Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-22
.UPL|FT OF PORTUGAL
Big Task Confronts the Pro-
-visional Government.
LEADERS SEEKING LIGHT
President of the Republic Pays Visit
to London.
REGARDED AS ABLE EXECUTIVE
Cabinet Composed of Intelligent
Men Who Are Popular. With
the People.
REGARDED AS ABLE EXECUTIVE

/ Foreign Correspondence OF The Star.
| LONDON. October S. 1910
| The presence of Senior Theophilo
| Braga. the head Of tho provisional govern
ment OF the Portuguese republic may
| rightly be taken to mean that the govern
! ment will, so far as the difference OF
| circumstances makes it possible. follow
the. lines that guided the provisional
government when the Brazilian throne
was overthrow. When Brazil revolted
| in 1889 Benjamin Constant was the great
leader, and between Constant and Braga
there are many points of similarity. Like
Constant. Braga is professor. very pop
ular with his pupils, a man of great
scientific and literary accomplishments
| and of the most scrupulous honesty.
Theophlo Braga was born in the Azores
at Ponta del Gada, in 1Si3. He has been
republican since he began his literary
| career. He has published several volumes
OF poetry and treaty of poetry based
on Auguste Comics ideas. One of his
noted writings is entitled "A General Out
line of Positive Philosophy as Confirmed
by Recent Science"
Only a few years ago the French scien
tif1c and literary world welcomed him to
the Sarbonne. where Anatole France adj
dressed him as one of the great lights of
modern erudition. No better choice could
represent the new Portugal.
Members of the Cabinet.
or the other members Of the ministry
the one that interests most the other
countries Of Europe il, no doubt, the one
TO whom has been intrusted the portfolio
or foreign affairs. The choice has fallen
upon Senior Bernardino Machado, whose
political career has been one of loyalty
ana sincere devotion to the public well
rare; Machado is professor of science
Oh the University of COimbra. He is a.
skilled d1plomatiSt and a man of culture
Col. COviera Barreto, minister of war
is brilliant officer to whom a mon
archical government intrusted. on several
occasions, important technical missions.
A few years ago he was sent to London
to study the arsenal at WooIwich, in or
der to develop the works at the Portu
GueSe war works
DR.. Alfonso Costa, minister of Justice.
VINO, during the latter years of the re-
most active of the revolutionary agita-
tors. is doctor of law from Colimbra
University, and a lawyer by profession.
he is a good writer and speaker and
Doth IN the republican papers and from
| The platform he vigorously denouncel
the shortcomings of the old regime AS
a member Of parliament he took part in
all the great debates-wich generally
III the CONFUSION OF the ministry.
Commander of the Fleet Amaro Jus
tinianO Azeyedo Comes, who has been
appointed minister of marine was sub
director of the naval government fac
tory, and is very popular with his fell
oW-officerS. \ strict disciplina rian he
is. all the same loved by all his men,
with whom his influence must have been
very powerful in leading them to fight
| for the republic during last Monday 3
| outbreak.
Corruption Under Old Regime.
So much for the elements in the new
constitution. OF the old, it fell because
of its intrinsic rottenness. The republi-
cans had simply to hold up a mirror
to its follies. without even taking the
trouble to comment upon them. The
sins of the mOnarchist party were numer-
Gus. incapable and continual. The sys-
tematic and clandestine manner in which
the nation was robbed by the mOnarchist
! parties, both liberal and conservative, in
order to supply deficiencies in the civil
list would have been a scandal in Tur-
key.
But more corrosive than the publica-
ton CT these facts were the attacks Of
the monarchists themselves against their
own king The moment one party came
into power it assailed it's predecessors
with all its might and the utmost venom,
and not only did it fall foul of the min
listers. but it decried the members Of the
royal family as we'll
For many years past the political stu
alton has been that of one so-called
party succeeding another so-called party,
each in its turn enjoying the spoils OF
office. Between them there has existed
Portugal being largely a personal affair.
So that YOU had the prevailing result
of men of different views and varied in
| character and temperament forming part
of the same ministry. The situation is
further affected by the fact that the
great bulk of the population-S0 per cent,
I believe-are illiterate, so that the actual
power in the country has resided neither
in the king nor with the people, but in a
close cligarchy. which is for the most
word. Portugal is an anomaly in modern
Europe.
Decadence of Portugal.
1t is very remarkable fact that the
decadence of Portugal dates from the
time Of the great Portuguese conquests
in South America and in India. The mag
nificent new countries which were won
by Portuguese enterprise attracted such
| large numbers of a numerically small
population that in some parts of the
country the lands were left untitled by
reason of the excessive emigration, and It
was partly to supply the deficiencies of
labor caused by this dearth that slaves
were imported from Africa The result
| is that the Portuguese of today are not
of the same pure race were the POrtu-
guese Of the great age of Portugal. Pride
| In their historic past is associated today
with political Incompetence to most
marked degree.
The effect of all this is as regards poll
tics that not a single man has been pro-
duced in recent years who can lay claim
| to the title of statesman. Perhaps the
most prominent figure in recent times is
Senior FRANCO, who undoubtedly real
| lied the ills from which his country was
| suffering But he made the great error Of
miscalculating the measures which were
required to mitigate if not end. those
ills He saw that there was corruption
in public life and openly announced his
intention of roofing out that corruption.
But in place of devoting his life to the
task and endeavoring by slow degrees to
gather round him the best elements in
Portuguese life he sought a short cut to
reform by a liberal use of the royal pre-
negative.
Multiplication of Ministries.
Within the last two years there have
been no fewer than six MINISTRIES in
Portugal, and during the whole of that
time dissatisfaction with the existing po-
Iitical situation has been growing. The
republican party has been gaining
strength in the country. NOT 40 much on
account NJ apy theoretical alta IN