Chapter XIV: Part 14

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, Parana,
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 Marajo, 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 Ceara 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, Sao Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. The exportation of wool
amounted to 1,130,160 lb. 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, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,
Parana 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
products are to be found even along the Amazon. In the Amazon valley
fish is a principal article of food, and large quantities of
_pirarucu_ (_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 of _Serranus_)
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 6-1/2%. 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, mate,
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 as _bresill, brasilly,
bresilji, braxilis_, or _brasile_ long before the discovery of America
(see Humboldt's _Geographic 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 lb. of Hevea,
5,871,968 lb. of manicoba, and 1,440,131 lb. of mangabeira rubber, the
whole valued at 124,941,433 milreis gold. The dried leaves and smaller
twigs of mate (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 lb., 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 the _Bertholletia
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 the _sapucaia_ (_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 the _carnahuba_ palm (_Copernicia cerifera_),
and is an important export from Ceara. Palm, or piassava fibre,
derived from the _piassava_ palm, 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 ipecacuanha, 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 Parana. 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, Sao
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 Sao
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. 1906.
Milreis, gold. Milreis, gold.

Coffee . . . . . 190,404,576 245,474,525
Cotton . . . . . 10,290,790 14,726,492
Cacau . . . . . 9,240,313 12,323,922
Tobacco . . . . . 7,335,163 8,283,150
Sugar . . . . . 3,608,476 5,388,596
Bran[7] . . . . . 1,490,312 1,128,761
Cottonseed . . . . 964,074 1,084,742
Mandioca flour . . . 692,079 789,913
Fruits . . . . . 606,678 714,332
Castor-oil seeds . . . 214,016 333,250
----------- -----------
224,846,477 290,247,683

_Natural and Forest._

Rubber:
Mangabeira . . . 1,286,672 1,376,014
Manicoba . . . . 7,418,559 7,335,870
Hevea (Para) . . . 119,434,947 116,229,549
Mate (Paraguay tea) . . 11,088,108 16,502,881
Brazil nuts . . . . 2,064,049 1,190,177
Palm wax (Carnahuba) . . 1,847,273 3,733,478
Cabinet woods . . . 390,070 318,873
Piassaya fibre . . . 336,668 347,323
Medicinal leaves, roots,
resins, &c. . . . 191,534 263,137
----------- -----------
143,331,142 147,297,302

_Pastoral and Animal._

Salted hides . . . . 7,010,498 9,691,180
Dry hides . . . . 5,330,440 7,675,715
Skins. . . . . . 4,117,590 4,639,512
Horse hair . . . . 307,505 403,541
Horns . . . . . 276,172 277,488
Wool . . . . . . 142,414 354,045
Beef extract, &c . . . 81,607 110,925
---------- ----------
17,266,226 23,152,406

_Mineral Products._

Gold, in bars . . . 3,734,469 4,379,160
Manganese ore . . . 2,958,462 1,594,486
Monazite sand . . . 889,231 881,289
Precious stones . . . 633,916 1,480,260
--------- ---------
8,216,078 8,335,195

_Miscellaneous._

Old metals[8]. . . . 263,506 382,073
Sundry products . . . 2,177,512 2,225,163
--------- ---------
2,441,018 2,607,236
----------- -----------
Total, all products . . 396,827,679 471,639,822

_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 mate leaves, cigar and cigarette 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 Sao 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 Sao Paulo. Biscuit-making is represented by a large number of
factories, for the most part in Rio de Janeiro and Sao 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 senate _ex 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;[9] communications (_Viacao_) and public works;[9] war; 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 referendum_ to 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 arrest _in flagrante delicto_ for 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 a _per diem_ subsidy.

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 of solicitor-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 seccao_) 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 Para, Pernambuco, Sao 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 Sao 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 Sao 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 Fora, Sao Paulo and Parana, the Lyceu de Artes e Ofiicios (night school) of Rio de Janeiro, and the Mackenzie College of Sao 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 rites of 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, and _recolhimentos_ for 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 the _Escola Real de Sciencias, Artes e Officios_ was founded in the following year. From this beginning resulted the _Academia de Bellas Artes_ of a later date, to which was added a conservatory of music in 1841. The institution is now called the _Escola 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 opera _Il Guarani_ having 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. Joao Barbosa Rodrigues has done some good work in botany, especially in the study of the palms of the Amazon, and Joao 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 Sao 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 the _Flora 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. The _Instituto 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 Sao Christovao 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, whose _Cartas do Solitario_ were 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 called _testas 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 Goncalves Dias and Bernardo Guimaraes. Among the dramatists and novelists may be mentioned Joaquim Manoel de Macedo, Jose Martiniano de Alencar, Bernardo Guimaraes, A. de Escrangnolle Taunay and J.M. Machado de Assis. Jose M. de Alencar is usually described as the greatest of Brazilian novelists. The most popular of his romances are _Iracema_ and _O Guarany_. In historical literature Brazil has produced one writer of high standing--Francisco Adolpho Varnhagen (Visconde de Porto Seguro), whose _Historia Geral do Brazil_ is a standard authority on that subject. The two English authorities, Robert Southey's _History of Brazil_, covering the colonial period, and John Armitage's _History 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 Joao Manoel Pereira da Silva, whose historical writings cover the first years of the empire, from its foundation to 1840. Among the later writers Joao 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.

