The situation in Portugal is not easy to understand, chiefly
because the Press censorship is rigid and successful. A corre- spondent of the Times, however, who has just returned from Lisbon gives us a little information. There appears to be no sign at present that the so-called Liberal Premier, Senhor Franco, has any intention of abandoning his plan of governing without a Parliament. The writer in the Times says it would be absurd to think of him as a dictator. We are willing to believe that Senhor Franco is a man of high character, and
that, being rich, he has risen superior to the common corrup- tion of Portuguese political life; but we are bound to say that when he announces his intention of doing without a Parlia- ment "till all parties know bow to perform their duty," it is difficult for ordinary purposes, and much more for political purposes, to distinguish his action from a coup d'etat. The policy of the Opposition, we are told, is not anarchical or anti- dynastic, and while there is effervescence and unrest there are no grave warnings of revolution. The writer explains that the turbulent spirit is very largely fostered by the students of Coimbra University, who denounce their teachers as dishonest and incompetent, and that education reform is needed more than anything else.
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