PORTUGAL. 



549 



pression in Germany, England, and Belgium, as 

 well as in France, and all the governments raised 

 vigorous protests, to which the Portuguese Gov- 

 ernment replied with an expression of regret that 

 the financial situation forbade the acceptance of 

 the proposals at the moment, but if this improved 

 sufficiently Portugal would then be willing to 

 take up the negotiations again. The French 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that if Por- 

 tugal was unwilling to revoke the measures that 

 were prejudicial to the creditors, he possessed 

 means of bringing pressure in Lisbon which he 

 would not hesitate to use. The principal measure 

 referred to was the arbitrary reduction by the law 

 of April 20, 1893, of the interest on the external 

 debt, payable in gold, to only one-third of the 

 agreed interest. The interest on the internal debt, 

 payable in currency, had been reduced 80 per cent, 

 the year before, the finances having become so dis- 

 ordered in 1891 that the treasury could not meet 

 its current obligations. The public debt in 1890, 

 practically the whole of which had been con- 

 tracted since 1850, was 258,086,897 milreis in in- 

 ternal, 46,366,759 milreis in external, 104,172,464 

 milreis in redeemable, and 19,565,172 milreis in 

 floating obligations; total, 428,191,292 milreis. 

 In 1900 the total obligations were 756,294,952 mil- 

 reis, not reckoning the premium on the gold debt. 

 The Government owed the Bank of Portugal 26,- 

 750,105 milreis. The bank had 69,833,406 notes 

 in circulation, protected by a metallic reserve of 

 13,137,683 milreis. These notes are the currency 

 of the country. Gold has been the legal standard 

 of value since 1851, but only 7,950,000 milreis of 

 gold coins have been minted since that date, none 

 at all since 1891, while the silver coinage has 

 amounted to 30,352,436 milreis. When Portugal 

 partially repudiated its foreign debt an interna- 

 tional commission of financial control was pro- 

 posed by several foreign governments. The sug- 

 festion roused a storm of protests in Portugal, 

 linister of Finance Arroyo declared in the Cortes 

 on Feb. 26, 1901, that the Government would in 

 dealing with the foreign debt firmly maintain the 

 position created by the law of 1893, and if any 

 alteration of that law were to be considered the 

 financial independence of the country would be 

 defended and no form of financial control ad- 

 mitted, not even an indirect control, nor should 

 the financial resources of the treasury be unduly 

 weighted. 



The anticlerical sentiment which stirred up 

 popular passions in Spain spread into Portugal, 

 and an incident occurred in the early part of 1901 

 which made the question of the monastic orders 

 one of practical political concern. The Jesuits, 

 who enjoyed the favor of the Queen, influenced the 

 wealthy daughter of Dr. Calmon, the Brazilian 

 consul in Oporto, so that she desired to enter a 

 convent. She was a maiden thirty-two years old, 

 but her parents would not consent. When she 

 was coming with them from church one morning 

 an attempt was made by Jesuits and persons they 

 had brought to help them to tear her away from 

 the parents, which would have succeeded had not 

 friends rushed to their assistance. The Brazilian 

 Government asked an explanation of this attempt 

 to abduct one of its citizens. The Republican 

 newspapers printed virulent attacks on the Cler- 

 icals, who were fiercely assailed by the whole 

 Liberal press. Students and citizens of Oporto 

 made demonstrations in the streets, and the police 

 used their weapons in attempting to disperse 

 them, wounding some of them. Two days later 

 a mob gathered before the house of the Clerical 

 politician who was believed to have instigated 

 the attempt to take the lady away from her 



natural protectors by force, and at lemy.ted to 

 burn it down. The police lircd in hi i he crowd 

 with their revolvers, and ca\;ilry patrolled the 

 streets for the protection of ol ,ln i Clerieals. The 

 Portuguese Government ordered Hie civil gov- 

 ernors of the various provinces to m;ike in.piniei 

 into the position of the monastic corifrat.cnii1.ics 

 with a view to taking measures in regard to ilic;n. 

 As a result of the investigations a dceivc \\.is 

 issued on April 20 requiring the seculari/.al .ion oi 

 the existing congregations within six months, and 

 in addition declaring it necessary for them, in 

 order to secure a legal status, to devote them- 

 selves to works of benevolence, charity, or edu- 

 cation, or to the propagation, but only in the 

 colonies, of the faith and civilization. These con- 

 ditions involved the closing of 7 Franciscan, 

 Jesuit, and Benedictine establishments, in addi- 

 tion to 10 convents which had already been 

 closed, and their occupants expelled, by the local 

 authorities. The decree announced further that 

 the supreme direction of each association must be 

 in the hands of Portuguese citizens unless the as- 

 sociation is composed exclusively of foreigners. 

 The Cortes ended their session on May 27, and 

 \vere dissolved by royal decree on June 5. Elec- 

 tions were appointed to take place in October for 

 the new Cortes, to meet on Jan. 2, 1902. 



The Republicans were greatly excited over a 

 supposed design of the Government to cede colo- 

 nial territories to a foreign power. In the speech 

 from the throne reference was made to an ar- 

 rangement with England to permit transit over 

 Portuguese territory in Africa for military pur- 

 poses in the Transvaal war and to the visit in 

 the Tagus of a British squadron on a special mis- 

 sion as emphasizing the public affirmation of the 

 close alliance and friendship which unites the 

 two nations, and which recent acts had still more 

 strongly accentuated. In South Africa Portu- 

 guese action was described as having assured at 

 once the rights of sovereignty and the duties of 

 hospitality enjoined by kindly international cus- 

 toms. The compact entered into with England 

 is supposed to have been, in return for Portugal's 

 compliant action in straining the obligations of 

 neutrality, a promise by Great Britain to respect 

 the sovereign rights of Portugal over her African 

 possessions, to which the concurrence of Germany 

 was obtained. The consul of the Netherlands, 

 Mr. Pott, who protected the interests of the Boers 

 in Lourengo Marques, had his exequatur with- 

 drawn on the ground that he had been engaged 

 in the importation of heliographic apparatus for 

 the Transvaal artillery and had granted passports 

 wrongfully. 



An agreement was made with Great Britain 

 for the delimitation of the territory between An- 

 gola and Barotseland. The passage of a German 

 expedition through Portuguese territory gave rise 

 to a rumor that the German flag had been raised 

 at Quanhama, and demands were made in the 

 press for a delimitation of the frontier between 

 Angola and German Southwest Africa. 



Colonies. The Portuguese retain in India the 

 small colony of Goa on the Malabar coast. Its 

 area is 1,390 square miles, its population 494,836. 

 The salt-works produce 12,200 tons a year. Salt 

 is produced also in the dependent territory of 

 Damao and on the island of Diu, which have to- 

 gether an area of 168 square miles and a popula- 

 tion of 77,454. The revenue of Goa for 1900 

 was estimated at 940,886 milreis, and expenditure 

 at 1.057,564 milreis. The imports in 1899 were 

 668,275 rupees in value, and the exports 416,723 

 rupees. The transit trade with British India was 

 valued at 19,925,350 rupees. A railroad, 51 miles 



