BRAZIL. 



95 



liill fixing the procedure for the impeachment 



of the I'lv-ioVnt. When President da Ponseca 

 I it, tin- Chamber pa-sed 11 motion to over- 

 ;he veto, \\hereiipon the President dis- 

 ! Congress by a decree published on Nov. 8. 

 Arinid force was used to clow; the Chambers. 

 Martini law \vns proclaimed in tin- Federal Dis- 

 t n(i. Tin- rupture was preceded by riotous 

 disturbances in Uio on Oct. 8, and was attended 

 ret fighting on Nov. 4. President Deodoro 

 i-cra proclaimed himself Dictator on the 



invitation of ollicers of the army, announcing 

 that lie would fix a date later for the election of 

 representatives of the nation. The army and a 

 part of the navy supported him in his course of 

 net ion, which he declared, in a manifesto, to be 

 dm- to irregular proceedings of Congress and 

 tin' etTorts of the promoters of a restoration of 

 tlic monarchy. lie convoked a new Congress 

 charged with the revision of the Constitution, 

 which is to meet in January, 1892. The min- 

 isters, with the exception of Baron de Lucena, 

 who, like Gen. Deodoro, was formerly an Im- 

 perialist, all resigned their portfolios. The sus- 

 pension of the Constitution caused much popular 

 dissatisfaction in many of the States, most of all 

 in Uio Grande do Sul, where the local Govern- 

 ment ordered the National Guard under arms, 

 and the authority of the Dictator was repu- 

 diated. President da Fonseca ordered troops 

 to Rio Grande to prevent the State authorities 

 from carrying their declaration of independence 

 into effect. On Nov. 10, the State of GrSo Pard 

 likewise declared its independence. A decree 

 was published making expulsion from Brazil the 

 penalty for resisting the Dictatorship. The re- 

 volt against the Central Government in Rio 

 Grande do Sul, which began on the night of 

 Nov. 9, spread rapidly. The Government troops 

 at Yu^araon and in two other garrisons went over 

 to the rebels, who were led by Gen. Fernandez. 



The Government had about 6,000 troops, half 

 the army, in Rio Grande do Sul. Of these, five 

 infantry regiments and one of cavalry deserted 

 to the insurgents as soon as*the revolt was pro- 

 claimed. Large bodies of volunteers were raised, 

 with the intention of gaining possession of the 

 whole province before the naval and military re- 

 enforcements arrived. Of the towns, only Porto 

 Aleirre, the capital, Yugaraon, and Santa Vic- 

 toria supported the dictatorship. Gen. Fernan- 

 dez advanced on the capital, capturing Santa 

 Anna to the north of it, which offered little re- 

 sistance. The revolution, though caused by the 

 differences between the President and Oongren, 

 started on Oct. 7 in a row at an opera in Rio 

 Janeiro between students and the police, which 

 was followed by street fighting for two days, at 

 the end of which the police were replaced by 

 soldiers. Fonseca and his Cabinet assumed, for 

 politic reasons, that the chief trouble in Rio 

 Grande was due to the strife between the two 

 contending parties, and would end with the 

 triumph of the party hostile to the administra- 

 tion. When the Government transports were 

 unable to land troops to engage the insurgents 

 by reason of obstructions placed in the channel, 

 when Porto Alegre was in their hands, when 

 they had raised an army by the middle of No- 

 vember of 50,000 men, and when Gen. Ossorio. 

 who was made commander-in-chief, issued a 



manifesto in which he threatened to march on 

 to Rio Janeiro to depose the Dictator, then 

 P.aron Lucena telegraphed to tin- revolutionary 

 Junta that he would recognize anv local govern- 

 ment that the people of the province preferred. 

 on the sole condition that peace and tranquillity 

 should be restored. The Junta, at the head of 

 which stood Dr. Assis Brazil, one of the chief 

 originators of the republican movement, replied 

 that his forces would not disarm until Fonseca 

 should resign the presidency and the CongreM 

 be reassembled in Rio Janeiro. On Nov. 21 

 the President issued a proclamation appointing 

 Feb. 29 as the date for the general election and 

 May 8 for the assembling of the next Congress. 

 He recommended that the Constitution should 

 be amended to secure the independence of the 

 judiciary and the Executive by introducing safe- 

 guards to uphold the President's veto, by en- 

 larging the powers of the Executive and limiting 

 those of Congress, and by reducing the number 

 of representatives. lie advised also the legal 

 recognition of existing decorations and titles of 

 distinction. Fonseca became alarmed when he 

 discovered that a large part of the army could 

 not be depended on to fight for him. The forces 

 were rapidly augmented by recruits attracted by 

 liberal pay. When signs of indifference and 

 even of hostility began to be manifested among 

 the naval commanders, the Dictator perceived 

 that success was very doubtful. The State of 

 Para refused to furnish aid to the Dictator, and 

 the municipal authorities of the capital city 

 compelled the Government troops to deliver up 

 their arms. In the city and the State of Rio 

 Janeiro there was strong sympathy with the re- 

 volt. A military force was sent to Santa Catha- 

 rina after the return of the unsuccessful expe- 

 dition to the Rio Grande, for the purpose of 

 entering the insurgent State by land ana meet- 

 ing the revolutionary army, which had set out 

 on its northward march. Admiral Wandelkolk, 

 ex-Minister of Marine, and other chiefs of the 

 navy and eminent military officers, consulted on 

 the situation, and decided to end the crisis and 

 prevent a collision with the insurgent army, 

 which was rapidly approaching the border of 

 Santa Catharina, by a militey pronunciamiento 

 against Fonseca. On Nov. 23 the demonstra- 

 tion, backed by the army and the fleet, took 

 place in Rio, and Marshal Fonseca was given 

 24 hours in which to abdicate. The squadron 

 fired several shots into the city, injuring some 

 of the churches, in sign of the earnestness of its 

 demand. Fonseca hesitated only long enough 

 to convince himself that the navy and three 

 quarters of the army had declared against him. 

 He presented his resignation to his Prime Min- 

 ister and friend, Baron Lucena, and issued a 

 manifesto announcing his retirement and stat- 

 ing that his motive was to avoid bloodshed. 

 Floriano Peixoto was immediately installed by 

 the revolutionary committee as President in 

 his stead. The new President appointed a Cab- 

 inet in which Rodriguez Alves was made Min- 

 ister of Finance; Faria. Minister of Agriculture: 

 Pereira. Minister of Justice: and temporarily of 

 the Interior and of Education : Mello, Minister of 

 Marine; Oliveira. Minister of War: and Pullita. 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs. As soon as Fon- 

 seca's abdication was known, the insurgent army 



