Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-12
PORTUGAL.
The Present Outlook.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

Now that the provisional government
| OF the Republic Of Portugal has given
way to the permanent establishment
OF the new government, fears OF
counter-revolution to restore the mon
archy are 1essened, although vigilant
precautionary measures are being
taken. In fact, the probability of
restoration Of King Manuel never has
been considered in Portugal as 1t has
In other countries of Europe. 1t is
much easier to get a bet in London or
Paris that King Manuel or some other
scion OF a royal house. will one day sit
upon the Portuguese throne than 1t is
to find man in Lisbon who seriously
entertains such an idea. In Lisbon
| Manuel is spoken Of as a harmless boy
against whom nobody harbored any
real Ill feeling. 1t is pointed out that
| he and the others Of the royal family
were accorded the gentlest and most
just treatment. No one wants to de-
pr1ve them OF their private property,
and no one minds their drawing a pen
| sion. but their return to Portugal as
rulers is not among the probabilities.
| In this view OF the situation, foreign
business men residing in Lisbon agree
with the Portuguese who are outspoken
| in their delight with the republic and
ready with their condemnation Of mon
arch and conarchies as institutions
| The present outlook is that while there
may De good deal of. rough shedding
| for dreamers before Portugal becomes
an ideal or even a practical republic.
| it will not again become a kingdom
| by consent Of the Portuguese The dan
| ger that looms larger than that Of
return to constitutional monarchy is
drift into autocracy under the name
| OF democracy, such as is found in GER
| tain Latin American republics II
this contingency is avoided the pros
pect Is that Portugal will make grad
ual progress in the right direction
At present the future Of Portugal
seems to lie in the hands Of a small
number of "in-
Future in Hands te11ectuals,"
of "Intellectuals." VINO pr ooan,,',
revolution. There is little prospect Of
successful nter-revolution in be-
| half OF King Manuel. Although only a
small proportion Of the Portuguese
only small proportion Of the residents
OF Lisbon, in fact-took part in the revo-
luton. almost every Portuguese prefers a
| president to a king. No matter how
apathetic he may be, or how ignorant
he is not SO poor an advocate Of DEM
ocratic government that he would rally
to the standard Of an aspirant for the
| throne.
| One major difficulty confronting the men
| who are trying to forward the interests OF
| the country is that many of those who
aided in the revolution looked upon the
| change from a monarchy to republic as
| a political "cure-all'' that would remove
every cause for complaint. Many of these
men are too ignorant to understand tina,
| kicking over a throne and setting up a
| new form OF government cannot make IL
| possible to collect two days wages for
one days work or to buy two loaves for
| the price of half loaf. There is, as an
| inevitable result, a good deal Of unwar-
| rantable discomfort among emotional and
1nthinking republicans who do no,
| know where to draw the line between adj
militancy against all government.
| The leaders of this class taught them ir
the pre-revolution period that, but for the
coalition Of priests and princes, they woult
have everything their own way. They nov
ask these leaders why their prophecies
have not been fulfilled. They want to know
how soon they are to be fulfilled Wha
a rather callous people to action against
a form of government that was unques
| tionably bad was taken so literally thai
| a somewhat awkward situation and one
| with great potentialities for discord ex
lists.