This little war is hardly worth speaking of at all. Toy revolutions are constantly occurring first in one and then another of the South American republics, and people have grown so accustomed to them that they hardly notice them now.
Uruguay, though a very small country, is particularly fond of these disturbances. The entire population of the whole country is no larger than that of the city of Brooklyn, but this handful of people manage to have enough revolts and disturbances to keep the country in constant excitement.
This present tempest is receiving more attention than is usual because it is supposed that the monarchists of Brazil are stirring the people of Uruguay to rebellion, with the hope of overthrowing both governments at the same time, joining the two countries together, and uniting them under the one emperor.
If this report is true the matter is worthy of serious attention, because Brazil is not one of the little insignificant republics whose perpetual disturbances affect no one but themselves, but a large and important country, and changes in the government of Brazil would be liable to affect all the other countries which trade with it.
A party of wealthy Chinese merchants arrived in New York the other day from San Francisco. They were on their way to Washington, to see the Chinese Minister and ask him to intercede for them with the Emperor of China.
Their trouble is that the Emperor has kindly invited ten of them to visit China without delay: two to have their heads chopped off, and the other eight to be imprisoned for life.
Of course none of the Chinamen are going to accept the Emperor's invitation, and so they are not seeking the help of the Minister for themselves. Their anxiety is on account of their relatives.
It would seem that one of the curious little customs they have in China is to arrest all the relatives of a man accused of crime, as well as the criminal himself. These unfortunate people they cast into prison, taking away from them their property, and everything of value they possess. This punishment is for no known reason but that they have had the misfortune to be members of the same family as a rascal.
The consequence is that when a Chinaman gets into trouble, his relatives, instead of standing by him, and trying to help him, desert him with the greatest possible speed, and do their best to hide themselves in less dangerous districts.