Morris tribune., 1908-02-08
THE PORTUGUESE SITUATION.

If the assassination Of King Carlos and or
Crown Prince Luiz intended to prepare the
way for republic in Portugal it has evidently
missed it's mark IF it was intended to put an
end to the dictatorship of Franco it has accom-
plished it's purpose There seems to be good
deal of evidence to indicate that the plot was
republican in it's origin even if it did not have
the sympathy cognizance of the more sober
minded leaders among the republicans. There
is little to indicate that it was purely an anar-
chistic outrage It seems to have been the out
growth of intense unrest caused by the suspen-
sion of representative government and the as
sumption of the dictatorship by Franco. But
beyond the exercise of such arbitrary and un-
authorized power the grievances Of the Portu-
guese do not seem to have been very grave
The world has not, it is true, had much light
on the exact situation. The precise nature OF
the trouble has been somewhat obscure owing
to the meagerness of the reports that have come
from Portugal. But to judge from what has
been reported within the last two or three
months the dictatorship of Franco, though
wholly illegal, was benefcent SO far as his ad-
ministration was concerned He did not abuse
have used it to put an end to many abuses and
seems to have been seeking to bring about
condition that would permit the reassembl1ng
of the Portuguese parliament, which he had
dismissed because he found it blocking at every
turn his plans for the welfare of Portugal. He
weared of it's factona chickering's and its inep-
titude and he got rid of it Constitutionally, but
evaded the manifest spirit, if not the letter, OF
the constitution by failing to set the machinery
in motion for the election of a new parliament
This was, of course, unjustifable. Even 1t
the end he had in view was wholly disinterest-
ed it would not justify means extreme. 1t
was violation of the fundamental law OF Por-
tugal and evidently offense to popular sent1-
ment. He failed to reckon with the spirit OF
the age Sixty years ago his stroke might have
had the acquiescence of all but few idealists'
Nowadays it provoked such revolt of public
opinion as to nullify all that he might have &C
complished in the way of administrative REFORM
His remedy, in short, was worse than the dis
ease. For in attempting to restore Portugal to
financial health and to accomplish some other
reforms he brought it to the very verge of revo-
luton and actually plunged it into the horrors
of regicide. Indeed the censorship now in force
suggests that behind the curtain Portugal is in
the throes of fierce CONFUSION.
1t is atrocious that if any victim had to be
i'm molated to restore Constitutionalism it was
not Franco rather than the king and the crown
prince who whatever their respective RESPONSE
bilities may have been, were not primarily to
blame.
But the event seems to have revealed to
Franco the error in his calculations. He has
taken occasion to get out of the tight place in
which he found himself. by resigning; and is
now said to be fleeing for his life. An able man,
obviously strong one, and apparently patriot
ic in his purposes, he probably feels, not the
rage of the deposed tyrant, but the bitterness
of the patriot who has been misunderstood and
thwarted by the stupidity of his fellow citizens.
But he has probably come to realize that in
these days most peoples even in backward lands
like Portugal prefer to suffer from a defective
government in which they have a voice than to
endure despotism even when benef1cient.-
Pioneer Press.
+ S
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