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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 24, 1910)
'. f ,.,tW.'HPA"l ' " l5 jfHUMV tW'NNMM I 4 ' VOLUMB 10, NUMBER 2'4 jrymjmm''i''"- " r-r-t-fy 2 it i iv a -' has brought increased prosperity to theso states. The city' of Para, it may bo added, in cidentally, has among othor distinctions, threo that I will mention. First, it guards the mouth of the Amazon; second, it is noted as the second rubbor port, and third, it has evening rains. It rains thoro at 7 o'clock with such regularity--somo insist that it rains every evoning--that engagements are made for "after the rain, In stead of for a fixed hour. Brazil exported last year merchandise to tne valuo of threo hundred and eight million dol lars; coffee alone accounted for nearly one hundred and sixty-two millions of this sum moro than one-half and the rubber exported was valuod at ninety-one millions, or nearly one third of tho total export. Hides and skins came next, and mate (a kind of tea largely used in Argentina and Uruguay) was oxportod to the valuo of eight millions. Brazil last year exported seven and a half mil lion dollars worth of cocoa, six million dollars worth of tobacco, throe million dollars worth of BUgar, and nearly as much cotton. Dia monds, soml-procious stones, such as tourma lines and carbons,, used for drilling, are items of somo importance in the nation's commerce, and Iron oro is likely to become a very impor tant itom if somo of tho statements made in rogard to tho deposits of this ore can bo relied upon. A year-book of 1909 claims that Brazil lms tho largest deposit of pure and rich iron ore in tho world, but as tho oro beds have not been fully surveyed tho estimates may be ex aggerated. Brazil has a groat variety of woods, vines and plants. One vine which Interested me es pecially has a heart in the shape of a Maltese Cross it shows as plainly in a cross section as if it were inlaid. Tho. United States is the largest purchaser of Brazilian coffee and rubber, and a large pur chaser of pthor Brazilian exports. In 1909 tho United States bought of Brazil one hundred and twenty-three million dollars worth of mer chandise, or more than one-third of all of Bra zil's exports, while our country sold to Brazil only twenty-two million dollars worth of goods out of Brazil's total purchases of one hundred and sovonty-nine million dollars. This is not a very satisfactory showing. Great Britain bought forty-nine million dollars worth of Brazil, and sold her merchandise to the valuo of forty-eight millions; Germany bought forty eight millions worth and sold twenty-eight mil lions; France's purchases amounted to twenty six millions and her sales to twenty-eight mil lions, while Argentina, also a largo customer, bought to tho amount of ten millions and sold seventeen millions Tho only consolation wo have is in tho fact that our percontago of increase in scfles was a" little larger than that of any other of the lead ing nations, but only one per cont moro than Germany's percentage -of increase. That nation is pushing her trade hero aB elsewhere in South America. In speaking of the cities of Brazil it is nat ural to begin with the chief city, especially when that city is the capital, but it is especally appro priate to speak of Rio do Janeiro first because it ; overshadows all the other cities of the nation In beauty as well as in population. But how can one describe Rib? Imagine a bay twenty miles long and five to ten miles wide one of tho best harbors in the world studded with nearly a hundred islands of different sizes and shapes, and connected with the ocean by a nar row channel; imagine mountains, some barren piles of stone, and others clad in perennial ver dure, rising from a thousand to twenty-five hun dred feet high and hemming the bay in on every side; and then imagine a great city occupying the space between the sea" and the mountains a city with beautiful avenues following tho graceful curves of the shore, with long shaded streets lined with residences, stretching back from the water and penetrating a half dozen picturesque valleys Avhich lose themselves in tho foothills a city with handsome gardens, numerous ,parks, and. many stately buildings imagine all this if you can and you will then have some idea of Rio. But you can not imagine it; tho city must be seen to be appreciated. As I journeyed toward Brazil I was constantly asked, when praising other cities, "But have you seen Rio?" and when I answered in the negative I was given a glowing description of ' tho city, but the descriptions did not do It jus tice they left room for surprise. , Just back pf the oty is a mountain, a little - "more than two thousand feet high,. called Cor covado which terminates in a gr(Qat. fiat rock. This