Finances.-The revenue for 1899 was estimated at 346,164,000 milreis, and expenditure at 346,000,423 milreis. The budget for 1900 made the revenue 53,975,543 milreis in gold and 312,958,000 milreis in paper, and the appropriations voted were 36,973,646 milreis in gold and 263,162,276 milreis in paper, including 9,026,670, milreis in gold for the currency guarantee fund and 23,920,000 milreis in paper for redemption of currency. For 1901 the revenue was estimated at 58,869,000 milreis in gold and 286,082,000 milreis in paper, the expenditure at 37,510,000 milreis in gold and 244,514,000 milreis in paper. Of the revenue 36,400,000 milreis in gold and 123,454,000 milreis in paper were import duties, 33,200,000 milries in paper railroad receipts, 15,500,000 milreis in paper postal and telegraph receipts, 600,000 milreis in gold and 30,808,000 milreis in paper revenue from stamps, etc., 105,000 milreis in gold and 319,000 milreis in paper receipts from various taxes, 39,886,000 milreis in paper excise receipts, 8,565,000 milreis in paper extraordinary revenue, 12,678,000 milreis in gold emission, and 9,026,000 milreis in gold and 34,350,000 milreis in paper special revenue. Of the expenditure 16,094,000 milreis in paper were for the Department of the Interior and Justice, 969,000 milreis in gold and 527,000 milreis in paper for the Department of Foreign Affairs, 23,200,000 milreis in paper for the Department of Marine, 45,581,000 milreis in paper for the Department of War, 12,859,000 milreis in gold and 61,818,000 milreis in paper for the Department of Industry, Communications, and Public Works, and 23,682,000 milreis in gold and 97,294,000 milreis in paper for the Department of Finance. To secure the revenue quired by the Federal Government taxation has become very heavy, and the revenues of the states and municipalities are obtained by a system of taxation that is not simply burdensome, but irksome and discouraging to enterprise. The financial year 1900 closed with a surplus of 35,000,000 milreis. The payment of interest on the foreign debt, which had been interrupted, was resumed by arrangement of the British creditors on July 1, 1901, when the Government had more than enough on deposit in London to meet the interest, which amounts to £2,400,000 a year. The Government has agreed to reserve 25 per cent. of the customs receipts for the purpose, and expects to have a surplus of £4,000,000 a year, besides £1,000,000 allotted to the fund for guaranteeing the currency. The revenue for 1901 was 27,000,000 milreis in gold and 281,000,000 milreis in paper.

re

The foreign debt on March 31, 1900, amounted to £38,639,281 sterling, consisting of £3,292,000 borrowed in 1883 at 4 per cent., £5,298,600 raised at 41 per cent. in 1888, the 4-per-cent. loan of £18,388,200 obtained in 1889, £7,331,000 borrowed at 5 per cent. in 1895, and £4,328,881 obtained in 1898. The internal debt amounted to 511,197,100 milreis, composed of a gold loan of 20,549,000 milreis paying 4 per cent. interest, one of 7,127,500 milreis paying 6 per cent., 119,600 milreis payable in paper and bearing 4 per cent. interest, and the 5-per-cent. currency loan amounting to 483,401,000 milreis. The floating debt was 284,759 milreis, and there were treasury notes for 10,175,000 milreis. The paper money in circulation in July, 1900, amounted to 703,666,174 milreis. The debts of the states on Jan. 1, 1900, amounted to £10,135,729 sterling.

The Army and Navy.-The strength of the army on the peace footing in 1899 was 484 staff officers, 1,573 officers, and 9,035 men in the infantry, 606 officers and 3,179 men in the cavalry and engineers, and 1,400 cadets. The active army con

sists of 40 battalions of infantry of 4 companies each, 14 regiments of cavalry of 4 squadrons each, 6 regiments of field artillery of 4 batteries each, 6 battalions of fortress artillery, 2 battalions of pioneers, and 6 transport squadrons. The gendarmerie numbers about 20,000 men. The National Guard is being reorganized.

