Communications.—Railway construction in Brazil dates from 1852, when work was initiated on the Mauá railway running from the head of the bay of Rio de Janeiro to the foot of the Serra where Petropolis is situated. The road is 10 m. long, and its first section was opened to traffic on April 30, 1854, and its second December 16, 1856. The mountain section, 5½ m. long, which uses the Riggenbach system from the terminal to Petropolis, was constructed between 1881 and 1883. The development of railway construction in Brazil has been impeded to a great extent by two unfavourable conditions—by the chain of mountains or plateau escarpments which follow the coast line and obstruct communication with the interior, and by the detached positions of the settlements along the Atlantic, which compelthe building of lines from many widely separated points on the coast into a sparsely populated hinterland. A majority of the ports, from which these roads are built, are small and difficult of access, and the coasting trade is restricted to vessels carrying the Brazilian flag. The only ports having a rich and well-populated country behind them are Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and these are the terminals of long lines of railway which are being slowly extended farther into the interior.The total mileage under traffic at the beginning of 1905 was 10,600 m., divided into 94 separate lines. There were also 745 m. under construction, 1740 m. under survey, and about 1600 m. projected. Of the 94 lines under traffic, 45 were operating by virtue of national and 49 by provincial and state concessions. They were grouped in the official reports of 1905 as follows:—Government lines (21):—Miles.Administered by the state (6)2228Leased to private parties (15)2174——4402Private lines (24)—With national interest guarantees (12)1290Without such guarantees (12)815——2105Private and state lines operated by virtue of stateconcessions, with and without interest guarantees (49)4093———10,600======The policy of the national government has been gradually to lease all its lines except the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brazil, which is retained for sentimental reasons. This great railway runs from the city of Rio de Janeiro westward to the city of São Paulo and northward into the interior of Minas Geraes, with a total length at the beginning of 1905 of 1002 m., and an extension of about 104 m. to Pirapora, on the São Francisco river. It was formerly known as the “E. de F. Dom Pedro II.,” in honour of the sovereign who encouraged its construction. The main line has a gauge of 63 in. (1.60 m.) and affords an outlet for a number of inland metre-gauge lines. The first two sections of this great railway, which carry it across the coast range, were opened to traffic in 1858 and 1864. The series of trunk lines terminating at the port of Santos are owned by private companies and are formed by the São Paulo, Paulista and Mogyana lines, the first owned by an English company, and the other two by Brazilian companies. The Mogyana carries the system entirely across the state of São Paulo into the western districts of Minas Geraes. The principal trunk lines (the São Paulo and Paulista) have a broad gauge, while their extensions and feeders have a narrow gauge. The comparatively short lines extending inland from the ports of São Salvador (Bahia), Pernambuco, Maceió, Victoria and Paranaguá serve only a narrow zone along the coast. To encourage the investment of private capital in the construction of railways, the general railway law of 1853 authorized the national government to grant guarantees of interest on the capital invested. Under this law companies were organized in England for building the São Paulo railway, and the lines running from Bahia and Pernambuco toward the São Francisco river. Political considerations also led to the construction of similar lines in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Parahyba, Alagôas, Sergipe, Espirito Santo, Paraná, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul. The result was that the national treasury became burdened with a heavy annual interest charge, payable abroad in gold, which did not tend to diminish, and had a long period to run before the expiration of the contracts. The government finally determined to take over these guaranteed lines from the foreign companies owning them, and a statement issued in October 1902 showed that 1335 m. had been acquired at a cost of £14,605,000 in bonds, the interest on which is £584,200 a year against an aggregate of £831,750 in interest guarantees which the government had been paying. In addition to this economy it was calculated that the lines could be leased for £132,000 a year. The loan finally issued in London to cover the purchase of these railways aggregated £16,619,320. All but three of these lines had been leased in 1905.The use of tramways for the transportation of passengers in cities dates from 1868, when the first section of the Botanical Garden line of Rio de Janeiro was opened to traffic. The line was completed with its surplus earnings and continued under the control of the American company which built it until 1882, when it was sold to a Brazilian company. Subsequently the tramways of the city have been mostly concentrated in the hands of a single Canadian company. All the large cities of Brazil are liberally provided with tramways, those of the city of São Paulo, where electric traction is used, being noticeably good. The substitution of electricity for animal traction was begun in São Salvador in 1906. Mules are universally employed for animal traction, and narrow gauge lines with single-mule trams are generally used where the traffic is light.Brazil is lamentably deficient in steamship communication considering its importance in a country where the centres of population are separated by such distances of coasts and river. Previous to the creation of the republic, the coastwise service was performed by two national companies (now united), and partially by foreign lines calling at two or more ports. A considerable number of foreign sailing vessels also carried on an important coasting trade. The coastwise service centres at Rio de Janeiro, from which port the Lloyd Brazileiro sends steamers regularly south to Montevideo, and north to Pará and Manáos, calling at the more important intermediate ports. From Montevideo river steamers are sent up the Paraná and Paraguay rivers to Corumbá and Cuyabá, in the state of Matto Grosso. The company receives a heavy subsidy from the national government. Parts of this coastwise traffic are covered by other companies, two of which receive subsidies. There were also six lines of river steamers receiving subsidies from the national government in 1904, and the aggregate paid to these and the coastwise lines was 2,830,061 milreis. The largest of the river lines is the Amazon Steam Navigation Co. (an English corporation), whose service covers the main river and several of its principal tributaries. Two subsidized companies maintain services on the São Francisco river—one below the Paulo Affonso falls, and the other above, the latter covering 854 m. of navigable channel between Joazeiro and Pirapora. Besides these there are other companies engaged in the coasting and river traffic, either with subsidies from the state governments, as feeders for railway lines, or as private unsubsidized undertakings.The telegraph lines, which date from 1852, are owned and operated by the national government, with the exception of the lines constructed by private railway companies, and the cable lines of the Amazon and the coast. The government lines extend from Pará to the Argentine and Uruguayan frontiers, where they connect with the telegraph systems of those republics, and from Rio de Janeiro westward across country, in great part unsettled, to the capitals of Goyaz and Matto Grosso. At Pará connexion is made with the cable laid in the bed of the Amazon to Manáos, which is owned and operated by a subsidized English company. At Vizeu, Pará, connexion is made with a French cable to the West Indies and the United States, and at Pernambuco with two cable lines to Europe. A coastwise cable runs from Pará to Montevideo with double cables between Pernambuco and Montevideo. There were in 1903 a total of 15,150 m. of land lines, with 29,310 m. of wire and 1102 telegraph offices. The government maintains reciprocal rates with most of the private railway lines.The Brazilian postal service is under the general supervision of the minister of communications and public works, and is administered by a director-general. Owing to the size of the country and the sparsely-populated state of a large part of the interior, the transportation of the mails is attended with much difficulty and expense. Although the postal rates are high, the service is not self-sustaining, the receipts for 1904 being 7,018,344 milreis, against a total expenditure of 10,099,545 milreis. There were 2847 post offices (agencias), of which 2166 were of the 4th or lowest grade. Brazil is a member of the Postal Union, and like Argentina exacts higher nominal rates of postage upon outgoing mail than those agreed upon to cover the depreciation in her own currency. The letter rate was at first 200 reis (nearly 5½ d.), but it has been increased to 300 reis, which is equivalent to 8 d. at par and 4½ d. at 15 d. exchange. An inland parcel post was in operation long before the overthrow of the monarchy, and a similar service with Portugal has been successfully maintained for a number of years, notwithstanding the difficulties interposed by customs regulations. National and international money order systems are also in operation.The constitution of Brazil provides that the coastwise trade shall be carried on by national vessels, but this provision did not go into effect until 1896. And even then, because of the insufficient number of Brazilian vessels it was provided in the regulations that foreign vessels could be enrolled in that trade by using the Brazilian flag and employing a certain proportion of Brazilians on the crew. One of the purposes of this restrictive provision was that of creating a national merchant marine, but the disinclination of Brazilians for maritime pursuits has been a serious obstacle to its realization. In 1901 the merchant navy included 228 steamers of 91,465 tons net, and 343 sailing vessels of 76,992 tons net. These vessels are all engaged in the coasting and river trade of the country. Efforts have been made, however, to engage in foreign trade, and subsidies were offered for a passenger and freight service to the United States. On the 23rd of February 1906 the government completed a new contract with the Lloyd Brazileiro Company for its coastwise and river service, and included clauses providing for a line to the United States. This foreign service (monthly) began in August 1906.Although the coast of Brazil shows a large number of bays and tide-water river channels which are apparently suitable for commercial ports, a close examination of them reduces the number of good ports to less than a dozen. The others are either difficult of access, or are rendered practically useless by dangerous reefs, sand bars and shoals. Important improvements have been undertaken in some of these ports. Those at Santos and Manáos, for example, have produced good results. In many cases, as at Rio de Janeiro, Santos and Manáos, the cost and maintenance of the new port-works are met by an additional tax on merchandise, though the immediate expenditures are met by advances from the national treasury, and at Rio de Janeiro by a foreign loan.Commerce.