Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-04

soon it shall be asceraned what is the necessary cos
d pe rming said service
The company shall arrange with both Govern
ments touching the respective points the Amazon
Narration to which the steamboats, shall navigate and
concerning the ports ut which they are TO touch and
shall be subject to the fiscal and police regulations not
wthsandng their being liberated from imposts Of every
kind. tl
"ARrIcLE SECOND Each Government shall grant to the
company the proprety Of onefourth part of league
square at the places in which may be necessary
tabsh depot for combustibes, at any point not be-
longing to private persons but the title to the same
shall be forfeited unless the conditions above mentioned
be complied with during the five years 1t shall be law
fu TO cut WOOD Tor fuel ON unoccuped lands and
and work coal mines"
Under this treaty, Brazil has entered into an agree
ment with rneo Evangesta de Souza to introduce the
river steamer upon the Amazon.
This contract entered into the 3Oth day Of Au-
gust last and is of the odious monopoies that
ever inflicted upon free trade or that now retars
the progress of any country stringent monopoly of
steamboat trade and travel on the Amazon for thrty
The preamble to this contract states that in order
to enable this Souza form company for the establish
ment of steam navigation upon the Amazon the
right Tor thirty years to the steamboat trade travel and
navigation up and down that river has been granted to
hm upon certain conditions the principal Of which
these
100000, 100000 $OO0.)
ID There shall be two lines; one from Para at the
mouth of the Amazon, touching at the intermediate
places to Barra at the mouth Of the Rio Negro the
second from Barra touching aforesaid to Nauta at
the mouth of the Ucaya in Peru
3D. To the first line annual subsidy of $50 900
SOo0 is to be paid for the first fifteen years and
to the second line is to be paid the which by the
treaty OF huval navigation and commerce" of which
have already spoken, Peru obligated herself to paw.
4th AT the commencement the first line is to make one
round trip month; the second, three year.
The company, on the other hand obligates itself to do
certain things, and among these is establish on the
Amazon and its tributaries sixty colonies which shall
of Indians emgants from such nations as the
Crown may designate.
The first thing in this treaty Of fuvial commerce and
navigation between Peru and Brazil that strikes one is
the want of sagacty the part of its and
the marvellous degree of nfatuaton by which Peru fell
into the fimsy net that unskuy spread before
/ her.
When Peru was invited to treat upon this subject and
was told that Brazil wanted introduce the river steam
er upon Peruvian waters there was right at the mouth
OF the Amazon the Tocantins most magnificent stream
1t crosses parallels of latitude than our Mssissppi
or Missouri; it lies wholly within Brazilian territory
the banks of its upper tributaries are envened with
and villages and peopled with $4,000 subjects of
Brazil 1t takes its rise in the very heart of the empire
and from the Emperors palace Rio to the headwaters
Of this noble river the distance is not FIVE hundred miles
and yet with all the enterprise of Brazil she had not
able to put to muster energy enough to make the
attempt to put single steamer upon this river II was
little surprising them that the suspicious of Peru were
not excited for there something strange to see this
Brazilian envoy passing by the mouth of the noble Tocan
tins at home which his countrymen with their dug
outs and rude crafts ascend only the rate of seven
miles day It was strange say, to see this envoy
leaving the rivers in his country in such condition
and travelling thousands of miles up the Amazon to pro-
pose to Peru to send Brazilian steamers to navigate
among the Andes her tributaries of the Amazon
Besides this, there the Chingu and the Tapaios
with dozen other noble streams lying wholly within
Brazilian territory. Some of them come from noun
Of diamonds and gold is in the beds of all of them
They are all strangers to the steamboat Their sources
completely lost in the unknown regions of the vast
interior of Brazil that better acquainted with
geography Of the than with that Of these
rivers and yet seeing that and that Govern ment
had neglected them all, Peru could sll be induced to
listen to its shallow propositions
Nay, there is the beautiful river of San Francisco
which emptes directly into the sea- and the headwaters
Of which just behind the first range of hills in the
Of the capital of the empire Without having had
the energy introduce the steamboat even upon the atars
of this river the Chevaer Da Ponte sent off upon this
shallow mission about the headwaers of the Amazon
which by faulty the dpomststs of Peru it seems could
not fathom.
This attempt of Brazil to negotiate with those FIVE ANA
zonian republics be considered no other light than
an attempt to stop the progress of civilization for to
close the Amazon to and the steamboat is to
shut out from that benghted country which drains the
lights Of civilization the blessings of and
all the elements Of human happiness
But the treaty The Brizilian Minister am told did
not hesitate privately to advance the sentiment when in
Lima that 1t was not the policy Of Brazil to treat with
naons more powerful than herself that in the nterpre
OF treaties the stronger Power always enforced its
own construction and the weaker invariably went to
the wall.
at any rate, shall show how faithfully Brazil has act
ed up to this policy in the Of this treaty with Peru
ny II each OF the contracting parties pledged itself to
give annually sum not less than 900 for the intro
ducon Of the steamboat upon the waters of the Amazon
and what has been the RESULT Why this Brazil as we
have seen by the Souza contract has taken this $50 900
OF Peruvian money and given it one Of her own sub
Jects TO establish line Of steamers under her own flag
from the mouth Of the Rio Negro Nautathat is II
to run about 500 miles through Brazilian territory and
when 1t gets a few miles into Peru to stop short But
sun Peru must pay the piper When this line reaches
the mouth OF the Rio Negro it is to feed there with its
freighs another line under the Brazilian flag to Para
mus Peru TO get about $50 miles hort sands If