3 FEBRUARY 1912, Page 1

On Monday a general strike broke out in Lisbon, but

in consequence of the vigorous action of the Government it was considered practically at an end on Wednesday. The

organizers of the movement, the Workmen's Federation of Lisbon, demanded the release of the strikers recently arrested at Evora, the permission to reopen the workmen's associations there, and the dismissal of the civil governor of the same town. The second of these demands was granted by the Government, but the other two were refused. On Monday and the early part of Tuesday the strikers succeeded in bringing practically all business in Lisbon to a standstill, and consider- able disorder prevailed; but on Tuesday afternoon martial law was declared, and in the course of that night the streets were cleared and a large number of arrests made, including the 600 members of the committee organizing the strike. By Wednesday evening an almost normal state of things bad been restored. The Government seem to have been acting throughout with the entire weight of public opinion at their back—a phenomenon always observable in the case of a general strike.