| OCR Text |
Show JOINT INTERVENTION. Thoso who havo suggested joint in-iervontion in-iervontion in AToxico by the United States, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, have based their proposal upon the sup-posed sup-posed stability of all these nations. They have assumed that at least three Bi of tho South American countries had B come up out of tho abyss and were now B permanently upon tho high ground o B political permanance. The rebellion in Brazil, however, lends a new aspect to the question and shows upon what B weak: foundations even the strongest B South American governments nro based. B Certainly a country that is unable to B maintain its own stability has no right B to intervene for the purpose of estab- B lishing a stable govornmont in another country. Tt probably will bo many B years before Brar.il can claim that it B has established a stable govornmen.t. H' The chief constitutional question in B Brazil is tho relation of tho national and tho state governments. Hitherto none of tho legislative groups has H) adopted any definite and consistent pol- icy on this subjoct. Under a plan of fl constitutional government, whereby a B federal govornmont is balanced against B (Unto governments, there is bound to be friction and sometimes, as in our own case, terrible civil war. Fortunately tho United States has passed its most HL sorious orisiE in this respect, although B we may look forward to much clashing before the rights of tho central govern-HL govern-HL ment to limit state action by treaties with foreign nations is permanently H' ' adjustod. Brazil has been a republic only since H- 1891, and free from slavery only sinco 1S88. The nation has been frequently Hjf torn by internal strife since that time. One of tho chiof sources of danger to Hft the republic is tho almost complete hon- B czistenco of a middle class. Tho aris- B tocracy of rank is now almost gone, but B an aristocracy of wealth is in control off public affairs. In theory democratic principles are prosumed to operate B: alone the most liberal linos, but it is B difficult to apply these principles sue- B cessfully in a country where foveu- B eights of the people are ignorant and B half of them belong to backward races. B In Brazil no color line is sharply Hl drawn, as in our southern stales, and B the population is steadily fusing by in- Hf tennarriage. Tho pure white element B' preponderates in tho tempcrnto districts B. of tho south, while in the north thcro is a majority of blacks and mixed bloods. In the southern part of the United States nearly all of the colored B population has been disfranchiEcd and B. democratic principles aro applied only B on the understanding that the suprem- acy of the whites must be assured. Such an understanding is impossible in Hf Brazil. It is quite probable that ulti- Hl mately the question will bo settled on Hfj a different basis from that which has been adopted in this country. It is not so easy to nsauro whito supremacy in a country where the whites freely inter-marry inter-marry with the blacks, and whore al-ready al-ready tho colored population is more numerous than tho white population. |
