The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-10-30
Occupations,

From the Boston Transcript.
Thus Celt Roman, Goth, and Saracen
have poured their blood into Portugal
and its differences from that Of Spain
are agreed 10 be mostly superficial. Both
races are proud, the Portuguese is con-
ceded 10 be more courteous, the Spaniard
is held 90 be more dependable It IS IN
the smaller country that the peasanry
are stin the wealth Of the land and the
actual embodiment of the national char
acter. To an American they are alter
nately an evaporation for their anti
quated methods Of agriculture. As Mark
Twain said of the Azores farmer. He
prays not 10 be allowed 10 know more
than his grandfather knew. and 10 pillow
with a sharpened stick as his grand
father plowed.'
To an Englishman. read in the classics.
I the Portuguese farmer offers an almost
literal preservation of the golden age of
the classical pastorals. The pursuits OF
/ the vineyard, the field and the herd are
/ here; and :he very implements of the
Roman time The grotesque and graceful
superstitions persist, and the naive way
OF life Instead OF the distrustful polite
ness Of tWons. the traveller encounters
dignity. More than one have borne wit
ness Of towns. the traveller encounters
which we know to-day only through
IlTheocritus and NeTgil, Supposing. too,
that theirs was a literary version OF H.
A small population of miners. Of fisher
men twhom We know in New England 10
/ be skilful and daring and Of sailors tall
/ that remains Of the mighty tribe OF adj
mirals and explorers are all secondary
to the farming population, which domi-
mates the social. the financial. and the
/ religious character Of the nation. A few
/ manufacturers are encouraged" 20 Ian
/ guish.
/ IN northern Portugal the farming is al
most excessively on small scale, from
/ FIVE 70 fifteen acres for an average size
In all parts OF the country the system of
1 holding varies widely, and the details go
/ back into the early history among In
I nuences OF the Gothic and Saracen in
vasions II is perfectly true that the primi-
tive mode OF working the land is the
cause OF the great economic waste.
The soil receives little or no fertiliza-
ton. a hundred and fifty bushels might
be produced in place Of the present
| hundred. The nation would be richer;
whether II would be better off is a ques-
ton. It's people are well supported. law
abiding and virtUous. They do not. on
the up-country farms of Portugal, go I'm
for automobiles and electric lights as We
do in Kansas. Still we may in Kansas
ask ourselves if motorcars and switch
boards ara the chief aim Of existence
! Judged by its own performances, an Eng
lishman declared Of these farms. yet il
/ is in this backward country that the
thing is done which. # England could do
! her wealth would be doubled or quad
/ rupled."
| Poor as the peasants are 20 an Ameri-
can standard OF life, they are gay Of
! spirit, hardy Of body and epicures in
! respect 20 the fare which they have
| Their taste IN olives knows all the fine
| shades of discrimination; dried Goldfish
I is eaten with a keen relish for flavor. and
/ their taste in wines twhile not that Of
/ Paris is fastidious The dried fish, bacal
/ hau. has been the battle ground Of poll
/ ticians, etymologists. nnanciers. fisher
men. and merchants. While these
wrangled the Portuguese have consumed
/ il quietly in Vast quantities. with oil and
pepper 1t is both a luxury and a neces-
| sity, delicacy and a staple
! II has never occurred TO the poor OF