DI{. AN'I'ONIO D'OI,I\IF,IRI\ SAI,AZAR

SALA ZARPortugal and lter Leader

b2

AI{TONIO FERRO

translatcd fut

H. de Barros Gomes and John Gibbons

uith a preface b2

T'hc late Sir Austen Chamberlain, K.G.

and aforeword b7

Dr. Oliveira Salazar

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"i

rrfl

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@60, good Englishman who only thin*s 0f his aruintof Putugal as a dcad cuntD, with a glmious past,

'fu0 is dtdirafed this picturc of its ocry-muh-alioc pacntin phdgcfu itrfuture.

PRBFACE BT SIR AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN, K.G.

_

Or, gttt May 1935 His Majesty the Kittg came to

Westminster to receive the congtatulations of the

two Houses of Parliament on the SilverJubilee of his

reign. In that historic hall, which more than any

other rpot enshrines and symbolizes our history, the

King riceived the loyal homage of a free Parlia-

m.tri. 'It is to me', said His Majesty, 'a source ofpride and thankfirlness that the perfect harmony ofLur parliamentary slntem with our Constitutional

Monarchy has survived the shocks that have inrccent years destroyed other empires and other

liberties. Our ancient Constitution, ever adaptable

to change, has during my reign faced and conquered

perih ofwarfare never conceived in earlier days, and

irr, -.t and satisfied new democratic demands both

tt homc and overseas. The system bequeathed to us

by our tncestors' again modified for the needs of a

niw qa, has been found once more, as of old, the

bft wly to lecure Sovernment by the people, free-

7

PREFACE

dom for the individual, the ordered strength of theState and the rule of law over governors and gov-erned alike.'

There was a time not so long ago when English-men were prone to think that the parliamentaryinstitutions which worked so well hcre would beequally appropriate to other nations, and wouldsave them, as they have saved us, alike from revolu-tion and reaction.

The experiment has been tried in varying formsin many lands, but with little success. Democracy,it would seem, succeeds only where it has been ofgradual growth, founded on natural aptitude ripenedby long experience. Where this historic backgroundhas been absent, the spirit which gives life and realityto the letter of the constitution has been wanting,and thus the tide of democracy, which seemed to-wards the close of thc nineteenth century to be flow-ing irresistibly onward, and lor which the war wasto make thc worlcl safc, has spcnt its force and recededwithin narrowecl limits. In one form or another thegreatcr part of Europe is to-day subject to a dicta-torship.

Not the lcast intcrcsting of these cxperiments ingovcrnmcnt is that affordccl by the prescnt dictator-ship in Portugal. In this book in :r prclacc contributedby himscll' :rncl in a series ot'singularly outspokenconversations rccordr:cl with aclmirablc skill byScnhor Antonio F't:rro, Dr. Salazar scfs forth his

8

PREFACE

ideas and aims. The contrast offered in some res-pects to other dictatorships both in the manner ofits creation and in the person and training of thedictator is always interesting, and sometimes piquant,but the Fascist dictatorship in Italy, the Nazi dicta-torship in Germany, and the dictatorship of theCoimbra Professor of Finance in Portugal have onething in common. Signor Mussolini, Herr Hitler,and Dr. Salazar have each set out to remake the soulof a people. An Englishman may feel that the pricepaid is too high. He may thank heaven that he isstill a free citizen of a free country, and resolve thathe will guard that freedom the more jealously be-cause of its destruction elsewhere. But no candidreader of this book will deny the nobility of the pur-pose which Dr. Salazar has set before himself, andno one acquainted with the progress which Portugalhas made under his rule will doubt that, if much hasbeen lost, much also has been gained by the newspirit which he has introduced into the public lifeof his country.

In any case we have in this book a vivid portraitof a most interesting man. Is it a true portrait? Is itthe whole man, and nothing but the man? Dr.Salazar himself seems to doubt it, and I confess thatnt moments the painter seems to me to dramatize aIttnn who, if I judge him rightly, abhors the drama-lk:, und to heighten colours which the sitter wouldItnve prcsentcd in quictcr tones. But these blemishes,

I

PREFACE

if blemishes they be, are far from destroying thevalue of the picture. It is a most interesting study ofa man and a political system, little known, I thinkto English readers.

Ausrsx CneMsBRr-erNLondon,

tg Jurc ry35

Although the translation of this book was delayed,for reasons beyond the control of either author orpublisher, we have left the preface of Sir AustenChamberlain in the place for which it was originallyintended. The new introduction which Senhor Ferrohas added, just before publication, to bring the wrokup to date, appears on page 13. In this introductionthe reader will find the reply of Dr. Salazar to severalcriticisms made by Sir Austen Chamberlain.

It is to be observed that Senhor Ferro, when hewrote this book for thc Portuguese public, was speak-ing only as ajournalist interviewing the leader of theGovernment. In contributing a new introduction, hespeaks as thc head of a Government department.

CONTENTS

PREFACE BY TIIE LATE SIR AUSTEN "".O""'*.

LArN, K.c. page 7

TNTRODUCTTON BY ANTONTO FERRO t3FoREwoRD By DR. oLrvElRA sALAZAR 83

I. FIRST APPEARANCE I I IIr. soME NOTES ON A SPEECH t2+III. TIIE BORDERLAND OF rDEAS t49IV. TIIE DICTATORSHIP: ITS CONTACT WITH TI{E

NATToN r75V. TIIE POETRY OF NUMBERS 2OO

vr. quERrEs LARGE AND SMALL 233EPTLoGUE 257

TIIE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY 277

APTER THB LONDON ECONOMTC CONFERENCE 3I9rNDEx 355

IO

{

INTRODUCTION BT ANTONIO FERROto tlu English edition

'Wh.n were the first interviews published?'

'In December r93z-six years ago.''It feels to me more like fi"fteen or twenty years,'

said the Portuguese Prime Minister. As he said thesewords, he allowed his gaze to wander over the massof white buildings, over the new Lisbon his power ofvision conceived and his constructive perseverancemade possible.

It was indeed six years ago that I found myself. closeted with Salazar in a car very much like thepresent one-his travelling study. I was then a push-ful journalist and my greatest delight was to measuremy strength with those I interviewed and to striveto lay bare their personality by -y forceful question-ing.

Ncedless to say, Doctor Salazar, by his very frank-ncri, common-sense replies, and eloquent silences,xxrn convinced mc that hcre was no opportunity forlGlilnl ional jorrrn:rl ism

rq

INTRODUCTIONIrr tlrt: intcrvt:ning pcriod Portugal has changed

:rs il':r wlrolc ccntrrry had passcd. I too havc changedll'orrr :r w<lrrl-r'nongcr, a sceker aftcr :rrrcsting and<'orrrlx'llirrg sitrr:rtiorrs, to onc who, having disccrnedllrc ltrrllr, r.rrtl<.:rvorrr.s lo scrvc it with wholc mind:rrrtl lrr':rr'1. lirt S:rl;rzar has not r;hangccl. Hc stills I rr r rt I s rvl rcn. I rr. sl oorl. Pcrhaps a littlt. oklcr in appear-:ur( (', :l lillk. nron: sr:lllccl in his m:lllllcr, but his cyestcvr':rl llrc s;rrrrr: sorrl. 'I'hc grcat cliffcrcncc wherc heis corrr'<'r'rrr.rl is tlr:rt irr rg3z hc spokc of plans and:rspirlrliolrs, wlrt:r'c:rs now hc has secn thc accom-;rlislrrrrr.rrt of-rn;rny of them. In the eyes of portugal,S;rl;tz:rr' :rnrl wh:rt he stands for have become a fact:rtrrl:r rt::rlity.

,'lplroucltAs wr: wirlkr.tl pxrst tlrr: rrr:w brrilding of the Mint,

lr1' t lrc gig:rrrl ir: rrr;rss oI' t lrr.'li.r.lrnir::rl Sclrool, whercllrc lirlrrlr. lrrrilrlr.r's ol' l,or trrg;rl ;rr.r: llcirrg tr:ritrcd,;rrrrl lry l lr. rrr,rlr.l lrrr.nrisr.s'l' llrr: N;rti.rrlrl Instituteol'Sl,rti:rtic;, I prrl orrl :r li.r.lr.r.:

"l'lr,' llr itislr lrrrrr wlro wislr to llublislr tlrc Englishvosi,rrr ,l llrr. irrlr.r'vir.ws :rrrrl with whom l made ar'onlr'.rr'l nr;ury rrrorrllrs irg(), al.c clamouring for theIr:rrr:;1.rIiotr.'

'Wlryr" irrrlrrirr.rl Slrlrrz;rr.. 'Your book has nolorrllr'r' ;rrrf irrtr.r'r.st. lt is lropr.lr.ssly clated. f am surellr:rl it \\':ri \,(.1y rrsr.lrrl lrrrrl olrllot.trrnt-- six yeats ago.llul r;o nr,urv llrirrlis llrvr. lurllpr.rrt.tl irr thc meantime,

r.l

INTRODUCTIONIn trrrrr:lr lrt:aclway has been made that it can onlylx" r'r';rrl t<rclay with an indulgent smile.'

I rrr:rtlr' :rn cffort to delend the work in question,wlrir lr ol'r;orrrsc I owe to Salazar.

'lt lr;rs lost its original "news value", but perhapsll lr;rs lrcr:omc a history book, seeing that it containslo trrrrllr :rlrout thc progress of the Movement.'

li;rl;rz:rr tlicl not see it that way:"l'lrc ltritish public, not knowing much about us, is

hnrrlly likt'ly to find the secret of our recoveryin thatgrur licrrl:rr book, which I liken to a poet's first "littleII ilrrrlr.'' o['vcrse.

Notlrirrg likc trying, I thought.'ll'wr: wt:rc to insert to-day's interview as a general

Inlrrxlrrr:tion to thc original ones, then the publica-lhlr ol'llrc wholc may well be justified, for the pre-lltlr lrccorrrr:s thc real text, the rest is retrospectionrrtul llrr rrrr::r"surc of the very real progress that haslrrrtr rrur<k'.'

'[\'l;rylrr'.' Salazar's tone implied consent but notr rittvi,'liott.

'l ho ( ,'ur lnrutiuc Reaolution

lly tlris tirrrt: wc wcrc walking through the newlrullrlirrpl r;rurt'lt'r:rt Arco clo Ccgo, which was begundt rr rrx i:rl sr:lrr:nrc lwcnty ycru's back by the so-calledllh'trrltr ol' llrc pt'oplr: lnrt only concluded-withllrrillr.t irrrrlllilrrrlr, rrrrrl rrrorlt:rn improvcments-.inrttt nwrt rllry lry its ;rllcgr'<l crrr:rnics. 'l'lrc horrscs are

r5

INTRODUCTIONplain and in the traditional portuguese style: unpre-tentious, neat, and gay.

Excited faces appeared at the white-curtainedwindows and there was much chattering u"Jrp.-*lation as-we passed. I suited my next question to oursurroundings:

^ 'Six years ago, the newly appointed Head of the

$9ve1m9nt publicly recogniz.a tnut Iittle or no-thing had been done in thi way of any direct im-provement of the housing conditions of ihe workingclasses. Now that we have an L]nder_secretariat oiCorporations and Social fnsurance, a NationalI-.abour fnstitute, Employers, and Men,s e.rro"iu-tions, technical boards fto, ,.r.ur"h and "o;;;;,Rural and Fishermen's IJnions, with pensio* u"irelief funds, we may consider the foundations of thenew Corporative State to be well and truly laid,

'The foundations, yes, but the actual edifice isstill unfinished.' Salazar put in with that strict re-gard for truth which distinguishes him f.o_ _uryof the leaders of our day.

'What have been the chief obstacles in the way ofthe^full application of the Corporative Laws.,

'All new establishments which lack experienceand even traditionr, Salazar explained, .inust

bebuilt up slowly and laboriously. ti is always difficulito Spply novel principles to old societies with in-

grained habits and a different outlook. Indeed it isso difficult as to appear impossible to-chose persons

r6

INTRODUCTION

tvho cannot brook delay-who want everythingdonc at once. But all lasting work must be thoughtout vcry carefully beforehand and carried out withnqunl slowness. For instance, certain of the principleslbrnrulatcd in the old Constitutional Charter neverItltl irny real application in the course of the centuryntttl rt:mained as mere doctrinaire teaching. Revo-Itttions, to be profound and human, require manyycnrs of rcsolute application and genuine revolu-lionary laws, for only when the real mind of the

;rople is attained can the movement be said to have

lcnt:hccl its objective. In the same way, though it isnol absolutely impossible to regulate productionrvcrr in a short space of time, especially industrialplrxluction, and to set up definite boundaries andllrurrncls of development, the effective and affectivelnllnlnration of the various ciasses and branches ofplrxluction in a country where competition andr;x'r'rrlation were reckoned inseparable from trade,lurl lrc sccured only with great difficulty and withr"rrrlless patience. That is why in all real revolutionsrrrre rnust go slowly and warily. I speak, of course,nl't'r';rl movements and not temporary upheavals.'

llnrul Associations

I 1x'rsistccl with the subject."l'lu: lturerl fusociations, for instance, one of the

ntlrl origirral crc:rtions of our Corporative legisla-lhrtr lrrrl which Mussolini hirnsclf cnvied in the

x t7

INTRODUCTIONcourse of an interview a few years ago, are fulfillingtheir duties but have not yet, it seems, given all thedesired results.'

Salazar again liad to explain:'The Rural Associations are a splendid means of

co-ordinating rural production. But in order to bereally effective they must work in conjunction withthe Farming Associations, which are corporativeorganizations of land-owners and farmers. It is truethat in somc cases the masters have of their ownaccord approached the Rural Associations and havecomc to an agreement on salaries, conditions ofwork and other important factors of agriculturallife. But most farmers are by nature selfish and self-sufficing and cannot see the advantage of co-operat-ing with the Rural Associations, which in reality arethe bulwark of the whole system. I need only tellyou that somc landowners, and some of the mostimportant at that, rcluscd to pay the very small, infact, thc minimum contribution which they werecallcd upon to makc for the maintenance of theRural Associations. However, the problem is simple,and within a short time it will be solved by two newmcasllros: thc crcation of Farmers' Associations andthc givirrg ol ltowcrs to the Rural Associations torcprcscnt tlrc irrtcrt:sts of thc workmen. At the sametimc, zr nl('ans will bc lound to compel landownersto clo tlrt'ir tluty lorvarcls thesc orga,nizations. Inmattcrs of'llris kirrrl, t:xpcricncc tcaches that it is not

r8

INTRODUCTION

;lxxl cnough to trust to man's better nature. But, as

I rrrirl, I wish all corporative problems could bernlvnl :rs casily as this one.'

I lr:rrl another question to put:'Srrrcly the Rural Associations should also be, in

lrrpirrg with the idea of their foundation, centres of;xrprrl:rr t:orporative education-a sort of villagellrrlr. lt should be the social centre of the countrylirlk ;rrrrl cnlivened by theatrical performances,llrorirl srx:ictics, and other amusements. It wouldnlro lrclp our spiritual rebirth if they became centresll lrx irl r:ustoms, country dress, songs and dances,Itr tlrc inlct'csts of folkJore.'

Sulirz,rrt' :rgrt:cd with me.'No rlorrlrt, no doubt. But we shall get there in

lrxxl tirrrr'. I r:an mcntion some associations such as

llrnnc lrl M:rr:r'ir':r, Golcga, Vila Boim, Campo Maior,Mlrrlirrlc rll lk'ira, and others, which can alreadyIrr rrrirl to lx: lirlfilling those functions.'

ihtlrrt unil lllntIrr rrry sclf'-rtssumcrl robc of Devil's Advocate, I

ltrw lorrclrcrl ullon anothcr subjcct:'Ar,' tlrr' l,)rrrployers' Associations carrying out

llr,lt rlrrlirs or' ;trc tlrr:y still sw:rycd by former prin-r l;rh'n ll rr lrrrrrl:rrrrt.nlirlly capitalist naturc?'

'l r,rrr rvcll lrclicvr.', n'plit'tl Salazar, scverely butr.atllhll 1,,' l lr;r l sorr rc ol' l lrost. irssrx:i:rtions, instc:rcl oftsltlr,tlttH irrto llrc spilit ol' llrr. (lrr'p<x'rrlivc Statc

r1l

INTRODUCTIONmay have tried, because they were not properly con-stituted, to drive away probable competitors, andto secure bigger and better profits. Some managingbodies are subject at times to a craving for power.But they are survivals from the old system and theymust, and are constantly, being opposed. To see

corporative action in terms of such abuses, proved orpresumed, is to show lamentable ignorance of theenormous good already affected by the organizationand to fail to realize its importance as a safeguardagainst world crises. The corporative organizationaims not at defending the interests of particularindividuals but the interests of the nation as a whole.In a world which every day organizes itself morerigidly, it were foolish to encourage a fictitious eco-nomic principle, for the stakes are the wealth andthe food of the community.'

'Are you not afraid that the cost of living will soareven higher?'

'Certainly not. The Government will not relin-quish its function as supreme judge of the country'sinterests and will know how and when to intervene.In order to delend the consumer it is first necessaryto ensure normal conditions of production. That iswhy I am more interested in the producer as a socialtype than in the consumer, who to my mind has acertain affinity to the citizen. Only normalized pro-duction (which need notbe more costly) can guaran-tee normal consumption.'

20

INTRODUCTION'l)o thc Workers' Syndicates really understand

llrrir' :rirns and duties?''( icltainly they do. It is an old axiom that those

wlro own little are always unselfish.''So in a general way you are not displeased with

llrr rcsrrlts of the corporative system.'Srrl:rzar has the last word:'No, because I have always believed in a revolu-

llorr lry casy stages. In the space of five years (theIl'rt ( iorporative Laws were issued in 1933) I do notlhirrk wc could have expected to do more, withoutIrrlrrxlrr:ing violent measures which would perturbutrt' stx:ial life. As you know, our policy seeks tonvoirl (:xccsses because, in a small country like Por-Irrgnl, whcn any one suffers most people suffer withIrlrrr.'

A ,lpiritual Policl( )rrr t:tsy stroll had brought us to the very gates

rl' llrc nt:w Technical Institute, the creation ofiirrgirr",'r' I)uarte Pacheco and a true monument toNrrliorritl Labour. A group of workmen in smartwlrltc ovcralls were erecting a stage on the mainrlrltwrry :rnd arranging rows of chairs.

Hsluzirr sccmed to be wondering what it was allnllrul, ro I cxplained:

'lt lr tlrc Pcople's Theatre run by the Secretariadorln ft'opng:rncla Naqional. It is giving its first perfor-trrnnrF itr l.isbon lrr:ftrrc starting out on its annual

2t

INTRODUCTIONtour of the provinces. You cannot imagine how suc-cessful this theatre and the two travelling cinemashave been. The arrival of our mammoth lorries withall our gear at some smiling village in the Minho orcraggy hamlet in Beira or one of those townships inthe south where even the house-tops are shiningwhite, is an event of major importance in the livesof the people. The performances are supplementedby other festivities lasting far into the night and area vcry welcome diversion in those remote placeswhcre life is so often apt to be dull. The renewal ofinterest in Portuguese folk-lore, which will bebrought to a head by the coming competitionto find the most typical Portuguese village, theannual award of national and international literaryprizes, the opening of the San Carlos theatre in thenear future, the organization of the SymphonicOrchestra of the National Broadcasting Station, therestoration of national monuments, the visible im-provement of our arts and crafts as shown in themagnificent displays at the International Exhibi-tions where Portugal has been represented, the not-able work carried out by the Junta Nacional daEducaElo-all these facts show that the spiritualpolicy, which the New State so proudly adopted,has passed from an aspiration into a reality. Youwere quite right when you told me sir years ago:"tell those young men of yours to have faith andpatience".'

oo

INTRODUCTIONllnlazar's tone was sober, not at all affected by my

ntrlhusiasm:'(lertainly many things have been done but much

ynl rcmains to be achieved, if indeed any limit canlrr rct to a policy of that nature. It is a particularlyrllllir:ult question, whether from the artistic or fromtlrc litcrary point of view. How.far can, should, the,ritnte intervene? There are striking examples in his-tnry which show that to transform artists and writerslrrto Civil Servants is to check their creative powers.Art cannot be served by bureaucratic methods.( )rrr:e it bccomes a dutn art disappears entirely orlr rcplaced by a worthless substitute; it begins tor lrclt. On the other hand we can no longer bringlrnr:k the agc of Maecenas. Modern society lacks thosen nr : ient families which combined great fortunes withgrcnt traditions, and were in consequence the bestpnlr'ons of the arts. The modern millionaire class,wlrrxe wcalth has been acquired overnight, so tor;rnk, cannot take their place, particularly as theynt'r npt to lose their great possessions as rapidly asllrry rnadc them. Only the State remains as the pos-rllrlr r:ncourager of striving artists. Yet even theIrrrxlcrrr State cannot afford to devote such largennni lo art as the patricians and kings offormer ages,lirr llrc St:rtc has many claims upon its revenue. Wetrr.arl only comparc our puny efforts of to-day withllrr. tnngnificcnt gestures that built Mafra or Batalha.I ttturt riry that I think that thc decay of art and

23

\\

INTRODUCTION

literature seems to be the result of changed condi-

tions of life rather than mere lack of patronage. The

really great works of art were built in silence and

our age is particularly noisy. Instead of cathedrals,

our tendency is to build great stadiums; cinemas

instead of theatres; not monuments but books' Onthe other hand, mechanical instruments such as the

gramophone and the wireless havc discouraged

originil production. Life has become all exterior

and artificiality. That is why, of all, artists, architects

and town-planners are the only ones who have

plenty to do.'

The Problem of CensorshiP

We now enter the car, which had slowly followed

in our wake. Our conversation was now perforce

more disconnected, more fragmentary' more full ofcurves and sharp corners' as it were.

'People have attempted to account for the scarcity

or bad quality of artistic and literary production

nowadays by the restriction of liberty of thought

and creation imposed by authoritarian r6gimes''

Salazar thought this over for a while and then

said:'Never believe it. True thinkers, those who really

conceive, have no difficulty in breaking through

those barriers; and they do it unconsciously' The

censorship exercised by the Inquisition in Portugal

and Spain did not prevent some of the finest master-

24

INTRODUCTION

;rk'r'r'l li orrr appearing-work which was respected forll r vn y I rolrlncss ! And neve r we re artists so protected,r \'r'rr llrc rnost audacious and irreverent ones, as inI'rrJr,rl l{orrrt'. In our own days it is from the authori-lrrr r,rn Sl;rtt's that art can expect something, for theyrilr' ilrrrl(. (:onstnlctirrc and more eagerly striving tol,lilrl rrp, irr thcir own generation, something whichnrlt lr,' r'tcrrral. I3cauty and order are inseparable.'

I r rrrr:rrkt'rl rlisingcnuously:' llrc lriglr pr:rccntage of illiteracy in Portugal has

I'r, rr :rrlvirrrr:ccl as the main obstacle to our spiritualIrl illlI ('sri.'

Wc wcrc now coasting down the Avenida Fontesl'r'rlirlr rlc Mt'lo, whcrc the houses and the trim11,rrrlcrrs lurvt: :r slcck, well-fed, middle-class look.

'lllitcr;rcy irr Portugal', observed Salazar, 'is nou \\' tlrirrg. Yt.t it has never prevented genuincr, r n',rls ol'litcr':tturc in the past, when our produc-lr,rr lr;rs lrccrr <:xtrcmcly high. It is not fair to saddletlrr lrl,rrrrc ol'illitcracy on our own age. On the con-u rrr 1,. w'(' ;r l'(: rloirrg our best to fight the evil, particu-I'llf irr onlcr to incrcasc the social values of the,,'rlnrrrrrity, rvlriclr :rt prcscnt arc rather low. Thel,r111, l.,1iorrs ol' llrt: rt:{irrrn clf clcmcntary educationlr,rr, l,r'r'rr lrrirl :rntl I cstirriatc that within five years

' \ l y r lrilrl irr llris t'orrrrtry will havc thc opportunityt, l1 111rr lo lclrtl rrrrrl lvritr.. 'l'lrt:rc will still remain therrr,,r, rlillir:rrlt prolrlcrn o['tlrt: illitcratc adults, whor ,lrrrll lrc nrrtlr. lo :rllr.rrrl sr:lrools. 'l'lrr:y cart only be

115

INTRODUCTION

reached by indirect methods, possibly by the impo-

sition ofcertain standards in connection with emigra-

tion permits. Army Reserve, and admission to muni-

cipaf jobs-something on these lines''

We were now at the Rotunda, the favourite site

for armed risings and civil commotions in the bad

old days, not very long ago. One might c-all it the

roulette board of national life prior to 19z6'

For from r 9 r o, when the Republic was proclaimed,

until 1926, *h.tt by a bloodless rising the founda-

tions of the New State were established, there were

no less than forty-three Cabinets, eight Presidents,

and over twenty risings. To-day the Rotunda and

Edward VII Parkhave lost their former connotation,

and the people of Lisbon flock there on Sundays,

not, as foim.ily, to gaze at the shellJroles and bullet

po.kt of the last revolution, but to picnic under the

t...r, until such a time as the new extension of the

Avenida da Liberdade shall be made through the

Park. Salazar described to me the council scheme

and the new Lisbon that was being planned on a

scale worthy of the capitat city of a great empire'

But I refused to be sidetracked and went on with

my cross-examination:ilt i, believed that the problem of illiteracy is

madc more difficult by the censorship' As you know,

the ccnsorship is what British and French liberals

principally trola up against the Portuguese r6gime''

26

INTRODUCTION

ocnrorship is to-day the legitimate means of defencellnt lir:c, independent States have against the pre-vrllirrg :rnarchy of thought, against the internationallotrlirsion of mind. f am not afraid of the criticismtil'n true journalist provided he is a Portuguese andrr:lr likc one. But I am afraid of the minor journalistwlro, without knowingit, has become denationalized,jxrxnibly bccause his mind is not strong enough totrrirt thc allure of certain facile theories. I must re-trrlrrrl you that there is no such thing as Portuguese,lircrrt:lr, or British Communism, but international( krrnrnunism, which strives to impair and destroytrnliorrirl indcpendence. Against this ideological im-pn'inlisnr-as dangerous as any other form-the( lnrsorship is surely a lawful means of defence. Allnrrnrrrrr('s of protection are deemed lawful when ar lrrrrtry is thrcatened by foreign invasion. No oneIrnn yct protcsted against the Censor in time of war.( frrrrrrrrunism, in our age, is latent war, a foreignIrrvunion which is ever imminent. Moreover, censor- i

rlrip is not pcculiar to nationalist governments. Itlr lr';rrrgnant to evcry society, but every society isprrprrrerl to usc it if necessary. Our enemies, forlrrnlirru:r:, rarcly speak of Russian censorship, of all.-

llrl rrrost rlr':rstic ancl crucl; and where the govern- r

Irrrrl is r:orrtrollcd by popular fronts various meansll npplyirr!{ prcssurc, such as the suppression ofr,lprxiliorr ncwspapcrs or the prevention of theirr ltr rrlnliorr irr lirrcign countries, are ngrt unknown.

27

INTRODUCTIONConsiderations of national defence have led certaincountries to adopt censorship and others to have aPrcss that requires no censorship; but I do not be-lievc that the former have reason to bc cnvious of thelatter. In any case, I think it is vcry cxtraordinarythat many should be so irritated by the barriers setup by constituted authority (who at least must besupposed to have thc welfare of thc community atheart) and yet do not raise their voices in protestagainst the enslavement of thought by huge capi-talist organizations, by private and occult interests,by the brute forcc of wealth. Such considcrations, Isay, nevcr trouble Liberals in any country, whorarely take the troublc to work out systems wherebythe preservation of individual dignity and the safe-guarding the legitimate interests of a country maybe conjoined in a practical manner. To give you aconcrete example: has the Portuguese Press sufferedas a result of thc censorship? Have not the standardsof responsibility and decorum rather been appreci-ably raiscd? What has our Press lost save that scur-rility which was formerly so prevalent in manypapers.'

The Fronticrs of LibertyI rcfusc to bc convinced:'More than once I have been imprqssed by what

I believe to bc your spontaneous, almost instinctiverespect for the human conscicncc. I have heard you

zB

INTRODUCTIONrrt|, ilt ptrrvate conversations, or when speaking tol,,r, rplr iorrrnalists, that you shrink instinciively d";rlrl, .r( I likt:ly to conflict with men's consciences ortlr.rr li.r'rlrrn of thought. How reconcile that feer-lrr11. r'lri.lr I k'ow to be genuine, with such an insti-Irrlr,rr ;rs llt<: t;ensorship?,

,'i.rl.r.z;rr.'s tlroughts seemed to be far away, as het,;rlt,,l:',\rrrr.ly tlrcrc can bc no Iiberty against the truth;l' 111.1'llorrr t.ontr.ary to the ao--on interest?,'\'r.,i, lrrrl wlrt'rr: is the truth? Governments always

l', lrr'r. tlrr.rrrsr.lvt.s to bc the special depositori.s ottlrr lr rrllr.'l,,rl,rz.rr. wr.rrl on rclcnllcssly: ,Rcality has alwaysttr lrs,111',1;rr.ir.s. 'l'lr<:.(llmr.ch, always the great pro_

rr r trr,,,r ,,1' llrr. irrlclligcncc, rcsts o., dog"mar. bn.;,lr1rrr,rl sr.ir.lrr.r.s :rr.t: fi.ct_, only where still undis-,,,\r rr rl, u,lrr.rr.y<.t rrnr.cvcalccl by the light of truth.fi, ' r l, 'r tr irrr. is (,v(.t. tatrght without the carefulI rrrr r,rliolr tl'tt,hulil es ancl what it is not.,'lrr tlr.rt r.;rsr', rrll lt.irclring may be questioned un_1, ,,, 1, rr ,r( r (.1)t tlr<.ir. {irntl:uncntal piinciples., My,l' ,lrrr ttntr \r';ts lrrll ol'grrilt..

llrr rr. i:r lrrrrr.lr irr lift: which is contingent, butrlrrlr,,r., \\r.ll ;rs:rrrllror.ily, is llouncl up-*ith tha',,r t,,t I r,l I I tr. tr I rs.lr I I r,. ( )trr: ttt:ty .,*,r,ninc and,reviserrrr lrlr ,r lt .r r;yslr.rrr. llrtl tto ()ll(.(:;ut r.trlc in the namer,l '1,'rtlrl.'

I'lr'l Ilr. r onlirrgcrrr.y ol' lrrrrrurrr v:tlrrr.s rarlically,2r)

INTRODUCTIONat variance with the notion of absolute claims? Stateauthority-I say nothing of spiritual authority-is,after all, human and therefore fallible.'

'The relative quality of human affairs is preciselywhat imposes the need for standards which shall beabsolute.'

'But Liberty? How shall she be served once thatabsolute is acknowledged?'

'Red Liberty, the liberty of the Romantics, simplydoes not exist. Not Authority itself, the slave of itsown ethics, and bound by its own canons of pro-cedure, can call itself free. True liberty-which isthe liberty of thought, can exist only in the mind ofman.'

I descended lrom the absolute to very relativefacts:

'No one can or does deny that the present Portu-guese system is the mildest and most tolerant of allmodern authoritarian rigimes. The existence of cen-sorship is after all the sole argument which Liberalscan bring against us.'

'And that censorshipr' Salazar interposed, 'ischiefly intended to prevent the infiltration of Marxistideas, the propagation of lies, the malefic and oftenirreparable effect of slander. Do not forget, more-over, that the Portuguese Government, in spite ofall, authorizes the publication of nelvspapers andreviews of a definitely antagonistic nature. I think Ineed not mention their names.'

3o

INTRODUCTION/|,blh Oytinion

'lJre car wormed its way through the crowds inlho l{ocio-Lisbon's op.rr_ui. dd; and sped its waytlown thc Rua do Ouro, also a fr""", of loungers inllrr everring.l-rtill harped on the same subject:'( hn :r govcrnment disregard p"Uti. opinion? Andtrrrrlr.r- rt rCgimc of author]ty urra censorship is it

;rrnrilllc to bc aware of popular feeling?, r- -- --Hnlnzar was not embarrassed.

. 'Whyr public opinion-is indispensable to any move-tttrnt. (iovcrnments, howevei strongly .q"ipp.ltlrny rrray bc, remain in power i, i1

^;ig'frrr;:fr\ b)hmlng it.''ll'w fccl that force when the freedom of the press

h r,rrllnilt:rl?''l'lrc poirrt was obviously no new one to Salazar,hrr lrr" r,cpliccl at once :

.'Nlr,y111l;1ts it is impossible to avoid the formationrl ;rrrblir: r4rinion, o*ing to the a.ifiii., ofcommuni-l nlhrrr .llooks, newspapers, correspondence, whichh rwlli nrr<l unccnroi.d, wireless, ih. .irr.*a. Ther;nmtiorr is whcthcr public opirrior, will be Ieft toltrnll'or, pr.o1x:rly guiicd. . . .'

'ltt ollrr.t. worrls,,,cclntrolled,r.'

. "l'hnt..rlr.;x:ncts on thc cthics of the particular ri-

llnrr', ll' rr g.vt:rnnrcnt guides p"Uii. ,pirril l;rtt;rplylrrg grrrrrirrc, 1,.,.,"it, airiit"r.rted informa_th,r, ,lrvi,rrrly it will scrvc',1," ;;tli; better than a3r

INTRODUCTION

certain type of Press secretly controlled by material

ini.t.t*, sometimes of the basest nature''

'But who is to vouch for the truth of such infor-

mation? The very fact that it is "official" will cause

many to doubt it at once''

To which Salazar replied soberly' as if composing

an inscription for his own monument'--,ih, ,itioo of goaernment, blt its uer2 defnition, is euer

bound. uP with truth and justicl'' .--lio,'irrr.

public opiiion is, in the end' the opinion

of the government,' I said, mildly ironical'--

Sutuiut smiled but was not disconcerted:.Iii p"Ufic opinion has a life of its own and can

i*por"it, wilt on the very government that helped

to form it. Even the atihotitatian r6gimes, -ofrpp"*"rfy unlimited Power^must respect public

ffiott urrd ,t " consciince of ttieir people''

'Is it not true, though, that at times the Govern-

ment has to act againsipublic opinion' Eugene d'Ors

;;;;.t a type oflottical action that partakes of the

.rua.tr. of i mission, t1'e duty of saving the people

from themselves.'-- lurrdorrbtedly. Bspecially in th9 case of spurious

nublic opinion, btgottttt by trivial' passing interests'

il;#;i;t iir"ipti". *i hud to adopt at the be-

g*"f"g Jthe dictatorship show-ed how necessary it

was to have thc backing of public dpinion 1"9.,?\oho* u, times it had to fl aeiilerately flouted' With-

""i ,tt. goodwill of cducated opinion we could never

32

INTRODUCTIONlrnvc balanced the budget, because the sacrificesrlemanded and imposed were undoubtedly heavy;Irow often, on the other hand, it w'as necessary tonpply violent measures that raised a general outcrylrnong friends and foes! Governments must neverlrc slaves to the opinion of the masses, which is dif-lbrt:nt from and of a much lower category than theIlrrt: mind of a nation. To sum up: public opinion isirrrlispcnsable to a government and is at times agrcat stimulus; yct, a government should retain some

nrc:Nure of control over its formation, for the veryurkc of its quality.'

