The National tribune., 1910-10-27
ANCIENT LAND
OF PORTUGAL.
One of the Oldest of Living Peo.
ples-A History 5000 Years
Long-The People Still in Prim-
tive COndition-Their Efforts
to Throw Off the Yoke of
Church and State.
A Long History.

Wn1cn Is NOW III IIle ilIllSli5i'N' - w.
Spain the oldest of living Nations. IT
has a history which runs back 5,oVo
years. and, differing from most OF the
other countries, the people VINO HNe
there to-day are the descendants Oh
those of the earliest periods turkey
Egypt, Greece and Rome are now IN
habited by very different peoples from
those VINO made their splendid history
thousands OF years ago, but substantial
" the same people have always been IN
Portugal Its geographical position, as
well as the character OF the people,
favored this. 1t occupies remote cor
ner in Europe with the Atlantic ocean
along its western borders and the Med
iterranean on the south, while to the
north and east II is shut off from Spain
by high ranges of mountains when
wiring the moisture out of the sea WINDS
and spread i'll their lee arld, sterlle
plains. These, unfit for agriculture ana
unable to support only the scal'tlcs' t'
population, greatly help make the bar
rier between the two countries. In Por-
tugal there is plenty of water, anu
everything grows luxuriantlE, whlle
across the mountains in Spain the couh-
try is dry and barren and ne popuia-
ton sparse 1t is said that there Is
.cliuatic boundary between the TWO:
The original inhabitants of Portugal
were sturdy little fighters, and mace
invasion of their country dlflcult, cosby
and generally impossible. The Portu-
guese are quite short in stature, rang
ing only from five feet three lhcheS u
five feet three and one-quarter -hcHes'
dark haired, long-headed and very ac
five and hardy 1t is supposed that
they originated from union OF the I'M
migrating CeltS with the aborlglnal
Iberians. They are mostly devoted 10
agriculture, and agriculture IN tts most
primitive way Their Isolation from ire
rest of Europe. prevents the lhtrodlc-
tion OF modern methods AMI machinery,
and the smallness of the hoi t!ngs pro-
hibits ANYTHING like farming on great
scale. The country is so mountainous
and broken that the arabic !ands IN
small tracts and cultivated Dy hanu
labor with the simplest tools. Ihe Por-
tuguese ployy has been described rs a
crooked ctick with a ten-penny nail at
the end. Il is drawn by a single OK,
which plods patiently and carefully
over the ground. carefully avoiding
stepping on that which he should OF.
The other farming tools and appliances
are correspondingly simple.
Every spot of fertile ground that can
be utilized is brought into cultivation.
Steep hillsides are tarraccd and rough
nlaces leyeled off With all this care
the Kingdom cannot produce enoGGn
food for the support of its people.
The Portuguese peasant is content
with the least that will support life and
strength; he lives in rude hut. ana
his life is one of toll and self-Geniai.
He has not changed his methods for
thousands of years, except to cultivate
corn, which was introduced after the
discovery of America He stiil uses the
Moorish water wheel to lift the wat
TO higher ground that he desires to lrri-
gate; he trains his vines to the poplar
and elm as was done in ancient Rome,
and he makes the wine after the same
fashion that was in vogue when Cesar
lived. He checks its fermentation by
burning sulphur the same as the Ro-
mans did. and whoever drinks the COM
mon wine of Portugal can feel that he
is tasting the same beverage of which
the Latin poets sing. In spite of the
fact that the density of population is
1906 to the square mile and only II
per cent live in the cities, only 22.4 per
cent of the total area of the Kingdom
is devoted to agriculture and gardening.
This is only a little over one acre IN
every five. The vineyards occupy 2.2
per cent, or about Gne acre in 80, pas
turage and hay 26.7 per cent and wood
land 2.9 per cent.
Main Agricultural Products.
Agriculture has been greatly retard-
ed and the prosperity of the Kingdom
injured by the great stretches of land
held by the mobiles and the Church. This
evil was the subject of the recent con-
vulsions in Portugal and was partially
in 1894 removed by land laws that en-
ebled the people to obtain farms. The
condition, however, is still very bad,
and was one of the causes of the recent
revolution. Indian corn is largely raised
in the northern section; wheat is the
leading crop south of the Tagus River
and rye on the poor, dry soil. Flax is
extensively grown in the ncrth, while
Il
olives are extensively grown, and wine
represents from one-third TO one-half
of the exports. About one-half are
common wines, and most Of the wine is
sent to Brazil, England and the Portu-
guese colonies. OF late there has been
a considerable development in the pro-
duction of eggs, onions, potato 5 and
other Vegeta bles for export TO England.
Farm production is hampered by the
lack of good roads and of railroads,
tho the rivers furnish eXcelleIi high
ways. There are only about 500 miles
of railroads in the Kingdom. The prin-
cipal cities arc Lisbon and OpOrto. Lis
bon has a population Of 357 ,G00 and
Oporto of 172,42l. The conditions for
the common people have been SO un-
favorable that there has been an i'm
mense emigration for years. averaging
as high us 10000, most of them going
to the United States and Brazil The
other forms Of worship are tolerated.
Professionalism has made no headway,
ho"fe"sr as nearly ait or the pTojc='1atS
are foreigners. As in Spain, the mon
asteTies and nunneTieS are felt TO be a
great burden from their proprietorship
Of rich flaming lands and their eXcTnp-
ton from taxation and other public
burdens. As long ago as 1884 this evil
became so burdensome that as many as
632 monaSteries and l1S nunneries.
with over $4,000 nuns and monks and
an annual income of nearly $1,000, 600,
We're suppressed and their property
coniiscated to the State.
The Portuguese Language.
The Portuguese claim that their Ian
guage is the noblcst and best daughter
of the Latin. Its foundation is the cor
rupt Latin which the common people
used after their conquest by Rome
There was imposed upon this many
features from the Arabic, Frankish and
Celtic languages when these elements
Were in the @E~ondancy. In its printed
form the Portuguese language looks
very much like the Spanish, but owing
TO the centuries of hostility between
the two countries the Portuguese writ
ecs and speakers have differentiated the
spoken form as much as possible from
that of Spain. Scholars pronounce il
the softest but feeblest of all the Latin
fc tongues. The literature of Portugal
docs not approach the richness and
strength of that of SPAIN and most OF
II is an imitation of the Castilian ro-
mances and poetry.