No. 66.
Mr. Partridge to Mr. Fish.
Rio de Janeiro, January 25, 1875. (Received Feb. 25.)
Sir: In the general condition of affairs here, or in political matters, there is hardly anything of importance to be reported. The disturbances in the northern provinces, if not entirely ended, no longer cause uneasiness, and must soon be quelled entirely. Some Italian priests and Jesuits, who were shown to have taken part in originating these movements, have been sent out of the country. The new loan, at 5 per cent., of £5,000,000 sterling, has been satisfactorily placed in London by the Rothschilds at 96½.
The relations with the River Plate republics are satisfactory; but the failure of the attempt by Mitre’s friends in Buenos Ayres has been followed, at Montevideo, by a revolution, in which the garrison of the town overturned the supreme government, and installed another. Fortunately these movements, in those countries, are not so dreadful in their consequences as the name of revolution would seem to imply. Business maybe interrupted for a day or two, or even longer; some damage, assassinations in the streets at night, and a good deal of alarm, but these violent and sudden changes not unfrequently occur without much noise or real danger, often without expense, and sometimes even without the knowledge of many. Revolutionary attempts have also been made formerly in Brazil, but for many years the empire has fortunately enjoyed domestic quiet. There have been local disturbances, and these only rarely. There has been no attempt to overturn the government. No one can fail to see how much of this is due to the personal influence and popularity of the Emperor. Some part of it also comes of the fact that the Portuguese are not as restless, nor as wanting in respect for the law and established authority as the Spanish race. They are more quiet, obedient, and willing to gain their livelihood by labor. In the interior provinces of Brazil, and where the public authority is without much armed support or display, there is very rarely disorder.
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[Page 106]In short, the municipal guard of Rio is a serviceable and reliable body, which really preserves order, instead of provoking conflicts, This is the result of many years’ schooling under permanent government, to which, apparently, the Argentines and the Montevideans have not yet attained, notwithstanding a larger and wealthier foreign influence in both places than in Rio, and a native society at least as well educated, and as interested in the preservation of order.
I am, &c.,