Wc had left behind the Terreiro do Pago or, as thelfirglish call it, Black Horse Square, and had negoti-ntcrl the difficult traffic of the Rua do Arsenal. Aswc passed the old Naval Arsenal which figured so

plorninently in the political disturbances of the past,I trmk the opportunity to inquire:

'When will the new Alfeite Arsenal be completed?''You can consider it as already finished and it bids

lllr to be a model institution. Any of the old equip-nrrnt worth retaining is now being shipped over tolltn other side. All naval shipbuilding and repair isr nrt'ied out no longer in Lisbon, but in Alfeite.'

'l h New Constitution

Wc cntered the long perspective of the Rua z4 de

Jullro, formerly an embarkment doing duty for aItt'cct, but now bordcred by flower beds and provided

il 33

INTRODUCTIONwith special tracks for trams, motors, and carts. fbroached a new topic:

'Some foreigners and not a few nationals tax thenew Constitution with being too fluid and point tothe many changes it has undergone at the hands ofthe National Assembly. They say that ConstitutionalLaw should be of sterner stuff. Why has the textbeen amended so often?'

It is Salazar the Professor who replies:'Our Constitution is by law subject to revision at

stated periods, and the legislative assembly, as nor-mally constituted, has no powers to amend it,though it may be duly empowered to do so by thePresident of the Republic. The amendments intro-duced affect not the "doctrinal" section but thepart that deals with creation of departments of Stateand their manner of working. Obviously the proce-dure laid down in this respect must be fluid andchanged whenever necessary so that the real prin-ciples of State may not be compromised by unfore-seen events, by the very evolution of society, bydeficiencies in the working of the institutions. Therewere two ways of avoiding those "amendments",which so far have been purely formal: by fictitiousinterpretation of the principlcs contained-the fatalprocess so often applied to the Constitution of r9r r Ior by recourse to coups d'Ctat, a method also unfor-tunately popular between rgro and 19z6. For ourpart we do not wish either to strain the text or to

34

INTRODUCTIONhave recourse to revolutions. We prefer the solutionof lawful amendments sanction.j ly th. Coosti-tir-tion itselfl, and as I have said, the alterations madehave not affected any^of the really essential parh. fmay observe that no Constitution is so malleable asthe British, which is unwritterr. p.rhaps for that vervreason its essential principles may'b. .;ll;;;iimmutable.'

.

Dual Nature of the Legislatiue powerf continued to proLe:'Whenever I explain to foleign friends the generalprinciples of our Constitutiorr"th.y i""u.iuf,if .i_press their surprise that the legislative power should

be vested simultaneously in th"e Government and inthe National Assembly, .u.r, during the latter,s briefthree months' session. . . .,'ft is natural that they should think it strange. Inthe matter of the..powers of State, the portft;;

Constitution is still-a compromir.i.t*r., the pastnnd- the present, it is still bound ,f ir, ".r;; ;;;-ticulars, with former principl.r. it; dual source oflegislation, for instance, must be considered as anlntermediate measure. The truth i, tfrut no assemblylurr find time and universal competence to deal with

'll thc problems of public "d#;;;;"tion. One ofthc r:r'r.ors.of the pu.iiu*.rrtury ,yri._s was that ofnot tcrowrng how to evolve, how to adapt them_rrlvr.s to chalrging circums,urr..r, for there is no

35

INTRODUCTIONsimilarity between the conditions of to-day andthose which obtained a hundred years ago. More-over, all major reforms, even under parliamcntaryrule, arc effected to-day by dictatorial mcthods--inPortugal they always have been. Thc govcrnments,whcn faccd with a difficult situation trar.rsccndingthe normal compctence of a parliamcnt, beg thelattcr to invcst them with full powcrs to act. So whymakc such a play upon words? Why clo parliamen-titry rriginles express a pious horror at thc lcgisla-tivr: powcrs vestcd in authoritarian governmcnts?T'hc l-rcst form-perhaps the future form-is for theGovcrnmcnt to pass laws aided by corporativeclrambcrs in a consultative capacity, and possiblyby a tcchnical council as well.'

'Wh:rt pcoplc find strange', I insisted, 'is that theGov<'r'rrmcnt slroulcl r:ontinue to legislate while theAssr:rnbly is sitting.'

"I'lrt: (iovt:rrrrrrt'lrt is at timcs compcllcd to passllrws irr st'ssiorr titnt: wlrt'n tlrt:rc is urqt:nt public need,Irll<IIy t'orrr1l:ttiblt: witlr tlrc Asst:nrbly J;r'occdure, forsrrr:lr l:rws. 'I'lrt't'c is ir r:crt:tirt typc ol'lcgislationwhichwotrkl bcc;ornc clangcrous or lcnrl itscll'to incon-vt'rrit'rrt spccrrlatiott trnlcss <lr:r[it:rl in llliv:rcy-as forirrsl;urr:t: llros<: llrws tlt::rlitrg witlr riglrts. In all such(rirs('s ;rrrrl nt'vt'r nl()ro s() silr:rrt'r: i'..; goltlcn.t

[/.v lill nt.r.t ol' .Nulitnrul A.rsembfit

'Worrltl it rrol llc llcttt'r' to rnirkr: :rn cncl of the

:l(i

INTRODUCTIONNational Assembly and transfer some of its presentduties to the Corporative Chamber?'

.-Certainly not.' Salazar spoke with conviction.'The National Assembly must continue to functionas a political body.

-Its duty is to bring the greatnational aspirations before de Government and tosupervise tlie proper execution of public administra_tion. Even under a good gou"rrr-..rt uncontrolledcxecutive power always tinds to exceed its legiti_matc limits. The criticism, judgements, and stric_

:::.:.-"qc by qualified persons, in an orderly, con-strtutional manner, keep government action *itfrinproper bounds. A gouernment, euen an authoritariangouernment, sltould not ltaue the pouter to suppress att pubticcriticism of its acts. The execuiiue power iist be pitecuAnot onl2from its enemies, but alsofrom itself.,

I could not help interposing-this doubt:'Is there not a danger of a body like the NationalAssembly. reviving the old parliamentary tricks andol'.our going back to former practices?,

, ,1I "o,-ql1.1g my trust in ihe new political men-tirlity, which l consider to be one of the most impor-l:urt fcatures of our movement.'

'l)o you think it will be enough?,

. 'l tlrink so, but were the Natio"nal Assembly to loseils r.sscrrti:rl clignity, the president of the Republic,wlro is tlrr:.suprcme judge of the nation, hur^po*e.lo rlissolv<: it.'

J/

INTRODUCTIONSalazar anstoers Austen Chamberlain

We had alighted from the car close to the BelemTower and were now pacing the narrow strip ofsandat the foot of the venerable monument-Lisbon'sbookplate, it might be called. Unfortunateln itsbeauty is marred by a background of gasometers,

and we inly wondered if it would be possible to havethem removed by rg4o in time for the NationalCommemorations.

But we spoke of other subjects. I said:

'No doubt you have read and considered in yourmind the preface written by Austen Chamberlain,some years ago, for the English edition of my book.Your remarks to-day on public opinion, censorship,

and political organization, are to a certain extentan answer to the points raised in that preface.

But there are specific challenges (perhaps AustenChamberlain would not have made them to-day)which cannot be glossed over. I should like to knowyour views on certain of Chamberlain's strictures onthe Portuguese rigime.'

Salazar is not one to evade challenges.

'I read and re-read with the greatest attentionthe criticism of one of England's greatest publicfigures, a member of a real dynasty of statesmen.

I1m glad to be in agreement withlChamberlainwhcn hc owns that he was mistaken in believing thatBritish clemocracy was the model for the IdealStatc.'

38

INTRODUCTIONI had brought with me Chamberlain's preface and

read out the passage in question:' "There was a time not so long ago when English-

men were prone to think that the parliamentaryinstitutions which worked so well here would beequally appropriate to other nations, and wouldsave them, as they have saved us, alike from revo-lution and reaction.

' "The experiment has been tried in varying formsin many lands, but with little success. Democracy, itwould seem, succeeds only where it has been ofgradual growth, founded on natural aptitude ripenedby long experience. . . ." '

Sa)azar, commenting:'There you have an opinion which shows great

moral courage on the part of the author, for it evendestroys some of his other statements. Chamberlainspoke the truth: parliamentarianism, no more thanFascism or Nazism, is not for export. Though pos-sibly excellent in Britain and for the British tempera-ment (as it has been so far), it nevertheless might beimpractical, even intolerable, for other nations andraces. The mistake, of course, is to suppose that othercountries and peoples must necessarily respond andreact as the British. If you would understand theEnglish, speak and feel like an Englishman. If youwish to understand the Portuguese, speak their lan-guage andfeel as they do.'

'Is this the only point on which you agree withChamberlain?'

39

INTRODUCTION

'No,' replied Salazar. 'I am also heartily in agree-ment with him when he states that the PortugueseRevolution set out to recast the soul of a nation. Ofcourse it did. Otherwise it could not rightly becalled a revolution. A great movement, as opposed tomere sporadic risings, must necessarily have greataims.'

'Where do you begin to disagree?''Further on, where Chamberlain, not knowing the

particular facts of the case and carried away by theforce of certain conventional terms, states that to anEnglishman it may seem that the Portuguese havepaid too great a price for their recovery.'

I read out Chamberlain's actual words:'"An Englishman may feel that the price paid is

too high. He may thank heaven that he is still a freecitizen of a free country, and resolve that he willguard that frecdom the more jealously because of itsdestruction clsewhcrc."'

'We must go slowly', obscrvcd Salazar, 'in orderto judgc whcther Chamberlain is right or not, thatis, whethcr the Portuguesc havc not paid too muchfor their bcncfits, have not indccd sccurcd them atthc cost of thcir liberty. If British public lifc and theplay of its institutions is carefully cxamincd, it willbc found that thc essence of thc British r6Eime-letus call it that and not bcg the qucstion{ry employingtcrms such as "clcmocratic" or "libcral"-is twofold:the incontcstably frcc clcction of the Housc of Com-

40

INTRODUCTIONmons and the effective guarantee of individualrights as defined by law. One may say if one likesthat the first is less important than the second, butthere is no doubt that, in that strictly hierarchicaland aristocratic society, free election is the mark ofthe absolute equality of the British subject. NowChamberlain sincerely believed, when he made thatremark, that the Portuguese, by the advent of theNational Dictatorship, had lost those two greatprerogatives. Yet nothing can be further from thetruth. Without stressing the point unduly, it is rightto say that never have there been so many electors inPortugal as now and particularly never so manyindependen! genuine voters-as unconstrained as

in Great Britain. For the electorate is no longer in-volved in mean party struggles, but only concernedwith registering votes that will ensure sound nationalrepresentation. Secondly, the Revolution, howeversurprising this may seem to our adversaries, aimedat defining the rights of the individual and at ensur-ing their preservation. Prior to 19z6 the individualhad no genuine guarantees; it is not too much to saythat the essential liberties of the Portuguese peoplewere overridden, stolen, or trampled upon by ourLiberal forms of government. Conventional termsare of little worth in themselves; it is necessary totest them in the light of reality. I think we may saylhat thc Portuguese, with the exception of the politi-t:al spcculator and wire-puller (a class no longer

4t

l*""

INTRODUCTIONprovided for) lost nothing by the National Revolu-tion. It was not a case of a de fatlo rule replacing ade jure one, but rather a rigime of right law andorder-without which there can be no liberty-instead of a chronic state of disorder and tyrannnwhereby the worst interests lorded it over the best.

'If you will allow me,' f interposed, 'since we areon the subject, I too should like to reply to Chamber-lain's accusation (couched in the gentlest and mostflattering terms) that I had touched up your portraittoo much. That is as it may be. Quite likely the man-ner and colour of my book may not find favour inthe fog-laden atmosphere of London. But the pur-pose of the original version, in Portuguese, was pre-cisely to dramatize the figure of a man essentiallyundramatic, to make him a real, live figure in theeyes of an exuberant people who certainly would not,possibly could not, understand those "sober tones"of which Chamberlain speaks. And perhaps it willbe a good thing for Englishmen to become accus-tomed to the idea that peoples do not all feel, expressthemselves, and react in the same way. It is thatvery diversity that gives a particular charm to liter-ary interchange between countries. I should be veryastonished, for instance, if I wcre to find an Englishauthor writing in the stylc, or expresring the senti-ments of a Portugucse writer.

INTRODUCTIONRelations with Great Britain

In the course of this conversation we had leftbehind the Tower of Belem standing guard over the

entrance to Lisbon, and were now ascending the

steep hill that leads to Ajuda, on our way to inspectthe new building settlement erected by the NationalLabour Institute.

Since Great Britain had been mentioned I tookthe opportunity to put the following question:

'Are you pleased with our present relations withBritain?'

There was no mistaking the sincerity of Salazar's itone as he replied: .

'I do not think they have been bettet at any time, j

for they have now reached a point of equilibrium as

a result of a clear understanding of the commoninterests. The war in Spain gave an opportunity tothe avowed or covert foes of the alliance to representit x being impaired or broken, as if England pro-posed to intervene in our internal affairs or outsidethe scope of the alliance or even refused us the rightto defend our own independence. Alliances implyrights and obligations on both sides. Our alliancewith Britain will be strong in proportion as those

rights and obligations are equally balanced. More-over, our very frankness is appreciated in England;the dccorum of our public life is duly noticed, andreliancc is placed upon our loyalty, which has neverwuvercd.

42 +3

INTRODUCTIONAt the Summit of Ajuda

We now found ourselves in the neat streets of theAjuda Workmen's Settlement, at the top of the hill.Thc whole of riverside Lisbon lay below us, a splen-did panorama worked out in minute detail. Therivcr shone like burnished silver and there was agoldcn light reflected from the trees and the roofs ofthe myriad houses-white, ochre, red, and blue-at our feet.

'Six years ago this settlement had not even beenplanncd,' said the Prime Minister almost to him-sclL

I could not take my eyes from the magnificentscenc. Thc pile of theJer6nimos seemed like a jewelcaskct suspended in mid air; to our right there wasa small cemetery gleaming white like a miniaturevillage, and thc low hills that border the river werecrowned with windmills. The Estoril railway glidedslowly along thc waterfront like a toy. I was alsoawarc of thc squarc block of the Ajuda Palace, thedome of thc miniature Church of Good Memory,and thc slopcs which are to be made into the greatmunicipal park and whcrc scorcs of thousands oftrecs are cvcn now being planted. To the east laythe clark-gr(:(-'n mass of thc formcr Royal Close, andthc wcntlrcrr:<x:k of thc Ncccssidadcs P4lace was likean augury o['pt::rct:. Lisbon, from wherever you see

it, is alw:rys surprising, for, pcrched on its many hills,it ofli'r's irn t:ntllt:ss varicty of views. Well might

44

INTRODUCTIONGiraudoux say about Lisbon: 'A city that opens andshuts like a fan.'

Salazar, who had also been absorbed in the view,now began to take stock of his immediate surround-ings and to wax enthusiastic over the busy life of thequarter. Though only recently occupied, the houses

made a brave show with flowers, and everywhere wecould see men, women, and children pottering abouttheir little gardens. Salazar, who comes from farm-ing stock, was delighted, and distributed his praiseequally over the cabbages and the flowers growingin these little plots, adding:

'I feel sure this is the right way. A garden of one'sown is the most effective foe of the public-house.'

We went into one of the few houses that are stillvacant: two or three whitewashed rooms, a largekitchen, and a bathroom. The house becomes theproperty of the tenant after a few years' payment ofa very small monthly rental, under a scheme whichalso includes a life-insurance and provision againstunemployment and sickness. In front of each cottagethere is a small garden where vegetables or flowersmay be cultivated and there is space beside each

cottage for extension should a growing family impose

the necessity of further room. In this way a largefamily is no drawback.

'Perhaps it would have been easier to have solved

the housing difficulty by means of large tenements,

but small independent houses are much more con-

45

INTRODUCTIONducive to family life and they instil a keener sense ofproperty. A large block containing dozens ofapart-ments is a good breeding-ground for dissension andmutual hatred, for it harbours too many individualinterests.'

A group of foreign tourists-British, German, orFrench-landed no doubt from that foam-colouredgiant which we could see lying in the harbour, werebeing taken round the flower-trimmed streets of thenew quarter by a guide. Some one must have pointedout Salazar, because they all doffed their hats res-pcctfully as they passed us.

I became reminiscent:'In the preface to my book, the newly appointed

Prime Minister urged as one of the principal reasonswhy hc should remain in power the urgent need torccover for Portugal her former status as a greatnzrticln. At the time we were still so demoralized, somuch still under thc influence of the defeatist schoolo['Olivcir:r Martins, that such words sounded likenrcrc bravaclo. Tcn years later Portugal, thanks tohis irrccntivc ancl lcadership, has regained the rightIo krok rit:h an<l powcrful nations in the face.,

'l toltl yorr your book was entirely out of dater'rt:nr:rrkcrl li;tl:rzirr.

I'ro,qrt.;.r mrl I'oi,nly t

"l'lrc ollrr.r' ilrrporl;urt rurirsorr givcn fttr the PrimeMinislr:r' r'r.rrr:tirrirrg irr oflir:r:, totrchcd every portu-

4.6

INTRODUCTIONguese heart. To quote his own words: "It is possiblethat certain men have conceived a different butmore humane form of national community and, inthe highest position, may labour without rest andwith rage in their hearts because a woman goes

hungry or a child cries with cold." 'Though the sun was still high a heavy cloud

seemed to darken Salazar's face:'We have done what we could, but human misery

and wretchedness has no limits!''It is always easy for a journalist to draw the atten-

tion of the public to some unfortunate slum, possiblyhundreds of years old, such as are still to be found inLisbon or in Oporto. But not only did we not createthose slums but are actually pulling them down.Moreover, London, Paris, New York, Naples, havetheir own hells, their eyesores.'

Professor Salazar takes charge again:'Poverty and wretchedness seem to be a kind of

secretion of progress. In the country, where life issimpler, conditions can never go lower than a cer-tain point even at times of crisis. Real destitution is

to be found in towns, in the large capitals, whosehardness and insensibility is in direct proportion totheir hugeness. Owing to the mechanization of lifeand the automatic nature of progress, men haveslowly changed into machines and cannot give playto their natural sentiments. The town dweller is ina way the product of competition and is therefore

47

p

IJ

INTRODUCTIONselfish and jealous of any one challenging his hard-won prerogatives.'

'Is not man the same everywhere, in town orcountry?' I interposed, not so much out of convic-tion but to move Salazar to further utterances.

'Man possibly, but not men. In villages and inlittle towns, absolute destitution is rare; there maybe no work but only very rarely is there no food.There may be no money, perhaps no clothes, butalways a crust of bread and a bowl of soup.'

'The fields and the orchards are inexhaustible lar-dersr' I remarked, with perhaps undue optimism.

Apolog for Modest Liaing'In cities', continued Salazar,'a man out of work

becomes entirely destitute and runs the risk of starv-ing to death. Whilst there is work there is money'which is the means ofbuying the necessities and evensuperfluitics of life. The absence of human warmth,of that natural solidarity which is the note of familylifc, makes poverty indeed black when the source ofmoney is cut off. The seven million inhabitants ofNew York are, to a person who is down and out, so

many million strangers. For this reason we havealways cncouraged modest living-+ufficient to pro-vidc whatcvcr is necessary to sustain lip and to makeit plcasant, but ncver encouraging ex8essive and in-human ambitions.'

'You oncc said to Henri Massis, who gave wide

4B

INTRODUCTIONpublicity to the remark: "I want the Portuguese tolive naturally."'

Salazar paid no attention to my interruption andwent on:

'We must, more than ever before, wage waragainst the material conception of life, that leadsmen, as if they were moved by some morbid craving,to seek and accumulate wealth without limit, eventhough from time to time, as we see in America,those men voluntarily turn over a large proportionof their profits to philanthropic works. It is morehumane and more Christian to work for a collectivemiddle state where neither multi-millionaires norpaupers are possible. It is obviously difficult, per-haps impossible, to stifle man's ambition entirely orhis craving for money. But what must be preventedis the absorption of the greater part of the wealth ofa country by a thousand and one parasites. Only byreducing those parasites to a minimum, by creatinglabour and setting up strict standards of justice ineconomic and social relations, can the desired equili-brium be secured.'

We had been walking for about twenty minutesalong the streets of the new quarter, followed at arespectful distance by the inhabitants. Cheers brokeout for Salazar and for the New State.

'Viaa the saviour of Portugal.''Long live the New State.'Salazar acknowledged the cheers by raising his

49

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INTRODUCTIONhat. He smiled at the people, but all the samewalkedfaster and regained the car, which was awaiting us

at the entrance to the settlement.

The Ronantic IdealThe lecture continued in the car:'Communists and advanced Socialists have thought

to solve the problem by an equitable distribution ofexisting wealth among men. The solution is bothromantic and silly. On the contrary, it is essentialto go on increasing wealth and constantly to createnew sources of it.'

'I take it that this is precisely the policy followedby the Estado Nouo. Roads, new harbours, cheaphousing, afforestation, drainage, and other rural im-provements, the telephone and telegraph systems,

the network of railways-all these have been ex-panded considerably in the last few years and theresult has bcen an appreciable increase of the patri-mony of the State and thcrefore of the Portuguese.'

Salazar was silent for a moment:'I know that the results arc slow and difficult to

cstimatc and may evcnbc tcrmedslightby those whothink only of the prcscnt. Our policy will only yieldfull rcsults in the coursc of timc. I have said morethan once that ours is tr gcncration df sacrifice. ButPortug:rl, on thc othcr hand, is not a mattcr of yes-

tcr<l:ry or to-clay, it is a mattcr of all timc.

INTRODUCTIONThe Portuguese Legion

We were descending the Ajuda Hill when wepassed a detachment of Legionaries, who on recog-nizing Salazar saluted him with the raised arm inthe old Roman fashion. They have good physiqueand bronzed faces and are all typically Portuguese.Their ages vary very considerabln and so does theirsocial status, for boss and clerk may be serving in thesame company. Yet the same light, the same hopeburned in their eyes, and their marching step wasirreproachable.

'Who lives?' shouted the commander ofthe detach-ment, commencing the Legion's slogan.

'Portugal, Portugal, Portugal,' the men replied.'Who leads?' inquired the same voice.'Salazar, Salazar, Salazarr' thus the Legionaries,

gaily, as they marched away.'Those days are past', I observed, 'when the Prime

Minister had reason to remark, in an interview he. gave me, that one of the principal dangers of themovement was the coldness of its followers. Musso-lini told me himselft "How to last is the secret," andhe was quite right.'

Salazar agreed.'The formation of the Legion and even more (if

we take a long view) the creation of the PortugueseYouth Organization have effectively helped tomoclily the general mentality of the people and torestore to the Portuguese that which they appeared

5rI5o

INTRODUCTIONto have lost: their civic conscience. For the Portu-guese is brave but undisciplined and has generallyan atavistic horror of any kind of military service.Moreover, he was only familiar with the rough andtumble of civil war. Now he is ready to don uniformand to obey orders in the hour of need. The Legionand the Mocidade have also given him a greater senseof social comradeship, for it has fused the varioussocial classes and bridged the distance between richand poor. These organizations have also taught thePortuguese to be more tolerant and to respect oneanother's beliefs-this alone, in our country, is agreat step forward.'

Poaertlt and Low Standards of LiaingWe left the car once more to pay a visit to another

building settlement nearJer6nimos. The houses hada cheerful look and the window-boxes were brightwith flowers. Bcfore bcginning our visit we stoppedto look at a group of ramshacklc buildings just out-side thc precincts of the ncw quarter. These housesscemed to lack both air and light, the walls wereblotchcd and warped, and wc could gucss the filthyinteriors-veritablc brccding-grounds for diseasc.Salazar's gaze showcd infinitc pity and also indigna-tion and hc spokc almost to himsclf:

'Tht:rc is still cnrllcss povcl'ty cvclytvherc.Itwouldbc clishoncst to clcny it. lltrt thosc who hold us res-ponsiblc for it lbrgct that it is tlrc lcgacy of the past,

52

INTRODUCTIONof the very distant past, long before we could haveany responsibility in the government of the country.The roots of pauperism go very deep, and sometimesit is the paupers themselves who hinder our efforts.You have no idea how diffcult it has been to replacethe hovels of the famous Tin Can Village by neatand hygienic huts. One would think that we wereacting against their interests, that we were deprivingthem of something which was very precious.'

f carried on in the same strain:'The prime mistake that many foreigners make is

not to estimate what has already been achieved.They see us as we are, and not as we were ten yearsago; secondly they have eyes only for concrete resultsand rarely take into account what is being activelyplanned. Often there may be nothing to show, thoughan elaborate scheme is being slowly worked out witha view to bringing about drastic changes. That is

why we are sorry and even irritated when a certaintype ofjournalist (fortunately becoming rarer) criti-cizes our country for certain shortcomings which wefeel even more keenly than they.'

Salazar let me talk and then spoke quietly as one

arguing with himself:'I must say that, to me, the chief difficulty lies not

so much in the actual poverty as in the low stan-dard of living of our population, especially in thecountry. This is mostly due to the paucity of ournatural resources and also to the backwardness of

53

INTRODUCTIONour civilization. As our whole economic system isbased on the Land, we cannot hope to attain as higha level of living as that of other peoples who-senatural resources are richer. Nevertheless the de_velopment of our production and trade and the cor-porative organization are gradually raising ourstandards. Wherever there are Workers, Syndlcatesand Employers' Associations there are immediatelylabour contracts involving increased or at least stablesalaries, paid holidays, health insurances, safeguardsagainst dangerous occupations, and other id*ruo-tages.'

I could not help adding:'On the other hand, the people,s Theatre, the

travelling cinemas, the regional and civic festivities,the holiday camps and other movement, ,po^or.dby the Secretariado de Propaganda Nagional, by the'Joy in Work" Organization, by the NationalBroadcasting Station are, in their iurn, raising themental and social tone of the people and giving ih.-a glimpse of the world of art and imagination with-out which men cannot be happy.'

After a brief inspection of the new quarter, wewalkcd down the hill as far as theJer6nimos Church,followcd by the respectful curiosity of the local in-habitants, whom we left arguing among themselveswhcthcr it was rcally Salazar or not. I sa# a stoutishwoman with scvcral children in tow who went intoher housc and rcturned with a photograph of the

54

INTRODUCTIONPrime Minister in her hand to clinch her argument.

fouth Marches 81We lingered for a while in front of the Jer6nimos,

that wonderful shrine built as an act of thanksgiving,in the golden age of discoveries. To-day it is still asymbol of imperial greatness, and its carved spheres,crosses, and cable mouldings, its gargoyles and lions,the statue of Prince Henry gazing steadfastly overthe Tagus, are powerful reminders ofour great duties.

As we stood there a company of boys of theMocidade marched by, very smart in their browntunics, khaki trousers, and those high boots of whichthey are so proud. On spying Salazar they salutedhim with raised arm, as the Legionaries had done,and broke spontaneously into their marching song.

'Six years ago', I recalled, 'foreign journalists andwriters who visited us were unable to conceal theirapprehension at the undisciplined state of our youth,who were entirely left to themselves and in not a fewcases showed obvious sympathies for Communism.To-day the number of boys in schools who refuseto belong to the Mocidade is minute, and there havebeen cases of children converting their parents tothe ideals of the new age.'

Salazar was regarding the marching schoolboyswith visible pride:

'When these lads come of age we may regard thefuture without fear.'

I.ail

55

INTRODUCTIONAn Old ClichC

Standing before the actual space and using it asif it were a blueprint, the Prime Minister describedto me the new plan of the Vasco da Gama Squareand the adjoining land. We then went into theiloseof the old monastery, which is also included in thegeneral scheme. Indeed, it is in this enclosure thatthe Exhibition of the Portuguese World will be heldin the course of the r93g-4o centenary celebrations.This exhibition will aim at showing what portugalhas done for world civilization and the marks shehas left in the remotest lands.

I went on with my cross-examination:'It is still currently stated that the State grows

richer every day while the citizen grows poor.r. Howcan this venerable clichd be still so popular amongour enemies and even among some of our allegedfriencls?'

'You may say the State is rich,' said Salazar pro-fcssionally. I fclt f was in for a lecture. ,But the factremains that the State has not spent anything likewhat it should have done. We have accumulatedcapital but much remains to be spent on publicrclicll education, tourism, works of public utilitnetc. Wc h:rvr: hoardcrl moncy because we havepasscrl throrrgh a 1x:riocl ol'unexpccted contingen-cics, wlr<rrr il rv:rs our ollvious <lrrty in tfie inteiestsof tlrr: t:ourrlry to l:ry by:r rcscrvc, and particularlybct:erttsr: it wirs t:ssr:rrli:rl lo proviclt: for our rearma-

5ti

INTRODUCTIONment. So much for the rich State. With regard tothe poverty of the people, statistics show that thecontrary is precisely the case. Economic activity ison the increase. Production is gradually improving;exports are holding their own or going up, eventhough we are called upon to provide for an increaseof population amounting to one million four hun-dred thousand persons between r9z6 and r938, thatis, one-third of the total population of Portugal andthe Adjacent Islands of Madeira, and the Azores.These are not mere words; they are facts and figures.There is no doubt that in certain industries there iswhat you might call a crisis of adaptation to newconditions, but it is not fair to use that as an argu-ment that our prosperity is on the decline. Amongthe activities undergoing transformation one mightmention the railways, whose monopoly as a meansof transport is now seriously challenged by lorriesand buses, and the shipping companies, whichare passing through a bad period, owing to lackof capital, and to antiquated administration. Again,one should take into account the fact that muchof the capital invested abroad is not yielding aproper return owing to various causes: difficultyof transferring money; currency depreciation; sus-

pended debt services, etc.'On the other hand, countries seem to be moving

towards a state of permanent crisis. Populations areconstantly increasing within the same frontier boun-

57

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INTRODUCTIONdaries. The United States, which was Europe'ssafety valve, is now shut to immigration. The richlanded families who were the backbone of agricul-tural activity have ceased to be. The middle classes

see their savings absorbed by the pressing needs ofthe moment and by the sudden depreciation ofvalues. TheT maybe said to be in a critical state every-where. So that the foundations of economic life, inthe old conception of the word, seem to be badlyshaken.'

'And what will the end be?' I asked.'I often wonder', said Salazar with melancholy,

'whether we are not about to witness, all over theworld, the decline of private fortune as a result ofthe pressing needs of the community which theState must supply. ft seems as if we were moving,most unfortunately in my opinion, towards the totalproletariat State. It is a great pity, but it may be un-avoidable.

Life and Death of Communisrn

We had climbed slowly to the top of the hill be-hind Jer6nimos and restcd by the square chapelbuilt by Boitac. It is a squat, tower-like buildingwith plain walls ornamentcd only with the royalshicld supportcd by armillary spheres A few pinesbcnt ancl twistcd by thc winds are the sole com-panions of this loncly shrinc standing like a watch-tower ovcr the rivcr. Onc or two lighters with red

5B

INTRODUCTION

sails moved almost imperceptibly along the blueroad of the Tagus. A large white liner followed bya screaming band of gulls was entering the river. Inthe clear air the tower of Belem, encircled by the

tide, seemed to be about to hoist sail, a stone galleon

again bound for the East.We made our way slowly down the bare slope.

I changed the conversation:'What do you think? Are we still on the upward

curve of Communism or are we witnessing its de-

cline?'Salazar pondered a while before replying:'It is difficult to answer your question as you have

put it. There is no doubt that the greatest politicaland economic experiment launched in our days was

the Russian one. The attempt was facilitated by the

traditions of the Russian people, by their traditionsof absolute rule, by the agricultural and forestrynature of their rural economy, and by their back-

wardness and low standards of living. And yet inspite of such favourable ground, the experiment js

cbnstantly breaking down and the results couldhardly have been more disappointing. Communism,as was only to be expected, has been shown in prac-tice to be unnatural and uneconomic. The spectacu-

lar failure of the Russian experiment, however, has

not prevented a great many people in other countriesfrom regarding Russia as the Promised Land orfronr clamouring for the adoption of those very

59

INTRODUCTIONpractices which Russia herself has by now discarded.The fact is that one does not learn from otherpeople's experience but from one,s own, and theliving example of Russia is powerless to destroy themirage, the attraction of the abyss. I think we maysay, however, that Communism as an economic doc-trine is upon its downward curve. political Com-munism, however, is if anything on the upwardgrade, because it has managed to rally the Leftforces, so that its flag is now the standard of all sub-versive movements that challenge social order. Thevery Liberals who, one would think, would be theworst foes of Communism, since it implies the abso-lute negation of liberty, are now flocking, f knownot by what spirit of perversity, to the Red Flag. Togive you an instance, is there any country in whichthe classes are so sharply defined as England? This istrue even among the working classes; the butler, inthe servants' hall of the rich, lords it over the otherslikc a littlc king. Yet we find in England in the mostunexpectcd quarters, an obvious sympathy for Com-munism. Why? Bcc:rusc of thc power of words, byshcer blufl pcrhaps by thc voluptuousness of con-trast? Political Communism is ccrtainly not on thedcclinc. (lommunisrn has bccomc thc rallying cryof thc rcvolutionary instint;ts of our agc. From beingmcrcly ar) (:(:onornic systcnr it h:rs bccomc a political,social, nroral, arrcl rt:ligious tloctrinc which ialls intoplay thc worst instincts of man and enhances his

6o

INTRODUCTION

worst defects. It would be foolish, therefore, to denyits great potentialities, which we must oppose withthe last ounce of our strength.'

TIu Crisis of the l*ague'You believe that the League of Nations, had it

been properly directed, might have ensured, if notproper equilibrium, at least tranquility in Europe?'

'Salazar agreed:'Certainly it might, but its decline was due pre-

cisely to that contagion of which we have been talk-ing, and to the double mistake it made in trying tomake itself a super State in direct opposition to theever-growing strength of nationalism, and in show-

ing a tendency to enforce a specific political creed.

Gradually it changed into a ring of the great demo-cracies, though it had failed to incorporate the

United States among its members. Its ill-disguiseddemagogic ideals were the main cause of its deca-

dence and may lead to its final demise. ArealLeagueof Nations must rise above petty lobbying and politi-cal jobbery, it must never copy the worst features ofmodern democracies. Ifit fails to observe this elemen-

tary rule of impartiality, it will become by imper-ceptible degrees the tool of certain countries, for use

against others, and so will forfeit its prestige, itsmoral force, and indeed its very claim to existence.'

'What do you think will be the future of the League

-1p[s16 or cxtinction?'

6r

INTRODUCTION'In its present state, apart from its great value as

a technical body and as an international informationbureau, the League of Nations may be said to bepractically useless. I do not know whether thePowers which, in actual fact, are responsible forthe affairs of Europe will reform the League orchoose to let it sink into oblivion. Should they electto reform it, I cannot imagine on what lines theywill do it so as to conform with the present temperof Europe. They man of course, do neither one northe other and merely let the League hibernate untila more favourable opportunity.'

'Should a reform be possible, do you think theLeague would be worth preserving?'

'Undoubtedly. The League of Nations with newstatutes, new procedure, and inspired by anotherspirit, might well become a valuable organizationfor cnsuring international co-operation.'

Portuguese Colonies and Souereign Righ*Beforc abandoning the subject of Geneva I had to

ask:

'For countrics likc Portugal, small in Europe butlargc overscas, is it not a good thing to have an everstrongcr Lcagtre of Nertions to protect their rights?It is a commonplace that becausc our colonies arerlt:sir<'tl lly ollrr:rs, orrr rnethocls are constantly criti-<:iz.r'<l :rrrrl rnisn:pr<:scntccl. Is not Geneva the bestt:ourt wlrcr'o ()rrr sovt:rt:ign rights can be defended?'

