Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress, December 4, 1893
Mr. Thompson to Mr. Gresham.
Petropolis, October 16, 1893. (Received November 24, 1893.)
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a copy of the second proclamation of Rear-Admiral José Custodio de Mello, commander of insurgent forces in Brazil.
I was not able to procure a copy until this morning, and as the steamer leaves to-day I send it without the customary translation.
Your obedient servant,
Proclamation of Rear-Admiral de Mello.
The reestablishment of constitutional authority, the pacification of the Republic, and the suppression of militarism.
To my fellow-citizens:
The manifesto which I addressed to you on the 6th instant shows that I assigned as the principal objects of the revolution which, in command of the war vessels anchored in this port, I have set on foot against the dictatorial government of the Vice-President of the Republic, the following: The reestablishment of constitutional authority, the pacification of the Republic, and the suppression of militarism.
Twenty-seven days have elapsed since then, and not a single one of the war vessels stationed outside of this port has made any manifestation against the lofty and patriotic cause espoused by its companions in arms; on the contrary, their sympathies [Page 61] are all with the revolution, whose objects are in all points identical with that of Rio Grande do Sul.
The only ones that have declared against it are the authorities created by the Vice-President of the Republic.
If these positive facts are not sufficient to show how great is the isolation of the Vice-President in the midst of the nation, there are others, still more significant, which clearly show his weakness. I refer to the means to which he is now having recourse for the purpose of putting down the rebellion.
These means are lying, bribery, cunning, and even crime, in their most revolting and odious forms.
He has lied to the nation (1) by saying that my real motive in pursuing the course I have adopted is the desire to secure greater power, pretending not to know that it is impossible for a man to be ambitious who, after the revolution of November 23, 1891, handed over the power to the Vice-President of the Republic and resigned the office of minister of the marine (which circumstances had compelled him to accept) as soon as he found that it was impossible for him to prevent the Vice-President from continuing to misuse his authority, and when the latter had capriciously determined to continue to carry on the civil war in Rio Grande do Sul, in spite of the desire for peace which had been manifested by the nation at large; (2) by asserting that the Vice-President of the Republic has abundant resources at his disposal, and that the revolted squadron can not leave this port owing to the torpedoes that have been placed at the entrance to the bar.
He has resorted to bribery in all its forms, more or less seductive, especially (1) with the naval officers who were on shore (at the meeting at the navy-yard on the 8th instant), by offering large sums of money to the inferior officers of the corps of national marines if they would incite the garrison of the fortress of Villegaignon to revolt; (3) by increasing the pay of the laud troops.
He has had recourse to cunning, principally (1) for the purpose of depriving the revolutionists of the benefit of the neutrality of the strong fortress of Villegaignon, by trying to relieve the present commandant and to put in his place Capt. Baptista Leão whom the officers of the fort refused to receive; afterwards, by sending there, to take the places of those officers, a numerous commission composed of other officers, at the head of whom was the reformed Vice-Admiral Jeronymo Gonçalves, who was driven away by the indignant national marines at the point of their rifles; (2) by ordering the commander of the ironclad Bahia, which was stationed at Montevideo, to repair to the city of Rosario, in the Argentine Republic, and by instructing the commander of the cruiser Tiradentes to order that vessel into the dock at Montevideo, where its engine was ruined; this caused a revolt of the crew, which could not be put down without assistance from the authorities on shore; (3) by seeking to cast odium upon the revolted squadron by asserting that it had bombarded the peaceful city of Rio de Janeiro for the sole purpose of forcing its inhabitants to compel the Vice-President to surrender the executive power.
He has had recourse to perfidy on various occasions, the most disgraceful case being the following, inasmuch as it affected the honor of the nation: On the 27th instant a steam launch carrying the British flag was captured by a vessel belonging to the British cruiser Sirius. The launch was stationed near the ironclad Aquidaban, and on board of it was found a large torpedo together with several hundred dynamite cartridges.
The crew of this launch consisted of two Englishmen, two Americans, one Belgian, one German, and three Brazilians.
He has had recourse, finally, to the crime of murder. On the 24th instant, at nightfall, a Spanish boatman came on board of the Aquidaban, saying that he was the bearer of an article which was to be placed in Admiral Mello’s own hands. That article was an infernal machine charged with dynamite, and fastened inside of a book.
In order to preserve evidence of this infamous attempt at assassination, a statement was prepared, which was signed by many persons on board, and also by the bearer of the infernal machine, which was shown to the commanders of the foreign war vessels, and which is now in my possession.
The mere statement of these facts is sufficient to show the weakness of the dictator and his inability to cope with the revolutionists, who have him besieged in his residence, the capital of the Republic, and offers a sad picture of that unpatriotic, scandalous, and criminal policy which has reduced Brazil to the condition which we now see her, and which furnishes ample justification for the revolution.
The only stronghold in which the Vice-President of the Republic still finds support is the fortress of Santa Cruz, but the inability of that fortress to resist the squadron was made manifest on the occasion when’ a naval division, consisting of armed vessels and torpedo boats, convoyed by the cruiser Republica, went to operate on the southern coast.
As to the bombardment of the 13th instant, its sole object was to silence the batteries [Page 62] that were firing on the squadron from Castle Hill and from that of Sāo Bento; and the bombardment of the 25th, when the navy-yard and the custom-house docks were fired upon, was because no attention was paid to the summons to surrender—either to the squadron or to the commander of a foreign warship—the tug Audaz and other vessels which were being armed in those docks to enable them to resist the squadron.
Such, fellow-citizens, is the situation of the revolution, and such is that of the personal government of the Vice-President of the Republic, blockaded, as it is, in the federal capital, and powerless to send assistance to the States. When I think that the proper time has arrived to help them shake off the yoke of tyranny I shall do so, and the squadron will find on our coasts the supplies which it needs, besides those which are already stored on board of the vessels that have been captured in this port. The triumph of the revolution will then be final, unless the Brazilians understand, before that time, that they are the victims of a treasonable crime, committed by a man whose sole purpose is the retention of power, and who obeys no principles save those which are flagrantly subversive of the constitution, from the reckless squandering of the public funds to intimidation and terrorism.
The liberties and the justice of the Republic have never yet been overthrown by tyranny and absolutism.
The divine laws are infallible, and infallible will be the triumph of our cause.
Rear-Admiral.