OFFICIAL STATEMENT. KING ADVISED TO LEAVE THE PALACE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 84, 6 October 1910, Page 7

OFFICIAL STATEMENT. KING ADVISED TO LEAVE THE PALACE.

CONFLICTING NEWS AS TO HIS WHEREABOUTS. (Received October 6, 10.15 a.m.) LONDON, sth October. It is officially announced that the Portuguese Government considered that King Manuel should leave the Palace at Lisbon, and it is believed that he has gone to Cintra, where he met his mother, Queen Amelie. The bulk of the fleet rebelled. Nothing happened at Oporto. Further Government news is contradictory. Apparently three rebellious regiments were fighting against the artillery. It is also reported that King Manuel i* on board the Brazilian warship Sao Paulo. H.M.S. NEWCASTLE. ARRIVED IN THE TAGUS. (Received October 6, 10.45 a.m.) LONDON, sth October. H.M.S. Newcastle has arrived in the Tagus. A REPUBLIC PROCLAIMED. ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED. MESSAGE FROM THE BRITISH ENVOY. LONDON, sth October. Trie British Minister at Lisbon cabled to Sir Edward Grey, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, as follows :—: — •'The home garrison declared for the Republicans on Monday night. "There was fighting throughout Tuesday. Troops, which had hitherto been, loyal, joined the Republicans. "This morning the Republic was pro-! claimed, the- announcement being enthusiastically recived. "King Manuel is reported to be at Mafra." [Malfra is a small town eighteen miles north-west of Lisbon. It contains a royal palace of extraordinary dimensions, richly decorated, and containing a library of 2d,u00 volumes.] j "VIRTUALLY PRISONERS." YOUNG KING'S PITIABLE CONDITION. HOSTILITY OF THE POPULACE. Little reference has been made to events in Portugal by the ordinary prens services, but the news that did come to hand made it clear that the country has been seething with discontent ever since the murder of King Carlos and the HeirApparent, two and a-half years ago. After that murder — which was committed not by anarchists, but by revolutionaries — European interest in Portuguese affairs declined, and the kingdom played no part in the diplomacy of the Great Powers. Apart from this, a most rigorous censorship was exercised over both telegrams and letters from Portugal, and the great London dailies were, therefore, the less inclined to devote any money or space to Lisbon correspondence. At the same time, owing chiefly to American enterprise, the Government has not been able entirely to conceal its doings, and the state of affairs revealed appears to be nothing short of scandalous. There were two versions as to the character of the late King. He was represented upon the one hand as a dissolute person and a spendthrift who wasted the nation's resources. Upon the other hand his admirers said he was disliked by the Radical or Republican politicians because he refused to allow them to plunder the Treasury. In any case he was shot down by a band of assassins in a public square, and the subsequent action of the Republicans showed that they approved, if they were not actually privy to, the outrage. ANOTHER LOUIS XVI. The new boy King and the Queen Mother fell completely under the domination of the men who killed the King. It is stated that the condition of the young King and his mother was pitiable in the extreme, comparable only with that of Louis XVI. of France after the fall of the Bastille. "They are virtually prisoners in the Palace, and subject to all the insult that a besotted populace can throw upon them." While the murderers of King Carlos were feted and acclaimed, the young Lieutenant Francesco Figueira, who killed two of_ the late King's assassins, wa's dismissed from the Army. Indeed, at one time it was actually proposed to try him for his life. ROYAL DEMONSTRATIONS SUPPRESSED. As an indication of the tone and temper of the people of Lisbon it may be noted that the Municipal Council decreed that all Royal demonstrations must cease in order that the populace might not be annoyed. Neither the King nor his mother was allowed to appear in public without effacing all external marks of rank. It was evident that another tragedy was dawning. An American observer, _ commenting upon this state of affairs, says that if it were an honest struggle between Monarchy and Republicanism he would know where to place his sympathies. 'But it is not an honest struggle. The men who murdered King Carlos, and who arr. now in control of the Government, are> a mere pack of thieving wolves, who use the name of Republicanism to cajole a wholly illiterate people, and who care .nothing for any particular form of Go vernment so long as they are left unmolested to plunder the public treasury. | The King ia said to be dying of chagrin Uad. The San Fxancusco j

to the fact that the coloured elements have been absorbed through intermarriage, diffusing their racial defects throughout the country." ' INADEQUATE CIVIL LIST. One cause of disagreement between Court and Parliament was the inadequacy of the King' 8 Civil List, which was fixed at £73,000 a year. A committee appointed to investigate the Royal finances expressed the opinion that the grant was insufficient, and did not enable the King to meet the current expenditure of the Royal household, which was as follows, according to the official figures: —' £ Maintenance of the Royal Palaces and gardens ... 20,000 Ceremonials, entertainments, etc. 12,000 Charities 7,000 Salaries of Court officials ... 26,000 £65,000 This left only £8000 for private expenses, provisions for the palace, clothing, etc., which was by no means adequate. To lessen the Royal expense the maintenance of the Royal Palace Necessidades in Lisbon and the country Palace Pena Castle at Cintra was recommended to be borne by the State; this expense was estimated at £12,000 per annum. The committee further suggested the reduction of the palace staff, comprising many superfluous officials appointed during the reign of King Carlos, and generously maintained since by King Manuel. A Bill, whereby all future Ministers of Finance were to be held personally responsible for any advances to the Royal House without previous consent of the Cortes, was presented in Parliament by the Minister of Finance, and duly passed into law. j