6z

INTRODUCTIONSalazar's tone was grim and hard as he replied:'I believe that the notion that our colonies are per-

petually coveted is a traditional idea, a relic fromthe past. Who should covet them? Not GreatBritain, who by the Treaties of Alliance has pledgedherself to defend them. France? She has never beentaxed with that particular ambition, save some yearsago when she believed that our colonial heritage wasup for sale. Germany? Let me remind you thatChancellor Hitler has stated that his claims refersolely to the former German colonies and not tothose of any other country. Italy? Not only have wethe spontaneous disavowals of Signor Mussolini, butalso the fact that Italy in our own day has conqueredan African empire of unlimited possibilities withoutinfringing on the rights of any of the EuropeanPowers. Smaller countries like Belgium and Hollandare obviously out of the question, for, if the intriguesof international speculators are to be believed, theytoo are threatened with spoliation. We must putbehind us these eternal fears, which are the portionof decadent societies, but are incompatible with ourgreat movement of recovery and our will to work.We should not be troubled by old clichis, from criticswho are obviously suspect, on our lack of man-power and of sufficient capital. If we lack men, howcan it be explained that the percentage of whitepopulation in the Portuguese colonies is higher thanin those of other countries? If there is a dear th of

63

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INTRODUCTIONtenacity in their actions. The very ease with whichthey grasp ideas without any great effort inducesthem to deal superficially with all problems and torely too much on the quickness of their apprehen-sion. But subject to proper discipline and controlthere is nothing they cannot be taught to do.'

I agreed and went on:'How shall those superficial but positive defects

be corrected?''Our great problem is how to form Clites, capable

of educating and leading the nation. The absenceand insufficiency of proper leaders is Portugal'sgreatest problem. Only the rising generation, if dulytrained, can supply the future leaders-administra-tors, technical experts, teachers, priests, foremen,skilled workmen, such as a full economic recoveryrequires. I will go so far as to say that I think thatthe formation of large bodies of trained people is amore immccliatc necessity than compulsory elemen-tary education for all. The great problems of thenation are solved not by the rank and file of thepeople but by trained staffs round which the massescan group thcmselvcs.'

I thought I would adcl a few more defects (per-haps a tcnclcncy of mine) to Salazar's list:

'Thc Portuguesc, cvcn when on the rising curveof prospcrity, arc always nostalgic and fatalistic.Don't you think that from timc to time they lookback on tlrt: past chaos with a ccrtain morbid regret

66

INTRODUCTION

and show a tendency to despair from the sheer plea-

sure of it?''I am quite aware of those waves of despairr' re-

plied Salazar. 'They show that the Portuguese mind,in spite of the progress made, has not been entirelyrenewed. As you say, from time to time there is ageneral crisis of pessimism, a desire to let everythinggo, for no specified reason, a wish for change at uny

price, a childish desire to break the toy to see whatis in it.'

'These waves of depression', I commented, 'maybe brought on by a failure of crops, by poorer re-

turns, and they are immediately exploited by the

professional trouble-makers, by agitators at home

and abroad. It is lamentable to see how even the

best people can be worked uPon in this way.'

'But there is a difference,' Salazar pointed out.

'Whereas formerly those waves of pessimism poi-

loncd the whole community and frequently gave

rinc to revolutions, coups de main, or Cabinet crises,

nowadays a brief explanation, a moment's reflection,

n short examination of conscience, is enough tollghtcn the gloom and to restore confidence. That Ieonsider a definite gain.'

'So you do believe that the Portuguese mind has

ehnrrgcd somewhat in the last few years?'

'l think it has changed greatly, thanks to the per-

llrlent action of a group of devoted Portuguese,

llrorrgh t:vcn thcy are not wholly renewed them-67

*

INTRODUCTIONselves and are therefore constrained to deny theirown nature and to struggle against their own senti-ments.'

'You think then that our past no longer weighstoo heavily upon the present?'

'Not so much as it did, but it is still a heavy bur-den; in any case it continues to be a good rhetoricalargument.

Consisteruy

I broach a new subject.'Frederick Sieburg in his book Dar Neues Portugal

holds that the Portuguese Prime Minister is irf astate of perpetual political crisis and has constantlyto revise his principles. At the end of the chapter(which, I may say, is admirably wfitten) you areleft standing at the crossroads of doubt. Is he right?'

Salazar laughed.'Sieburg is undoubtedly one of the most talented

and best-trained foreignjournalists which it has beenmy privilege to know in the last few years but I reallycannot sec how he reached that conclusion. I thinkfew men at the head of public affairs have been moreconsistent in thcir policies than I. If you read myearly spccchcs, uttercd whcn I was i student or aunivcrsity profcssor, ancl compare them with myprest:nt ()ncs you will no doubt lind that I haveg;rinr:rl in cxlx:rir:nce, that widcr horizons are nowopcrr to nrc, but that thc principlcs are unchanged

6B

INTRODUCTIONand so is the substance. fn the course ofthe last twentyyears I can assure you that I have remained essen-tially the same person. This does not mean that Ihave taken my stand uponcertain maxims of govern-ment or of administrative procedure as upon anindestructible rock whose validity and stability arebeyond discussion even in my own mind. On thecontrary, in that sphere my ideas are in constantrevision, for where political procedure is concernedI want to be sure that I continue to be right.

Vcp well,let us go

ft was nearly eight o'clock in the evening but thecvening was nowhere to be seen. The sun still shoneIrrightly and appeared to be in no hurry to go. Wehad been sauntering and talking for more than fiveIrours. I felt I was taking a mean advantage ofSalazar's patience, but also that this was one of thoserr:casions when the most impertinent suggestions canbe put quite reasonably. Therefore I was bold enoughl() propose:

'If you are not very tired, I should like to go uplo St. George's Castle, so as to be able to judge withltty own eyes the extent of the transformation whichtlrut historic site is about to undergo in connectionwith the rg4o commemorations.'

My suggestion was received with coolness-therrxrlness of timidity rather than hostility; I felt I hadnrhc<l too much.

69

INTRODUCTION'You must be worn out with my questions; it is

dinner-time and we had better go home.''ft is not that,' said Salazar.I was now frankly puzzled.'You seer' Salazar went on, 'there are barracks in

the Castle.''I know, but what difference does that make?''Well, it is rather difficult to get in.'I could not help saying:'But surely you are not only the Prime Minister

but the Secretary of State for War as well.''That is just it,' explained Salazar naively. 'I shall

have to explain all that.' But he added with a smile,'Very well, let us go.'

Priruiples and the ManAs we went through the mass ofstreets of the lower

city I took advantage of the frequent traffic hold-ups to question Salazar on other subjects:

'People have said that the principal weakness ofthc Ncw Statc is its dependence on one man. Is thisreally so or has thc rdgime outgrown that stage?'

Sal:rzar was vcry patient with me:'In onlt:r to :rnswcr you fully one must consider

tlrt: Jrlinr:ipk's of tlrr: Ncw Statc, the existing institu-tiotrs, :urtl llrr:1x'opk:. As to thc principles it is un-<k'rri:rlrk' tlr:rt tlrcy :rrc now cstablished, possiblysulrjcr:l to vcrysliglrt lltcratiorn as far as their applica-tiorr is r:olu't'r'ru:(1, brrt qrril<: soliclly otherwise. With

7{)

INTRODUCTIONregard to the institutions, which are the direct out-come of those principles, they are still in the processof formation. Until they are consolidated and areable to exist and work quite naturally, it is obviousthat the sudden removal of those who laid the foun-dations of the whole system might entail grave con-sequences. But once that stage is past-and I do notcxpect it to last long-the system will run itselLItinally, as to the men who are to take over our<luties eventually, that concerns the younger genera-lion; they will be liable for the stability and con-tinuity of the work commenced. Our present youth,:rlrcady moulded by the new institutions, will bethcir greatest pledge. The men of to-morrow knowthat above all things the country requires a leader;rnd that the leader must be able to count on the dis-cipline of the nation.

,4t St. George's Castle

We were now at the loot of the steep hill that leadslo lhc Castle of St. George. We passed the cathedral,rvhir:h is as old as Portugal and is indeed an irrefut-nlrk: age certificate. Farther up the hill is the Belve-rlrn: of St. Luzia overlooking the moss-grown roofsrurrl hanging gardens of Alfama. It is a poor quarternl' l.isbon, but one which carries its poverty lightly,lurs ir flower in its buttonhole and a song on its lips.No gramophones or wireless, but the traditionalllrtrrslr or canary, singing gaily in a cage hanging

7r

INTRODUCTIONoutside the window. The streets are labyrinthine andhave a certain switchback quality. One has to drivevery carefully so as to avoid other cars coming roundthe corner, and the yellow trams are signalledthrough the narrowest parts by men with flags.Salazar was on tenterhooks all the time and morethan once shouted warnings at the driver as childrenor careless dogs crossed our path. After feeling ourway cautiously through a final rrraze of mean littlestreets, narrower than the previous ones, we finallystood without the gates of the barracks of the 7thLight Infantry quartered in the Castle. I wonderedas we walked towards the entrance how Salazarwould announce himself--he, the.Secretary of Statefor War, the dictator of worldwide reputation, thegreat tyrant, the man whose name is now linked inthe foreign Press with those of Hitler and Mussolini.Would he affect a military gait, the voice of thun-der, the lowering brow, the mask of bronze?

None of these things.He accosted the sentry like any curious visitor,

and, to the man's intense astonishment, inquired:'Muy we visit the Castle?'

Thc soldicr, still doubting his eyes, rogred:'Guard, turn out!'Thc mcn tumbled from the guardroom and in the

twinkling of an cyc wcre presenting arms to the visi-tor in thc plain grcy suit who acknowledged the mili-tary lronour by amiably raising his soft hat. As we

72

INTRODUCTIONmade our way to the ramparts we were overtakenby the officer on duty, who clicked his heels andasked:

'Muy I have the "Attention" sounded?'To which Salazar replied without much relish:'If you must.'

Tlu Mount of Vision

When the echoes of the bugle-call to 'Attention'had died away, we continued our stroll and our con-versation.

'Much has been done; what seemed impossible afew years ago has been accomplished. But what ofthe task still before us? Must we yet achieve as muchagain?'

Salazar seemed to be taking in all the ordered lifeof the barracks, but he answered my question:

'If you mean political progress, general principles,and the formation of a new national consciousness,there is no doubt that we are already more thanhalf-way to our goal. Unfortunately the same cannotbe said of material progress. It is not because littlehas been accomplished. On the contrary. But whena man climbs a hill, the higher he goes the wider thehorizon becomes.'

Our horizon was expanding. Once free of thebuildings that hemmed us in, the view of Lisbon un-lbldcd itself before our eyes. We could see the twintowers of the cathedral, the symmetrical design of

73

INTRODUCTIONBlack Horse Square, the ever huppy Tagus, thevenerable ruins of the Carmo monastery, and thetumbled sea of multi-coloured houses and roofs. Inanswer to an inquiry of the Minister of War, theofficer on duty replied:

'f'm afraid so, sir. We have made several applica_tions but the repairs have not yet been done ant therocf still leaks.'

Salazar, no longer good-humoured, said:'It is unbelievable!'We reached the top of the square keep that rises

above the battlements. It was here that in-the twelfthcentury the first king of Portugal planted his stan_dard over the captured city that was to become thecapital of a great empire. Below us, as far as the eyecould reach stretched Lisbon, humming with lifezrnd myriad sounds. The grey roofs, the massive com_pact blocks were relieved here and there by touchesof colour, limc, ochre, rose wash, and tender pastelshadcs-and head and shoulders above the housesrosc m:rny a noblc dome and tower. But I was par_tir:rrl:rrly struck by the urge and insistence of livingtlutt harl llrilt littlc houses against the very ram_pirrts o{'llr<r olrl r:irstk:, so that kitchen gardens grewllr:twccrr I lrc lrr rt trcsscs :rnrl r:hilclrcn played among theolivr.-trcr.s tlurt 1{r.ow ()n (lrc st<:cp slope of the Castle.

'Nttblr.t.tt' O hliu)Wr. slootl orr llrr: r.irnrlxrrls <:krst: by thc Martim

7+

INTRODUCTIONMoniz Gate. Night was now falling in real earnestand long shadows crept along the gullies and defilesof the town. Salazar watched with great interestthe affairs of a household almost embedded in theCastle wall. Moved by the humanity of his gaze, Ifound myself inquiring:

'It is sometimes alleged that, though you giveyourself wholeheartedly to your work, and strive toimprove the lot of your fellow men, you actuallydespise the very people for whom, for mystical orpatriotic reasons, you would gladly lay down yourlife. Is this true?'

Salazar, without taking his eyes from the busyfigures round the little cottage, replied:

'That's quite a wrong idea. Man is the principalfactor of the commonwealth, and a nation will re-{lcct his good or bad qualities. Besides-or rathertlris is the main point-each man is a spirit and a<:rxrscience. How could I fail to respect, and to dor:vcrything to defend, dignify, and elevate that spirit:rn<l that conscience. It is a tormenting problem torlctcrmine the degree of compromise between man'srrirtural autonomy and the authority that mustrrct:cssarily pertain to the State, so that individualr iglrts may not be curtailed and at the same timellrc St:rtc may be sufficiently strong to safeguardIlrosc vcry rights.'

I wrrs lrolcl cnoush to insist:'lt is li'lt llr:rt tlrt: ['rirnr: Ministcr's isolation, his

7s

INTRODUCTIONobvious reticence to receive any visitors, is a proofof that contempt.'

Pcrliaps it was the twilight that made Salazar,ssrnile so bitter:

'T'hat is not quite true. I am at home to practicallyrrny onc whom I feel I should receive, but certainlynot to all who believe they should be received byrnc. In any case it is a well-known fact that I defendrnysclf against undue encroachment upon my work-ing hours.'

I rcftrsccl to be satisfied:'Thc timidity or coolness with which you re_

<:t'ivc thc acclamations of the people is both noticed:rncl rcscntcd. How often on official occasions haveI, with othcr officials or lost in the crowd as a merespt'ctator, c:rgcrll'waitcd for the leader of portugueserrirtionalisnr to bcstow a kind glance on the cheiringr:r'owrl. Ycl not ont:r: has he done so; not a smile, not ig('strr'('. IJt' rrright :n n'cll notbe there. A case of timid-it y, irrlrilritiorr, st:l{trlt:fcncc, or-forgive me_pride?,'l'lr.r'. w:rs :r l,rrs sil(:llcc after this and I felt thatllris tirrrr: I lrrrrl gorrt'too l:rr. But in the end Salazarl'r'plir.r I rlrri t<' sirrrply:

'l rr':rlizr.tlr:rt rrry rrttitrrrlr.rrriglrt bc interpreted asr':rrrity ,r' pr.irlr., lr.t srr'r,ly it r.;rrr l-lc cxpiained inir v('ty rlilli.rr.rrt ljrslriorr.'

' ll;rsl rli rl r rr.s:;:"

Arrollrr.r' lorrri silr.rrr r.. 'l'lrr. r.rrvr.krprinr-f night fav_,rttt crl rlr.lir ;rlr. r;rrr.sl iorrs.

7t;

INTRODUCTION'Why should I not tell you all? The truth is that

I could not flatter the people without being a traitorto my own conscience. Our r6gime is popular, but itis not a government of the masses, being neitherinfluenced nor directed by them. Those good peoplewho cheer me one day, moved by the excitement ofthe occasion, may rise in rebellion next day forequally passing reasons. How often have I not beenmoved by the obvious sincerity of certain demon-strations! How often have I longed to speak to thepeople, to express my gratitude and my love! Butwhen I am on the point of doing so, something holdsme back, something which seems to say: "Do notcommit yourself; do not be led by emotion, by themood of the moment to promise to-day what youwill be unable to fulfil on the morrow." '

Salazar's manner was so cmphatic that his profiles<:cmcd to stand out in the darkness:

'I cannot be untrue to myself. I cannot wield poweror ti:el the authority to do so unless I act as I am. Aslorrg as I keep faith with myself I shall feel that I amt cspccting the truth. But if I were swayed by passingirrlltrcnccs, if my attitude or utterances were deter-rrrirrcd by the enthusiasm of the multitude or evenrrf'rrry f icnds, I should no longer bem2sel,f. And thenil worrl<l not be honest for me even to go on govern-irrg.'

I rr,:rs :rwecl by thc import of these statements,tvlri. lr rvcrc rrurrlc rlrritt' sirrrply anrl n:rtrrrally. Only

77

I

INTRODUCTION

the place and the hour lent them a dramatic quality'

Yet I found myself saYing:

'In any case it is a pity you cannot overcome that

feeling, ih.t you cannot come out of yourself lrom

time to time.'Salazar agreed with me:

'I am quiie aware that this confession of mine is

about as impolitic as could be made by a man in my

position. I know perfectly well that we are living in

a passionate age full of dynamic mass movements

and that to many persons my words must seem an

acknowledgement of inability to lead men' It is quite

true that I fail to take advantage of a political factor

of the greatest importance and that I could solve

many .iit"t of public opinion, many social depres-

sions that assail us like spring showers, by recourse

to a little impassioned oratory, the raised arm, and

other simple gcstures. But I simply cannot do it' Inthat particular case, my temperament or my con-

scieni", flatly t'cfttsc to obey the voice of reason'

The Apltarent Clontradiction

t tont :rrlvlrnt;tgc: <tl'llrc night andthe confidential

:rtmosplt.t't: t.llttl a ltl.st itttpt:rtittcnt question which

I sh,rritl .('v('t'Irrtv. tl;ttt'tllrI tttlrkt: i.llroad daylight:'Is ttol yottt'isol;tliott lr tlcrriltl ol'tltC llrinciplcs yotr

'rt';rr:lti'Ilolv is il v,rt livr';tl,ttt', tlr:tt y.rt Iavc not

,, 1r,',,1r.', ltotttci' \'ott lvlto lroltl llrlrl lll. llrrnily is tlrt'

1ll'itrrirt y sottl,rl' sociclYit'_.,

l<t

INTRODUCTIONSalazar's voice came to me almost in a whisper

from the darkness that had now obliterated his fea-tures:

'The contradiction is only apparent. Some canextend the idea of the family to embrace the wholecountry. And though many think otherwise, onecannot tell why one follows any particular mode oflifc. As far as I am concerned, and I am quite posi-tive about this, I know that if my mother had notdicd I should not have been even a minister, for she

r:ould not have lived without me and I could neverh:rve worked knowing that she was worrying. Asyou know, I have in my house a little girl who is not'r:lation of mine. She has just been through a boutol'rncasles and her temperature was so high that oneniglrt I had to get up several times to see how she

w:rs. Of course next day I could not do my usualrrrnount of work.'

'llut do you not at times long for a well-orderedIrorrschold, for family comforts? Do you manage tolivr: happily in that eternal dialogue with yourself,Irr your completc isolation?'

S:rl:rzar made no attcmpt to defend himself; henol so much zrnswcrcd mc as spoke his thoughtsnhrrrtl:

"l'lrt'r'r: llrt: l:rsks tlra( clt'rn:rncl absolute devotion,lltr crrtirr: :rlrsorptiorr ol'orr<:sr:lf. Wlrcn th:rt is so

l ltt't'r' lrt c r:r't'l ;r i lr rlrt rrt'r's l lurt givr: t ltctnst:lvt's wlrollyll llrcir work, lrolrlirrq rrollring lxu'li.'

7t,

INTRODUCTIONProfiting by his confidential mood, I dared ask:'Do you at least feel happy in being a ruler and in

tasting the sweets of power? Do you find any happi-ness in ruling?'

'Yes. The happiness of the good. I can work byany particular measure. I confess I do feel a greatconsolation when I observe practical results proceed-ing from my own individual activity, when I see

that certain Government measures have definitelybrought about an improvement in the conditionsof living. Above all, because I am proud of beingPortuguese, I rejoice at Portugal's recovery and hercnhanced prestige abroad.'

'That is not quite what I meant,' said I, not wish-ing to relinquish my point. 'What I wanted to knowwas if the fact of wielding power gave you any sen-sible pleasure?'

Salazar thought the matter over for a few mo-mcnts:

'You scc, my position is rather unusual. I havencithcr the ambition to rule nor yet am I one of thoserulers who secm to have no sense of their responsi-bility. Thc latter particularly must be yery huppypcrsons.'

'IJut havr: you no hobby, no pastime?''Nonc whatcvcr.' Btrt hc addcd with a certain

r:anclour: 'Wt:ll, 1l<:rhaps I do derive some pleasure,ol':rn intt'llt:r:tual kinrl, from thc preliminary studyol' problcnrs. I t givcs mc gcnuinc joy, bcfore finding

tkr

INTRODUCTIONthe solution to a difficult situation, before drawingup a decree or an official note, to set down the prosand cons, to marshal the advantages and the objec-tions.'

We had worked our way round to the gate of thebarracks. The news of Salazar's visit to the Castlehad spread like wildfire in the crowded quarteradjoining the barracks. Working-class mothers andtheir numerous offspring; dark-eyed girls; workmenin overalls; nawies, men and women born to toil,had gathered in large numbers round the gate tocatch a glimpse of this figure whom they had neverscen and in whose existence they scarcely believed.

As the car moved slowly out of the barracks therewas a confused, never-ending shout of:

'Salazarl Salazar ! Salazar!'The car had difficulty in picking its way through

thc cheering crowd.As usual Salazar looked entirely aloof, cold, and

irrtlifferent, despite the obvious sincerity of the ova-lion. But I was no longer deceived. Scarcely movinglris lips (a ventriloquist could not have done better)lrc kept up a running fire of instructions to histlttuffeur:

'Mind that woman with the child in her arms!''Look out for that old man!''(l:rrt:ful with those children!'Wlrr:n the acclamations of the crowd had sunk to

rr rlisl:rrrl nlltrmrtr hc turnccl to mc and said:

n

tlr

INTRODUCTION'Are you satisfied? I am sorry, but I must go home

now. The maids will be wanting their dinner.'

ANroNro FsnnoSeptember rg3B

FOREWORD BT DR. OLIVEIRA SALA<ARto tltc original Portuguese edition Qg3)

I. The Dfficulty of tlze Task

S.rrho, Ferro, in writing his book, owns to havingfound amongst his fellow countrymen many curiouslyconfused and totally erroneous popular conceptionson the subject of the Minister of Finance who is to-day also the Premier of the Portuguese Government.It was to counteract such misconceptions that he hadthe idea of his book. If he told his readers somethingthat they did not know, if he stressed the importanceto themselves of various problems of political andpublic administration, gave them some idea of theclilliculties overcome, his public would be enlight-e-lrcd. His task, then, was to correct popular mis-itrlr:rpretations, to bring a photograph into correctlix:rrs, to produce, in fact, a true picture of the Mannrrrl His Work. It is not for me to guess how far Sr.lict'ro has succeeded in his task. Maybe it was anlrrrpossible task. Even with the whole-hearted labourol'trllcction it may be wellnigh impossible to delveittto the intimate depths of another man's characterrrrrrl to tr:rnslate it to the world.

As ;t writ<rr of cxpcricnce Sr. Fcrro approached histlgtle

ITOREWORD

casc \^'ith care . He put whatever questions he wished- --and what que stions at times they were ! He handledtlrc r:orrversation himself, turning it or stopping itcx;rt:tly whcn it plcased him to; he repeated his ques-tiorrs, or strcsscd or merely skinrmed this subject ortlrrrt, jtrst as it suitecl him and according to his ownpt'r'r;orurl convictions and doubts. My orvn share inllrr: r'onvt'r'siLtions lvas confiued to the meek answer-irrq ol'lris cxumination questions, and always in theprt't'ist: tt'rms in ll'hich they were put to me. Thenrctlrorl rvas his. But, as I say, I have my doubts howliLr it nr:ty or may not have been succcssful. For It'rtnnot look upon his inquiry as definitely completecv('rr on fundamental questions and on the greatprollk'rns of action. Tirere are points lvhich have notlx'r'n cxhaustivcly treated, and there are other pointsrvlrit'h in rny opinion should have becn dealt with;rrr<l wlrich lravc bcen ignored. Against this, however,nry :ulriw(:rs havc bcen sifted through the art andirrtt'lliqt'rrcr: ol a profcssional lvriter and so have no<lorrlrt g:rinctl in litcrary merit.

Now Irow lar will thesc natural blemishes. haveprcirrtliccrl orrr t-onr:lusions, and how complete canlrc tlrcir trrrtlri'()r to put it in another way, how farrlt,r's rrrr irlcrr rclrririrt absolutely true when translatedirrto tlrr' prosc ol'<'vcn thc most skilled u'riter?

Sl:rrcsrrrcrr, ()n('srrl)Jxrscs, ltavc thcir systems ofirlcrr:;. ( )r il'tlrr'1, l,',t'.' rrot yt:t succccclccl in determin-irrg tlrcir lririlrcsl svtrlltt'sis, tlrcy lravc simply their

ll4.

FOREWORD

ideas! Behind those ideas, which are expressed inwritten laws or which are manifested in action, lieother ideas, and behind those still others. There areperhaps three, four, at most a dozen Master Ideas,which father other ideas, mental attitudes of doubtor certainty, and mental answers to the greatqueries of humanity. It can never be denied that theState, in rvhich there is what is dynamic, must repre-sent a doctrine in action. Those very doctrinaireswho, presuming on the weakness of an authoritywithout guidance, pretend to establish their ownpower and achieve their ideal of destruction anddeath, only succeed in making those who hold thepower believe that they should not hold it. That is

why it is now becoming possible for public men toset out their opinions clearly without terrifying any-body, and to give their views not only on questionsof current administration demanded by daily neces-sitics but also on the once jealously guarded prob-lr:rns of sociology and philosophy. On the other hand,()no senses that opposing the currents which threatentlrr: social order and the primary principles of ourlivilization, the currents which sometimes swell intoIrr'r'r:t: battles for the conquest and destruction of theSlirtc, there stand the people. No longer are therr;rtions contented with opportunist governments orwitlr governments merely time-serving and complai-rlrrt lnd following the tide without any particularlirrr, r'vcrr wlrilc giving :r spurious illusion of strength.

tls

I

FOREWORD

The people of to-day aspire to a sure command, toan ideal for an ideal, to a sentiment for a sentiment,

to a definite doctrine, in short to a creed.Now let the action of a government be as pains-

taking, logical, and rigid as it will, critical minds

will always be able to pick out little slips, passing

drawbacks, even a few contradictions, real or imagi-nary. And by seizing upon them singly the criticmay arrive at various conclusions totally erroneous;he will say that ideals clash when they do not reallyclash, and he will imagine in his rulers mentalitieswhich do not really exist. In short, the details whichin theory ought to clarify all points, the natural out-come of the ideals of government, in reality increase

rather than diminish the task of arriving at a correctjudgement.

The above are a few considerations which I putforward not in the least to belittle the value of Sr.

Ferro's work, but rather to emphasize the enormous

clifficulty of his task. Against that, I would say thatSr. Ferro has, besides many other qualities of his

profession, the tremendous advantage of an astound-

i.rg -"..tory. We would talk while we proceeded

along some road, and days afterwards, and-cuithoutthc hclp of so much as a single written note, he wouldfaithfully atrcl accurately reproduce our conversa-

tion. Wh:rtt:vcr, thcn, the reader may choose to thinkof thc sulrjt:t:t of the interviews and whatever f;aults

tlrt: corrtlitiotts ol'thc interviews may have occasioned

8ti

FOREWORD

in the book, what the reader has before him is apolitical document of value, indispensable to theproper understanding of the dictatorship and of theperiod throughwhich we are now passing in Portugal.

But let us, however, continue.

II. Sotne fuestions as to the Man and as to

tlu Statesman

Now setting aside everything in his interviewswhich might be counted as pure journalism, as wellas a few trifles of little importance, Sr. Ferro's twogreat objects were obvious. I admit, indeed, thatthey rather amused me by the persistence withwhich they kept cropping up, though I own thattheir answers must solve the doubts of a great num-ber of the public. The first point might be expressedsomething like this.

This man who at present is governing Portugalnever asked to govern it. He was a plain Member ofParliament; in that capacity he attended only onerlebate and never went back to the House. Next hewas a minister-for five days. And again he wentnway without the faintest desire to come back. Theyhanded him the reins of government. He never con-rlucred the Government, or at least not in the classi-r:nl manner so well known to us. He was not a<:onspirator, he was not the leader of any particular

B7

FOREWORD

political party; he took part in no intrigue, and heconquered nobody at all by revolutionary or anyother force of arms. As far as can be seen he has noright-hand man, and when he addresses his nation heappears rather as a merely abstract Voice. Whetherhe remains in office or leaves appears with him to bea matter of indifference; and still he remains. Heremains, indeed, so long and so calmly that it wouldseem that he is remaining in office eternally. Hebears the toils of government, and equally he suffersits injustices, the insults of the distracted, and thespite and the envy of the powerless. From time totime he has to take what Clemenceau used to callevery statesman's compulsory dose of 'live toads'.And with it all, there he is and there he remairx.But the popular problem also remains. This manwho has never been in the running as an obviousaspirant for leadership, who has not sacrificed everyenergy to attaining leadership, who has never pro-claimed himself a natural leader, who has neverpromised a programme of government, his own oranybody else's, this man who regards his power less

as a right than as a duty owed to his conscience, fromwhcre does this man, if not out of ambition to lead,derivc thc will necessary not to remain half-way upthe laddcr? And how, for the toil and struggle, does

hc gct thc cncrgy by which he can continue at hispost without slackening, without discouragement,and without a longing to leave it?

BB

FOREWORD

Since I am not responsible for the questions putto me, it is hardly for me to answer them or to dwellon this point. Yet out of pure curiosity I can at leastput forward a few possibilities.

The last period of Portuguese history shows a pro-found decadence, which has touched every angle ofour national life; the decay was visible in our output,our culture, our public administration, our politics.On a closer examination, however, one observes thatthis decadence was not due to any mere scarcity ofmen. In the arts and sciences, in teaching, in writing,in industry and agriculture, and in colonial affairswe had some first-class brains, even though theirwork was not always recognized. Against this, how-ever, we have to face the fact that very particularlyin a country of our characteristics it is the Statewhich must principally represent the nation both tothe foreigner and to us Portuguese ourselves; for fromthe State must come the supreme leadership as wellas the organization and discipline of the individual,and in fact the whole sequence of national life. Andaccording to the dignity and standing of the State,so the expression of the national life will be high andworthy or less high and worthy. While one wouldnot ignore or slight the intelligence and capacity ofindividuals, their efforts, and their intentions, they,:rftcr all, were the victims of the decadence, and thePortuguese State itself was far from being a creditto thc Portuguese nation. I would put it that if the

B9

FOREWORD

nation failed to correspond to its great men as indi-viduals, then the State was inferior even to the nation.Lack oforganization, ofgrouping, of direction at all,left the best individuals unproductive or unused; andwhile the individual might complain of evils whichhe could not by himself eradicate he was unable tounite with others to bring about a betterment.

In short, so long as our education remains as it is

it is our public government which must always bethe mainspring of the life and progress of the countryand as such the factor responsible for its rise or forits fall. The care which should have been shown inorganizing the State and adapting it to nationalnecessities and conditions, the care with which themen should have been recruited to whom was to beentrusted administration and policy, this care wasnot always shown. The reasons hardly matter now,but the facts I think are undisputed. It was for thisreason that our national representation was not al-ways fair. It was unjust to us; we had better menthan wc always put on show. There are those of us

Portugucsc who, whether by intellect or by race orsimply by the instinct of blood, are conscious olournationhoocl and of our independence, of our pastsrr:atncsses,olthc part which our Portugal hasplayedin thc civilization of Europc, ol our existing ties inAfrica, in Asi:r, ancl in thc Pacific; and then wewcrc m:rclc to li:cl-- -erncl it cut us to thc quick-thatwc w(:rc :r world laughing-stock and that we were

9o

FOREWORD

looked down upon by peoples in no way superior to

ourselves, except possibly in outward prosperity.Our revolutions, our aPParent incapacity to govern

ourselves, the rottennesses of our administration,our general backwardness, all were held up to our

national discredit. In a word, we were taunted and

humiliated. We have in Portugal, however, those

sufficiently proud of their birth-right as Portuguese

to resent such taunts as personal insults. And so, at

the right moment, out of wounded pride was bornpatience and tenacity, and with them the necessary

strength to endeavour once more to implant in the

country good order and good administration, to

encourage national Progress, to revolutionize the

educational system, and to give to the nation and

to its policy that uprightness and dignity which can

win back for Portugal its good name and respect ofthe nations. There are Portuguese who know thatwithout any bombast, without any aggression, with-out any war-makings or blowings of trumpets, coun-

tries as well as persons can work out their destinies.'fhe poor countries and the poor peoples have the

right to exist as well as the rich, the little peoples as

wcll as the great. They can stand with their heads

wcll up. And they can even keep their hats undoffed.Is this, then, a dictator's 'political ambition'? It is

rrot. It isjust one possibility put forward as an answer

to Sr. Fcrro's questions.()r lt:t us try another possible answer. The men

9r

FOREWORD

who derive their education and who live out theirlives entirely in the atmosphere of the schools andthe government offices and the caf6s-and it is fromthat class that we have recruited the majority of ourpublic servants-they must not blame us if we thinkthem not always suitable for public office. I will notsay, as many men do say, that city lile in itself iswrong. It is alive and real in its qualities and in itsdefects. But I say that it is an incomplete life, andespecially if a nation's life is to be judged from thelife of one particular class in its great cities. Leavethe capital and go to the provinces, leave the townfor the village, leave the club, the newspaper world,and go to the factory and the workshop, and thesocial horizon will widen before the eyes, and anentirely different impression will be arrived at ofwhat the nation really means. Between the realnation and the gentlemen of the cafds, of the Govern-ment offices, even of the ministries, there lies a greatgulf. We may share in the apparent omnipotence ofpower, wc may work out our ideals of reform, wemay make our plans almost for deciding the fate ofthc world; and then between ourselves and the realnation thcrc stands an enormous distance of separa-tion. It is thc city which givcs us our senselof un-limitcd powcr bcr;ausc wc arc dcaling only withabstract iclcas; but it is thc country where natureitsell, quict and silcnt, smilcs at our impatience andour lllans.

g2

FOREWORD

Everywhere, and even side by side with wealthand grandeur, there is sorrow and bitterness andmisery; but it is in general amongst the labourerswho earn their pittance with such difficulty thatpoverty and the lack of the very essentials are attheir worst. The farm labourer and his struggles tofeed and clothe and shelter his family, to provideagainst sickness, to build his little home-it is therethat the perpetual battle wrings the heart. I am notthinking now of exceptional times of crisis, of periodsof little or no work or of sudden increases in the costof living. There will always be poor and sorrowfulpeople. 'The poor ye have always with you.' I amthinking of our normal conditions, and of a povertysometimes due to excess of labour and generally toinsufficiency of wages.

In the mind of any careful observer of this battlefor existence a question will arise. How far oughtthese misfortunes to be set down to the lack of first-class leadership? The good farmers, the fine indus-trialists, the sound men of business, they are the menwho ought to have organized, planned, educated,

l,rotected, been in the vanguard of example. AndIrnve they always been there? Undoubtedly thereItnve been sad defections. Nevertheless, what we arelret'c trying to assess is how much blame may bentt:rched to the rulers of the country. How far is thertttterial and moral misery of the people owing tollre road which was never opened, or to the path

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FOREWORD

which was never mended; or to the fountain whichwas clogged rp, or the school which was not built?Then there are the useless public services and masses

of tax-supported functionaries; professional classes

pressing like a dead weight on the over-burdenedlabouring classes; scandals in public administration,a total lack of government credit, and a whole para-sitic social class. Then, with no real leadership ofnational economy, organization is bound to be weak.Badly drawn up international treaties, laws shelvedand bills never passed, official orders never signed,abuses left uneradicated, the poor left unprotected

-what far-reaching effects may these have upon thecommonwealth? Who shall say? But I claim that therelation between cause and effcct can sometimes beso direct and so startling that exactly what the rulershave done or have left undone can be determined,by the sacrifices, tears, and national miseries therebycaused.