—The imports, exports and domestic trade of Brazilare by reason of their magnitude and peculiar character the most important in South America, though theper capitaaggregate is less than that of Argentina. Although an agricultural country, Brazil does not produce all its own bread and meat, and the imports of wheat, wheat flour, rice, fish, jerked beef and preserved meats, lard, butter, beans, potatoes, packed fruits and vegetables, Indian corn and other food-stuffs, are surprisingly large. Since the creation of the republic, extreme protective measures have caused the creation of a large number of cotton factories and other manufactures, but these are able to supply only a part of the consumption, and the importation of cotton and woollen fabrics, silks, ready-made clothing, boots and shoes, &c., is large. Modern industrial development in some of the states has greatly increased the importation of machinery, electric supplies, materials for construction, coal, &c. Kerosene oil also figures among the principal imports, and beef cattle are imported for consumption by some cities. The exports cover a wide range of agricultural, pastoral and natural productions, including coffee, rubber, sugar, cotton, cocoa, Brazil nuts,maté(Paraguay tea), hides, skins, fruits, gold, diamonds, manganese ore, cabinet woods and medicinal leaves, roots and resins. Coffee and rubber, however, represent from 80 to 90% of the official valuation of all exports. High import duties are imposed by the national government and export duties by the states. The exchange of domestic products between the states is greatly restricted through lack of cheap transportation facilities, and by the suicidal imposition of import and export duties by the states, either for revenue or for the protection of home industries.According to a summary for the six years 1901 to 1906, derived from official sources and published in the annualRetrospectoof theJornal do Commercio, of Rio de Janeiro, the values of the imports and exports for those years (exclusive of coin), reduced to pounds sterling at the average rate of exchange (or value of one milreis) for each year, were as follows:—Year.AverageValue ofthe Milreisin Pence.Imports inPounds Ster.Exports inPounds Ster.££190111.3321,377,27040,621,993190211.9323,279,41836,437,456190311.9924,207,81136,883,175190412.2225,915,42339,430,136190515.9429,830,05044,643,113190616.1733,204,04153,059,480Nearly 76½% of the exports of 1906 were of coffee and rubber, the official valuations of these being: coffee 245,474,525 milreis gold (£27,615,884), and rubber (including maniçoba and mangabeira), 124,941,433 milreis gold (£14,055,911).Brazil is essentially an agricultural country. No other country has been able to equal Brazil in the production of coffee, and under better labour conditions the country might compete with the foremost in the production of cane sugar, cotton and tobacco. Besides these it might easily excel in producing many of the tropical fruits for which there is a commercial demand. During the colonial period sugar cane was cultivated from Parahyba S. to the vicinity of Santos, and sugar was the principal export of the colony. Before the middle of the 19th century coffee became one of the leading exports, and its cultivation in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes has been so increased since that time that it represents over four-fifths in value of the total export of agricultural produce. The principal sugar-producing states are Alagôas, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, and the production is between 200,000 and 300,000 tons, the greater part of which is consumed in the country. Cotton has been widely cultivated since early colonial days, principally in the northern Atlantic states. Tobacco is also widely cultivated, and the product of some states, such as Bahia, Minas Geraes and Goyaz, has a high local reputation for its excellence. Cacáu (cocoa) is cultivated extensively in the Amazon Valley and along the coast as far south as southern Bahia, and forms one of the leading exports. In 1906 São Paulo offered premiums for its cultivation in the state. Rice has been cultivated in places, but without much success, although the quality produced compared favourably with the imported article. Indian corn grows luxuriantly everywhere, but it does not mature well in the humid regions of the Amazon region and the coast. The product of the elevated inland regions is good, but the costs of transportation and the small profits afforded have prevented its extensive cultivation, and it is imported from the La Plata republics for consumption along the coast. Much has been said in regard to the production of wheat, and efforts have been made in various places to promote its cultivation. It was once cultivated in Rio Grande do Sul with some success, and it has been grown in Minas Geraes and São Paulo, but in no case have the returns been sufficient to give it a permanent standing among the productions of the country. The great majority of the people are unused to wheaten bread, using the coarse flour of the mandioca root instead, consequently the demand for wheat and flour is confined to the large cities, which can obtain them from Argentina more cheaply than they can be produced in the country. One of the most common and important productions of Brazil ismandioca(Manihot), of which there are two well-known species,M. utilissimaandM. aipi. The first named, which is poisonous in its native state, is thecassavaof Spanish America. From it is madefarinha de mandioca, which is the bread of the common people of Brazil, and tapioca. The poison is extracted by soaking the bruised or grated roots in water, after which the coarse flour is roasted. Mandioca was cultivated by the natives before the discovery of America, and the wide area over which it has been distributed warrants the conclusion that the discovery of its value as a food and the means of separating its poisonous properties must have occurred at a very remote period. The peanut, or ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea), is another widely-cultivated plant, dating from pre-Columbian times. Very little attention has thus far been given to the cultivation of fruit for exportation, the exceptions being bananas for the Argentine and Uruguayan markets, and oranges and pineapples for European markets. The coast region from Ceará to Rio de Janeiro is adapted to the cultivation of a great variety of fruits of a superior quality. Ceará, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro are celebrated for their oranges, and Pernambuco for its delicious pineapples. Tangerines, lemons, limes, grapes, guavas, figs, cashews or cajús (Anacardium occidentale), mangabas (Hancornia speciosa), joboticabas (Eugenia caulifloraandE. jaboticaba, Mart.), cocoa-nuts, mangos,fruitas de conde(Anona squamosa), plantains, &c. are produced in abundance and with little labour. In some parts of southern Brazil the fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone do well, but within the tropics they thrive well only at a considerable elevation above sea-level. Apples, peaches, quinces, raspberries, strawberries, &c., are produced under such conditions, but the flavour of their kind grown in colder climates is usually wanting. The vegetable productions are less numerous, but they include sweet potatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, lettuce, beans, peas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, okra, radishes, cucumbers, couve, chuchu (Sechium edule), and aipim (Manihot aipi). The white potato, known as “batata inglez” (English potato), is grown in elevated localities, but it deteriorates so greatly after the first planting that fresh imported seed is necessary every second or third year.The pastoral industries, which date from early colonial times, have suffered many vicissitudes, and their development has failed to keep pace with the country’s growth in population. Horses are used to some extent for riding, but very little for carriage and draught purposes, consequently there has been no great incentive for their breeding. They are largely used and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, but in the warmer regions of the north only to a limited extent. The hardier mules are generally employed for draught, carriage, and saddle purposes in every part of the country, and their breeding is a lucrative industry in the southern states. Cattle-raising is the principal industry in Rio Grande do Sul, and receives considerable attention in Minas Geraes, Matto Grosso, Santa Catharina, Paraná, Piauhy and Rio Grande do Norte. It was estimated that there were 30,000,000 head of cattle in the republic in 1904, but the estimate was unquestionably too large. A very large part of the jerked beef consumed in Brazil is imported from Argentina and Uruguay, and some beef cattle also are imported. These importations at Rio de Janeiro in 1906 were 12,464,170 kilograms of jerked beef and 12,575 head of cattle. In the Rio Branco region of Amazonas and in Piauhy, where the national government has long been the owner of extensive cattle ranges, the industry is in a state of decadence. This is partly due to such pests as the vampire bat and bush ticks (carrapatos), and partly to the unprogressiveness of the cattlemen. Cattle-raising was once a flourishing industry on the island of Marajó, at the mouth of the Amazon, and it is followed to some extent at Alemquer and other points along the Amazon, but the cattle are small, and commonly in bad condition. In southern Bahia the industry has been nearly extinguished through increasing aridity and droughts, but in the state of Rio de Janeiro the planters are increasing their herds. Minas Geraes produces cheese, butter and milk, as well as beef cattle for neighbouring cities. Matto Grosso classifies cattle-raising as a principal industry, but under present conditions the accessible markets are too small for any large development. In Rio Grande do Sul, where it has attained its greatest development, about 400,000 beeves are slaughtered annually for the manufacture of jerked beef (xarque), beef extract, &c. Little attention has been given to sheep in Brazil except in the southern states, and even there the flocks are small. They were to be found in Ceará and Piauhy in colonial times, and small flocks are still to be seen in the latter state, but no use is made of their wool, and the market for mutton is extremely limited because of popular prejudices. Woollen manufactures have been established in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. The exportation of wool amounted to 1,130,160 ℔ in 1906. Goats have been found highly profitable in many of the middle Atlantic states, where the long dry seasons render the campos unsuitable for cattle pasturage. The export of goat skins from these states is large. Swine do well in all parts of the country, especially