The navy in 1900 consisted of 2 third-class battle-ships built before 1885; the armored coastdefense vessels Deodoro and Floriano, built in 1898 and 1899; 6 armored gunboats of various dates; 2 old monitors; 4 small protected cruisers, and 3 without armor; 18 gunboats; 4 torpedocruisers; and 9 first-class and 17 second-class torpedo-boats, besides 2 submarine boats built in 1895 and 1896. The fleet had 4,000 seamen, 1,000 stokers, 1,500 boys, and 450 marine infantry. Commerce and Production.-The total value of imports in 1897 was 671,603,280 milreis, and of exports 831,806,918 milreis. The imports are cotton and woolen goods, iron, hardware, machinery, coal, flour, cattle, jerked beef, rice, codfish, pork, lard, butter, corn, olive-oil, macaroni, tea, candles, salt, kerosene, timber, wine and spirits, etc. Of the imports at Rio de Janeiro in 1899 Great Britain furnished 41 per cent., Germany 11 per cent., France 10 per cent., the United States 8 per cent.; of the coffee exports 68 per cent. went to the United States, and the rest to Europe. The exports of coffee in 1899 from Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Victoria, and Bahia were 9,284,412 bags of 152 pounds, compared with 10,248,186 bags in 1898 and 10,353,197 bags in 1897. The fall in the price of coffee has checked planting. The production of rubber in the Amazon valley is increasing, and rubber-trees have been planted in Bahia and other districts. In Pernambuco 167,198 bales of cotton were grown in 1898. There are sugar plantations and factories in the same state. In Rio Grande do Sul 232,000 cattle were slaughtered in 1900, against 270,000 in 1899 and 340,000 in 1898. In that state are fruit canneries, breweries, and tanneries. Rum and alcohol are distilled in increasing quantities. In Minas-Geraes goldmines worked by foreign companies produce 148,000 ounces a year, and in that state and Bahia 40,000 carats of diamonds have been dug from river beds annually, and the quantity has lately increased. A company has erected machinery to work diamond-mines in Minas-Geraes. In the same state 65,000 tons of manganese ore were raised. Great development has taken place in the mining industry in a period of depression in other branches of production. About 200,000 persons are employed in cotton-mills, in which 100,000,000 milreis have been invested. There are also mills for weaving woolen and silk, and for grinding flour from Argentine and Uruguayan wheat. The cultivators of coffee have not attempted to reduce wages in order to escape from the financial embarrassment caused by the fall in the price of their product and in the exchange value of the currency, because attempts to lower the wages of industrial operatives have resulted in strikes and disorganization, and they fear that agricultural laborers would refuse to work if their wages were cut down. Large stocks of coffee were held over from 1900 and the crop of 1901 was abundant. The world's production of coffee, of which Brazil furnishes 62 per cent., is being increased rapidly by new plantings in all subtropical regions, although the present production is at least 12 per cent. in excess of consumption. The rubber, sugar, cotton, and tobacco interests in Brazil suffer from the falling rate of exchange, which affects all branches of the export trade, owing to the indebtedness of local producers to foreign

bankers and merchants. To alleviate the crisis in the coffee trade the Government in 1901 reduced freight rates on state railroads, and by agreement with the companies on private railroads also.

Navigation. There were 1,077 vessels in the foreign trade, of 1,916,934 tons, entered, and 1,019, of 1,853,707 tons, cleared at the port of Rio de Janeiro in 1899; and in the coasting trade 1,229 vessels, of 652,329 tons, were entered and 1,263, of 682,080 tons, were cleared. At Bahia 854 vessels in the foreign trade, of 1,396,989 tons, were entered and cleared and 745, of 14,842 tons, in the coasting trade.

