The Cornerstones of Modern Government Maps, Weights and Measures and Census in Liberal Portugal (19 Th Century)
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European University Institute Department of History and Civilisation The Cornerstones of Modern Government Maps, Weights and Measures and Census in Liberal Portugal (19 th century) Rui Miguel Carvalhinho Branco Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor in History and Civilisation from the European University Institute Florence, August, 2005 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of History and Civilisation The Cornerstones of Modern Government Maps, Weights and Measures and Census in Liberal Portugal (19 th century) Rui Miguel Carvalhinho Branco Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of the European University Institute Examining jury: Professor Raffaele Romanelli, Università di Roma «La Sapienza» (supervisor) Professor Peter Becker, Institut für Neuere Geschichte und Zeitgeschichte, Universität Linz (co-supervisor) Professor Matthew H. Edney, University of Southern Maine, Portland Professor Pedro Tavares de Almeida, Universidade Nova de Lisboa Acknowledgements Before starting to unravel the tangle in which very possibly I have plunged, I would like to express my gratitude to all those which have supported, helped, commented or otherwise assisted me in taking the dive. Their comments were wise, their support priceless, their help generous – and much appreciated. All errors to be found are, therefore, my own doing, not theirs. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Raffaelle Romanelli, for his unfailing support, witticism, criticism and invaluable irony with which he saw fit to supervise this work, and myself. There were good times to be had and slightly rougher times to be sad, but his experienced advise was always there to file away the excess of anxiety and get things back to proportion. I would also like to express my deepest thanks to my co-supervisor, Professor Peter Becker, with whom to chat away on the thesis was a veritable joy, and from whose deep and broad insights I benefited and – most importantly – learned. Among the older and newer friends, a special word of gratitude goes to Cristina Joanaz, Ruediger von Krosigk, Ricardo Roque, Tiago Fernandes, Giulia Albanese, Professor Diogo Ramada Curto, Professor Rui Santos and Professor Jaime Reis. To Pernille Arenfeldt, especially, for having read and commented extensive parts of the manuscript, my takke . None of the following would have been possible without the love and support of my parents and my friends, the latter ones felicitiously enlarged with my stay in Florence. Thank you. I thank thee, Susana, and cannot but feel fettered by understatement. You now what I mean. Of all the things beautiful for which I am grateful to you, let me pick one: since the thing perhaps is / to eat flower and not be afraid – the very best, I daresay the only, epigraph this dissertation could possibly have. The undertaking of this dissertation, my stay in Florence and various extended periods of archival research, would have not been possible without the scholarships granted by the Direcção-Geral dos Assuntos Comunitários-Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia) – Programa POCTI , whom I hereby thank. Editorial Norms and Abbreviations used Orthography was updated, and punctuation kept. All translations are my own. AHIGP – Arquivo Histórico do Instituto Geográfico Português. AHM – Arquivo Histórico Militar. AHMOP – Arquivo Histórico do Ministério das Obras Públicas. CCPM – Comissão Central de Pesos e Medidas. CGT do Reino – Comissão Geodésica e Topográfica do Reino. DCD – Diário da Câmara dos Deputados. DGAC – Direcção-Geral da Administração Civil. DGG – Depósito Geral da Guerra. DGIP – Direcção-Geral de Instrução Pública (Ministério do Reino). DGTGCH do Reino – Direcção-Geral dos Trabalhos Geodésicos, Corográficos e Hidrográficos do Reino. DGTGCHG do Reino – Direcção-Geral dos Trabalhos Geodésicos, Corográficos, Hidrográficos e Geológicos do Reino. DGTGEPM – Direcção-Geral dos Trabalhos Geográficos, Estatísticos e de Pesos e Medidas. IAN/TT – Instituto dos Arquivos Nacionais/Torre do Tombo. IG – Instituto Geográfico. IGPM – Inspecção-Geral de Pesos e Medidas. MOPCI – Ministério das Obras Públicas, Comércio e Indústria. MR – Ministério do Reino. RPM – Repartição de Pesos e Medidas. Table of contents Table of contents 1 General Introduction 5 Notes 14 Introductory Chapter 15 A. Concepts 15 Modern statecraft 15 A critique 21 An argument 23 State formation and science making: an alternative framework 25 B. Themes 34 Map-making 34 Weights and measures 38 Statistics and the census 41 C. Putting the object in to focus 47 Notes 50 Part I To become modern: emergence of modern technologies of government (from late Ancien Régime to Liberalism) Chapter I - Cartographic Policies before the «Regeneration»: from the Carta 57 Topographica do Reino to the Carta Chorographica do Reino (1788-1852) The idea of a General Map of the Kingdom 57 The integrated topographic and cadastral survey policy 60 Ciera’s heritage and the rebirth of 1834-1848 61 The Report of April 3, 1848 69 The Commission of Parcelled Topographic Cadastre 71 The heart of the Folque-Franzini polemic of 1850 77 Changes in the structure of the cartographic model 83 The property tax and the cadastre 83 Map-making: change and reordering 89 Notes 93 1 Chapter II - The Metric failure: Portuguese weights and measures from late Ancien 100 Régime to Liberalism The invention of the metre: towards « la France une et indivisible » 100 «One Law, One King, One Weight, and One Measure» 101 Uses of Nature 102 Resistance 104 Late Ancien Régime Portugal: going slightly metric 107 The 1815-1820 debate: which new system? 