Among the newspapers which advocated immediate rec-
ognition were the New York World, the Indianapolis Sen-
tinel, the Savannah News, the New Orleans Picayune, the
Atlanta Constitution, and the Omaha Bee. The following
excerpts will reveal their attitude:
The United States Government recognized the republic of France within a few hours after it was proclaimed. . . in 1870. It recognized in 1873 the Spanish Republic on the very day that Amadeus was kicked off his throne. And yet the Republican statesmen in Washington insist that the Brazilians must hold an election before it can be determined that their republic is entitled to our recognition. Encouraged by this cowardly policy the reaction-
ists of Brazil are trying to stifle the republic and restore the empire. What a sneaking, pottering, cowardly republic we are having under the rule of the Republican plutocracy.[1]
What hope and good cheer a prompt and cordial recognition of the new republic by the United States would have sent to the hearts of the lovers of freedom the world over! What an electric thrill the presence of half a dozen American men-of-war in the harbor of Rio Janeiro at this moment would give to republicans and democrats all around the globe! And what a tremendous and decisive sig-
nificance it would have for kings and their minis-
ters everywhere But Mr. Harrison and Mr. Blaine and the Republican Senators say we must not pay any attention to the new republic. We must wait until the people of Brazil have formally given it their adherence. We must wait until his imperial majesty, the Czar of Russia, and her royal majesty, the Queen of England, and his imperial majesty, the Emperor of Germany, and all the rest of their . . . majesties, have concluded that “the jig is all up” with the divine right in the New World, and have condescended to permit the Brazilians to try governing themselves. The attitude of the Government at Washington in this matter is enough to make every patriotic American hang his
—8—
- ↑ The New York World (Democratic), December 26, 1889.
