Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-09
JOHN BULLS WIRES,
Both Literally and Figuratively the
Cause of Brazil's Trouble.
The FINANCES AND TELEGRAPHS
Manipulated For the Benefit Of the British
Capitalists.
No IMMINENT DANGER OF BLOoDSHED
-rscN A STAFF CORRESPONDENCE

another revolution in Brazil should be wei
shaken and properly seasoned before being
swallowed by our people" remarked Majo
J. O. Kerbey, recently tie United State!
Consul at the mouth of the Amazon; anC
about whom, it will be recalled, the Rit
Government officially protested to the Pres
ident on account of the publication in THT
DISPATCH of a series of letters, some o.
which contained critical comment on the
new Republic which toreshadowed this Later
South American evolution.
The history of the new Republic of Bra
I'll may be told in one sentence" continued
the Major. "ln the last days of the En-.
plre under the reign of Dam Pedro IL, the
Brazilian reis, which is the currency of the
realm, was equivalent to 81 cents gold. it:
par: after is months of Republican 'dicta
torship' the same milreis is worth about 3;
cents
These are the undisputed facts and fig.
ures, which speak volumes Columns have
been printed and voluminous official reports
circulated, partly by the Bureau Of Amer.
lean Republics, which are calculated to &C.
count for or explain 10 outsiders this steady
decline in the new Republics finances.
All Interested in Exchange.
''As the United States Consul at Para,
during the past year, and as an old news.
paper fiend, with only the bald reputation
of being a keen observer, / was kept in a
continual sweat, in that perspiring latitude,
by attempting to keep the Government
posted on the probable causes for this fall
ing barometer, which seems to portend a
financial cyclone as we'll as to indicate
further political evolutions.
THE first glance at a morning Portuguese
paper Is TO the commercial column, which
prints the closing quotation of the previous
day: when two friends meet in the street
they discuss in the hot sun, under their um-
hrellas, the all important question of 'ex-
change We get exchange in pounds,
shlllings and pence for breakfast and din
ner. and after dark the clubs gamble on the
probable rate of exchange of the following
uav.
The remarkable feature to a stranger is
that all this exchange is posted Through
The English banks, which receive their in
structions over telegraph wires owned and
controlled BY English capital in London,
and everybody seems TO accept, without
question, the quotations that come up from
headquarters in this manner.
Censorship of Teiegrams
Precisely the same conditions exist in
regard to the transmission of anv political
intelligence over the telegraphs owned and
controlled by English officials and those
under the control of the Brazilian Govern
ment-ail subjected to official censorship no
cipher dispatches being transmitted. In
sense England has mortgage on Brazil. the
conditions being similar to those of Chile.
Brazilian politics are even more incom-
prehensible than are the finances of tine
New Republic. When a physician visits a
patient his first move is a quiet reach for
the pulse; with watch in hand, he intentlv
counts the beats, paying but little attention
TO the rambling talk or. perhaps, the be-
seeching and inploring glance Of the
sick person. So il is with the sick nations,
which require the services of a doctor, the
physician is the capitalist who examines the
pulse, which is likened TO the exchange, or
gold rate, and makes his recommendation
or writes his prescriptions according to the
healthtulness of the body polite as indi-
Gated by this exchange pulsation.
IAN American visitor who may under
take to gain information from an intelligent
Brazilian may be apt to conclude that the
affairs of State are still very much mixed,
and the farther he pursues his investigation
the more fully convinced he will become
that the masses of the people have noproper
conception of the Importance to each citizen
of the change from an empire to a republi-
can form of government. The usual COM
mrnt is that the native population are
habitually indifferent to all such matters.
Ny personal observation led me to the
opinion that il is not so much question of
indifference as of arrant stupidity.
Caused by the Climate.
'Unuuestionably to the terrible climate
under the equator must be chargeable much
of this inherent weakness of the population
that are born and raised under its depress-
ing influence. The leading spirits are
either aliens or natives who have been edu-
Gated abroad. The Brazilian of the
Amazon Valley of mature years acts in i'm
portant business or political matters in a
manner that leads the Anglo-Saxon to think
that the brain has not developed with the
growth of the body-they frequently con-
duct grave affairs after the manner of boys
Having been SO long accustomed to the
paternal form of government, as yet the
masses are practically incapable Of selfgov-
eminent,
''The natural consequence is that the
Republic is in the hands of a few-ayerv
few-of the leading minds, vino manage and
control almost everything pertaining
thereto. Whether these leaders are the un-
scrupulous and scheming men, as charged
by their enemies, remains to be developed.
Really there are no politics in Brazil to
speak OF. There are no organized parties as
with us, simply because there are no issues
at stake, except, perhaps, that of the cleri- !
cal party, which is quite Insignificant in /
numbers and influence.
sit is remarkable truth however. that |
although a Catholic country, but few of the |
voters (who admit their Catholicism) are |
friendly to the church party. That part of |
the Republican Constitution which sepa- |
rates the Church and State is the most
popular with the people 1t would be safe
to saw that the members of the party at
present in power are altogether Catholics, |
and those of the opposition are of the same
creed. Therefore, there being no question
of tariff, civil service reform, etc, it
resolves itself 10 the single issue of Gins"
and ''0uts. The party cry of the Outs
is that the Gins" are robbers. 1t is the
same old South American story that the
party in power make the most of their op-
portunity to collect the enormous import
and export revenues, a greater percentage
of which ii is charged is being regularly |
invested in European securities, with a
view TO such future contingencies as these
dispatches indicate.
A Revolution by the Army.
'It is well known that the revolution
which overthrew Dom Pedro ii. did not
come from or through the people, but was
conceived snd executed by the army, the
poDulaee fully giving its adherence TO the
new order of things. This placed General
Deodora Fonseca, of the Brazilian Army, at
the head of the new Government as Mill
tary Dictator for a probationary period of
ono vear durino which time electiopS mara |