Is it not possible for men different by the circum-st:rnccs of thcir birth or life or even inclinations toconsiclr:r thc wants of the great mass of their fellowcountrynren-that great mass of beings resigned andirnpotcrrl. to hclp thcmselves? Couldn't there be atlrorrglrt ol wlr;rt those people might want to. makelili: lrr':rr':tlrlr', Irowcvcr rlrab and commonpldce? Isil rrot possilrh: tlr:rt wc nright havc a more humanirlr';r ol't rr;r.lion, ;rrr<l th:tt givr:rr the power we mightwork cr':rsclcssly irrrrl t'r:lclrtlcssly bccause there are

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FOREWORD

women who are hungry or little children who arecryrng with cold?

It is just a possibility, you know, just a bare possi-bility!

III. Some Qtestions About the Work

Sr. Ferro's other great question has to do with thepractical nature of national politics and with thedisappearance of political parties. But it only makesone and the same question. I add the second phraseto the first because it is only the former which canexcite any guesses on the ideal and realization of thenational policy.

When I speak of the 'national policy' I mean this:That the nation, our nation, is a living entity whichwe wish to be undying, that the nation is an organicwhole constituted of individuals differing in theirvarious qualities and activities but marshalled intheir different ranks; that in this whole there maybe interests quite distinct from the interests of indi-viduals and sometimes even opposed to the immedi-utc interests of the majority, and still more opposedto thc immediate interests of some special class. Inrcirn that for the good of the national interest it isnc(:cssary to recognize the classes formed by naturenrxl by society, and so there would be the family,tlrr: business guild, the association of idealists, thekx:irl g6y6rnment, and the like; but that it is not

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necessary always to recognize groups formed forpolitical aims and organized for the conquest ofpower and the seizing of the State.

These things are so evident in themselves that noparty dares to pretend that it is not trying to form anational government, and, excepting for anythingadvcrsely affecting their own interests, all will acceptthe above definitions. Experience proves, however,that they are not able to practise their policyi forin critical periods of national life, or in face of ex-ccptional difficulties, or during periods of generalapathy brought about by party politics, there willbe a clamour of protest forcing the temporary obscu-ration of the various parties so as to fall under thestandard of a national government.

We know only too well how the stock formulas fail.There is government by party; there are nationalgovcrnments, governments outside party. They canbc distinguished because under a national govern-mcnt a union of parties can be allowed, or even ofdoctrinaires sitting without election and representingnobody. Such govcrnments fail to retain their objec-tivcs for any lcngth of time. In the first place, theyspring from a f:rllacy. Thc fallacy is that b nationalgovcrnmcnt is only nccdcd for ccrtain crises andlhattlrcy gr:rdu:rlly split tlrcmsclves up again into partygovcnlnrcnts by zonos, if I nray so cxpress myself, thealkrtmcnt of tlrt'various portfolios of oflice markingtlrt' 'zorrc ol'inflrrr:nr:c' of cach party. At best, all

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points ofgeneral policy are surrendered in order toobviate any clash of personal opinions, and such agovernment finishes by being one of mere expedi-ency. Questions ofparties and personalities arise, andsometimes too there is popular clamour, all leadingto the birth of shadow governments outside and be-yond the party. governments. f stress the words 'out-side' and 'beyond' merely to point out that suchgovernments are not against parties and to note thatit is just this fact which causes their death. Whatevermay be the temporary pressure of public opinion andhowever strong the political or constitutional force atthe head of government, such governments are fatedto fall quickly. Because so long as political partiesexist and are recognized so such parties cannot logi-cally be ignored by the government. And at the sametimc those very parties, being the only constitution-rully established political powers, make it their busi-n(:ss to lit in with each other for the sake of their ownnurvival and so render impossible the existence of anynlrir:tly non-party government. To be outside partyllut not against party is the root mistake of all suchntlempts at national government.

'l'lrt: Europe of to-day, and perhaps not onlylltrropc,-is being forced by various national neces-rltier into some interesting political experiments.t{urrrc of the countries are experimenting halfin fear,ollrcrs with a certain daring. Of such experimentsllrc hst known are those of Italy and Russia. (W"

r {)7

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FOREWORD

are here, of course, merely considering the politicalprocess, without regard to their social or philosophicmotives or reactions.) In both countries we havewitnessed a rise of a policy against party. In one ofthese countries the government spares no pains totell the world that it has nothing to do with party,and that 'government' and 'party' are entirely dis-tinct terms. fn the other country a party has beenraised to the rank of a State organization, until itcan almost be said that the State is the party. Instability, in strength, in capacity for getting thingsdone, both these expedients have far outstripped anypolitical efforts of any other country.

In any case, the essential point, as I see it, isnot theexistence of a party or of there being only one party;the crux to my mind is the deliberate policy of theState against 'parties'. The party in power has ap-parently been created simply as an instrument ofconquest. One would probably add that a carefulorganization of force is employed to maintain thelcadership and that anincessant education is at workto cnsure amongst the rising generation the future ofthc rcvolution. Thc power of the State has abolishedparty, wipcd it out, and forbidden its recrudescence.Onc must rcmembcr, however, that up to a certainphasc of thc rcvolution it was necessary for nationalpolit:y to givc way to thc strcngthening of one politi-cal party which was at first only followed by a partof thc nation, :rncl ttot always a vcry strong part.

9B

FOREWORD

In the case of our Portuguese dictatorship ourrcvolution has a peculiar characteristic in havinghad a military origin. Here it was not any politicalparry, or any revolutionary junta, which seized thercins of power. ft was the Army which intervenedfior the nation, to create the conditions where arrational government could be formed against party.Armed forces constituted no party, represented noparty, had nothing to do with party. The Army'sirrtcrvention is not to be regarded as any abuse oflx)wer by an ambitious minority, however inten-l ioned, anxious for the plums of government; on thispoint, at least, we Portuguese have been above someollrer peoples.

'l'hose in power should make it their duty torrrrrlcrstand to the very utmost of their ability howljrr this root idea of national policy, without party,lirrriting individual activities where necessary, couldlrc turned to the service of all. People have beenrlorrbtful even about the possibility of a non-partylorrstitution; but I say that their doubts are due torur ()vcr-conservatism. We have our political habitslrrgr':rined into us, and it may at first be a little hardlirr rrs to grasp the idea of a political machine of arrrw lypc. We are used to thinking so much of partyruul s() little of nation that policies absolutely logicaltr 1111. spirit of the latter are quite often misunder-rlrxrrl ;rncl misinterpreted even by those whose abilitylr ;4r'rrr:rirlly rccognized.

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We have grown accustomed to watching our cur-rent problems being solved or failing to be solved bywhichever party machine happens to be at the mo-ment in power; it is a little difficult for us to applynational principles to the same problems, and wemay even be a little alarmed by the novelty of someof the results to which we shall be led. Even ourpolitical phraseology will need revision; most of thewords which we are acc.ustomed to use in our politicsrefer only to the past and will be inapplicable in thepresent. The old ideas, habits, political machinery,and everything else will have to go.

There are those who are anxious because they sin-cerely believe that no opinions will be permitted inthe future, or else because they believe that politicalparties are absolutely essential if the State is to keepin touch with popular feeling. They are wrong.Opinions and popular attitudes of mind as to thecountry's government have always existed and willalways have a high value. fn our own time the easewith which ideas are_rpropagated allows a speedierformation of a collective consciousness, governs itmorc casily, and gives it a clearer and more definiteoutlinc. But this very ease ofpropagation has broughtin its train a ncw and serious problem. False opinionscan bc Iiristcd on thc public, the national mentalitycan bc distortcd, a minority of the people may im-posc tlrt:ir own vicws on the rest of their fellownatit-rn:rls. 'I'his is er problcm which will have to be

FOREWORD

taken in hand. Apart, however, from this point, itcan be definitely asserted that no government couldrcmain in power for any length of time against thewill of the people-that is, not without strengthen-ing its position by means not always legitimate.'fherefore, in the matter of the influence of opinionin the progress of public affairs, there will onlylrc one considerable difference which will be noticed.In a non-party government those who take on thelr:adership of some particular campaign will prob-nbly not personally benefit by their leadership; butlhat is a point which will scarcely interest the nation!'l'hc ways which lead to power to-day may not bethc ways which will lead to power under the newStatc. If so there will assuredly be great changes incrrstoms, there will be less rancour in debate, therewill be more real earnestness in the discussion ofrrntional problems.

I.ct us say it again. We have only one object invicw: to raise the prestige of our country, to maketrr n nation again. We believe it absurd that theSttrtc should have to be organized on a base of civillot'ruption, strife, and tyranny. We shall explorervcry avenue to serve the country by other means.Wr shall have to make experiments; some of themtrrrry liril, and may have to be abandoned. We cannotllosc our eyes to reason. We must profit by otherlrro;rk:'s expcriments, and we must turn to advan-lugc r:vcrything worth having in our own country in

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FOREWORD

the times which are just ending. But we cannot beexpected to promise that everything attempted un-der the new rigime will work to perfection. A greatpolitical and social change is in progress, and in aworld in upheaval our country is being reborn. Wehave to strain our every effort to the double part of'Studying in Doubt' and 'Achieving in Faith'.

IV. Education for Politics and tlu Politics of Education

The revolutionary storm which at present is shak-ing the world and threatening the very foundationsof society imposes on us the very first duty of takingthe power to uphold the State and to defend uncom-promisingly the lines of order. To every man wholoves his country and the very beginnings of ourcivilization this must be the first step of all. To savethe nation from ruin and anarchy it is necessary tobe master of the State. But this is not enough torestore the State either mdterially or morally, norto guarantee its future. Its future must have its rootsin an educational reform.

Thcrc are many who are more or less in sympathywith this gcncral aim but who rest far too manyhopcs on thc cducational valucs of our political andlcgal systcms. So far, indccd, as I personally havenoticcd, the law too often cxcrciscs an absolutely evilclfcct on a man's rncntality. I say definitely that

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FOREWORD

there are many Portuguese laws which have beenmisinterpreted or which have been inspired in thebeginning by false principles. I say that they havebeen responsible for many perversions, that theyhave made false principles to be accepted even byhonest people, that they have brought about prac-tices which are illegitimate even though they mayfail to scandalize public opinion. There are otherlaws, of course, which have stood for moral guide-posts, which have upheld and strengthened ourrrational conscience, which have kept us back fromrnoral disorders. But even so I doubt whether onthc balance the law has been as strong for uplift as

lirr demoralization. It must always be the humanIr:art which initiates any action, in part untouchedlry outside influence but actually dominating andIr':rnsforming all human life; men corrupt the veryllest institutions, even to the point where these cease

Io be instruments of salvation, and lead instead to. r'rrin and death. fn a word, let us hold the reins ofK(,vernment, but only to guide to the best advantagethc intelligence and will of Portugal.

'I'here are hereditary faults which weigh us downnrrtl which one would wish eradicated from the Por-Irrgrresc character and soul. Our faults are aggra-vrrlccl by a vicious upbringing which fails to give usllrc esscntials of true education. We have inheritedtlris bad cducational system, and we know only toowcll all that has been said about it by our few real

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FOREWORD

educationists. Let us sum it all up by saying this: Wehave not sufficiently concerned ourselves with thephysical well-being of our people, with the bodilycentre of the human machine, which can balance orunbalance it, can make it productive or sterile. Wehave neglected the will, the very main-spring of man.We have aimed only at a merely mechanical educa-tion, a memorizing of other people's sayings andideas, some true, some false; we have developed asort of sham culture at the expense of looking intothings for ourselves, we have brought up a nation'smentality to be passive instead of active. And at thevery root of the whole thing lies the notion thateverything that is foreign is admirable and every-thing that is Portuguese is to be ignored or lookeddown upon. All of which is either deficient or isactively wrong.

In this national regeneration of ours our futurecducation must spring from an act of faith in Por-ttrgal ancl from a true love of our own country. Ourpcoplc rnust bc taught to love._their Portugal, toknow lrcr glorious story in her heroic days of the1rast, to rc:rlizc hcr material and moral possibilities,:rnrl lo krok Iirrwirrcl to hcr future of beauty and har-n)()r)y. ll gor.s irr :r cy<:lt:;:rnd while one can reallykrv<' orrly u'lr:rl orrt. knows, onc rnust love a thing alittlc irr ortlr.r'lo krrow it propr:rly. I say it again.Wr: nllrsl lt';rrrr to l<lvc ancl to :tppreciate ourl)ot't r rg:r l.

t()4.

FOREWORD

For the rest, we must satisfy ourselves with thisaim. fnstead of either super-athletes or cripples letus just havc a people of healthy men and women.Instead of super-men orfrightened little men, insteadof greedy and nervous men, let us have men withtlcveloped wills, calm, patient, and tenacious. In therealm ofthe intellect let knowledge be only an infinite(:apacity for study and for new discoveries of worldsrrot yet charted in thc libraries. Let us make a com-lrination of these qualities. And then we may hopelrs a nation renewed to regain our lost sense of pro-lrortion, to broaden our minds, to make our lives realirrstcad of mirages of dreams. After all, that is only alx'ginning. But I want to make it my business to go,,rr from small beginnings to greater things.

V. How Indiaidual Cltaracteristics Enter intoNational Policies. On the Ideals of a People

Irr lris bookWltat I Saw in Rome Henri Bdraud notesI row t lrc Fascists carefully copy the little personal tricks,rrrrl lttitudes of their Duce . At least to the foreignerorrlsirk: thc Italian life the thing almost borders ontlrr rrlrsrrrcl, with evcry young manimitating the firmIrr';rrl, llxr fi'own, the hard and haughty face, theI'r'rrcr';rl ;rir of dcfizrnce and mastery with which[\lrrssolirri t:orrrnr:rnrls thc Italian masses. To me it is.rll rpritc rr:rturltl, sirrcr: tlr<' r:rowd will always be

It)r)

FOREWORD

liable to copy the principal traits of its idols, includ-ing sometimes even their faults. The point about itwhich interests me a great deal more is that thisoutward copying of one of the strongest personalitiesof our times is carrying with it the beginnings of aninward ego, of a new mentality, of a fresh under-standing by Italians of the new policy of their coun-try and of an appreciation of the future of their ItaliaMagna. AII these are tremendous spiritual levers inthe task of regenerating a people.

Turning from the outward appearance of the manin the street to the change in the nation's status wehave to notice just the same points in Italy andeverywhere else. Wherever a great man of strongpersonality appears, at the head of affairs, directingthings, carrying out some great work of education orof political change, one can never get away from thef,act that the salient points of his personal characterwill impress themselves on his work both in its objectsand in its methods. His violence or firmness, hisbrute force or persuasive pelicy, his regard for theletter of the law or his compromises, his own am-bition or his own moderation, his hate or tolerance,revenge or forgiveness of other people, all thesemust leave indelible marks on his acts and on hisnew laws. Our private lives must subconsciouslyaffect our collective, our national lives. The way inwhich we treat the individual must be a clue to theway in which we treat the great affairs. It is our

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FOREWORD

finer qualities which we should develop. For all ourefforts must tend to create something, to transforminto reality the picture of our country which we mustall carry within our hearts. Our own image need notbe heroic but it should be happy; we might be pros-perous without being rich, we might be strong with-out being warlike, progressive and yet fond of theestablished order. We might take our proper placeamongst other nations without surrender of our ownabsolute and perfect freedom. Let us think of thencw Portugal as a spotless and sunny mansion set innn ordered and cared-for garden where life can beat once huppy and industrious and dignified. Butthere is one grave point which from time to timenrises and which might seem to make this changerulmost impossible. Just how far can we or can werrot change the national temperament to a new con-ccption of our national life? Just how much oughtwe to leave unchanged, how far ought we to en-courage the old traditions of the people, Portugal'srncient patriotism, its way of looking on life andrcucting to it?

Now I myself dare to believe that we are far tootrruch bound up with the memory of our past. We(:un nevcr of course forget our national heroes, neverbelittle them; but we can be too much compassedby a national ideal which centres only round pastgkrrics and heroisms. It is possible to allow a gloriousprul to wcigh too hcavily :rgainst the present. We

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FOREWORD

were certainly the people who brought forth Vascoda Gama, Joio de Castro, Afonso d'Albuquerque,our triumphs and glories of the Indies. But after us

followed the English men of business, and with namesincomparably less illustrious and almost withoutnoticing what they were doing they built a greatempire for their England. It was we, the Portuguesepeople, who brought forth Dom Jolo the First, andthe 'renowned generation of high-born princes',Irrclita Geragdo de Altos Infantes, who brought forthDom Afonso V to enlarge his Portugal across thestraits and to conquer north Africa. But it is to-daySpain and France who are the masters there, and itis their goods which are sold in Morocco. It was wewho brought forth Pedro Alvares Cabral, our JesuitMissions, who conquered Brazil. But even thoughthe last named is still the very diadem of our ancientempire, and even though Brazil is still the greatestcountry of the Portuguese-speaking peoples, our owncountrymen there are often small tradesmen andare found in the very humblest callings, beaten inmany walks of life by Germans and Italians. Itwas we Portuguese who first mapped out the seas

for the world, and it was we who, before othernations, had our overseas trading stations and ourfisheries. Ancl now we buy our fish frorn Norway, weship our m<:rchandise on vessels owncd by Englandand by littlc Ifoll:rncl. So long as wc insist on clingingonly to lh<' mt'rrtol'ics of our lrcrclit: irgcs, so long are

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FOREWORD

wc in danger of losing our place in a new worldwhich has forgotten Portugal.

I say that a new lead must be given to the people:rnd to their national life, at the same time utilizingthc finer qualities of our race and correcting ourrnajor faults. There must be a new national spirit,irnd then we shall have a renaissance, a new Portugal.

In a way, I apologize for writing this preface. It is

rrot that I am at all ashamed of having written it,lnrt that it has taken me time, time which I neededlirr other duties.

tb .'Januarlt rgg3 Or,rvnrna Ser,ezen

l o()

/ b,,"$/*] i.-t

CHAPTER ONE

FIRST APPEARANCE

the 6th ofJune r 926, and we are at Amadora.tlttrosphere is electric with the joy of recent

. Never before was this aerodrome so packed,with hope. There is a coming and going

officers, fraternizing civilians staring atthe honses, the very earth they are salLing

as though their Portugal re-bornwas all freshThere is a blazing skn a merciless sun. Our

is a thing to be reckoned with, and as ttrerea Napoleon and a'General Winter', so weour 'Brigadier Spring'. I am going up to

Gomes da Costarz the leader of the whole

about nine miles from Lislon, and the basc of theAir-Force; in hct a sort of Portuguese Uxbridgc.-

Gomcs da Costa, now dead, was one ofthe leadersExpcditionary Force ontle Western Frontin

. Latcr he was the leadcr of the rwolution of1916, ftom which was born the Pornrguese military

III

FIRST APPEARANCE

movement, and I am asking him about his plans,his hopes, his ministers-to-be. The General, a beau-ideal of a chief, answers my questions with a delight-ful vagueness.

'The new government', he says, 'is just the best wecan find at a moment like this. The Minister ofFinance is to be a certain Salazar from Coimbra.Bvery one speaks very highly of him. Do you happento know him?'

No, f did not know him. In fact, nobody seemedto know him, besides his students and his fellow pro-fessors in the quiet, narrow little streets of Coimbra,university passages that appear to the layman tolead to nowhere in particular.

Salazar was temporary Minister for a mere mat-ter of days, but just long enough for his mere pas-sage to have left a faint trail of hope. In all thealternations of the situation, in the swift ups-and-downs of those first months of the dictatorship,one would hear from time to time the cry: 'IfSalazar would but come-if only they would fetchhim!' But there was no answer. There was only thesilence, the romantic silence of Coimbra, which givesthe outlinc of the city when one sees it from thecarriagc window of a train something of the air of apicturc in a fr:rme. Onc would have said that alreadythc imagc of f)r. Olivcira Salazar had become almost

dickrtorship. I)r. Salnzar w.rs not actually appointed Ministerol'1.'ilrtrrrrr: rrlrtil two yt::rrs latcr, in 1928.-Trs.

tt2

FIRST APPEARANCE

:r dream, just a memory like the'Desired'.t And thenit. happened. A wave of the revolution still in beinglrrought him back again to the Terreiro do Pago,2 tolhc Ministry of Finance.

The nation has an instant of expectant curiosity.What is he going to do, what is his programme, thissilcnt professor who never makes any speeches andnever waves his arms about, who never even carriesnny portfolio! He has a reputation, it is true, as alirmous academician, an eminent specialist in hisparticular subject of economics; but will this manwith his quiet walk, his unrevealing gaze, his handsirr his overcoat pocket, will he be strong enoughto <lissipate the crisis which is now rolling over ourr orrntry like a fog and threatening to choke us all?r\rrtl Dr. Oliveira Salazar had no communicationsIo rnake upon the subject. He had no public procla-rrurtions, he never allowed himself to be interviewed,lrr rnade no speeches. He merely sat calmly at hisr lrsk with the State budgets in front of him, exactly

I 'l'lre 'Desired'-Desejado in Portuguese-was the popularlltlr of that King Sebastian who in r57B was killed in Africarrrul whose death led to the Spanish domination of Portugal.lhrt lhen there was a mystery about the death, and was herlirlly rk:ad at all, said the Portuguese! And a legend grew upllrrrl lhc Desejado would, like Charlemagne, one day returnll'111 11,,' gravc to lead his people at the hour of their danger.l',vlrr Ltrday, centuries later, that legend is not forgottenl and alrlrtrrgrrcse dreamer, the waiter on a miracle, is in popularI rtl lrt I t(:(: 1 tSt:[:rstianist'.- ?-rs.

I l,inlxrrr's Whitchall.

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FIRST APPEARANCE

as if he was still the professor lecturing to his classes.And there he is, the one man boldly facing thenational crisis, totally ignoring the higher mathe-matics and applying to the immediate needs of theTreasury just the four elementary rules of simplearithmetic: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,and Division.

The first public reaction to his commonplace house-wife's budget was one of absolute unbelief. It couldn'tbe as simple as all that! If that was all there was in it,onc needn't have gone to Coimbra University, oneneedn't be a learned professor! The second reaction,however, was of pain, of very sharp national painbrought about by this arithmetical budgeting whichsccmed so absurdly simple. The cuttingdown of this,thc adding on of that extra taxation, the forciblestraightening out of the national accounts, how wasonc to put up with it all! And the first result waspurc dcspair. There was an almost warrantable in-clignation against this university pedant, this tire-some spoil-sport who had come to Lisbon merely tobalancc a budget which the country had grown per-ftctly uscd to seeing unbalanced, to turn all our littlelr:rbits upsidc down, to revolutionize our financiallili: (or clcath), and all with the innocent air of noth:ttirrg llrttcr rnclt in his mouth!

'I'lr:tt w:ts tlrt: crisis, thc crucial hour for Salazar as

Mirristcr firr li'inancc. Everywhcre one was hearingit, itr tlrt: ca[t, in thc tram, thc shop, thc bank, at thc

FIRST APPEARANCEmiddle-class dinner-table; it was an alarm, a regularpanic. 'But this man must be mad! He is skinning usalive, leading us to the brink of ruin!' At that mo-ment Salazar might have been lost if he had put upany fight, ifhe had argued, ifhe had ever abandonedhis wonderful and almost temifyingsilence. Butnoth-ing of the kind happened. So far from losingcourage,he goes on just as calmly as though no oppositionexisted. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, andDivision are still his only cares.

From time to time we get an official note, a bit ofa report, even a short speech of ever so few words ofrunsensational and mathematical logic. But it is justsufficient to.confound the malcontents; the criticsboth friendly and hostile are disarmed, the carefullyprepared arguments of the opposition are pulverized.We have those who cannot believe in absolute disin-lerestedness; and in Salazar's simple and disciplinedlife they seek for hidden motives of this measure orlliat, for possible favouring of friends. And they seekin vain. There is nothing to be found. It was difficultlo conceive of any man living in an isolation morerubsolute, in a greater indifference to the good thingsol'the world or to its pleasures. Dr. Salazar livedrrlrnost as a hermit, carrying his asceticism to a pointprobably unique amongst the statesmen of our dayor olour own country in any age. Gerard Bauer, wholirnlo to Portugal at the moment of the Fifth Con-p,r'r'ss ol'()ritics, callccl Dr. Salazar a 'Mystic vowed

rt5tt4

FIRST APPEARANCE

to God and to his figures', and probably no betterdescription has ever been found.

A very unpretentious little house, no trap-doors,no secrets at all! A little office without even a wait-ing-room, a desk. A very ordinary suit of clothes cutby some country tailor. A pair of plain eyes able totake an orderly survey of a people's disorder, andthat is all. It is quite useless to try to probe for anymotive of material advantage; or for any sentimentalintcrest, either. It is useless, too, to look round forany group of friends, idle workers, seekers of selfishadvantages, fraudulent contractors, scandalouslyprotccted. There is nothing to be found. You canfind no weak points anywhere. Call Salazar a monu-ment of obstinacy if you iike; say that he is eaten upwith intellectual pride, say that he is inhuman in hislack of ordinary sentimentalities, say that he knowsnothing of the merits of give-and-take, and still youcannot but accept him as a man of unquestionableintcgrity and intclligence. It was impossible to use

hinr cvcn as a target for slander. This was a manll(:v(:r' sccn in thc strcct or in the theatre; he wasr)('v(:l'st't:n :rt :rrry lirnction at all. He might as wellh;rvr: lrct'n tlirt:r:tirrg thc :rffairs of State from a sentrybox or lrorrr ir rrrorrk's <;r:ll. Ancl little by little thcst:olll, llrr: opposiliotr, tlrt: lr:ttrccl, all gave way to;r<lrrrir';rliorr lirr llrc nriul, iln lrtltttiration perhaps atlirst r';rllrcr ol tlrc lrcrrtl llrttt tltt: ltt::trt but pcrlcctlyrcslrcr'llul rrrrrl.j rrst, 'l'lrost' ivlro li'lt tlrt:ir country to

I r (i

FIRST APPEARANCE

have been on the edge of disaster began little by littleto collect themselves again; ashamed, wounded,ruffied, taking stock, stunned by the miracle thatlutcl happened, they asked themselves: 'Is it possible?Arc we still alive?' Some, it is true, never did collectllrcmselves again. But those were they whose politicals;urds had run out.

'I'he fact is that people felt that there was some-llring fresh in the air; an impression of relief, of newlili:, new senses of value, new things to do. And thisn:une, this Oliveira Salazar, which had been re-, r'ivcd first with dislike, then with scoffs and dis-lrrlit:f, and in the end with revolt, now began tor lrirtrge into just 'Salazar'. The rvord sounded quiterrrrrsical. This name had now almost lost its formerr olrnotation. It was no longer any mere man'sn;uu(:, but rather stood for the state of mind of,r rvlrolc country in its ideals of renaissance, in itsL';iilirnatc striving after a policy without politics, atr.rlioturl policy which would stand only for truth.t',vrtr thc very enemies of the dictatorship, time-',r'r virrs opportunists who disliked the situation, foundllrcrrrst:lves respectfully raising their hats to the man,llr' ;rt lcast they had to avow: 'Nobody can denyllr,rl lrr:r'c is an honest man.'

Irr l)ortrrq:rl, a country where political reputations,rll toln lo slrrcds, arc liable to last about as long as'r,,r1r-llrlrllk:s, th:rt rncans something! When a manttr llrr' prrlrli<: r:yc rn:rinl:rins th:rt sort of prestige even

t t7

FIRST APPEARANCE

with his enemies, when he can be permanently ac-cepted in this manner, it is only because he possesses

qualities which are really out of the ordinary, stand-ing out above the crowd and dominating it.

This public recognition of qualities, the passingof the name of 'Salazar' into the conscience ofthe nation, have led him easily through his fouryears as Minister of Finance to political leadershipof the State as President of Council. There was curio-sity and expectation. And what does Dr. Salazardo? Exactly what he did when he took over theMinistry of Finance. He takes careful stock withoutthe faintest impatience at popular agitation, andonce more he sets to work with his four cardinalrules: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, andDivision. And this time he applies his rules to thefalse and unbalanced budget of the nation's verysoul. Here he finds a sum that works out too largeor too small; here he revalues certain qualities, therehe cuts down faults or defects. Call it a system oftaxation, a rating of various individual traits, ap:rtient but perpetual battle to wear down a deficitof character, a strenuous effort to make good withthc matcrial at his disposal. And there is always hisarlministrative work, and always the accounts of theStatc.

llut will it bc possiblc to do it all? To govern anation in its policics, to lcad mcn and direct theirscrrtirncnts, will this be thc same thing as looking

r18

FIRST APPEARANCE

after figures or adding up columns of numbers? Thatis the question of the moment, the point in every-body's mind. One can say that Salazar had to gothrough a period extraordinarily like the time oftunrest which followed his first acceptance of theMinistry of Finance, when his new methods, whosevcry simplicity made them seem so complex, bewil-rlcred and almost infuriated his fellow countrymen.Will he come out the winner, slowly, as always be-lirre, conquering this new pass? For the moment, itis difficult to answer.t There are those of his bestfi'iends, men to whom his personality, both moralrrnd intellectual, stands out as an article of faith,who follow him with fear and trembling as theywatch his policy, apparently simply suicidal in lackof support and precedent. His very isolation, hisnpparent total lack ofsentiment, his unbending reso-lution, all those qualities may have led him to success

ns Minister of Finance. But will not those very quali-ties now lead to failure as Prime Minister, a positionwhere there should surely be a more direct contactwith the people! The people never speak to him,never hear him, never see him. They do not knowwhether he smiles or frowns; they have to contentthemselves with pictures, or with what he omits bylris silcnce when he does not omit it by his words.

Which of the pictures is going to be the true one?

|'lirday there is an answer, Salazar having achieved unques-tlorrcd triumph as leader of the State.

I l1)

/

FIRST APPEARANCEIs Salazar going to be a dictator after the fashion ofa Mussolini, or will he be another Sidonio pais,r onlycast in a new mould? Will he be a Machiavelliis'Prince', cunningly watching his every move, hisbrain saying'Nuy' when his mouth says ,yea,? Willhc be another Dominican Savonarola to scourge theP'rtusucse from their viccs ancl frailties, or a Frincis-t::rn Saint Anthony seeking to combat the disordersof'socicty and the injustices of humanity? Or will helrt: simply a statesman likc the Austrian Herr Seipel_rrrrrl pcrhaps we are now getting nearcr probatility

:r plain but vastly competent accountant of bothsorr ls and budgets? Or does this Dr. Salazar even exist:rt all, this cold, reserved, unsentimental, and un_soci:tlrlc pcrsonality! Might we not all be staring atitrr t:mpty suit of armour, a mere shell? Whom arewt' rulccl by, u rcal person or a shadow? Is this arrr.' with all rnankind's qualities and faults, or somerrrysti<: solitary cager to make us all follow the dic-lrrtcs of lris own soul?

'l'lrosc wt:r'c the questions which we were all put_lirrg :rnxiously to cach othcr. But there was never an;urswcr'. livt:ry curiosity was always balked by the

I Sirl.rri. l,:ris, ;t l'rrr.rrrcr Prt.sicl.nt of the portuguese Repub_l ir', * :rs t lrr' lr.rrtlr.r.,l' t lr<. r.r,v.lrrtio' of 5th Dccemler, gr 7. H"* :rs_i rr1r'r rs.l y l rrPrrl:r r', :rrrrl whcn .n thc r 4th of Decemb"er' r 9 r {rlrt'li'll lry;rr ;rss:rssirr's lr:trrrl lrt: w:rs rrr.rurncd by the riastrrr:riolityol llrr.rurtiorr. ltisProlr:rlrlcth;rtlrt:rnightberegardcc.lirs tlrr' lirrr.r rrrrrrr.r. ol'rrrotk.rrr l,)rrrollt,nrr tlict:rtors._Zr.r.

FIRST APPEARANCE

impassible picture of Salazar, the unruffied reflec-tion of an untroubled soul.

For a long time I had been wanting to ask Dr.Salazar all those questions, to satisly the curiosity ofthe country, as well as my own and that of hisfriends. Several times I had asked for the f,avour ofan interview; I had wanted something not preparedbcforehand, something which would be from his ownlips and heart and not from a secretary's typewriter.And for a long time I didn't get it; I was refused, orput ofl or not answered at all. In the end I got mywish. Salazar dbcided to break the spell. For two ortlrree hours in each afternoon of five days I was:rllowed to talk to him. In his office, in his home, inhis official car as he drove about, I spoke with theutmost freedom to his person, a figure not only in hisown Portugal but in European politics. I admit thatI took many liberties in my talks. And Dr. Salazarwould invariably answer whatever I asked him withthc infinite patience and perfect courtesy that areprobably the two first qualities of his character.

In these conversations a really serious difficulty ofIr:t:hnique occurred to me. There was such an enor-rnous variety of possible subjects to talk about;lrow could everything be dealt with in even a longirrtcrvicw! And here Emil Ludwig's conversationsw'itlr Mussolini gavc me an idca. Why should I not

lrrrlrlislr tlrt:sc irrtcrvicws of minc scrially in the Diario.

t'.ttt20

FIRST APPEARANCE

de Noticias, the big Lisbon daily newspaper? Let thepublic into the intimate life of a great man and agreat statesman?t But though the idea was useful, itdid not carry me very far. Emil Ludwig, great his-toricaljournalist though he was, had been a Germanintcrviewing an Italian; as he himself put it, he hadlookcd at his subject as an already historical charac-tcr. My case was different. I was a Portuguese livingin Portugal, and this was another Portuguese whomI was to talk to, a Portuguese on whom largely restedthc future of my own country. Ludwig, as a foreigner,t:ould afford to ignore all the Italian doubts andrcscntments of Mussolini, and had therefore a verymuch larger field than myself to work on; he couldconfine himself to generalities. Now to make mywork any use I had now and again to stop my talkswith Dr. Salazar in order to go into details. Therewould be this or that passing question of the daywhich I wanted to go into. There were Portuguesegrievances, sore places which will some day be healedand forgotten, but which existed and which I had toknow about. Our talks, then, necessarily had occa-sionally to dcsccnd from the plane of high politics;:tt timr:s w(: wcrc even arguing like the man in thestrcct.

'l'lrt'r'r: w;rs :tnothcr question, though by compari-son :r tri(ling onr:. What should I call him in conver-

| 'l'lrc irrt<'rvicws wr:rr: prrlrlishcd, of course, in Portuguese.Scr: tlrc l)iurio lc Noticias

"t' j.:.j" z4 Dcccmber rggz.-Trl

FIRST APPEARANCE

sation! Dr. OliveitaSalazat? Dr' Salazar?Just pllilSalazar? Not that I worried for long' In the end I*u, l.urring out all the formalities as superficialities

which lower instead of raising the really great man'

What conclusions did I reach? But you do not,get

the end of a novel on its first page, and a drama does

rr.i .*fftin itself in the firsi scene' Read my book

rund find out my impressions' The curtain is now

ff,t*S "pf Whenit falls again on the last act I will

llromise to return on to the stage'

123

CHAPTER TWO

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH'

-f u- at the Finance Ministry, and Sr. Leal Marques,Dr. Salazar's Chief of Cabinet, runs into me in acorridor on his way back from lunch, obviously gladto tell me something:

'His Excellency is waiting for you in his car. Goand meet him.'

