3,777 were Italian ; German; and 209

Of the immigrants landing at Montevideo in 1901, 2,708 Spanish; 715 Brazilian; 512 French; 336 English.

Religion and Instruction.

The Roman Catholic is the State religion, but there is complete toleration. In November, 1889 (census), there were in the Department of Montevideo 179,468 Catholics, 10,982 Protestants, and 23,911 not declared, &c.

In 1900, more than half the population over six years of age (outside of the capital) could neither read nor write.

Primary education is obligatory. There were in 1901 605 public elementary schools, with 1,161 teachers, of whom 924 were female, and 55,376 enrolled pupils. The number of private schools was 332, with 878 teachers and 22,096 pupils. The cost of primary education defrayed by the State is about 677,000 dollars. There are at Montevideo a university, with faculties of law, medicine, and mathematics, besides a preparatory school and other establishments for secondary and higher education. In 1901 the university had 101 professors and 417 regular students. There are normal schools for males and for females. There is a school of arts and trades supported by the State where 152 pupils receive instruction gratuitously. At the military college, with 8 professors, there are 41 pupils. There are also many religious seminaries throughout the Republic with a considerable number of pupils.

The national library contains over 33,000 volumes and more than 17,500 manuscripts, maps, &c. There is also a national museum, with more than 33,490 objects. There are over 126 periodicals published in the Republic, 120 in Spanish, 2 in English, and 2 in Italian.

For the relief of poverty there are a charity hospital, which, at the end of 1901, had 422 inmates, an hospital for the insane with 1,083 inmates, an isolation hospital with 97 inmates, an asylum for beggars with 386, an orphan asylum with 985, and 3 infant schools with 2,176 children.

Justice is administered in 2 appeal courts, which, when sitting together, form the High Court of Justice. In Montevideo there are also 3 courts for ordinary civil cases, 2 for commercial cases, 1 for Government, 2 for criminal cases, 1 correctional court, and 2 for criminal investigation. Each departmental capital has a departmental court, and each of the 205 judicial sections into which the Republic is divided has a justice of peace court; further, each section is divided into districts, in which deputy judges (alcaldes) try cases involving small amounts.

In 1901, 79 criminals were conveyed to the Penitentiary and 1,239 to the Correctional Prison at Montevideo.

The estimates of revenue and expenditure for 1904-05 (exclusive of Monte Video port works) were :

The total customs revenue for 1901 amounted to 9,654,798 dollars; for 1902, to 9,828,315 dollars; for 1903, 9,881,009 dollars.

The municipality of Montevideo has its own Budget, and is not included in these estimates. The amount of the public debt on December 31, 1903, is officially stated as follows:

External
International
Internal

Total

Dollars 97,699,464

3,106,750

22,948,242

123,754,456

The total debt charge for 1902 amounted to 6,845,574 dollars, comprising interest amortization, railway guarantees and cost of management.

According to the Report of the Committee of the Council of Foreign Bondholders, the amount of the foreign debt outstanding in the middle of 1904 was 20,661,3807.

The total value of the real property of the Republic in 1901 was 301,055,686 dollars. Of this the department of Montevideo is credited with 123,527,914 dollars, the next richest provinces being Paysandu with 16,299, 143, Soriano with 15,184,387, Salto with 14,518,024, and Florida with 14,070,227.

Defence.

The permanent army of Uruguay consists of about 4,900 officers and men, including battalions of infantry, 6 regiments of cavalry, 1 regiment of field artillery, 1 section of fortress artillery, and 1 company of engineers. The troops are armed with the Mauser rifle, and the artillery consists of Krupp, Armstrong, Nordenfeldt, Bange, and Canet guns. There is besides an armed police force of 3,330 men. The national guard numbers about 35,000. In recent years there has been an excessive expenditure for the maintenance of an increased military force. Uruguay has one gunboat and two small steamers, with a complement of about 184 officers and men.

Production and Industry.

In Uruguay the agricultural industries are extending. In 1900-01, 276,511 hectares yielded 99,719,771 kilos. of wheat; in 1901-02, 292,616 hectares yielded 206,936,668 kilos. Other crops are maize, barley, millet, oats, rye, and flax seed. In 1900 the land devoted to pastoral purposes

covered about 37,000,000 acres, while the cultivated area was about 1,383,800 acres. According to the declarations of owners of animals in 1901 there were within the Republic 6,326,601 head of cattle, 575,361 horses, 17,624,548 sheep, 22,184 mules, 8,815 goats, and 47,584 pigs. The cattle industry is followed in all the departments, but most extensively in Salto and Paysandu, the former having 614,806 cattle on ranches 2,837,300 acres in extent, and the latter 686,159 cattle on 3,151,100 acres. The principal sheepbreeding departments are Durazno with 1,978,391 sheep on runs covering 2,571,600 acres, and Soriano with 2,056,795 sheep on 1,876,700 acres. In Uruguay, in 1902, 813,400 head of cattle were slaughtered; in 1903, 41,683 tons of jerked beef and 11,181 tons of hides were exported. In 1903 the wool exports amounted to 36,676 metric tons. Wine is produced chiefly in the departments of Montevideo, Canelones, Salto, and Rio Negro. In 1900 there were 11,233,800 vines; the vintages in grapes amounted to 5,248,285 kilogrammes, in wine, 2,354, 140 litres. Tobacco and olives are also cultivated. The acquisition of land is facilitated by public companies. There are 21,045 farmers, of whom 10,853 cultivate their own land. In the northern Departments several gold mines are worked, and silver, copper, lead, magnesium, and lignite coal are found. In the department of Rivera the annual output of gold is about 72,000 grammes.

