The name is absent

258 Lectures on Brazilian Affairs

actions had to pass. All foreign exchange had by law to be
sold to this Office at closely fixed rates. Restrictions began
to be relaxed in 1934-1935, and an open market was restored.
But as a substantial backlog of commercial credit was ac-
cumulated or “frozen,” some financial agreements had to be
arranged with certain countries, including the United States.
The result was that in many countries cash was demanded
as long as control remained in force over remittances.

2. A revision of tariffs was found necessary to increase the
government’s revenues and to readjust the duties affected
by the fluctuating values of the milreis in relation to gold.
The new tariff was increased in 1934. The plan was carried
out in order to grant additional protection to home indus-
try, which, by the higher cost of imported goods, felt already
some security.

3. The diversification of production, as the over-produc-
tion of a few crops, constitutes a danger in foreign trade. On
the other hand, improved production methods, marketing by
classification, standardization, and better distribution were
recognized as urgently needed measures for Brazilian exports.
The government interfered to restrict new plantations of
coffee and destroy surplus crops; the cocoa industry was
given an intelligent direction by the establishment of an
institute to assure uniform classification, reduced cost of
transportation, warehousing, and marketing. A Sugar and
Alcohol Institute functioned in a similar manner for sugar,
and corresponding institutes for mate, meat, and rice have
been created with the same object in view. The result was an
increasing diversity of better-equipped sources of produc-
tion. Cotton and fruits were the first great exports of that
new policy.

4. Commercial agreements started in 1936—the indus-
trial acknowledgment of our new economy. In some

<<   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   >>

More intriguing information