States; the disaffected in Rio Grande do Sul lay down their arms.
Paternalism disappeared from the economic policy of the state ;
the government no longer sought its supporters in the stock ex-
change ; Señor Rodriguez Alves, Secretary of the Treasury, wisely
closed his ears to the outcries of the speculators and to the crash
of falling enterprises, prudently separating the public funds from
all the transactions which for two years it had supported so dis-
astrously for the national welfare. By the side, however, of the
new president was Señor Custodio de Mello, bold and crafty, full
of personal ambition and resentment. It was through his influence
and by his advice that the removal of the governors of States who
had approved the violation of the constitution was begun. Local
revolutions broke out in all directions. The governors who had
not already been deposed made haste to resign in anticipation of
a similar fate. The truth is that in these removals the interven-
tion of the federal government was rather negative than active,
inasmuch as its action was almost entirely limited to a refusal to
use the power of the federal government to maintain in their
seats the legally elected governors. It is not less certain, however,
that these depositions weakened the respect for lawful authority
and confidence in the new institutions, violating as they did the
fundamental principles of constitutional government.
The reorganization of the government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul was made altogether in accordance with the views of Señor Custodio de Mello until the moment when the monarchical designs of the so-called federalist revolution of Señor Gaspar Martins were revealed, and Marshal Peixoto considered it his duty to interfere in the local struggle by furnishing the governor of the State with federal troops to repel the invasion which was threatened on the frontier of Uruguay. It is not difficult to see that a State of the union bordering on the territory of a foreign nation needs particular attention in the case of a rebellion whose forces are recruited in that territory. From November, 1892, to April, 1893, as a secretary in the cabinet of Marshal Peixoto, Señor Custodio de Mello aided and approved the policy of the former in relation to Rio Grande do Sul. In April, however, Señor de Mello retired from the cabinet, accompanied by his colleague, Señor Serzedello Corrêa, who, though his talents entitled him to take the lead, was contented in this case to serve as a follower. So far, so good ; but a few months later, on the night of September 5,
