Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/248

This page needs to be proofread.

228 URUGUAY public schools, markets, and roads. The rev- enue for 1874 was $6,375,000 ; the expendi- tures were $8,500,000. Of the former seven- eighths is derived from customs, nearly half of which is set apart to pay interest on and pro- vide a sinking fund for the public debts. The revenue for 1875 was estimated at $7,442,000, and the expenditures at $6,775,738. There was a falling off of $813,600 in the customs receipts during 1874. On Jan. 1, 1875, the public debt was $42,357,695. In 1875 the army consisted of 573 officers and 2,797 men, the national guard numbering 20,000. navy consists of one gunboat of four guns and three tugs of one gun each. There were 245 schools, of which 134 were private, with an average attendance of 16,786 pupils. There were 26 newspapers, with a daily aggregate circulation of 18,000 copies. The churches number 47 Roman Catholic and 3 Protestant. There are four convents, one university, one public library containing 10,000 volumes, sev- eral charitable institutions, eight lighthouses, and three dry docks, two in Montevideo and one in Colonia. Of the four banks formerly existing in Montevideo, one failed in 1875, and it was proposed to fuse the other three in a national bank. The decimal and metric systems of values, weights, and measures have been in use since 1864. The peso of 100 cen- tavos is equal to $1 05 American coin. The first permanent settlement of the territory was by Jesuit missionaries on the Uruguay in 1622. Subsequently other Spanish colonies were established. The Portuguese, desirous of extending the southern boundary of Brazil to the Plata, also established colonies, notably that of Colonia in 1680, and soon afterward another on the present site of Montevideo. These two nations were engaged in a contin- uous struggle for possession till 1724, when the Spanish were victorious, and in 1776 the territory was included in the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres as the district of Bands Oriental. When the war for independence began in 1811 the Banda Oriental at first sided with Buenos Ayres, but in 1814, Montevideo having been rescued from the Portuguese, who had in- vaded the country, it fell under the power of Jose Artigas. (See ARTIGAS.) The Portu- guese again invaded the country in 1816, and, after the fall of Artigas, in 1821 forced the legislature to decree annexation to Brazil. When Brazil became an independent empire the Banda Oriental was included as a Brazil- ian province under the title of Cisplatina. In 1825 a revolution broke out, and the inde- pendence of the country was declared, which in 1828 was recognized, the N". part, known as the Seven Missions, being ceded to Brazil, and the remainder becoming an independent state entitled Republica del Uruguay Oriental. In- ternal dissensions began soon after the adop- tion of the constitution in 1830. Two par- ties, known as the reds and the whites, ter- ribly distracted the republic. In 1839 one of the unsuccessful candidates for president, Oribe, head of the whites, aided by Rosas, the dictator of Buenos Ayres, raised an army, invaded the country, and subsequently laid siege to Montevideo. This siege lasted nine years, and the war reduced the state to the verge of ruin. England and France inter- fered and compelled the combatants to lay down their arms. The overthrow of Rosas resulted in the restoration of peace in 1852, which lasted till 1860, when Flores, an ex- president, invaded the country and provoked a civil war. He was defeated at Las Piedras, Aug. 16, 1863. In 1864 war broke out be- tween Uruguay and Brazil. Aided by the Brazilian army, Flores entered Montevideo, Feb. 23, 1865, became provisional president, and renewed the treaties with Brazil. On May 1 the Argentine Republic, Brazil, and Uruguay made a treaty of alliance against Paraguay, and on Aug. 17 the allies under Gen. Flores defeated the Paraguayans. (See PARAGUAY.) In 1866 Vidal was elected presi- dent of Uruguay. On Feb. 19, 1868, during an insurrection at Montevideo, Flores was as- sassinated. In March, 1868, Gen. Lorenzo Battle became president. Another revolution broke out in 1870 and continued without deci- sive results till 1873, when Jos6 Ellanri was elected president. He was subsequently de- posed by his own party, the reds, and suc- ceeded in 1875 by Pedro Varela, who in his turn was forced to resign in March, 1876, Se- flor Latorre assuming the dictatorship. URUGUAY, a river of South America, which rises on the W. slope of the Serra do Mar in the Brazilian province of Santa Catharina. During the first 75 ra. of its course it flows N. W. through the plains of Las Vacas, whore it unites with the Pelotas and is increased by numerous small tributary streams. It is sub- sequently joined by the Pepiri-Guassu, and turns S., forming the boundary between the Brazilian province of Sao Pedro and the Ar- gentine provinces of Corrientes and Entre-Rios, from all of which it receives many additions. At its junction with the Ibicuy, which rises in the Sierra Geral, it is 600 yards wide. In lat. 30 14' S. it receives the Quaraim, an important tributary, 160 m. long, and navigable for 30 m., which marks the boundary between Brazil and Uruguay. The Uruguay is here 1,500 yards wide, and divided by a line of wooded islands. Thence to its mouth it is the boun- dary between the Argentine Republic and Uru- guay. The western shore is high, steep, and wooded, the eastern very varied and pictu- resque. The next important tributary is the Arapey from the east ; here the bed becomes rocky and the current more rapid, until it forms the cataract of Salto Grande, which is about 250 m. above its junction with the Pa- rana. This is frequently passed by steamers during high floods, and above it there is un- impeded navigation for vessels drawing 5 ft. for a distance of 300 m. Below it the river is