GERMANY AND BRAZIL
[To THU EDITOR OF TITS srsorsroa.1
think the enclosed cutting from the Victoria Times of British Columbia of a recent date may interest your readers.—I am, Sir, &a,
"Two Brazilians, and a man of Scottish descent, though born in Brazil, were registered at the Dominion hotel yesterday, leaving after a few hours' stay. The Brazilians are Elias Netto and Carlos M. Reis of Rio de Janeiro, while their guide is P. B. Findlay, of Highland ex- traction. He is the representative of the Standard Oil Company in Rio. Mr. Findlay knew the late Roger Casement in Brazil, when he was consul-general at Rio, and said he was regarded as a crank there. In Brazil, the Germans were not overlooking any advantages. ' They populated,' said Mr. Findlay, ` the state of Santa Catharine. And what was the surprise of the Brazilian Government to find that, after the war broke out, though these Germans had lived in Brazil for generations, they had 10,000 men fully armed and equipped in that state, which faces the sea. They sent a gunboat down to Santa Catha- rine from Rio and examinations were made, and at one place it was found they were building a hospital. It was a hospital with immense concrete foundations, underground workings and steel and concrete walls. It was in reality a fortress of great strength. They were pre- paring to create a separate German independent state in Santa Catharine. There they allowed only German to be spoken. They had their own factories and schools and churches, and the Brazilian Government had been very tolerant, only to find that its hospitality had been abused by the German colony.' The travellers are on a pleasure tour. They are seeing America first. Mr. Reis, who is a young man, is the son of a coffee planter who owns 100,000 acres of plantation near Rio de Janeiro.' —Victoria Times, B.C.
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