The Amazon, we believe, is considered free to all vessels of any flag, and the question arises if the governor of Amazonas has a right to levy a tax on our goods in transit, particularly when no entry whatever is made at Manaos nor any trouble given the authorities. The Amazon River being free, and vessels as a rule not sailing without cargoes of some kind, their cargoes, being in transit, should likewise be free. We have already been compelled to pay over $5,000, and we beg your honorable decision in this matter. Yours, very respectfully, CHARLES AHRENFELDT & SON, Per E. J. CONRAD. No. 90.] Mr. Conger to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Rio de Janeiro, July 18, 1891. (Received August 20.) SIR: I am glad to be able to report that the work of organizing the various States of the Republic of Brazil is progressing rapidly and, upon the whole, very satisfactorily. In some of the States, notably Amazonas and Rio Grande do Sul, there has arisen some little trouble over alleged unwarranted interference on the part of the Federal Government, and some threatenings and demonstrations of revolution have transpired; but all is now quiet in Amazonas, and nothing serious seems to be anticipated from Rio Grande do Sul. The following States have already adopted and promulgated their constitutions and elected permanent governors or presidents: Amazonas, Para, Maranhão, Piauhy, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Parana, Santa Catharina, and Minas Geraes. In the others constitutional conventions are now in session, and it is expected that the autonomy of all will soon be completed and the "United States of Brazil" become an accomplished fact. I have, etc., E. H. CONGER. No. 101.] Mr. Conger to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Rio de Janeiro, July 27, 1891. (Received September 3.) SIR: Referring to your No. 62, of June 23, with inclosed complaint of Messrs. Charles Ahrenfeldt & Co., that a tax of 5 per cent was imposed by the State of Amazonas, Brazil, on rubber from Peru passing through that State in transit to New York, I have written our consular agent at Manaos for more definite information as to the facts, and in the meantime have learned from my colleague, the minister from Peru, that the same complaint had some time since been made to him by citizens of Peru, and that upon asking information from the Peruvian consul at Manaos he had received reply, dated June 25, that the requirement demanding 5 per cent tax on rubber in transit had been rescinded and the tax already collected ordered refunded. I am also informed by the foreign office here that they have as yet no information on the subject whatever. I have therefore thought best to let the matter. rest until I hear from our consular agent at Manaos, for it is quite probable that upon reference to the provisions of the new federal constitution, which positively prohibits such a levy, the governor of Amazonas has already ordered the refunding of all this tax. Article 7 of the constitution reserves exclusively to the General Government the power to levy foreign imposts, and article 11 denies both to the States and to the General Government the right to levy imposts for the transit through the territory of one State or in the passage from one to another upon the products of other States, or upon foreign products, as well as upon the vessels or vehicles which transport them. I have, etc., E. H. CONGER. Mr. Conger to Mr. Blaine. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Rio de Janeiro, November 4, 1891. Mr. Conger reports that, owing to fear of plots for the restoration of the monarchy, the President had on this date by decrees dissolved Congress and declared martial law. Mr. Blaine to Mr. Conger. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Blaine instructs Mr. Conger to convey to the Brazilian President the friendly solicitude of the United States in behalf of the Republic of Brazil, and the fervent hope of its people that the free political institutions so recently and so happily established in Brazil may not be impaired. This Government's counsel would favor a wise moderation; for retaliation too certainly follows bloodshed, while enemies will be made friends by a firm yet merciful defense of the just prerogatives of a free government. Mr. Conger to Mr. Blaine. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Rio de Janeiro, November 23, 1891. Mr. Conger reports that Mr. Peixoto, the vice-president, was peacefully installed in lieu of President Deodora, whose resignation was demanded by the navy, and that no disturbance has followed. No. 167.] Mr. Conger to Mr. Blaine. [Extract.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Rio de Janeiro, December 4, 1891. (Received January 7, 1892.) SIR: In my dispatch No. 101, of July 27 last, I stated that I had written our consular agent at Manaos for definite information in regard to the levying by the State of Amazonas of 5 per cent duty on transit shipments of rubber through that port, and that I had received information later from the minister from Peru that said tax was abolished and amounts already paid ordered refunded. I have, etc., E. H. CONGER. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE LEGATION OF BRAZIL AT WASHINGTON. Mr. Blaine to Senhor Mendonça. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 3, 1890. SIR: The Congress of the United States of America, at its late session, enacted a new tariff law, in the third section of which provision was made for the admission into the ports of the United States, free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the following articles: Sugars-all not above number 16 Dutch standard in color, all tank bottoms, aii sugar drainings and sugar sweepings, sirups of cane juice, melada, concentrated melada, and concrete and concentrated molasses. Molasses. Coffee. Hides-raw or uncured, whether dry, salted, or pickled. Angora goat skins, raw, without the wool, unmanufactured. Asses' skins, raw or unmanufactured, and skins, except sheep skins with the wool on. In the law providing for the free admission of the foregoing articles. Congress added a section declaring that these remissions of duty were made "with a view to secure reciprocal trade with countries producing those articles;" and that, whenever the President should become satisfied that reciprocal favors were not granted to the products of the United States in the countries referred to, it was made his