I own that I had my doubts about this suddenzrnd unconventional meeting in a motor-car with Dr.Salazar, to whom I had so far never even spoken. fw:rs robbccl of all the tricks of my trade; there was norlcsk br:twccn us, no arranging of my chair, none oflhr: strx:k tools of tlrc professional journalist inter-vir:winq somcbocly! A motor-car allows no gentle

I'l'lris u,:rs rr l:rrrrorrs spt'r'r:lr lry Dr. S:rl:rzar in the Portu-grrcst' ( lorrrrt'il ol'Sl:rlc tL'livt'n'<l irrrrncrli;rtcly orr the establish-ltrcrrt ol tlrl N;rliorr;rl I Irriorr, :r llolitir':rl org:rrriz:ttion created fortlrc rlcli'rrt',' ol'llrr: rrclv St;rtr.. 'l'lrt rlir:t:rtor irr this speech laidrLrwrr lris p,,sili,rrr :rs lx'in1', :rlrsolrrtcly irrtl<'pcrrd<:nt of the olcl

lrolilit:rl 1r.rr tics ol'llrr' (ilrrrn lr, llrc n rnly, lrrrrl Llbour.-71s.

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

leading up to anything' The action has to start

in the first scene, at the very beginning of the

chapter!do* i, he going to receive me in this queer travel-

ling office? tYttis man who never sees anybody' wh9

*".L, to avoid all human contacts' to weigh each

word and gesture and attitude? This man whom Ithink of as perpetually bending over a map of Por-

tugal, busied with rule and square and compass over

thc plan of his countrY?

My Preconceived idea of Salazar is so severe and

<:orreci and cold that I go down the Ministry stair-

w:ry as slowly as if I was going up instead' so em-

l,,,rrassed am I about my first meeting and my

olrcning question. Here I am at the very bottom

*i'p, uid^I have no more time to think it over or

lurrrL out what I am going to say' God preserve

irrr'! And I step straighiinto the car with much of

t lrr: fccling with which I should enter a hermit's cave

i)r attemPt a murder!Itut Di. Salazar senses my embarrassment' and at

oru:r: puts me at my ease wiih a few.words of general

lrolitr:ncss which make up for the lack of the usual

i,lli,,,t atmosphere and at the same time allow me a

prclitnitrary glurr." at the actor before the real rising

i,l'tlrt' t:rrrtain. In this half-minute I can at least pick

orrl w'itlt :t sigl-r of silcnt relief that Salazar is not at

;rll tlrr: li,r,',,iilobl,: ancl stand-offish personage that

I lrrrrl lrt't'rr lt:tl t<t ltt'lit:v<r hirn' I scc him as a

r?lr| '-l.l

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

man naturally kindly and friendly, with mannersnot kept for show but as a pleasant social dutywhich one likes to perform without either effort orcxaggcration. I see, however, that it is useless for meto hope to know this man merely by his impassivef;rcc, his eyes which see everything and reveal noth-ing, his staid unpretentious profile, which remindsolrc lcss of the throne than of the study and whichrnakcs one think of the professor of economics pacingslowly through the quiet lanes of Coimbra. f canst'r: :rlrcady that my task bristles with difficulties.My rnodcl is ideal, a tempting one, but difficultto rh':rw. I shall have to drag it out of the dusk, itsrr:rtrrr:rl habitat, and find some contrasts which willgivt: it a background and put it in the light so thattlrr: lnrblic cyc can see it properly. It is possible, then,th:rt tlris m:rsk will betray itself, that it will end bytr:lling rrs something! Rut first it must be properlyprr'1xrrccl, wolkcd upon, patiently made to revealitst.ll. IL'rr: is no intentional reserve, nothing heldlrirck on l)rrrpos(:; tl-ris is just a natural arrangementol' lirrr.s cli{Iit:trlt to brcak down or alter. Salazar,srrrrrsk-likc lir<:r: r'r'scrnblcs thc dcsk in his office, or fortlr:rl rrr:rtlt'r'lris wlrolc life, in that it is a pattern oforrlcr rrrr<l rliscilllilrt: :rrrcl rrnmlllcd calmness.

Wr' :rrt' rrorv rlliving;rlong tlrc ltua Augusta. Thercis <lrrilr':ur ;nlrorrnl ol'lr':r(lit: rcflcr:tr.<l in thc car win-r lorvs; p:rssirrri liqrrrcs ;tl)l)(.lt' :trrtl v:urislr, ancl givc :rsoll ol';rir toli;rl rclicl'to llris trlrvclling irrtcrvicw. Wt:

r '.r( i

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

rrright be in a film, say one of those queer pictures byItcn6 Clair.

'Now what do you really want of me? To get atthc inner life of the situation? To know what I amrlrinking of? To find out what lies behind my words:urd my silence?'

These questions seem to contain a vague chal-k'nge, an ironic defiance to my curiosity, possiblyto my presumption.

'Exactly so. I look upon you as being one of therrrost baffiing and original figures on the present-daysl:rge of European politics. And I should like to getlo know that figure better, make its features clear,rlissipate some of the mystery about it.'

l)crhaps Salazar is a trifle amused by -y plainspr:aking.

'Go ahead, then. Ask me whatever you like, and Iwill try to satisfy your curiosity. We will talk quiteli ct'ly, and without keeping anything back. We shalllurvc to see whether there is anything worth talkingitllout!'

Rolalists and the Portuguese Republic

lly rrow the car is driving down the Avenida dal,ilrcrrlixlc, Lisbon's largest boulevard, and perhapsit w:rs its grcat brt::rdth wlrich prompted my firstr r';rlly rl;u'irrg rlrrr.sl iorr.

t:t7

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

'First and foremost I am particularly anxious toclear up a few passages of your last speech.'

'Then was it not all clear to you?''It was so clear that it staggered me. fts very

clearness positively frightened me.''How, for instance?''Well, after your advice to the Royalists, the Catho-

lic Party, Labour, the old parties as well as to thefriends of the present rigime, advice implying re-strictions on the activities of their social and politicalgroups, what power have you left to rely on?'

Salazar answered my question by asking me onehimself. Did I think then, he said, that his warn-ings upset and irritated the people whom they wereaimed at? And I began with,'They say--' ThenSalazar with a little smile went on: 'Butdon't believeit. The malcontents, if there ate any real malcon-tents, are only of the extreme Right or the extre meLeft. Almost the entire nation stands between thetwo extremes.'

'But thc Royalists', I went on, 'were not too pleasedat your refcrence to their cause as though it was adcad onc, as though no Dom Duarte Nunor existed.'

'Orrc car-r sc:rrccly belicvc it,' said Salazar.'I givcthc ltoy:rlists lrll crcclit for common sense, and I amstrrc tlr:tt tht'y ncvcr cxpcctccl us officially to recog-t'tizt: :r nt'w lrrctcnrlt:r'.'

| ()rr llrc lcccrrl <lr':rllr ol'r'x-Kilrg M:rnuel in rg3z Dorrrl)rr:rll<' lrct:rrrrt' tlrc r:l:rirrt:rrrt lo l.lr<' :rrrcictrt tltrorrr: ol'Portug:rl.

r'.18

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

"I'hey think', I said, 'that you might have avoidedrrsirrg that particular sentence: "It is as well not tol,'uue men cltained to corpses!"' And Salazat, with that,,rklly unruffied energy of absolute conviction whichf'v('r'y now and then flashes through his words,.urswcred me without raising his voice.

"I'he position had to be defined once and for all.'l'lrr: royalist problem embarrasses and embitters the

l)r'(,gless of all governments in Portugal, and more,':;1rcr:ially those of the Right. This problem must be,lis;rosed of in a straightforward way, avoiding allllrosc manifestations and declarations which couldg,,,ssibly give it a chance of a fresh life at the first

"l,lx)rtunity. I obviously cannot ask men whose

;',,litit:al education has been in the direction of,rrrotlrt:r ideal to abandon their principles, to bindtlrcrrrst:lves to the government and come out in the'rlrrcl to cheer the Republic. I should be the first tolr.rvc rny doubts about certain people who two days,rltrr tlrcir conversion should be claiming to be morer r'prrlrlican than the old republicans themselves. No,rvlr,rl I ask of our Royalists-or perhaps I should putrt, rvlr;rt I advise them to do-is that, if and whentlrr'1, r'rrtt'r' our public life, they shall put aside anyl,rl';r' ;rrrrl t:vcn dangerous notion that their coalitionrr llrr' prt:scnt government is any step towardsrr,rliz;rtiorr o1' thcir own aspirations. The nationallrl,' itscll'is lrcst't :rt thr: rnomcnt with problems ofI n, )r nrorrs irrrPortr,t,. ,', r,lr,:,:,,1rrt'stiorrs of this or that

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

rdgime are in comparison quite in the background,trifling, and almost absurd. Let us get to work, then,with real facts and not with dreams or fantasies.Those who will not take this path, those who will notjoin us because we hamper their action as mon-archists, they themselves reveal that their help wouldbe more or less self-interested and conditional. Letus not forget that the dictatorship was fashionedagainst all party spirit and not merely-because suchwould have been a contradiction and an injustice-against the republican parties.'

Thus Dr. Salazar. But I cannot yet abandon thismomentous subject. Does the dictatorship, I ask, so

badly need any Royalist support? And Salazar with-out an instant's hesitation and well aware of thepoint of my inquiry answers: 'The support of everyPortuguese is wanted.'

Myself again, obstinately sticking to the point: 'Butthey say that it is the Royalists who are the backboncof the dictatorship, the people who keep it going.'

And Salazar replies with deadly logic. 'The revolu-tion of z8th May, in which both Royalists and Re-publicans took part, was a revolution against parties.Furthcr, the Republicans, the very peoplewhomadcthe rcvolution, themselves nearly all belonged toexisting pzrrtics. Thcre were a few who had conspireclto bring about the revolution hoping to restore theirown party to powcr, and when they realized the realencl ol'thc nrovcmcnt they turned away, because they

r30

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

naw that their hopes were doomed. There were otherpeople who came to grief, or who found themselveslaken at a smaller valuation than their own, or whoin one way or other failed to fit properly into a re-lirrm and anti-party movement. Without these dis-illusionments and these fallings-away the present

;xrlitical scene would no doubt be different. As itwas, the dictatorship some months after the e8th ofMay found itself being defended and supported bythc Royalists, by the Independent Republicans (fewin number in Portugal), and by the Indifferents;llrat is to say, by the majority of the nation, thegnople who are Republicans simply because theylivr: in a republic and accept its institutions. So theproblem is this. On the one hand, it is an absoluterrccessity, essential to the nation itself, to governtowards the Right Wing and with the Right Wing.( )n the other hand we have inside and outside thenrovement a real academic republicanism whichnrrrst be taken into account.

'But is there not a contradiction between your"rrntional necessity" of governing towards the Rightnrrcl your avowing the presence of this "academict eprrblicanism"?'

l)r. Salazar, not at all disturbed by -y question-rruirc, at once replies: 'Let us understand one another.'lir start with, I do not consider this turn towards thel(iglrt incompatiblc with thc Republican r6gime. Inllrc rrcxt placc, whcn I spcak of an "academic repub-

I3I

dLl

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECHlicanism" I do not imply any numerical majoritybutmea_n merely that such a force exists; it is pe.hapsconfined to a certain group, but it i, prgrruciour,'i,has ideas, it is active. To keep the balance in iheGovernment and the country, then, f must haveboth Republicans and Royalists; but they must bcall united in the rigime, with no mistrust and noreservations, and above all, co_operating as portu_guese.'

F aithful or U nfaittfut?

By now we have passed through a considerablep:rrt of Lisbon-the Avenida da Republica, theCampo Pcqucno, Campo Grande, Lumiar. It is notgoing to bc too easy to assemble this film of mine! I:rrn harilly getting enough time to develop my shotsor to t:rkc my notes. I am beginning to see points inllris t:onvcrsation at forty miles ur

"hor., but I own

llr:rt I anr not cnjoying the note-making! My penciltlrrrrr:t:s likc rnad over my pad, and I g.,'utt _yIcut'rs rrrixurl rrp! In the end I give it ui as u loit.jolr, :rrrtl l)ut rny pad back in my pocket. I go backt() nry ol<l pl:rrr; to listcn to peopli and thei-r ideas,:urtl possilrly firrgct:r fcw of thcii actual words.

ll:rPlrilr no$/ witllorrt tlr:rt paralytic pencil ol.rrrirrr., I :rsli tlrr. Iirll.rvirrg: ,lt is saicl that you hav.rrrrl..l\r,:r's lrr.r.rr rlrritt. Iiritlrlirl t. s.'rc: of ihc p.i,,_r ilrlcs ol yorrr' lrolilit.:rl lr<.girrrripus?'

r:J'l

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECI{

Salazar quite understands what I mean, and:urswers with deliberation, stressing each point:

'When the Army called on me to form a govern-rnent the national problems were represented to meas being above the problems of any institutions ipso

,facto defending the then existing r6gime. I agreed tothc problem, I accepted it; that is my position, and Islr:rll not change it. Any one who likcs can chargerrrt: with infidelity to principles to which I actuallyn('vcr subscribcd; but really there is only loyalty,kryalty without compromise.' And going straight on,wt:ighing his words, and emphasizing his phrases, her'ontinues without looking at me: 'I knorv, of course,llutt there have been great men, leaders, dictators,wlro have not worried about any codes or formulas,iury commitments of political morality. To consoli-rl;rlr: or add to their own personal power they havelrccrr capable of every audacity, of any azlte-Jace, evenol'rtltcring the whole national r6gime, as Napoleonrlirl in a few hours, and all without a single pang of, ,xrsr:icnce.'And then dropping back to his ordinary,'r,'r'rr voice, he went on as though in apology. 'Butlr,'r'r' is an unstatesnranlike confession to make! Ir.rrrrrot aim at heights like that! I am just a plainlrroli:ssor anxious to help to save my country, but,'r'r'rr irr the field of politics I cannot escape from thelirrril:rtions ol natural morality.'

I :l:l

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

The Social fuestion

The car has now taken us right out into the opencountry. From time to time wepass quaintly p.i*i!y. figures which might have been carved byMachado de Castro. W. orr..take wash.r*o*.r1little milk-maids, market-women bent under theirbaskets of fruit or poultry, country people returningfrom their city shopping to their viliages a.rd ,iai"!patient mules or leading obstinate donkeys. From thfcar they look rather like toys. At last we stop, some_where on the road between Canegas and ereiu". W.get out of the car, and without a break goir talkingas we stroll along the lonely road.

'We have been talking', I say, ,of your advice tothe Royalists. Now let us speak, please, of what youhad to say to Labour; yor. rp...h rather startled us

!f itr promises and because it reminded us that sofar the dictatorship had done comparatively little forthe working classes.,

Dr. Salazar cordially agrees. .Next to nothing,,rhe says. 'We might have counterfeited a good a.ri'Uyissuing dccree after decree, just in orderio look weli.Our social lcgislation of r9ig, for instance, with anyamount of magnificent ideas, is an instance of that

.. I It is vt'ry <lif['rc.t now. The foundations of the new

l,:::ll:tl :rr; llrrrrrl up with a succcssion oiO.a.r, ,.1;;"g;tll(' w()r'k(.r's' r.iglrts, lx{tr.r lrousing for thc people, workmln,s<lrr'<'llirrgs, prrlrli<. rr.lir.f, :rrrtl so Ibitlr. r

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

sort of thing, a perfect model of social work built forshow. But the dictatorship would rather do nothingirt all than lie to other people and to itself. It is onlyjrrst now that the country's economic and financialr:onditions are letting us take in hand whatwe regard:rs essential and urgent social work. We do not wantlo take up merely temporary schemes. When we take:r step forward we like it to be a permanent one; werkr not want to stultify the good work by havingirnmediately to take a step backwards. Furthermore,I ought to tell you what a good many people keeplirrgctting-that the responsibility for the generalpolicy of the Cabinet has only been on my shoulderslirr a very few months."

Ilut I stick to my point.'Has not the time now come to attack the prob-

lcrn energetically and without any further delay?I rnyself believe that immediate action on the ques-t ion would consolidate the situation and strengthentlrc Government.'

'No doubt,' agreed Salazar. 'But you need have noli':tr. We are not shelving the business for a distantlirlure, because we are already actively busied onit tr>clay. While never losing sight of the generalorrllirrc of our whole programme, we are naturallylrrrrrying first to the rescue of those who need our

I l)r. Srrlazar, who had been Minister of Finance continu-otrsly li'orn rqzS anrl lvho still holds that office, did not becomel'rirrrc Ministcr urrtil.f unc r932.

r34. rl|5r

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECHhelp the most. In a very few weeks from now weare going actively to tackle on a large scale the bigquestion of cheap housing. We havelhe help of thImunicipalities, of the General Savings Barrk, of theNational Treasury itself; there is a suiplus from lastyear's Budget *hj:_h can provid. qrritc u lu.g. r,rrnfor this purpose. We shali be able to do so#thingworth while for the whole country and especially foithe cities. Assurance of a decent and wellJigirteadwelling, water, sanitation, child welfare, all'ih.r.are steps in uplifting the working man and in thereform which we have in view. dn the other handwe are collecting the material and helpers necessaryfor us to get as fast as possible to the corporationsystem which is going to be one of the props of thellY. Stul... By and by we are going to give theMinisterial Presiden cy an ,rnder_"secretaryship justto look after the corporations; it should girr" u ,r"*impulse and lease oi nf. to t-lie InstitutJ of SocialAssuran^ce, an organi zationwhich must be developedand perfcctcd for the good of all the workers.,

I pcrsist. 'In your advice to Labour,, I say, ,thercc:rrno tlris phrasc, which might have caused a certainfi'ictiorr: "Wr: cnnnot accept that the working manlrr:lorrqs to ;r privilcgccl class.,, , Salazar replie-s with(:ll(.1'gy.

'()lrviorrsly! 'l'lrc wor.knr:rn is of a class deserving()ul' r'(.rilx.('1, oln' irrlt:r.t:sl, otu. lrtt(:ntion, but just ai('v('r'y 'rlr.r' r'l:rss. 'rir sirrglt: it .rrt {br. f.vour would

r36

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

lrc to show preferences which could not be iustified.All we can do is to be just to it, and, as I have:rlready said, to co-ordinate it with the other classes

in the economic ensemble of the whole nation.'

Dictatorsltip and the Armlt

A silence. In spite of myself, there is a questionworrying me, and in the end it comes up involun-t:rrily.

'But the Army, isn't that a privileged class underthc dictatorship?'

Salazar hesitates a second or so, but ends as alwayslry taking up a definite clear-cut position. 'IJn-rknrbtedly', he says, 'it is slightly privileged. It is theli'rrit of a long tradition, which I take to be commonlo r:vcry country. But you cannot compare the privi-lrgcs of the Army in Portugal with the privileges ofl,nbour in Russia. With us the soldier has the same

lcg:rl rights and duties as every other Portuguesetrirtional.'

I go on with my offensive.'lJut the military officers filled at the outset of the

rlir:tltorship and still continue to fill the best part oftlrc irrrportant posts of the civil administration.'

"f 'lrt: cxplanation', retaliates Salazar like a flash,'is sinrpl<:, and cvcry onc of good faith ought to haveit lrr:lirrc hirn. The lczxlcrs of thc rcvolution of the

t,.17

SOME NOTES ON A SPEBCHz8th of May, which was really a revolt against partygovernment, found themselves obliged to enlist theiipersonal stafl of sympathetic political views, fromthe force which helped them, which made their vic-torv possible. Actually there was no other courseopen.'

'f understand all that', f go on, ,as a last resource,as a necessity of the revolution. But has not the timenow come for some deflation?,

'The soldiers are the very first ones to understandthat,' agrees the head of the Government, ,and thisvery deflation, which cannot be a hurried affair, ispolsl_or1ly taking place with the help of the Armyitself. It is the Army's own professionainterest whichis forcing it to it. Those officers who have becomeused to civilian posts are gradually losing their sol_dierly qualities without knowing it. Little by littlethey lose their caste spirit, and their return to armydiscipline becomes more difficult and painful forthem. They come to feel themselves strangers outof their element, cut off from their own life. Wemust invigorate the Army, give it more prestige; wemust-only wc must do it with its own consent_bring it back to bcing an army, to make it itselfagain.,

With thc s:rrnc impcrtincncc-for which I-hopethe Arrny will lbr.r;ivc mc!-I keep on to the su-b_jcct. I warrt to gct it clc:rrcd up. ,tsu1is not the A.-yir gr'(:at ltrrrtlr.rr on tlrt: Ilrr<lgt:t?'

Sal;tzar''s r.<:ply is rlrritr: clcar. .ycs, quitc a burden!r 3tI

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

llut the fault lies mainly with the Great War and onlhc policy which followed after it. It was the warindeed which forced all governments to increasetlrcir permanent armies; they had to create numberso{'territorial officers, and these, having lost touchwith civil life, have acquired the right to count as

lt:gular soldiers, and to have their status transformedli'om a temporary arrangement into a permanentorrc. That, however is not the whole of our problem.l"or it would be impolitic as well as unjust to meddlewith the size of the Army, to interfere with the rightsol'those men who fought gallantly in the war, andwlro are still, when necessary, fighting for peace atIrornc. We shall no doubt have to have a reorganiza-liorr in the Army, but not on these lines. We shallhlvc to put it back to its proper duties, give it morerlignity, give it the equipment to make it strong, tojrrstily its being, to give it a proper sense of its ownv:rlrre, the self-respect of its caste.'

'Arrd what', I say, 'do you think should be done torulrivc at those results?'

S:rllzar, with an open smile which I am takingwitlr a certain reserve, replied: 'In the very first

;rl;rcr: by preparing the field of action. By, even, if!r('( ('sriirry, fighting against the bureaucracy of theWrrr' ( )llicc, wliich is quite a different thing from theArrrry itst'lf ancl of whosc efficiency I have for somelirrrc lrrrtl r'('rrsons for complaint.' Then he goes intoorrc ol'llrosc fils ol'r'rrtlrrrsi:rsrn wlrit:lr I have occa-

I :i1)

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECHsionally noticed in him before and which seem togp..l "p

quite new possibilities in his personality. ,Itli$ that Portugal owes her Army a debt which itwill not be easy to pay. Of course it is possible thatthe military caste may temporarily .rr3oy variousprerogatives, even privileges; but it has

-paid dearly

for its privileges, Uy its ,.*i.r, to the cause of orderwhich is at this moment the cause of the nationitself. How many disasters and calamities, riots,ald-useless expenses has the Army saved us from?W1 hlvg plenty of soldiers, too many soldiers, havewe?..Quite likely. But had we not'also plenty ofcivilian revolutionaries, the plague of portugal be_lore the dictatorship, always ui op.r, sore in ournational life, an unending source of .*p.rrre anddisorder! The Army must be honoured and revered,as being the scaffolding indispensable to the building_rup of the New State. Somi people say that I am:rgainst the Army, probably b.ca.,r. f am the leadero1'the most essentially civilian government of the lastl('n ycars. But no man who thinks and speaks as IIunr:.iust bccn speaking, nobody who has at hearttlrr: r'r'irl wr:lf;rrc of the country and the world prob_k'rrrs w'lrit:h .qo with it, can faiity be accused of teinglrrr lrrrl i-rnilitlrr.ist!'

lro.tition rf the Catltolic Group'l'lrr. vr.lrr.rrrr.rrr:r. .l'.rlr t:rlk lrars m:ldc us stop walk-

l,[()

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

ing, and meantime a couple of passing labourers intheir best clothes are staring at us with astonishment.'l'hey probably recognize Dr. Salazar from his pic-tures, but do not seem able to believe that this isrcally he. They probably have a feeling of mceting;r photograph from a magazine somehow miracu-lously strolling down the middle of their road.Salazar glances at his watch and suggests goingback. ''We must have walked nearly two miles. Letus return.'

And I am quite ready to agree. I have had myrlose of exercise, and the day is beginning to turnl trifle chilly.

'We have', I say, 'now discussed your views on thel{oyalists and on Labour. Could we now speak of thewarning you gave to Catholics, and which causedur much surprise by its unexpectedness?'

'I do not know why it should have done so.''Why, you yourself had helped tofound the Catho-

lit: Centre,t and indeed there are people who go so

lirr :rs to say that it was this organization which putyorr in power. So some people have read your speechirs lx:ing contradictory, illogical, andeven ungrateful.'

I )r'. Salazar, without having to think it over at all,I',o('s on with his perpetually measured-out answers.

"l'lrc first observation is perfectly correct. It isrlritr: trrrr: that I was one of the founders of the(i;rllrolir: (lt'rrtrt: in:rrry rc:tl form. I fclt the need of

I l\rr trrg:rl's lxrlitir':rl (l:rtlroli<: group.-Zrs.|4l

,{

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

gt irg the Church her place outside every influenceof the Government, exactly as to-day I feel the needof giving the nation its place. But once this objecthas been achieved, and intelligently achieved, bythe Government on the lines on which my speechtouched, then I am of opinion that the CatholicCentre can most usefully transfer its activities to therealm of purely social action. The National Unionwas formed on purpose to do away with all partyor faction spirit, wherever found. And patrioticCatholics who are anxious to share in our politicalnational life know quite well that this is the bestcourse for them to follow.'

'And the second point?' I ask.Salazar answers drily: 'That is altogether wrong.

The Catholics had nothing in the world to do withmy coming into power, just as they have nothing atall to do with my political actions. The mistakeprobably originated from my connections and friend-ships with various Catholics well in the public eye,and the mistake is deliberately kept up with objectswhich are only too well known.'

Dr. Salazar's Political Career

'Now, plcasc, how did you make up your mind totake ovcr thc Ministry of Financc?' said I, again notmin<ling my own busincss.

r42

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

'I can tell you, if you like, in a very few words of

my short career in politics. I was and still am, as

you prob.bly know, a plain professor of economics

ut Coi*Uta University. When the revolution of the

z8th of May broke out the military committee ofthat city offered me the Portfolio of Finance, basing

their oifer on the false notion that we professors

knew the truth about everYthing!'I feet obliged to say that'This time they were not

so f;ar wrong!''It was rnere luck. And I declined the offer, be-

cause I realized the gulf between theory and prac-

tice. But they were so insistent that in the end I went

to Lisbon and had an interview at Amadora Aero-

clrome with General Gomes da Costa. Then a fit ofill health allowed me to get out of it and I went away

to Santa Comba.l And a few days later they sent to

fetch me back. I was a minister for just five days!

'Ihe coup d'Ctat of Gomes da Costa brought a new

ministry and let me go back to Coimbra withmy university colleagues who had also been in the

Government. After Commandant Filomeno da(lamara and General Sinel de Cordes had each held

thc post and left it they thought of me again for

ilinance Minister, and here I am. It was Sr' Duarte

l)acheco, Minister of Public Works, who actually(:amc to Coimbra this time to fetch me in the name

ol thc Govcrnment. So you see that the CatholicI I)r. Salaz;rr's birthplace'-Trs'

t4'3

lr

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECHParty never had anything to do with my politicalcareer or with my trips to and from Coimbra.'

Old and New Parties

Ilere we are, back in the car again; and the con-versation takes on a faster swing, and the questionsare naturally shorter and more direct.

'We now come to the passage in your speech onthe dictatorship's attitude towards the old politicalparties. Will that attitude change at all? Once theConstitution is formally promulgated and the elec-toral colleges are summoned, will the parties be ableto have any voting power?'

Salazar parries my question neatly by replyingwith his wonted precision:

'All our regulations and the precautions whichwc havc taken will hold good to the next Constitu-tion. But we must not forget that the dictatorshipw:rs cxprcssly formed against parties and partyspirit. Thc Constitution when it is promulgated isnot cithcr in its theories or its contents going to do:rnything to hclp the old parties to resurrect them-st'lvcs.t

'Antl wlr:rt il'unclcr thc circumstances any politicall{r'()r.rl)s lrcgirr to lbrm on the principles of the e8th ofMiryi"

S;rlirz,rrr rulriw(:l's calrnly in th:rt apparcntly cxpr(.s-| 4.4.

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

sionless voice of his which is really the voice of hisinnermost feelings:

'We shall not allow them to form. That would bea betrayal of ourselves. It was on purpose to amal-gamate every body of political activity which mightshow itself that the National Union was formed.'

The National Union,Its Meaning and Objects

'But the National LJnion, isn't that itself a party?''That is the natural objection, the obvious ques-

tionr' goes on the Prime Minister. 'I cannot swearlhat there may not be people who have joinedthc National Union with that same false idea ofkroking lor material advantages which they are notgoing to find. It is a survival of the past. The oldp:trties-and we must not forget it-were on thewhole big employment agencies where one struggledl()'queue up for the distribution of offices awardedwlrcn one's party was victorious. Whoever joins theNittional lJnion in the hope of reviving that past isrrr:tking a fatal mistake. Any one who wants to addlris strength to ours, who is anxious to join us, mustlirrtify himsclf with the necessary spirit of sacrifice inorrlcr to scrvc thc State with selflessness and withoutt'cckorrins on any clircct and personal advantages.Mcttrlx'r'slrip of tlrt: N:ttionzrl IJnion, for instance,will lr<' rro srrlrslilrrtr' firr ,,li,i' .,,,t"n,'loncc; nor H'ill a

l /

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

member take precedence over any hard-working,loyal, and competent but non-affiliated Civil Ser-vant in any promotion to which he is entitled. Thatsort of favouritism is finished. The State machinemust be run on such exact lines that by the verynature of its regulations no minister will be able tofavour his relations or friends. Promotions, appoint-ments, transfers, ports, roads, public betterments,both urban and rural, reforms, subsidies, all kindsof solutions of problems, all will have to fit in withacts ofjustice which will be performed almost auto-matically by the State machinery. The old partieswere formed to look after their own supporters. TheNational l-Inion, as its name indicates, is to serve thewhole nation.'

f cannot resist asking: 'What in that case is theactual function of the group?'

Salazar answers me with the greatest precision.'To create in the country the atmosphere essential

for the great reform which is needed in our politicsand our customs, a reform to sweep from north tosouth, and in such a way that it can be broughtabout without conflict or serious obstacles.'

'In brief then, the National Union is the party ofthose who do not want a party?'

'No!' The Prime Minister speaks sharply, out ofpatience with the hackneyed definition. 'TheNational Union will never be a party. It has anideal far higher than that: To organize the nation.'

r46

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECH

Homogeneit2

'The extremists', I remark disingenuously, 'accusethe present leaders of the National Union of lackinghomogeneity and say that on that account they areincapable of initiating any reconstruction.'

I get a queer smile, and this short and quiteunanswerable counter-question. 'By what right does

any one say that the leaders of the National Unionare not united? Has there been any lack of agree-ment noticed in their political actions!'

I jump at my chance. 'The same thing is saidabout the Government. Here too they say that it isnot homogeneous, and that there are political dif-ferences amongst you.'

'That is ancient history. All direction and politi-r:al responsibility of the Government rest on twopairs of shoulders. There is the Prime Minister andthcre is the Minister of the Interior. All the otherrninisters are far too busy with the technical affairsof their own offices to be able to think about the

lnlitical problem which we must reduce to its sim-plcst expression if we mean to alter our mode ofliving. In point of fact the question about the Gov-ernment is the same which I put to you about ther:onstituents of the National Union. Has any lackol'rrnity ever appeared in anything we have done?'l'lrcn why worry with zf and ands, guessing at allxorts of things bcforc thcy happen, before real facts!'

t47

SOME NOTES ON A SPEECHHere we are again in the Avenida da Liberdade,

reflected like a moving picture in the windows of thecar, with its trees, its children, its lawns, the autumnsmell of dead leaves which somehow remind me ofthe sheets of paper I have alreadymentallywritten.And here once again is the Rocio, the Terreiro doPago, once again the Ministry of Finance.

'And when, sir, may we meet again?''To-morrow, the same time, at my house.'

CHAPTER THREE

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

'Sn* we stay at home,' began Dr. Salazar, 'orwould you rather go out?'

'Exactly as you prefer, sir.''V"ry well then, let us go out. As these talks with

you are part of my toil, I like to take advantage oftwo 6r three hours' work outside my office and geta breath of air.'

Here we are in the car again. And again on theroad to Lumiar, to Queluz, on these country roadsivhich must be getting to know Dr. Salazar by sighthr better than the capital itself knows him.

I am going straight on with my questionnaire justu though there had been no interruption.

'Now during the election which sooner or laterwill naturally have to follow the promulgation of theConstitution, are you going to allow free propa-ganda? Will not the moment have come, forirstance,to finish with the censorship?'

I48

fi

r49

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

The Problem of the Censorship

'I can understand that the censorship annoys your'answers Salazar, 'because there is nothing whichmankind holds so sacred as thought and the expres-sion of thought. Indeed I go further. I go up to thepoint of agreeing that the censorship is a defectiveinstitution. Besides being quite often unjust, it issubject to the unquestioned decisions of the censorsthemselves, to the state of their tempers, the effectsof their own humours. Indigestion or a familysquabble, for instance, could lead to the bad-tem-pered cutting out of a bit of news or a part of anarticle. I myself have in my time been the victim ofthe censorship, and I can assure you that it has stungme, infuriated me to the point of wanting to start arevolution!'

'In that case', I say, 'why not do away with it?''We cannot do that for reasons which I am going

to explain. But we do try to minimize the censorship,to kcep its action down to the barest margin ofsafety. Forinstance, it is not legitimate, either throughignorance or through deliberate.bad faith, to alterfacts so as to be able to explain away unjustifiableattacks on thc Government's doings; it is contraryto thc country's intcrests. To allow that would betantamount to rccognizing thc right to lie. Facts arefacts, arrrl ont: cannot allow people to have anydoubts ulrout thc acts and accounts of the State life,

r5()

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

if as happens in Portugal there are those who would

throw *.td ubo.tt. It is a question of public decency

and dignity. It is allowable to argue the reasons and

princifles of a policY, of, for instance, a financialpo[cyl but who in England or SwJzerland or any

other civilized country ever thinks of questioning the

accuracy of the State's very figures! Here, either

through perversity or ignorance, people have come

to th; pbi"t of blaming the State for not doing

the things that it is doing; or even for not doing

the things that it has already done! In that case

does not a censorship justify itself as a means ofmaking things clear or of putting matters straight?

To avoid ur lu. as possible the censor's work in this

matter I am thinking of setting up an informationbureau to which the newspaPers can come when

they wish in order to get the facts on which they can

analyse and even criticize the Government's work'

But i own to not having overmuch hope of the thing,

for in a small way I did make an experiment of the

sort which came to nothing. As Minister of Finance,

on purpose to obviate misunderstandings and mis-

takes wiich might easily arise in so delicate a subject

ns that offinanCe, I arranged from the very first hour

of my authority to place the files of my Ministry- at

thc free disposal of any journalist who wanted infor-

rnation. Will, I believe that in four years there were

.iust two persons who took advantage of my offer!

llut it did not in thc least prcvent the wildest state-

l5r

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASments being circulated on a subject which cannotand never ought to be at the mercy of dreams andfancies.'

'That bureau of yours', I ask hopefully, 'in anycase might be the first step towards abolition of thecensorship?'