114 Weights and measures on the eve of the Liberal Revolution 125 Constitutional Liberalism 129 In the aftermath of civil war, 1834-1840 130 The 1840 external committee to the House of Peers 134 Going slightly metric, again: 1845-1851 135 The 1845 parliamentary debate 135 The 1849 polemic between Silva Lopes and Franzini 147 The 1850 parliamentary debate 151 Conclusion 159 Notes 162 Part II The machinery of the state in the process of becoming modern (1852 to ca. 1878) Chapter III – Map-making, fieldwork and statecraft 168 Policy and institutions: giving cartography a framework 169 The 1852-Cartographic Programme spelled out 172 Programme development: institutionalisation 174 Legal framework 174 Monies 176 Personnel 180 Codification 181 The mangle of cartographic practice 183 A summary of geodetic map-making 183 Fieldwork 188 Campaigns and daily time 188 Travail d’écriture 190 Health and weather conditions 191 Terrain, circulation and transportation 193 2 Manpower, construction materials and supplies 195 Inspectorate and apprenticeship 196 Demolition of «pyramids» 197 Assaults and insults 200 Identity 202 Conclusion 204 Notes 212 Chapter IV - The (slow) acceptance of the metric system: from Nature to Society, and 218 everyday life The reform bill 218 The Department of Weights and Measures 223 The social construction of acceptance 227 The inspectorate 229 How to make the metric familiar 230 Managing administrative interaction 232 Comparing old and new standards: the 1858 inspection and reports 233 The diffusion issue 239 The leading character 240 The enlightened rescue of «The People» 243 The role of the Church 246 Are schoolmasters teaching the metric system? 248 The metre and the kilogram are enforced 257 Legal framework 257 The resistible metric system 260 Popular resistance 260 Lisbon 260 Porto 262 Almodôvar 264 Setúbal 266 Institutional resistance 267 Nomenclature 267 Metre yes, kilo no 268 The domino reaction 268 The force of habit and the need to change normality 269 Defining authorities as the culprits 271 Implementation Reports 275 3 The collaborative efforts of inspectors 276 Prudence will beget more profitable results than fines 278 Prudence is not enough 279 The centrality of markets 281 The misbehaving ignorant people 282 Conclusion 283 Notes 290 Chapter V - Counting people in: the first Portuguese «modern census» of 1864 297 The Portuguese liberal model 297 The issue of (civil) registration 298 Attrition and state machinery in the decades of 1830 and 1840 302 The institutional context of the 1864 census 304 The International Congresses of Statistics 307 Attrition e state machinery in the decades of 1850 and 1860 311 The case of military recruitment 316 The general population census of 1864 320 The advisory report of 1861 321 The shaping of the census: decrees and instructions in 1863 323 Findings and execution of the 1864 census 331 Conclusion 336 Notes 340 Conclusion 346 Notes 361 Index of maps, tables, charts and figures 362 Sources and Bibliography 363 Annex – Historical Timeline 404 4 General Introduction It cannot be denied that Cadastre, Topography, and Statistics, being a consequence of geodetic operations, are the cornerstones of the science of government; wherefrom we can deduce the knowledge of the facts, which is the foundation of true knowledge. Therefore, it is the strict obligation of a government that calls itself enlightened [...] to constantly promote said means of governance. Filipe Folque, the leading nineteenth century Portuguese cartographer and head of the map-making Department from 1848 to 1874, authored the above quote in 1864. 1 Succinctly, it lines up my basic research issues. At a general level, my aim is to understand the consolidation of the modern state as a centre of political and administrative power. This topic can hardly be explored empirically as a whole. It is necessary to find historically situated «anchors» or «windows» from where to observe it. Traditionally, literature on historical state modernization focuses on war, taxes, recruitment and the political system – and Portuguese historiography is no exception. While these research topics are all plainly important, I chose differently. To observe an historical instance of state formation, I chose another set of inter-related issues: map- making, metrological reform and census-taking in Liberal Portugal. Looking closely at how such policies were put into practice, I seek to illuminate the nature and dynamics of historical Portuguese state development.