The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-02-11

Inere Is q republican organization In
every town and doctors, lawyers and
even the village priests are sending
in notices Of their adherence by the
score and there are avowed republican
officers in the army.
king Manuel is a we'll intentioned
boy. He starts his regime with fair
words OF the restoration of political
liberty, but 1t is inevitable that he
should fall into the hands OF the ma
nipulators of the two old parties
whose bankruptcy was proclaimed by
King Carlos and Premier Franco. The
men about the throne know that the
end Is near and when the time comes
that they realize that they cannot
fight they will surrender as Dom Pc
dro did in Brazil. / don't think q shot
will be fred. King Carlos knew he
was making his last fight. He had
transferred every dollar he had to
England.
Change Regime.
"We will make q change Of regime
an open issue in the coming cam
paign. We will demand that the mon
archy which has dragged down Portu-
gal into the mire Of political and
financial bankruptcy, abdicate to the
people. They dare not try repression
again; they can only surrender"
While the troops since last Tuesday
have remained in their barracks dur
ing the daytime, Lisbon at night still
resembles an armed camp. Cavalry
is massed in the public squares, pick
cts patrol the streets and heavily
armed soldiers guard the state bank
day and night.
The financial situation is viewed
with great alarm. The country ID
staggering under it's foreign debt and
commerce Is almost p%aralyzed by the
fluctuations of the gold premium. Con
sentative bankers consider the flnan-
cial situation to be more critical than
the political.
The outside world, in spite of the
censorship which has defeated Its
own object, should not imagine the.
throne Of Portugal Is tottering toward
revolution and that a republic is i'm
minent. The general situation is
grave rather than alarming. Political
conditions, already chaotic before the
murder Of the king and crown prince,
became utterly demoralized after the
commission of these crimes. Conster-
nation and panic prevailed among
the police and at court and the re-
lease Of Francois strong hand from
the helm, left the ship Of state sadrift.
But with the new cabinet pledged to
constitutional methods and the aboli-
ton OF the dictatorship and existing
measures OF repression the situation.
improved. King Manuel openly ac-'
knowledged the irregularity Of the
money advances to the royal family
under his fathers reign, which were
the original causes Of the political
turmoil, and he publicly ordered the
discontinuance Of this practice. It IL.
hard to forecast the future.
Republic Likely.
II things drift back to the old rut
of governmental corruption whence
King Carlos and Premier Franco res
cued the monarchy, q republic might
commence. The republicans are the
natural interiors Of the mistakes Of
the monarchy. but the masses are
groaning under their personal bur-
dens. They are either ignorant or in
different to the political turmoil.
Something Is necessary to %galvanfze
them into action and this is exactly
what the small but evidently desper-
ate organization OF militant revolu-
tionists in Lisbon and Oporto are try
ing to do. They want to drive the
people to revolution.
The immediate danger in the situa-
tion comes from the fact that the po-
lice are baffled and the government
unable to ascertain the extent OF the
~ramifcations OF the conspiracies
which have been Indicated during the
last fortnight by the discovery at va
rious places Of bombs and arms and
ammunition. It was known that Pre-
mier Franco was marked for assassi-
nation. He deemed 1t wise to fee.
But the assassination OF the king was
not expected and 1t created almost a
reign Of terror in high politics.
Plot Not Completed.
There is not the, slightest question
that the plot was only half successful.
The murder OF the entire royal fam
lily and the extinction of the dynasty
was the scheme OF the conspirators.
1t is certain that other men had been
stationed at points OF the route of the
royal carriage that fhta1aHkturday at
ternoon and that If the efnnrder had
not been committed at the Commer-
clio, 1t would have been attempted
elsewhere. That same night an at
tempt was made to bring about a mu-
tiny on the part, of the infantry and
artillery regiments in Lisbon, but the
officers locked the doors of the bar
racks and the conspirators were una
ble.to get in to the men.
There have been many reports of
dissatisfaction in the army and navy,
But careful investigation does not con
firm them and it may be assumed that
the military is still loyal
The latter part OF this week the
fear grew that an attempt would be
made the day the funerals were held
on Saturday, to complete the bloody
work that was left unfinished a week
ago.
To prevent anything Of this kind
extraordinary precautions we're taken.
AT first the king insisted on going on
foot behind the conflns Of his father
! and brother, with his uncle, the duke