The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-09

patrol the streets, and heavily armed
soldiers guard the state bank night
and day.
The financial situation is viewed with
great alarm. The country is stagger-
ing under its foreign debt, and COM
merce is almost paralyzed by the fluc-
tuations of the gold premium. Conser-
vative bankers consider the financial
situation to be more critical than the
political
The outside world, in spite of the
studied censorship, which has defeated
its own object, should not imagine
that the throne of Portugal is totter-
ing toward revolution and that a re-
public is imminent.
Situation Grave.
The general situation is grave, rather
than alarming. Political conditions,
already chaotic before the murder of
the king and crown prince, became ut
terly demoralized after the commission
OF these crimes. Then CONSERVATION
and panic prevailed among the police
and at court, and the release of Fran
pco's strong hand from the helm left
the ship of state adrift. But with the
new cabinet pledged to constitutional
methods, and the abolition of the die
tatorship and existing measures of re
preston, the situation improved. King
Manuel openly acknowledged the ir-
regularity of the money advances to
the royal family under his fathers
reign, which were the original causes
of the political turmoil, and he public
ly ordered the discontinuance of this
practice.
Masses Are Ignorant.
1t is hard to forecast the future. If
things drift back to the old rut of gov
ernmental corruption whence King
Carlos and Premier Franco rescued the
monarchy, a republic might come. The
republicans are the natural inheritOrS
of the mistakes of the monarchy, but
the masses are grOaning under their
personal burdens. They are either ig-
norant of or Indifferent to the polit-
ical turmoil. Something is necessary
to galvanize them into action, and this
is exactly what the small but evident
ly desperate organization of militant
revolutionists in Lisbon and OpOrto are
trying to do. They want to drive the
people to revolt.
The immediate danger in the stu
alton comes from the fact that the po-
lice are baffled and the government
unable to ascertain the extent of the
ramificatiOns of the cOnspiracies which
have been indicated during the last
fortnight by the discovery at various
places of bombs and arms and ammu-
milton. 1t was known that Premier
Franco was marked for assassination.
That is why he deemed it wise to flee.
Assassination Not Expected.
But the assassination of the king
was not expected. and il created al
most reign of terror in high places.
There is not the slightest question that
the plot was only half successful. The
murder of the entire royal family and
the extinction of the dynasty was the
scheme of the cOnspirators. 1t is GER
tain that other men had been stationed
at other points of the route of the
royal carriage that fatal Saturday aft
ernOOn, and that if the murder had not
been committed in the square it would
have been attempted elsewhere. That
same night an attempt was made to
bring about a mutiny on the part of
the infantry and artillery regiments in
Lisbon, but the officers locked the
doors of the barracks and the conspira-
tors We're unable to gain access to the
men.
Military Loyal.
There have been many reports of dis
satisfaction in the army and navy. but
careful investigation does not confirm
them, and it may bYassumed that the
| military is still loyal.
The latter part of this week the fea1
grew that an attempt would be made
the day the funerals were held, Sat
urday, to complete the bloody work that
was left unfinished week ago. To pre-
vent anything of this kind. extraordi-
nary rananfiOnC KT-nro 70 lpn A fret
the king insisted on following on foo
behind the collins of his father and
brother, with his uncle. the Duke OF
Operto, but was dissuaded by his moth
er. Queen Amelie. and the premier. Ad-
miral Ferreira, who refused to assume
any responsibility for such rashness.
Rigorous Censorship.
The censorship that is being main
tanned at Lisbon over both commercial
and press dispatches is rigorous. There
is In operation a regular star chamber
to prevent any but the most rosy view
CT the situation from reaching the out
side world. Even letters mailed at the
postoffice are opened by the authorities
The foreign newspaper correspondents
who ffocked to Lisbon after the trag-
edy were completely foiled for several
days, and they were informed by tel
egraph officials, hlgh and low, that the
censorship was virtually at an end. BY
this means they were induced to file
messages in Lisbon. But thousands OF
the words written by the newspaper
men never got any further than the
waste paper basket. The senders be-
came suspicious that they were being
tricked. and this belief was finally con-
firmed when sections of news dispatches
taken at random in order to completely
destroy the sense of the text were re-
turned 20 the writers.
Extreme Stupidity.
The censor ship was applied in the
most stupid fashion. Not only was