in Minas Geraes, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, and domestic pork and lard are slowly supplanting the heavily-taxed foreign products.Although the coast and river fisheries of Brazil are numerous and valuable, cured fish is one of the staple imports, and foreign productsare to be found even along the Amazon. In the Amazon valley fish is a principal article of food, and large quantities ofpirarucú(Sudis gigas) are caught during the season of low water and prepared for storage or market by drying in the sun. This and the collection of turtle eggs for their oil, or butter, are chiefly Indian industries, and contribute largely to the support of the native population of that region. Along the coast the best known fisheries are among the Abrolhos islands and in the shallow waters of Espirito Santo, where the garoupa, pargo and vermelho (species ofSerranus) abound in great numbers.The extractive or forest industries of Brazil were among the first to engage the attention of Europeans, and have always been considered a principal source of colonial and national wealth. The varied uses of india-rubber in modern times, however, have given them a greatly enhanced importance and value. Of the exports of 1905, 36% were of this class, while those of the pastoral and mining industries combined were not quite 6½%. In 1906 the percentages were 31 and 6.67, showing a considerable loss for the former and a slight gain for the latter. The principal products of this class are india-rubber, maté, Brazil nuts, vegetable wax, palm fibre, cabinet woods, and medicinal leaves, roots, resins, &c. Before the discovery of the cheaper aniline colours, dye-woods were among the most valuable products of the country; in fact, Brazil derives her name from that of a dye-wood (Brazil-wood—Caesalpinia echinata), known asbresill, brasilly, bresilji, braxilis, orbrasilelong before the discovery of America (see Humboldt’sGéographic du nouveau continent, tom. ii. p. 214), which for many generations was the most highly prized of her natural productions. Of the total exports of this group (1905) very nearly 90% was of india-rubber, which percentage was reduced to 85 in the following year. The exportation for 1906 was 69,761,123 ℔ of Hevea, 5,871,968 ℔ of maniçoba, and 1,440,131 ℔ of mangabeira rubber, the whole valued at 124,941,433 milreis gold. The dried leaves and smaller twigs of maté (Paraguayan tea—Ilex paraguayensis) are exported to the southern Spanish American republics, where (as in Rio Grande do Sul) the beverage is exceedingly popular. The export in 1906 amounted to 127,417,950 ℔, officially valued at 16,502,881 milreis gold. The collection of Brazil nuts along the Amazon and its tributaries is essentially a poor man’s industry, requiring no other plant than a boat. The harvest comes in January and February, in the rainy season, and the nut-gatherers often come one or two hundred miles in their boats to the best forests. The nuts are the fruit of theBertholletia excelsa, one of the largest trees of the Amazon forest region, and are enclosed, sixteen to eighteen in number, in a hard, thick pericarp. Another nut-producing tree is thesapucaia(Lecythis ollaria), whose nuts are enclosed in a larger pericarp, and are considered to be better flavoured than those first described. The crop is a variable one, the export in 1905 having been 198,226 hectolitres, while that of 1906 was 96,770 hectolitres. It could undoubtedly be largely increased. Vegetable wax, which is an excellent substitute for beeswax, is a product of thecarnahubapalm (Copernicia cerifera), and is an important export from Ceará. Palm, or piassava fibre, derived from thepiassavapalm, is used in the manufacture of brooms, brushes, &c. It is found as far south as southern Bahia, and the export could be very largely increased. The export of cabinet woods is not large, considering the forest area of Brazil and the variety and quality of the woods. This is principally due to the cost and difficulties of transporting timbers to the coast. The export is confined principally to rosewood. Of the medicinal plants, the best-known products are ipecacuanhá, sarsaparilla, copaiba, jaborandi and cinchona, but this is only a part of the list. Besides these, tonka beans, anatto, vanilla, and castor-oil seeds form a part of the exports.The mineral exports are surprisingly small. Gold was discovered by the Portuguese soon after their settlement of the coast in the 16th century, but the washings were poor and attracted little attention. The richer deposits of Minas Geraes were discovered about 1693, and those of Matto Grosso early in the following century. Abandoned placer mines are to be found in every part of the unsettled interior, showing how thoroughly it had been explored by gold-hunters in those early days. Some good mines, like Morro Velho and the abandoned Gongo Soco, have been developed in Minas Geraes, but the great majority are small and not very productive. Diamonds were discovered in Minas Geraes, near the town now called Diamantina, during the first half of the 18th century, the dates given ranging from 1725 to 1746, but the productiveness of the district has greatly decreased. Diamonds have also been found in Bahia, Goyaz and Paraná. Other precious stones found in Brazil are the topaz, ruby aquamarine, tourmaline, chrysoberyl, garnet and amethyst. Among the minerals are silver, platinum, copper, iron, lead, manganese, chromium, quicksilver, bismuth, arsenic and antimony, of which only iron and manganese have been regularly mined. The copper deposits of Minas Geraes are said to be promising. Manganese is mined in Minas Geraes for export. Iron ores have been found in most of the states, and are especially abundant in Minas Geraes. The Ypanema mine and ironworks, near Sorocaba, São Paulo, which belong to the national government, have been in operation since 1810 and small charcoal forges were in operation in colonial times and supplied the mines with a considerable part of the iron needed by them. Many of the richer deposits have never been developed because of a lack of fuel and limestone. Bituminous coal of an inferior quality is mined to a limited extent in Rio Grande do Sul, and another mine has been opened in Santa Catharina. These coal deposits extend from Rio Grande do Sul north into the state of São Paulo. Salt, which does not figure in the list of exports, is produced along the coast between Pernambuco and Cape St Roque. The annual production is about 240,000 tons.To illustrate the comparative productiveness and relationship of these sources of national wealth and industry, the following official returns of export for the years 1905 and 1906 are arranged in the four general classes previously discussed, the values being in Brazilian gold milreis, worth 2s. 3d. or 54.6 cents to the milreis:—Agricultural.1905.Milreis, gold.1906.Milreis, gold.Coffee190,404,576245,474,525Cotton10,290,79014,726,492Cacau9,240,31312,323,922Tobacco7,335,1638,283,150Sugar3,608,4765,388,596Bran71,490,3121,128,761Cottonseed964,0741,084,742Mandioca flour692,079789,913Fruits606,678714,332Castor-oil seeds214,016333,250————————224,846,477290,247,683Natural and Forest.Rubber:Mangabeira1,286,6721,376,014Maniçoba7,418,5597,335,870Hevea (Pará)119,434,947116,229,549Maté (Paraguay tea)11,088,10816,502,881Brazil nuts2,064,0491,190,177Palm wax (Carnahuba)1,847,2733,733,478Cabinet woods390,070318,873Piassaya fibre336,668347,323Medicinal leaves, roots, resins, &c191,534263,137————————143,331,142147,297,302Pastoral and Animal.Salted hides7,010,4989,691,180Dry hides5,330,4407,675,715Skins4,117,5904,639,512Horse hair307,505403,541Horns276,172277,488Wool142,414354,045Beef extract, &c81,607110,925————————17,266,22623,152,406Mineral Products.Gold, in bars3,734,4694,379,160Manganese ore2,958,4621,594,486Monazite sand889,231881,289Precious stones633,9161,480,260————————8,216,0788,335,195Miscellaneous.Old metals8. 263,506382,073Sundry products2,177,5122,225,163————————2,441,0182,607,236——————————Total, all products396,827,679471,639,822Manufactures.—Before the establishment of the republic very little attention had been given to manufacturing industries beyond what was necessary to prepare certain crude products for market. Sugar and rum were essentially plantation products down to the last ten years of the empire, when central usines using improved machinery and methods were introduced as a means of saving the sugar plantations from ruin. The crude methods of preparing jerked beef were also modified to some extent by better equipped abattoirs and establishments for preparing beef extract, preserved meats, &c. There were also mills for crushing the dried maté leaves, cigar andcigarette factories, small chocolate factories, hat factories, brick and tile yards, potteries, tanneries, saddleries, and many other small industries common to all large communities. Considerable protection was afforded to many of these industries by the customs tariff of that time, but protection did not become an acknowledged national policy until after 1889. After that time the duties on imports were repeatedly and largely increased, both as a means of raising larger revenues and as an encouragement to manufacturing enterprise. Although the protective tariffs thus imposed have resulted in a large increase in manufacturing industries, some of them have been antagonistic to the productive interests of the country, as in the case of weaving mills which use imported yarns. Other industries are carried on entirely with imported materials, and are national only in name. Among these are flour mills, factories for the cutting of wire nails and making hollow ware from sheet iron, and factories for the manufacture of umbrellas, boots and shoes, &c. The greatest progress has been made in the manufacture of cotton fabrics, principally of the plainer and coarser grades used by the common people. There were 155 of these factories in 1895, but in 1905 only 108 were in operation, with 715,000 spindles, and about 37,000 operatives. Nearly one-half of these were weaving mills, using imported yarn. The factories are widely distributed, and some are favoured by state legislation in addition to the national tariff. The largest and best equipped of them are located in the federal states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, though the greater part of the raw cotton used comes from the northern states and pays high freight rates. The manufacture of woollen blankets, cashmeres, flannels, &c., had also undergone noteworthy development and is carried on in fifteen factories, located principally in Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Biscuit-making is represented by a large number of factories, for the most part in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and there are a number of breweries of the most modern type in the same two states. The manufacture of boots and shoes has also received much attention, but the materials used are for the most part imported. Among other manufactures are butter and cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, glass and earthenware, printing and wrapping paper, furniture, matches, hats, clothing, pharmaceutical products, soaps and perfumery, ice, artificial drinks, cigars and cigarettes, fireworks and candles.