_Finance._--The national revenue is derived largely from the duties on
imports, the duties on exports having been surrendered to the states
when the republic was organized. Other sources of revenue are stamp
taxes on business transactions, domestic consumption taxes (usually
payable in stamps) on manufactured tobaccos, beverages, boots and
shoes, textiles, matches, salt, preserved foods, hats, pharmaceutical
preparations, perfumeries, candles, vinegar, walking sticks and
playing cards, and taxes on lotteries, passenger tickets, salaries and
dividends of joint-stock companies. Formerly import duties were
payable in currency, but in 1899 it was decided to collect 10% of them
in gold to provide the government with specie for its foreign
remittances. The revenues and expenditures have since then been
calculated in gold and currency together, to the complete
mystification of the average citizen, and the gold percentage of the
duties on imports has been increased to 35 and 50% (in 1907), the
higher rate to apply to specified articles and rule when exchange on
London is above 14 pence per milreis, and the lower when it is below.
The service of the national debt absorbs a very large part of the
expenditure, about 45% of the estimates for 1907 being assigned to the
department of finance. The department of industry, communications and
public works takes the next highest proportion, but about half its
expenditures are met by special taxes, as in the case of port works
and railway inspection, and by the revenues of the state railways,
telegraph lines and post office. The depreciation and unstable
character of the paper currency render it difficult to give a clear
statement of receipts and expenditures for a term of years, the
sterling equivalents often showing a decrease, through a fall in the
value of the milreis, where there has been an actual increase in
currency returns. This was most noticeable between 1889 and 1898, when
exchange, which represents the value of the milreis, fell from a
maximum of 27-3/4 pence (27d. being the par value of the milreis) to a
minimum of 5-5/8 pence. Since 1898 there has been an upward movement
of exchange, the average rate for 1905 having been very nearly 16
pence. In this period the increase in the sterling equivalents would
be proportionately greater than that of the currency values. The gold
and currency receipts and expenditures for the six years 1900 to 1905,
inclusive, according to official returns, were as follows:--

+------+---------+---------------------------+--------------------------+
| | Average | Revenue. | Expenditure. |
| Year.| Rate of +-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| |Exchange.| Gold | Currency | Gold | Currency |
| | Pence. | Milreis. | Milreis. | Milreis. | Milreis. |
+------+---------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+
| 1900 | 9.50 | 49,955,522 | 263,687,253 | 41,892,150 | 372,753,986 |
| 1901 | 11.38 | 44,041,302 | 239,284,702 | 40,493,241 | 261,629,212 |
| 1902 | 11.97 | 42,904,844 | 266,584,912 | 34,574,643 | 236,458,862 |
| 1903 | 12 | 45,121,844 | 327,370,063 | 48,324,642 | 291,198,960 |
| 1904 | 12.28 | 50,566,572 | 342,782,191 | 48,476,413 | 352,292,147 |
| 1905 | 15.89 | 64,207,004 | 243,355,396 | 51,606,272 | 265,699,281 |
+------+---------+-------------+-------------+------------+-------------+

Reducing gold to a currency basis at 15d. per milreis (the official
valuation adopted in 1906), the budget for 1907 provided for a revenue
of 353,590,593 milreis and an expenditure of 409,482,284 milreis,
showing a deficit of 55,891,691 milreis. These deficits were common
enough under the monarchy, but they have become still more prominent
under the republic. According to the "Retrospecto Commercial" for 1906
of the _Jornal do Commercio_ (Rio de Janeiro, March 5, 1907), the
aggregate deficits for the eleven years 1891 to 1904 were 692,000,000
milreis, or, say, L43,250,000.

