A LAND OF PROMISE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 83, 2 September 1914, Page 7

A LAND OF PROMISE.

WONDERFUL RESOURCES OF BRAZIL.

The marvellous potentialities of Brazil were described to a Press representative by the Rev. A. Reese, who h&s spent five years in mission work in the country. Mr. Reese, who is a Christchiurch boy, aTrived in Ghristchurch on Satursday from Brazil, via England and the United States, and he will spend a tihuth-necded holiday here until he re--turns in December. Mr. Reese belongs .to the American Presbyterian Board of -Foreign Missions, one of the largest missionary societies in the world, having 1300 missionaries working in almost eevry part of the non-Christian woild. Mr. Reese is stationed atCicade do Bomfim, in the State of Baliia, about 2.50 miles inland. Mr. Reese gave an inLteresting account of Brazil, its potentialities and possibilities, and some of its problems.

A MIXED RACE. . The population of Brazil was about 18,000,000, although the exact number was the subject of dispute. It comprised four principal elements—the Indian, numbering perhaps from one and a-half millions to two millions; the European, or white element, numbering ■about seven millions, the negro (pure black), numbering about two and a-half millions, and a mixed race of all grades of color, numbering seven millions. The Indian population was located principally in the far interior in the States of Matto (irossc and Amazonas, it having .retreated before the advance of white civilisation. The Indians, as a whole, were smaller, weaker, and less savage, and bloodthirsty than the copper-color-ed men of Xorth America, but they were much like them in appearance, beliefs and habitats. Competent judges estimated that about half of the Indian population was still in a state of absolute barbarism. The European clement, which predominated in the South, consisted principally of Portuguese. During the last few yeaTs, however, there had been extensive immigration from Germany and the Latin countries, especially Italy, about one and a-half mililon Italians being engaged in agricultural and commercial pursuits m the country. The Ovmans numbered something under half a million.

XO COLOR LINE. The negro population consisted, of course, of the descendants of the slaves brought over to work in the mines and on the land. There was absolutely no color line drawn between the whites and blacks, as in the United States. •Whites and blacks inter-married freely, especially in the lower classes. Tho negro race existed principally in tho tropical areas of the country.

STATE OF CIVILISATION. The stapes of civilisation. Mr. Reese said, varied greatly in Brazil. Tn the Southern .States, Sao Paulo, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catharinii, it was very advancpd, with excellent railways traversing the country, and with education more fully developed than in other p;:rts. In fact, the civilisation general I.' was that of the twentieth century. In other parts of Brazil, curiously enough, one met with civilisations of tho sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. "During my five years' residence in Central Brazil," averred ill'. Reese, "I have not seen a plough used in farming; all the work is done with a 'Dutch hoe. Few railways exist, and most of the travelling is done on muleliacU. There are no roads, and very few bridges, and the school system iti very backward. This remark applies to the country as a whole, as may be seen from the fact that 75 per cent, of the people are illiterate. I. ndoubtedly the reason for the fine progress of Southern Brazil is the fact that there is a very temperate climate, extorsive jirons of fertile soil, rich forests, and a regular rainfall. These conditions have contributed to a wholesome development along agricultural, commercial and industrial lines. Moreover, most of tl\e immigration from Italy and Germany lias flowed into the southern regions, greatly t<> the benefit of industry and commerce there. In the north, there is a more tropical region, and soil is often not fijrtilc, the rainfall is uncertain, and prolonged droughts, followed by disastrous floods, are very common.

BRAZIL'S NEEDS. Mr. Reese stated that another factor which hindered the development of the north was the-faet Kl.it the policy or ■the State Governments was not satisfactory. Whereas in a State like Sao Paulo, political parties at critical times sank tticir differences to establish the credit of the State and advance generally the welfare, of the country, in the north, such acts of disinterested patriotism were, very few and far between. Only recently one of the Stato Governments went to the London market to arrange a loan for the development of the region, hut the party in Opposition. to far from co-operating, actually published statements in the London Press reflecting upon tlio financial soundness of the State in question. Too often in these Tcgions politics were a squabble between the "ins" and "outs.''

Politically, Brazil was exposed to many of the dangers that obtained in Latin-American Republics, hut happily she was a long way from the condition of affairs in Mexico. Sometimes there were local -revolutions and rumors of bigger ones, but, speaking generally, the Republic was stable and gave grounds for hopefulness in the future. It was only to be expected, however, that in a country with so large a percentage of the people illiterate, a democratic form of government was fraught with great difficulties. The great need in Brazil was for men of vision and men of character. and men with a capacity for tackling great problems.

A WONDERFUL FUTURE. This was ail the more necessary in view of the wonderful resources of the .country. It was impossible to he. too enthusiastic over the future of Brazil if she were, guided by the right kind o!' men. Most of lier resources had scarcely been touched. In the. State, of Minus •Geraes there, were immense deposits of iron ore which were only awaiting the ■ advent of capital and labor to In- dvveloped. It was interesting to note that many of these were in the hands of English capitalists. Industry had been hindered somewhat bv the absence of coal, but in recent years considerable coal areas had been found in the south. Dut even should the coal l>e not found ,in sufficient abundance, there were wonderful facilities for electric power in tlm magnificent river system that abounded, flold and diamonds and precious stones were also found in some of the States. Tlie principal products of the. country , were rubber and coffee, and the scale on which these were 'cultivated might be judged by the fact that Brazil produced at least four-fifths of the world's supply of coffee and about one-half i>; the rubber. Tremendous areas of land were awaiting cultivation, and one scientist reckoned that the Amazon basin alone was capable of supplying the fnnA HUPPlieg. '