The Washington bee., 1908-09-05
OUR COUNTRY AND BRAZIL
Another u. S. Which is
About as Big as We Are.
THEY AIM TO EXPAND

OF BraZil-ImmigratiO Welcomed
Attractive Regions With Some
Very Serious Buts-The Coffee
Harvest.
We are not the only United
States in the world. The United
States of Brazil is as big as we are,
with half of Alaska thrown in She
occupies almost one-half of the
whole continent Of South America
AS for resources, Brazil is de-
scribed by the Review of Reviews as
unlimited in her, natural products
possessing the largest river system
and the vastest forests in the world,
producing, moreover, three-fourths
of the worlds coffee supply and the
greater part Of its rubber.
On the other hand BraZil's popu-
lation is little more than Is 6,00O,OOO,
an average Of five persons to the
square mile. This population is made
up of Europeans, aborigines and ne
groes.
Where these have met a triple fu-
sion long since set in. There is a
small minority of pure Portuguese
descent. Portuguese, by the way. is
the language of the country.
Not only is immigration welcome,
but finding that her enviOus neigh
bors were robbing her of her colo
nists Brazil has retaliated by impOs-
ing a substantial tax upon all per-
sons leaving the country; a measure
as effective as it is radical
Not satisfied with her great size
Brazil is constantly absorbing more
territory. Expansion is the constant
aim; expansion toward the River
Plate. whereby Uruguay for e time
lost her independence and never
regained all the territory that should
be hers; expansion at the expense Of
Paraguay and Peru, and more re-
Gently Bolivia, which has surren-
dered for a price her rich territory
of Acre; expansion toward the north
west and IN Guiana, where a recent
award has deprived France of a
large coveted area and added it to
this Unsuitable republic.
Brazil is not a lowland country,
quite three-fourths Of her territory
having an altitude of more than 800
feet.
Politically the country is divided
into twenty-One States, but so I'M
equally that three of these embrace
almost all the lowlands and are
larger than the whole area of the re-
naming eighteen. These eighteen,
however, contain Sc per cent. OF the
poulation, so that the first three
States, with a Territory larger than
that of China, have a population
smaller than that Of Connecticut.
The fertility and resources of this
latter region are great. but lest the
reader may rush off to seize upon
them here Is an extract from a re-
port made by a former United States
Consul regarding the valley of the
Amazon:
There is a false impression exist
ing that rubber trees, ebony, rose
wood and all the rest are found in
great groves or clusters, like our
pine or oak forests. The fact is that
these trees are solitary. When two
of them are only q quarter of a mile
apart (and remember that the quar-
ter mile is not open space, but thick
ly matted, almost impenetrable
swamp forest) they are considered
close together; If they are a mile
apart they are not considered to be
very far distant from each other"
The richest mineral deposits are
found IN the State Of Minas Garaes
which has been famous for centuries
for its gold and diamond mines
There are at present six large gold
mines in operation, all under for
eign capital, and others are rapidly
being opened; yet rich as Is this
field, It has apparently never ab
pealed to the American investor, anC
is passing almost entirely into the
hands of the English.
The two States Of Rio de JaneirC
and Sac PaulO may be described a!
one vast coffee estate. Cof1ee forms
half, IN value, OF the total exports
Of Brazil It is three times the value
Of our tobacco exports and five
sixths that Of our iron and steel. I
surpasses the entire tea output o
China, India and Ceylon.
Rio is destined TO be supplanted Al
! tha oap4fu4 ~ fba country The Rra
lillian Congress has chosen a beauti
/ full plateau in the central State o
| GOyaz as a site for the new capital
! which in time will be connected b!
rail with all the States, some o
which at present are almost inao
| cessible.