The Frankfort roundabout. [volume] (Frankfort, Ky.) 1882-1908, 1894-02-03
General Comment.

III A"iOpS 40 well, ny VIC dIliiouHCo-
ment in the afternoon papers of
Tuesday that the insurgent feet in
the harbor of Rio had fired upon the
Brazilian Squadron of the U. s. Navy,
under Admiral Benham, and that the
latter had returned the fire so
promptly and vigorously as to com.
pei Admiral Da Cana, who was in
command of the feet in the absence
of De Mello, leader of the revolution,
10 surrender to the Stars and Stripes.
Later advices, however, show that the
affair was greatly exaggerated, as
only three musket shots were fired,
but it seems to be we'll authenticat-
ed fact that Da Cana was upon the
point of surrending his feet and
seeking asylum upon the U. 8. Ships,
and was only prevented from so do
ing by his younger officers.
Sc
The whole affair grew out of the
refusal of Admiral Benham to recog-
nize the blockade which the revolu-
ZIONIST feet had attempted to put up
on Rio harbor, in the effort to starve
the city into surrender. De Mello,
the leader of the insurgents, and his
party have not been recognized as
belligerents by any of the maritime
powers and hence according to the
law Of nations, neither he nor his
lieutenant, Da Cana, had the right
to declare or enforce blockade up
on the harbor. There being several
merchantmen flying the U. s. flag in
the outer harbor which were DESTROYS
of landing at the wharves of the
city, Admiral Benham served notice
upon Da Cana that his men-of.war
would escort them into port, and
that any attempt to stop them would
be construed as a declaration of
hostilites and would draw the fire of
his guns. Under such circumstances
Da CANA was Of course unable to
successfully maintain the blockade.
and proposed to surrender to Admir-
al Benham rather than to President
Peixoto, of Brazil. His officers re-
fusing to consent to such surrender,
however, still leaves the insurgent
fleet as a menace to Rio, and as De
Mello, the rebel leader, has made
great gains in the provinces of
Brazil, the revolution may yet prove
a success without the enforcement of
the attempted blockade Of the port
Of the capital.
The action of Admiral Benham has,
of course, drawn the customary
growl from the British Lion. 1t is
generally believed by those in this
country who have watched the
course of events in our sister Repub-
lie, that De Mello has the secret en-
couragement of England, and this, if
true, will of course explain the reas-
on why the English ships in the har-
Dor have recognized the blockade Of
the city, although compelled to do so
by neither law nor precedent. 1t will
also be readily seen what spiri t
produces the growl at Admiral Ben
hams action, which action, however,
has met with the entire and un-
qualified approval of the authorities at
Washington, and of the country gen.
orally.
The defeat in the House Of Repre-
sentatives on Wednesday of that por-
ton of the proposed new Internal
Revenue Law which extended the
bonded period on whisky to eight
years, and the leaving Of the period
at the present term of three years,
while still increasing the tax ten
cents per gallon, is severe blow to
the distillers of the country, but par.
to those Of Kentucky. The
increase in the tax was not greatly
objected to if accompanied by the
extension of time, but If the bill be.
comes a law in it's present shape it
will be the most unpopular Internal
Revenue measure which was ever
enacted. The Income Tax is load
enough for any bill to carry even if
It's other provisions meet popular ap-
proyal, and we venture the predic-
ton that both Of these obnoxious
measures will be repealed by the