Communications.—Railway construction in Brazil dates from 1852, when work was initiated on the Mauá railway running from the head of the bay of Rio de Janeiro to the foot of the Serra where Petropolis is situated. The road is 10 m. long, and its first section was opened to traffic on April 30, 1854, and its second December 16, 1856. The mountain section, 5½ m. long, which uses the Riggenbach system from the terminal to Petropolis, was constructed between 1881 and 1883. The development of railway construction in Brazil has been impeded to a great extent by two unfavourable conditions—by the chain of mountains or plateau escarpments which follow the coast line and obstruct communication with the interior, and by the detached positions of the settlements along the Atlantic, which compelthe building of lines from many widely separated points on the coast into a sparsely populated hinterland. A majority of the ports, from which these roads are built, are small and difficult of access, and the coasting trade is restricted to vessels carrying the Brazilian flag. The only ports having a rich and well-populated country behind them are Rio de Janeiro and Santos, and these are the terminals of long lines of railway which are being slowly extended farther into the interior.
The total mileage under traffic at the beginning of 1905 was 10,600 m., divided into 94 separate lines. There were also 745 m. under construction, 1740 m. under survey, and about 1600 m. projected. Of the 94 lines under traffic, 45 were operating by virtue of national and 49 by provincial and state concessions. They were grouped in the official reports of 1905 as follows:—
The policy of the national government has been gradually to lease all its lines except the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brazil, which is retained for sentimental reasons. This great railway runs from the city of Rio de Janeiro westward to the city of São Paulo and northward into the interior of Minas Geraes, with a total length at the beginning of 1905 of 1002 m., and an extension of about 104 m. to Pirapora, on the São Francisco river. It was formerly known as the “E. de F. Dom Pedro II.,” in honour of the sovereign who encouraged its construction. The main line has a gauge of 63 in. (1.60 m.) and affords an outlet for a number of inland metre-gauge lines. The first two sections of this great railway, which carry it across the coast range, were opened to traffic in 1858 and 1864. The series of trunk lines terminating at the port of Santos are owned by private companies and are formed by the São Paulo, Paulista and Mogyana lines, the first owned by an English company, and the other two by Brazilian companies. The Mogyana carries the system entirely across the state of São Paulo into the western districts of Minas Geraes. The principal trunk lines (the São Paulo and Paulista) have a broad gauge, while their extensions and feeders have a narrow gauge. The comparatively short lines extending inland from the ports of São Salvador (Bahia), Pernambuco, Maceió, Victoria and Paranaguá serve only a narrow zone along the coast. To encourage the investment of private capital in the construction of railways, the general railway law of 1853 authorized the national government to grant guarantees of interest on the capital invested. Under this law companies were organized in England for building the São Paulo railway, and the lines running from Bahia and Pernambuco toward the São Francisco river. Political considerations also led to the construction of similar lines in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Parahyba, Alagôas, Sergipe, Espirito Santo, Paraná, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul. The result was that the national treasury became burdened with a heavy annual interest charge, payable abroad in gold, which did not tend to diminish, and had a long period to run before the expiration of the contracts. The government finally determined to take over these guaranteed lines from the foreign companies owning them, and a statement issued in October 1902 showed that 1335 m. had been acquired at a cost of £14,605,000 in bonds, the interest on which is £584,200 a year against an aggregate of £831,750 in interest guarantees which the government had been paying. In addition to this economy it was calculated that the lines could be leased for £132,000 a year. The loan finally issued in London to cover the purchase of these railways aggregated £16,619,320. All but three of these lines had been leased in 1905.
The use of tramways for the transportation of passengers in cities dates from 1868, when the first section of the Botanical Garden line of Rio de Janeiro was opened to traffic. The line was completed with its surplus earnings and continued under the control of the American company which built it until 1882, when it was sold to a Brazilian company. Subsequently the tramways of the city have been mostly concentrated in the hands of a single Canadian company. All the large cities of Brazil are liberally provided with tramways, those of the city of São Paulo, where electric traction is used, being noticeably good. The substitution of electricity for animal traction was begun in São Salvador in 1906. Mules are universally employed for animal traction, and narrow gauge lines with single-mule trams are generally used where the traffic is light.
Brazil is lamentably deficient in steamship communication considering its importance in a country where the centres of population are separated by such distances of coasts and river. Previous to the creation of the republic, the coastwise service was performed by two national companies (now united), and partially by foreign lines calling at two or more ports. A considerable number of foreign sailing vessels also carried on an important coasting trade. The coastwise service centres at Rio de Janeiro, from which port the Lloyd Brazileiro sends steamers regularly south to Montevideo, and north to Pará and Manáos, calling at the more important intermediate ports. From Montevideo river steamers are sent up the Paraná and Paraguay rivers to Corumbá and Cuyabá, in the state of Matto Grosso. The company receives a heavy subsidy from the national government. Parts of this coastwise traffic are covered by other companies, two of which receive subsidies. There were also six lines of river steamers receiving subsidies from the national government in 1904, and the aggregate paid to these and the coastwise lines was 2,830,061 milreis. The largest of the river lines is the Amazon Steam Navigation Co. (an English corporation), whose service covers the main river and several of its principal tributaries. Two subsidized companies maintain services on the São Francisco river—one below the Paulo Affonso falls, and the other above, the latter covering 854 m. of navigable channel between Joazeiro and Pirapora. Besides these there are other companies engaged in the coasting and river traffic, either with subsidies from the state governments, as feeders for railway lines, or as private unsubsidized undertakings.
The telegraph lines, which date from 1852, are owned and operated by the national government, with the exception of the lines constructed by private railway companies, and the cable lines of the Amazon and the coast. The government lines extend from Pará to the Argentine and Uruguayan frontiers, where they connect with the telegraph systems of those republics, and from Rio de Janeiro westward across country, in great part unsettled, to the capitals of Goyaz and Matto Grosso. At Pará connexion is made with the cable laid in the bed of the Amazon to Manáos, which is owned and operated by a subsidized English company. At Vizeu, Pará, connexion is made with a French cable to the West Indies and the United States, and at Pernambuco with two cable lines to Europe. A coastwise cable runs from Pará to Montevideo with double cables between Pernambuco and Montevideo. There were in 1903 a total of 15,150 m. of land lines, with 29,310 m. of wire and 1102 telegraph offices. The government maintains reciprocal rates with most of the private railway lines.
The Brazilian postal service is under the general supervision of the minister of communications and public works, and is administered by a director-general. Owing to the size of the country and the sparsely-populated state of a large part of the interior, the transportation of the mails is attended with much difficulty and expense. Although the postal rates are high, the service is not self-sustaining, the receipts for 1904 being 7,018,344 milreis, against a total expenditure of 10,099,545 milreis. There were 2847 post offices (agencias), of which 2166 were of the 4th or lowest grade. Brazil is a member of the Postal Union, and like Argentina exacts higher nominal rates of postage upon outgoing mail than those agreed upon to cover the depreciation in her own currency. The letter rate was at first 200 reis (nearly 5½ d.), but it has been increased to 300 reis, which is equivalent to 8 d. at par and 4½ d. at 15 d. exchange. An inland parcel post was in operation long before the overthrow of the monarchy, and a similar service with Portugal has been successfully maintained for a number of years, notwithstanding the difficulties interposed by customs regulations. National and international money order systems are also in operation.
The constitution of Brazil provides that the coastwise trade shall be carried on by national vessels, but this provision did not go into effect until 1896. And even then, because of the insufficient number of Brazilian vessels it was provided in the regulations that foreign vessels could be enrolled in that trade by using the Brazilian flag and employing a certain proportion of Brazilians on the crew. One of the purposes of this restrictive provision was that of creating a national merchant marine, but the disinclination of Brazilians for maritime pursuits has been a serious obstacle to its realization. In 1901 the merchant navy included 228 steamers of 91,465 tons net, and 343 sailing vessels of 76,992 tons net. These vessels are all engaged in the coasting and river trade of the country. Efforts have been made, however, to engage in foreign trade, and subsidies were offered for a passenger and freight service to the United States. On the 23rd of February 1906 the government completed a new contract with the Lloyd Brazileiro Company for its coastwise and river service, and included clauses providing for a line to the United States. This foreign service (monthly) began in August 1906.
Although the coast of Brazil shows a large number of bays and tide-water river channels which are apparently suitable for commercial ports, a close examination of them reduces the number of good ports to less than a dozen. The others are either difficult of access, or are rendered practically useless by dangerous reefs, sand bars and shoals. Important improvements have been undertaken in some of these ports. Those at Santos and Manáos, for example, have produced good results. In many cases, as at Rio de Janeiro, Santos and Manáos, the cost and maintenance of the new port-works are met by an additional tax on merchandise, though the immediate expenditures are met by advances from the national treasury, and at Rio de Janeiro by a foreign loan.
