Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1884-10-10
AFFAIRS In BRAZIL.
Som hing About Coffee Culture and the Aboli-
ton OF Slavery.

Times, which you published on the 10Th
of April last, has been severely criti-
cised by two railway contractors Mr..
Hugh Wilson and Mr.. Charles Waring
both at this time engaged in carrying
out contracts in this country, besides
being pretendants for the construction
of two other lines whose capital as yet
has not been fixed by the Brazilian
government, hence they are naturally
angry that attention should have been
called to the great cost of the lines
made with English capital as compared
with those made by native companies.
AS the ccusures of these gentlemen
have been reproduced by several stock
exchange journals, l must beg little
space to show that what | wrote was
based on facts and not without founda.
ton, as my critics declare.
1t is difficult 70 reply to Mr.. Waring,
because he does not keep up with the
march of events in this country, other
wise he would know that at this pres
ent time the Brazilian nation is being
convulsed with the attempt on the part
of the aboltionists to bring about inn
mediate unconditional emancipation,
while those who represent the main
stay and wealth of the nation are
struggling to avoid national bankrupt
cy by seeking rather to amplify the
Rio Blanco law of 1871, thus making
the transformation of slavery into free
labor more suave instead of opening a
direct attack on the cultivation of cof-
fee, which is the only agriculture that
maintains the high present prosperity of
the nation. As coffee represents more
than 90 per cent of the total exports of
the empire, its Importance can be seen
without further demonstration.
1t would be difficult to overestimate
the anxiety the question of emancipa-
ton is causing at this time; some idea,
however, may be formed when it is
known that the members of the privy
council (conseilho do estado) met on
the 25th of June to deliberate on a
plan of emancipation proposed by the
present ministry, and against which it
gave judgement, thing, however,
that has not affected the ministry very
much, and it has since obtained vote
of confidence in the lower house, and
still thinks of bringing in a bill en-
the plan condemned by the majority
of the priyy council; and, again, when
it is known how divergent are the
thoughts Of the northern from those of
the middle provinces in respect to
slavery, how can anyone say the ques-
ton is one of no difficulty, as Mr..
Waring does?
In the last report of the minister OF
agriculture it will be found that at the
present time the three cof1ee-growing
provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Sac Paulo,
and Minas, contain 692, 600 slaves out
of total for the empire of !, ,240, ,000,-
that is, more than half. Now, if this
labor be withdrawn before other to
substitute il is here, the eXchequer OF
the nation will run most serious risk
of becoming empty, as all the other
provinces together furnish but small
portion of the national income. AS to
immigrants, they are coming in very
slowly, the past year giving "a, 1927 fol
the whole empire, very insignificant
number when compared with between
$50, 900 and 400, 900 slaves to be sub
stituted in the coffee plantations alone
and the matter is made worse through
great part of the immigrants settling
in cities or finding employment in
other callings in life. That the eman.
cipated slaves of Brazil will work diff
ferently or better than those of other
countries that have passed through the
fire of emancipation there is neither
reason nor hope to suppose. The late
Sir Bartle Frere in The FOrtnightly Re
UteaO of March /, 1888, on abolition o.
Slavery in India and Egypt" says
NEARLY half century has since
elapsed, but it can hardly yet be sale
that the colonies have quite recovered
from the cOnvulsion of the labor mar
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