No. 78.
Mr. Partridge to Mr. Fish.

No. 257.]

Sir: By the report of the minister of finance, just submitted to the chambers, for this month, it appears that the foreign (sterling) debt of Brazil (including the late loan of £5,301,200) now amounts to £19,931,200, or, at 27d. exchange, Rs.177,162:222||, ($95,669,780.)

The interest on this debt, which is payable in London, is £1,410,233 sterling.

The increase of this debt during the last year amounts to about twenty-five millions of dollars. The domestic (or funded) debt amounts to Rs.487,577: (contos) 172||000, or $263,291,672, (United States gold,) and it includes the following items:

Interior funded inscribed debt Rs.285,5922:00||
Old debt, previous to 1827 338:173||
Funds belonging to orphans, paid for safety into the treasury 13,533:751||
Loans due individuals 880:000||
Unclaimed inheritances and estates of absent decedents, (paid in, &c.) 2.398:513||
Public deposits, (in the treasury) 1,181:051||
Savings-banks, (deposits paid in treasury) 7,676:832||
Relief fund, (of employés) 545:966||
Different depositors 6,681:758||
Treasury notes, (on time) 19,243:600||
Paper money afloat 149,501:299||

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The increase of this indebtedness, during the past year, has been 4,600 contos of reis, or about $2,478,000.

It will thus be seen that the whole increase of debt during the past year was about twenty-seven and a half millions of dollars.

There is a constant but small reduction of certain items, by the operation of certain sinking-funds; but, in order to make these reductions, there is a constant and increasing increase of the whole debt.

Part of this is due to the prolongation of the railway (Dom Pedro II) belonging to the government, and some part to the guarantees of interest to the bondholders, and stockholders of others.

But, after these allowances are made, it would appear that, each year, there is an increase of outstanding funded indebtedness, and, in fact, a yearly deficit in the current receipts to meet the current expenditures.

In the budget now proposed for 1876–’77, the expenditures are estimated at Rs.105,378:913||; and the estimated recess are set down at Rs.106,000:000||, showing a proposed surplus (as always heretofore) of about 621 contos, or 335,000 dollars. Experience of former, and especially of late, years has shown that, instead of this proposed surplus, there is a realized deficiency, which has to be met by adding to the loans.

I have, &c.,

JAMES R. PARTRIDGE.