El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-13

= ISBON,, PORTUGAL July 10
Causes of the overthrow of
- the monarchy in Portugal
are traced by the students OF
its decline beyond the golden age
of discovery to the time when
Burgundian princes VINO ruled the
country were unable to fuse it's mon
grel stock and racial divisions into a
Homogeneous nation, and when African
slaves, Arabs, Berbers, Celtiberians,
Hispane- Romans. Goths and Vandals
had contributed tc the mixture called
Portuguese.
overbearing Aristocracy.
The same spirit that animated the
upper classes in the glorious days OF
the famous explorers and conquista-
dores, animated modern Portuguese
aristocrats This was the sentiment
that there was nothing in common
between a gentleman and a newer of
wood and drawer Of water The common
people have been regarded as drudges,
fit for service as soldiers, sailors.
laborers or servants, but little con-
sidered royalty, the nobility and the
politicians who have contrived to live
at their expense.
Stagnated, unenHghtened, impover-
ished. socially outcast. the common
people have been allowed to make their
way as best they could. The gentry
have continued to hold unswervingly
to the opinion that landlordism, mill
tary office or billets in the civil
service constitute the only means OF
livelihood suitable for a gentleman to
consider, and that all vulgar employ
ment savoring of actual work is tit
only for "cannaile."
The NnpOIeonic Invasion.
When, in the nineteenth century, the
Napoleonic invasion threatened Portu-
gal with extinction, the people were
ignorant and poor to degree IN
known even today The country was
sucking its sustenance from South
America. I At the end of the British
military occupation the country had
become prey to political grating and
civil strife. A nation that had amply
proved its stamina and patriotism in
the field had become spiritless and
uninterested in its own affairs under
a grinding bureaucratic government
dominated by INSCRIPTIONS cliques-
Long and profitless wars for the benefit
of ambitious soldiers of fortune, crook
edness at the capital, corruption among
the upper classes. apathy among the
people, made Portugal unique. The
French revolution fired a small number
of the Portuguese with the hope Of
revolution In their country and the
ferment that started at that time con-
tinued until the recent upheavaL
All Eyes on Brazil.
In recent times the constant COM
munication with Brazil served to keep
alive In the minds OF the Portuguese
a desire to try a new kind Of govern
ment. Agitation against monarchy In
Spain also aided in keeping the fires
of revolution alight in Portugal. The
modern history of France and the hist
DRY of the United States have been
much read by enlightened Portuguese
for so years. The prevailing idea that
the revolution was a spur-of-the-
moment affair is entirely erroneous
Senior Franco. when acting as die
tator under on Carlos realized that
a change was probable. Some repub-
lican leaders had been 50 bold as TO
proclaim a republic as certainty Of the
future as early 1907. It was of course
in Lisbon chiefly that the propaganda
of revolution flourished. The rural
lists, little given TO reading. and for
the most part unable TO read, took
small interest in affairs. Those In
the northern part of the country, tol-
lowing agricultural pursuits. are even
now claimed by the monarchists as
constituting a fair sized contingent
without enthusiasm for the Lisbon
Republic The fact that the provis-
ionaI ministry delayed the election OF
the permanent assembly TO prosecute
a campaign in this part Of the country
upholds the theory that militant re-
publicanism is not universal there. II
does not prove. however, that there is
any active monarchial sentiment.
Royal House Not Courageous.
The few monarchists who cherish
a hope point out the fact that king
Manuel was enthusiastically received
in the northern provinces upon the
occasion Of a tour he made short
time before the revolution, and insist
that the success of the Lisbon upris-
ing was due not so much to wide
spread republican sentiment as to an
utter absence of courage upon the part
of the royal house. The revolutApn-
aries were not numerically strong, and
although the organization OF the Car
bonaries is regarded, and certainly
was, remarkable for secret society
it cannot be said that the revolutionary
forces were so well drilled or dis
ciplined as to make them especially
formidable The fighting was Ill
directed and not at all spirited. Ma
chados Santos and his handful Of men
upon the Avendia made a good show
ing of obstinate courage, but the same
cannot be said of the entire body of
uprisers. It was not the courage Of
insurrecto forces but the cowardice OF
king Manuel and those Immediately
him that won the day for
the revolutionary army" and lost 1t
for the royalists.
Some Bullet Holes.
Bullet holes in the window panes OF
ia shionable shops on the Rocio are
among the sights of Lisbon nova /
days Plate glass fronts" with two
or three perforations constitute excel
lent advertising for hatters and haber-
dashers. They will be carefully pre-
served, and not replaced with whole
sheets of glass Inspiring tales OF
deeds of incredible valor are told when
these bullet holes are pointed out to
the visitor, but the fact Is that most
of the shots were fired wildly, and
there were few heroes or heroic deeds
when the shooting was in progress.
Odd HerOism.
A hero's medal is now worn by one
hero who was in posi- |
ton of great danger during the bonn
bardment, but it is not exactly clear
to the disinterested spectator of events !
wherein his heroism lay. An English |
man representing a Scotch whisky firm
was in his room In the Avenida Palace |
hotel when the battle took place. His !