File No. 836/53-54. No. 49.] The Acting Secretary of State to Chargé Lorillard. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 21, 1907. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 96, of the 14th ultimo, embodying telegraphic correspondence in connection the complaint of Henry Forster & Co., of Pernambuco, and transmitting a copy of a decree of January 10, 1907, continuing, from January 1, 1907, the 20 per cent preferential reduction on certain American goods. Your action, taken on the complaint of Messrs. Forster & Co., is approved by the department, and you will ask the return to the importers of any excess in duties above the preferential rates that may be brought to your attention as having been collected in January on shipments of American products entitled to preferential treatment. I am, etc., ROBERT BACON. File No. 836/66. No. 109.] Chargé Lorillard to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Petropolis, February 15, 1907. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the department's instruction No. 37, of January 5, 1907, which, after acknowledging the receipt of Mr. Griscom's telegram of the 2d of that month, relative to the authorization of the Brazilian Congress to continue our 20 per cent preferential tariff reduction, assumes that there will be no break in the continued enjoyment by American products of the old preferential reductions. At the same time the department calls attention to the delays which have previously occurred in decreeing the authorization of Congress. In reply I have the honor to refer you to my Nos. 96 and 102, of January 14 and 30, 1907, respectively, in which you were informed that owing to the representations of the embassy the President of Brazil, on January 10 last, decreed the continuance of our old preferential tariff reduction for the whole year 1907, and that the surplus duties collected on American flour at Pernambuco since January 1, 1907, and before the date of said decree, were ordered to be returned, thus continuing the preferential reduction without break. The articles which enjoy the preferential are the ones mentioned on page 8 of Daily Consular and Trade Report No. 2614, of July 14, 1906, with the addition that paints are included under varnishes, as the department was informed by Mr. Griscom's No. 15, of August 17, 1906, and that linotypes and cash-register machines have been included under the classification of typewriters. I have, etc., GEORGE LORILLARD. File No. 7265/-1. No. 24.] BRAZILIAN IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS. Ambassador Dudley to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Petropolis, June 3, 1907. SIR: I have the honor to furnish the department herewith two copies and a translation of the new Brazilian immigration law, promulgated by executive decree on the 19th ultimo. In this connection I may mention that special effort is being made to induce the coming of Japanese labor. It is largely to this end that a subsidy is offered for the establishment of a regular line of ships. between Rio de Janeiro and Japan. I am informed by Mr. Uchida, who to-day presents his credentials as Japanese minister to Brazil, that in the consummation of these proposals is to be found the principal aim of his mission. The new steamship line, according to this gentleman, will be in operation as soon as arrangements can be perfected, and will probably touch at the west coast ports of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, and, passing through the Straits of Magellan, visit Buenos Aires, terminating the voyage at Rio de Janeiro. The purpose would be to bring to Brazil in these ships Japanese coolies, to engage, under properly safeguarded contracts, in rice growing, and, secondarily, in other productive work. The advent of the Japanese should prove a blessing to Brazilian agriculture and the great mass of consumers. The improved conditions in the country, where lack of labor is much more felt than in former days, when slavery existed, would apparently likewise inure to the advantage of all nations. interested in Brazilian commerce. I have, etc., IRVING B. DUDLEY. [Inclosure. Translation.] DECREE No. 6455 OF APRIL 19, 1907, APPROVING REGULATIONS FOR THE PEOPLING OF THE SOIL. The President of the Republic of the United States of Brazil, in accordance with the authorization conferred in section B of No. XIII of article 35 of law No. 1617, of December 30, 1906, decrees: SOLE ARTICLE. The appended regulations for the peopling of the soil, signed by the minister of industry, railways, and public works, are hereby approved. Rio de Janeiro, April 19, 1907, nineteenth year of the Republic. ALFONSO AUGUSTO MOREIRA PENNA. REGULATIONS FOR THE PEOPLING OF THE SOIL REFERRED TO IN DECREE No. 6455 OF THIS DATE. DIVISION I. CHAPTER I. Preliminary dispositions. ARTICLE 1. The peopling of the soil will be promoted by the union in agreement with state governments, railway and river navigation companies, other companies or associations, and with private individuals, provided that the sureties and rules hereby guaranteed and laid down are duly observed. ART. 2. There shall be counted as immigrants: All foreigners of less than 60 years of age who are not suffering from contagious diseases nor plying illicit trades and who are not criminals, rogues, beggars, vagabonds, lunatics, or invalids, who arrive at Brazilian ports, traveling third class at the cost of the union, States, or third parties, as well as those who (ceteris paribus) have paid their own passages and desire to enjoy the same privileges as other new arrivals. Persons over 60 years of age or unfitted for work will only be admitted when accompanied by their families or when coming to join them, provided that there is in the family at least one able-bodied member against the invalid and one or two against the member over 60 years of age. ART. 3. To immigrants who establish themselves in any part of the country and devote themselves to any branch of agriculture, industry, or trade, or to any useful craft or profession, the following guaranties will be granted: Complete liberty of action and