duty to impose upon the articles above enumerated the rates of duty set forth in the section of the law above cited, of which I have heretofore transmitted you a copy. The Government of the United States of America being desirous of maintaining with the United States of Brazil such trade relations as shall be reciprocally equal, I should be glad to receive from you an assurance that the Government of Brazil will meet the Government of the United States in a spirit of sincere friendship, and that it may prove to be the happy fortune of you, Mr. Minister, and myself to be instrumental in establishing commercial relations between the two Republics on a permanent basis of reciprocity, profitable alike to both. To this end I should be glad if you could advise me of the changes which Brazil would be willing to make in her system of tariff duties, in response to the changes proposed in the tariff of the United States which are favorable to your country. In case the Government of Brazil should see proper to provide for the free admission into its ports of any of the products or manufactures of the United States, or at a specified reduction of the existing rates of duty, your Government may be assured that no export tax, whether national, state, or municipal, will be imposed upon such products and manufactures in the United States. It may be further understood that while the Government of the United States of America would reserve the right to adopt such laws and regulations as should be found necessary to protect the revenue and prevent fraud in the declarations and proof that the articles herein enumerated, and whose free admission is provided for by the tariff law above cited, are the product or manufacture of Brazil, the laws and regulations to be adopted to that end would place no undue restrictions on the importer, nor impose any additional charges or fees upon the articles imported. In the happy event of an agreement between the two Governments, the same can be notified to each other and to the world by an official announcement simultaneously issued by the executive departments of the United States of America and the United States of Brazil; and such an agreement can remain in force so long as neither Government shall definitely inform the other of its intention and decision to consider it at an end. Accept, Mr. Minister, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration. JAMES G. BLAINE. Senhor Mendonça to Mr. Blaine. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL, Washington, January 31, 1891. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 3d of November, 1890, in which you inform me of the action of the Congress of the United States of America, at its late session, in the enactment of a new tariff law, in which provision was made for the admission into the ports of the United States, free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles enumerated in your note; that said action was taken with a view to secure reciprocal trade with countries producing those articles;" and that, as the Government of the United States of America is desirous of maintaining with the United States of Brazil such trade relations as shall be reciprocally equal, you express the hope that you may receive from me the assurance that the Government of the United States of Brazil will meet the Government of the United States of America in a spirit of sincere friendship. I am pleased to be able to inform you, in reply, that the United States of Brazil are equally animated by a desire to strengthen and perpetuate the friendly relations which happily exist between them and the United States of America, and to establish the commercial intercourse of the two countries upon a basis of reciprocity and equality; and I heartily participate in the hope which you express, that it may prove to be the happy fortune of you, Mr. Secretary, and myself to be instrumental in establishing commercial relations between the two Republics on a permanent basis of mutual profit. It is therefore a matter of great gratification to me to be able to communicate to you the fact that the Government of the United States of Brazil, in due reciprocity for and in consideration of the admission into the ports of the United States of America, free of all duty, whether national, State, or municipal, of the articles enumerated in your note of the 3d of November, 1890, has by legal enactment authorized the admission into all the established ports of entry of Brazil, on and after the 1st of April, 1891, free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles or merchandise named in the following schedule, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States of America: SCHEDULE OF ARTICLES TO BE ADMITTED FREE INTO BRAZIL. Wheat; Wheat flour; Corn or maize, and the manufactures thereof, including corn meal and starch; Rye, rye flour, buckwheat, buckwheat flour, and barley; Potatoes, beans, and peas; Hay and oats; Pork, salted, including pickled pork and bacon, except hams; Fish, salted, dried, or pickled; Cotton-seed oil; Coal, anthracite and bituminous; Rosin, tar, pitch, and turpentine; Agricultural tools, implements, and machinery; Mining and mechanical tools, implements, and machinery, including stationary and portable engines, and all machinery for manufacturing and industrial purposes, except sewing machines; Instruments and books for the arts and sciences; And the Government of the United States of Brazil has, by legal enactment, further authorized the admission into all the established ports of entry of Brazil with a reduction of 25 per cent of the duty designated on the respective article in the tariff now in force or which may hereafter be adopted in the United States of Brazil, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles or merchandise named in the following schedule, provided that the same be the product or manufacture of the United States of America. Canned and preserved meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables; Manufactures of iron and steel, single or mixed, not included in the foregoing free schedule; Leather and manufactures thereof, except boots and shoes; Lumber, timber, and the manufactures of wood, including cooperage, furniture of all kinds, wagons, carts, and carriages; Manufactures of rubber. I inclose herewith tables compiled from the latest published statistics, showing the state of trade of Brazil in the articles enumerated in the foregoing schedules, |
