ACROSS UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA 
They watch with envy strangers taking gold, diamonds, 
platinum, and precious stones out of their country. They 
accuse foreigners of going there to rob them of their 
wealth; yet you seldom meet a Brazilian who will venture 
out of a city to go and help himself. The Brazilian Gov¬ 
ernment is now beginning to wake up to the fact that it 
is the possessor of the most magnificent country on earth, 
and it is its wish to develop it; but the existing laws, 
made by short-sighted politicians, are considered likely 
to hamper development for many years to come. 
Brazil is not lacking in intelligent men. Indeed, I 
met in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo men who would be 
remarkable anywhere. Councillor Antonio Prado of Sao 
Paulo, for instance, was a genius who had done wonders 
for his country. The great development of the State of 
Sao Paulo compared with other States is chiefly due to 
that great patriot. Then the Baron de Rio Branco — 
the shrewd diplomatist, who has lately died — has left a 
monument of good work for his country. The cession 
of the immensely rich tract of the Acre Territory by 
Bolivia to Brazil is in itself a wonderful achievement. 
Dr. Pedro de Toledo, the present Minister of Agriculture, 
is a practical, well-enlightened, go-ahead gentleman, who 
makes superhuman efforts, and in the right direction, to 
place his country among the leading States of the two 
Americas. Dr. Lauro Severiano Muller, the new Minis¬ 
ter of Foreign Affairs, is a worthy successor of Baron 
de Rio Branco. There are many other persons of positive 
genius, such as Senator Alcindo Guanabara, a man of 
remarkable literary ability, and one of the few men in 
Brazil who realize thoroughly the true wants of the 
Republic, a man of large views, who is anxious to see his 
country opened up and properly developed. Another 
remarkable man is Dr. Jose Carlos Rodriguez, the pro¬ 
prietor of the leading newspaper in Rio — the Jornal do 
Commercio — and the organizing genius of some of the 
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