Commerce.

The special trade (merchandise only) was as follows in dollars gold (4s. 3d.):

In 1902 the customs receipts amounted to 9,849,684 dollars; in 1903, to 10,316,975 dollars; in 1904, to 8,997,199 dollars.

The imports into Uruguay are mainly from (in order of value) Great Britain, Argentina, Germany, France, Italy, the United States and Belgium; the exports are to France, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain.

The following are the various classes of imports for three years :

The following are the various classes of exports for three years:

The commercial intercourse of Uruguay with the United Kingdom is exhibited in the following tabular statement, according to the Board of Trade Returns for each of the last five years :

The chief articles of import from Uruguay into the United Kingdom in 1903 were hides, of the value of 15,1487.; tallow, 57,9897.; preserved meat, 80,5627.; maize, 62,340%.; wool, 470,0467.; caoutchouc, 60,5271.; skins and furs, 47,0447. The exports from the United Kingdom to Uruguay were cotton goods, value 606,2907.; woollens, 137,1897.; coal, 433,0407.; iron, wrought and unwrought, 111,0867.; machinery, 34,3247., and jute manufactures, 14,0677.

The trade between the United States and Uruguay (according to U.S. statistics) was as follows in 5 years (in U.S. dollars):—

The imports into the United States were chiefly hides and skins, 2,467,700 dollars in 1902-03; the exports to Uruguay were chiefly mineral oil, 358,880 dollars, wood and manufactures, 209, 280 dollars, and machinery, 190,401 dollars.

Shipping and Communications.

In 1901 Uruguay had 25 steamers of a total net tonnage of 10,037 tons, and 62 sailing vessels of a total net tonnage of 19,983 tons.

There entered at the port of Montevideo in 1903 from abroad and from the La Plata region 2,456 vessels of 5,214,276 tons, and there cleared for foreign and La Plata porta 2,451 of 5,223,931 tons net. In the coasting trade 2,112 vessels of 584,907 tons entered, and 2,057 of 583.610 tons

cleared. Extensive works for the improvement of the Port of Montevideo were begun in July, 1901. The port is visited by the steamers of 20 different companies, of which 12 are British, 2 German, 3 French, 2 Italian, and 1 Spanish.

The National roads of Uruguay have a total length of 2,240 miles, and extend from Montevideo in different directions to the maritime, river, and land frontiers; there are also about 3,100 miles of departmental roads, and where, owing to natural conditions, good roads are impossible, there are paths sufficient for the requirements of local traffic. The hydrographic conditions of the country also supply convenient means of communication. The maritime and river coast from Chuy, the most easterly maritime point, to Santa Rosa, the most northerly point on the river frontier, extends to the length of 685 miles ; while the many affluents of the Uruguay river (about 1,000 miles in total length) provide channels for inland navigation.

In 1904 the railway system of Uruguay open for traffic had a length of 1,210 miles, the capital outlay up to 1898 having been 11,150,8571. The length of 682 miles, representing 5,750 4187. of capital, had a government guarantee of 3 per cent. There are 103 miles of tramway in operation; the pasengers, in 1901, numbered 20,721,796. The principal telegraph lines in operation in 1902 were of a total length of 1,270 miles with 2,810 miles of wire. There were 219 offices, and 245,930 telegrams were conveyed. Two telephone companies have 10,250 miles of wire and 38 public offices, where 35,600 conversations are held per day.

In 1902 the post office transmitted 18,801,025 packets (exclusive of parcels) in the internal service, and 11,398,000 in the external. There were 756 post-offices.

Money and Credit.

The nominal value of the silver coinage issued in the Republic from 1877 to 1896 was 4,045,857 pesos, coined at Paris, Santiago, and Buenos Ayres. In 1896 the Bank of the Republic was established, with an effective capital of 10,000,000 pesos, represented by shares of a nominal value of 12,000,000 pesos. In 1899 it received the right to issue further shares to the amount of 5,000,000 pesos. The bank has the right, ultimately exclusive, to issue bank notes, which may amount to half the value of the capital subscribed, and are payable either in gold or silver at the discretion of the bank. The president and directors are appointed by the Government. On November 30, 1903, its note circulation amounted to 5,586,706 and its cash in hand to 6,753,380 dollars. Other banks in the Republic are the Bank of London and the River Plate, the Italian Bank and the Mortgage Bank.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

There is no Uruguayan gold coin in circulation, but the monetary standard is gold, the theoretical gold coin being the peso nacional, weighing 1·697 grammes, 917 fine. The law of June 23, 1862, authorised the coinage of the doblon, or 10-peso gold piece, but, as yet, only foreign gold is in circulation.

The silver peso or dollar weighs 25 grammes, 900 fine. Other silver pieces are half, fifth, and tenth of a peso. Bronze coins are 4, 2, and 1