RAILWAYS IN BRAZIL.
Unfortunately the promoters of railway enterprises in Brazil, entered into with British capital, have looked more to the guaranteed interest offered by the Government upon the money to be expended than to legitimate sources of traffic, out of which a dividend might be earned. All the Brazilian Railways, with the exception of the little Mauá, at Rio de Janeiro, and to which reference is made in my former book, have been created since 1853, the first in order and time being the Recife, or Pernambuco, about which there has been so much controversy between the Company and the Government. Before submitting any comments of my own, I will quote the following from the report lately issued by the Minister of Public Works, Senhor Dantas, upon this and the other lines. The document is official, and therefore worthy of reliance:—
The annexed gives the length, receipts, and expenses of the railways in 1867. The receipts and expenses of the S. Paulo Railway include only nine and a half months:—
| Name. | Kilos. | Receipts. | Expenses. |
|---|---|---|---|
| D. Pedro II | 197.4 | 2,523:796$781 | 1,117:034$992 |
| S. Paulo | 139.0 | 1,236:423 702 | 305:140 286 |
| Pernambuco | 124.9 | 599:331 445 | 414:772 537 |
| Bahia | 123.5 | 263:323 292 | 517:870 760 |
| Gantagallo | 49.1 | 709:222 555 | 365:830 300 |
| Mauá | 17.5 | 297:595 347 | 172:297 628 |
| Total | 651.6 | 5,599:693 122 | 2,892:955 503 |
These figures leave a balance of 2,706:737$610 over the cost of working.