Railroads and Telegraphs.-The length of railroads completed on Jan 1, 1900, was 8,718 miles, and 4,989 miles were being built, 4,670 miles more surveyed, and 8,440 miles besides were authorized. The Government has guaranteed 6 or 7 per cent. on the capital of most of the railroads. Of those in process of construction 3,699 had Government subventions. The Government owned 1,982 miles, which were leased to companies. The cost of these lines was 257,674,937 milreis.

The telegraphs have a length of 10,143 miles of line, with 21,936 miles of wire.

Political Affairs.-On information extracted from Baron de Burgal, who afterward committed suicide, and confirmed by further inquiries, RearAdmiral Custodio de Mello, who headed the naval revolt of 1893 and was amnestied after a period of exile, was arrested on the charge of conspiring to overturn the Government of President Campos Salles. The old revolutionist was said to have been busy spreading disaffection in the navy ever since his return to Brazil. The plan of the conspirators was believed to be to procure the murder of the President, which should be the signal for an insurrection. During the general confusion the monarchists in the army and navy were to take military possession of Rio de Janeiro and seize the Government buildings. The executive power would be entrusted to a triumvirate, consisting of Admiral de Mello, Marshal Cantuaria, and the Advocate Lafayette-Pereira. The ultimate object was the restoration of the empire. Rear-Admiral de Mello was arrested on March 23 and confined on the island of Cobras, as it was feared that his presence in the capital might give rise to a disturbance. Extraordinary precautions had been taken secretly to prevent an insurrection. The attention of the Government was directed particularly to the navy, and a close watch was kept on the war-vessels, as it was feared that the officers could not be entirely trusted. After being kept in custody for several months Admiral de Mello lodged a complaint against the Government in the Chamber of Deputies, alleging that his arrest was illegal, and that he was refused the means of defending himself. He based his claim on the Constitution, which allows every one to denounce the President of the republic for abuse of authority. His complaint was referred to a special commission, on the report of which the Chamber unanimously dismissed his charge against the President. When Congress was opened on May 3 the President urged the continuance of a policy of appeasement, from which the best results had been obtained during his administration, and mentioned a variety of circumstances tending to show the complete public tranquillity of the country. The Government proposed to develop military instruction and, as far as could be done without creating fresh financial difficulties, to accumulate improved war material. The Government is working for the purchase of the guaranteed rail roads, which have annually cost the treasury 30,

000.000 milreis for many years without any compensation. A harbor at Rio de Janeiro was recommended to be constructed by private enterprise with Government assistance. On Aug. 5 the Minister of Justice resigned and was succeeded by Sabino Barroso.

BRITISH COLUMBIA, PROVINCE OF. A portion of the Dominion of Canada, 409,910 square miles in area, with a population of 150,000.

Politics and Legislation.-Politics in British Columbia at the beginning of 1901 were more harmonious than they had been for some time. The Government of Mr. James Dunsmuir, a millionaire mine-owner of high character but slight political experience, had developed considerable strength, while the popular personality of the new Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Henri Joly de Lotbinière, had also helped to put an end to faction warfare. The ministry was composed of the Hon. J. D. Prentice as Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education, the Hon. D. M. Eberts, Q. C., as Attorney-General, the Hon. J. H. Turner as Minister of Finance and Agriculture, the Hon. W. C. Wells as Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, and the Hon. Richard McBride as Minister of Mines. The Premier held no portfolio. Late in 1900 two constituencies were opened through the resignation of sitting members who were candidates for the Dominion Parliament-Ralph Smith, in Nanaimo, and James F. Garden, in Vancouver. Mr. Smith was elected, and was succeeded by Mr. J. H. Hawthornthwaite in the Provincial Legislature (the latter being elected by acclamation). Mr. Garden was defeated for the Dominion House, but was renominated for the Legislature, and after a stiff fight carried Vancouver on Feb. 19 for the Government against Robert Macpherson, who had combined with the Liberal element, led by the Hon. Joseph Martin, and the Labor party in support of his candidature. The Legislature met on Feb. 20, and was opened by the Lieutenant-Governor in some state and with a complimentary escort of 40 khaki-clad soldiers from South Africa. The speech from the Throne was read by Sir Henri Joly de Lotbinière. Its significant passages were these:

