I have received your Excellency's communication by the schooner Maria de Gloria, and feel highly gratified that His Imperial Majesty has been pleased to approve of the course which I have pursued for the termination of dissensions in the Northern provinces. Since the gracious communication of His Imperial Majesty, I feel less weight of responsibility in the course which circumstances have compelled me to follow, with a view to restore order in the province of Maranham.
I hope soon to inform your Excellency that the task which His Imperial Majesty has been further pleased to confide to me, of causing the newly-appointed authorities to be acknowledged, is accomplished; but I beg respectfully again to add my opinion that these Northern provinces will not long continue in a state of tranquillity, unless the provincial forces are shifted to other quarters of the empire. In fact, if attention be not paid to this, I consider that these provinces will shortly be entirely lost, both to the empire of Brazil and to Portugal.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
Jan. 21, 1834.
The continued absence of even the slightest instructions for my guidance—coupled with the Imperial approval of all I had done upon my own responsibility, naturally implied that it was considered better to leave me entirely unfettered by orders, which, if given at all, must be issued in ignorance of the actual state of things which required renovation. In this light I should have regarded the omission to direct my conduct, but for the warnings privately received, to be careful what I was about, for that, despite any apparent public approval of my proceedings, my enemies in the administration were on the watch for some act which might be construed to my disadvantage, and thus become the pretext for blame which should outweigh the praise accorded. The opportunity I felt had already been afforded by the suspension of Bruce from the presidency, notwithstanding that this—as has been seen—was fully justified by circumstances, and was not resorted to without deliberate consideration, and the deepest conviction of its necessity. Still, any opposition to the suspension of Bruce could only be factious, for, on the 2nd of December, the Minister of Marine had in anticipation forwarded to me a list of new presidents and generals-at-arms, every person in authority throughout the whole extent of the Northern coast being changed—with the exception of the president of Parà; so that there was every reason to anticipate that even the strong measures which I had been compelled to adopt with regard to Bruce would meet the views of His Imperial Majesty.
On the 31st of January, the interim President apprised me that the Junta refused to liquidate any part of the claim made in behalf of the squadron. Upon this refusal, I wrote to the Junta that, such being their decision, I would hold them personally responsible that no bills, debts, nor claims of any kind beyond the current expenses of government should be paid, till this prior claim—in honour and justice due to the officers and seamen, who had generously advanced their prize money to meet state exigencies—should be liquidated; adding, that the seamen relied on me for justice, and if my warning were not attended to, I should be compelled to take such steps as the necessity of upholding the interests of the crown and the efficiency of the naval service appeared to demand.
In taking this step, I frankly admit that it was the only way to obtain from the Government of Maranham even a compromise for the amount owing by the province to the captors. I had every confidence in His Imperial Majesty that as far as lay in his power justice would be done, as evinced by the acknowledgments given in his own handwriting in opposition to the measures of his ministers, on whom, or the prize tribunal, no reliance could be placed; the former having done all in their power to thwart my efforts in His Majesty's service, whilst the tribunal, acting by the sanction or in conformity to the known wishes of the ministry, had delayed adjudication, with the evident intention of evading it altogether, except in cases which gave a colour for condemning me in damages, in which respect—apparently their only object—they were prompt enough.
I therefore determined that as a specific portion of the prize property taken at Maranham in 1823, had, at its own request, been given up to the provisional Government, upon the express understanding of repayment —without which it could not have been thus surrendered—the Junta should be made to preserve their own good faith, as well as mine, to the squadron, which, relying on my promises, had been influenced temporarily to devote to the exigencies of the State that which by imperial decree, as well as according to the laws of all nations, was their undoubted right.
My orders to the Junta of Fazenda not to pay any claims—with the exception of the ordinary expenses of Government—till those of the squadron had been satisfied, were, however, almost superogatory; for, on a visit of inspection to the arsenal on the 2nd of February, it appeared that they had established a system of not paying any debts, even those incurred for the provisions of the squadron, the contract prices being set down at treble the market price! This overcharge was accounted for by the merchants on the ground of dilatory payments, which could only be obtained at all from the Junta by fees to those whose duty it was to pass the accounts! To counteract this, I requested the interim President to forbid any further purchases on the part of the provincial Government, as, in future, I would make them myself, and, what was more to the purpose, pay for them.
By limiting the demand of repayment to one-fourth only of the amount captured from the Portuguese Government, I was not pressing at all severely upon the resources of the province, which is one of the richest in Brazil; nor should I have put them to any inconvenience had I demanded repayment of the whole, as I justly might have done.
On the 8th of February, the Junta of Fazenda sent me a verbal communication to the effect that they would give the sum agreed upon in commutation of prize money due to the captors—in five bills, payable in five months. As I knew that, in case of my departure, these would not be worth the paper upon which they were written, I refused the offer, adding that, after the course pursued by the prize tribunal at Rio de Janeiro the seamen had no faith in promises.