Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-07
CORNERING PORT WINE.
A Government Syndicate Of the Portu.
guese Ministry for that Purpose.

From the st. James Gazette.
Portugal is not very progressive country;
but its ministers seem anxious to keep abreast
of the latest ideas of advancing communities,
it not to go beyond them. OF corners and
syndicates and trusts undertaken by companies
OF private individuals, we have heard enough
and to spare of late; but it has been reserved
for the Portuguese ministry to set up a species
of government syndicate. The odd thing-and
for q certain number of Englishmen the disas-
trous thing-is that the corner is calculated to
injure most seriously, if not to crush altogether
the greatest Of Anglo-Portugese industries
the trade in Oporto wine. Ever since the days
Of the Methuen treaty, a hundred and eighty
years ago, England and Portugal have had the
closest commercial connection with one an
other. 1t was the privileges secured by this
convention which opened up the Oporto mar
ket to England, and made Englishmen nation
of port-wine drinkers. Since enormous quanti-
ties of English capital have been invested in
developing the trade, and the stocks of wine in
the hands OF the English shippers at Oporto at
this moment are said to be worth something
like million and a half. We are not surprised
that the English shippers trading with Oporto
have memorialized the foreign Office on the
impending blow to their important and -four
ishing industry.
What the Lisbon government has done is
this: 1t has entered into contract with a syn
dictate called the Royal wine company. of Port
ugal, which is to have q subsidy from the gov
eminent for five years. a guarantee of a five
per cent dividend for thirty years, an immuni-
ty from all taxation, and numerous other priv
ileges. Virtually this is granting complete
monopoly to the syndicate; for no other ship
pers. native or foreign, would be able to live
shippers alike are to be crushed out of exist
ence in order that the firm favored by the min
istry may thrive greatly. Portugal is country
which suffers from the absence of a regular
opposition. The ministry are all-powerful in
the cortes and so far they have been able to
them in parliament. The result has been great
and dangerous discomfort in the
wine-shipping districts As pro-
test against the disastrous measure, the En-
glish merchants have united in suspending all
business for a time, and during the last fort
night the busiest wharves of Oporto have been
silent and deserted, and the men have been
locked out Stories have been heard Of riot
ing. but there have been no riots. The laborers
of the town and the populace of the district are
heartily with the English shippers; and they
have been employing their enforced leisure in
getting up meetings and demonstrations to pro-
test against the government scheme. Once or
twice the police and troops came into collision
with them, but it is limited that the govern
ment are much more anxious for a riot than
the MOP. since II might give them little OF
the moral support in the Douro province which
at present they lack. Those least anxious for
riot must of course be the English shippers,
who have SO tempting and dangerous a COM
modify as a million pounds worth Of port wine
stored in their cellars.
During the last few days the cortes has ad-
journed without actually sanctioning the con-
tract with the new company; and It is very
much to be hoped that when it meets again
either the good sense of the Portuguese poll
ticians themselves, or the friendly representa-
tions Of the English foreign Office, will cause
this unfortunate syndicate scheme to be
dropped. No one has anything to gain by it
except, OF course, the syndicate. 1t Is really
monstrous that a government should give its
sanction and support to one Of these self-seek-
ing Eonopolies which are the curse and the
cruz Of modern industrial development. In
this case, II the monopoly proceeds it will do
harm to the Portuguese peasantry and work.
men, it will do harm to English traders to
English ship-owners, and to English sailors,
and it will certainly do no good to that large
body of Englishmen who drink port wine, and
cannot like the prospect of having to take any
liquor native shippers like to send at native
shippers own price. We do not want Porta-
guese port to go the way of Hamburg sherry.