350
BRAZIL
are nominated and may be dismissed by himself. The ministers are heads of the various departments of Government, but have not seats in either chamber and are not responsible to Congress for advice given to the president of the republic. . Load Government.—Each state has its own constitution, which must be republican, and each has its own legislative and administrative autlxorities, with whom the central Government cannot interfere, except through the supreme federal tribunal. The Federal District is administered by a council elected by the citizens of the district, the municipal executive authority being exercised by a prefect appointed for a term of four years by the president of the republic. The number of municipal districts in Brazil is stated to be 892, and of parishes with administrative machinery 1886. Justice.—The administration of justice is entrusted to a federal supreme court of fifteen judges holding office for life, and to inferior federal courts distributed through the country. The states have also their own tribunals, with which the federal courts may not interfere. Justice, however, both civil and criminal, as administered in Brazil, has fallen into reproach. Judicial appointments in the early years of the republic were made with little regard to fitness for office, and so little confidence is placed in the tribunals that many rather submit to flagrant wrong than seek the redress to which they are entitled. Education.—Education is in a backward condition, and probably 80 per cent, of the population can neither read nor write. According to the constitution, instruction at all its stages is under lay management. Elementary education is free, but not compulsory. Primary schools are under the care of the states and municipalities. In 1891 the number of such schools was returned at 8793 and of pupils 376,399, but the states do not supply complete information concerning their educational work. Secondary and higher education are under both federal and state control. In the capital the former is given in the National Gymnasium and the Benjamin Constant Institute, which confer degrees, and in the states there are institutions of similar purpose. Higher education is mostly of a professional nature. There are law schools at Pernambuco and Sao Paulo ; medical schools at Rio de Janeiro and Bahia; a polytechnic at Rio de Janeiro; a school of mining at Ouro Preto, and a school of fine arts at Rio de Janeiro, all maintained by the Federal Government. There are also free schools of law, engineering, &c., granting diplomas and degrees; but such institutions must obtain Government recognition, must have a fixed endowment, and must have a Government official present when examinations are held. Private schools of all grades are numerous. Finance.—The national revenue is derived largely from duties on imports ; but. an inland revenue stamp duty has been imposed on tobaccos, wines, boots and shoes, candles, and several other classes of merchandise. Formerly customs duties were payable entirely in currency; but a decree of 1899 required that 10 per cent, should be paid in gold, practically increasing the duty on many articles. The greater portion of the expenditure passes through the Department of Finance. The annual revenue and expenditure over a series of years, when stated in currency, show a large increase from year to year, but when stated in sterling they exhibit a remarkable decrease. This discrepancy is explained by the rapid depreciation of the inconvertible paper currency. The revenue and expenditure for 1889 and for each of the years 1894-98, stated in sterling, and the value of the paper milreis in pence, were as follows:—
For 1899 the revenue was estimated at 351,114,000 milreis (or, at 7d., £10,182,300), and the expenditure at 328,623,257 milreis (or £9,530,100); for 1900, revenue, 53,975,543 milreis gold and 312,958,000 paper, and expenditure, 36,974,000 milreis gold and 263,162,000 paper; for 1901, revenue, 58,869,000 milreis gold and 278,565,000 paper; expenditure, 35,799,000 milreis gold and 241,125,000 paper. In 1888, a year before the establishment of the republican regime, the internal and external national debts amounted to £74,000,000 sterling, with the currency at par. At the end of 1898 the national debt was stated to consist of: external loans, £38,359,200; internal gold loans, 179,268,500 milreis; internal currency loans, 426,813,100 milreis. There were, in addition, a floating debt of 300,000,000 milreis ; Treasury bonds to the amount
[statistics