"As a mark of appreciation of the valiant services rendered by the volunteers from British Columbia who went to South Africa to assist the empire in the war with the Transvaal and Orange Free State, my Government will introduce a measure authorizing the conveyance to them of free grants of land. A measure will be submitted amending the school act. There will be submitted for your consideration a bill having for its object the encouragement of the wood-pulp industry of British Columbia. I am pleased to know that the dairying industry continues to develop in so satisfactory a manner, and that new creameries are being established. My Minister of Agriculture has obtained a promise of continued cooperation on the part of the Dominion in rendering expert assistance in their construction and subsequent operation, and in giving instruction in the manufacture of butter and cheese. Recognizing the importance of encouraging provincial trade in agriculture and other natural products in the mining districts, efforts have been made to secure such a reduction of freight rates as will naturally tend in that direction, and I am pleased to announce that this will be brought about.

"For the purpose of promoting settlement, my Government is considering the advisability of introducing legislation having in view the extension of the system of small holdings. A measure will be introduced with the view of aiding the construction of a railway from the Boundary

Creek district to the coast; of a railway to the northern end of Vancouver island; and of a railway in Canadian territory from the coast to the northern boundary of the province. The industries of the province, I am happy to state, are in a prosperous condition. During the recess commissions were issued for inquiries into the conduct and general administration of the Asylum for the Insane; the rights of settlers on the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway land belt; and the adjustment of mining claims in the newly organized Porcupine district, and full reports of the commissioners in each case will be laid before

you.

·Provision was made by you at the last session of the Legislature for the appointment of a commission to inquire into the working of the mining acts, and much preliminary information has been obtained by the Department of Mines in anticipation of the commission being used; but it having been announced that the Dominion Government also intended issuing a commission with respect to our mineral resources, a postponement was deemed desirable in order to ascertain to what extent these commissions might be able to cooperate to the advantage of the province. Amendments will be introduced to perfect, as far as possible, existing mining laws. The act regulating immigration, passed at last session, has come into effect, and the necessary machinery for its enforcement has been put into operation. A delegation, consisting of my First Minister, and the Honorable the Attorney-General, recently proceeded to Ottawa to lay before the Dominion Government the claims of British Columbia to increased recognition in the matter of railway development, and in other respects, and to arrive at a settlement of certain matters requiring adjustment between the two governments. The report of the delegation will be laid before you."

The Hon. J. P. Booth acted as Speaker, and when the House was prorogued on May 11 the following acts-among others of minor importance were assented to in the King's name:

To authorize grants of land to British Columbia volunteers serving in the South African war. To amend the extra-provincial investment and loan societies act, 1900.

To amend the land registry act amendment

act.

To amend the placer mining act and amending

acts.

To extend the provisions of the Canadian contingent exemption act, 1900.

Respecting the maintenance of wives deserted by their husbands.

To amend the succession duty act.

To provide for the collection of a tax on per

sons.

To amend the inspection of metalliferous mines act and amending act.

To amend the absconding debtors act. To amend the summary convictions act. To amend the trustees and executors act. For the protection and reformation of neglected and dependent children.

To amend the coal-mines regulation act. To incorporate the Lake Bennett Railway Company.

To incorporate the Queen Charlotte Islands Railway Company.

To incorporate the Kamloops and Atlin Railway Company.

To incorporate the Coast-Kootenay Railway Company, Limited.

To incorporate the Comox and Cape Scott Railway Company.

To incorporate the Victoria Terminal Railway and Ferry Company.

To incorporate the Imperial Pacific Railway Company.

To incorporate the District Power and Telephone Company.

To incorporate the Midway and Vernon Railway Company.

To incorporate the Kootenay Central Railway Company.

To incorporate the Vancouver and Grand Forks Railway Company.

To incorporate the Yale Northern Railway Company. To amend the British Columbia immigration act, 1900.