Says Salazar, preparing his ground: 'Let us goslowly. We have now to consider the moral side ofthe censorship, its necessarycheck on personal attacksand on abuse of language. Our Portuguese Press isconsiderably better than it was. But some of ourpapers used often to give us a sad picture. Intrigues,insults, open insinuations, egotism, provincialism,altogether a very low grade of intellectual pro-vender. Now a paper is a people's intellectual food,and it is capable of control like every other food. Irealize that our control must irritate the journalistas not being in their own hands and because it isentrusted to censors who, being human, can be in-fluenced by their own whims; and this to gcntlemenof the Press must always stand for oppression ancldespotism! But there ought to be a solution to thisproblem. Why not create a journalists' council-somcthing on thc lincs of a Bar council? In this waythc nrorality sitlc of thc censorship would fall on thcjoumalists thcmsclvcs, without going outside theirown llrofi'ssiorr. l)on't you think it an idea?'

I hrrlly lo:rrrswcr. 'It is not thc first timc that wt:Ir;rv<: tlrorrglrl alrorrt it. I bclicvc tlr:rt rny collcagucs

I 5r?

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

would look into the proposal with pleasure, even

withjoy, if it meant that this journalists' council was

going to put an end to the censorship.'Salazar,lollowing up his idea, goes on without

answering me.'There is still another matter in which the censor-

ship is from time to time compelled to intervene. Imean the question of the doctrinaire. There are twoangles of this point. Pure science-even in the realmof politics-doctrine pure and simple, without partyand in good faith, with the highest intentions ofreform-this is absolutcly legitimate; we have al-

ready given orders that it is not to be discouraged,that it is to be given every chance to live . But therc

is too the doctrine of immediate action, the doctrineof revolution, too clever, and too plainly cunning.Now the censorship unfortunately cannot help tak-ing measures against this sort of doctrine, for, in the

lircc of what is clearly a subversive tendency, it must

irct as a normal repressive force.''But why not replace the ccnsorship by a Press

l:rw, even a strict Press law?'Salazar replies, with his usual realistic criterion:

"l'h:tt would be an excellent way out if the courtsr:oul<l dcal cfficiently with offences of this sort. Butcxllt:ricncc tcaches us that they cannot.'

I cannot help saying: 'Are you not at the momentirr opposition to your own lcgal instincts?' Salazar

l{(x's ()n witlr spirit. '(}ritt: possibly. But there are

I5ll

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASsome things which are necessary evils. A really goodPress law would check certain abuses, but ir c-ouldnot suppress them.'

Libert2 and Authorit2

'But is not this a challenge to the old conceptionof liberty?'

'Authority and liberty', Dr. Salazar replies, ,aretwo opposite ideas, and where there is one then theother cannot fully exist.'

I go on to supply him with ammunition for hisargument. 'Now a French writer, M. Louis Lat-zarus, in his book on Maxims of public potic2 has thisphrase: "Wc only recognize our liberties by ourrestrictions."'

'That author is right,' says Salazar with his tastefor deduction and working things out, and as Iverily believe, a trick of talking things over tohimself! 'Absolute authority can exist, absoluteliberty, never! When any one tries to reconcile thetheory of liberty with that of progress one falls intoa serious mistake. Liberty must become restricted asman progresses with his civilization. primitive man,literally frce in the darkness of his forest, is a verylong way rcmoved from modern man, who in thlstreets of his city has to obey his traffic signals, turnto this sidc or that. That is progress! Let us then

r54

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

place our liberty in the hands of authority; onlyauthority knows how to administer our liberty andhow to protect it. That liberty which individualistsare always looking for and claiming is a merefigure of speech, just a literary chimera. But aliberty guaranteed by the State and kept in dueorder by authority, that is the only liberty that canpossibly lead, f do not say to the happiness of man,but to the well-being of men.'

I cannot resist another quotation. 'But Latzarusfurther says in his book that, "There never existed amore absolute tyrant than the Convention of theFrench Revolution". All the same, it has beenpraised and admired by all the Friends of Liberty!'

'Your quotations', answers Dr. Salazar with aslightly malicious smile, 'rather imply that you arein agreement with me!'

I hurry to answer. 'By no means. It is possiblethat my reasoning marches with yours, and that Iam letting myself be seduced by that book of Lat-zarus which I have just read. But my feelings andmy professional journalist's hide will always be inrevolt against the lashes of the censorship, whichhas already given me so many stripes that I cannotforget.'

Dr. Salazar comes down to my level. This timehe is quite generous, with nothing of the censorsbout him! 'I understand and realize your revolt.It springs from the idcas and the atmosphere in

r55

IIL

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASwhich we have our being. And for all that, it ismore than certain that within twenty years our wholenotion of the liberty of the press wili have undergonea radical change.,

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

other hand should have thought', I say, 'that youwould have been disheartened by the general objec-tions to the proposal.'

'You are mistakenr' replies Salazar, always withthe same calm. 'To arrive at a careful opinion onthe plan we should have liked it to be more criti-cized, and above all criticized with a broader spiritof scientific inquiry. It is true that we got a fewcriticisms of value, but not what we thought suffi-cient. I am even thinking of having it all debatedagain and of asking that the plan should be lookedmore into and dissected to its very roots.'

'You are in hopes, then, that this new experimentwill give better results?'

'I am afraid I own that I don't hope that,' saidSalazar with despondency. 'There are not enoughpeople capable of pronouncing on a work of thissort. And further, I am unfortunately of opinion thatit was only we of the dictatorship who really wantedthe new Constitution!'

'How do you arrive at that conclusion?''By sheer reasoning. The old Republican parties

do not want the new Constitution. As soon as itcomes into force they lose one of their best propa-ganda grievances against the dictatorship! And thenew Constitution by its very construction makestheir revival as a party useless. Without the newConstitution thcy will be able to go on dreamingof the Constitution of rqr r and of some opportunity

157

Tlu Constitution, Old and New

f go on: 'You said, sir, in the speech which wehave just been discussing, that ..ThL time has cometo prepare to promulgate the new Constitution,,. Isthat time near?'

'Before the end of March we ought to have reacheda constitution.'

'Now, this constitution, will it be published asoriginally conceived, or will it be revised and modi-fied on the lines of the various criticisms of it?,

_-Dr. Salazar replies quite seriously, in a tone ofdisappointment: 'But the criticisms were so few andso insignificant!'

'So few!' I cried, with all the notes of exclamationthat I could get into my voice.

'I own that I was taken inr' went on Salazar, notat all astonished at my surprise. ,I had expectedmorc criticisms, and especially I had expected thatthey would brush asidc the purely poliiical stand-point and would instcad look at the proposal underall thc aspccts it offcred for study.'

f cannot conceal my amazcmcnt. ,Now I on ther56

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

to restore it. By such restoration they will all returnto the political activities from which they had toretire on the z8th of Muy. And that, believe me, wastheir only hope. When those people say that theyhave no wish to go back to the past, that they repent,that they are anxious to lead the new life, etceteraand so forth, well, just don't believe them! Even ifyou admit their sincerity, as I admit it myself. Downat the bottom of their subconscious minds they mustbe regretting the old order. And these are myenemies! When it comes to my friends, there aresome of them even amongst the highest-placed whoprefer, though I don't quite know why, our ratherundefined present position, with no formula and nolaid-out lines.'

'But the attacfts', I say, 'were especially aimed atthe Constitution's actual text. The report whichcame before it was generally approved. People evennoticed a grave difference between the report andthe plan, and swore that the second couldn't possiblybe a sequence of the first.'

'They were right,' calmly went on Salazarr'thosewho noticed that difference, the gulf between thereport and the text of the Constitution. All the samethere is nothing incompatible about the difference.It was intentional. That report is the ideal, the goalto which we are marching. The plan is just the bestreality possible under our present political State.The ideal is always the enemy of the merely good!'

I58

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

I pursue my role of Devil's Advocate.

'But there were some, too, who found the preamble

useless and beside the point. And there were others

who found the plan too drawn out, too detailed'

They would have liked a brief document setting outthe various main principles essential to the nation's

organic life.';It ir pottible that there is something in it. The

*or. ,o that there doesn't seem to be any constitu-

tion for drawing up constitutions! We have then got

to take advantage of every chance-man's life is a

short thing-to preach our dogmas to lay the foun-

dations for that new State which we are anxious to

build. Our new constitution has to serve at once for

a reahzation and for a Promise.''A constitution', I suggest, 'which carries in itself

the seed of its own rebirth.''Bxactly sor' says Dr. Salazar.

Comrnunism

We are on the road between Montachique and the

village of Lousa. It is a road quite off any tourist

track, a rather charming string of little hamlets

nestling in odd corners of the landscape. The beauty

of the ti.tt. makes us get out of the car and invites a

walk. I takc advantage of the little interruption tobcgin :r ncw ancl quitc cxciting chapter.

r59

THE BORDERLAND OF IDBAS'Your Excellencyr' f start off, ,in your recent

speech said that we were witnessing the downfall ofinstitutions which not so long ago wire in high popu-lar favour. Or else that we are watching thirn wtrkwith difficulty, precariously, intermittently, underpressure of new needs, dissatisfactions, vague aspira-tions looking for some way of expressirrg th.*r.irr"r.Now what do those words really -.urri Would yousay that we were coming to the end of a civilization?And then, in that case, where is the new lead? Tothe Right or the Left?'

'You said it yourself,' Dr. Salazar replies, ,in anarticle of yours in the Diario de Noticias. it is difficultto know which is the "Right,, and which is the"Left". The most advanced governments from thesocial standpoint which Belgium has had for the lastfew decades have all been governments drawn fromthe Catholic Party, governments of the Right, if youhave to use the stock terminology. I,d remind you,though perhaps you remember for yourself, whaiMussolini said in his Senate on the subjects of thesepolitical labels: "To me", so the Duce put it, .,allthesc labels of Right and Left, aristocracy and de_mocracy, arcjust academic terms, sometimes possiblydistinguishing but ncarly always merelyconfusing.,, ,

^ No* -l must put my question in a more pr."ir.

form. 'llut your views, please, on Communism?I)on't you recognizc its force? Don,t you admit thatit ha.s givcrr humanity a new spirit?,

r6o

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

Salazar does not shirk the question, does not shirkany question. 'Communism may seem new, but isreally very old. In ancient times Plato mentions itin his Republic, and it existed in Russia even in thevery first political and social system of the Slav race.The Russian Revolution, a purely racial pheno-menon, can be looked upon as a throw-back, areconquest carried to extremes. Lenin, whom theCommunists admire and worship so much as thevery idol of their cult, never created the system. Hewas merely the strong man who put Karl Marx'stheories into practice-blind to history, to experi-ence, to the results of those theories, which can beseen in misery and suffering!', 'Then I suppose', I add, 'that Saint Thomas Moreand Gerard Winstanley between the Reformationand the French Revolution stand in their turn forthis latent Communism!'

Dr. Salazar sees that I get his idea. 'You agree,thenr' he says, 'that Communism is nothing new,that it has long had a place in man's dreams, thatit has already existed in the history of various races,and that it is perhaps in the process of dying in itsmodern materialization.'

'But actually is there not a fundamental injusticein the capitalist system?'

'It is quite obvious', says Salazar with frank pre-cision, 'that capital needs to be transformed, to bedisciplincd; it will have to bc cducated in such a

t.

il

rGr

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

way that the community in general will draw abetter social dividend from capital. But don't getany idea that it will be possible to do away with it!Capital could not even be used as a dividing linebetween the bourgeois countries and the Sovietcoun-tries. The sentiment ofprivate propertyis soinherentto human nature that it is beginning to be reborn inRussia itself. There are Soviet papers which denounceit, because they are alarmed at the failure of theirown ideals. Certainly the Russian Revolution hasbeen a great experiment as applied to a modernpeople in the process of industrialization. But theexperiment is not yet finished, and we do not knowwhat may be the end of it. It is dangerous then, aperfect madness, to take it as a model. And just note,I am referring exclusively to its economic side. Onthe moral side, people with twenty centuries ofChristian civilization behind them have nothing tolearn from an experiment that the ancients had al-ready tried and had found wanting.'

I am still unsatisfied and proceed: 'But don't youfind that the Russian Revolution has brought intoour own times, into the atmosphere of our own age,a sense of the urgent need for remedying varioussocial injustices, for facilitating a minimum of com-fort and wcll-being to man, to every man?'

'That's an idea which has been on the way formany, many ycars; it has been going on slowly andpcaccfirlly, btrt surely. What can bc said without

r6z

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

contradiction is this; the Russian Revolution, by its

size, its violence, even by the crimes which it com-

mitted, had largely the effect of reviving those latentideas by forcing us to fight against its impetuous

progress, splitting us into factions, driving us to meet

it ev.tt by the necessity of combating it. I always

think that all revolutions, great or small, embitter apeople's life, and that it is always better to reform

ihutt to revolutionize, or if you'd rather put it so,

that it's always better to carry out your revolutionby the process of your reforms. I am not saying that

there aie not from time to time earthquakes whichare necessary and even inevitable. But one wouldprefer the shock to occur to one's neighbour's house

iather than to one's own! Don't let us be too ambi-

tious. Let us content ourselves with the repercussion

of great shocks!'

'Integral Socialism'

Taking advantage of a lull in conversation I now

touch ott ottt of the most exciting chapters of this

inquiry.You are not in favour of applying "Integral

Socialism" to our countrY?'Dr. Salazar, not nearly so terrible as people say

that he is, is now smiling broadly. He answers with no

tracc of bittcrncss or argumentativeness, and rather

r63

L

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASas if parrying for the fun of the thing. 'That's a staleformula which brings us to nothing new. It is notimpossible to trace it in an interesting thesis, nowforty years old, written by a celebrated Portuguesejurist, and in which its author with the audacityproper to his then youth was pretending to answera famous encyclical of His Holiness Leo XIII. Iam quite aware that this talented lawyer, who wasquite a figure in the Portuguese politics of a bygoneday, is still defending and arguing about the ideas ofhis thesis just as if his mind had just given birth tothem. It is an admirable constancy. But the worldhas gone on since then!'

I am not giving up. 'But', I ask, 'is there nothingleft of that thesis? Mightn't it really be fair to defendsmall-scale ownership while at the same time attack-ing the large properties? Our own observation showsus that Communism spreads just in the parts whereproperty, land, is little cut up, where the wealth ofthe few contrasts most against the misery of themany.t

Dr. Salazar begins to talk, quite calmly at firstand getting more and more animated as he becomesengrossed in the subject, which obviously interestshim objectively.

'As one gets away from mere committee phrase-ology or the vagueness of party programme anclcomes to something tangible, to actual problems,the question becomcs cxtremely complex. To start

t64

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

with, what are we aiming at? We can look at thedivision of property, ot, to be more precise, atthe division of land, from one of two angles: that ofeconomic interest, the interest of mere production,and the angle of peace and social order. We canalready claim that the two points of view are notalways compatible. Property is for the most part anatural product, derived from the conditions of itsgeological and climatic habitat, the ease with whichit can be tilled, its utilization by human toil or bymachinery. Sometimes there are historical factorswhich have left their mark even in the formation ofnations, and these may be partly responsible forlarge-scale ownership still opposing the developmentof small holdings. But there are generally naturalor economic conditions of production to account forthis state of affairs. Now if we are exclusivelydominated by the idea of wealth, of production,then we cannot declare ourselves in advance as infavour of either small or large ownership; sometimeswe shall have to. defend the one and sometimes theother. But-and this is my point-if we do not reduceour social system to terms of the production andutilization of our wealth, if we believed that ma-tcrial requirements, though very important, must be

countcrbalanced and tempered by other realitiesruch as peace, joy, well-being, familyhappiness, thenwc can scorn all rigid formulas of maximum produc-tion unrlt'r largc or small ownership, and we can

r 65r

ll-

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

decide on a general policy of splittingup greatestatesand deliberately encourage little holdings where thepeasant's family can be brought up on land which istheir own. Now that is absolutely part of my ownideals; on the other hand, it clashes with the theoriesof those who want to materialize life and who lookupon man, as in Russia, as just a machine for pro-ducing and consuming wealth. You can see, then,that states, and especially what we call capitaliststates, should in their own interest create as large anumber as possible of small landowners; far fromfavouring Communism or Socialism, these peopleturn into a national bulwark of Conservatism, theforce most opposed to schemes of socialization. Amoment's reflection ought to show many people thatthey are nursing a contradiction, and that they arereally going in one direction while imagining thatthey are going in the other!'

'A problem so complex could not be set out withmore truth or intellectual honesty. But if you oughtto come to the point of favouring the small owner,how then are you going to set about it?'

'Let us seer' says Salazar.'There are simple soulswho expect to divide up land as easily as cutting abit of cloth. Those are naturally inclined to the kindof division that can readily be made on paper-inthc oflicial Gazette. But really the problem is notmcrcly to clividc, to parcel out, the big estate; it is toconstitutc, to sct up, the small or middling property.

r66

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

If property is almost always, as I have already said,

a natural or economic product, then you can onlysecure lasting or really useful results by alteringthose natural or economic factors which called the

great estate into being, and altering them so as to

bring about conditions under which the small hold-

ing can live and Prosper. This effect may be broughtabout by a change of cultivation; or by attending to

natural supplies indispensable to some properties,

as, say, water. It would be possible to carry outirrigaiion schemes so that lands could be made fertile

in a way which previously was out of the question

except under very wealthy owners. Without effortand without the exercise of the State's powers, culti-vation would then change and the great estate would

automatically tend to split up. The small holding,

the middling holding, would make its appearance'

intensive cultivation would develop, and the Popu-lation would establish itself on the land and would

increase. Now it is in that direction that the dicta-

torship is working. Already we have set aside a

large sum of moneyr just to begin our irrigationpolicy, and it will be seen that we shall accomplish a

social work on a large scale and that quite peacefully

and quietly and without any violent upheaval.WhatI have just said is proved over and over again' Innorthern Italy, for instance, or again in our neigh-

r One hundrcd thousand contos in the Portuguese: call it{trooorooo in English moneY.-Irr.

r67

!L

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASbour Spain in the Ebro region as in other districts,it-is amply proved that division of large propertiesfollows on the heels of irrigation. In-eastern andsouth-eastern Europe, where-and especially sincethe war-there has been a policy of parcelling outthe big estates rather on the lines oi a surve"yor,smap and without considering natural conditions orthe needs of tillage, it is nol very hard to see whythe system has broken down. And here in portugaismall country though we are, we can bea. witiessto the same thing. We have cases which are almostclassic

-amongst us where estates have been splitup and where they have joined up again to makeanother great estate; we have arr.r, auras wheresmall holders to whom land was allotted neverappeared to claim their new properties. It is under-standable that where there is an outside force affect-ing property in such a way that ownership becomesuneconomic and anti-social the law musistep in toooint the way and to rectify errors. Such inlrven-tion will take the form of opposing the excessive con-centration of propertyjust as much as its exaggerateclsub-division. But to dream ofsolving yor.luii prob_Iems by the power of the law alonel, to hurr" u ,.rydangcrous delusion. The curse of the country is thebrccd of philosophcrs who try to subject real facts tothcir lalsc doctrines.'

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

On State Socialism

Beaten and convinced, I go off on a new tack:'Going back to the subject of Socialism, are you inagreement, sir, with the socializing of certain publicservices and means of production, as for exampletransport?'

Dr. Salazar, apparently without fatigue, obedi-ently answers my question.

'This State Socialism which so many people arepreaching and advising as an advanced systemwould, to tell the truth, be ideal to please the in-nate easy-goingness and love of officialdom of vastnumbers of our people. Nothing more convenient ormore assured or easier than to live at the expense ofthe State with the certainty of drawing one's salaryat the end of the month and of retiring at the endof one's life without any worrying about bankruptcyor failure! State Socialism is the very ideal of thelittle bourgeois. The leaning towards this s)'stemmust, between ourselves, be looked for particularlyrather amongst the lower characteristics of ourpeople, amongst those who are poorer in initiativethan in other virtues of the social order. The Statedoes not pay too badly; and it always pays. Further,one can be dishonest more safely, with the fond hopethat nobody will find out! Little shortages, rogueries,irregularities, they are all easily hushed up if one hasgood fricnds in officc; and-a very singular advan-

r69r68

.ta

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

tage-local deficits can always be made good in thenext year's budget. On the other hand, there is noinitiative, no progress; the master is impersonal,almost an image. Things go on slowly, idly, sleepily.It is possible that State Socialization has given orcould give better results in some other countries. Butwith us Portuguese the experiments so far madecould scarcely have had worse results. It is enoughto mention our State Mercantile lVlarine, our Work-men's dwellings, our State railways! Though f canthink of one exception: our General Savings Bank.That was really an admirable thing for the State ofPortugal to start, and it has rendered the countryan incalculable service in developing its thrift, par-ticularly in the last few years. But the GeneralSavings Bank is working on something which canbe and is very strictly audited indeed, and now itworks so much under its own management as almostto be divorced from the machinery of the State. Wecannot take it as a model of the State Socialism whichis especially harmful in a country like our own, as

clogging it and hindering it from developing thosequalities of social independence which are necessaryto the nation's progress. I am totally against anydcvelopment of State activity in any economic fieldin which the failure of individual effort has not firstbccn provcd. But I believe in (and more, I am allthc timc trying to bring about) greater public powerto crc:rtc conditions, internal or external, material

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THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

or moral, which are necessary to the development of

prrJ""ii"". Owing to the difficulties of our tq: T-d

io the problems set by our modern economlc sys-

i.*t, .ri.tt public po*itt are not only necessary but

each time must be vaster and more complex to give

,h" desired results. Any economic organization

which found itself isolated and without support

would fall in a very short time' But all this can

hardly be called "State Socialism"''e tilin drizzle, an annoying little rain, a niggling

argument trying to set iiself up against Salazar's

"t."tt-.rrt ,.urorittg, forces us to get into the car'

which has been following us'

Democrar2's Crisis

One more asPect of this matter:

'f"iai"g it briefly', I say, 'is ther-e a crisis of de-

*o".u"y "o,

orrly a'political crisis of democracy?'

"Frankly, I don'i see much difference" answers

Salazar with a smile verging on irony' 'It is im-

possible to deny that there is a crisis in democracy;'""iq"i" naturallyit shows itself in the guise of suc^-

".ttfi" political

".irrr. But why the play on ryo1d1l

When urr.rrgirre even of the finest steel and with all

the best *u"irin.ry is always breaking down one has

to scrap it; but oni naturaliy keeps its best parts and

cvcrything which can bc fittcd to another engine''

r7l

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

-I. seize upon this: 'So there is after all something

whjch can be got out of democracy.'Dr. Salazar, with his invincible sense of fairness:

'Nobody would gainsay that there are various truthsin democracy, various victories which it has madeand which are to-day indispensable to the life ofevery system of government. but systems as such areborn and live and die just like individuals. politicaland social schools of thought are like literary schoolsof thought. When their creative qualities, th;ir flameso to speak, has become exhausted, extinguished,they_lose their power, and die out; but they leJve theirmark, the very deep imprint of their influence. Evendemocracy's defenders try to compromise with thesp_irit of the times; they own and admit the necessityof modifying the system of their ideals in order torenovate democracy's organs. But think of the meanssuggested for the effective renovation of democracy!Some are absurd measures, which can't be adaptedto the system; trifling changes in the internal work_ing-of parliament, a limit to the length of speeches,slight modifications ofprocedure, u.rJ,o forth. Theyare-merely palliatives which can lead tonothing, andwhich at bcst can only hope to drag out the wrethedlifc of a systcm alrcady on its dcith-bed. To denythat dcmocracy h:rd rcached a crisis would be todcny thc cvidcncc of onc's own eyes, the whole politi_cal panor:rma of our agc.

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEAS

On Mediocritl

Now I am adding a postscript to my chapter.'Don't you think this rather funny, the sham en-

thusiasm by which some of the great people andorgans of democracy are defending Communism!Just as if Communism wasn't one of the greatestenemies of democracy.'

'It is quite clear', agrees Sa)azarr 'that people whodefend Communism or pretend to be converted toits principles must, if they are honest, give up theidea of defending liberty. Liberty and Communismare two quite opposite theories.'

'It's a contradiction', f add, 'as fantastic as if thechampions and organs of democracy were suddenlyto rally to the defence of the dictatorship!'

Dr. Salazar is getting quite excited. He smiles andlaughs, and almost gesticulates. It just shows thatwhen he discusses certain ideas he has the same out-

'ward reactions as any Portuguese of spirit.'Rhetoricr' he says, 'the electioneering atmos-

phere, vote-catching processes which getus nowhere,they're the big stumbling-blocks to our new work,our rebuilding, our clean sweep. Twenty years agoM. Poinsard at King Manuel's order made a surveyof Portuguese life. Under a very careful microscopehc saw us as we really are. He gave us credit for ourqtralitics, hc believed in our future, but very especi-ally hc hacl to notc our provincial mentality, our

t73r72

,]

THE BORDERLAND OF IDEASgeneral mediocrity, our mediocre standards in in-dustry and commerce, in agriculture, in politicallife, in journalism, in the art and literature of thatday. Since then we have done a lot, but we must nothalt in our progress. All the time we must be fightingagainst our low standards and parochial attitude{against this mediocrity of thought and act whichinfects even our highest intelligences and our gravestsense of values.'

'So you don't believe', said I, looking for a fittingclimax to the day's talk, 'you don't believe in thesincerity of certain politicians' promises, in theiradvanced and even extreme declarations?'

Dr. Salazar laughed with a heartiness of whichhis compatriots haven't the least idea!

-'Listen! Why don't you talk to these politicians?If they are such friends of the people, if th.y ar.such partisans of equality, tell them to regulate theirprivate lives, their personal lives, on the lines of thethcories they talk about! Quite likely they will pro-mise to, perhaps they will even mean to keep tieirpromises. But from that to doing i1-!'

With these words, the last that afternoon, Dr.Salazar says 'Good day'and goes into his house intlrt: Itua <lo Funchal. It is such a modest dwellingtlrat it nright llt: thc homc ofa practising Communist.Il is :r rar'(: cx:ltnllk: th:rt means more to the peoplctltirrr arry rrrrrnllt.r' o{' promiscs.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE DICTATORSHIP: ITS CONTACTWITH THE NATION

To-auy Dr. Salazar receives me at the Ministryin his office. It is a bright room and very neat. Dr.Salazar is sitting at his large desk. It is covered witha sheet ofglass as clear and clean as a State budget--one of his budgets!

So as not to waste any of his time I immediatelytake up the thread of our conversation. 'We havenow talked, sir, about Communism and of Lenin,who brought it into practical being; but we have so

f,ar said nothing about Mussolini and Fascism. Someof your admirers would like to see you taking a big-ger leaf out of Italy's book, out of the Duce's lesson.Are you in favour of this? Do you think that Fascismon general lines is applicable to Portugal?'

Fascism and the Portuguese Dictatorship

Without the slightest hesitation Dr. Salazar as

always gocs straight to thc point.tTltt74

THE DICTATORSHIP

'Now obviously our dictatorship is similar to theFascist dictatorship in its strengthening of authority,in the war which it declares on certain democraticprinciples, in its nationalist character, in its main-tenance of the social order. It is different, however,in its methods of renovation. The Fascist dictator-ship is leaning towards a pagan Caesarism, towardsa new State which recognizes no limitations of legalor moral order, which marches straight towards itsgoal regardless of hindrances or obstacles in the way.Mussolini, as you know, is a magnificent opportunistwhere action is concerned. He turns sometimes tothe Right, sometimes to the Left. Now he is fightingthe Church, now he is making the Treaty of theLateran; next, a few months later, he is dissolvingthe Catholic associations. I see him as perpetuallydrawn backwards and forwards between the 6litehe has created and which works so brilliantly forhim, and thc mob to whom from time to time he islorced to throw a sop. Don't let us forget thatMussolini is an Italian, a descendant of the condottieri

of thc Middle Ages! And don't let us forget his ownorigin, his Socialist, almost Communist, upbringing.His r::rsc, tlrcn, is a wonderfiul case, a unique case,

but :r strir:tly rr:rtional casc. He himself said: "Fas-<risnr is jrrst :rs rnuch a purely Italian growth as

lkrlslrr:visrrr is a llrrrcly Russian erowth. Neither()ll(' ()r' otlrt'r' ol'tlrt'rrr r::rn bc transplantcd with anyr:lr:rrrt:r'ol'lili: orrtsiclt: tlrc cotrntry of its origin." Thc

r76

THE DICTATORSHIP

new Portuguese State, on the other hand, cannot

and does not attempt to escape from certain limita-tions of the moral order which itdeems indispensable

as boundary lines in its work of reformation.'I put in an objection.'But Benito Mussolini is rightly held to be one of

the severest dictators in this matter of moral order

ever known in history. His laws are of the strictest,

absolutely merciless for all shortcomings; adultery,evil morals, corruption. His Rome, for instance, is

to-day one of the world's most austere cities.'

Dr. Salazar seems to be whetting his thoughts,just as one might sharpen a pcncil which already

writes quite well but to which one puts a fine pointin order to write still better.

'Let us understand each other. I am not question-

ing Mussolini's work in the matter of morality. WhatI iay is that certain declarations and positions ofmoral order are imposed by Mussolini on Fascism

and not by Fascism on Mussolini. He wishes certainthings to be so, and he could not wish otherwise

without contradicting himself. On the other hand,the limits within which we Portuguese intend towork are limits laid down by the most fundamental

llrinciples of the new Portuguese State, limits to ourown actions, limits on the actions of those whotlircct thc State. Our laws may be milder, our lives

tr:ss poli<:crl, but our Statc is less absolute, and we

!r(:v('t' lroltl it ttl) :ts otlttlillott:trt. Mussolini, I rcpeat,

Ir

t77

THE DICTATORSHIPis a very great man. But it is not for nothing thathe is a child of the country of the Caesars and ofMachiavelli!'

Some Reflections on Violence

'Another difference between the two dictatorships',Salazar goes on to say, 'lies in their methods, in themachinery of their tasks of renovation. The violencewhich is a direct and constant factor in the Fascistdictatorship would never fit in, for instance, withour ways. It wouldn't suit Portuguese mildness.'

Here I slip in a quotation:'Mussolini, disciple of Georges Sorel, in one of his

speeches had this to say about violence: ,,For us,,,he said, "violence is far from being a game or anamusement. It is like war, a stern necessity in certainhours of a nation's history. But we must always keepin our hearts the dream of an Italy that will bepeaceful, that will be hard-working, an Italy inwhich all may feel themselves sons of the samemother and bound by the same destinies."'

'I thoroughly agree with Mussolini', is Salazar'scalm comment, 'as regards Italy-but not as regardsPortugal. There may of course be advantages inviolence at certain moments of a nation's history, butit's at variance with our race and our traditions. InPortugal there aren't any men who are systemati-

r78

THE DICTATORSHIPcally violent. They all weaken half-way and end upby being the very first victims of the unsuccessfulviolence which they have started themselves. Thecase of our Portuguese revolutions is significant.Thousands of pounds have been wasted on them,lives have been sacrificed, tears have flowed, thenation has accumulated discredits of every sort, thewhole country has sunk in world opinion. Thenpublic opinion has called for severe punishments,an exemplary chastisement to put an end once andfor all to the turmoil of so much disorder; and theGovernment has at first bowed to public opinion.The officials responsible for the troubles have beengot rid of and dismissed, the Army officers involvedhave been retired, special courts have been set upto deal with political crimes of this sort, heavy penal-ties have been prescribed. But soon afterwards thecourts relax, the prisoners are released, the officials:rre reinstated in their jobs; the public has forgottenthe revolution, its past sufferings and tears, andli'iends and enemies alike are calling for a spongeto wipe over the past. And still the purge wasrrrrachieved! The masses are so little educated, solradly educated, that they cannot comprehend jus-licc. And in that case, how can it be treated withviolcnce?'

I ask him: 'Do you remember what Pilsudski, thel'olish dictator, is supposed to have said about thel'ot'tugucsc clictatorship?' Dr. Salazar does not re-

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THli DICTATORSHIP

member. and I tell.hi-' 'Huppy country' this Portu-^'^:'^-:"-'*^; - -.--is in Madeira!'sal wnose DrDerrao--

'One has only 'people react to tn, Sttut crimes to which the news-

I

papers give rar ./"il;1.n::'rf,'.T"ilY;'",1"jthere is a feelinghatred of the crimirlal'

his brutal instincts' the savage

animal, and so 15rth' But as soon as our murderer

is put on trial, invariably some human figure

upp.u,, to craim. '';:Ini:,.l1 ITn'j'*::",:H:]

helpmate, the oldthing like that! Al]l:t^?1'^"-il^',':i' a change in

f ,, u f; . o p i ni o n,' rt'lt:.*f^l i: T: il .:?- p a ss i o n' I t' s'

,,poor man. He hjt, t'Tttd enough!" And when

sentence is passed, "'hen he gcts a punishment which'

though just, is ,.',"ft' then there is again a new

re c r i n g iir t Lre n,". :,,il,| il,'J i, iij'li ;,11,: ft ilXd:,:,k:ncc, A ncw hatred'

:rgainst.iustice!' _,il I am also asking mysclf:I :rsk Salazar. Att''.- ,*'. . "",

"I'hrtt's a lilclikcPicturc'- and it's absolutcly truc'

Ihrt <r.csn't it o.tl Ptovc the natural kind-heartccl-

'r:ss ,l'()ttr l'ilcc, sl 'f

r Peopter r

'ocrt^inly. But r,rtnl-:::::lTl^n:" one goverrrs

onc rrrrrsr :rlways ,,'l: ::": ::il:'d:]f'" tliat sickl'v

st.rrr irrrr..r *,lri<'tr ri', l"'ut' t.rt i trto the.habit of callir rs

kirrrl-lrr:;r'tt'rlrr.ss.' 1rr tl, its w-ork thc dictatorslrilr

rrtrst .r'rrririr <':rlrr '('l)('l'()lls' :t littlc c:tsy' cvctt sl.tr''

lr will r.r'tlirrly ',]-ii"

l"ritrt 'l'tirrit'' btit it will grrirr

t llo

THE DICTATORSHIP

in efficiency and thoroughness; a dictatorship ofjustice which doesn't allow personal power to run"away

with it. I am not denying'-and Salazar's eyes

almost disappeared, as they always do when he is

searching his o*t mind-'that personal power has

its enticements which are hard to resist, which per-

haps we shouldn't always resist. There are problems

of national interest, of thc community's interest'

which we could settle by a stroke of the pen; but

only by ignoring everything else-laws, customs,

individual traits. But the good which might once

result therefrom would be outweighed by the damage

done at other times. Unlimited power' instant and

decisive power, has its allurements, its advantages-and its dangers. Do not let us forget that in order to

bring abouisomcthing which will last one must give

to others the samc complete power!'

Man2 Thanks Indeed!

I am inserting a marginal note.

'Now Queen CIlristina of Sweden, who commented

with rarc-subtlety on Machiavelli's Prince, wrote this

very Machiavellian obscrvation in the margin of her

(:opy: "In this world no one can do without other

1,,r.,jr1". It is vcry selclom that one can wholly trust

:rrrylrotly <:lsc, brtt qtritc oftcn it is necessary to pre'It:ritl to tt'ttst tltt'ttt." Now Nltllolcon, the greatest

r ll r

d

THE DICTATORSHIPdisciple of Machiavelli, must have read that note andremembered the warning. Which was perhaps whyhe always kept Talleyrand and Fouch6 near him!'

Dr. Salazar, not in the least bit naturally Machia-vellian or only Machiavellian at all by sheer neces-sity, says: 'In Portugal it maysometimes be necessaryto follow Queen Christina's advice. But I am thefirst to recognize that there may perhaps be moresanity, more justice, more clarity in a large personalpower if it is well understood and wisely directed.But to use that personal power you have got to findexceptional men; they must be morally beyond re-proach, they must have a high self-discipline, theyneed a firm will, and a clear intelligence.'

