GOVERNMENT AND CHURCH 129
expanded, new captaincies were created. In 1763,
as previously noted, the governor of Rio de Janeiro
replaced his colleague at Bahia as head of the co-
lonial administration, with the title of viceroy. In
practice, however, his authority over the other
governors was negligible.
THE ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR DEFICIENCIES
The government of Portuguese Brazil broadly re-
sembled that of the Spanish colonies in its spirit,
structure, and vices. One notable difference, how-
ever, was the much smaller scale of the Portuguese
administration. The differing economies of the two
empires help to explain this divergence. The Span-
ish Indies had a relatively diversifi ed economy
that served local and regional, as well as overseas,
markets and a large native population that was an
important source of labor and royal tribute. Com-
bined with a Spanish population that numbered
300,000 in 1600 (when only 30,000 Portuguese
lived in Brazil), these conditions created an eco-
nomic base for the rise of hundreds of towns and
the need for a numerous offi cialdom charged with
the regulation of labor, the collection of tribute,
and many other fi scal and administrative duties. In
Portuguese America, on the other hand, the estab-
lishment of an elaborate bureaucracy was rendered
unnecessary by several factors: the overwhelming
importance of exports, especially of sugar, which
could be taxed when it was unloaded in Lisbon; the
economic and social dominance of the plantation,
which made for a weak development of urban life;
and the minor role of the native population as a
source of labor and royal revenue.
During the union of Portugal and Spain, the
colonial policies of the two countries were aligned
by the creation in 1604 of the Conselho de India,
whose functions resembled those of the Spanish
Council of the Indies. In 1736 the functions of the
conselho were assumed by a newly created minis-
try of Marinha e Ultramar (Marine and Overseas).
Under the king, this body framed laws for Brazil,
appointed governors, and supervised their con-
duct. The governor, captain general, or viceroy
combined in himself military, administrative, and
even some judicial duties. His power tended to be
absolute but was tempered by certain factors: the
constant intervention of the home government,
which bound him with precise, strict, and detailed
instructions; the counterweights of other authori-
ties, especially the relações (high courts), which
were both administrative and judicial bodies; and
the existence of special administrative organs,
such as the intendancies created in the gold and
diamond districts, which were completely indepen-
dent of the governor. Thus in Brazil, as in the Span-
ish colonies, there operated a system of checks and
balances through overlapping functions and the
oversight of some offi cials by others with similar or
competing authority, a system that refl ected above
all the distrust felt by the home government for its
agents. Other factors that tended to diminish the
authority of the governor were the vastness of the
country, the scattered population, the lack of social
stability, and the existence of enormous landhold-
ings in which the feudal power of the great planters
and cattle barons was virtually unchallenged.
The most important institution of local gov-
ernment was the Senado da Câmara (municipal
council). The infl uence of this body varied with
the size of the city. Whether elected by a restricted
property-owning electorate or chosen by the
crown, its membership represented the ruling class
of merchants, planters, and professional men. Elec-
tions were often marked by struggles for control
by rival factions, planters and creoles on one side,
merchants and peninsulars on the other. The au-
thority of the câmara extended over its entire co-
marca (district), which often was very large. But
its power was limited by the frequent intervention
of the ouvidor, who usually combined his judicial
functions with the administrative duties of corregi-
dor. Generally speaking, the greater the size and
wealth of the city, and the farther it was from the
viceregal capital, the greater its powers.
Both the crown and the municipal councils
levied numerous taxes, whose collection was usu-
ally farmed out to private collectors. In return for
making a fi xed payment to the treasury, these men
collected the taxes for the crown and could keep
the surplus once the set quota had been met. The
system, of course, encouraged fraud and extortion
of every kind. Another crippling burden on the