The political future of the country is still an unsolved problem.  The rule of the dictators, which the allied powers specifically covenanted among themselves to destroy, has ended, probably for ever.  When the war closed with the death of Lopez, chaos prevailed in Paraguay, and the people were both bankrupt in fortune and degraded in morals.  The reign of outlaws commenced, and it was dangerous to go beyond Asuncion and into the interior.  But the Brazilians and the Argentines occupied the capital with a force strong enough to maintain order, and to convince the Paraguayans that their rule must be respected.  To-day Paraguay possesses only a nominal independence.  She has her president, and he has his cabinet, who hold their offices under the constitution of the republic; but from the glimpse that M. Forgues has given us of the submissive spirit of these officials, it is clear that they themselves feel that they govern only by the sufferance of their conquerors.  The policy of Dom Pedro’s government is to intervene Paraguay between Brazil and the Argentine Confederation in order to prevent a clashing of interests between his empire and its late ally.  In the mean time, Paraguay is loaded with heavy debts, contracted under Brazilian auspices since the war, in the shape of loans and obligations which must weigh her down for a long time.  To illustrate the attitude of Brazil toward the conquered state one incident, and a recent one, will suffice.  In the autumn of 1874 the boundary commission, composed of Brazilian and Paraguayan officers, set out for the final survey of the new boundary-line between Paraguay and Brazil.  The commission had been engaged on this duty for two years, and last November it brought its work to a close.  The line fixed by the Brazilians follows the Apa River from its junction with the Paraguay to its source, and thence extends along the summit of the cordillera to the falls of the Parana—­the Salto de la Guayra of the Paraguayans and the Siete Quedas of the Brazilians.  The Brazilian commissioners took advantage of the fact that the Apa River has two forks, and chose the south fork as the boundary.  This selection added a few hundred square miles to the territory of the Brazilian province of Matto Grosso, but, in spite of the protests and objections of Paraguay, the boundary treaty has been made on the basis of the Brazilian idea of what is right between the two governments.  The liberty of opinion accorded to Paraguay by Brazil is merely the liberty which a cat grants to a captive mouse, to run about within reach of its sheathed claws.

A TALE OF THE CONSCRIPTION.