National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-06-24

fifteenth Of the land surface of the globe,
one-iifth Of the two Americas, or more than
one-seventh of South America; and is six
teen times larger than France or Germany,
aud thirty times larger than Italy.
OF its great rivers the Amazon alone,
with its tributaries, offers on Brazilian ter
ritory n length of more than 5000 miles
navlgGble for large steamboats,, and serves
as means Of communication with five of
the principal provinces Of the empire, and
with the republics Of Venezuela Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
The population of the empire is some
thing over 100000, and is rapidly In
creasing. Rio dc Janeiro, its capital, con-
tains $4,000 inhabitants; Bahia, 100000;
I.Pernambuco, 13O, 600; Para, at the mouth of
the Amazon, 10000. The publicsdebt is
s4G5,0O0,0C0; annual revenue, 81 100000.
Foreign commerce something over $500, ,OO0,-
eco per year.
Our imports Of coffee, sugar, rubber,
hides, &C., from Brazil amounted last year
to S50,266, lS9. Our total exports, consist
ing Of locomotives, steamboats,, heavy ma
chinery, agricultural implements, flour,
| petroleum, firearms, hardware, cutlery,
&C., to that empire during the same period
amounted to only Ss,70l 800 The balance
Of trade against us, amounting to S41, ,5G4,-
$50, was paid in cash, which was sent to
Europe and expended mainly in purchasing
the products Of English and French manu-
facture.
In the year 1891 the United States paid
to Brazil $4,000 for $4,000 pounds of
coffee. Eleven years later, $2,259, 900 for
%, 134 COO pounds. Some years further on,
S1,670, GOO for Gl, ,250000 pounds. Ten years
later yet, Si0,0Gi, 200 for l3S, 1856 600 pounds.
In the year 1876 our importation Of 252,-
532,COO pounds cost $40, 0,5l60O0. In 1882
the 5,4G5,OO0 pounds of Brazilian cof-
fee consumed in the United States cost
S90,520,000. There has been no correspond
ing increase Of our export to Brazil
According toa Official statement recently
published by the government Of Brazil n
per cent. Of the imports into that country
come from England and France, a triae over
4 per cent from The United States, and q
per cent. from all other countries.
OF the worlds production of coffee IS pei
cent. is grown in Brazil and 45 per cent. in
all other coiree-growing countries The
exports Of Brazilian coffee amounted last
year to 3,s9T, ll3 bags of 1872 pounds each
OF this amount 9, ,4Ol ,105 bags were exported
to the United States, and but 1,496,00S tc
all the other countries In the world
II VIII be seen from the above that oul
es,rorto 10 ps~-ii- .'o.s,os= iuauOi, ~
compared with our enormous and rapid,
increasing imports from that country
Numerous explanations are given by differ
ent writers. Mr.. Joseph Nimmo, jr., says
The most important condition restraining
large and general expectation of products o
American manufacture Is the fact that com
mcrcial enterprise in this country has shapet
itself to the habits md requirements of on
vastly larger and more profitable internal com
merce, and that our merchants have, from tn
promptings of selfinterest, left the more CON
plex and less remunerative field Of foreig
commerce to be explored and cultivated by tn
merchants of countries whose internal rC
sources and possibilities nrc incomparably les
than are those of the United States.
Mr.. Edward Atkinson asks and answer
questions as follows:
Why should this three.cor traffic cor
tinue? Why do we not convert our own ra,
material into manufactured goods and OK
change directly with the non-machine usin
nations OF whose products we are large pul
chasers?
Answering his own pertinent question
Mr.. Atkinson shows that modern scienc
and improved instrumentalities for produc
ton have brought the quality and price q
manufactured goods so nearly to the sam
standard that commerce is no longer con
trolled In any great measure by either
Superior facilities for transportation, bank
ing, and giving long credits give the Euro
pean manufacturers, according to Mr.. Al
kinson, all the advantages they have owe
their American competitors.