New-York tribune., 1896-07-23
DEVELOPMENT OF BRAZIL.
WILLIAM M. WINS TELLS OF ITS PROG
Rrss AND PRESENT CONDITION.
INCIDENTALLY HE GIVES LUCID ILLUSTRATION
OF THE EFFECT OF A DEpRzoC1ATEp CUR

OF THE EFFECT OF DEPFfVIATEo 'oN'
RrNcY UPON COUNTRY
william M. WINS. ono Of New-York's wch,N"sw" s-
men. who held the ofi,ce OF City S"a,' .-,,n,
.s'' .arrn,ssration Of ex- Mayor Grace. arrived
a. N.w-York on Tuesday after four months S'as
IN Brazil where ne went TO look altor inc ''o'es
of an American corporation wh'ch mas Jus. -
tracted with the Government Tor 'he i~n.'"e VI
.hs streets Of Manaos. the capitai Oh 'io go "
Amaxonas and about thousand miles "p ''ie ~
.on River Mr. WINS has made seversi .'S'S "
pr.,u ord the intimate knowledge he mas oo-
.,,od ~ tha country and It's resources aofhrao'y
Ats him TO describe its present coho'.'oh' ,, ~
not been TO Brazil for four years oeioIe '"' w
vts,t and when seen yesterday by q Tribune re.
Yorter he said that he observed most pheho'"e'e
n.~L. ~ commercial development and progress III
the country "Our people" he said. do not rea''Ie
tha, today the commerce from the two states Oh
para and Amazonas Is larger than the 'o'ui oo'''
mercc of the Mexican Republic
A COUNTRY WITHOUT RAILWAYS.
A,ter referring to the fact that the whole country
was growing with great rapidity MT WINS pro-
ceeded To say further: ,s
,a q "a no, likely that there ever WILL be any 70
speak Of. The people have over sou" mi,es o'
nayigable rivers Almost the entire means VI @
municaton there is by steam on the i1Ver"a's' Inv
country IS thinly populated. there ho' oe'ns o'..
considerably larger than New-York fenhsy'a''"'
MARYLAND and New-Jersey put together Manaos
is the cap,tal and has a population OF apou' "o""
The revenues OF the State are to-day about S%o"'""
per wear and greatly in excess OF 'nose oi '"e
State Of Para which is about equal IN size a''"
which has a population Of about boooco' Inc cn'ei
revenue Is derived from the export duties on rup-
h.r The next largest item is from the export duty
on c.coo ont Of which chocolate Is made inc
people also export hides. bark and drug s'uie'
The Americans pushing their way steao''s '"'o
tr.s country More and more American mah'ilac'-
ured goods are being sold there every year ~ l"eio
ts an electric light plant in Para. and the nnest
p,.nt IN the northern part Of Brazil is now being
nut I'D by an American company in Manaos'
THE CLIMATE NOT D1sAGREEABLE.
"rb.r. ,s a general impression that the Amazon
vs,,.v 10 extremely unhealthy. and that the neat
makes II uncomfortable. As matter OF Iact' ourins
the dry or healthy season, the temperature raneeS
between s. and % degrees about the middie OF the
dsv and from rs 10 50 degrees at night The nights
a.. .,r,o.t invariably cool the valley being swept
nv cool winds In the rainy season the temperature
"a not oute so high. and the humidity Is greater
The death rate In the city OF Manaos, IN the very
heart OF the continent. and right on the banks OF
the river is less than that Of the city OF Ne"lorK
The death rate OF Para is also low except in times
OF endemic During the last winter they had an
epidemic Of yellow fever and smallpox. In which
the loss OF life was very heavy. 1t affected the
American community most seriously. fourteen out
Of thirty-two Americans dying OF fever
THE DIFFICULTIES OF COMMUNICATION.
"The chief industry Of this whole region is the
rubber industry the exports now amounting IN
round figures 70 s40.0oo.c0o s45.oOo0OO per year
The people speak Of the present epoch on the
Amazon as the Rubber Age. The main difficulties
which business men have TO contend with are those
which arise out of the lack OF communication by
cable up tho river and the want OF hnanclal iach-
ties as well as the fluctuations in exchange Re-
Gently cable laid from Para 10 Manaos by
Mr. Seman- The conditions under which 1t was
laid were entirely novel. cable ever having peen
laid in a stream such as IS running here. the cur
rent in the river varying from four TO eight miles
an hour The river at point. the Obidos. where
the entire stream narrcws up 10 about mile III
width. and where there are 50 20 100 tathoms OF
water Is from $50 10 COO feet deep. and there the
current ten miles an hour. The ohscquence
has been that the strain upon the cable. through
the current the unevenness Of the bottom OF the
river and from sunken and floating material re-
suited In It's breaking In five different places after
being in operation for thrty-two days. AT the
present time Manaos is entirely cut off from cable
communication with the outside world.
BUSINESS A SPECULATION.
"Manacs has no banks or banking facilities ana
there IS an insufiicency Of currency at that point
The chief business Of the place is really done at
Para which is Ave days distant by ocean steamer
This involves many difficulties and considerable
speculation II some Of the crazy men in the west
ern par, Of orr country had 70 do business In Brazil
under conditions such they are preparing ior the
United States. they would soon have the most
marked illustration of the fact that deprecated
currency reduces all business 10 pure specuatioh
BEFORE the revolution OF 1889 Brazil on gold
basis with small issue Of National paper cur
rency. The English pound sterling was maze luii
legal tender with such an insufiiciency OF paper
money that exchange above para curious
prial htSfn a
fixed by law of the Brazilian mlreis is 2 pence
sterling. Nevertheless. when l in Brazil IN
1889 was most deeply interested IN the fact that
the Brazilian paper money was selhne at ~ pence
or two pence better than par. After that came tho
og she Sres,es bsne to he country
under the Repubiean regime II IS IN IN.
world and certainly more than It would have Wa been zen
possible S have pr nss began ane to
their constitutions and 10 egslate hastiIy noweVs
the Brazilian Naona % Se Tss same sor o
financial ideas as our wild men oi tne ,snne svs
tenn ane SGt aoT 10 paSn aes, that
sss low az g. psnce or say about Of
par whereas only seven years ago IL WAY a' pa' Vi
better for quite year or more
THE woRIlINGMAN THE SUFFERER.
Exchange to-day huctuates between 9i4 and 10
pence Every man who buys or sells dollars
worth Of goods does 1t subject TO the risk OF TINS
fuctuation The consequence is that there is little
or no stability As exchange has gone down prices
have gone up. The prices on commodities OF prime
necessity are even more than three times as high as
they were in 1855 and 1889. On the other hand the
price of labor has risen IN any such proportion
Labor believe throughout Brazil, and am speak
ing now of experience in all the coast cities ana
the Amazon Valley does not realize much
than half as much again in Brazilian currency az
Il did Ave six years In some places II ranges
from half much 10 much again. but generally
that Is due to peculiar conditions On the other
hand. the people have TO In this same Brazilian
currency. three times much as they ever paid
before for the cotton cloth out Of which they make