" HUMAN VERMIN."

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 29, 4 February 1908, Page 7

" HUMAN VERMIN."

NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL WAR AGAINST IT. LONDON, 3rd February. The Pall Mall Gazette says the lesson from Lisbon shows the need for an international agreement on war against human vermin. THE KING MANUEL. The new King was born on 15th November, 1889. Jt^is full names are Manuel Marie Philippe Charles Amelio Louis Michel Raphael Gabriel Gonza^ue Xavier Francois d'Assisi Eugene. A SERIOUS FEATURE. A serious feature of the situation iv Portugal is the great commercial depression from which the whole country is suffering, owing to the improvidence of tho Government in failing to keep, up -the; reserves usually held in the banks o£ London, Paris, and Bprlin, DICTATOR'S FRANK POLICY. On the subject of the increase of the Civil List, Senhor Franco recently declared to a representative^^the Temps : "I am accused of having come to an agreement with tho King to allow liim large sums. If I had wanted to give tho King money, I could have done as my predecessors did. , On the contrary; 1 . wished to settle this matter in public. It was, I agree, a matter painful for the Crown and for national self-trespect. There aro surgical operation^ which , are called for; the pain is not so acute or so dangerous as "the disease, and when life is at stake one cannot . hesitate. Everybody knew tho sad situation. It was even exaggerated. The Republicans exploited it eagerly and treacherously, f put an end to this underground campaign in Showing tho naked truth. The civil list was Inadequate, and 1 increased it. But never, I repeat, never under my Government will the King get one panny-more thau the sum allotted." WILL STRIKE IF NECESSARY. After a vigorous defence of his financial policy, and of his action against the revolutionary press, Senhor Franco went on :—: — "My enemies will think twice before fomenting any disturbance. The days of 18th and 19th June did not succeed as they expected. Tho Government have every means for repression. The army is true to tho King, i.e., to the Constitution. In ; difficult circumstances, if I am provoked, I shall not hesitate one 1 instant, but shall act. I do not fear a popular movement. If there are j risings of malcontents they will be put down. . The maintenance of order sometimes costs a heavy price, but no Government worthy ' tho name would shrink before such a sacrifice." NO -FEAR OF THE ASSASSIN. And when the correspondent hinted that there might be a simpler way of getting rid of the dictatorship than by a revolution, Sonhor Franco replied :— "Attempts at assassination do not always succeed. And, after all, in my plans I do not take any more count of the risk of the death by violence than by typhoid or dipli- \ theria. I know I shall die some day, and, in truth, this apprehension or fear has no hold on me. I govern without heeding it. What interests me is my enemies, their methods of fighting me, and their rssources. ' ' MESSAGE OF SYMPATHY. The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, lias through his Excellency tho Governor sent a message of deep sympathy, on behalf of the Dominion, to the Portuguese authorities.