Though the sensational rumours of a fresh political upheaval in
Portugal have been unconfirmed, the Pro- visional Government are still in troubled waters. On Wed- nesday a railway strike affecting seven thousand employees, paralysing the northern service, and holding up the foreign mails.declared itself. A conference between directors, men, and Government representatives was held that night, but the demands of the strikers were refused by the directors, and the situation remained unchanged, though the troops have been withdrawn from the stations and "all is quiet." On Wednesday all the shops in Lisbon were closed owing to a strike of shop-hands, but the threat of resignation on the part of the Minister of the Interior—who bad recently promised to do all that was possible to secure their demands for shorter hours, &c. induced the strikers not to press their demands until the National Assembly has been constituted, provided the Minister of the Interior remains in office. "Absolute order" is said to prevail, and the railwaymen are stated to have asked the shopkeepers not to join their move- ment in order to avoid disturbing public order. The con- siderateness of the Portuguese strikers is almost on a par with that of the crew of the Mantelpiece' in Sir W. S. Gilbert's famous ballad. Friday's papers announce that the strike continues, and that the Municipality and Governor of Oporto have resigned as a mark of want of confidence in the Government.
