which the greatest number of slaves has been liberated are Rio de Janeiro and the neutral district, 23,002; Rio Grande do Sul, 9,100; Minas-Geraes, 7,108; Bahia, 7,037; São Paulo, 6,681; Pernambuco, 5,649; Pará, 4,709; Maranhão, 4,644, and Ceará, 4,272. In other provinces the number ranges between 99 and 1,871.

Immigration. The immigrants in the first six months of 1883 numbered 14,225, among whom were about 700 Germans, 6,000 Portuguese, and 5,000 Italians. Only 2,500 were agriculturists.

The "Rio News," of July 15, 1883, expresses itself about immigration into and naturalization in Brazil to the following effect:

According to the "Diario Official" 5,309 foreigners have become naturalized in Brazil (not including colonists) in the period between 1825 and 1882-a period of fifty-seven years. There is a significance in this result which will not be unnoticed when comparisons are made with the enormous number of foreigners naturalized in the United States during the same period. When it is considered that these fifty-seven years comprise the entire reign of the present Emperor, whom the civilized world has been pleased to call one of the most enlightened and liberal monarchs of the age, that they have been years of only briefly interrupted peace, and that during all this time Brazil has had a very large population of foreigners engaged in commercial and industrial pursuits, the greater part of whom could easily have been transformed into Brazilian citizens, there is certainly very little cause for satisfaction. What with her incubus of slavery, her great landed estates, her religious intolerance, her jealousy of foreigners, her vices of administration and her oppressive exactions upon commerce and in

danger is even more imminent. Her public indebtedness has been steadily increasing until it is now much greater than her income warrants, and her expenditures are largely and regularly in excess of her revenue. There has been no annual surplus since 1856-'57, only two since 1846-'47, and only four since 1836-37. According to an abstract of the national budgets during the period between 1827 and 1879-80 inclusive, the aggregate of these deficits amounts to about $350,000,000. The interest charged upon her funded debt is now nearly two fifths of the total revenue.

These statements will, of course, excite surprise abroad, simply because of the high credit which Brazil enjoys in the London market. The Brazilian Government is scrupulously careful to meet the interest charges on its foreign debt promptly and fully, for which reason its funds are quoted high and excite no distrust. To do this, however, new loans have been floated, apolices (bonds) of internal indebtedness have been issued, taxation has been increased, and local creditors have been compelled to wait years for the payment of their accounts. And then, too, these loans and investments in London are nearly all in the hands of a small circle of capitalists known as the "Brazilian ring," at whose head is the famous house of Rothschilds; and this ring is very careful not only to place investments on the market to the best advantage, but also to suppress every item of information detrimental to Brazilian credit. To this end journals and journalists are subsidized (a deficiency credit has been under discussion in the Brazilian Legislature, in which two subsidized London journalists are specially mentioned), flattering articles are published in the newspapers and reviews, and everything is made easy and com fortable for all the parties concerned.

dustry, she has shut out this great stream of wealth and population which has been steadily flowing by her doors all these years, until now, in her weakness, she is able to secure only the scattering drops which the rushing current casts upon her shores. It is not altogether a pleasant theme for consideration, for it is a living proof that the reign of Dom Pedro II has been very far from liberal and enlightened, and that the dominant policy which has thus far controlled Brazil has resulted only in shutting her out from the An epitome of all the imperial budget law progress of the world and in retarding her national since 1823 has been published in the "Diari growth. Official" by Senator Castro Carreira. A com Naturalization. The new bill relating to nat-parison with the annual reports of the Min uralization of foreigners in Brazil, stipulates that all foreigners residing for three years in the country shall thereby become and be considered Brazilian citizens, unless during the interval they have made a declaration before their consul that they do not wish to relinquish the nationality of their native country. The time of residence for acquiring Brazilian citizenship will even be reduced to two years, if the foreigner marries a Brazilian or holds office under the Government. The naturalized citizen is to be eligible to municipal office and other public functions, and may even become regent of the empire. This law would place Brazil even above the Argentine Republic in point of liberality toward foreigners, and the probability is that the latter will follow the example. The Brazilian press unanimously approves of the project.

Finances. In financial matters the present situation of Brazil is no less critical, and the

ister of Finance shows that its figures are cor rect, or as nearly so as careless typographica work will admit. This epitome includes quin quennial summaries and abstracts of publi indebtedness, which are of great value in com parisons. In order to make this abstract cove the period of the present system of "publi improvements," beginning with the construc tion of the Dom Pedro II railway, and als to comprise these quinquennial debt abstractit is necessary to take the fiscal year 1855-5 as a starting-point. During the preceding fiv years the aggregate revenue of the Govern ment had been 176,376,699 milreis, and th aggregate expenditure 182,607,684, leaving deficit of 6,230,985. The total indebtedne of the empire at the end of this perio (1854-'55), including the 1852 foreign loa of £1,040,600, was as follows, the Brazilia milreis at par being equivalent to 54 cent United States gold:

51,760,214 Foreign debt, 4, 43, and 5 per cent.... Internal debt, 4, 5, and 6 per cent..

