Justice and Crime.

There is a supreme tribunal of justice at Rio de Janeiro; 11 courts of appeal throughout the country, which are courts of first and second instance, both in civil and criminal cases. There are also municipal magistrates and justices of the peace, who are elected, and whose chief function is to settle cases by arbitration.

Finance.

Since 1887 the fiscal year corresponds with the calendar year. The following table shows the actual revenue and expenditure (excluding emancipation fund and deposits) for 1870–71, and for 1883-84 to 1886-87 :

The revenue for 1888 was expected to yield 147,702,819 milreis, and expenditure 158,274,760 milreis.

:

The budgets for 1889 and 1890 were as follows:

A later revised estimate gave the total revenue at 147,200,000 milreis. There is besides an estimated extraordinary expenditure of 20,266,965 milreis for 1889, and of 25,456,830 for 1890 ; the extraordinary revenue for 1889 being 7,780,000 milreis. The service of the public debt is estimated at 47,201,503 milreis ; railway guarantee, 8,221,254 milreis; State railways, 10,720,078 milreis; public lands under cultivation, 10,000,000 milreis.

The total debt of Brazil is officially given as follows for December 1889:

The rate of exchange at that date was 27d. per milreis.

The following, according to official statement, is the state of the foreign loans of Brazil in December 1889:

Loan of 1863, 43 per cent.

£

72,800

The redemption of the foreign loans is to be effected by a sinking fund of 1 per cent. per annum, to be applied by purchase of bonds in the market when the price is under par, and when at or above par by drawings by lots.

The internal debt is chiefly represented by 5 per cent. bonds, called Apolices, inscribed to the holder, and the payment of its capital and interest, which is provided for by an annual vote of Congress, is under the charge of the sinking fund department (Caixa da Amortisação), independent of the Government, directed by a committee, presided over by the Minister of Finance, and composed of a general inspector and five large Brazilian bondholders.

The amount of capital raised in England for Brazilian undertakings was officially stated to be, in April 1885, 44,461,4587., including 16,464,6241. for railways, 18,419,9007. in loans, and 2,600,1707. for telegraphs. That amount has since been increased to 50 millions sterling.

The total revenue of all the provinces of Brazil in 1886-88 was 34,469,000 milreis, and expenditure 39,643,000 milreis. The total provincial debt in 1888 amounted to 53,030,000 milreis, of which 10,986,000 milreis was floating debt.

Defence.

Obligatory service in the army was introduced in 1875, but exemption from military service may be obtained by either personal substitution or on payment of the sum of 120l. to the Government. The duration of service is 6 years in the active army and 3 in the reserve. A decree of August 1888 reorganised the army on the following footing :-There are 2 battalions of engineers of 4 companies, 4 regiments of artillery with 4 batteries of 6 guns, and 4 battalions also with 4 batteries. The infantry consists of 27 battalions of 4 companies. The following

is a statement of the effective of the army on a peace footing and

on a war footing :—

There are 956 regimental officers on the peace footing, besides 6,850 gendarmerie. The army is (February 1890) being reorganised.

The Brazilian navy includes (1889) 4 sea-going and 6 coast defence armour-clads, 5 first-class, 6 second-class, and 3 third-class torpedo-boats, besides a torpedo school-ship; of unprotected vessels there are 2 first-class (besides one building) and 2 second-class cruisers, 2 training corvettes, 9 screw gunboats, 8 paddle gunboats, 2 transports, 1 battery tender, besides a number of auxiliary steamers and other vessels. Two powerful sea-going turret-ships, the Riachuelo and a smaller vessel, the Aquidaban, have been built in England, the former launched in 1883 and completed in 1884, and the latter launched and completed in 1885. Both vessels are protected by a belt of armour (steel-faced) having a maximum thickness of 11 inches, and each has two turrets protected by 10-inch armour. The principal armament consists of four 20-ton breech-loading guns carried in the turrets, and there is an auxiliary armament of six in one ship, and in the other four 70-pounders and machine-guns. Both vessels are built of steel, sheathed with wood and metal, rigged with a good sail-spread, and made capable of keeping the sea for long periods. Both vessels contain all modern improvements in construction and equipment. The Solimões and Jarari are two powerful double-turreted ships of light draught, suitable for coast-defence or river-service; they are of about 3,500 tons displacement and 2,200 horse-power, with 12-inch armour and four 10-inch Whitworth guns.

The navy is manned by 5,790 officers and men, including marines. There are five naval arsenals, at Rio de Janeiro, Pará, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Ladario de Matto Grosso.

Production and Industry.

Brazil is an agricultural country, though only a small fraction of its soil has been brought under culture. Coffee is the chief product cultivated, and, after that, sugar. Both its forests and its mines are of value, but little has been done to make use of them. Vast quantities of iron are known to exist, but they cannot be worked from want of fuel. There are 17 million head of cattle. Cotton mills are on the increase; there were 90 in 1888. Coffee is cultivated mainly in the provinces of Espiritu Santo, São Paulo, and Minas Geraes; the value of the products in these provinces in 1887 amounting to 13,366,0002.