I cannot resist paylng a compliment. And mean-ing it.

'Sir, are not all those very qualities found in your-self?'

'Many thanks indeed,' replies Dr. Salazar with asmile which might be either that of humility or ofpride.

In Defence of tlu RLgime

'Now isn't there', f ask, 'a certain contradictionIrt:twr-'cn what you say about political violence inPortugal and various acts of violcnce which the dic-tatorship has actually practised towards its enemics?'

'Our rCgimc', coldly answers Dr. Salazar, 'has notr []z

THE DICTATORSHIP

persecuted its enemies. fn almost every case it has

left its opponents in their posts, even to the point ofkeeping them in various important positions whichwere always considered as confidential Governmentposts. It's enough to tell you that the higher CivilServants at the head of the different ministeries are

with very few exceptions those who were there beforethe z8th of May. The dictatorship's generosity in thematter has even been criticized by its friends-andsometimes rightly! It is then quite justifiable for thedictatorship energetically to defend itself when itsgenerosity is not appreciated by its enemies, when itis abused, when it has been taken for weakness. If, forinstance, it had not been for the last revolutionarymovement our political amnesty would long ago

have been granted and perhaPs even more com-pletely.'

. Rumours of Ill Treatment

'But', I impenitently insist, 'there are some cases

of unjustifiable violence. It is said, for instance, thatpolitical prisoners have been ill-treated and beaten-up in the "Civil Governor's Department" and at theold Police Intelligence Office.'

Dr. Salazar, whose heroic fidelity to facts oughtat this moment to commend him to the respect ofevery Portuguese, answers me in the following words :

'On several occasions rumours have come to ourr83

l*' d

THE DICTATORSHIPears of cases of ill treatment. We decided one day tohave a thorough investigation, and to have thosewho had made complaints of ill treatment examinedby reputable doctors. I must tell you that in themajority of cases the prisoners had lied for the sakeof political effect; but I also desire in all honesty totell you that sometimes they had spoken the truth.In such cases immediate measures were taken, andthis was the reason for various staff changes in thepolice. All the same, it is a proof of either ignoranceor bad faith to saddle the Government with theresponsibility for those cases of ill treatment.'

'A government', I say, 'must be on the look-outnot only against bad servants but also against thosewho believe that they are its good servants.'

Salazar, without seeming to attach any impor-tance to this remark, goes on: 'All the same, I shouldtell you that we arrived at the conclusion that theprisoners who really had been ill-treated were alwaysor almost always of the class of terrorist extremists,people who manufactured bombs, and who, in spiteof all the police questions, refused to reveal wherethey had hidden their criminal and murderousweapons. It was only after the employment of vio-lence that they decided to speak the truth. I askmyself even while I put down such abuses of thepolice whether the lives of a defcnceless crowd, thclives of little childrcn, do not fully justify a littlcrough handling of half a dozcn such wretches.'

I84

THE DICTATORSHIP

The Dictator and the Crowd

I change the subject:'You have shown, sir, with extreme and almost

mathematical clearness, what a difference there is

between our Portuguese dictatorship and the Fascist

dictatorship. But mightn't we profitably draw from

the exampie of Mussolini something of the spiritualand human atmosphere that he has managed to

create in his Fascism, his contact with the crowd,

the exaltation and enthusiasm, unfailing and un-

weakening, which he keeps up in the soul of his

people? In Italy, one can almost feel the joy of new

id.ir, ideas which seem to sing as they march. Now

in Portugal we respect the work of the Minister ofFinance, we recognize the material advantages thatthe dictatorship has brought us; but with it there

goes a certain unease, unrest, a little discontentment'It's from the chilliness of atmosphere, perhaps fromthe seclusion of our Chief of State. We Portuguese

are a naturally melancholy people; we need music,

gaiety, the human touch of power if we are to shake

o.r.taiar.t free of our pessimism, our innate sadness.'

Salazar hears me out and replies without the

faintest irritation, and with the same absolute calm

as ever: 'I read your article on "The Dictator and

the Crowd", and I perfectly understand what you

mcan. You probably thought that I should be upset

by wh:rt you obviously mcant, but I am very happyt{}5

t

THE DICTATORSHIPto be able to say that you were wrong. That articlepleased me, and I quite agree with you! I am thefirst to recognize that "chilly atmosphere" of whichyou speak, and speak with absolute truth. It makesone of the most serious dangers and one of thegravest difficulties of the situation. Everything thatwe do, however unquestionably useful, falls into thevoid, into indifference, into oblivion. And still Idare to say that the work of the Portuguese dictator-ship, allowing for scale and for background, is nota whit behind that of the Italian dictatorship in itsresults and objects. But very few people realize thatthis is so, just because the advertisement of our workisn't nearly up to the standard of the work itself. Ifwe have our grumblers, then it is because we havenot been insistent enough in showing them what wehave done, are doing and are going to do.'

'But how', f ask, 'are you proposing to solve thisproblem that you admit to be so grave?'

Dr. Salazar answers with optimism and fairness:'I am relying, as I always do, on the younger

generation. It's the young people, the fresh blood,the youth which will know how to fight when ithas to; the youth full of spirit, the youth whichunderstands how to train its enthusiasm, these arethe people whose work I mustn't forget, these aremy natural collaborators who are going to give freshlife, fresh light, fresh sinews to our New State, to thenew Portugal which we are building up.'

r86

THE DICTATORSHIP

Ttu Politics of tlu PeoPh

I take advantage of this huPPy frame of mind'

'Now of course the people like to be thought of,

they like to be u-.rt.d, fussed over' "To please the

people without displeasing the upper classes", wasn't

itrri Vtu.ttiavelli's maxirn-for wise government? And

he wasn't as black as he was painted!'

'You are rightr' agrees Salazarr'and our Indus-

trial Exhibition is a proof of it. But you don't know

how difficult it is to do much with our rather apa-

thetic people, and above all with our torpid services'

I'm going to tell you something which sounds ab-

s,rrditrifl"ing, but which just shows how hard it is

for even u go*r..n*ent to achieve the simplest things

in the face-of ingrained habits. Music in my opinion

should be one of tn. greatest means for livening

up the people. I had an idea that it would be

interesting at d a good thing to engage military

bands to !i.r. "o.rctttt on Sundays and Thursdays'

perhaps, ir the parks of Lisbon and the provincial

"iti.t;-ttt.y cost money, but they are good' But-our

efforts in this direction have so far been quite useless,

and that in spite of the co-operation of the Minister

for War. So don't be surprisid if I have to go mpelfone of these days and personally look into this busi-

ness of bands and bandstands! Then I am also think-

ing of putting forward the organization of popular

.ii.-. spcctaclcs whcre people could at the same

r t|7

rl

THE DICTATORSHIPtime be educated and amused. Little bv little we aregoing to convince the people that *" irurr. them inmind, and that their happiness and well-being areone of our greatest anxieties.'

A Spiritual Polic-yt

_'Allow me, sirr' f say, ,to approach a questionwhich arises at this point and-which is of^specialinterest to me; the problem of art and letters andscience. Don't you think that this temporarily ,,chillyatmosphere", this lack of life and animation can belargely accounted for by the absence of any policy ofthe spirit, some intellectual, thought-out policy direc_ted towards the younger generation, whictr mightbring them to the surface of things, which mi[ntgive them a part in the hour of reniirrurr". which isunquestionably coming? All the great leaders, thegreat masters of nations have done it. From theMedicis to Mussolini in Italy, from Francis I toNapoleon in France, arts and letters have alwaysbeen held as instruments indispensable to the.l.vu_tion of the people and the gloiy of the age. ft's art,letters, science, that make i nation's griat fagade,the portal that the outside world has to lool at.

I Tlris was thc title ofo'e of the author's articres in the Lisbonnewspaper for which he was writing up his interviews with Dr.Salazar.- Zrs.

THE DICTATORSHIP

Now in our Portugal, sad to say, this policy of thespirit, which has been followed by so many of ourPortuguese kings, so many of our gleat statesmen,has in the last fifty years been grievously neglectedby our authorities. Certainly we have a budget thatbalances, we've got roads, we are almost free ofdebt, we are getting good credit abroad, we havesome quite fine municipal worls, an industry whichis beginning to spread its wings. But nothing has sofar been done for letters, for sculpture; they arestifling because they can't escape our milieu, can'twiden their horizon. The Sdo Carlos Opera ffouse,so full of traditions of the past, is closed to music.The problem of the National Theatre, which de-served some attention from you, has been only par-tially dealt with, and on the whole dealt with ratherbadly than well! We haven't a single advancedtheatre, not one literary theatre, just because theState will not even consider the idea of any subsidy.We once had three symphony orchestras. This year,not even one for appearance's sake! And then ourliterary turnover is very weak and halting. But youmust forgive me. I see that I am getting away fromthe point, that I'm rather running away with myselfon a subject of very special interest to me, a subjectto which I am devoted.'

Dr. Salazar has the rare quality of knowing howto listen, of letting cnthusiasts have their say. Nowhe oncc nlore agrccs witlr mc.

t [k;r88

tr

THE DICTATORSHIP

'ft's all true, too true. It is a question we feel hasgot to be taken in hand. Because, as you say inyour eulogy of "Spiritual Politics", the nation'satmosphere can only be raised and brightened bythe arts and sciences. But you mustn't forget thatit is only just now that our economic position hasallowed us even to begin to think of things like this.Don't forget how behindhand we found ourselves invarious absolute necessities which had to come beforeeven the cult of art, even though beauty may be afood indispensable to the soul! You wouldn't haveme commission a statue or a painting for our Gov-ernment Offices when I tell you that when I wentto the Ministry of Finance some of the rooms hadleaky roofs that let the rain in just as badly as if wehad been outside in the street! All these questionsmust be classified and dealt with in their right order.It's absurd to measure a man for a dress-suit whenhe hasn't got a shirt. And, too, it isn't the State'sbusiness to do everything; personal initiative can doplenty for this renaissance of the arts. And so I amwondering if our publishers-'

'I am not defending the publishers,' I say. 'ft istrue that our Portuguese publishers have an exag-geratcd rcspect for authors with a name, and thatthcy will scldom take the risk of launching a newnamc, a ncw pcrsonality. But we mustn't blamethem too much. And don't forgct, sir, the extremelyheavy rlutics on imported papcr! And isn't thc

r9()

THE DICTATORSHIPMinister of Finance responsible for those duties!'

Dr. Salazar laughs: 'I shall have to let him knowabout that!'

I take advantage of this excellent opportunity ofunburdening myself: 'Besides literature, there's thestage, music, painting, the position of young artists.'

'All these questions', promises Salazar, 'will besettled, slowly but certainly. What I did for the Na-tional Theatre was undoubtedly very little, but I didtry, anyway, to relieve the management of the cost ofrepairs which were laid down in their contract andwhich made the life of the directors not worth living.I agree too thatwe shall have to bring the Sio CarlosOpera House to life again in keeping with all its oldtraditions. This defence of our heritage of the arts isone of the dictatorship's gravest tasks, and probablyone of its least known. The meticulous and almostreligiously careful restoration of all those thingswhich we were losing, or had already nearly lost, hasbeen our ceaseless object. First the cathedrals, thenthe castles, the military monuments. The museums,the national palaces. Queluz, Mafra, the two SintraPalaces, Ajuda, the Necessidades, they still wantthree or four years' work on them and thousands ofpounds to put them right and beautify them.'

'Forgive me,' f say, 'but while of course it is rightand proper to think of looking after our artistic heri-tagc of the past, I'd remind you that it's quite as

propcr ancl pcrhaps cven morc important to lookI {) |

THE DICTATORSHIP

after the present-day art. It ought to be a part ofour national growth, to be an expression of ourpresent. I know of a couple of dozen young men,full of talent and youth, looking out eagerly for achance of being useful to their country and hopingthat the State may notice them. You will forgive meif once again f quote from Mussolini: "For us", hesaid, "art is a very first essential, an absolute neces-sity to our life, our proper humanity."'

Salazar is broad-minded enough to show himselfopen to every suggestion.

'We agree then,' he says. 'Thought and intellectmust never be stopped. We must stimulate them,give them a progressive movement. Go and tell thoseyoung men of yours that they need have no fears.They have only got to wait a little.'

The True Defence d Solitude

I now close this parenthesis, which I had thoughtout beforehand and which I had made rather a longone on purpose. And now I go back to the importantquestion of thc relation between the dictatorship andthc man in thc strcet.

'Some people', I say, 'attribute the lack of enthu-siasnt ol'thc prcscnt situation, its lack of the humantouch, to your pcrsonal isolation. Now is this apriv:rtr: trait of yours or is it a political defence?'

r92

THE DICTATORSHIP'Both guesses are truer' Salazar tells me with the

kindly smile of a man prepared to put up with eventhe most indiscreet questionings! ,It ls really adefence, but one that costs nothing because it fits invery well with my personal habits. Formal calls,long conversations about nothing in particular,wordy, drawn-out talls, all that is a failing commonboth to men and women. We Portuguese are a raceof born talkers, useless talkers, and more especiallywhen we have nothing much inside us. We shouldget on well, the country and I, if I had to receiveeverybody who wanted just to talk to me, to putforward his own special circumstances! I shouldcertainly never have been able to do the work Iam supposed to have done. I should never havebeen able to settle most of those personal caseswhich, when they are genuine, always really involvemeasures of general public order. I cannot conceivehow it can be possible for a minister to go here,there, and everywhere; to take the chair at dinners,to be at all sorts of ceremonies, solemn meetings, tobe_ ready for every kind of festival and receplion.After all that, where is he going to find time for any

ryork, for his own job! Wouldn't the country havethe right to accuse us of neglecting our mission, ofleaving national and State affairs, simply for a bitof totally useless pomp and ceremonylt

Pcrsonally I agrcc with Salazar. All the same, fwill risk throwirrg a littlc lucl on thc fire!

II {):J

THE DICTATORSHIP

'I understand how painful waste of time must be

to the statesman..fo,mer; but mightn't it be as well

iust from time to time to lend an ear to humanity

'."J rit "Usurd

grievances? Probably all trifles' but

wouldn't you get nearer to reality that way?'llt isn't'rrr.rily a question of waste of time' It's a

defence of the *orui order, a matter of principle,'

;.pilt Dr. Salazar eagerly, arxious to settle it once

for all. .The mast.' *ho wants to be a just master,

*ho i, trFng to see his country's mentality reborn'

ft"-."Sttai't To feel his hand hesitate when he has to

make"a decision, or when he has to sign a decree

p.rhup, making or breaking somebody he knows as

'u-fri.rra, someLody at whose home he has eaten'

with whom he has often chatted''

I quickly put in: 'Then those people -are

wrong

*fro1fti"f.'you just cold and inhuman' You really

have human tendencies! Ottly, your intelligence

;;;;dt you to shut yourself "^p

fb: self-defence''

Dr. Saia"ar, with the air of ending the matter:

'If you like to Put it that waY''

And still I go on: 'But cannot this isolation of

Vo,rru U. a bu.rl", to direct knowledge of life' d9:t1"

it t"r,d towards an inflexibitity which can spoil the

Jictatorship's work, Put it out of touch with

humanitY?'- S-,tt lir. Salazar-and his saying it is going very

considcritbly to ovcr-wcight his futurc mail-bag: 'Idorr't think so. I know cvcrything that is going on

I94

THE DICTATORSHIP

outside, and even everything that is said; and justbecause I never or hardly ever do give interviewsto anybody I have more time to read everythingwhich people write to me, or to have secretaries readit. I have time to go into all the reasonable com-plaints made to me. In every Portuguese there exists

not merely a man perpetually anxious to make use

of his right to put his case before the public autho-rities, but also a born letter-writer; I am usuallyquite aufait with everybody's troubles! Let me tellyou something. The science and art of ruling apeople do not depend on a minute knowledgeof incidents. Men who are accustomed to studythings out and think them over have no need oftoo many facts before they get their bearings;they look instead for characteristic facts, a fewtypical reactions of human intelligence and sen-

sibility, they get to the bottom of them and taketheir guidance from them. Men really vary verylittle and the Portuguese hardly at all. Sometimeswhen I have a scrap of leisure I dip into FatherAntonio Vieira.r Do you know, whether in Brazilor Portugal, at St. Louis de Maranhdo, in theChapel Royal, or in the Lisbon MisericordiaChurch, that man allowed himself observations onpolitics and public affairs, so cynical, so audacious,that I doubt if to-day's censorship would ever pass

I A famous Jesuit preacher, and a classical writer of his age( r6o8-tl7).

t 1)lr

THE DICTATORSHIP

them for your Diario de Noticias! A century earlierthere had been Jodo de Barrosr and FernioMendes Pinto2 writing too. I often think of theirpictures of the Indies, of Brazil, of Portugal, and Icompare then with now, the sixteenth and seven-teenth centuries with the twentieth. The weak-nesses of our system, the blemishes of our mentality,of our education both public and private, theyhaven't changed. If it wouldn't seem almost a joke,you could take bits of that Jesuit father's sermonsand set them as a modern foreword to the Decreeforbidding the accumulation of public posts.

Unemplo2rnent, Public Relief, Begging

The subject is now exhausted, and I have to ownmyself beaten.

'I understand your position,' f say, 'and I hadalready anticipated the arguments which wouldjustify your aloofness. But can't there be other waysof establishing some contact between the dictator-ship and the people?'

Dr. Salazar goes on quickly: 'To do that indepen-dently of the propaganda which I feel necessarywould be to solve the most urgent questions, as forinstance that of unemployment.'

t A sixteenth-century historian (t496-r57o).2 r5og-Bo. Author of The Pilgrimage, a famous work of the

Portugucsc classical age, halfrcality and halffantasy.r96

THE DICTATORSHIP'Do you think that settled?''ft's hard to say at the moment. your Machiavelli

used to have it that "The maxim of wise men of ourday is to wait for the blessings of time!" What I cantell you is that our Portuguese experiment with theunemployed has been the most intelligent and origi-nal so far tried. The dole without any work in retuinis d_emoralizing to the individual, it makes him idle,shiftless, totally useless to society. Whereas the dolein exchange for so much work doesn,t get the manout of his natural habit of life and at the same timethe country is so much better off by the doing oreven the beginning of public works which u.. rrr.frlto everybody. In this way the unemployment tax$o9s1't press so hard on the taxpayei; not only isit helping to heal a social sore which irritates himbll l is further giving him the improvements forwhich he has been asking.,

'There still remains,, f san .to frighten people andto furnish dangerous weapons to the dictatorship,senemies the startling problem of begging as well asthe alarming question of the shortagi of beds in ourhospitals. These, sir, are two very vulnerable pointson which you are open to attack from your enemies.'

^ -'Your second problem', explains Salazarr.is in afair way to being solved. But we,ve still got thequestion of bcgging. Perhaps it's the more painfulbecausc it's the morc obvious; and foreigners andcvcrr tlre P<lrtrrg,r'st: llrr:rrrsr:lvcs :rr(: maclc to think

r ()7

THE DICTATORSHIPthat behind the wretchedness which advertises,which makes it painful to pass through our citystreets, there must be more misery which is hiddenbut which must be wide-spread. But the idea allthe same is wrong. Our begging is not a sign ofpoverty; it's more a vice, because most of ourbeggars are not really in need at all. The businessis not nearly as serious as people imagine, exceptso far as our begging is exploited by rogues; thequestion can be solved if we tackle it with a will byseriously punishing the sham beggars, by sendinghome the beggars who don't really belong to Lisbon,by placing the rest, the genuine cases, in the alreadyexisting poor-houses and in the new ones which willhave to be set up to get rid of this particular trouble.I know that this is the idea of the Chief of Police,who has been giving his best attention to this beg-ging business."

Both of us are now tired of it, I of asking questionsand Dr. Salazar of having obediently to answerthem. It's getting towards evening, and we haveworked enough for one day! I am just saying good-bye when I hear Dr. Salazar's voice asking me aquestion in turn.

I Actually the begging question has been settled since thisconversation, and nowadays there are next to no beggars inPortugal. Those incapable of any work at all were settled intwo big 'Rest Camps'. The question of hospital beds was solvedby the building of two big ncw hospitals, one in Lisbon andone in Oporto.

I98

THE DICTATORSHIP

'Tell me, if you don't think it awkward, what'sthe object underneath all these questions?'

And without an instant's hesitation I give up mysecret. 'To put before your intelligence and honesty,all the buts of the situation, whether actual or ima-ginary; and at the same time to clear up any per-sonal doubts I might have in my own mind.'

'Have you, then, plenty more stones to throw atme?'

'I have a few,' I say, 'if you are still willing toserve as a target.'

'I shall be quite ready for you.''Then, sir, until to-morrow.'

1

tII

i:;!-II.+fnI'i

I l)!)

THE

CHAPTER FIVE

POETRY OF NUMBERS

fili, i, Dr. Salazar's house. The door opens, and atonce and without any other doors, without any con-cealing curtains, we are straight inside the Ministerof Finance's modest study, his more than modeststudy! Here's just a sort of sofa with very ordinarycushions, a pile of papers stacked up on a bit of atable like a sort of Leaning Tower of Pisa. There isa bookcase and there are three pictures; there wereonly three, so I can remember them very well in-deed. There is the Sacred Heart ofJesus, there is theprint of Plantin's famous Le Bonheur de ce Monde, andthere is a pleasant portrait of an old lady. In thecentre of the tiny stage is Dr. Salazar's chair, withits back to the window; and here is Dr. Salazar'sdcsk, his tidy and careful laboratory with two orthrcc bits of work on hand, papers which have justbccn rcacl. And hcrc is Dr. Salazar sitting at hisclcsk; instcarl of a firc or cvcn an oil-stovc hc has :tnrg t'outxl lrim, :rnrl not a partictrlarly thick onr'.

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

Further to protect himself from the cold while he isworking he is wearing his overcoat.

On the Amnzst2 and Defence

I am to sit near the desk, and here is Dr. Salazarwaving me to the visitors' chair. There is rather along and awkward silence. My programme for to-day is to touch on a delicate subject, and I am alittle uneasy and frightened of beginning it.

Salazar seems to sense the difficulty and opens theway for me. 'You seem', he says, 'a trifle worried!'

I take my courage in my hands, rather as a childshuts its eyes to swallow nasty medicine!

'The recent decrees', I say, 'on the amnestyt 21dthe defence of the New State haven't been particu-larly well received. There are malcontents on bothsides.'

Said Salazar, not in the least surprised:'I knew that when I took the order to the PresidentI This was an Order ofAmnesty to all political prisoners and

lnigrh with the exception of fifty persons who had practicallybeen at the bottom of all the agitation. The Portuguese Armythought that it saw a danger in the &nigr| return and a risk ofbeing forced to take up arms again against the enemies of thenew State. -I'he lmigrCs and their friends, on their side, blamedthe Govcrnment for excluding the fifty names, and protestedngainst thc I)cfcncc ()rder llcing prornulgated at thc same timens tlrr: amncsty.

2() I

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

for his signature. I even warned him. It was inevi-table that the extremists of both ends should dislikethe measure. But the heart of the country received itwell.' And seeing a slight doubt in my eyes, he wenton: 'Be sure about that.'

I press my point: 'Some people proless to find theamnesty useless. They would have liked it private,without any showy decrees.'

'I knowr' says Salazar. 'Those are the same peoplewho don't want the Government at all, who don'twant the Constitution, who don't really know whatthey do want. But we didn't agree with them, andwe found that these men, in prison or deported orexiled, most of them never tried at all, had a rightto the law of their country, a right to a legal settle-ment of their cases.'

'Thenr' I say, 'there are complaints that theamnesty is of no real political advantage, beingincomplete and leaving out fifty names.'

Dr. Salazar seems a little cold! 'It was the Govern-mcnt and the Government alone who was compe-tcnt to decide what attitude it should adopt in eachscparate case. Those people who are left out of theamncsty have been guilty of grave crimes whichthcy havc not yet expiated. They were the peoplcwho lcd the rcvolutionary movement in Madeiraand thc colonics; they are the eternal agitators, thcfatal trotrblc-makcrs in our system. Each of thcir(:ascs w:rs t:;rrt'frrlly gonc into, and I assurc you that

202

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

nobody was unjustly penalized and that nobody wasfavoured.'

'The friends of the New State are alittle frightenedby this mass return of the Cmigris. Some of the men-to it is said-are incorrigible agitators by profession,and have become quite used to the subsidies whichthe State has granted them as a condition of livingaway from the capital. Consequently it is feared thatthere may be an attempt at a new revolution.'

'The Army isn't afraid!' cuts in Salazar withvigour.

I have to lower my eyes for my next speech! 'Butit appears that the Army itself isn't quite satisfiedwith things. It's certain that it's got to fight someday, but it would rather fight all its enemies at once.'

Salazar smiles his own private smile, throughwhich seems to run a whole string of hidden emo-tions. 'I understand the attitude of the PortugueseArmy and am not astonished at that point of view.It's quite natural that it should be frankly anxiousfor a fight. But it's the Government which doesn'twantthc fight. What good does it do, with its sacrificesand its useless expenditure?'

'Then you don't think that the amnesty will turnitsclf to the disadvantage of the New State?'

'Evcry precaution has been taken against thatlrappcning,' says Salazar laconically.

'Arc you referring to thc second decree, that oflhe l)cfcncc of thc ltt:alm? Plcnty of pcople find

203

THE POIITRY OF- NUIvIRIIRS

llrirt rather on the strong side , severe in the extreme.'Says Salazar, addressing himself mainly and there-

lirrc most sparing of his words to me! 'Perhaps. But:rfit:r all we are nearly limited by the simple wish tolrrirrg together all points of view as they alrcady exist.( )rr thcse men's return w'e shall have to remind themllr:rt wc are reinstating them with very great pleasureirr tlrc peaceful life of the country, that we are grant-irrg thcm the fullest possible security, giving them:rlrsolutc freedom of work; but we are not in anywly putting them back in thcir old capacity oflcvolutionarics or conspirators. Any of them withirk::rs of that sort, or acting at all in that way, run a

risk of not spending the New Year with us!'

'flrc Q3testion of Education

'l'lrl( srrlljr:r:t tltrashcd out, I consult my mentalclrirrl ol'1-l'oblt'trts so far untouched. After a few

sccorrtls ol'Ircsitlrtiotr betwccn scveral questions ofcrlrrrl irrtct't'st to lnc:, I finally decide on that ofcr lr rt'lr t iotr.

'Norv orrt' o{'tlrt' urcltt clt:tt'gcs brought against thcrlir l:rlorslrip', I srry,'is tlutt of its theoretical detach-rrrcrrI li orrr tIrc gr';rv(' 1rt'oblt'rtt ol'illitcracy. They say,

li rr inst:rtrcr', llr;tt tlrt: (lovt:r'ttlttt:l'tt hasn't spcnt ott

crlrrr':rliorr rvlr:rl it lrlrs spt'rtt ott ctltttr suljccts pt'r'-lr:r1rs l.'ss irrrlrot llrnl :trrtl L'ss ttrgt'trt; :ts ltat'lrottt's,

'l( )'l

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

ships, and so forth. Do you see any grounds for thesechargcs?'

Dr'. Salazar looks at me rather as one looks at anauglrty school-child and sets himsellto instruct me,to givr: mc a lesson:

'llt'fbrc anything else, I would say that the dicta-torslrip lras done more in six years for cducation thanthe oltl party governments did in twenty years. Acarclirl reorganization of the teaching services wasenorrglr in itsclf to give results which previous ad-ministrations had never attained. We grumble, dowe, llr;rt thcrc aren't enough schools? Well, it looksas tlrorrglr thcre were too many schools, seeing thatwhcrr tlrc dictatorship took up its work a large pro-porliorr of thcm had been for a long time withoutany tclr:lrt:r's! Nowadays we have at least no schoolsshut rlorvrr, arrcl for thc last few years we have beenbuiklirrg- rrrorr: of thcm. To show you the continualintcrrst which wc give to this question it will beenorrglr lirr rnc to say that the budget for primarycdrl irliorr lrts this vcry year been increased by nearly(ifty tlrorrs:rnrl pouncls, quitc a jump if you look attlrr: r rrls rrrrtlt: irr thc othcr ministrics. Where, then,lit:s orrr irrrlilli'r't:nr:t., our ncglcct of education! It'sjusl worrls, :rlwirys worrls! Pcoplc want tclling abouttlrirrg:1, llrcy w;rrrl :tt'r'rrnrtt: inftrrrtration.'

Irl;rrc lo lrrcss rrry rlrrcstiorr:'lirt <lo thcsc pallia-livcr rrccrrr lo yorr srrllir iclrli' livr.rr il';trt'viorrs gc)vcrll-Iucrrl:r \\'('r'('( orrlcrrl rtr,'r.ly lo sl;rrr<l still, rvlry cirtr't

,.1 t t.rl

THE POETRY OF NUMRERS

y()u run now, instead ofjust walking? Weren't yonirrtcrcsted in the campaign against illiteracy run bytlrc l)iario de Noticias? Don't you think that Portugalcorrl<l consider a Five-Year Plan to liquidate illitcr-:tt:y?t

lialazar is as practical, as mathematical-minded:ui ('v('r: 'It is sure that we can't fold our arms andrlo Irothing in the face of this grave question whichis so intimately bound up with the work of renais-s;ur('(' which we are undertaking. But if '*'e are toirrrivr: at any tangible result, if we are really anxiouslo liglrt illitcracy, if we have our own Portuguese inrrrirrrl :rn<l not just English ideas, thcn we shall havelo lrltt:r' thc whole scheme. If we are not practicalrrrrrl rc:rsonablc, if we go on with ideas that are toolirrr: firr rrs, with afolie de grandeur, then it will taketrtot'<' tlr:rrr any budget cuts to solve our problem.'

'Wlr:tt', I ask, 'would you do in that case?''l lrrv<: y()u lrny iclca, really, what we are spending

otr lr':rr:lrcrs ftlr thc clcmentary schools?' And reallyI lr;rv<'lr't.

l)r'. Srrllrz.irrtzrkes dolvn a book, and makescertainoflris liurrlcs lry rr:[i:rring to thc State Budget: 'Roughlytrittc lrtrrr<lt't'<l llrorrs:rrrtl ponnds. So ifyou put an ele-tttcttl;u'), lcru'lrt'r' irr cvcry village or petty hamlctrvlrctr' :rl pn'st'rrt tlrt:r't: isrr't ol)c, you instantly jumlryottt' ligrrrc rrp lo llrrt't: or lorrr million ltounds, a tot:Illllrir lr llrc lrrr<lg('t ol':r srrlrll t'otrrrtt'y likc our owrr

ittsl rvotr'l sllrrrtl.'.1'lrt'rr you itt[r[ tlrc btrilclirtgs ol

::rr(i

THE POETRY OF NUMBERScnough schools for your programme, and their costr;ouldn't be less than five or six million more pouncls.I would remind you, too, that these figures and esti-rnates are all bascd on the present scale of salaries-:tnd that the teachers would like them raised. Now,if we are going to give them what they,d like and ifwc are going to increase staffs to the point whereilliteracy can be wiped out, I'll just liave you tothink of where we should find ourselves! But enoughof fairy tales. I'll defy any one to solve the educationquestion in that way.'

'How, then, would you set about solving it?, I am:wking with a certain curiosity. Salazar answers mewith the assurance of a man who has quite clear-cutirlcas on his subject.

'By looking at the problem in the very simplestrv:ry, without any of the wildly grand ideas whichlr:rvr: spoiled all our efforts so far, which have just leftcvcrytliing half-done. It is obviously impossible forrrs to build all the schools wc are shori of on thelirx's on which we have already been building,s;x:ncling pcrhaps five or six thousand pounds oncrtt:lr. Btrt if instead of any five or six thousand poundswc spt'nd filtccn hundred or two thousand poundson clrt'lr, thcn our problcrn would be at once reducedlo llrirrk;rlrlc ltr.oltortions. ft,s a drcam, be sure ofllrrrt, li rl' .s t, hrr.rrislr ('v.ry rr:r,totc hamlct with a.r'r lilit ;rlr'<l lr.;r.lrr.r.. Wlry lr'l lr:;rvr. th<: r:.rlificatcdlr';r.lr.r's l, rIr. lliq r't'rrtr'('s, r() tlrr.r.iti.s, rlrr: t,tvnlcts,

'.ltr7

l

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

the villages of a certain size, and why not for theIramlets, for every remote little parish just set upsorne sort of teaching-post which could be workcdlry paying somebody a small part-time salary, as itlvcrc? That, I think, would be the only practicablelirrrnula for solving our problem and for givingcvcrybody in our country a little reading, writing,;rrrrl ;rrithmetic, just one step towards the educationol'tlrt: nation.'

I r:irn't resist putting up a doubt: 'Are you not just:r trillc optimistic on that plan in its broad lines?'

'No, thcrc's no undue optimismr' says Salazarpositivt:ly. 'It's neither an experime nt nor an originalitlt:u. It's the plan of the poor countries. That's thew:ry tlurt thc Norwegians taught themselves how tol't':rrl.'

'I'lrcn, with rcgret in his eyes, he recallcd withcrnoliorr a paqc of his own childhood: 'When I cameto tlrr'l)r'()l)cr agc to learn to read', said Dr. Salazar,'l rvlts scrrt to tlrt: clcmcntary school at Santa Comba.lhrt llrcnr n't:r'c too many children for the tcacher tolrc olir lr ltlrlt: to givc mc a lesson. So my father, notplr';rscrl lx:t:urrsc I clidn't seem to be getting on, tooknr('ir\vily ll'orrr tlrlrt school zrncl sent me to be taught1,1 ;r littlc rrrrrr wlro gavc privatc lessons in a corncrol'lris r olt:rgt'. 'l'lrt'r'r: wclt: pcrhaps thirty of us chil-rlr crr, .rrrrl clrclr 1l:ritI itt rrrost orrc-:rncl-tlrrcepcncc irrrrorrllr. 'l'lrc rrurrr rvls gcttin{r, tlrt:rr, just ovcl tl-rirty-sr'\'('n slrillirrgs rr rrrotttlr, sliglrtly lcss than a cr:rtili-

Ioll

TTIE, POET'RY OII NUNII]EITS

cated elementary teacher's salary of that day. That'shorv I r,r'as taught to read at a rustic forerunner oftlre very samc teaching-posts I have in mind; it couldkeep itsclf with no Statc subsidy at all, aud norvadaysit would bc casier for the Statc to make some smallqrant.t

I am looking lvith instinctive respect on this dicta-tor who has to go the peoplc's way bccause he him-sclf comes from the peoplc. Ancl in a single questionI am making hirn rctrace thc entire road rvhichstarted in that Santa Comba cottagc where helcarned to read and which lcd him to the Ministryof Finance, where he has taken in hand the task oftcaching a nation to rule itself.

Financial Work

'I)o you consider', I ask, 'your financial task at an,'trtli"

l)r'. Salazar looks at me ironically! 'No chancel-lor''s lask is evcr finished. That's thc tragedy, theirrr:r'ss:urt anxiety of any l\{inister of Financc. A[\lirristcr of Public Works cau lay down a govern-rrrcrrt pt'oeliuln-lc rvith ltalf a clozcn schemes essentiallo llrc rr:ttiorral lift:, aircl once his schemes are com-

lllclcrl lrc looks rrllort Iris l)roqr:tlltmc as more or less at.rrr cnrl. At lt';rst rvlurt ltt: lurs rlottt: t't'ttt:titrs cltlnc!ButIrrr;urr'r's, otr llrc ollrcl' lrrttrtl, :tt't' ltlrvity's itt t:rlttrst: of

'-l( x )

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

development. The tiniest loss of balance, the smallestthing going wrong, and in a moment the work ofmany years may be all upset. A State budget is adelicate balance, swinging with the lightest touch,always subject to the faintest movements betweendr.f"it and surplus.'