Commerce.—The imports, exports and domestic trade of Brazilare by reason of their magnitude and peculiar character the most important in South America, though theper capitaaggregate is less than that of Argentina. Although an agricultural country, Brazil does not produce all its own bread and meat, and the imports of wheat, wheat flour, rice, fish, jerked beef and preserved meats, lard, butter, beans, potatoes, packed fruits and vegetables, Indian corn and other food-stuffs, are surprisingly large. Since the creation of the republic, extreme protective measures have caused the creation of a large number of cotton factories and other manufactures, but these are able to supply only a part of the consumption, and the importation of cotton and woollen fabrics, silks, ready-made clothing, boots and shoes, &c., is large. Modern industrial development in some of the states has greatly increased the importation of machinery, electric supplies, materials for construction, coal, &c. Kerosene oil also figures among the principal imports, and beef cattle are imported for consumption by some cities. The exports cover a wide range of agricultural, pastoral and natural productions, including coffee, rubber, sugar, cotton, cocoa, Brazil nuts,maté(Paraguay tea), hides, skins, fruits, gold, diamonds, manganese ore, cabinet woods and medicinal leaves, roots and resins. Coffee and rubber, however, represent from 80 to 90% of the official valuation of all exports. High import duties are imposed by the national government and export duties by the states. The exchange of domestic products between the states is greatly restricted through lack of cheap transportation facilities, and by the suicidal imposition of import and export duties by the states, either for revenue or for the protection of home industries.
According to a summary for the six years 1901 to 1906, derived from official sources and published in the annualRetrospectoof theJornal do Commercio, of Rio de Janeiro, the values of the imports and exports for those years (exclusive of coin), reduced to pounds sterling at the average rate of exchange (or value of one milreis) for each year, were as follows:—
Nearly 76½% of the exports of 1906 were of coffee and rubber, the official valuations of these being: coffee 245,474,525 milreis gold (£27,615,884), and rubber (including maniçoba and mangabeira), 124,941,433 milreis gold (£14,055,911).
Brazil is essentially an agricultural country. No other country has been able to equal Brazil in the production of coffee, and under better labour conditions the country might compete with the foremost in the production of cane sugar, cotton and tobacco. Besides these it might easily excel in producing many of the tropical fruits for which there is a commercial demand. During the colonial period sugar cane was cultivated from Parahyba S. to the vicinity of Santos, and sugar was the principal export of the colony. Before the middle of the 19th century coffee became one of the leading exports, and its cultivation in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes has been so increased since that time that it represents over four-fifths in value of the total export of agricultural produce. The principal sugar-producing states are Alagôas, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, and the production is between 200,000 and 300,000 tons, the greater part of which is consumed in the country. Cotton has been widely cultivated since early colonial days, principally in the northern Atlantic states. Tobacco is also widely cultivated, and the product of some states, such as Bahia, Minas Geraes and Goyaz, has a high local reputation for its excellence. Cacáu (cocoa) is cultivated extensively in the Amazon Valley and along the coast as far south as southern Bahia, and forms one of the leading exports. In 1906 São Paulo offered premiums for its cultivation in the state. Rice has been cultivated in places, but without much success, although the quality produced compared favourably with the imported article. Indian corn grows luxuriantly everywhere, but it does not mature well in the humid regions of the Amazon region and the coast. The product of the elevated inland regions is good, but the costs of transportation and the small profits afforded have prevented its extensive cultivation, and it is imported from the La Plata republics for consumption along the coast. Much has been said in regard to the production of wheat, and efforts have been made in various places to promote its cultivation. It was once cultivated in Rio Grande do Sul with some success, and it has been grown in Minas Geraes and São Paulo, but in no case have the returns been sufficient to give it a permanent standing among the productions of the country. The great majority of the people are unused to wheaten bread, using the coarse flour of the mandioca root instead, consequently the demand for wheat and flour is confined to the large cities, which can obtain them from Argentina more cheaply than they can be produced in the country. One of the most common and important productions of Brazil ismandioca(Manihot), of which there are two well-known species,M. utilissimaandM. aipi. The first named, which is poisonous in its native state, is thecassavaof Spanish America. From it is madefarinha de mandioca, which is the bread of the common people of Brazil, and tapioca. The poison is extracted by soaking the bruised or grated roots in water, after which the coarse flour is roasted. Mandioca was cultivated by the natives before the discovery of America, and the wide area over which it has been distributed warrants the conclusion that the discovery of its value as a food and the means of separating its poisonous properties must have occurred at a very remote period. The peanut, or ground-nut (Arachis hypogaea), is another widely-cultivated plant, dating from pre-Columbian times. Very little attention has thus far been given to the cultivation of fruit for exportation, the exceptions being bananas for the Argentine and Uruguayan markets, and oranges and pineapples for European markets. The coast region from Ceará to Rio de Janeiro is adapted to the cultivation of a great variety of fruits of a superior quality. Ceará, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro are celebrated for their oranges, and Pernambuco for its delicious pineapples. Tangerines, lemons, limes, grapes, guavas, figs, cashews or cajús (Anacardium occidentale), mangabas (Hancornia speciosa), joboticabas (Eugenia caulifloraandE. jaboticaba, Mart.), cocoa-nuts, mangos,fruitas de conde(Anona squamosa), plantains, &c. are produced in abundance and with little labour. In some parts of southern Brazil the fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone do well, but within the tropics they thrive well only at a considerable elevation above sea-level. Apples, peaches, quinces, raspberries, strawberries, &c., are produced under such conditions, but the flavour of their kind grown in colder climates is usually wanting. The vegetable productions are less numerous, but they include sweet potatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, lettuce, beans, peas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, okra, radishes, cucumbers, couve, chuchu (Sechium edule), and aipim (Manihot aipi). The white potato, known as “batata inglez” (English potato), is grown in elevated localities, but it deteriorates so greatly after the first planting that fresh imported seed is necessary every second or third year.
The pastoral industries, which date from early colonial times, have suffered many vicissitudes, and their development has failed to keep pace with the country’s growth in population. Horses are used to some extent for riding, but very little for carriage and draught purposes, consequently there has been no great incentive for their breeding. They are largely used and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, but in the warmer regions of the north only to a limited extent. The hardier mules are generally employed for draught, carriage, and saddle purposes in every part of the country, and their breeding is a lucrative industry in the southern states. Cattle-raising is the principal industry in Rio Grande do Sul, and receives considerable attention in Minas Geraes, Matto Grosso, Santa Catharina, Paraná, Piauhy and Rio Grande do Norte. It was estimated that there were 30,000,000 head of cattle in the republic in 1904, but the estimate was unquestionably too large. A very large part of the jerked beef consumed in Brazil is imported from Argentina and Uruguay, and some beef cattle also are imported. These importations at Rio de Janeiro in 1906 were 12,464,170 kilograms of jerked beef and 12,575 head of cattle. In the Rio Branco region of Amazonas and in Piauhy, where the national government has long been the owner of extensive cattle ranges, the industry is in a state of decadence. This is partly due to such pests as the vampire bat and bush ticks (carrapatos), and partly to the unprogressiveness of the cattlemen. Cattle-raising was once a flourishing industry on the island of Marajó, at the mouth of the Amazon, and it is followed to some extent at Alemquer and other points along the Amazon, but the cattle are small, and commonly in bad condition. In southern Bahia the industry has been nearly extinguished through increasing aridity and droughts, but in the state of Rio de Janeiro the planters are increasing their herds. Minas Geraes produces cheese, butter and milk, as well as beef cattle for neighbouring cities. Matto Grosso classifies cattle-raising as a principal industry, but under present conditions the accessible markets are too small for any large development. In Rio Grande do Sul, where it has attained its greatest development, about 400,000 beeves are slaughtered annually for the manufacture of jerked beef (xarque), beef extract, &c. Little attention has been given to sheep in Brazil except in the southern states, and even there the flocks are small. They were to be found in Ceará and Piauhy in colonial times, and small flocks are still to be seen in the latter state, but no use is made of their wool, and the market for mutton is extremely limited because of popular prejudices. Woollen manufactures have been established in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. The exportation of wool amounted to 1,130,160 ℔ in 1906. Goats have been found highly profitable in many of the middle Atlantic states, where the long dry seasons render the campos unsuitable for cattle pasturage. The export of goat skins from these states is large. Swine do well in all parts of the country, especially in Minas Geraes, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, and domestic pork and lard are slowly supplanting the heavily-taxed foreign products.
Although the coast and river fisheries of Brazil are numerous and valuable, cured fish is one of the staple imports, and foreign productsare to be found even along the Amazon. In the Amazon valley fish is a principal article of food, and large quantities ofpirarucú(Sudis gigas) are caught during the season of low water and prepared for storage or market by drying in the sun. This and the collection of turtle eggs for their oil, or butter, are chiefly Indian industries, and contribute largely to the support of the native population of that region. Along the coast the best known fisheries are among the Abrolhos islands and in the shallow waters of Espirito Santo, where the garoupa, pargo and vermelho (species ofSerranus) abound in great numbers.