Commerce.

The average value of the exports from Brazil in 1869-70 to 1871-72 was 186,867,900 milreis, and that of the imports in the same period was 150,423,300 milreis. In the five years from 1882-83 to 1888 the figures were as follows:

The average value of the inter-provincial trade in the last four years was 130,000,000 milreis.

The principal products exported in 1886-87 (one year) were :

The Government levies on most national products an export duty, while the import duties are very high.

The exports of Brazil go mainly to the United States and Great Britain, to the extent of about one-third each, Germany and France coming after with about one-tenth each. In the imports into Brazil, Great Britain leads all countries, her share being 45 per cent., France coming next with 17 per cent. The principal articles imported are, in the order of their value: cotton goods, wines and spirits, preserved meat and fish, woollen goods, farinaceous food, coals, linen goods, iron and steel.

The most important port is that of Rio de Janeiro. In the year 1888 the total official value of the exports from Rio was 95,752,919 milreis, and that of the imports over 100 million milreis, of which Great Britain contributed 47,061,810 milreis, France 16,969,942 milreis, and Germany 13,254,683 milreis. Of the exports the share of the United States was 58,488,132 milreis, Germany 10,485,739 milreis, Great Britain 7,182,531 milreis. In 1886-87 the export of coffee from Rio was 413,756,000 lbs., valued at 106,274,358 milreis.

The amount of the commercial intercourse of Brazil with the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined table, for each of the five years from

1884 to 1888:

The following are the values of the principal exports from Brazil to Great Britain:-Raw cotton, 1,033,4297. in 1884, 916,4517. in 1885, 705,3947. in 1886, 1,605,1157. in 1887, 1,103,5347. in 1888; unrefined sugar, 1,042,9917. in 1884, 806,8097. in 1885, 378,3617. in 1886, 480,0607. in 1887, 1,427,2471. in 1888. Caoutchouc, in 1884, 1,372,8237.; in 1885, 1,255,9787.; in 1886, 1,330,8547.; in 1887, 1,605,1157.; in 1888, 1,604,1087. Coffee, in 1885, 474,943/.; in 1886, 493,4857.; in 1887, 1,096,3957.; in 1888, 491,6227.

The most important article of British import into Brazil is manufactured cotton, the value of which was 2,899,8177. in 1884; 2,474,8547. in 1885; 3,065,0327. in 1886; 2,861,1567. in 1887; 2,912,3507. in 1888. Wrought and unwrought iron, of the value of 506,6501.; woollen manufactures, of the value of 380,0517.; coals, of the value of 315,6677.; and machinery, of the value of 490,1607., in 1888, form the other principal articles of British import into Brazil.

The customs duties upon all articles of British manufacture are very heavy, averaging 45 per cent.

Shipping and Navigation.

In 1888, 3,243 vessels of 2,391,022 tons entered, and 2,390 of 2,416,785 tons cleared Brazilian ports, besides 4.824 vessels entered and 4,632 cleared coastwise. The merchant navy in 1888 consisted of 495 vessels, 112 being

steamers.

Internal Communications.

Brazil possessed in 1889 railways of a total length of 5,582 English miles open for traffic, besides 984 miles in process of construction, and 4,938 projected. The State owns 14 lines, with 1,444 miles already open. The railways are mostly of a single line, and of one-metre gauge. Of the lines actually opened belonging to companies, 1,748 miles are guaranteed by the State, and 1,754 by the provincial governments. The total cost of all the lines up to 1888 has been 488,148,327 milreis, of which 161,286,720 milreis are for State lines. The total number of passengers conveyed in 1887 was 7,315,486; the total weight of goods, 1,820,106 tons. The total receipts in 1887 amounted to 38,202,450 milreis, and expenses 254,445,695 milreis. The total receipts of the State railways alone in 1888 amounted to 14,183,761 milreis, and expenses to 9,059,034 milreis.

Most of the Brazilian railways have been built with the guarantee of the interest (mostly 6 and 7 per cent.) on the capital by the Government. The total guarantee capital in 1888 was 220,475,850 milreis.

The telegraph system of the country is under control of the Government. In 1889 there were 18,489 kilomètres of wires, and 10.720 kilomètres, or about 6,700 miles. There were 173 telegraphic stations. In 1888-89 there were 567,935 messages. Receipts, 1,523,200 milreis; expenses and cost of construction, 2,427,980 milreis.

The Post Office carried of letters 14,875,522, of journals 16.149,092, parcels, &c., 1,284,445 in the year 1888. There were 2,019 post-offices in 1887-88. Receipts, 1888 (18 months), 2,210,000 milreis; expenses, 2,760,000 milreis.

Money and Credit.

The circulation in Brazil is almost entirely paper money, amounting in April 1889 to 200,550,510 milreis, consisting of 185,819,213 milreis of Treasury notes, and 14,731,300 milreis of notes of the Bank of Brazil.

The following are the statistics (June 1888) of 19 banks, which transact