Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-01-03

Or. ALFONSO COSTA, PREMIER
AND DICTATOR OF PORTUGAL.
know what physical fear means. II Il
not an exaggeI alton TO say that dur
ing the past few months his life ha'
been in danger every moment of thu
day and night. His enemies are mum
bered by the thousands. and monarch
les, syndicalists, anarchists and dis
gruntled democrats look upon him as
the author, of all the Ills from which
the country is suffering. Yet the
writer has frequently seen him NOV
ing about through the streets of Lis
bon without guard of any kind and
has seen thousands Of people neal
enough TO him to stand good chanes
of killing him Ii they so wished. Yet
the splendid audacity CT the man has
carried him through with safety. The
writer saw him drive in an open car.
riage through the densely crowded
streets Of Lisbon just after a bomb
had been thrown in the Rua Da Cor.
ma, off the Praca da Dom Pedro, to
the hospital where the victims were
lying. Again he, saw him look def
antly, half satiIically, at the rows Of
sullen faces that were turned up TO
his. Il shall never be assassInated, ?
lie is reported to have said to so
Eeitous friend. "AIl the scoundrels are
en- my side" Is i III. Is:
Dominates the Government. - -
costa not only dominates the coun-
try, but he dominates, even more ef
fectiyely. the government. Possessed
OF q terrible temper, he can not brock
and has surrounded himself
with men who are willing and anxious
to do his bidding. He rides rough
shnd over them, and through them
over the chamber of deputies. The
latter sometimes baIks at his de,
mands; he jumps into his open car
rage, drives IN haste to the Legislative.
chamber and whips them into line
with his fiery tongue. The syndicaE
lists and anarchists dare to criticise
his administrator; he orders out the
troops. breaks up their meetings, for
bids them to eongregate and throws
their leaders into prison. The royal
ist papers criticise his use Of the
French language or ask the date Of
the long postponed civil election; he
surrounds their offices with police,
confscates the issues and suspends
the publication, certain In this way he
viii ultimately force them into bank.
ruptcy. ~ ...~ ~.....1
He juggIes the financial accounts
of the country until the greatest of
experts can not make heads
nor tails of them He loudly pro-
claims that. true to his promise, he
has lifted the heavy burden of taxa.
ton from the poor, yet these very
poor left stricken Portugal last year
to the number of 100000 because they
found it impossible to live under the
conditions. He has perfected sys-
tenn of taxation which is varied in
each particular case, according to the
known political sympathies Of the in.
dividuaL He has driven out Of the
country many of the richest people.
upon whom thousands were depend.
ent for their livelihoods. Agriculture,
Portugars only salvation, is, compare.
lively speaking, at a standstill. Less
than half Of the country is under cul-
tiyation. yet enormous quantities OF
stable food, which might in other cir
cumstances be grown on the land, are
imported. And finally foreign capital,
which defunct Portugal badly needs,
wouldn't touch the country with
barge pole," to use an expressive
phrase.
Amnesty not Granted.
His mental shuffling was seen in
his recent amnesty to political pris-
oners. The writer is not urging the
Justice of such an amnesty. 1t is be-
lieVed that in matters of that kind
those in power are the best judges,
and If monarchists will rise they must
take the consequences like men with
put squealing. From what has been
seen the writer is aole to say that the
Portuguese political prisoners were
treated with extraordinary considera.
ton. But the fact remains that, in
accordance with the many information.
II protests, Costa announced that the
government would grant an amnesty.
October 5 last, this amnesty was
granted. and the news dispatched to
he four corners of the civilized world. |
Yet no amnesty in the true sense OF
The word has been granted The re-
eased monarchists were made to sign |
documents repudiating their cause |
nd pledging adherence to the repub- |
ic before they we're freed. Further
moro, they were released simply oD |
parole. and under the terms of their !
they can be arrested :
IN susnicion and reimprisoned with. !
,ut trial Of any kind And finally ,
his misnamed amnesty" was con-
fned to the poorer class of prisoners. |
such as eX-policemen and farmers. !
who served in the ranks in the last !
ncursion. |
Costa undoubtedly owes his power
% his strong personality. but even he !
could not long remain at the head of |