and political rights. Individual liberty is subject only to law, and in the same way liberty of thought and of the press are guaranteed. No one may be persecuted on account of religious belief, and every kind of labour or industry is free which does not interfere with public well-being. No one can b? arrested without written orders from lawful
authority.
For purposes of election the empire is divided into other districts, each of which elects a fixed number of deputies for the g enera am j provincial assemblies. These ara again divided into colleges and parish assemblies. There are 46 electoral districts, 403 colleges, and 1451 parish assem blies. For administrative purposes the Brazilian territory is separated into 20 pj ovinces, comprising 642 municipalities, including that of the capital ; from various causes the number of municipalities is fluctuating. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is exercised in 12 dioceses, one of which, that of Sao Salvador, comprehending the province of Bahia and Serigpe, is a metropolitan archbishopric. The whole of the dioceses are divided into 1473 parishes and 28 curacies. The diocese of Sao Salvador is the seat of a metropolitan court of appeal (Relae,ao), composed of judges of appeal (dcsemlarc/adores), who decide clerical matters finally. The diocese of Sao Sebastiao comprises the municipality of Rio do Janeiro, its province, those of Espiritu Santo and Sta. Catharina, and the eastern side of Minas Geraes. The provinces of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Parahyba, and Rio Grande do Norte form the bishopric of Olinda ; Maranhao and Piauhy the bishopric of thu former name ; Para and Amazonas the diocese of Belem do Para. The diocese of Sao Paulo includes that province, Parana, and southern Minas Geraes ; that of Goyaz its province and western Minas ; the remainder of Minas forms the bishoprics of Marianna in the central, and of Diamantina in the northern part of the province. The diocese of Cuyaba consists of the province of Matto Grosso. The provinces of Sao Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul and of Ceara correspond to their respective bishoprics.
The judicial division of the empire is into eleven districts, each having a court of appeal competent to try all questions affecting the judges and military commanders. From the sentences of these courts there is but one appeal to a supreme court of justice, the members of which are deno minated ministers, and by the constitution are counsellors to the emperor : this highest court takes cognizance of offences or errors committed by its ministers, by the judges of appeal, or by archbishops or bishops in non-ecclesiastical matters.
The districts of the Courts of Appeal arc groups of provinces as follows:—
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Para and Amazonas with the seat at Belem. -. T-,. , ( S. Luiz do Maranhao and Piauhy : { Maranh5o _ Ceara and Rio Grande dp Norte ,, Fortaleza. Pernambuco, Parahyba, and Alagoas ,, Recife. Bah ia and Serigpe , , S. Salvador. Rio and Espiritu Santo ,, Rio de Janeiro. S. Paulo and Parana ,, S. Paulo. Rio Grande do Sul and Sta. Catharina ,, Porto Alegre. Minas Geraes ,, OuroPreto. Matto Grosso , , Cuyaba. Goyaz ,, Goyaz.
Causes which do not ascend above a certain value, deter mined by law, are judged byjuizes de direito within certain minor territorial limits, termed comarcas, again divided into termos or boroughs, which may include one or more municipalities, each of which has a municipal judge.
The civil laws, originally the same with those of Portugal, have been greatly modified by a number of new ones A criminal code was organized in 1830 on the principles of Jeremy Bentham, and is considered very perfect and clear. The new form of procedure, and the new organization of justices, is embodied in a code decreed in 1832. Finally, a new code of commerce, nearly copied from that of France was decreed in 1850.
To carry on the war of the Independence, and to crush Finano a subsequent revolution in the northern provinces, the Government contracted two loans in 1824-5, of the nominal amount of 3,086,200; and on the recognition of its independence by Portugal in 1825, it undertook the liability of a loan of 1,500,000. The war with Buenos Ayres, and the assistance rendered by Dom Pedro to the constitutional party of Portugal, led to two farther loans in 1829, of the nominal amount of 709,200. Internal difficulties in 1839 compelled the regency to contract another loan of the nominal amount of 411,200. The dissensions in Portugal caused a temporary suspension in the payment of the dividends on the Portuguese loan, and in 1842, 732,000 stock were delivered to the Portuguese agents in settlement of this claim. The debt contracted and assumed by Brazil between 1823 and 1843, therefore, amounted to 7,099,200 nominal ; and throughout all its difficulties and embarrass ments the Imperial Government punctually and honourably provided for the dividends as they became due.
By the renewal in 1844 of the sinking fund, the operation of which had been suspended since 1828, the Portuguese and other loans were becoming gradually reduced. The long war with Paraguay from 1804 to 1870, however, very considerably augmented the public debt, costing the empire more than 400,000 contos of reis, or nearly 52,000,000. The public debt is now divided into the consolidated foreign and internal debts, and the floating debt. The foreign debt proceeds from loans negotiated in the London Exchange in 1865, 1871, and 1875 ; the internal debt from policies authorized in 1827, but mainly from a home loan of 1868. The floating debt consists of the small remaining portion of that contracted previously to 1827, of loans borrowed from, various internal sources, of exchequer bills, and paper money. Under these heads the debt of the empire was officially stated on the 31st of March 1875 as follows:—
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External Debt (at 5 per cent, interest), 177,166 : 222 contos. Internal ,, ,, 285,592 : 200 ,, Floating ,, 201,980 : 973 ,, Total Debt, 664,739 : 395 = 74,7S3,000. (177,166 : 222 = 177,166 contos, 222 milreis ; a conto or million of reis, gold = H2, 10s., or 1 = S S90 milreis. 1 milreis = 2s. 3d. The financial accounts are kept in paper reis, of depreciated value, in proportion varying from 194 to 214 reis paper to 100 reis gold.)
For a few years previously to the declaration of the emperor s majority, the imperial expenditure had not been largely in excess of the revenue, and in 1830-37, the deficit only amounted to 53,600; but in 1840-41, the year of the emperor s majority, it rose to 408,000, and in consequence of a revolution in Rio Grande do Sul it went on increasing till in 1845 it had reached nearly treble that sum. But before 1850 the deficiency had not only been made good, but a large surplus began to accumulate, which remained at about an annual sum of 400,000 after 1853. On the outbreak of the war in 1864, increased taxation was necessary to enable the exchequer to meet the extraordinary expenses, but on the close of the ministerial accounts for 1870-71, a surplus of upwards of 900,000 remained. In amount the revenues of the empire have progressively ascended from 1,380,000 in 1837 to upwards of 6,000,000.
The financial account of the year 1872-73, presented to the Cham bers in May 1875, was as follows:—
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Customs 3,390,800 Taxes on Shipping ."2,000 Export Duties 1,087,700 Railways Posts Telegraphs Stamps Inland Taxes Extraordinary receipts from bonds, issue of paper money, and deposits 390,900 47,700 7,700 227,000 756,000 281,800 Carry forward . 6,221,600 Brought forward 6,221,600 Fund for emancipation of slaves 86,200 Total state revenue 112,131 : 104 contos paper,[1] or 6,307,800 Provincial receipts 1,210,000 Municipal receipts 256,000 Total (138,195 : 180 contos) 7,773,800
- ↑ Assumed to be at 200 paper for 100 gold.
