BRAZIL. 



73 



bo done, and are willing to accept any moderate 



measure of emancipation which would restore 



tiMmmillity and give them renewed credit. 



are even taking stops of their own, and 



freeing slaves on condition of serving for 



d term, or during the life of the owners. 



Tlio views of these Liberal Conservatives 

 , it seems, shared by tho Emperor, and 

 thus led to a ministerial crisis in August. Ac- 

 cording to a writer from Rio, the origin of the 

 . i isis was the difference of tho views of the 

 Ititliorahy Cabinet from those entertained by 

 the Emperor in regard to tho emancipation 

 measure reported by the special committee of 

 the Chamber of Representatives. The conduct 

 of the ministry in respect to tho question be- 

 fore the committee was from the first plainly 

 tinctured with hostility, and it tried in various 

 ways to prevent, or to delay, as long as possi- 

 ble, the report of the committee. Owing, 

 however, to the exertions of three of the five 

 members, the bill was reported, greatly to the 

 disgust of the ministry, in time to be debated 

 during the session if undue obstacles were not 

 thrown in the way. To prevent action, and 

 to shelve the bill, became then the Govern- 

 ment policy, and in consequence of this the 

 Emperor on August 24th put the question 

 directly to the Visconde de Itaborahy whether 

 the ministry purposed taking any action this 

 session upon the committee's bill. On receiv- 

 ing the reply that the ministry did not intend 

 to bring the bill up at this session, the Erfperor 

 showed much discontent, and told his minister 

 that the conduct of the Cabinet in relation to 

 emancipation was compromising him (the Em- 

 peror) greatly. The premier then said that 

 the ministry had no intention to compromise 

 his Majesty, but that it considered the provi- 

 sions abolishing slave-births of so important a 

 kind as to require long consideration, and that 

 if his Majesty believed that the present Cabinet 

 was compromising his word, it would feel it to 

 be a duty to retire. His Majesty then simply said 

 "Good," and turned away abruptly, putting 

 an end to the interview for the time. After- 

 ward he signified his desire that the Govern- 

 ment should allow the bill to be taken up at an 

 early date ; and, if the ministry should refuse 

 .to agree to the implied ultimatum, it was un- 

 derstood that its resignation would be at once 

 accepted, and that Visconde do S. Vicente, a 

 Conservative Senator of emancipatory tenden- 

 cies, would be charged with tho formation of 

 a ministry, which would adopt the committee's 

 slave-bill, and, if possible, carry it through 

 the Chambers at this session. The Visconde de 

 8. Vicente is a man of very high reputation as 

 a statesman and political and legal writer, and 

 some years ago brought a bill into the Senate 

 to promote the gradual abolition of slavery. 



In September the ministry introduced a bill 

 to authorize the Emperor to free gratuitously 

 any or all of those "slaves of the nation " to 

 whoso usufruct he is entitled. Heretofore he 

 could free them only by paying their value to 



tho national treasury, and in many cases ho 

 did so, although he did not avail himself of tho 

 usufruct of the hundreds under his control. 

 The plea for the bill was tho very fair one that 

 his Majesty should be relieved from the neces- 

 sity of paying the value of those ho set free. 

 At tho second reading, a motion was made 

 that the Chamber declare preference between 

 it and the general bill of the Special Com- 

 mittee on Slavery. In answer to this challenge, 

 given by the minority, tho Minister of tho 

 Empire declared that they would accept or 

 propose an amendment to authorize the Gov- 

 ernment to free gratuitously the remainder 

 of the national slaves, and that it would 

 also push on a bill of last year, ordering a 

 registration of all the slaves in the empire. 

 More thfen this tho Government would not 

 yield this session, and he declared that ho 

 would accept the vote of the House in regard 

 to the question of preference as a vote of con- 

 fidence or its want. With this understanding 

 the vote was taken, and the Government 

 secured its point by, a majority of fifty- four to 

 twenty-one. 



Notwithstanding this vote of confidence in 

 the ministry, in October a new Cabinet was 

 formed, as follows : Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Viscount de Sao Vicente ; Minister of State, 

 Oliveira ; Minister of Finance, Homen ; Minister 

 of Justice, Barras ; Minister of Commerce, Tei- 

 xeira; Minister of the Marine, Souza-Franco ; 

 Minister of War, General Caldwell. It was ex- 

 pected that the new ministry would carry out 

 the views of the Emperor concerning emanci- 

 pation. 



The long war with Paraguay was brought 

 to a close in March by the death of President 

 Lopez. A preliminary peace with the Pro- 

 visional Government of Paraguay was con- 

 cluded on the 2d of June. {See PARAGUAY.) 



The emancipation of slaves is making steady 

 progress. The 7th t>f September, the anniver- 

 sary of independence, was kept in most of the 

 provinces by freeing slaves. In Bahia the 

 Emancipation Society freed forty-five, chiefly 

 children. In St. Paulo a planter has libera- 

 ted some two hundred slaves, probably, how- 

 ever, on condition of working for him dur- 

 ing a term of years. A Masonic lodge, called 

 the Segredo, attached to the Grand Orient of 

 Brazil, freed twenty-one children on the 26th, 

 and engaged to educate and take charge of 

 them until able to gain their living. Tho Grand 

 Master Councillor Saldanha Marenho appealed 

 to the ladies present to form an emancipation 

 society, and seventy-three of them at onco 

 signed a document organizing the Society of 

 Liberation, pledging themselves to aid tho 

 cause of emancipation in every way consistent 

 with right and modesty. The Grand Orient has 

 pronounced decisively in favor of advocating 

 and assisting emancipation. 



Considerable alarm is caused by the great 

 spread of cretinism and goitre. It was reported 

 that a great number of the inhabitants of the 



