The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, DEC. 8, 1893.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10215, 8 December 1893, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY , DEC. 8, 1893.

It is now some four years since the Mndly old Dom Pedro was quietly dispossessed of that Brazilian throne on which he had sat peacefully as Emperor for half a century. Whether the act of those who turned him ont was a glorious revolution accomplished by the leaders of a noble people struggling to be free, or whether it was a petty piece of treachery plotted and carried out by a clique of military adventurers at the behest of the great slave-owning and landowning families of Brazil, we need not here stay to enquire. The world at large was informed at the time that the Brazilian nation had gained its liberty; the Republic was proclaimed with the usual honours, and Dom Pedro and his family were respectfully but promptly shipped off to Europe. The change was managed with such complete ease and speed that the fall of the last monarchy on American soil seemed rather ignominious; yet it did not require much knowledge or experience of South American affairs to cause observers to predict a full crop of trouble for the young Eepublic, Pree institutions supported by uni-

vernal suffrage and a national system o£ secular education are great and glorious things, as New Zealand ought to know; but free institutions have a habit of pining away in the tropics., A population half of which consists of negroes and a moiety of the remainder of half-breeds is not likely to use universal suffrage with the completest prudence and wisdom. Moreover, it is one thing to decree a national system of secular education and quite another thing to enforce it among a people the major portion of whom do not know how to read and do not want to learn. Added to all this, free institutions, however excellent, are apt to be expensive, and South American Republicans, even when well meaning, are not precisely the most cautious of financiers. It therefore surprised no one to learn in four years the Republican administrators of Brazil managed to run as short of cash as of popularity. They have offended the white landowners without creating enthusiasm , amongst their enfranchised coloured i dependents, and have made mortal enemies of the clergy without doing much in the way of educating the people.

Had the Republican political leaders been exceptionally able or unselfish men they might even then have struggled unsuccessfully with the Herculean task of reforming a community consisting for the most part of slothful negroes, brutal halfcastes and half-educated Portuguese creoles; but there is nothing to show that either Marshal da Fonseca, who deposed the Emperor Pedro, or President Plorian Peixoto, who in turn deposed Fonseca, was a man of exceptional merit or power. Fonseca’s chief feat seems to have been that two years ago he got away quietly with a whole skin. It remains to be seen whether his supplanter will be equally successful. Peixoto appears to have brought matters to a crisis some months ago by a determined effort to obtain for himself the power of nominating his successor. The election of the next President for Brazil was to take place in March, 1894 A Bill had been passed through both Houses of the Brazilian Parliament rendering any President ineligible for re-elec-tion. This measure Peixoto vetoed, and insisted that he should have the right given him to nominate his successor. "We can easily imagine that be bad excellent reasons for desiring that his successor should be of the “right colour,” and not likely to pry too closely into his own acts. The stand thus taken by the President put the match to the powder magazine. Admiral Mello, an experienced revolutionary, who had a hand in the removal of both Dom Pedro and Marshal Fonseca, took possession of the Brazilian fleet lying in the harbour at Rio de Janeiro, and hoisted the flag of revolt. The ease with which this was done shows that the navy must have been in a state of the direst discontent. The situation in the beautiful capital of Brazil at once became little short of appalling. The insurgent fleet completely commanded the harbour, but the troops on shore seem to have been faithful and too strong to let Admiral Mallo attempt a landing. Moreover, the fort of Santa Cruz and the batteries of the city of Nictheroy, a country town lying on the opposite side of the harbour to Rio de Janeiro, so entirely swept with their fire the harbour’s entrance as to make escape into the Atlantic difficult; indeed, one large ironclad, the Javary, was sunk by one of these batteries.

: For nearly two months the insurgent fleet remained cooped up in the harbour cruising about bombarding by fits and starts the forts and the great arsenal, and occasionally throwing shells into the city itself- The panic among the citizens at the commencement of the bombardment is described as frightful, and we can well conceive that the description is correct. Had Admiral Mello been destitute of humanity he could have converted the steep, narrow streets of Eio into shambles and butchered thousands of the people with his shells; but from such accounts as have reached us he appears to have tried to avoid useless slaughter, and also to have been warned by the commanders of English and French warships lying in the harbour that such a cruel and savage thing as the bombardment of the open town would not be permitted. The result has been that since September there has been something like a deadlock at the Brazilian capital lit up and misdescribed by colossal telegraphic lying and counterlying, depicting many brilliant and sanguinary successes on both sides. President Peixoto is reported to have made great efforts to get together a fleet in the West Indies to cope with the insurgents. It is possible that there is some truth in this, inasmuch as during the last few days Admiral Mello’s fleet has forced a passage out of Eio harbour into the ocean, presumably with a view of attacking the President’s vessels. One of the insurgent ironclads is said to have sunk a transport vessel carrying over 1200 of the President’s troops, moat of whom were drowned. Bsports also reach us of continued successes by the insurgents in the Brazilian provinces and in particular in the districts of the Eio Negro and Eio Q-rande do Sul. It is stated that the important coastal town of Pernambuco has fallen into their hands. "We cannot, however, lay too much stress upon the necessity of steadfastly disbelieving South American political telegrams. As a rule it is well, during the process of a civil war in the southern half of the New World, to suspend one’s judgment entirely. A certain amount of truth comes out after the triumph of one side or the other, hut not before. For instance, to return to this particular civil war in Brazil, our readers will remember that in the last week of September it was distinctly stated that President Peixoto had evacuated Eio and fled into the interior. So far was this from being true that nearly two months afterwards the greatest triumph the commander of the insurgent fleet is able to secure is to get away from Eio harbour himself, apparently rather in the condition of a fugitive than a conqueror. But we are iaclined

to think that the chances wo still rather against the President, The Brazilian army is not fi strong one; indeed, its nominal strength is not at the most supposed to bo more than 35,000 men. At anyrata, the navy, which includes twelve firsts class ironclads, is quite disproportionately powerful, and the long coast line of Brazil exposes almost all the most valuable towns and provinces to the attacks of Admiral Hello’s fleet, The story of Peixoto’e efforts to buyships in North America and torpedoed in England may be correct, but of course it is very much easier to buy ships and torpedoes than it is to get brave and efficient crews to use them. To sum up, therefore, there seems to be no immediate prospect of a peaceful solution of the troubles which now afflict Brazil, The only ray of light in the confused and gloomy picture is that the departure of the insurgent fleet from Bio leaves that harbour again peaceful and secure. This at any rate is something gained for the trading world in general, and in this gain New Zealand participates.