The extractive or forest industries of Brazil were among the first to engage the attention of Europeans, and have always been considered a principal source of colonial and national wealth. The varied uses of india-rubber in modern times, however, have given them a greatly enhanced importance and value. Of the exports of 1905, 36% were of this class, while those of the pastoral and mining industries combined were not quite 6½%. In 1906 the percentages were 31 and 6.67, showing a considerable loss for the former and a slight gain for the latter. The principal products of this class are india-rubber, maté, Brazil nuts, vegetable wax, palm fibre, cabinet woods, and medicinal leaves, roots, resins, &c. Before the discovery of the cheaper aniline colours, dye-woods were among the most valuable products of the country; in fact, Brazil derives her name from that of a dye-wood (Brazil-wood—Caesalpinia echinata), known asbresill, brasilly, bresilji, braxilis, orbrasilelong before the discovery of America (see Humboldt’sGéographic du nouveau continent, tom. ii. p. 214), which for many generations was the most highly prized of her natural productions. Of the total exports of this group (1905) very nearly 90% was of india-rubber, which percentage was reduced to 85 in the following year. The exportation for 1906 was 69,761,123 ℔ of Hevea, 5,871,968 ℔ of maniçoba, and 1,440,131 ℔ of mangabeira rubber, the whole valued at 124,941,433 milreis gold. The dried leaves and smaller twigs of maté (Paraguayan tea—Ilex paraguayensis) are exported to the southern Spanish American republics, where (as in Rio Grande do Sul) the beverage is exceedingly popular. The export in 1906 amounted to 127,417,950 ℔, officially valued at 16,502,881 milreis gold. The collection of Brazil nuts along the Amazon and its tributaries is essentially a poor man’s industry, requiring no other plant than a boat. The harvest comes in January and February, in the rainy season, and the nut-gatherers often come one or two hundred miles in their boats to the best forests. The nuts are the fruit of theBertholletia excelsa, one of the largest trees of the Amazon forest region, and are enclosed, sixteen to eighteen in number, in a hard, thick pericarp. Another nut-producing tree is thesapucaia(Lecythis ollaria), whose nuts are enclosed in a larger pericarp, and are considered to be better flavoured than those first described. The crop is a variable one, the export in 1905 having been 198,226 hectolitres, while that of 1906 was 96,770 hectolitres. It could undoubtedly be largely increased. Vegetable wax, which is an excellent substitute for beeswax, is a product of thecarnahubapalm (Copernicia cerifera), and is an important export from Ceará. Palm, or piassava fibre, derived from thepiassavapalm, is used in the manufacture of brooms, brushes, &c. It is found as far south as southern Bahia, and the export could be very largely increased. The export of cabinet woods is not large, considering the forest area of Brazil and the variety and quality of the woods. This is principally due to the cost and difficulties of transporting timbers to the coast. The export is confined principally to rosewood. Of the medicinal plants, the best-known products are ipecacuanhá, sarsaparilla, copaiba, jaborandi and cinchona, but this is only a part of the list. Besides these, tonka beans, anatto, vanilla, and castor-oil seeds form a part of the exports.
The mineral exports are surprisingly small. Gold was discovered by the Portuguese soon after their settlement of the coast in the 16th century, but the washings were poor and attracted little attention. The richer deposits of Minas Geraes were discovered about 1693, and those of Matto Grosso early in the following century. Abandoned placer mines are to be found in every part of the unsettled interior, showing how thoroughly it had been explored by gold-hunters in those early days. Some good mines, like Morro Velho and the abandoned Gongo Soco, have been developed in Minas Geraes, but the great majority are small and not very productive. Diamonds were discovered in Minas Geraes, near the town now called Diamantina, during the first half of the 18th century, the dates given ranging from 1725 to 1746, but the productiveness of the district has greatly decreased. Diamonds have also been found in Bahia, Goyaz and Paraná. Other precious stones found in Brazil are the topaz, ruby aquamarine, tourmaline, chrysoberyl, garnet and amethyst. Among the minerals are silver, platinum, copper, iron, lead, manganese, chromium, quicksilver, bismuth, arsenic and antimony, of which only iron and manganese have been regularly mined. The copper deposits of Minas Geraes are said to be promising. Manganese is mined in Minas Geraes for export. Iron ores have been found in most of the states, and are especially abundant in Minas Geraes. The Ypanema mine and ironworks, near Sorocaba, São Paulo, which belong to the national government, have been in operation since 1810 and small charcoal forges were in operation in colonial times and supplied the mines with a considerable part of the iron needed by them. Many of the richer deposits have never been developed because of a lack of fuel and limestone. Bituminous coal of an inferior quality is mined to a limited extent in Rio Grande do Sul, and another mine has been opened in Santa Catharina. These coal deposits extend from Rio Grande do Sul north into the state of São Paulo. Salt, which does not figure in the list of exports, is produced along the coast between Pernambuco and Cape St Roque. The annual production is about 240,000 tons.
To illustrate the comparative productiveness and relationship of these sources of national wealth and industry, the following official returns of export for the years 1905 and 1906 are arranged in the four general classes previously discussed, the values being in Brazilian gold milreis, worth 2s. 3d. or 54.6 cents to the milreis:—
Manufactures.—Before the establishment of the republic very little attention had been given to manufacturing industries beyond what was necessary to prepare certain crude products for market. Sugar and rum were essentially plantation products down to the last ten years of the empire, when central usines using improved machinery and methods were introduced as a means of saving the sugar plantations from ruin. The crude methods of preparing jerked beef were also modified to some extent by better equipped abattoirs and establishments for preparing beef extract, preserved meats, &c. There were also mills for crushing the dried maté leaves, cigar andcigarette factories, small chocolate factories, hat factories, brick and tile yards, potteries, tanneries, saddleries, and many other small industries common to all large communities. Considerable protection was afforded to many of these industries by the customs tariff of that time, but protection did not become an acknowledged national policy until after 1889. After that time the duties on imports were repeatedly and largely increased, both as a means of raising larger revenues and as an encouragement to manufacturing enterprise. Although the protective tariffs thus imposed have resulted in a large increase in manufacturing industries, some of them have been antagonistic to the productive interests of the country, as in the case of weaving mills which use imported yarns. Other industries are carried on entirely with imported materials, and are national only in name. Among these are flour mills, factories for the cutting of wire nails and making hollow ware from sheet iron, and factories for the manufacture of umbrellas, boots and shoes, &c. The greatest progress has been made in the manufacture of cotton fabrics, principally of the plainer and coarser grades used by the common people. There were 155 of these factories in 1895, but in 1905 only 108 were in operation, with 715,000 spindles, and about 37,000 operatives. Nearly one-half of these were weaving mills, using imported yarn. The factories are widely distributed, and some are favoured by state legislation in addition to the national tariff. The largest and best equipped of them are located in the federal states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, though the greater part of the raw cotton used comes from the northern states and pays high freight rates. The manufacture of woollen blankets, cashmeres, flannels, &c., had also undergone noteworthy development and is carried on in fifteen factories, located principally in Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Biscuit-making is represented by a large number of factories, for the most part in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and there are a number of breweries of the most modern type in the same two states. The manufacture of boots and shoes has also received much attention, but the materials used are for the most part imported. Among other manufactures are butter and cheese, canned fruits and vegetables, glass and earthenware, printing and wrapping paper, furniture, matches, hats, clothing, pharmaceutical products, soaps and perfumery, ice, artificial drinks, cigars and cigarettes, fireworks and candles.
Government.—The overthrow of the monarchy by a military revolt in Rio de Janeiro on 15th November 1889, resulted in the creation of a federal republic under the name of United States of Brazil (Estados Unidos do Brazil). The constitution under which the republic is governed was drafted by a constituent assembly convened on the 15th of November 1890, and was adopted on the 24th of February 1891. The supreme powers of the nation are vested in three partially independent branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—represented by the president and his cabinet, a national congress of two chambers, and a supreme tribunal. The states forming the federation consist of the twenty provinces and municipal district of the empire, but the number may be increased or diminished by the states concerned with the approval of the national congress. The states are self-governed, and have exclusive control of the public lands, mines, industries, and all local affairs. They have the sole right also to impose duties on exports and taxes upon real estate, industries and professions, and transfers of property. Among other things they are charged with the supervision and support of primary education, with the maintenance of order, and with the organization and support of a system of state courts. Both the national and state governments exercise the right to impose stamp and consumption taxes, and the municipalities likewise are permitted to impose licence and consumption taxes. The national government reserves for itself the exclusive right to direct the foreign affairs of the republic, to maintain an army and navy, to impose duties on imports, to regulate foreign commerce, to collect port dues, to issue money and create banks of issue, and to maintain a postal and national telegraph service. It also supervises secondary and superior education, issues patents, and provides federal courts for the trial of cases amenable to federal laws. The national government is forbidden to interfere in the peculiar affairs of the states except to repel foreign invasion, to maintain a republican form of government, to re-establish order at the request of a state, or to enforce federal laws and sentences. The states are forbidden, likewise, to tax federal property, to tax inter-state commerce, to impose duties of their own on foreign imports, or to resist the execution of judicial sentences originating in other states. The separation of church and state is provided for by the constitution, and both the nation and the states are forbidden to establish, subsidize or restrict the exercise of any religious worship. Foreigners are eligible to Brazilian citizenship, and the right of suffrage is conferred upon all male citizens over twenty-one years of age, except beggars, illiterates, the rank and file of the armed forces, members of monastic orders, &c., bound by private vows, and all unregistered citizens.
