The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-04-13

than the state of Indiana, Portugal
has not played a major role in the
politics of Continental Europe in
many years, not, in fact since Welles-
ley, afterward the Duke of yelling
ton. landed his English forces and,
with the aid of native troops, defeat.
ed Soult and Massena, Napoleons
marshals, in the two peninsular cam.
paigns.
But the colonial empire of Portu-
gal is out of all proportion to the
Importance of the home country. In
fact, there were, at the beginning of
the war, only three other countries in
Europe, Great Britain, France and
Germany whose flags fiOated over
more territory beyond the boundaries
OF the home country. The com
bined area of the New England and
North Atlantic states would equal less
than one fourth of the territory under
the dominion Of the tiny republic oC-
cupying the western edge of the Iber-
ian peninsular, whose navigatOrs in
the fifteenth and sixteenth century
were the wonders of the wrodl. Yet
all this vast territOr vi SHIELD by 5000
Colonial troops, supplemented by ma
tive armies.
1T would be difficult to estimate
how much Portugal will be able to
contribute to the strength of the AL
lies cause. Its peace strength is
only 10000 men, but there is a re-
serve of 10000 while the morgan
lied military strength Of the nation
is as great as that of the Netherlands
and more than a third larger than
was Serbias total unorganized war
strength before this war began.
THE harbor of Lisbon, where the
seizure OF the German merchant
ships precipitated Portugal into the
war is one of the most beautiful in
all Europe, ranking scarcely second
to Naples and Constantinople The
city is about the size of Pittsburgh,
and has been the political center of
the nation since it was wrested from
the Moors in the middle of the 18th
Gentry by Alfonso Henfiues, the
founder of the kingdom 1t was the
English who aided Alfonso in his war
against the Moors,, and the following
century the two countries effected an
alliance which has existed unbroken
during the succeeding seven hundred
years, save for such sporadic inter
ruptions as when Napoleon forced the
little kingdom to declare war against
the island empire.
The Portuguese, especially those
of Lisbon, are a pleasure-loVing peo-
pie. They are fond of sports of
many sorts. including the bull fight,
but the toreador is not the idol in
this country that he is in Spain. nor
are the contests as fierce. Horses
are seldom if ever sacrificed in the
Portugueses trocaderos. Lisbon is
an even greater night city than Par
is, the streets appearing at their bus
lest usually at 3 a. m.
1T has been said that If Lisbon
turns Turk tomorrow al Portugal will
wear the turban,' so when the mon
aTchy was overthrow in 1910. after
100 persons had been killed and 500
wounded in the capital, King Manuel
taking refuge in England, it was a
matter of course that the rest of the
nation would quietly acQuiesce in the
new order of things. Portugal today
has much the same outward form of
government as our own. Each par
lament is supposed TO last three
years, senators are elected for &
years, and presidents for four years.
The head of the government receives
$2O.O a year Money, however, is
reckOned chiefly in reia and, there
FORE even a day labOrer S wage is
sweet to the ear, for it takes 20 refs
to make 4 penny.
"Portugal's transcendent cOntribu-
tiOn to world history was the colo
nizatiOn of Brazil, the largest nation
in South America and the third larg-
est in the Western hemisphere.
While Rra2il was discovered by Co.
lumbus' companion PinZOn and formal
possession taken by him in the name
of Spain, Cabral landed i'll 1900, a
year later and proclaimed it POrtu-
gueSe territory. Portugal settled the
country and ruled it until 1922 when,
under the leadership of the Portu-
guese prince. Dom Pedro, independ.
ence from the mother country was
declared"