New-York tribune., 1908-02-02

held up to rdcule as a manifest coward
| and IAN incapable fooP' by some Of the princi-
| pal newspapers of Lisbon ten years ago. when
| there was q serious crisis for the government
of Portugal. 1t was thought at that time that
| the knell Of the House of Braganza had been
| sounded. but the emergency was tided over and
| the King remained undisturbed The support
! given to the crown of Portugal by the treaties
| with England. which bind her ally not only to
protect Portugal from foreign invasion but also
| to render aid to the throne In case of any In
| ternal revolution has aided greatly in preserv-
| ing the peace of the country Last summer
| King Carlos dissolved the Cortes and declined
| to take any steps to summon new legislative
| body by ordering an election Through his
Prime Minister, Dom Joao Franco, he then ruled
despoticaIly, imposing taxes and collecting reve
nues without legislative authority. This SO
aroused the Legitmists, including the aristoc-
racy, the religious orders and the uneducated
peasants subservient to the clergy. that they
sent to Austria for Dom Migual the preteRder
to the throne whose claims, like those of Don
Carlos in Spain. have many supporters. On
the other hand. the Republicans composed of
the members of the learned professions. the
working people in the cities and university stu
dents clamored for d free government modelled
dents clamored for free government modelled
on that of this country. The army and navy
disafected toward the Crown, and. in fact
the supporters of the King were only his per-
sonal friends and courtiers. But the difficulties
were overcome by the Kings advisers and rep
resentatives. They got the situation under con-
troll and proceeded TO cut down expenses by the
abolition of sinecures and the adoption OF re-
forms which abolished official thieYery and cor
ruption.
This description of the late King is from the
pen of competent observer written last year:
He possesses all the qualities that should have
endeared him to his people and which establish
mis- hold upon the affection of his friends. He
Is in spite Of his bulk an athlete and excelled in
the national sport of bullfightng toreador-
He is of the finest shots and best swimmers
in Europe HI has shown his bravery by many
feats of courage, including the saving of a man
from drowning and the rescue of another from a
couple of Would-be murderers. He is extremely
talented both with his pen and with his brush,
being frequent exhibitor at the Paris salons.
He is genial, sunny tempered, kind hearted and
generous while there Is not word of truth
in the accusations of dishonesty brought against
him, nor In the charges that he is heavily in
the debt of the Count de Burnay that he COM
PEELED the government to renew the latterS IL
tract farmer of the state tobacco monopoly
on terms most dsadvantageOus to the national
treasury. Dom Carlos is not extravagant, has
plenty Of money of his own and has married a
very rich wife who not only inherited a large
share of the great wealth of her father. the late
Count OF Paris, but Will come in for still larger
fortune the death of her mother. Moreover
the Kings marriage has been happy one in
every respect, and nothing has occurred 10
mar his relations with his handsome consort.
Finally, he is a man of exceedingly broad minded
and liberal ideas the subject of government
and of religion. a circumstance which. while it
has in no benefited him with the Repub-
licans, has embittered against him all the Con-
servatives and especially the religious orders.
the parish clergy and the rural popua ton sub
ject to their influence.
Although Dom Carlos is being denounced by
one-half of his subjects as usurper, who should
make way for the Legtimist sove ereign,
Dom Miguel of Braganza, and by the other half
of his countrymen as "a ridiculous and useless
dude" as IAN incapable fool" "a manifest
coward "a common thief of public funds
and "a criminal worthy of death'-I am quot
ing from speeches in parliament and from the
leading papers at Lisbon and Oporto which
loudly demand that he should take his departure
and make room for the establishment OF a re-
public, 'the only form of government consistent
with human dignity, common sense and modern
progress"-yet he Is the victim of circumsa ances
rather than personally at fault. The present
situation arises not from any of the offences
imputed to MIN by his assailants but from the
fact that ne has complied too strictly with the
terms of the constitution, leaving to selfish and
Incompetent politicians to wreck the country by
virtue of the authority reposed in them by their
parliamentary majority rather than transgress
his statutory limitations by sending them about
their business.