The executive power of the nation is vested in a president, elected for a term of four years by a direct vote of the electors. He must be a native Brazilian over thirty-five years of age, in the full enjoyment of his political rights, and is ineligible for the next succeeding term. A vice-president is elected at the same time and under the same conditions, who is president of the senateex officio, and succeeds to the presidency in case the office becomes vacant during the last two years of the presidential term. Should the vacancy occur during the first two years of the term, a new election must be held. The president receives a salary of 120,000 milreis and the vice-president of 36,000 milreis. The president is advised and assisted by a cabinet of six ministers, viz. foreign affairs; finance; agriculture, industry and commerce;9communications (Viacao) and public works;9war; and marine. The ministers are appointed and removed by the president, take no part in the sessions of congress, and are responsible to the president alone for their advisory acts. The president sanctions and promulgates, or vetoes, or ignores the laws, and resolutions voted by congress, and issues decrees and regulations for their execution. His veto may be over-ridden by a two-thirds vote in each chamber, and permitting ten days to pass without signing an act is considered as acquiescence and it is promulgated by congress. The president is charged with the duties (among others) of commanding the armed forces of the republic, appointing the prefect of the national capital, designating members of the supreme tribunal and diplomatic representatives for the approval of the senate, to negotiate treaties, &c.,ad referendumto congress, and maintain relations with foreign powers, to declare war in case of invasion and to declare martial law in case of grave internal disorder, and to advise congress at the opening of the annual session of the progress and state of public affairs. He may be impeached before the senate for his official acts and suspended from office, or tried by the supreme tribunal for criminal offences.
The legislative power is vested in a national congress of two chambers, elected by direct suffrage, and convened on the 3rd of May each year. The regular annual sessions are of four months’ duration, but they may be extended to complete necessary legislation. The senate consists of sixty-three members (three from each state and the federal district) elected for a period of nine years, one-third of each delegation being renewed every three years. The senators must be not less than thirty-five years of age, and are exempt from all legal processes not previously authorized by the senate during their term of office, except in cases of arrestin flagrante delictofor a capital crime. The chamber of deputies contains 212 members, the membership being distributed among the states on a basis of one for each 70,000 of population, but with a minimum representation of four for each state. The deputies are elected by direct suffrage for the legislative session of three years, and have the same immunities from legal process as the senators. The chamber has the right of initiative in the organization of the annual budget laws and those relative to the numerical strength of the army and navy. The members of both houses receive aper diemsubsidy.
The judicial system of the republic consists of a supreme federal tribunal of fifteen judges in the national capital, and a district tribunal in the capital of each state, which forms a federal judicial district. The judges are appointed for life and can be removed only by judicial sentence and impeachment. One member of the supreme tribunal holds the position ofsolicitor-general of the republic. The judges and solicitor-general are appointed by the president with the approval of the senate, but the tribunal chooses its own presiding officers and secretaries and, nominally, is independent of executive control. The supreme tribunal has original and appellate jurisdiction, but its power to pass on the constitutionality of federal laws and executive acts seems to fall short of that of the United States Supreme Court. It has authority, however, to review the acts and laws of state governments and to decide upon their constitutionality. The district federal court has but one judge (juiz de secção) and a solicitor of the republic, and has original jurisdiction in federal causes. Each state has its own local laws and courts, independent of federal control, but subject to the review of the supreme tribunal, and with rights of appeal to that tribunal in specified cases. The federal district, which has a municipal council instead of a legislature, has a system of municipal and higher courts peculiar to itself. Limited judicial powers are exercised by chiefs of police, and by certain department commissions, or boards, of an executive character. The members of the army and navy are governed by special laws, enjoy immunities from civil process, and are subject to the jurisdiction of military courts. The civil code of the republic is based upon Roman law.
Army.—The nominal strength of the army in 1906 was 29,489, including the officers of the general and subordinate staffs and the officers and cadets of the military schools. This total represents the nominal strength of the army in times of peace. Its actual strength, however, is about 15,000 men, some of the regimental and battalion organizations being skeletons. Its organization consists of 40 battalions of infantry with one transport and one depot company, 14 regiments of cavalry of 4 squadrons each, 6 regiments of field artillery with 24 batteries and 6 battalions of heavy artillery with 24 batteries, and two battalions of engineers. Efforts to organize a national guard have been unsuccessful, although officers have been appointed and the organization perfected, on paper. The police force, however, is organized on a military footing and armed, and is available for service in case of necessity. It is credited with 20,000 men. According to law military service is obligatory, but the government has been unable to enforce it. Impressment is commonly employed to fill the ranks, and in cases of emergency the prison population is drawn upon for recruits. The president is nominally commander-in-chief of the army, but the actual command is vested in a general staff in the national capital, and in the general commanding each of the seven military districts into which the republic is divided. The most important of these districts is that of Rio Grande do Sul, where a force of 11,226 men is stationed. The principal war arsenal is in Rio de Janeiro. The rifle used by the infantry is a modified Mauser of the German 1888 model. Military instruction is given at the Eschola Militar of Rio de Janeiro. The military organization is provided with an elaborate code and systems of military courts, which culminate in a supreme military tribunal composed of 15 judges holding office for life, of which 8 are general army officers, 4 general naval officers and 3 civil judges.
Navy.—The naval strength of the republic consisted in 1906 of a collection of armoured and wooden vessels of various ages and types of construction, of which three armoured vessels (including the two designed for coast defence), four protected cruisers, five destroyers and torpedo-cruisers, and half a dozen torpedo boats represented what may be termed the effective fighting force. The loss of the armoured turret ship “Aquidaban” by a magazine explosion in the bay of Jacarepagua, near Rio de Janeiro, in 1905, had left Brazil with but one fighting vessel (the “Reachuelo”) of any importance. Many of the wooden and iron vessels listed in the Naval Annual, 1906, though obsolete and of no value whatever as fighting machines, are used for river and harbour service, and in the suppression of trifling insurrections. The Annual describes 21 vessels of various types, and mentions 23 small gunboats used for river and harbour service. Besides these there are a number of practice boats (small school-ships), transports, dispatch boats and launches. A considerable part of the armament is old, but the more modern vessels are armed with Armstrong rifled guns. The naval programme of the republic for 1905 provided for the prompt construction of 3 battleships of the largest displacement, 3 armoured cruisers, 6 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats and 3 submarine boats; and by 1909 the reorganization of the navy was far advanced. The principal naval arsenal is located at Rio de Janeiro. The government possesses dry docks at Rio de Janeiro. The naval school, which has always enjoyed a high reputation among Brazilians, is situated on the island of Enxadas in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. There are smaller arsenals at Pará, Pernambuco, São Salvador and Ladario (Matto Grosso) and a shipbuilding yard of considerable importance at the Rio de Janeiro arsenal.
Education.—Education is in a backward condition, and it is estimated that 80% of the population can neither read nor write. The lowest rate of illiteracy is to be found in the southern half of the republic. Public instruction, is, by constitutional provision, under secular control, but religious denominations are permitted to have their own schools. Primary instruction is free but not compulsory, and the schools are supported and supervised by the states. An incomplete return in 1891 gave 8793 schools and 376,399 pupils. Secondary and higher education are under both federal and state control, the former being represented by lyceums in the state capitals, and by such institutions as the Gymnasio Nacional (formerly Collegio Dom Pedro II.) in Rio de Janeiro. Many of the states also maintain normal schools of an inferior type, that of São Paulo being the best and most modern of the number. Higher, or superior, instruction is confined almost exclusively to professional schools— the medical schools of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, the law schools of São Paulo and Pernambuco, the polytechnic of Rio de Janeiro, and the school of mines of Ouro Preto. There are many private schools in all the large cities, from the primary schools maintained by the church and various corporations and religious associations to schools of secondary and collegiate grades, such as the Protestant mission schools of Petropolis, Piracicaba, Juiz de Fóra, São Paulo and Paraná, the Lyceu de Artes e Ofiicios (night school) of Rio de Janeiro, and the Mackenzie College of São Paulo. Perhaps the best educational work in Brazil is done in these private schools. In addition to these there are a number of seminaries for the education of priests, where special attention is given to the classics and belles-lettres.
