Among the imports from Great Britain were 2,993,291 pounds of coal from Cardiff for the use of the railroad connecting Puerto Cabello with Valencia. During the past three months work has been resumed on the coal mines operated by the Government in the State of Falcón, and a quantity of coal has recently been embarked at Coro for the use of a Venezuelan war vessel.

GERMAN INTERESTS IN THE REPUBLIC.

German papers claim that 20,000,000 marks ($5,760,000) of German capital is invested in real estate in Venezuela, and that the bulk of the foreign trade of the Republic is transacted by Germans, of whom about 2,000 reside in the country. Forty large German firms are engaged in trade there. In Caracas they have their own schools, clubs, and societies, and a newspaper published in German. The further claim is made that the Germans have built the railroads, and that the manufacturing establishments in the Republic have been organized and are carried on by Germans.

TRADE OPPORTUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA.

United States Consul-General SEEGER, stationed at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has forwarded to the United States Department of Commerce and Labor the following communication in regard to the possibilities of establishing in Brazil extensive pork-packing and other meat industries, embodying the views of a well-informed American merchant of Rio de Janeiro:

"I think the time has come when some of the large manufacturing packers of pork, lard, etc., might establish factories here with great profit to themselves. A few years ago coffee was so remunerative to the planters that they neglected hog raising, and a great deal of pork, lard, etc., was imported. Now, however, coffee prices have obliged them to devote attention to other branches, and the importation has been reduced to almost nothing. Hogs are easily raised here, and corn grows very abundantly and easily. An American factory and methods ought to result in a large export business from Brazil. It would pay; and it even might be advisable to raise the hogs, as a more certain supply of raw material could thus be insured. In Rio Grande do Sul there are native factories, I believe, but my idea is for Minas and Sao Paulo. Practically no hams or bacon are cured in the country, and, owing to heavy duties, both these articles bring high prices; hence there is a large local market to be developed. I have heard of one planter who does his own curing. Two Englishmen started a factory for hams up in Minas, but the State government put on such heavy duties that the business was abandoned. I feel sure that a foreign company wishing to establish such an enterprise on a large scale

could make its own terms beforehand about these matters, and a bright future would await it. I think it would be well worth while to send out a competent man to look over the field. Brazil stands strongly committed to a high-protective tariff, and there can be no doubt that a big American company entering the trade could easily dominate the situation. Brazil is already a large cattle-producing country, and I believe that in a few years the immense areas suitable for grazing in the interior will be made available. Brazil will then be in a position to supply Europe with cheap beef, especially as the time is approaching when the United States will export but little."

Mexico imports considerable tobacco in the leaf, as well as in the manufactured form, principally Cuban cigars and cigarettes, American cigarettes and pipe and chewing tobaccos, and some French and German cigars and Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1904, the importation of Virginia leaf tobacco amounted to 2,468,773 pounds, valued at $147,131 in gold; the importation of all other tobacco in leaf was valued at $32,896 in gold. Of this "other leaf tobacco" the United States also contributed 4,675 pounds. The Netherlands and Cuba contributed 17,332 and 15,890 pounds, respectively, and Sumatra and Germany were next in order, with small quantities from India, Belgium, Turkey, Persia, and even China, part of the tobacco from various sources coming through Great Britain. Higher duties were placed on Virginia leaf last year, and this operates somewhat to change the course of the trade. In general, however, the importation of leaf tobacco into Mexico is increasing, partly through the increased consumption of foreign tobaccos, but principally through the demand for foreign leaf to blend with the native leaf in the manufacture of cigars.

The Peruvian Government is about to cause the erection in the public square of Lima of a statue to Gen. JosÉ DE SAN MARTIN, through whose efforts Peru was enabled to establish its independence in 1821. Designs for this statue are to be solicited from sculptors the world over, and with that end in view the various Peruvian consuls abroad have been provided with biographical and pictorial matter relative to General SAN MARTIN, and instructed to afford any information that may be asked of them. The hero is to be represented in a standing posture, proclaiming Peruvian liberty. American sculptors desirous of informing themselves with a view to submitting designs and sketches would do well to address the consulates of Peru at San Francisco or Philadelphia.

The Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light and Power Company, with a capital of $25,000,000 and an authorized bond issue of $25,000,000, has recently been organized by prominent American and Canadian capitalists. Several New York banks and trust companies, in conjunction with the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Bank of Mon

treal, are said to be largely interested in the company. The objects of the company are to develop a great water power near Rio de Janeiro for lighting purposes, for the operation of street railways, and for industrial purposes. The requirements for the last-named purpose alone amount to over 25,000 horsepower. Taken as a whole the enterprise promises to be the largest electrical undertaking in the world, outside of the United States. The company possesses a valuable concession, giving it the exclusive right to transmit to Rio de Janeiro electrical energy developed by water power. There have been large contracts let for apparatus and material, which it is estimated will amount to more than $2,000,000. A large portion of the orders have been placed in Germany and in the United States.

The Cuban plantations Victoria, at Jovellanos, and San Rafael, at Bolendron, in the province of Matanzas, and La Julia, at Duran, in Havana Province, which are as yet run under the old system, have just been put under the control of syndicates organized in Cuba that intend to convert them into large central factories of a capacity of at least 100,000 bags of sugar each. It is stated that these syndicates are also in treaty for acquiring the control of several other plantations whose names have not been as yet given out. At the head of said syndicates is a wealthy Spanish merchant of Havana, who is to advance, at a moderate interest, the greater part of the funds needed to carry out the scheme, under the condition that all the sugars turned out by the factories belonging to the syndicates will be consigned to him for their sale. An American syndicate has purchased the plantation Santa Cecilia, at Sagua, province of Santa Clara, which will be in a like manner converted into a central factory, the work for its transformation to be commenced as soon as the present crop is marketed.