Respecting assignments for the benefit of creditors. To authorize a loan of $5,000,000 for aiding the construction of railways and other important public works. To amend the drainage, diking, and irrigation

act.

Respecting the manufacture of wood-pulp and paper.

On Sept. 3 Dunsmuir-a Conservative in Dominion politics, elected to the Legislature and made Premier through opposition to the policy of Joseph Martin, the Radical leader-threw a bomb into the political arena by accepting the resignation of Mr. J. H. Turner, Minister of Finance, and appointing the Hon. John C. Brown Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education. Mr. James D. Prentice was transferred from this latter department to that vacated by Mr. Turner. Mr. Brown had been a devoted follower of Martin, an opponent of Dunsmuir until very lately, and a Radical of the most strenuous type. Mr. McBride, Minister of Mines, at once resigned his post, and the papers of the province with very few exceptions denounced the action of the Premier and the assumed change of policy toward what was popularly termed "Martinism." The defense made by the Colonist, the chief Government organ, was that the representation of both parties in the provincial Cabinet was desirable; that Mr. Brown himself was a good administrator and would make an excellent minister, and that he now had complete confidence in the policy of the Premier. When the new minister went back for election to his constituency of New Westminster he was met with violent opposition, and on Sept. 18, after a prolonged contest, he was defeated by Thomas Gifford by 52 votes. On Oct. 4 his retirement was announced, and the office was thereafter left vacant for some time, although Messrs. H. D. Helmcken, K. C., and R. F. Green were understood to have been offered Cabinet places. The Opposition papers declared that the Government was tottering, and loudly urged the Premier to resign, but the latter, on Oct. 10, announced that he still had a large majority in the House, and intended to remain in office. He met with a great personal misfortune about this time, when a fire in his coal-mines involved a loss of about $1,000,000.

Relations with the Dominion.-On March 15 a report was submitted to the House by the Premier and the Hon. D. M. Eberts concerning their mission to Ottawa in January and February. In the documents thus published and in the discussions referred to, Mr. Dunsmuir had pressed strongly upon the Dominion Government the claims of British Columbia in various important matters the necessity of checking Chinese and Japanese immigration; the right of the province to a greater share of the revenues arising from

ring, and salmon. The total value of the catch between 1876 and 1899 was valued at $60,998,000. In the latter year the value of the salmon fisheries was $4,007,396; of herring, $37,450; of halibut, $103,750; and of fur-seals in the north, $441,825. The value of the fish for home consumption was placed at $350,000, and the general total at $5,214,073. The number of fishermen was 23,806, the vessels and boats 4,982, the salmon canneries 69, with a value of $1,380,000, and the total value of all fishing-plants was $2,604,773. The value of the product was $21,891,706. In 1901 the total pack of salmon from Fraser river was 920,313 cases, against 316,522 cases in 1900. The price, however, to the fishermen was only 10 or 12 cents, against 19 and 20 cents in the preceding

year.

