufficient according to the stipulated 

 conditions of the concession, to entitle the proprietors at the end of the year to 

 draw their dividends, duly discharged by the State treasury. They thus not only 

 stand in their own light, but they block the way to the proper development of the 

 resources of the land. 



Collectively the Brazilian railways completed in 1893 had a total length of 

 about 6,800 miles. When they have acquired their full development they will 

 afford the most direct route to Europe, not only for the inland regions of the 

 Ilepublic itself, but also for Paraguay, the northern provinces of Argentina, and 

 even a part of Chili itself. 



