many that are in our country" and that it would contribute to the "decay of the race". Despite his efforts, the amount of people that immigrated to Minas Gerais was smaller than other Brazilian states, as they offered better payment and working conditions; the system of indentured servitude, weather and cholera epidemics made Minas Gerais less attractive for immigrants. Path to the presidency (1895–1905) Pena left the government of Minas Gerais in 1894, being succeeded by Bias Fortes. In 1895, he was appointed president of the Bank of the Republic, the current Bank of Brazil, by president Prudente de Morais. It was the main Brazilian banking institution at the time. Pena remained as president of the bank until 1898. In 1900, he held the position of president of the Deliberative Council of Belo Horizonte, with similar functions to the later established City Council. At the same time, he returned to the state Senate, where he stayed until 1902. In 1903, Pena was appointed vice president of the Republic by president Rodrigues Alves, following the death of Silviano Brandão, vice president-elect. At the time, the vice presidents exercised, cumulatively, the position of president of the Federal Senate. In the 1906 election, he was the candidate for the presidency of the Republic for the O Bloco coalition, formed by the states of Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. Pena easily defeated his opponents, president of state and senator Ruy Barbosa, obtaining 288,285 votes, or 97.92% of the valid votes. Senator Nilo Peçanha, from the same presidential ticket, was elected vice president with 92.96% of the votes. Presidency (1906–1909) Before taking office, Pena toured the country, traveling over 21,000 kilometers and visiting eighteen state capitals. He became the sixth president of Brazil on 15 November 1906. Despite being elected on the basis of the so-called "coffee with milk politics", he carried out an administration that was not entirely tied to regional interests. He encouraged the creation of railways, and connected the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro by telegraph with Cândido Rondon's expedition. In 1906, the Pena government adopted the gold standard, creating the , setting the exchange rate to the Pound, at a value of 1 mil-réis to 15 pence. Pena made the first state purchase of coffee stocks in the Old Republic, thus transferring the burden of coffee value appreciation to the Federal Government, which was previously