The natural result of such a regime is increasing indebtedness. In
1888, a year before the republic was proclaimed, the internal and
external national debts amounted to L74,000,000 sterling, with the
currency at par. Ten years later, when the currency had fallen to
5-5/8 pence per milreis, the government found itself unable to meet
the interest obligations on its debt and railway guarantees, and an
arrangement was made with its creditors in London for the issue of a
5% funding loan to an amount not to exceed L10,000,000, and the
suspension of all amortization for thirteen years. On the other hand
the government agreed to withdraw currency, which had reached a total
of 788,364,614 1/2-milreis, _pari passu_ with the issue of the loan,
the milreis being computed at 18 pence. The purpose of this condition
was in order to improve the value of the paper milreis in order to
increase the specie value of the revenues. The scheme came into
operation in June 1898, and not only was a complete suspension of
payments avoided but the financial situation was greatly improved. The
government even withdrew more of its currency issues than required by
the agreement, and the value of the milreis steadily improved. At the
same time the government carried out the forced conversion of the
national loans into lower interest-bearing issues, which greatly
reduced the annual interest charges. These measures would have put the
financial affairs of the nation on a solid footing in a very few years
had the government been able to keep its expenditure within its
income. The naval revolt of 1893-1894, however, had aroused the spirit
of militarism in the ruling classes, and the effort to perfect the
organization and equipment of the army, strengthen the fortifications
of Rio de Janeiro, and increase the navy, have kept expenditures in
excess of the revenues. The purchase of guaranteed railways owned by
foreign companies likewise added largely to the bonded indebtedness,
though the onus was in existence in another form. The result of these
measures was a large addition to the public debt, which on 31st
December 1906 was approximately as follows (_apolices_ being the name
given to bonds inscribed to the holder):--

External debt: L s. d.
Loans of 1883, 1888 and 1889. 26,478,500
Oestede Minas R.R. loan 3,388,100
Loan of 1898 7,331,600
Funding loan of 1898 8,613,717 9 9
Railway rescission loan of 1901 15,467,015 16 1
Port works loan of 1903 8,500,000
-------------------
L69,778,933 5 10
===================

Internal debt, funded: Milreis
5 % apolices, Law of 1827 483,546,600
4-1/2% " " 1879 20,548,000
6 % " " 1897 37,082,000
5 % " " 1903 17,300,000
-----------
Total, funded 558,476,600
(at 15d. L34,904,787) ===========

Internal debt, not funded: Milreis
Paper money 664,792,960
Savings bank and other deposits:
In paper 246,812,407
In gold, 19,053,861 r (say) 34,296,950
Floating indebtedness (a/cs current, bills, &c.) ?
-----------
Total, not funded, approx. 945,902,317
(at 15d. L59,118,895 stg.) ===========

Approximate total indebtedness L163,802,675

In addition to these, the government was still responsible for
interest guarantees on fourteen railways, or sections of existing
lines, with an aggregate capital of about L4,900,000 held in Europe
and 12,055,440 milreis held in Brazil, on which the national treasury
paid in interest L191,324 and 1,398,493 milreis.

The paper currency of Brazil consists of both treasury issues and
bank-notes, the latter issued under government supervision. Its
fluctuations in value have been not only a serious inconvenience in
commercial transactions, but also the cause of heavy loss to the
people. Under the provisions of the funding loan of 1898 a scheme for
the withdrawal of the paper money was carried into effect, and by the
end of December 1906 the amount in circulation had been reduced from
788,364,614 1/2-milreis (the outstanding circulation 31st August 1898)
to 664,792,960 1/2-milreis. Two funds were created for the redemption
and guarantee of paper issues, the latter receiving 5% of the import
duties payable in gold. Up to 1906 the Caixa da Amortisacao
(redemption bureau), which has charge of the service of the internal
funded debt, superintended the redemption of the currency, but in that
year (December 6, 1906) a Caixa de Conversao (conversion bureau) was
created for this special service. It is modelled after the Argentine
Conversion office, and is authorized to issue notes to bearer against
deposits of gold at the rate of 15 pence per milreis although exchange
was above 17d. when the scheme was proposed. The notes are to be
redeemable in gold at sight, the Caixa de Conversao to keep the gold
paid in for that express purpose. The coffee producers of Sao Paulo
and other states found that the appreciation in value of the milreis
was reducing their profits, and they advocated this measure (at first
with a valuation of 12d.) to check the upward movement in exchange.
Metallic money is limited to nickel and bronze coins, but in 1906 the
government was authorized to purchase bar silver for the coinage of
pieces of the denomination of two milreis, one milreis and 500 reis
(1/2-milreis). Gold is the nominal standard of value, the monetary
unit being the gold milreis worth 2s. 2-1/2d. at par. The 10-milreis
gold piece weighs 8.9648 grammes, 916 fine, and contains 8.2178
grammes of pure gold. There is no gold in circulation, however, and
gold duties are paid with gold cheques purchased at certain banks with
paper money. The banking facilities of the republic have undergone
many changes under the new regime. A fruitful cause of disaster has
been the practice of issuing agricultural and industrial loans under
government authorization. Commercial business at the principal ports
is largely transacted through foreign banks, of which there are a
large number.

