The public debts are: The consolidated debt, originating in a loan of f19,570,000 at 3)6 per cent interest and 1 per cent sinking fund (the distribution of the securities being, in 1915, in Europe 69.73 per cent and in Uru guay 30.27 per cent); the conversion loan taken by the Banque de Paris et des Pays Bas at 90 per cent net and sold to the public at 97 per cent, of which loan the holdings in Europe amount to 70.74 per cent, and in Uruguay 2926 per cent; the guaranty debt, 4 per cent (prac tically redeemed through purchase by the state of the Mortgage Bank which had these securi ties as part of its capital); the unified interior debt, 4 per cent, $1,448,650 ($1,100,000 held in London and the balance in Uruguay) ; the In surance State Bank loan, 5 per cent (the whole amount, $3,000,000, belonging to the state, °as the bank never felt the necessity of selling bonds') ; the 1915 interior debt loan, $6.000,000, issued at 8 per cent. In 1917 the Uruguayan government proceeded to the conversion of the last-mentioned loan (8 per cent) into a new conversion loan at 6% per cent, with a bonus of 5 per cent.
Transportation and Communication.— The railroads in Uruguay radiate westward and northward from Montevideo, three lines con necting the country with Brazil. They are in the main of standard gauge; their total length in 1919 was about 1,600 miles, and they carry annually about 1,800,000 passengers and 1,700, 000 tons of freight. Plans have been made for extending the system by the addition of 1,500 miles of track. The length of tramway lines in operation is about 170 miles; the total length of departmental wagons roads or bridle paths more than 3,000 miles, and of national high ways about 2,240 miles. Efforts are being made to put the highways in better condition for motor traffic. The river system is extensive and of great value for transportation, all of the following ports on the Uruguay River ad mitting vessels of nine (and some even of 14) feet draft: Carmelo, Neuva Palmira, Soriano, Fray Bentos, Nuevo Berlin, Casa Blanca, Pay sandu, Salto and Santa Rosa. On the Rio Negro the chief port is Mercedes; on the San Salvador River, the port of San Salvador, and small craft reach the interior on a dozen or more of the Uruguay's tributary streams. Steamship communication between Uruguay and foreign lands is maintained by transatlantic lines representing the chief nations of western Europe. Between Montevideo and New York there is a weekly service; local transportation lines keep the Uruguayan coast in touch with the Atlantic ports of Brazil or the river of. m Paraguay, and there is a regular steamship service between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The clearances at Uruguayan ports reaches annually about 8,000,000 tons. Uruguay possesses 27 steamers of a total ton nage of 20,298 tons.
Uruguay has extended its wireless service by establishing a large station at Montevideo, with a range of 621 miles, and other stations identified with the War and Marine Ministry or Department. The number of post offices in
the country is about 1,200; of telegraph and telephone stations, about 60. Telephone lines have 16,518 miles of wire.
Weights and Measures.—The metric system has been adopted officially and gains ground steadily among the people in the chief centres of population, displacing such antiquated units as the libra (1.0143 pounds) ; arroba (25.35 pounds) ; quintal (101.4 pounds); cuadra (1.8 acres); fanega (30 gallons), etc. The recog nized basis of thorough reform in this respect is practical demonstration of the greater con venience of the new system.
Army and Navy.—The strength of the army at present is given as slightly more than 10,000 —600 officers and about 10,200 men — and about 100,000 men receive training in the national guard. For the navy, additional ships are being constructed. The number of vessels in 1916 was 12, with 60 officers and 600 men.
Population, Political Divisions, etc.—The number of inhabitants Is estimated at 1,406,000. In the northern part of the republic there are many Brazilians, who cross the border from the state of Rio Grande do Sul; otherwise the population consistsprincipally of Spaniards or people of Spanish descent (the most numerous class), of Italian colonists and citizens and of the English, Swiss and German residents who are actively engaged in business, banking or agriculture.
The Oriental republic of Uruguay is divided into 19 departments, which with their areas, populations and capitals are as follows : Bibliography.—'Anuario Estadistico de la RepUblica Oriental del Uruguay> (Montevideo, annual) ; AraUjo, 0., 'Diccionario Geografico del Uruguay' (Montevineo 1912) and 'Nueva Historia del Uruguay' (Montevideo 1909) ; Bollo, S., 'Manual de Historia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay) (Montevideo 1897) ; Bryce, J., 'South America) (New York 1912) ; Clemenceau, G., 'South America To-Day' (New York and London 1911) ; 'Financial Confer ence, Proceedings of the First Pan-American) (Washington 1915) ; Hudson, W. H., 'The Purple Land) (new ed., New York 1916) ; Keane, A. H., 'Central and South America) (London 1912) ; Koebel, W. H.,
(London 1911) ; Pan-American Union, (Uru guay: General Descriptive Data) (Washington 1916) ; Ross, G., 'Argentina and Uruguay) (New York 1917) ; Roustan, Honore, and Pena, C. M. de, 'La Republica Oriental del Uruguay) (Montevideo 1893) ; Maeso, C.