THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1911. THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14806, 9 October 1911, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1911. THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN PORTUGAL.

October 5, 1910, saw the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic, the Monarchy falling without any resistance worthy the name after a few hours' street fighting. . King Manuel fled, first to Gibraltar and thence to England, the traditional refuge of exiled kings and proscribed republicans. The religious orders were expelled, the House of Peers was abolished, the press was granted a certain amount of liberty. The new Republic, with its up-to-date Constitution, was speedily recognised by the more advanced European Governments, and it was confidently assumed that an example had been set in Portugal which Spain ! would certainly and Italy would | probably follow. ' For it is an ' idiosyncrasy of North European nations, all inconvertibly monarchical in their own political tendencies, that they very generally sympathise with ; the-republican movements in Latin countries and agree in regarding the Latin monarchies as doomed. This apparently inconsistent attitude arises from the visible difference in the relations existing between Crown and People in Teutonic and in Latin Europe. Although North European monarchies may occasionally be antagonised by political parties, which clamour for a complete change in the existing social order, they - are f - nowhere regarded with hatred by; any influential bodies, and are, on ; the v contrary, exceedingly popular, with the great bulk of the populace. In Norway, for examplfe, a Scandinavian 1 country of ancient and famous freedom, where all that counts for human progress and popular liberty is greater beyond all comparison than in any Latin State, the political secession from union with Sweden and the formal renunciation of allegiance to the Swedish King was unhesitatingly followed by the election of another hereditary sovereign, against whose constitutional reign there is not the slightest sign of animosity. But throughout Latin Europe political republicanism has a very strong following, and is very commonly found associated with liberal views as well as with anarchical inculcations. Judging from the revolution in Portugal a year . ago, the Monarchy had no friends ; but the remarkable progress now being made by a counter-revo-lution engineered by the Monarchists indicates that the republican faith is not so dear to the Portuguese people as might have been supposed. After exactly twelve months in office, the I republican Government finds it much more difficult to hold power than it was to seize power. Apart from those actually bearing arms against ! the established authority there are more Portuguese in prison for sympathising with the restoration movement than were to be found, a year ago, expressing regret that King Manuel had fled overseas.

The weakness of any republican Government in South Europe is that far too much is expected from it. The French Republic is now stable because the great elements in the population which ardently desire stability in law and order have found in the course of a century that with all its faults a Republic is the only form of Government under which they can attain their purpose. But there was a time when French enthusiasts believed that with the coming of a republic the millennial day would dawn, and when they I carried with them to the barricades multitudes whose kindled imagina-! tions were strong enough to overturn j thrones, but not profound enough to withstand the test of disappointment. ' In Portugal the same experience has been bought. No Portuguese government is good, for the weaknesses inseparable from all political institutions are accentuated in Portgual by a singular absence of political morality. In their pessi-: mistic, moods, British, Americans and New Zealanders grieve over the unmistakable shortcomings which depreciate . the standards of their political existences. But the most optimistic Portuguese can only dream of their country some day attaining the standards actually * established and maintained in English-speaking States. The Portuguese Republic Government which to-day is. and to-morrow may aot "exist, is certainly

as good a Government and is probably a much better" Government than that of King Manuel and his Ministers. - That is saying very little, but the best conceivable Government of "Portugal must have utterly failed to satisfy all the wild hopes ; and fantastical dreams "which raised the revolution of a year ago. Soldiers expected more pay and officers more promotion ; shopkeepers and merchants expected trade; workmen expected plenty of work, short hours and high wages; politicians expected offices; housewives expected cheap food; Civil servants expected increased salaries; lawyers expected litigants ; doctors 5 invalids ; and even undertakers abundance of business. This was to follow' as day to night when the King was driven out, when the Peers were abolished and when the religious orders were plundered and expelled. Naturally, there has . been disappointment. Workmen went on strike and were prevented from rioting; food became dearer and ' the Government looked on; the church still had sons who never failed to point out that there were growing • grievances; and the republican authorities . swept their critics into prison with an. energy that their .worst enemies could not wish exceeded. The . monarchist movement ' has been financed by sympathisers in Portuguese-speaking Brazil, where enormous fortunes have been .accumulated, and where the House of Braganza has many friends who remember loyally the days when there was a Braganza Court at Rio de Janeiro—only twenty years ago. With bitter disappointment to prepare the ground, and Brazilian gold to sow the seed of reaction, it is not astonishing ; that the Portuguese Royalists appear not unlikely to reap a harvest of success. ■ -