In addition to the indebtedness of the national government, the
individual states have also incurred funded debts of their own. The
aggregate of these debts in 1904 was L20,199,440, and the several
loans made during the next two years, including those of the
municipalities of Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Bahia and Manaos, add fully
two and a half millions more to the total. (A. J. L.)

HISTORY

The Portuguese in Brazil.

Brazil was discovered in February 1499 (o.s.) by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a companion of Columbus. He descried the land near Cape St Augustine, and sailed along the coast as far as the river Amazon, whence he proceeded to the mouth of the Orinoco. He made no settlement, but took possession of the country in the name of the Spanish government, and carried home, as specimens of its natural productions, some drugs, gems and Brazil-wood. Next year the Portuguese commander, Pedro Alvares Cabral, appointed by his monarch to follow the course of Vasco da Gama in the East, was driven by adverse winds so far from his track, that he reached the Brazilian coast, April 24, and anchored in Porto Seguro (16 deg. S. lat.) on Good Friday. On Easter day an altar was erected, mass celebrated in presence of the natives, the country declared an apanage of Portugal, and a stone cross erected in commemoration of the event. Cabral despatched a small vessel to Lisbon to announce his discovery, and, without forming any settlement, proceeded to India on the 3rd of May. On the arrival of the news in Portugal, Emanuel invited Amerigo Vespucci to enter his service, and despatched him with three vessels to explore the country. The navigator's first voyage was unsuccessful; but, according to his own account, in a second he discovered a safe port, to which he gave the name of All-Saints and where he erected a small fort. Vespucci's narrative is, however, suspected of being apocryphal (see VESPUCCI, AMERIGO).

The poor and barbarous tribes of Brazil, and their country, the mineral riches of which were not immediately discovered, offered but few attractions to a government into the coffers of which the wealth of India and Africa was flowing. For nearly thirty years the kings of Portugal paid no further attention to their newly-acquired territory than what consisted, in combating the attempts of the Spaniards to occupy it, and dispersing the private adventurers from France who sought its shores for the purposes of commerce. The colonization of Brazil was prosecuted, however, by subjects of the Portuguese monarchy, who traded thither chiefly for Brazil-wood. The government also sought to make criminals of some use to the state, by placing them in a situation where they could do little harm to society, and might help to uphold the dominion of their nation.

First organization in Brazil.

The first attempt on the part of a Portuguese monarch to introduce an organized government into his dominions was made by John III. He adopted a plan which had been found to succeed well in Madeira and the Azores,--dividing the country into hereditary captaincies, and granting them to such persons as were willing to undertake their settlement, with unlimited powers of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal. Each captaincy extended along fifty leagues of coast. The boundaries in the interior were undefined. The first settlement made under this new system was that of Sao Vicente Piratininga, in the present province of Sao Paulo. Martim Affonso de Sousa, having obtained a grant, fitted out a considerable armament and proceeded to explore the country in person. He began to survey the coast about Rio de Janeiro, to which he gave that name, because he discovered it on the 1st of January 1531. He proceeded south as far as La Plata, naming the places he surveyed on the way from the days on which the respective discoveries were made. He fixed upon an island in 24-1/2 deg. S. lat., called by the natives Guaibe, for his settlement. The Goagnazes, or prevailing tribe of Indians in that neighbourhood, as soon as they discovered the intentions of the new-comers to fix themselves permanently there, collected for the purpose of expelling them. Fortunately, however, a shipwrecked Portuguese, who had lived many years under the protection of the principal chief, was successful in concluding a treaty of perpetual alliance between his countrymen and the natives. Finding the spot chosen for the new town inconvenient, the colonists removed to the adjoining island of Sao Vicente, from which the captaincy derived its name. Cattle and the sugar-cane were at an early period introduced from Madeira, and here the other captaincies supplied themselves with both.

Pero Lopes de Sousa received the grant of a captaincy, and set sail from Portugal at the same time as his brother, the founder of Sao Vicente. He chose to have his fifty leagues in two allotments. That to which he gave the name of Santo Amaro adjoined Sao Vicente, the two towns being only three leagues asunder. The other division lay much nearer to the line between Parahyba and Pernambuco. He experienced considerable difficulty in founding this second colony, from the strenuous opposition of a neighbouring tribe, the Petiguares; at length he succeeded in clearing his lands of them, but not long afterwards he perished by shipwreck.