On Feb. 22 a discussion took place in the House of Commons at Ottawa as to the position of these fisheries and the question of control. The Minister of Marine and Fisheries said that certain inspectors had been appointed or retained to look after the enforcement of Dominion regulations as to fishing and to fix the times and seasons in which fish may be taken. "The local Government have the sole and exclusive right, under the Privy Council decision, to grant licenses for particular localities; they get the fees and appoint officers for that purpose. It is a divided jurisdiction, and we appoint three officers in Ontario to keep track of the manner in which our regulations are observed, and report to us whether these regulations are proper or not, and whether they should be amended." He proceeded to point out that "the exclusive power to make regulations in connection with the fisheries is vested in the Dominion Government, but the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, having been declared by the Privy Council to be the owners of the beds of the rivers and lakes, they were held, a fortiori, to be the owners of the fish in these rivers and lakes, and it was held that the provinces had the exclusive right to grant fishery leases of areas in these lakes. Therefore the revenues which we formerly derived from the issue of licenses are now handed over to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec." The minister admitted that there had been friction between the provinces and the Dominion upon this subject. "There has been a disposition on the 'part of the provincial governments to arrogate power with regard to regulations which I do not think they possess." Especially was this the case with regard to what were termed "supplementary regulations." Upon this point there had been more or less friction." But there was no complaint as to the manner of administering the recognized Dominion regulations. The Hon. E. G. Prior, of Victoria, had asked why the Government had not treated British Columbia in this respect as it had Ontario and Quebec. The minister replied that there was a wide distinction between lake and deep-sea fisheries. In the maritime provinces the question whether the bed of the sea from low-water mark to the three-mile limit belongs to the province as a proprietary right, or whether the Dominion has proprietary jurisdiction over it, is a question not absolutely determined." He believed the Dominion to have the right over seacoast fisheries. Mr. Prior then drew attention to another branch of the same subject. The Dominion revenue from Ontario fisheries last year (1900) was $794; the Dominion expenditure upon Ontario fisheries was $3,704. In Quebec the revenue collected was $2,563, the expenditure was $5,549. In Nova Scotia the revenue was $5,494, the expenditure $27,461. In New Brunswick the revenue was $12,015, the expendi

ture $21,459. But in British Columbia, where the Dominion revenue was $53,195, the expenditure upon the fisheries was only $13,662. The reply was that Mr. Prior would “find the expenditure for the current year much larger."

On April 30 the Hon. Mr. Prior again brought up the question of the salmon fisheries of British Columbia, and quoted from two important documents or memorials prepared by the Canners' Association of the province. This organization was altogether in favor of provincial control of the fisheries. He himself deprecated the present divided jurisdiction under which the Dominion Government controlled the rivers below low-water mark, and the provincial Government looked after the rivers above low-water mark, so far as the fish were concerned. He also presented the claim of fishermen to be allowed to catch fish with traps and seines, as the American canning men did on the coast of their territory with the salmon sweeping past on their return to the Fraser. It was a great hardship. "Last year 2,269,245 pounds of salmon were bought by Canadian canners from the American fishermen, who caught our own salmon and sold them to us at a cost of some hundred thousand dollars." The time was coming, according to authorities whom he respected, when Americans would capture the most of our salmon on their way back to their natural spawning-grounds. He urged attention to this matter, even while admitting its serious difficulties and hesitating to express a personal opinion as to the right course to pursue. But he strongly advocated more hatcheries, and pointed to the annual expenditure for this purpose of $50,000 in the State of Washington.

The Prime Minister thought this fishery question had two sides to it. The remedy proposed by the honorable gentleman for the grievances of the canners-and I must say these grievances are of long standing is to transfer the control of the fisheries in the Columbia river to the province of British Columbia. My honorable friend will find on reflection that such a remedy could not be thought of for a moment, because, under the British North America act, the Government and Parliament are powerless in the matter. We can not divest the province of any control which it has under that act, nor can we divest the Dominion of its control over any matter assigned to it by our Constitution."

Sir Louis Davies, in speaking for the Department of Marine and Fisheries, declared that there was no present indication of a falling off in the fisheries, and that there was not the same necessity for hatcheries as there was at the south. However, the Government was building one at Sicamons, and would build another on the Skeena river and, if necessary, at the River's Inlet. As to the matter of trap-nets, he thought an industry worth $5,000,000 or $6,000,000 a year to the people of the province was too valuable to destroy in this way. In reply to a question from Mr. Prior as to means for the preservation of the salmon as they came through American waters, the minister said that negotiations on that point had reached an advanced stage when they were broken off by the Alaskan boundary question at the Washington conference. case, British Columbia fishermen were not doing badly in their own mode of legal operation. There was an increase in 1899 over the previous year, and he was glad to see that the large undeveloped markets in Japan, China, and other Eastern countries were now being exploited. His own judgment was strongly against permitting the use of trap-nets, and it was founded upon the advice of

In any