Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-08
RESOURCES Of BRAZIL
Conditions in That Country Lit
tie Known.
ITS PRODUCTS INCREASING
Capital Needed for Further Develop
ment.
GROWTH OF COFFEE INDUSTRY
Progress of Great South American
Republic Has Been Steady-Rail-
roads and Mines-Manufactu

| take the tariff situation between Brazil and
| the United States seriously, because the
| imposition by Brazil of a prohibitive duty
| on all flour, wheat and agricultural ma
| chfnery was not made In a spirit of retail
| iation but in way of self defense. Brazil
! is awakening to the fact that she is i'm
porting stuff which she has at home in
| quantities sufficient for expectation after
the local markets are supplied. Now con-
| siderable misunderstanding exists because
Brazil has stopped purchasing in large
| quantities or altogether. 1t is not gener-
! ally understood that the country's growth
| mas been phenomenal and that the people
| nave learned to manufacture for themselves
what they were once compelled to purchase
abroad. Although they have stopped buy
ing many things, they buy now only the
things needed by them which they were
unable to procure In the past. The de
crease on the one side has been offset by
an increase on the other. The Brazilian
government naturally, is trying to aid the
| national industries as much as possible by
shutting out foreign competition
These facts We're disclosed today In an
| interview granted by a gentleman who has
passed several years in Brazil. and has
come to Washington for a brief stay. He
gave out the following interesting infor-
| nation, which explains in itself BraziFs &C
| ton and the spirit, purely national, that
caused It.
But few people," he said, mot excepting
those whose affairs take them to South
America, or permit them to keep in close
touch with its countries and their growth
| realize with what rapdity Brazil has
grown, and the Stupendous strides it has
made IN keeping up with the march of
events. Brazil ranks today as the second
of American republics in Importance. and
its interests, as well as its characteristics,
with the exception of the language which
| is Portuguese, are so truly American that
| 1t makes Brazil and the United States twin
act
become recognized by such an eminent
statesman President Theodore Roosevelt.
who has delegated Secretary Root to go to
South America, where he is to study the in
d!vidual development of each republic. 1t
| IS needless to say that Brazil will receive
| the greatest share of Mr.. Roots attention.
But | can assure you that every QueS-
ton, whether political. financial or economi-
| cal, between the United States and Brazil
| will always be negotiated in the most
| friendly manner. This is an assertion that
| repoSes in the lessons of the past Brazil
| is enjoying a prosperity that will become
| at the proper time a strong element for
| President Roosevelt has inaugurated to-
ward the welfare of the whole American
| continent.
Coffee Industry.
"a number of prominent American bust
| ness men did not hesitate to mention that
| the importation of coffee by America has
| lately benefited Brazil more than the
United States. In recent years the United
States has been drawing most of it's cof-
| fee supply from Brazil. In 1904 this coun-
| try imported 960,ST9,OO0 pounds of coffee,
| 741159,0O0 pounds of which came from
Brazil. When the 3 cent duty on coffee
| was removed the object was to cheapen
| the price of coffee in America. but that
| was offset when the Brazilian government
| imposed an export duty of 3 cents a pound
| on all the coffee which left Brazilian shores
in he Sfa taS
| of Sac PaulO, Minas Geraes, Rio de ia
| metro and Espirito Santo, and on smaller
| scale in Bahia and Ceara. The soil particu-
! larly adopted to this cultivation covers an
area of more than 2j5,O00 square miles.
! The cultivation of the grain has become
| an easy and profitable business on account
| of the existing favorable climatic condi-
| tons and the adaptability of the soil. Bra
| lillian coffee, because of it's superior quail
| ity. resulting partly from the use of newly
| improved machines for planting, harvesting
and preparing the product, Is recognized as
! the finest and best on all markets, of each
| grade, respectively 1t is said by connois-
seurs that the finer grade of Brazilian cof-
| fee finds strong competitor in Haitian cot
! Fee but the production of the latter is
/ comparatively small, and for this reason
! not considered in commerce. 1t is, further
| more, marketed in Europe, especially In
| England and in France, where there is de-
mand for a coffee of extra fine quality.
Economic Conditions.
| "The economic conditions of the coffee
production have changed during the last
few years on account of the continued low
ering of prices, the origin of which can be
traced to the great increase of this culture
| and the consequent overproducton Yet,
| even at the rate of cents a pound at the
shipping port, the culture is paying one.
| Sugar cane next to coffee is the most
| important agricultural product. This plant
! is cultivated in all the states of Brazil
|
duction of the northern states, where the
manufacture of sugar and alcohol is very
| important.
Tobacco, another importana agricultural
| product, is cultivated extensively, and until
| 1882 all the tobacco was shipped to Europe
| in leaf and then was returned manufactured
| in cigars and cigarettes. From 1892 until
the present time the increase of the i'm
port tax has greatly benefited the cigar in
| dustry in the country.
| LAS to wheat on which the heavier duty
has been imposed its growth is compare
| lively small as yet Notwithstanding the
| fact that all the states south of the tropics
| and the high lands of some northern states
are all suitable for its growth. In Rio
| Grande do Sui wheat was extensively
| cultivated in past years that 1t furnished
| this product to almost all the northern
| states of Brazil. The average temperature
! there is 60 degrees Fahrenheit susceptible
J therefore of the varied cultures of Portu-
! gal, southern France and Italy
| Corn Is cultivated on a little larger scale
| than wheat, but the quantity is not yet
| sufficient for the consumption of the coun-
| try, and 1t is therefore necessary to i'm
port 1t extensively. Beans and potatoes are
on par with corn. They are imported, when
| they could form valuable product of ex-
portation,. the soil possessing exceptional
qualities for their cultivation. Cocoa is, on
the other hand. produced abundantly. and
| the greater part of it is used by the
| national factories. Vanilla. indigo, piassaba,
aramna and other textile fbers are cul-
| tfvated to some extent
Mineral Deposits
THE national manufacture of agricultural
| implements and harvesting machinery is a
| matter of course which comes on account
| of the immense richness of our soil in min
erals. The richest mineral deposits are
found in the layers belonging to the HUI
ronean sysetm. Inexhaustible deposits of
| iron ore, of the finest quality imaginable.
| are found In this system, awaiting only the
ingenuity of man to extract 1t from its
| beds, to be used to further his most ambi-
tious projects. The mining and manufac-
turing industries of this valuable and i'm
| pOrtant metal have been worked hy very