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BRAZIL

many. She was the daughter of Gen. von Kretschmann, of an old East Prussian Junker stock, and was born at Halberstadt on July 2 1865. Her grandmother was the issue of one of the amours of Prince Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. Her whole early life was passed in a Junker and militarist atmosphere, on the East Prussian estate of her grandfather, or in the various garrisons where her father held command. She had a deeply introspective nature and read widely. The romantic as well as the social and ethical ideas which she developed contributed to alienate her from her class and her family and to draw her into the Socialist movement. Her first marriage (against the wishes of her family) was with an invalid socialistic professor, von Gizycki. After his early death she was attracted by the Socialist author and politician Heinrich Braun and married him in 1895. She visited England and was on terms of friendship with leading members of the Fabian Society. She was the author of many books and pamphlets on social questions, particularly on the place of woman in politics and industry, e.g. Fraucnfrage uitd Social- demokratie (1901); Frauenarbeit und Handwirtschafl (1901); Die Politik und die Fraucn (1904). But her most remarkable work was the story of her own life, told, h'ke Goethe's auto- biography, with some embellishments of fancy and, indeed, professedly in the form of a novel. The two volumes are entitled Memoiren einer Sozialistln (i) Lchrjahre (2) Kampfjahre (1909 and 1911). They give an elaborate picture, coloured no doubt by the intense self -consciousness of the writer, of the growth of the German Social Democratic movement in the 'nineties, with sketches of the leading figures, such as Bebel, Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, and her own husband, Heinrich Braun. No German book brings out more clearly the nature of the cleft between the German and Prussian governing and military classes on the one side and the industrial masses and their leaders on the other. The contrast between German life in the country and in the cities is also vividly portrayed, as is the social life of a regiment and a garrison. Other books of hers are Im Schatten der Titanen (memoirs of her grandmother, who lived for a time in Goethe's circle) ; Liebesbricfe einer Marquise; a play, Mutter Maria, and a novel, Lebenssuchcr. She died on Aug. 8 1916.


BRAZIL (see 4.438). No general census of Brazil had been taken between 1900 and 1920, but the total pop., estimated in 1908 at 20,515,000, was officially stated in 1917 to be 27,473,579. This figure, which is probably somewhat exaggerated, would give an average density of 8.3 per sq. mile. Estimates of munic- ipal pop. in 1913 (probably not very accurate) were: Rio de Janeiro, 976,000; Sao Paulo, 400,000; Bahia (Sao Salvador), 348,000; Para (Belem), 275,000; Pernambuco (Recife), 216,500; Porto Alegre, 1 50,000. The problem of immigration for so scantily peopled a country is a vital one. Its great fertile plains yield all the products of the tropics and sub-tropics, and it has immense wealth in natural resources, yet its forests are almost untouched, its enormous mineral deposits scarcely tapped, while grazing and agriculture are still far behind their possible development.

Vast regions in the interior are still unsettled, and some even unexplored. The most notable geographical achievement of the decade 1910-20 was the expedition made in 1914 by Theodore Roosevelt, in conjunction with Col. Rondon and other Brazilian officers, down the Rio Duvida (River of Doubt), of which by far the greater part had never been visited. The personnel of the expedition included, besides Theodore Roosevelt, his son, Kermit Roosevelt, two biologists, an engineer and a surgeon. The journey, interrupted by many portages, involved a distance of 470 m., and lasted two months, from Feb. 27 to April 26. After four days' progress down stream, cataracts were met with, and the next 60 m. took 42 days to accomplish. The river proved to be a tributary of the Madeira, some 940 m. in length, and joined the main stream in lat. 5 20' S. The general course, though very tortuous, is due N. running through rugged, densely wooded country almost devoid of animal life. It is now officially known as the Rio Roosevelt. In Through the Brazilian Wilderness, Roosevelt gave the credit for the discovery to Col. C. M. da Silva Rondon and to those associated with him on the Telegraph Commission during their six years' work before his own journey.

