The Chitina leader., 1910-11-26
POOR OLD PORTUGAL.


 dropped neatly into the basket and Britian was proclaimed republic, the belief of the Divine Right of Kings received a body blow that has made many a king think twice be- fore levy a crest tax or doing some kingly act that might antagonize his people.
 Political freedom has been the cause of the greater number of the revolutions of this world.
 Portugal, with its past grandeur and diminishing colonies, is the last on the list to declare itself repub- lie. Nearly every revolution has been a conflict between church and state, or rather one should say be- tween the Church of Rome and some political party that is fighting for political freedom, education of the masses and a government that is in no way connected or governed by the clerical party. Although in the case of Portugal it is really hard to say what is the real cause of the revolution.
 For years the country has been misgoverned and plundered by polit- ical rings which have succeeded one another in office and whose greatest ambition has been to run the na- tion more deeply in debt and to steal as much of the public money as pos sible. Of these political rings one succeeded the other, each as corrupt as its predecessor and each with un- derstanding of rotation which utter ly defeated all attempts of reform.
 When the late King Carlos and his disinterested ministry attempted to upset this machine the assassina- tion of the king happened shortly afterwards. It is at times highly convenient to have anarchists to blame when a murder has been com mitted and a man in high office has been removed-looking on the cause of the removal from an economic side. The financial resources of Portugal have steadily decreased. At the time of the ascension of Manuel to the throne the national debt was about sSO0,OOO,0O0, and the revenue for the past fiscal year, according to the New York Herald, fell near ly short by s27,OOO,OOO of meeting expenditures.
 Emigration has been heavy, espec- ially of young men to North and South America and in 1900 the pop ulation was about five and one-half million, with considerable excess of women and girls.
 The manufactures of Portugal are poorly developed. There are no coal deposits. The exports are not great, and in fact Portugal has never re- covered her financial position since the loss of her vast colonies in the West Indies and South America. The civil list of Portugal was not high ($365, ,000), but possibly the king had a hard time, like some of the lesser government officials, to col feet n's salary.
 A good many of the government positions seem to be hereditary and one can we'll live on what is owing his grandfather if he is lucky enough to collect it. This is not the first time one of the nations of the Iber- ian Peninsula has tried the form of a Republican government. Castelar, and Serrano, in 1873, raised the flag of Republicanism at Madrid, and Spain became republic. The new regime lasted only about two years and in 1875 Alfosno XII was crowned in Madrid with pomp of religious ceremony that one only finds in 8 Latin European country.
 Now it remains to be seen wheth- CT Theophile Braza and his minis ters can maintain staple and pro- gressive Republican government, that will raise them intellectually and po- lstically and give them place among the enlightened and educated nations of the world. Only twenty per cent of the population can read and write. The house of Braganza has never been popular. Carlos was in no way