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URUGUAY


 * 993

USURY

and Uruguay River, with their tributaries, furnish easy and ample water-communication with the interior. There are 1,273 miles of railways, 4,916 of telegraph, 11,414 of telephone and 5,340 of roads. The climate is mild and on the coast is equable, but in the interior is subject to sudden changes. The rainfall is abundant, averaging 40 inches annually; it is heaviest on the coast.

Resources. The wealth of the country consists mainly in its pasturage, which supports large herds of cattle, horses and sheep, the WTOO! of Uruguayan sheep being of superior quality. The latest record reports 9,000,000 cattle; 20,000,000 sheep; i?ooo,ooo horses; and 60,000 mules. The value of exports in 1911 was $47,380,000. Agriculture is growing in importance, wheat and corn being the chief crops; flaxseed, barley and oats are also raised. Of manufacturing establishments the most important are packing-houses, flour-mills, furniture, cigar and carriage and wagon factories.

Government. The president is elected by a general assembly; his term is four years and he is not eligible for a succeeding term The general assembly consists of two houses, a senate and a chamber of representatives. A vice-president presides over the senate. The republic is divided into 19 departments, the chief executive of each being appointed by the president.

Cities. The chief cities are Montevideo, the capital and chief port, population 291,-465; Paysandu (12,000), a port on Uruguay River; Salto (14,000); Mercedes (10,000); and San Jos6 (9,000).

Education and Religion. Primary education is obligatory. In 1906 there were 619 public and 289 private schools. The first had 1,218 teachers and 57,638 pupils; the second, 289 and 17,242 respectively. In 1907 it was arranged that 150 public schools be added. At Montevideo are an university, a preparatory school and an institute of experimental hygiene. In 1905 the university had 112 professors, 530 regular students and 661 secondary pupils. There also are a military college, many religious seminaries, normal schools and a state school of arts and trades. But half of the population over six years old is illiterate. Roman Catholicism is the state religion, but there is complete toleration.

History. Uruguay was discovered by Solis of Spain in 1515, and colonized by Sebastian Cabot in 1527. The Indians, however, successfully resisted Spanish attempts at settlement until 1624, when the oldest city was founded. Spain and Portugal quarreled over the possession of Uruguay^ and the Brazilians and Argentines continued the quarrel until 1828. IniSii the Spanish in Uruguay, whose ancestors had from 1726 colonized Montevideo from

Buenos Aires, threw off the yoke of Spain, and the settlements formed a confederation. The Brazilians in 1822 made it a province of Brazil, but in 1828 united with Argentina to make Uruguay an independent republic. For 80 years, however, it has suffered almost incessantly from internal discords. Consult the Bureau of American Republics' bulletins and Handbook of Uruguay and Cattell's Foreign Commercial Guide. See AMERICA (SOUTH), ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, BRAZIL and PARAGUAY.

Uruguay, a river of South America, rises in southern Brazil. It flows westward a little less than 100 miles, and then southward, forming *a boundary line between the Argentine Republic on the west and Brazil and Uruguay on the east. It unites with the Parana to form the Plata in 34° S. latitude, its total length being about 1,000 miles. Its chief branch is the Rio Negro.

Urumiah (do1'rtio-me1'a), a town of Persia (q. v.), ten miles west of Lake Urumiah, in a wide and fertile plain, is surrounded with a mud-wall but has no gates. Extensive fruit and vegetable gardens are situated both within and without the walls. The houses of the richer classes are lofty and spacious, and many of those of the poor are adorned with flowers and vines. The city is the seat of a Nestorian bishop and of an American Presbyterian mission, which is in a very prosperous condition. The city is said to have been the birthplace of Zoroaster (q. v.}, founder of the religion of ancient Persia, and has a population of 30,000.

Urumiah, the principal lake of Persia, is about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and nowhere exceeds 20 or 25 feet in depth. It is about 80 miles in length, with an average width of about 25 miles. Its waters are largely impregnated with salt, and are so heavy as t© be little ruffled by the strongest wind. No fish are found in it, although several rivers empty into the lake. Its average depth is only about 12 feet, and it is fast drying up, leaving a gradually widening beach of salty crust, which supplies the whole' of Kurdistan with salt.

U'sury. This word originally meant anything charged by the lender of money for the use of it; but it now refers to any charge above the legal rate. In most, if not all, civilized nations there are laws limiting the rate which lenders of money may charge for its use, with greater or lesser penalties for all charges which go above this limit. In the United States the laws of the states vary somewhat in this respect, although in all of them a legal rate is established for cases where there is no express contract — six per cent, in nearly all the states — and another limit prescribed — generally eight or ten per cent. — within which contracts may be made by