The morning call., 1894-02-01
THE INCIDENT AT RIO.


and it may be we'll to suspend judgment
on what has happened until official advices
see the light. Some of the dispatches re-
veal an attempt to supply lack of infor-
nation by flight of fancy.
Some days ago rumor gained currency
that Peixoto and Admiral da CANA had
agreed to submit their differences to the
arbitration of Admiral Benham. The
agreement was said to have been submitted
on January 19. The story was discredlted
at Washington; at the Navy Department
reporters were informed that Admiral
Benham could not have assumed the office
OF arbitrator W ithout the sanction of this
Government. and that no dispatch asking
for such sanction bad been received. AT
the same time it was understood at that
time. say January 20. that Admiral Ben
ham was in daily Intercourse with Admiral
da CANA. the American flagship New
York lying in close proximity to the Bra
lillian insurgent flagship Aquidaban. The
status in the harbor of Rio was not as
we'll defined as it might have been. Da
Cana claimed the right of BLOCKADE. and
under that claim he asserted that he could
and would prevent foreign merchantmen
from tying up at the wharves. Admiral
Benham denied the right. 1t is this which
led to the incident of the 29th.
An American vessel. after due notice to
the insurgent feet. proceeded toward the
wharf at which she was to moor. Da
Cana, from his flagship, fired shot across
her bows, signal TO proceed ne further :;
on this the Detroit, which. under Ben
hams orders, had cleared for action early
that morning, replied with shell, which
struck the stern post of the insurgent
vessel. The latter then fired a gun to
leeward TO signify that he would fight no
more, and the affair ended. Other ac-
counts imply that several vessels of the
American squadron were engaged and a
number of shots exchanged, involving loss
of life. but these stories need confirmation.
as also does the tale of the surrender of
Da Cana to the American admiral. They
may. however. prove true, in which case
the United States will find itself involved
in the civil war in Brazil. and compelled
by the necessities of the case to bring it to
a close.
The point involved Is one OF the obscure
problems Of the International law of
blockade. During the war of the re bel
lion the Union navy blockaded the entire
southern coast. from Cape Henry to the
Rio GraDde. At first the blockade was a
paper blockade. but as the war progressed
it became effectual, and foreign merchant
men attempting TO effect q landing at
Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston. Savan-
nah. Mobile or Galveston were captured and
sold as prizes, without protest by the na-
tions whose flag they flOated. In these cases
the blockade was enforced by an established
nation with recognized maritime rights
The squadron under Da Cana, which
now claims to be blockading Rio. carries
no national flag Of its own, but only the
flag OF the nation whose ports it is trying
to blockade. 1t represents body of insur-
gents who have not been recognized as
belligerents by any power. In public law
it occupies no higher position than that
OF maritime fTeebooiers or pirates. AS
such, neutrals cannot concede to it any
right to interfere with their commerce. 1t
is no part OF the business of neutrals to
interfere in its strife against the recog-
nized Government of Brazil; but nothing
has happened which has deprived neutraIs
of the right of protecting their own YES
sells against moleStation by its armed
SHIPS
If, at the outset Of the War OF the Rebel
lion, before the rebels had been recognized
as belligerents, a vessel bearing the flag of
the Confederacy had fired upon an English
ship entering the port of New York under
the pretense that that port was block AIDED
by the Secession Government the case
would have been parallel to the act of Ad-
miral da Cana on January 29 What the
result would have been need not here be
explained. Indeed the conduct OF the Bra
lillian insurgents is so inexpli cable that it
almost seem. to imply a purpose to pro-
woke collision which would lead to a sur
render to the American squadron, in order
to evade the humiliation of a capitulation
to their own Government