“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

[Lima] contracted with an untrained and poorly educated official, which he promised
to pay a significant share of the proceeds of his case. The supposed lawyer
understood that frightening the Respondent [da Silva] with the prospect of a criminal
proceeding could, as the French say, make him ‘sing’ [cantar]. 148
Teixeira further published a letter in the Porto Alegre newspaper O Mercantil, commenting
that the provincial government “should not tolerate these abuses of the law, insolently
attacking the sacred rights of a persecuted citizen.” 149 Teixeira demanded that the case be
“remanded to the Honorable juiz do direito da comarca.” 150 This meant ordering the case back
to the Alegrete courts where he could better influence the proceedings.
Teixeira’s direct appeal to officials in Porto Alegre also represented another strategic
move on the attorney’s part to connect his faction’s protection of local property claims to
the broader webs of provincial politics. Teixeira could accomplish two things by appealing
to the provincial government. First, he once again framed his own faction’s conduct as
explicitly legal. He juxtaposed the Ribeiros’ actions against the coercive practices of
Canabarro’s allies. Teixeira could use the proceeding to communicate a consistent narrative
to the provincial government that his faction promised the best possibility of maintaining
order in the borderlands. Second, the letter also exploited the Ribeiro supported Contra-
Liga’s increasingly dominant position in provincial politics. The case provided the provincial
president with an easy opportunity to express his support for the dominant faction in both
the legislature and in the borderlands by acknowledging their legal right to resolve the
dispute. In turn, by obtaining an order remanding the case to the Alegrete courts, Teixeira
could emphasize his faction’s ability to dispense justice and resolve property disputes in their
allies’ favor. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that the government agreed with
Teixeira’s argument that the police order and criminal sentence were illegitimate and
148 Ibid., 103.
149 Ibid., O Mercantil, Ano V, No. 35 (February 10, 1854) included with the case.
150 Ibid., 103.
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