of £1,000,000, and paper money amounting to 780,000,000 milreis. In 1898 the Government, unable to meet the cost of service of the debt and the payment for railway guarantees, had entered into an arrangement for the issue of a 5 per cent, funding loan to the amount of £10,000,000; the suspension of all amortization for thirteen years ; and the withdrawal and incineration of the paper currency pari passu with the issue of the loan, the milreis being counted at 18d. The scheme was put in operation in June 1898; by the end of May 1900 the loan emissions amounted to £5,519,982, and paper currency had been destroyed to the amount of 84,672,610 milreis (or 11,091,260 milreis more than the arrangement required). Within the same period the £1,000,000 of Treasury bonds had been paid off, and of the internal gold debt (the service of which, in gold, had disturbed the market) 22,807,000 milreis (£2,534,000) was redeemed and the remainder converted into currency debt. Interest is paid on the external debt at 4, 4J, and 5 per cent. ; on the currency debt at 4, 5, and 6 per cent. Besides the national debt there are Brazilian state debts of considerable importance. In 1899, sixteen states had internal debts amounting, in all, to 81,708,627 milreis; four had floating debts reaching, on the aggregate, 10,311,182 milreis; and five had external debts amounting to £9,168,000 sterling; but of this amount £1,930,750 was due to the Federal Government. The external debts of states were those of Sao Paulo, £3,224,600 ; Bahia, £2,013,200, of which £1,300,000 was due to the Federal Government; Minas Geraes, £2,600,000 ; Espiritu Santo, £700,000 ; Pernambuco, £630,750, due to the Federal Government. Defence.—The army consisted in 1899 of 2300 officers and 28,160 non-commissioned officers and men, organized in 40 battalions of infantry, 14 regiments and 1 corps of cavalry, 6 regiments of field, and 6 regiments of garrison artillery, and 2 battalions of engineers. Military service is nominally but not actually compulsory. The organization of an effective National Guard has been proposed. The rifle used is the Mannlicher for all the land forces. In addition to the regular troops there are the armed police, numbering 20,000 men. These are used as soldiers when occasion demands, and for all practical purposes form part of the military organization. Brazil is divided into seven military districts. In the military schools there are 1400 students. The navy has been largely reinforced in recent years by the purchase of modern vessels, and the rearming and partial reconstruction of several of the older ships. The list of ships available for service now includes 2 armoured and 2 partly armoured turret ships; 6 first-class and 2 second-class cruisers ; 1 guard ship; 3 monitors for river work, besides 2 building; 37 torpedo craft of various kinds. For service afloat there are 4000 seamen, 1000 firemen, 400 marines, and 3000 cadets and boys in the naval schools and training ships. The school at Rio de Janeiro, from which the cadets graduate to the rank of midshipmen, is one of the best of the Brazilian educational establishments ; it is selected by many of the prominent Brazilians for their sons, and, as a consequence, many representatives of the leading families of Brazil are found in the naval service. There are four naval arsenals, the principal one at Rio de Janeiro, the others at Bahia, Pernambuco, and Para. At Rio de Janeiro there is a dry-dock in the naval yard on Cobras Island capable of receiving any of the vessels now on the navy list. There is also a slip for the use of torpedo boats and other craft of smaller dimensions. In the navy the small-arm in use is the Mauser rifle. Products.—Brazil has exceptional natural resources; and with settled government, and necessary protection for life and property, this wealth must sooner or later be developed. The most important agricultural product is coffee, the cultivation of which has largely extended. When slavery was abolished in 1888 the owners of coffee plantations were brought face to face with two serious difficulties. The freeing of the slaves without compensation inflicted on the owners an enormous monetary loss, for the money laid out in the purchase of negroes had fonned a large portion of their working capital, and, moreover, it was doubtful whether the former slaves would work at all after having obtained their freedom. Fortunately for Brazil, the prices for coffee in Europe at this crisis were high, and became abnormally so in 1889 and 1890. Money to work the plantations was easily obtained by mortgage of properties, although the rates of interest charged were very high. At first the negroes were not inclined to work; but after the novelty of the change had passed, large numbers of them returned to the plantations as labourers. To make up the deficiencies, immigration from Italy and Portugal was encouraged and supplied labour more satisfactory than that of the former slaves. Of late years the wealthier coffee-growers, instead of investing their profits in Government bonds as formerly, have made use of them to extend their plantations. A considerable amount of foreign capital, especially British, has been invested in the industry, and improved methods of cultivation and preparation have come into use. The total coffee production of Brazil in the year 1879-80 and in the eleven years ending 1898 is estimated to have been as follows (in bags of 132 R>):—