The number of immigrants registered during the years 1908-19 was as follows:

1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913

94-695 85,410

88,564 135,967 180,182 192,683

1914

1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

82,572 32,206

34.033 31,192 20,501 37,898

Of the total 926,312, for the period 1908-16 inclusive, 354,820 were Portuguese, 190,767 Spaniards, 153,950 Italians, and 33,5/8 Germans. There were also 49,477 from Russia (chiefly Poles), 41,534 Turko-Arabs, and 21,843 from the Slavic parts of Austria. No racial statistics for 19179 are available. In 1911 arrangements were concluded with Japan to allow the immigration of Japanese agricultural labourers into Sao Paulo, and over 13,000 entered in the next two years. The agreement was renewed in 1916 so as to permit the coming of 5,000 annually. Immigration was greatly retarded by the World War, and when Italy entered the conflict in 1915 not only did Italian immigration cease, but many Italian subjects in Brazil were called home for military service, with the result that the labour market was seriously depleted. It was estimated that 50,000 sailed from Sao Paulo alone. When the Armistice was concluded in the autumn of 1918, the Brazilian Government notified all consular agents in the country that to agricultural immigrants accompanied by families aid would be gratuitously supplied, including food, tools, medical treatments, freedom from duties on baggage, transport by rail or water, etc. Those settling in the Federal colonies would also be given employment to the extent of 15 days' work a month for each adult, and temporary quarters would be provided for such as desired to build dwellings. In 1921 difficult post-war conditions in Europe were rapidly turning the tide of immigration again in the direction of Brazil.

Agriculture continues the chief source of Brazil's wealth. The leading crop is coffee, of which it produces about four-fifths of the world's supply. Over half is grown in the state of Sao Paulo alone, the rest coming from the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Geraes and Espirito Santo. The average production is somewhat over 12,000,000 bags a year (bag = 6p kg. = 132 lb.), the harvest fluctuating greatly with varying climatic conditions. The following official figures are published for the years 1915-9:


Bags Exported

Value in Pounds Sterling

Per cent of Agric. Prod. Exported

Per cent of all Prod. Exported

1915

1916

1917 1918 1919

17,061,398

13,039,145 10,606,014 7-433,048 12,963,250

32,190,547 29,280,694 23,054,280 19,040,764 72,607,208

68 63 49 42 66

59 52 36 31 55

A constant effort is made to maintain the price, by imposing an additional tax on exports over a certain amount, by encouraging consumption through propaganda abroad, and in Sao Paulo by prohibiting further extension of coffee plantations. The Coffee Convention or Valorization Scheme of 1907 (see 6.647) was resorted to again in 1917. In 1907, when the planters of Brazil faced ruin owing to over-production, the state of Sao Paulo, supported by the Federal Government, and with funds borrowed largely from foreign bankers, bought up 8,000,000 bags and stored them for disposal in a more favourable market. When the World War broke out, coffee to the amount of 3,000,000 bags still lay in European warehouses, most of which was eventually taken over by the belligerent Govern- ments. In 1917 the state of Sao Paulo, to stabilize the price which was threatened by a large crop and restricted markets, purchased about 3,000,000 bags, and constructed enormous warehouses for their storage on the docks at Santos. The destruction by frost of a large part of the 1918 crop saved the Government from an anxious situation.

The areas of cultivation of mandioca, corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar and cacao haye all increased in recent years. Rice, once imported, is so extensively grown that imports of it have virtually ceased. Of cacao Brazil supplies the major part of the world's demand, most of the crop coming from the state of Bahia. The output increased from about 33,000 metric tons in 1910 to over 65,000 in 1919. Sugar, the country s principal export in colonial times, is produced largely in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco. The entire crop in 1917 was reckoned at about 420,000 metric tons, of which 138,169 tons were exported. This last figure was unusual and due to the encouragement of war prices abroad. Brazil consumes most of its own supply, the normal export rarely exceeding 60,000 tons. With the continued introduction of modern milling machinery, the production of sugar should become one of the principal sources of national wealth. Tobacco is grown in various states, but especially in Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul. The Bahia product challenges in quality that of the Vuelto Abajo district of Cuba, and finds a ready market in Europe, while that of Goyaz and Minas Geraes is highly esteemed for cigarettes. The annual production of Brazil was placed in 1917 at 45,000 metric tons of which about 26,000 were exported.