The Minister of Public Works of the Argentine Republic has been authorized to expend 56,100 gold pesos (about $55,000) on the following articles, to be used in adapting the military port at Buenos Ayres to commercial purposes: Four hydraulic cranes, 1 electric accumulator, 4 automatic weighing machines, 13 mooring cables, and 8 anchors, together with the necessary accessories to these articles. All these goods are to be purchased in Europe through the Argentine Legation in London. The construction of 4 steam launches and 1 petroleum motor launch for the Public Health Department has also been authorized, 3 of the former to be fitted with a Clayton disinfecting apparatus. A Clayton storage apparatus is also to be purchased. The total expenditure provided for in the decree is 200,000 pesos national currency (about $90,000). The shells of these boats are to be constructed. by the Argentine Naval Department, but the machinery and fittings are to be purchased abroad.

Bull. No. 1-05-14

The Buenos Ayres Central Railway is the name of a new company formed to take over and operate concessions granted by the Argentine Government in 1898, which were found to be too restricted in their terms to get the backing of capital. A recent modification of the terms has been the means of securing English capital to the extent of £3,000,000, which will be at once applied to the building of a line 520 kilometers long, with a gauge of 1 meter. The route will be from Buenos Ayres by way of Marco Paz and 9 de Julio to Carhue, which lies between the Western and Southern railways. There will be 45 stations on the road as at present planned, and construction will begin in May of this year.

The Mexican Aluminum Manufacturing Company, of Mexico City, propose erecting a plant for the manufacture of finished articles in aluminum, and have petitioned the Government to allow the importation of the necessary machinery for the project free of duty, as is usual with material for new industrials there. The factory will represent an investment of $200,000.

There is at the present time a large demand from Uruguay for wire fencing, much of that material having been destroyed during the recent revolution. The cheaper kinds of fencing are most in demand and it is said that Germany secures the biggest orders.

BOOK NOTES.

Books and pamphlets sent to the Bureau of the American Republics, and containing subject-matter bearing upon the countries of the International Union of American Republics, will be treated under this caption in the Monthly Bulletin.

The United States Bureau of the Census has just published the first complete census of the Philippine Islands. The report is contained in four volumes, the first three of which detail at considerable length the geography and history of the islands, together with a statistical account of its population, the manner of living, religion, pursuits, education, and the like. In general these reports are a most interesting exhibit of the advance in prosperity, education, and order since the American occupation in 1898. They form a mine of information on all subjects connected with the welfare and material prosperity of the people. Volume IV is devoted to agriculture and social and industrial statistics. The chief source of wealth in the Philippine Archipelago, since its discovery in the sixteenth century, has been the production and exportation of agricultural commodities. In 1902 the agricultural exports were valued at $27,360,475, forming 95 per cent of the value

of all exports. The soil is so fertile that when sufficiently watered it. yields large crops without intensive cultivation, and the easy-going native secures most satisfactory results, even with his unscientific methods and crude implements. Food producing, aromatic, medicinal, dye, and textile plants grow profusely, and both indigenous and exotic plants are easily cultivated. The principal products are hemp, sugar, tobacco, copra, and rice. The production of coffee has been practically abandoned, but the Bureau of Agriculture is endeavoring to reintroduce the cultivation of the plant. It is plain from the chapters devoted to agriculture that the marvelous agricultural resources of the Philippine Islands have been scarcely touched as yet, and the articles on this subject are very interesting and instructive. The following subjects are discussed in this volume: Hemp, or abaca, by MARIANO ABELLA; sugar, by Hon. JosE R. DE LUZURIAGA, of the Philippine Commission; tobacco, by Hon. G. GONZAGA, Governor of Cagayan; the cocoanut, by W. S. LYON, of the Bureau of Agriculture, with a supplemental article by Hon. JUAN CAILLES, Governor of La Laguna; coffee, by Hon. SIMEON LUZ, Governor of Batangas, and Hon. W. F. PACK, Governor of Benguet; rice, by REGINO GARCIA, of the Bureau of Agriculture, and by M. CUNANAN; the indigo plant, by AMELIO A. Y LALLAVE; cacao, by W. S. LYON, and also by Hon. PABLO TECSON OCAMPO, Governor of Bulacan. The most important commercial product of the islands is abaca, or manila hemp. This is indigenous to all provinces, but the fiber is unlike the hemp of other tropical countries, and is found only in the Philippine Islands. The value of the exportations of this product exceeded $19,000,000 in 1902, or was two-thirds of the value of all exports. Nearly all of this material is shipped in the raw state to Europe and America for manufac ture into cordage. Although a large area was devoted to the cultivation of abaca, much of the product that was exported was gathered wild. The exportation of the dried kernel of the cocoanut, known as "copra," is steadily increasing and promises to become of great commercial importance. The value of the exports of copra and cocoanuts for 1902 was $2,701,783. The cocoanut palm flourishes luxuriantly in the Philippines and when its products are systematically harvested it is a source of unfailing revenue and profit, supplying several by-products of commercial value. The demand for rice throughout the archipelago far exceeds the domestic supply, and it will probably be necessary to continue to import it indefinitely, as the cultivation of hemp and other products is much more profitable. It is probable that the cultivation of cacao, from which chocolate is derived, will greatly increase and become one of the principal products of the islands, as the cacao of the Philippine Islands is superior to that grown anywhere else in the world.