In the next five years (1865-'66 to 1869-'70) the expenditures of the Government were enormously increased by the war with Paraguay, the total cost of which is calculated to Lave been 613,183,263 milreis. The extraordinary credits of the Government during this period amounted to 297,901,468 milreis, taxation was largely increased, and new issues of paper money were made. The aggregate defiit amounted to 324,308,487, the average annual revenue was 75,378,204, and the expenditare 140,239,901. One foreign loan, amounting 1 to £6,963,600, was raised in London, and the internal debt was largely increased by the issue of 6 per cent. apolices. The total public debt 1865-66 to 1869–70. 1870) was as shown in the next column. In the five years following there was a large falling off in the expenses of the War and The lean of 1852, amounting to 9,201,004 milreis, was the

following have been definitely settled, from which it appears that the receipts were 127,076,363, the expenditures 138,583,090, and the deficit 11,506,727. For 1881-'82 the Government admits a deficit of 5,054,000; but on removing some 7,000,000 milreis of Treasury bills, deposits, etc., from the revenue, and nearly 1,000,000 from the expenditures, which had no place there, the actual deficit amounts to 10,315,847. For 1882-'83 the Government's estimate places the deficit at 6,104,000; but as the revenue receipts include 17,666,800 of Treasury bills emitted, 141,200 in nickel coins, and 3,500,000 of deposits for special purposes, the deficit really amounts to 27,412,000 milreis as shown on the minister's report. For the current year the "Jornal do Commercio" calculates that the deficit on actual appropriations will be 28,366,066, making a total of 62,249,842 for the two years covered by the budget law now in force.

On the 19th of September, after a session of 139 days, the General Assembly of Brazil was formally adjourned. Although the financial state of the country is most critical, the imperial budget laws for the ensuing year were not passed, and no measures were adopted to aid or relieve the public Treasury. Supplementary or deficiency credits were passed, to an aggregate of 18,000,000 milreis ($9,000,000), one of which was for a deficit of 12,000,000 milreis in the public relief expenditures of the Ceará drought of 1878-'80. As the public departments are now running under the budget laws of 1882, which were prorogued to 1883 because the General Assembly failed to pass the regular annual appropriations, it is evident that this failure of last session can not be otherwise than inimical to a proper fiscalization of the public expenditures.

Revenue of the Provinces.-The following table shows the revenue of each province in 18821883, the total being 32,662,058 milreis, of which 17 per cent., altogether 5,688,943 milreis, were spent on public instruction:

In 1854 the total number of primary schools in the provinces was 4,014; in 1883 it had increased to 6,180, the increase being about two per cent. per annum.

The Mint. Under provisions of the law of 1849 there have been coined since that year, to the close of 1882, 44,948,083_milreis gold and 18,979,927 milreis silver. From 1703 to 1883 the mint at Rio de Janeiro has coined 262,139,212 milreis gold and 35,508,316 milreis silver.

Commerce. According to the last "relatório " of the Minister of Finance, the foreign trade of Brazil (official values), during the fiscal years 1880-'81 and 1881-'82, was approximately as follows, the minister stating that full reports had not been received from all the provinces:

From this it will be seen that the total foreign trade of the country is about 400,000,000 milreis, or, in round numbers, about $200,000,000 at the par of exchange. During the past fiscal year (1882-'83), although no general statistics of that year have been compiled, it is certain that the above totals were greatly reduced. The imports were considerably decreased because of the general stagnation in business and the increase in taxation. Toward the end of 1882 a new surtax of 10 per cent. was imposed on imports, and the customs-warehouse charges were largely increased. The immediate result of this step was a decrease in imports, both on account of the enhanced cost of goods and the additional costs of storage. Under the new warehouse charges, importers are limiting their receipts to current demands, and are keeping their stock reduced to the narrowest limits possible. In exports, with the exception of coffee, and possibly rubber, there was also a large falling off, owing to the failure of crops in the northern provinces, and to the general decline in many branches of incent. of dustry. In the rubber-trade it is possible that the exportation was also reduced through the attempt to "corner" the market, though at the same time production has gone on steadily increasing. The customs revenue, however, shows a large increase, though how much of this is due to enhanced values it is difficult to say. In the absence of complete and trustworthy statistics it is impossible to form any accurate opinion as to the trade of the whole empire. The official reports, as complete as they ever appear, are always from three to five years behind, and the customs returne from the provinces are both irregular and con fusing. They are neither accurate nor uni form. Taken all together, the customs receipts of last year will show a large falling off from the two or three preceding years. The cause

Propor

tion per

pupils.

4.1

Milreis.

1,664,000 6.79

Pará..

2,742,000 18.5

5.6

Maranhão

783,596 14.8 1.7

1.1

Ceará.

808,700 24.5

1.4 1.5 0.8 2.8 2.6

8.8

Bahia..

8,484,687

15.9

1.8

Espirito Santo..

858,980 25.7

4.1

Rio de Janeiro

São Paulo..

6,258,684 19.9
8,743,460 14.2

Minas-Geraes

8,084,440 24-6

Paraná

797,000 14.5

2.6

4.2
2.1
8.4

222,234 16.1
1.6
241,286 21.6 8.8

Brazilian Woods.—Some investigations by M. Thanneur show that Brazil is rich in woods for engineering purposes. The "yandubay " is exceedingly hard and durable; the " courupay" is also very hard and rich in tannin; the quebracho" is, however, more interesting than any, and grows abundantly in the forests of Brazil and La Plata. It resembles oak in the trunk and is used for railway-sleepers, telegraph-poles, piles, and so on. It is heavier than water, its specific gravity varying between 1.203 and 1.333. The color at first is

172,154 254,660 229,210 264,588 reddish, like mahogany, but grows darker with