22 AUGUST 1908, Page 2

Monday's Times contains a remarkable account of the recent revolution

in Paraguay. Only four years had elapsed since the last upheaval, but the Government had for some time been menaced by the estrangement of its Radical sup- porters, and latterly the President could only rely on the police and the firemen, the Army having been infected with sedition. The revolution, originally fixed for August, was precipitated by the headstrong action of one of the Opposition leaders, and between July 2nd and 4th Asuncion was given up to bloody and determined street fighting between the police and the revolutionists, the total number of killed and wounded being estimated at from six hundred to a. thousand. Though the police fought desperately—seventy were found dead inside their barracks— the revolutionists triumphed in the end, and the President was taken prisoner. The prospects of a stable Govern- ment are, however, still remote. Paraguay is a country of considerable natural wealth and great fertility, but pros- perity is impossible until a continuance of settled Government encourages immigration on a scale sufficient to ballast the country, as in the case of Argentina. We may add that the general impression derived from the Times correspondent's account is quite impossible to reconcile with the popular view that South American revolutions savour of opera bottle. The fighting in Asuncion, wording to, him, wee marked by a resolution and courage on the part of the combatants worthy of a better cause than the conversion of the public funds into party spoils.