eminence is easily reached by an electric line and. from this point, yqu can look down The Commoner. upon the harbor and tho cityand such a view as greets the cyo can be seen nowhere else, it would seem impossible for tho art of man to add to tho magnificence with which nature has dowered this spot, but it has. The combina tion of water and land, of hill and glen, is made oven moro beautiful by the winding boulevards and the tile-roofed houses. Paraphrasing tho eulogy onco pronounced on tho strawberry, I might describe the location of Rio do Janeiro by saying that doubtless God might have made a better site for a city, but that doubtless he never did. Within the last few years a large sum has been expended in improving the looks of Rio; a wide street called Central Avenue, has been cut through the city from tho port of landing to a point, a little more tnan a mile distant, where tho ba"y comes around on the' other side, and this avenue is becoming the principal retail and ofllce section. Large modern buildings are being erected along this avenue, and it has al ready won international fame as a thoroughfare. The finest ofllce building is that owned and occu pied by the "Jornal do Commercio," the oldest and most influential newspaper of Brazil. Dr. Jose Carlos Rodrigues, the managing director and editor, Is one of those rare spirits who ap pear from time to time and leave a' lasting im pression upon their generation and country. When a young man he spent twelve years in the United States and several years in Europe. While in the states he drank deep of the spirit of democracy, and for a considerable portion of tho time edited a paper called the "New World" which had a large circulation in Brazil. Through this paper he endeavored to bring to the attention of his countrymen the best that he found in the outside world. As an illustra tion of his political tendencies, as well as of his foresight, I cite the fact that fifteen years be fore the emperor was dethroned he published an editorial in ljls paper describing Washing ton's place in American history and advised the emperor to proclaim a republic and become the Father of his Country. He assured him that the people of Brazil would, out of gratitude, elect him tho republic's first president, and give him a place in the history of Brazil similar to that which Washington occupied in the United States. Bold advico for a young man" to offer to his nation's ruler, but it was wise advice. Tho emperor disregarded it and, later, left Brazil in the night-time at the suggestion of the authorities after a .republic had succeeded tho empire. Dr. Rodrigues continues the champion of high Ideals, and increasing weight is given to his words. Clear-headed, conscientious, cour ageous, and incorruptible, he, a private citizen and refusing office, exerts more influence upon public affairs than any other man in tho republic. But to return to Rio Her mayor, Senor Zer sedello de Correa, is one of the most democratic as well as one of tho most tireless officials whom I have' met in South America. When I called upon him I found a crowd of men and women, waiting for an audience, and learned that at stated hours he hears individual petitions, com plaints and protests. Mayor Correa is actively at work widening streets, extending parks, and otherwise beautifying the city. One of the im provements in contemplation is a playground for the children strange to say, there is not in the great city of Rio a public place which the children can call their owm Like Washington, D. C, Rio fs in a district -by itself, and the federal government takes pride in the Improvement of the city. The 'street car lines have been extended to the bathing beaches, and to the beauty spots in tho surrounding mountains. New public buildings are going up constantly, the most recent being the national library. It is a magnificent structure, designed after the achitecthad inspected the leading libra ries of the United States, and furnished with shelves, cases, 'etc., of American make. Rio has a new municipal theatre which cost something like fdur million dollars, and, close by, is the Academy of Arts, also erected recently. One of the most useful institutions in the city is tho Misericordia 'hospital, which Is several centuries old and Is supported by tho income from a large endowment. It is surpassed by few hospitals In size, and by none in complete ness and care. The managing board is composed of prominent spirited citizens and tho patients are cared for by Catholic sisters. There are twelve hundred beds for the sick, and the report shows that as many as eleven thousand cases have been received in a year, a third of them foreigners. Rio has an attractive suburb called Petropolls, forty miles away and some two thousand feet