CIVIL WAR IN PORTUGAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14806, 9 October 1911, Page 7

CIVIL WAR IN PORTUGAL.

MONARCHISTS ACTIVE.

SIX TOWNS OCCUPIED.

REPUBLICAN TRAP * SET.

By, Telegraph.—Press Association. —Copyright. • (Received October 8. 7 p.m.) Lisbon, October 7. The efforts of the Monarchists, who are seeking to overthrow the new Republic of Portugal, are taking active shape, and the country ,is in a state of civil war. / There are signs that actual hostilities are imminent. - Eight thousand Republican troops have assembled on the northern frontier. The Government now admits that 700 Royalists, under Captain Camacho, have occupied six towns in Braganca, where they were joined by 3000 others, who. were ' secretly concentrated. There is another concentration at Vinhaes awaiting Captain Conciero's column. • The Republican troops have retired from Vinhaes, hoping thus to surround and capture the Royalists before they are able to regain Spanish territory. The. Government troops killed three men, who were discovered in the act of damaging the railway. A London message states that exKing Manuel of Portugal is still at Richmond. !

ADVANCE ON OPORTO. ROYALIST FORCE GROWING. Madrid, October 6. A Royalist force of 6000 men in two parties, under Captains Conceiro and Camacho, is converging on Oporto. The Republican garrison at Chaves, numbering 3000, joined the Monarchists. Captain Paiva, with 2000 men and 12 cannon, was welcomed in the town of Braganza. The Royalists have 20 bullet-proof automobiles, containing Maxims. ROYALISTS BEATEN. AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT. > : (Received October 9, 1.5 a.m.) Lisbon, October 8. It is officially stated that the new Monarchist invasion has been nipped in the bud. The battleship Vasco da Gama has arrived at Oporto and landed a naval contingent. • \ Several Monarchist deserters were arrested. . : " Telegrams from Braganca - assert that the Royalists have been beaten, and have re-entered Spain, losing 30 of their force.:

THE MONARCHIST MOVEMENT. HISTORY OF ITS GROWTH. It is just .a year ago since ex-King Manuel of Portugal - was deposed from his throne. On October 5, 1910, a revolution broke r.ut in Lisbon, 'when the army and navy sided with the revolutionaries, and the palace was bombarded by „ the . warships..'. -<■ ■ • The revolution was attributed to strong feeling against the priesthood, as well as to- the ex-King's lack of force in political affairs, accentuated by public suspicion regarding his private life, which for some time previously had been rapidly losing him the esteem of the Catholics,- who had up till that time been'loyal. The murder of Dr. ' Bombardo, leader of the campaign against the clericals, precipitated. the trouble. The ex-King gave a banquet on . October 4 to Marshal Fonseca, Presidentdesignate of Brazil, ; and the revolution broke out next day. Seven thousand armed peasants entered Lisbon on the Monday, and joined two regiments, one of artillery and the other of infantry. The insurgents concentrated at the Rotunda Unenida, where • a large fair was in /progress. They turned the theatres and public halls into military camps. Lisbon awakened at two in the morning to the roar of cannon, and at nightfall next day King Manuel, and his mother (Queen Amelie), with the Duke of Oporto, took flight by the Royal yacht to Spain, afterwards going to London. , _ .. The* Republic was • proclaimed, • and a provisional Government was set up, with Senor Theophite Braga as President. A revolutionary proclamation distributed -in Lisbon at this time stated that the country's slavery had ended, and that an epoch of austere morality and immaculate justice had begun. The revolution was surprisingly short. , and the total killed and wounded were about 500. Only small damage was done by the bombardment' of Lisbon. Matters went smoothly enough ' for * the new Republic until March last. In that month, and in April, there was news of two Monarchist conspiracies being •< frustrated^ Early last month, the Capital, a Lisbon paper, stated that the Minister for Foreign Affairs had announced that the Monarchists were concentrated on : the frontier, and would enter Portugal immediately. ~ All. preventative measures had been taken, and the movement would be • quelled at first shot. It would not, he asserted, attain- the dignity of a skirmish.

On September 11 last the countervolution organised by the - Monarchists against the Republic began to reach an acute stage, the armies of both sides being massed on the frontier. The - delay in the attack was attributed to' the'belief that the Monarchists were awaiting the receipt of £500,000 from England. A CAtholic club was raided at Oporto on October ' 1 last, when 300 armed Monarchists were captured after a sharp fight with the police. Two days later it was reported that Captain Conceiro had entered Portugal at . the head of 4000 Monarchists with several guns, quick-firers, and 120 mules. The inhabitants at Santo Tirso paraded the streets ; cheering the ex-King. • , The latest reports received from the disturbed country were to the effect that the Royalists had smuggled 12,000 rifles across the frontier, together with several cannon. Many officials of high rank are said to be favourable to the Monarchy, owing to lack of discipline in the army. A considerable sum has been collected in Brazil in aid of the Royalist movement The Government recently arrested numbers of Royalist sympathisers throughout Portugal, j including 1000 .at Oporto, and on Friday last at least 6000 Monarchists were in gaol, including aristocrats, lawyers, officers, and priests. : The Royalists claim that the north of Portugal, except Oporto, is . practically- in their hands,' and declare that several towns have declared- Manuel King. The gaols in Lisbon are overflowing, and an exodus of. the leading families has commenced. Prinze Joseph of Braganza and Captain Coiiceiro, at the head of a Monarchist force of 4000 ; men, were on • Saturday last stated to be marching on Oporto, where the intention is to establish a Monarchial capital. Ex-King Manuel has . denied any knowledge of the present situation beyond: what has been published in the newspapers..