Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-23
UPHEA VAL
LSCOMING IN
PORTUGAL
REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
MAY PREVAIL
Financial Conditions Of Country Are
in DepIorabIe State, Accord
ing to Prominent
Banker
BY Associated Press.

by Associated Press.
LISBON, Dec 22.-The result of the po-
litical crisis here may not only deter
mine whether a new and better order Of
rublic administration is to prevail in Por-
tugal, but, remote as such a change ap-
pears to be to ordinary observers, wheth
er the whole monarchial regime shall not
give way to a republican form Of gov
ernment.
The republicans small as is their inf1u-
ence under the restricted suffrage which
| the people enjoy, believe that Franco, by
exposing the practices of the monarchiSt
parties has administered a blow to the
prestige of the king and monarchy from
which it can never recover, and made a
republic a near possibility.
Certainly Franco, by his revelations,
has placed powerful weapons in the
hands of the Republican leaders, which
they intend to use to the best advantage.
To conjure with, they have FRANCOIS own
avowal that the country for eyars has
been the football of the monarchist par
ties with the sole object Of distributing
graft to their clients the scandal of the
advances made surreptitiously from the
public treasury to the royal family, the
arbitrary manner in which these advances
have been 'liquidated" by decree, AMI
lastly the alleged repression" of the
Dictatorship"
Their plan is to press the issue as soon
as the restoration of legality" permits
them to open a campaign In the newspa-
pers and later, when the cortes again
assemblies, to play their trump card. This
will be nothing else than a motion to i'm
peach Franco for his action in 'liquidat-
ing' the kings debts to the treasury,
and as a logical corollary thereof, to d.
mand the abdication of King Carlos for
the "crime,P ander the clause of the Por-
tuguese constitution which compels the
abdication of the monarch when he is adj
judged morally incapable" Of governing.
The opinion of conservative foreigners
who have resided long in the country is
that outside of the capital and Oporto tho
masses will remain absolutely Indifferent
to the mutations of politics until sys-
TEN of general education awakens their
consciences to a demand for broader po-
litical rights.
The fate of Joao Franco, the dictator.
who as a monarchist processes to seek
the financial and political regeneration of
the country. will be well worth watch
ing Franco is man Of 50, and practic-
ally his whole life has been spent in
politics.
Regeneration ana prOBreSSlst py turn,
he headed a split from each of the old
parties, and previous to his present
accession 20 power was a membc.
of two cabinets. When he began
his present war against the old parties
as the leader of what he calls a new
Liberal Prozressist" party, he made
public proclamation of his confession and
repentance for his political past.
His charges against the old parties and
assumption of the dictatorship turned the
hands of the politicians of every shade OF
opinion against him. The old parties fear
and hate him. lhe Republicans join ir
the denunciation because he has arbitra--
lily stopped their agitation. The on'y
thing his enemies do not reproach him
with is q desire to line his own pockets
His wealth excludes such motive, and
| as this motive seems to have been the END