above the sea. The president's summer resl- dence is there, and most of the , foreign repre sentatives live there th'e" year around. With this summer resort so near the citizen of Rip can indulge in mountain air or jsea breeze, which ever suits him best, and many alternate between the two places. But Rio, important as it is, is not the only city of interest. San Paulo, capital of the state of San Paulo, and the second city in size in the republic, occupies a commanding place in the political, educational, and social world. The commercial center of the coffee growing district it has prospered as that industry has. grown. Most of the coffee planters have homes there and go out into the country during the coffee gathering season. While in San Paulo t visited tho plantation of Count Prates, one of the. best equipped in Brazil. He has nearly a million trees and the latest appliances lor' drying,- hull- . ing and sorting the coffee. Santos, the shipping point for the state of San Paulo, has a splendid harbor, It is twenty five hundred feet below San Paulo and the road connecting the two cities has a monopoly of this immense coffee traffic. As every bag of San Paulo's share of this product which supplies the world with its. breakfast beverage leaves its toll with the railroad as it descends to the sea, the road is a veritable mint. Twelve per cent dividends being allowed upon the amount In vested there has been no stinginess in expendi ture. The Toad is substantially huilt,.haB double tracks, and these are ballasted. The. cars are . carried from sea level to the highlands by a wire cable (in five sections) and the protection against landslides and washouts is as c6inpiete as possible. The stone retaining walls and the paved drains remind one of the best railroad work in our great cities. Bahia', for two centuries the capital, of Brazil, also has an excellent harbor. It is really two cities in one a business city along the shore and a residence city two hundred and fifty, feet , above, $vith elevators and inclines connecting the two. - ': Pernambuco, which is situated a little fuyth.er north, is the center of the sugar and cotton in dustry. Bello Horizonte, the capital of Minas Qeraes, is near the center df the most populous, and one of the richest of the states, of, the'uiUon: and, having heen laid out for a capital, iiijjis fast becoming one of the moist attractive. of the Brazilian: cities. Considering' '.the extent; of brohen country and the size of -the rivers, "rail road development is proceeding at a Satisfactory pace. Brazil now has eleven thousand miles of railroad in operation, two thousand miles more under construction and an additional thirty-five hundred surveyed. Of this mileage, completed and contemplated, the federal government owns almost half and administers a third of the re mainder. The lines are being extended south toward Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, aUd northeast toward Pernambuco. The govern ment is also planning for an extension of: its roads to the Bolivian border to connect with a line which the .government of that country has in contemplation. This government is styled the United States of Brazil, and our federal system has been copied as far as it could be applied to the conditions here. The Brazilian flag, like ours, has, a star for each state. I have been impressed by the fact that Brazil has not only borrowed a great deal from us but that her public men speak of this fact with pride. In every speech that I have heard reference has been to points of sim ilarity between Brazil and the United States, and emphasis has been placed upon the long standing friendship which has existed between the two nations. Baron Rio Branco, minister of foreign affairs, and one of the ablest public men in South America and, I may add, a good friend of the United States, briefly reviewed the history of our diplomatic relations in a speech which he delivered at a dinner given by him. He pointed out that the spirit of independence manifested itself in Brazil immediately after the close of our revolutionary war; that Brazil was the first South American country to enter into commerce with the United States, and the first, also, to endorse the Monroe doctrine. The as sembly hall built for tho meeting of the Pan American Congress, and now used for important public gatherings, is called the Monroe Palace in honor of the president vhosv, name has been given to that doctrine. President Pecanha was as frank as other offi cials in acknowledging Brazil's indebtedness to the United States, and the same can be said of Marshal Hermes, the newly elected, president? and Senor Barbosa, the defeated candidates They have just concluded a presidential .cam-' paign In Brazil the first real contest -sine Jt-A V ,u