freedom to engage in any trade, provided that the same does not endanger public safety, health, or morals; complete liberty of religious belief; and, finally, civic rights as enjoyed under the constitution and laws by Brazilians themselves. ART. 4. The union, without interfering with the liberty of similar action on the part of the States, will enter into an accord with them to direct and facilitate the placing of immigrants who desire to settle as owners of their own land and will protect and advise such spontaneous immigrants as need material aid for their first installment, whilst only in special cases will it bring in at its own expense such immigrants as desire only to work without acquiring the land on which they settle. DIVISION II. CONCERNING COLONIZATION. CHAPTER I. Preliminary dispositions. ART. 5. By a "nucleus colony," for the operation of this decree, is understood a group of lots, duly measured and marked out, on land chosen as fertile and fitted for agriculture or cattle breeding, where the conditions are healthy and there is abundance of drinking water to supply all the needs of the population. The colonies shall also be of sufficient extent to admit of their development, whilst they shall have easy and convenient means of transport, shall be possessed of favorable economic factors, and shall be prepared for the settling of immigrants as holders of their own land. ART. 6. The foundation of nucleus colonies shall be undertaken: I. By the union with help from the States. II. By the States with or without the help of the union. III. By railway or river navigation companies, other companies or associations, or by private individuals, with or without the help of the union and the States. The union may interfere in the foundation of nucleus colonies by railway or river navigation companies, other companies, associations, or private individuals when the founders are not in the receipt of official aid and necessary rules and regulations have to be made or abuses remedied. CHAPTER II. Concerning nucleus colonies founded by the union. ART. 7. The foundation of nucleus colonies under the direct administration of the union and with the aid of the interested State shall be effected in accordance with this decree, whilst the following rules must be observed: I. The union will choose the site and will undertake to form the nucleus. II. If the land is fallow, or is the property of the State, the Federal Government will enter into an accord with the state government for the cessation of the area required for the foundation of the nucleus. In this case the State will aid in the marking out, if necessary, according to its land laws, and will permit the following work of preparation: Preliminary surveys for the best division of the lots and for the establishment of lines of communication both internal and external; measuring and marking out of rural lots; sanitary works, when necessary; building of houses, roads, and paths; preparation of the areas set apart for the first cultivation in each rural lot; establishment of the headquarters of the nucleus, if convenient, together with the urban lots; and, finally, the settling of the immigrants. III. So soon as the lots have been measured and marked out in accordance with the foregoing clause, they will be definitely handed over to the union on the distinct understanding that they will be sold to immigrants or otherwise used for the good of the nucleus. IV. Lands belonging to private individuals will be acquired by amicable arrangement, i. e., by purchase or agreement, or will be disappropriated by the State, whilst the union will undertake the work of preparation according to Clause II above. V. The State will provide the immigrants with tools and seeds free of charge for their assistance on first being installed, whilst the union may grant them these and other favors for the same purpose. VI. Should the State desire to establish at the headquarters of the nucleus farms for experiments and instruction, a suitable area will be reserved for this purpose and pecuniary aid granted, as established by law, in accordance with plans and estimates previously approved. ART. 8. The State may give any assistance to the immigrants independent of that given by the union, and may offer prizes to promote healthy emulation. ART. 9. Provisional and definite titles to the lots will be indorsed by federal officials appointed for this purpose. ART. 10. The product of the sale of the lots will belong to the union, except in case of arrangement with private owners of land, who by contract will be obliged to allow the colony to be founded and the sale of lots at stipulated prices for the transfer of lands and improvements thereon. ART. 11. The collection of immigrant's debts arising from the sale of lots and houses and from aid not granted free will be made by the union. ART. 12. The choice of localities for the nucleus colonies will be made in accordance with previous surveys and will be carefully fiscalised by the administration. ART. 13. Localities for the foundation of nucleus colonies will be chosen which are healthily situated and conform to the conditions laid down in article 5 as well as the following: I. Convenient altitude and soil fitted for all kinds of cultivation. II. A position on or near railways actually working or in course of construction, on rivers navigated by steamers, or close to populous centers where the holders of the lots will find a ready market for their produce. III. A constant and ample supply of running and drinking water which shall be adequate for the inhabitants and may be employed for agricultural and industrial purposes. IV. Topographical configuration and conditions which will permit of the use of agricultural machinery. V. Forests, on the spot or near, which, whilst improving the climatic conditions and productiveness of the district, will afford a sure and cheap supply of timber for building and other works on the colonies. VI. A large enough area to admit of the increase of the nucleus, so that direct descendants of the first immigrants settled on the land, members of their families or persons