Brazil and Her People of To-day: An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their CountryWinter, Nevin O. (Nevin Otto)
History
Brazil and Her People of To-day: An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country
Winter, Nevin O. (Nevin Otto)
Brazil
“_Ordem e Progreso_,” order and progress, is the motto of the Republic
of Brazil. The flag consists of a green rectangle, representing the
vegetable kingdom, with a diamond-shaped yellow block in the centre,
representing the mineral wealth. In the centre is a blue circle, which
corresponds with the blue of the skies, with the above motto across it.
Within the blue circle are twenty-one stars, representing the twenty
states and federal district, five of which are grouped to represent the
constellation of the Southern Cross. The coat of arms contains the same
colours and emblems arranged in an artistic design, and with some other
insignia added.
The developed part of Brazil is only a small part of the whole country.
It constitutes a fringe along the Atlantic coast, and bears about the
same relation to the whole country as the original thirteen states do to
the United States as at present constituted. There are few large cities,
but numerous small towns of from five to twenty thousand, and many
villages are scattered over the land. No part is overpopulated, the most
densely populated being the states of Alagoas and Rio de Janeiro, with
an average of perhaps twenty-three to the square mile, and there is no
danger of even those states being overpopulated for some time yet. In a
land where all the year around is a growing season this is a very small
population, even considering the mountainous character of most of the
country. If peopled as densely as France, Brazil would have a population
of not less than three hundred and twenty million. It is almost purely
an agricultural country, although some advancement has been made in
manufactures through government encouragement and high customs duties.
Especially has this been true in cotton goods, and there are many small
factories of these textiles scattered over the land, most of them run
by the water power which is so abundant in most sections. Some other
factories have been started through concessions being granted, but by far
the greatest part of the goods used are imported from the manufacturing
nations of the world. This governmental assistance causes many of the
factories to feel that to some extent they are government enterprises.
The same policy has been followed with railroads of guaranteeing returns
instead of making grants of lands, which would be an incentive to the
railroad to aid in development. The São Paulo-Rio Grande Railway is one
exception to this rule, and it is prospering. The Central Railroad, which
has over a thousand miles of main track, is owned and operated as a
government institution, and this method has not been a success any more
than the Lloyd Brazilian line of national steamers. Money goes in from
all sources, but the government treasury is compelled every year to make
up deficits.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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