Religion.—The revolution of 1889 and the constitution adopted in 1891 not only effected a radical change in the form of government, but also brought about the separation of church and state. Before that time the Roman Catholic Church had been recognized and supported by the state. Not only are the national and state governments forbidden by the constitution to establish or subsidize religious worship, but its freedom is guaranteed by a prohibition against placing obstructions upon its exercise. The relations of the state with the disestablished church since 1889 have been somewhat anomalous, the government having decided to continue during their lives the stipends of the church functionaries at the time of disestablishment. The census of 1890 divided the population into 14,179,615 Roman Catholics, 143,743 Protestants, 3300 of all other faiths, 7257 of no religious profession, and 600,000 unchristianized Indians. The increase of population through immigration is overwhelmingly Catholic, and the nation must, therefore, continue Roman Catholic whether the church is subsidized by the state or not. The moral character of churchmen in Brazil has been severely criticized by many observers, and the ease with which disestablishment was effected is probably largely due to their failings. The church had exercised a preponderating influence in all matters relating to education and the social life of the people, and it was felt that no sweeping reforms could be secured until its domination had been broken. The immediate results of disestablishment were civil marriage, the civil registry of births and deaths, and the secularization of cemeteries; but the church retains its influence over all loyal churchmen through the confessional, the last ritesof the church, and their sentiment against the profanation of holy ground. Formerly Brazil constituted an ecclesiastical province under the metropolitan jurisdiction of an archbishop residing at Bahia, with 11 suffragan bishops, 12 vicars-general and about 2000 curates. In 1892 the diocese of Rio de Janeiro was made an archbishopric, and four new dioceses were created. Three more have been added since, making twenty dioceses in all. In 1905 the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro was made a cardinal. The church has eleven seminaries for the education of priests, and maintains a large number of private schools, especially for girls, which are patronized by the better classes. The church likewise exercises a far-reaching influence over the people through the beneficent work of its lay orders, and through the hospitals and asylums under its control in every part of the country. A Misericordia hospital is to be found in almost every town of importance, andrecolhimentosfor orphan girls in all the large cities. In no country have these charities received more generous support than in Brazil. The Protestant contingent consists of a number of small congregations scattered throughout the country, a few Portuguese Protestants from the Azores, a part of the German colonists settled in the central and southern states, and a large percentage of the North Europeans and Americans temporarily resident in Brazil. The Positivists are few in number, but their congregations are made up of educated and influential people.
Art, Science and Literature.—The Brazilian people have the natural taste for art, music and literature so common among the Latin nations of the Old World. The emperor Dom Pedro II. did much to encourage these pursuits, and many promising young men received their education in Europe at his personal expense. Still earlier in the century (1815) the regent Dom John VI. brought out a number of French artists to educate his subjects in the fine arts, and theEscola Real de Sciencias, Artes e Officioswas founded in the following year. From this beginning resulted theAcademia de Bellas Artesof a later date, to which was added a conservatory of music in 1841. The institution is now called theEscola Nacional de Bellas Artes. Free instruction in the fine arts has been given in this school. The higher results of artistic training, however, are less marked than a widespread dilettantism. The Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes (1839-1896) is the best known of those who have adopted music as a profession, his operaIl Guaranihaving been produced at most of the European capitals. The most prominent among Brazilian painters is Pedro Americo, and in sculpture Rodolpho Bernardelli has done good work. In science Brazil has accomplished very little, although many eminent foreign naturalists have spent years of study within her borders. João Barbosa Rodrigues has done some good work in botany, especially in the study of the palms of the Amazon, and João Baptista de Lacerda has made important biological investigations at the national museum of Rio de Janeiro. There are several scientific societies and institutions in the country, but they rarely undertake original work. The most active are the geographical societies, but very little has been done in the direction of scientific exploration. Some interesting results have been obtained from the boundary surveys, from Dr E. Cruls’s exploration of a section of the Goyaz plateau in 1892 in search of a site for the future capital of the republic, and from some of the river and railway surveys. In 1875 a geological commission was organized under the direction of Professor Charles Frederick Hartt, but it was disbanded two years later. In 1906 Congress resolved to undertake a national geological survey under the direction of Mr Orville A. Derby, one of Professor Hartt’s assistants. The coal resources of the southern states were investigated in 1904, under the auspices of the national government, by Dr J.C. White, of the U.S. Geological Survey, who found strata of fairly good coal at depths of 100 to 200 ft. extending from Rio Grande do Sul north to São Paulo. The more important contributions to our present knowledge of Brazil, however, have been obtained through the labours of foreign naturalists. Beginning with the German mineralogist W.L. von Eschwege, who spent nineteen years in Brazil (1809-1828), the list includes A. de Saint-Hilaire (1816-1820 and 1830), J.B. von Spix and C.F. von Martins (1817-1820), Prince Max zu Neuwied (1815-1817), P.W. Lund (1827-1830, and 1830 to 1880, the year of his death), George Gardner (1836-1841), A.R. Wallace (1848-1852), H.W. Bates (1848-1859), Hermann Burmeister (1850-1852), Louis Agassiz (1865-1866), Charles Frederick Hartt (1865-1866, 1872 and 1875-1878) and Karl von den Steinen (1884-1885 and 1887-1888). These explorations cover every branch of natural science and resulted in publications of inestimable scientific value. There should also be mentioned the monumental work of C.F.P. von Martius on theFlora Braziliensis, and the explorations of Agassiz and Lund. Among other scientists of a later date who have published important works on Brazil are the American geologists O.A. Derby and J.C. Branner, the Swiss naturalist E.A. Goeldi, the German botanist J. Huber, the German ethnologist H. von Ihring, and’the German geographer Fried. Katzer. TheInstituto Historico e Geographico Brazileiro, though devoted chiefly to historical research, has rendered noteworthy service in its encouragement of geographical exploration and by its publication of various scientific memoirs. The Museu Nacional at Rio de Janeiro, which has occupied the imperial palace of São Christovão since the overthrow of the monarchy, contains large collections of much scientific value, but defective organization and apathetic direction have rendered them of comparatively slight service. The Observatorio Nacional at Rio de Janeiro is another prominent public institution. The botanical gardens of Brazil are developing into permanent exhibitions of the flora of the regions in which they are located. That of Rio de Janeiro is widely celebrated for its avenues of royal palms, but it has also rendered an important service to the country in the dissemination of exotic plants.
Brazilian literature has been seriously prejudiced by partisan politics and dilettantism. The colonial period was one of strict repression, the intellectual life of the people being jealously supervised by the church to protect itself against heresy, and their progress being restricted by the Portuguese crown to protect its monopoly of the natural resources of the country. The arrival of Dom John VI. in 1808 broke down some of these restrictions, and the first year of his residence in Rio de Janeiro saw the establishment of the first printing press in Brazil and the publication of an official gazette. There was no freedom of the press, however, until 1821, when the abolition of the censorship and the constitutional struggle in Portugal gave rise to a political discussion that marked the opening of a new era in the development of the nation, and aroused an intellectual activity that has been highly productive in journalistic and polemical writings. In no country, perhaps, has the press exercised a more direct and powerful influence upon government than in Brazil, and in no other country can there be found so high a percentage of journalists in official life. Some of the political writers have played an important part in moulding public opinion on certain questions, as in the case of A.C. Tavares Bastos, whoseCartas do Solitariowere highly instrumental in causing the Amazon to be thrown open to the world’s commerce and also in preparing the way for the abolition of slavery; and in that of Joaquim Saldanha Marinho, whose discussions in 1874-1876 of the relations between church and state prepared the way for their separation. The personal element is conspicuous in the Brazilian journalism, and for a considerable period of its history libellous attacks on persons, signed by professional sponsors, popularly calledtestas de ferro(iron heads), were admitted at so much a line in the best newspapers.
The singular adaptability of the Portuguese language to poetical expression, coupled with the imaginative temperament of the people, has led to an unusual production and appreciation of poetry. The percentage of educated men who have written little volumes of lyrics is surprisingly large, and this may be accounted for by the old Portuguese custom of reciting poetry with musical accompaniment. The most popular of the Brazilian poets are Thomaz Antonio Gonzaga, Antonio Gonçalves Dias and Bernardo Guimarães. Among the dramatists and novelistsmay be mentioned Joaquim Manoel de Macedo, José Martiniano de Alencar, Bernardo Guimarães, A. de Escrangnolle Taunay and J.M. Machado de Assis. José M. de Alencar is usually described as the greatest of Brazilian novelists. The most popular of his romances areIracemaandO Guarany. In historical literature Brazil has produced one writer of high standing—Francisco Adolpho Varnhagen (Visconde de Porto Seguro), whoseHistoria Geral do Brazilis a standard authority on that subject. The two English authorities, Robert Southey’sHistory of Brazil, covering the colonial period, and John Armitage’sHistory of Brazil, covering the period between the arrival of the Braganza family (1808) and the abdication of Dom Pedro I. (1831), have been translated into Portuguese. Another Brazilian historian of recognized merit is João Manoel Pereira da Silva, whose historical writings cover the first years of the empire, from its foundation to 1840. Among the later writers João Capistrano de Abren has produced some short historical studies of great merit. In the field of philosophic speculation, Auguste Comte has had many disciples in Brazil.