PORTUGAL. 



POSTAL CARDS. 



659 



fWin a new Cabinet, but was unsuccessful. On 

 .Ian. ifi tin- King summoned Scfior Dins Ferreira, 

 and charged him with the organization of aCabi- 

 net. His attempts proved successful, and the 

 IM-W Cabinet was approved of by the King on 

 .Ian. 17. It was composed of the following mem- 

 I'remier and Minister of the Interior, Jose 1 

 I Mas 1'Vnvira; Minister of Finance, Oliveira Mar- 

 tins; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Costa Lobo ; 

 Minister of Public Works, Viscount Chancellei- 

 ros; Minister of Justice, Antonio Ayres de Gou- 

 \i ia ; Minister of War, General Pinheiro Furtado 

 Coelho: Minister of Marine, Captain Ferreira do 

 Amaral. The ministry went before the Cortes 

 with the programme of economical and financial 

 reconstruction, as explained above. In presenting 

 the new ministers, Sefior Ferreira remarked that 

 the country required a Government of concord 

 and conciliation, that for this reason it had not 

 been formed directly from the members of either 

 of the two great political parties, and that the 

 Government understood its mission to be to 

 maintain perfect neutrality as regarded politics. 



On May 27, 1892, Minister of Finance Oliveira 

 Martins, Minister of Public Works Chancel- 

 leiros, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Costa 

 Lobo tendered their resignation. No reason 

 was given, but it was stated that owing to differ- 

 ences in the Cabinet connected with the agree- 

 ment entered into with the foreign bondholders 

 those ministers were obliged to take this step. 

 The Cabinet as composed after the reconstruc- 

 tion was as follows : Prime Minister and Minis- 

 ter of Finance, Dias Ferreira, who also took the 

 Ministry of the Interior ad interim ; Minister of 

 Justice, Telles Pereirade Vasconcellas ; Minister 

 of War, Pinheiro Furtado ; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, the Bishop of Bethsaida; Minister of 

 Marine, Ferreira do Amaral ; Minister of Public 

 Works, Pedro Victor. On Dec. 23, 1892, the 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Bishop of Beth- 

 saida, resigned, and his place was filled by 

 Ferreira do Amaral, the Minister of Marine. 



Flections. General elections for the Chamber 

 of Deputies were held Oct. 23, 1892. The result 

 was favorable to the Government. Of the 149 

 Deputies elected, 62 were Regeneradores, 43 Pro- 

 i:re>sists, 29 Conservative Regeneradores.il In- 

 dependents, and 4 Republicans. Some surprise 

 was created by the defeat of the Premier, Dias 

 1-Vnvira. as he had been returned as Deputy from 

 tlie District of Aveiro for twenty years. 



Colonial Possessions. The Portuguese colo- 

 nies are situated in Africa and Asia. Those in 

 Africa include the Cape Verd Islands, Portu- 

 guese Guinea, Prince's and St. Thomas Islands, 

 Angola, Ambriz, Benguela, Mossamedes, Portu- 

 Congo, and East Africa, with an aggre- 

 gate area of 916,100 square miles and a popula- 

 tion of 11,781,970. The possessions in Asia 

 comprise Goa, Damao, and Dili in India, Macao 

 in the China Sea, and the Archipelago of Timor 

 and Kambing, with an aggregate area of 7,900 

 square miles and a population of 868,570. 



According to a decree issued on Sept. 80, 

 1891, the colony of Mozambique was constituted 

 as the Free State of East Africa. It was divided 

 into two provinces, Mozambique, north of the 

 river Zambesi, and Louren9o Marques, south of 

 that river. The province of Mozambique in- 

 cludes the district of that name, and that of 



Quilimane and 3 intendencies in the region con- 

 ceded to the Cape Delgado Company. The prov- 

 ince of L<Hirt'n<;<> Marques embraces, besides the 

 district of that name, 3 intendencies in the 

 region granted to the Inhambane Company and 

 3 in the region conceded to the Mozambique 

 Company. A royal commissioner is appointed 

 for three years, who administers the government 

 but hopes are entertained that the state will be- 

 come self-governing. 



POSTAL CARDS were first suggested by the 

 postal authorities of Prussia, in 1865, but the 

 plan was abandoned. In 1869 Austria began to 

 issue " correspondence cards." Prussia then 

 adopted the plan, and during the Franco-Prus- 

 sian War of 1870 the cards were given to the 

 German soldiers without charge. The United 

 States adopted the postal card in May, 1873. 

 The factory for postal cards was first at Spring- 

 field, Mass!, and then at Castleton, N. Y., on the 

 Hudson river, 7 miles below Albany. They have 

 been made in Shelton, Conn., since 1890. 



The contract, advertised for by the Postmaster- 

 General, covers a space of four years, but it may 

 be taken away if the product is not up to the 

 standard shown by the samples given to each 

 bidder. Every card must be of an even size, 

 thickness, and weight. Until very lately only 

 three sizes and weights were offered to ttie bid- 

 ders. A recent contract was made as follows : 



This contract did not call for the " Interna- 

 tional card," as there were on hand, belonging 

 to the Government, about 3,000,000 such cards, 

 or more than enough for four years. The size 

 of the international card is the same as that 

 of size 2. Of late another card, the " Paid re- 

 ply," has been issued. It is rather larger than 

 size 2, and it is folded double at the top, so that 

 the part for the reply can be separated from the 

 original card. By far the largest product, about 

 400,000,000 yearly, is that of size 2, while the 

 total of all cards issued by the United States 

 Government reaches nearly 1,000,000,000 annu- 

 ally. Although they belong to the Govern- 

 ment, they are in the'custody of the contractor, 

 and are boxtd and issued by him without ex- 

 pense to the Government. Several shipments 

 are made from the factory every week to the 

 Grand Central Depot in New York city, where 

 the cases and pouches are transferred and 

 shipped to their respective destinations. From 

 the beginning of the manufacture to the final 

 delivery every postal card is under the direct eye 

 of the Government. The factor)- is in the espe- 

 cial charge of the third Assistant Postmaster- 

 General, who appoints an agent to represent 

 him, and this agent is allowed several clerks. 

 He had 7 before the establishing of the sub- 

 agencies, but now he has only 8. There are sub- 

 agencies in Chicago, Washington, and St. Louis 

 for the distribution of cards. Requisitions are 

 made every day from the Post-Office Department 

 in Washington. The subagencies order large 