connected with them, living abroad, may be invited to come and form new households and hold lots in the same nucleus or in its vicinity. ART. 14. When the locality for the nucleus has been chosen a general plan and estimate of the probable cost of the work will be immediately drawn up, the ground will be divided into lots by exact measurement, the necessary works will be put in hand at once and any factors dangerous to public health removed, whilst plans will be made and executed for the systematic construction of roads and paths according to the regulations. ART. 15. When water courses are in the way, if convenient, the works can be commenced by goniometric survey of same, and stakes will be driven in with their tops level with the ground, each one marked with a copper plate showing exactly the direction indicated. At the side of the stakes, signposts will be placed duly numbered so that the subsequent demarcation of the lots may be clearly indicated. When the hydrographic plans have been drawn up, thereon will appear the distribution of lots according to the lay of the ground. ART. 16. If there are no water courses, and such surveys are unnecessary, the land will be divided into lots in accordance with local conditions. ART. 17. Lots will be duly numbered and the lines intersecting them will always, when convenient, run exactly north and south or east and west. ART. 18. If the position and importance of the nucleus demand the establishment of headquarters, which will later be a township, sufficient land will be reserved for this purpose favorably situated in the part of the district which is flattest and which, from a hygienic point of view, is most fitted for a populous center. On this site the ground will be prepared and the necessary buildings erected in accordance with plans duly drawn up. 85111-FR 1907-7 The headquarters will be the converging point for the principal roads of the nucleus. ART. 19. In each nucleus ground will be set aside for erection of schools and for experiments in the cultivation of vegetables which may be grown with advantage in the district for instruction farms, industrial purposes, etc. ART. 20. The lots will be classified as rural and urban. § 1. Rural lots will be devoted to agriculture and cattle breeding and will be of sufficient extent for the work of the colonists who own them. § 2. As a general rule, rural lots will not exceed 25 hectares when situated along or near a railway or river navigated by steamers, but otherwise they may be up to 50 hectares. § 3. Urban lots will be those situated at the headquarters and will ultimately form the township, and all their fronts will be on streets and squares. § 4. No urban lot may exceed 3,000 square meters unless set apart for some special purpose. ART. 21. As a general rule, a good and sanitary house will be built on each urban lot to be occupied by the immigrant and his family, whilst the ground will be prepared for the first cultivation to be made by the person who acquires it. § 1. Immigrants who desire to erect houses at their own expense and according to their own taste will have lots without houses reserved for them. § 2. Under the conditions of the preceding section the immigrant and his family who acquire the lot will be afforded temporary quarters until they have built the house, which must be within the space of one year. ART. 22. Rural lots will be sold either for cash or for payment in installments. In the former case a definite title will be handed over immediately and in the latter a provisional title which will be substituted by a definite one as soon as all payments have been made. § 1. Anyone purchasing a lot on the installment system may pay off the debt in full or in part before the due date at any time in order to shorten the period for receiving the definite title. § 2. Under the conditions of the preceding section the purchaser will enjoy the privileges of section 2, article 40. ART. 23. Urban lots will only be sold for cash. ART. 24. Lots will be sold at a moderate price, which shall be previously fixed according to their size and position. ART. 25. Where there is a house on the lot the cost price of the same will be added to the price of the lot. ART. 26. Rural lots may be sold on the installment system to immigrants accompanied by their families. ART. 27. Immigrants who are not accompanied by their families may only purchase rural lots for cash. ART. 28. The immigrant who is accompanied by his family may acquire a new lot after he has obtained a definite title to the first. When the family consists of more than five persons fit for work, or when the immigrant has cultivated and improved his first lot, he will be allowed the preference for the purchase, even on the installment system, of a second lot adjoining or close to the first. ART. 29. The foreign immigrant who is an agriculturist and has been less than two years in the country who marries a Brazilian woman or the daughter of a Brazilian born in the country, or the Brazilian agriculturist who marries a foreign woman who has been in the country as an immigrant less than two years, will be given a lot with a provisional title, without the pair having to pay anything, provided that during the first year from the granting of the provisional title they have lived together in harmony and have shown by the way that they have cultivated and improved the lot that they mean to continue to do so. ART. 30. If the foreign or Brazilian immigrant, under the conditions of the preceding article, desires to obtain a lot with a definite title immediately after his marriage, the same will be sold him for half the stipulated price. ART. 31. On the provisional title granted to the immigrant shall be written the full price of the lot and the main conditions to be observed for the obtaining of a definite title. ART. 32. When definite titles to the lots have been granted to immigrants who are not in debt to the nucleus, the same become their absolute property. ART. 33. When the occupant of the lot is in debt to the nucleus, he can not, without a written authorization from the administrator, sell, mortgage, transfer, |