I feign an attack, just to see what the defence wilibe, the defence of his finance.

'Some people are saying, and apparently withrnore or less reason, that while the Portuguese nationhas become richer, thanks to the wonderful work ofits Finance Minister, the individual Portuguese re-rnuins poor, almost a pauper.'

Salazar parries smartly: 'It's the old accusation,tlrc stone which they're always throwins whenevertlrt:y fcel like an attack on the work of the FinanccMinistry! It originated just after I first went to thcMinistry ancl it is still going on.'

'l[', I s:ry, 'it's a charge that annoys you, why nottakt: :rdvantagc of this chance of putting a stop toir1"

Poor Citizen, Wealtlry State

'(lonrr: :tlong, thcn,' agrecs Salazar good-hunr-orrt'r'rlly rrrrtlg<'ttirrq <krwn to his sulljcct. 'A country's('(:()lr()nry :rrr<l lirr:urr:c c:rn only ternporarily lr,'sr'plrr':rlctl ()r' ()l)l)()s(:rI to circlr cltlrcr. Pa.ymcrrt ol

2lo

THE POETRY OF NUMBERSrr;rtional debts, road-construction, and other publicinrprovements, all the expenses which go to stabilizerrrrrl build up a country, far from impoverishing arr;rlion, turn, if the money is wisely spent, into cer-lrrirr :rsscts, indisputable assets, items on the creditnirlr of the ledger. Certainly in the transition periodtlrr gruclling discipline can in practice lower theirrrliviclual's purchasing power, but the loss is alwaysrrr;ult: up for by the advantages of a strict and honestnrlrrrinistration. The example of England at this mo-nrctrlr illustrates the point. Dividends have fallen,rlrrtics lutvc gone higher, War Loan is converted,It lr:rs :rll considerably diminished the spendingIxlw('r' o['thc individual Englishman, bringing himlu tlrr. point ola monetary crisis. Very well! But thatrr,,rrrrlcr'(irl n:rtion has no grumbles, for it is sure of itsIrrlrrrr', it krrows vcry well that its national financialf rol{r'iunnrc is drawn up with the special object oflrtvoilt'iilg its national economy. And now, switchingr'll'lirrrrr l,)rrgland to thc Santa Comba village school,rr'lrrlrl y()u (;:u'(-.lor a definite case; a trifling case, butr

1 r r i I r. r'or rvi rrt:i ng likc all trifling cases? Say that a man

lr,rn llvo srrr:rll :rllotmcnts of ground, one being severalIrhrrrrr.lrr.s liorn tlrt: othcr. Now properly to cultivate,'rrr, r,l'lris littlc propt.rtics, thc onc right away fromtlr,r,ill;r1qr., lrr: lurs to gct his manurc from his otherlrll rrl';rrr csl;rlr.. Yr.s, lrrrt llrt: t:artagc of that manurerl,r'r lr rllr.:rtllirl rrxr<l lirll ol'r'rrts :tnd holes used to

I Irr Ig'3,;. 'l r.r.

'.f l I

,lfl

THE POETRY OF NUMBERStake him three times as long as it takes him to-day,with the road properly made up and all repaired.And, besides, one often hears people in the countrysay that they too have their sacrifices to make, butthat they are fairer about it all, less bitter thanpeople are in Lisbon. "We don't so much mindpa)'lng our taxesr" they say, "for wc can watchwhere our halfpennies go." From that, I think f canlearn a lesson. In the village the labourer can cleariysee the advantages of the State doing things bycheapening production; but in the city you think firstof the position of the official or the lawyer, the manwhose salary is reduced so much by the taxes. youget two points of view, two types of critics. It isobvious that we have got a bad season to livcthrough, just the phase in which our finance andour economy seem to clash; but we are coming tothc time when they will be reconciled, when theywill unite to bring wealth to the nation and weil-bcing to the individual.'

7-1rc'Surltlus' and tlu Fiscal Policy

'Sornt: prcoplt:', I put it to I)r. Salazar, ,are, shall Isity, irnpt'r'tiur:rrt cnorrgh to profcss thcrnselvcs lr['-lr'orrlctl lry:r lnrrlgt:t srrr'plrrs ola nrillion and a lr;rlllxrrrrrrls rtl rt tirrrt. wlrt.rr lili: is vt:r.y rliflicult for.rr:t

,) I ')

THE POETRY OF NUMBE,RS

and when the nation is still being askcd to makeheavy sacrifices.'r

Dr. Salazar fields my bomb neatly and apparentlywithout any fear of its exploding in his hands:

'It's the fable of the old man, his son, and thedonkey. If instead of a surplus we had a deficit, thenpopular indignation would naturally object to thedeficit. But things bcing as they are, I might as welltcll you something about that surplus, which hasn'tquite the stability you think it has, which doesn'trncan that there's a permanent wealth, and whichrlocsn't signify that the nation's normal receipts arent all beyohd its needs. It has been a bad year, andround about April I was fearing that I should have toslrow a deficit; and it would have been at least as

l:rlgc as what we had to spend on putting down thelt:volts in Madeira ancl Lisbon. So I went round tight-cnirrg things here up a bit, squeezing things there, un-lil in the cnd I found myselfwith asurplus which hadlrr:r:n quitc unexpected even by myself! That surplus,I lrcrr, rlocsn't correspond at all to the normal budget.'l'lrc luture is God's, and we can't say what's goinglo lr:rp1>cn. Ilut it's quitc possible that our surplusrrr;ry lr:rvr: to be uscd to make up lor some futurerlclir it wlrir:h wc shan't bc able to avoid.'

I :rrrr rrot giving up my point yct, and I press myrlrrcsliorrs:

|'l'lrc I'r,r'lrrt',rrsc olir',in:rl lrrrs tlris stu'lrltts:ts l5<l,ooo eozloJ.( il. lr,rrrsl;rt,,t's rrrtlt', l)irll(' ?7'i.

-t r :l

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS'The taxpayers read with joy the news of your

surplus, thinking that at last the moment had comewhen they n'ould be relieved of some of the taxeswhich press so hard on them, as, for irstance, thePublic Safety Tax.'

Dr. Salazar robs us ofsome of our hopes, but givesus fresh ones.

'The State', he says, ,will be able to let the tax-pay_er off only when the estimates of the presentBudget as well as probable future estimates of e*pen-diture can be met in full by a diminished revenue!Now on the credit side we have some small items,but at present they are so trifling, so restricted, thaiwe hardly know how to use them, they,re so small.

Ioy y"rg talking with great enthusiasm about your"spiritual politics", which you were so much inlovc with and which I myself think quite necessary.Now, for instance, let's take the items budgeted forto lturchasc works of art for the various -rrr.rrn,:rrxl gallcries; we have them in hand, just becausetlrt:y'rc so small that they,re seldom ,p.rrt, the wholekrl :rs a rulc coming to less than the price of a singlelirst-<:l:rss picturc. Well, the same thing is going inwith crl*:ation, public relief, war material, iviaiior,,ollici:rls' s:rl:rrit:s--which, by the way, as they verylightly conrplain, are too small! But irom all this it;s:r v('r'y lorru way yr:t to tlx: point whcn we shall havcpropt'r'ly s:rtislictl tlrc rnost urgcnt public necds. Brrt:rp:rll li'orrr llris I :rrrr alw:tys applying onc principlc

2t4

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

both in my particular Ministry and in every branchof the national service; it's a principle quite dcar tome because it obviously works. Let us call it theprinciple of concentration. Instead of a dispersion,cverywhere and of everything, let's have a concen-tration of intelligence, of efforts, of material meansfor a definite end in view. Instead of a vacillatingpolicy of whims and wishes, let's have a programmealways mapped out so as to be completed in a cer-tarin definite time and with means sufficient to carryit through in full. The same system of idcas tends tornake me a partisan of financial concentration, evenof a certain severity in money matters; not in therlircction of a taxation which would crush the indi-vidual, but a taxation strong enough to make himlrr:rce himself, a condition of progress essential fortlrc collective benefits which can be created. A well-:rrlrninistered taxation, a carefully guarded taxation,r:arr be just like the money which accumulates in astot:king by putting coin to coin. Spend the coins onelry onc, and you get nothing for them; they vanishlikr: smokc. Put the money by with more money,kct:p it for the benefit of the community, and it canslrow a bigger return, a more visible return. If theSl:ttc wcrc to free the individual of his liability forlirxcs, if it wcre to trust the individual to start hisowrr prrblit: scrviccs, his own matcrial improvements,llrcrr wt: slrorrlrl vcry qrrir:kly inclccd be back in the( irrt'rlcrr ol'l')rlt:tr rlrrys rvillr ;rll tlrr: swcctncss of primi-

,-l I ..1

ilt"

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

tive times! The individual within a State alwaysproceeds on the convenient notion that the nationgoes on by a series of miracles. Only, if no publicservices exist, if nothing is ever done, then the indi-vidual hastens to blame the State, while at the sametime refusing for his part to supply it lr'ith any meansto do anything worth doing. He never seems to thinkof making up for the State's poverty of resources orenergy by using for the good of the community andhimself his own savings or his own energy. So thesolution must be to drag out of the individual suchtaxes as at bottom won't hurt him very much butwhich can, when properly uscd, turn into a sourceof wealth and prosperity.'

Here is the telephone ringing. A long conversationis going on, apparently with the Governor or one ofthe Vice-Governors of the Bank of Portugal. It seemssomething about a sale of dollars. They are arguingfigures and prices. Salazar ends up with: 'We willsay then, at 33.ro.'

I can guess protests from the other end, becausehere immediately is the voice of our Minister ofFinance, quite amiable and absolutely decisive!'What do you mean, unreasonable! I'm not throw-ing away this money! You're richer than I am,you people!' And whcn Salazar says 'I' it maclcme think, I swear-always allorving for thc diffcr-ence between the glorics of Vcrsailles and thc moclcstlittle house in thc Rtra clo Funr:hal-of Louis XIV

qrG

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

and his famous 'The State? It is I!' Only this differ-

ence. Louis was the State that was above the State'

Dr. Salazar is also at this very moment the State,

but the State that is the servant of the State, the

slave of the State.They have finishecl telephoning now, and I profit

by the occasion, by the idea that the conversation

gave me, to put a question that is very bold but

which is extremelY to the Point.

The Portuguese Budget aersus tlte Budget d a

Portuguese!

'They have it against you', I say, 'that you measure

thc budget of ail Portuguese, whatever might be their

vicws of[f., by your own personal budget, by your

own exceptionally sober privatc wants' But there is

:rnothcr life, a brilliant and apparently superfluous

lifc of useless expenses' which is all the same inti-rrratcly bound up with a nation's life and even withits prrigrcss. Are you going, for instance, to refuse to

tlx, man who has, whatever his condition, worked

frorn morning till night, are you refusing him the

riglrt. to amusc himself, going to a theatre, a cinema,

ol'tlrrttt:ing, oldressing to go and dine out at a res-

lirrrt';rttt? Your own pcrsonal case is an admirable

cxcr'ptiott, tltc cltsc of thc ascctic. But it isn't in the

lr':rsl rt lypir:ltl c:tst: itt tltis poor :rn<l sinlttl humanity,,1'r,ttts!'

'.117

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

Salazar does notseem at all annoyed, but answersquite kindly with a tolerant smile:

'People who hold all that against me might bequite right-if I hadn't enough intelligence toimagine life outside my own office. But the truthis that I live up to my income; I spend everythingthat the State gives me, either on myself or on otherpeople; that is an entirely private matter. Thewhole thing is a question of a man's upbringing, ofhis mentality, his way of living, his guiding prin-ciples. Some people know their earning powers andare able to budget their lives accordingly; otherpeople spend their lives exactly as they please andthen trust that their earnings may rise to the levelof their expenses! All that you have just said to meis very pretty; but our Portuguese budget is ex-tremely limited, our profits are small, our salariesare weak, and our general standard of life is neces-sarily low. Against that, we have just passed througha Golden Age in which, by a quite interesting delu-sion of our accounts, we have been spending upto, not our revenue, but the accumulated savingsof the nation! Now we have spent our capital andhave to start again. There is all the more reasonfor putting up with various unaccustomed restric-tions. It is an old failing of our Portuguese, to goon living a life which they can't afford and at thcsame time to fail in the proper management of whatthey have got and what pcrhaps might yield :r

zrB

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

little more advantage with ever so little manipula-

tion.'

Portugal and the Crisis

I am going on examining Dr. Salazar's financial

work: 'i know', I say, 'that there are people who

try to belittle the dictatorship's financial work by

pretending that Portugal, as a purely importing

Lountry, a country economically almost isolated, has

not b; as hardly hit by the crisis as the other

European countries.''It's still the tale of the old man, his son, and the

donkey,' patiently goes on Salazar' oln the first years

of the'dictatorship the cry was just the other way,

that the crisis was worse in Portugal!'And then with

his old honesty, he says: 'But I ought nevertheless to

tell you that ihe people who say that are a little in

the right, but not for the reasons they give! We

Portu[uese are a simple-life nation' We have no

great ionglomerations of working people torn aw'ay

[:rom the-soil, and our family life, the ease withwhich we all know our neighbours, all holds us to

r community of interests and sentiments' This tones

clown urry ..irir, this frees us from the fierce selfish-

tress found in the great centres where men have to

livc solitary in a crowd, lost in the jungle of their

own civilizatiou. In Portugal we always have an

extrrt pl:rtc, always a crust ftrr sorncbody wanting2t9

THE POETRY OF NUMBERSit more than we ourselves. Ancl besides, we don,task for very much. Our very backwardness savedus on that point. Just because we are not yet usedto various conveniences brought about by progress,so naturally we don,t suffer too much Uy ifr. ,,rid"r,loss of all those things. After all, we portuguese areto the really great cities, paris, London, Berlin, muchi1lh. sarne position as our own provinces are to ourLisbon. fn short, it was o,r. oin frugality whichhelped to carry us through the crisis., And then hegoes on in another tone of voice: ,But that,s notsaying that we haven,t suffered at allrthat we haven,tbecn through a difficult time. Far fiom that! I wouldhave liked, for instance, to have seen some of ourtalkative financial critics, when faced with emptysafes and quite unable even at the height of ifr.storm to help such banks as the National Overseasor the Credit Predial, banks entirely bound up withour national credit! I rvould very much hav. likedto see what some of those so-called patriots wouldhave done when the crisis spread to our coloniesand they had to weather a difficult and dangerousperiod which isn't over even yet. If we hadn,t setyp 3 fi:?"cial policy which was severe, rigorous,implacable, which put straight past mistakes antlmade provision for the future, if we hadn,t donc allthat, where were we going to fincl thc resources t()stop up the holes in the lcaking sliip, or prop up tlrr.pillars of the Statc?,

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

The Portuguese Escudo and lts Solidarit2 withthe Pound Sterling

f am going on with my painful dragging into theconversation of every single point which has everbeen held up against the dictatorship:

'Now some people', I say, 'think yours a ruinous,a paradoxical policy of faithfully following thepound.'

Dr. Salazar replies with energy: 'A bold and ven-turesome policy, but it's useful to the country. Onercally needs courage to work for over two years, as

I worked, to stabilize the Portuguese escudo on thegold standard, and then, just three months after thatstabilization had been decreed, to throw overboard:rll one's work, to dccide to give up everything thatonc had sought so eagerly, and to follow a new path,:rncl all without being forced to it by exterior cir-crrmstances but voluntarily and of set plan. On theollrt'r hand, it was a political adventure, based ont'c:rsons which the public would hardly appreciate,Io go off the gold standard and to adopt quiteirrrollrcr basis, that of the price of products, but its:tvcrl rrs fi'om a still bigger fall which would havelrr:r'rr unllcarablc and an absolute catastrophe forotrt' wllolc c<:onomic systcm. Money is a delicateittstt'rrrrrcrrl, brrt it is marlc to be man's servant andttol lris rrlrslcl'. As ir gcncr';rl rulc otrc ottgltt not toitrlcrli'r'r' rvitlr llrc r:rrlt'r'r,x'y, lirt' :rtry t:lr:tttg<: is cl:rn-

220

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

gerous. But we are living through one of the rareperiods when without great danger and even withreal advantage one could make a little kind of ad-justment of currency to prices instead of storing upa whole host of greater evils by adjusting prices tocurrency. We saw that once the first hour of mis-comprehension and doubt was over, the benefits ofour adopted policy would begin to be so obviousthat nobody would have another word of criticismto say. Our exports went up, industry grew newwings, agriculture stopped its path to the abyss, theBank of Portugal reinforced its gold reserve, so muchso that I hope that in a very few years it may rankas one of the leading issue banks of Europe. Cer-tainly there were some peoplewho lost by the change,or rather who didn't earn what they might other-wise have earned; but in a case of such importanceas this one we have to think of the community ratherthan of the individual.'

To discharge my eternal duty to our malcontents,I now have another question; but I put it with fullcognizance of my own personal total ignorance ofthe matter.

'Why, then,' I ask, 'did you abandon that road?Why have you not gone on following the path of thcpound?'

Dr. Salazar seems quite generous and tolerant ol'my impudent ignorancc.

'It's all', he says, 'a qucstion of balancc. The sccretooo

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

is simply to stop in time. The basic reason which Ij,rst .*piuined as justifying this policy doesn't exist"uU ao*" the scale of values possible to the pound'

On the other hand, though I am personally certain

that the British Government will watch the course

of its currency and will not allow it to sink, I had to

show my country by proof positive that at any given

moment we were q,rit. able to separate ourselves

fro* ,,.rting and so guarantee our own freedom' Itook a ."rtuin limit beyond which it seemed to me

that England would only suffer if she allowed her

pound to fatl below it; and after that for over ayeat

we saw that actually only once for a very few days

was the pound ever quoted here at less than r ro

escudos. i.Io*, owing io the fact that the end of the

ncgotiations with tfre United States on the subject

.rffour Debts is not yet in sight, British sterling has

gone on falling. But when all the talks are published'

*lt.r, once tie horizon is clear again, when the

llritish Government has come to some settlement

with the States on the debt question, then we shall

scc ttre pouncl go up again to keep pace with the

rltrllar, even over g.32.'I cannothelp askittg: 'Wasn't England taken aback

when you ceased to follow sterling?'

Now here is an answer quite worthy of Salazar'

'Our relations with England are better than ever'

Slr: t:vt:tt ftrrmally cxprcssed hcr thanks to us when

Itot'tugal rtttttitint'tl otl ltt'r siclt: itt the grave momentr)rt',A-.)

THE POETRY OF NUMBERSof the fall; but she was neither surprised nor hadanything to be surprised about when at a certainmoment we took our own road, the path that seemedbest to us and most to the advantage of our nationalinterests.'

Here is another rumour:'Plenty of people', I say, 'are starting to protest

against the increase in the cost of living.''It's quite possible', says Salazar with optimism,

'that living costs have gone up slightly, but we oughtall to be glad about it! It's a sign that our economiclife, which was atrophied by the crisis, is beginningslowly to recover.'

Wire-Pullingt

Now I am constituting myself the spokesmen forthe grievances of a particular class: 'Business men',I say, 'are continuing to complain of the high taxes,which according to them are absolutely crushing.'

r In the original Portuguese this word is cac,iquismo, whichseems untranslatable into literal English. Its dictionary mean-ing is the 6abuse of influence by certain local personages ofimportance, and especially at election times'. But if we havcnot the word, I fear, as an Englishman, that we have at leastsomething suspiciously near the sense. Might one put it downas'lobbying' or'log-rolling', or even'wire-pulling'? The caciqucis literally the chief of a native tribc, and so we have exactly thr:same idea as in the'wigwam' of New York's notorious TammanyHall.-Trs.

224

THB POETRY OF NUMBERS

Dr. Salazar, with that vaguely playful smile of his

which seems to live hidden behind his mask and

which sometimes flickers over his usually expression-

less face, now replies without haste, as though l am

to savour the full subtlety of his reasoning:

'I believed from the first that the hostility towardsmyselfofone section of the business world was purelypolitical. Afterwards they were anxious to prove tome that they were really agitating against a pre-

tended excess of taxation. But as their "fiscal oppres-

sion" never existed, I was forced to think that the

agitation was a pure manifestation of caciquismo.'

'Of caciquismo?' I ask with surPrise.

'I am going to explain things to you,' says Dr.Salazar with that same smile of his. 'As you oughtto be aware, taxes on business houses vary as far as

possible according to the amount of business thatthcy do. Take, for instance, arry twenty business

men. Probably nineteen of them are paying less nowin taxes than they did before the dictatorship, andpcrhaps one of them is paying more in taxes. He isreally paying what before he never paid at all, be-causc he was favoured by the corruptions of the oldIiscal systcm. Now let's look at what happens. Therrinctccn men who are paying less keep quiet aboutit. T'hcy don't rush to my defence; they are notnnxious to drzrw pultlic attention to their own for-turratc position. But thc man who is having to paynlor'(:, tlrat's qtritc diffcrcnt! Tltat man shouts, rages,

I

22lt

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

protests, makes noise enough for everybody else, andends up by influencing quite a little party. I oughtto tell you, though, that all that noise is made a longway ofl never near me! When those people get tothe Ministry with their complaints they lose theirtongues when they are shown the statistics, the tablesof tariffs which are always at hand, the figures of thetaxation in years before the dictatorship. One wouldnot like to say that there are no just complaints andthat we are not having to work all the time to getour taxes fairer still, taking a bit offhere and addinga bit there. But there's no doubt about most of theseagitations being pure caciqnismo.'

Here's my last shot for this battle! 'But they saythat there are plenty of bankruptcies, distraints.'

Salazar, not at all cruelly, but with fatalism:'Bankruptcies, yes. Not as many as people say butcertainly some. ft's an unhappy but quite naturalconsequence of post-war difficulties. Executions, ifyou mean executions for taxes, no. Not many. Therehave been very few periods in Portugal with so fewcases of distraints for taxes as there ate at present.'

Industry, Tourists, Diplomac2

Now I touch upon other subjccts: 'Portuguese in-dustry,' I say. 'Docs that arousc your intercst? I)oyou uotice any ch:rnecs in ili"

'-1'r(i

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

Says Dr. Salazar with enthusiasm: 'I have theutmost interest in it. The Portuguese IndustrialAssociation does its work entirely uninfluenced bypolitics, but is directed by a clear and lofty sense

of nationalism. Our Industrial Exhibition is one ofthe finest things ever done in Portugal. Every Por-tuguese can well be proud of it; the dictatorship canbe especially proud of it, many of the goods displayedin the exhibition, and perhaps the most impressiveones at that, being of recent manufacture, of manu-facture new to Portugal and coming into being afterour dictatorship movement.'

Now, without going at all deeply into any of them,I am off on several questions which occur to me:

'There's tourismr' I say. 'Are you in favour of theway in which it is being developed? Do you look onit as a source of wealth to the country?'

Salazar answcrs as though he was just as anxiousto get to the end, to hurry through various pointswhich for lack of time cannot be as fully treated as

wc should have wished:'Tourism is a question which we shall have to go

irrto carefully. But to get the best results and to:rrrivc at any plan on a bigger scale we shall have tor.xpt'r'imcnt a little and see how it works. It seems torrrc thatwc might make Estoril astarting-pointfor ourslrrrlyi thcrc arc its natural aclvantages, and there's;rll llxr work ulrt::r<ly clonc thcrc.'

'Art' yorr slrtis(icrl', T ;rsk, 'witlr ottr propaganda,','l-- l

L

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

in foreign countries? Our Casas de Portugal, for in-stance?'t

Dr. Salazar replies quickly and to the point: 'Iam quite pleased with the publicity work that they'redoing, and especially with that of the Paris house,which I know most about; but I think that they canstill do a good deal more, very much more, whenthey have more freedom of action and when they'vebeen working longer.'

'And our Diplomatic Service?' I say. 'Don't youfind that you'll have to quicken it up a bit, remodelthe system?'

Here is Dr. Salazar opening out new vistas forPortugal's international policy: 'Diplomacy is in ourage busied with conferences and treaties and has lostits old sleepiness, its old show-case character. Pos-sibly the bigger nations can manage without anygreat diplomacy! But there is a school of diplomacywhich has sometimes made little nations into greatnations!'

The Problen of Our Colonies

Coming back from abroad I still take advantagcof my travels, of the turn of our conversation, to g<r

r London and other capitals have a Casa de Portugal, ttPortugal House'; they are financed as a branch ofthe Portu-guese Civil Service, and exist not to sell tickets but simply togive information abcut the country to intcnding tourists.-7?.r.

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

away again and get to the subject of our overseas

possessions:

'Haveyou read what they're suggesting in Germany

about our colonies, and particularly about Angola?'

'The reason for that', replies Salazar without

alarm or anriety, 'is that the Versailles Treaty dis-

porr..sed Germany of her old colonies and made

some unfortunate cuts in her European boundaries'

Hcnce the attitude of a good many rather excited

Germans. They are in the position of seeing their

population growing very fasl, they've aspirations of

L.i"g u gr"it Power again, and they take refuge in

u goia itutty ideas evin to the point of not quite

rliiinguishing between what is theirs and what be-

lo,rg, io somJbody else! It's a question that will need

to be carefully followed, that's all!'I am remimbering one of my old interviews:

'Now one day Marshal Foch said that we Portu-

gucsc had only one real way ol protecting our

lolonies; of putting them out of other Peoplg':t'cach. That was, to trrtt them thoroughly well"

Dr. Salazar would go even further than that:

'l"och', he says, 'was quite right, but I would go a

stcp furthe.. W" shouid run them well, and abole

rll wc should put them in the position of running

tltt:msclvcs wcll.'I show him what I think is the point'"l'hc trouble of moncy transfers', I say, 'is a dread-

lirl ltroblcm, a pcrpctual gricvancc''229zzB

L

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

'It's impossible', cuts in Salazar briskly, 'until theAngola Budget is put on a solvent basis. Balanceexpenditure and revenue, at the same time do every-thing possible to increase exports, consolidate thecolony's credit, and the problem will work itself outjust as well as we have worked it out here in Portu-gal. With lack of foreign exchange, we too had ourtroubles of transition. But oncf we got our Budgetbalanced, our State credit high, then the problernautomatically solved itself. It's true that there is analternative way of dealing with the Angola troubles.Set aside (providing we've got it!) half a million ayear from State funds to stop the leaks in ourcolony's finances. But Angola isn't just a farm! It'sthe outline of an empire.'

'Aren't things a great deal better lately?' I ask

hopefully.'Far betterr' the President of Council tells me

quickly. 'Dr. Armindo Monteiro has worked veryhard indeed in the Colonial Ministry, doing everv-thing possible to bridge the distance between Angolaand the Terreiro do Pago, governing it almost as

though he were there on the spot. Our last AngolaBudget seemed balanced already, though not with-out Lisbon making a pretty big sacrifice, and tht:effects ofthat balanced budget are nowjust begin-ning to be felt. But we must turn that balance ol

budget into one of Angola's rcgular habits! It's onlyin that way that thc country is going to fincl tlrr'

230

THE POETRY OF NUMBERS

foreign credit which at present it doesn't Possess'

Once its credit is thoroughly established it won'thave so much trouble in raising money in bad seasons,

in making up unexpected deficits; it's quite certain

that our .oto"y pott.tt.t enough moral and material

resources to be ibl. to honour its commitments"'Do you really believe', I ask, 'in the future of our

Portuguese colonies? Do you think that they are ever

going to come to the toP again?'.- The man of action, the man of to-day, gives place

for a moment to the dreamer, the man of yesterday'

'I believe, and it can only come true by believing,

that we are going to assure that future for them' Ourcolonies must become great schools of Portuguese

nationalism. Most of our army officers, all those w-ho

ought to keep up the cult of the Fatherland, the

p.id. of our race, ought to put in a compulsory turnibroad. To govern our colonies, administer them,

wc ought to chose our personnel from amongst our

bcst rnen, the most worthy men, the most capable,

and never from the throw-outs of the capital' If we

want to be a great colonial country, if we want tolook upon Angola as a bigger Portugal, then we

orrght io land in our colonies not as if we were leav-

irr[ .rnr own country but as though we weren't going

itbroa<l at all.'tI All this was written somc years ago. To-day not only is the

llrulgr:t ol' Artgola b:tl:rttccd, but thc llrdgets of all the Portu-gucsr < olottit's ltrtvr: lrt't'tt ptlt str;ri15lrt.

2:i I

THE POETRY OF NUMBERSIt must be getting late now. In the shadow of that

study in the Rua do Funchal, that unassuming frame,Salazar's face rather reminds me of that oiDanteithere is the grave mask, long and yet with depth aswell, like a medieval bastion of an interior life, vastas the world. I am just beginning to protest againstmyself, against this overdrawn and almost ludicrousimagern when I hear Salazar,s voice drawing myattention to a bunch of orchids on his desk, a posyof perfection.

_L9ok at my flowers,' he says. .Aren't they perfect?'

I look at his orchids, I look at the Geneial StateBudget, its leaves still open. I make my adieu toSalazar, and I still think of that Dantesque face.Perhaps I was right after all; perhaps there is poetry,an epic metre in the clear harmony of sums thatcome right.

.,. ", 'i: r,i\\.\

::\i ,r'rl

t .i'

quERIEr ff".T ^.r sMALL

:

For the last act, the final scene of my long inter-view, original perhaps in its rhythmic and filmJikemovement, we are leaving the Ministry of Financeat dusk. I find myself stared at with respect andwonder by the habituds of the ministerial corridors.I{ow did I ever storm the fortress, how was it thedrawbridge was lowered for me?

As I pass along the corridors and descend the stair-case with Salazar I am greeted by knowing glancesfrom unknown faces. I read there a hopeless greedi-ness for an introduction, some little recommenda-tion for His Excellency! For my part I have longoutgrown the nervousness of my first meeting withSalazar. I haven't in the least lost my admirationand respect for him, this singular personage whosegrrcstige and intelligence repels all familiarity, allreally great intimacy; but I have somehow an oddinrprcssion of having known him for a long time, ofbcing unitccl to hirn by a substantial bond of long

233232

QLIERIES LARGE AND SMALLstanding. The bogy-man has vanished, the stern andhard-visaged statesman has disappeared; there is noshadow of him anywhere, not the least trace in theworld.

This time we are taking the road for Cascais. Be-fore settling down to our real business I touch quicklyon some points which have not yet been discussedand which are still rather in the offing.

The Child and the Woman

'Take children,' I say. 'Don't you feel that fromtheir very first steps they ought to be brought up tofit in the general restoration scheme which the dic-tatorship is preparing?'

'It's one of the biggest tasks before us,' agreesSalazar. 'ft's clear that we can't and that weoughtn't to follow the Italian system; there theState absorbs the child; they have their excessivelynationalist and militant organization of the Balilla.But we have to think of our children as the men andwomen of the future. If, as is our intention, we seek

to alter the Portuguese mentality then the childrenreally constitute the virgin soil where our new edu-cation will bear the best fruit. The Minister of Edu-cation has been very carefully studying this veryquestion, and quite soon the necessary start will bemade.'

QUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

'And what about women?' I ask with curiosity.

'What part are you planning for them in these

spiritual reformations of Yours?'Salazar, vaguely but delicately an anti-feminist

like Mussolini, like in fact nearly every dictator,answers me: 'We must make distinctions. I find thatwe must give the single woman who lives indepen-

dently of her family, or who perhaps has to help to

keep her family, every legal standing for earning herliving and for providing for her dependants. Butthe married woman, like the married man, is one

pillar of the family, an indispensable foundation ininy work of moral reconstruction. Within the home,

of course, the wife mustn't be a slave. She should be

cherished, loved, and respected; her function ofmotherhood, of bringing up her children, gives her

a position in no way inferior to that of her husband.

In those countries where the married woman shares

the man's work in the shops, the factories, the offices,

the professions, all that spells ruin to the institutionof the family, the institution which we seek to defend

as the very foundation-stone of well-organized so-

ciety. Let us then leave the man to battle against

life out of doors and in the street, and let us leave

woman inside the house to defend life, to carry it inhcr arms. I do not know which of the two roles is

the more beautiful, the higher, the more useful.'

I go on arguing: 'But will it be possible to keep

in r:lx:t:k tlrc strcttgtlr (ancl up to a point the human235r234

qUERIES LARGB AND SN{ALL

justice) of the feminist movement? Hasn't womansome grounds for her complaints against the restric-tions which man has imposed on her liberty?'

Here is Salazar's quite clever and quite to thepoint reply to this: 'But does man ever complain ofworking from morning till night to keep the woman,to protect her from all outside storms? Doesn't hetake it as just his natural and fair place? Does it evercross his mind to object to his duty? Women's free-dom! But has any man this absolute freedom whichwoman is always claiming for herself?'

I go on pleading her case: 'But really isn't she

within her rights in revolting against the traditionwhich sets up man in every case as the head of thefamily? Aren't there homes where the woman is theman's better, and so where she really ought to takethe reins of government?'

'Homes like that aren't so uncommon!' agreesSalazar.

'Then what do you think should happen?' I insistwith interest.

There is a rather baffiing smile that Dr. Salazarhas, as though he was halGlaughing at himsell.'In that sort of home', he says, 'it is the wife whois really the master. Slu is the real head of tlrt:family.'

'Yesr' I say, rather indignantly, 'she may be tlrt'master; but only by tortuous and deceptive wayswhich she herself can hardly think dccent or digni-

236

QUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

fied. She may be the master, the winner, only by

weighing her words, by false smiles! All the feminine

wiles. Rially it must all be rather distasteful to her'

Any victoryon principles like this must be in itself a

Pyrrhic victory, a confession of inferiority!''I don't quite see why,' says Salazar' 'A states-

man, a leader, a dictator if you like, doesn't feel

himself inferior or dishonest if he leads men the way

he wants them to go without their knowing that

they are being led.''it sounds like totttething from Machiavellir' I

comment.'Perhaps. But there is a Machiavellianism that's

quite faii, that may be necessary and just, that has

to do with our social relations and that is even con-

nccted with humanity's basis of morality.' And then

he quickly reverts to the question of feminism' 'It'sporribl. that there are badly run homes where per-

irupt ut intelligent wife lives under the unfair sub-

jcction of the man. But the truth is that there arejust as many unfair cases on the other side with the

man perpetually kept at work to maintain a woman

who neiiher understands nor appreciates what he is

cloing for her. The real point is that society can't be

organizccl on the lines of exceptional isolated cases;

it would lead to total anarchy. And anyway, our

l'ortttgucse women haven't anyreal complaint aboutrrs. Our constittttional law givcs thcm a definiterl:tncling. f t rccogtrizcs witlt possiblc rcstrictions thcir

2:17

qUERIES LARGE AND SI\{ALL

equality of right; it even under certain conditionsgives them the vote.'

On tlte Constitution Again

I take advantage of this lucky reference to theConstitution to complete the chapter which I hadalready begun and to add various subsidiary ques-tions.

'Now will your Constitution be by order or byvote?'

'By vote,' says Salazar quickly. 'It wouldn't beright or fair to impose, unheard, on the country a

statute of such importance which is goin.g to regulateits whole social and political lifc.'

'The President's term of oflice', I say, 'expires inApril. Now is that the moment that you're going tohave for your elections of a new Chief of State?' Dr'.Salazat explains the situation.

'The new Constitution provides for a presidentialterm of office of seven years. General Carmona is

now finishing his fifth year of office. His mandatcwill thus be extended for another two years. To cor-firm this extension the country will bc consultecl l I

the same time that it votes on thc Constitution.'I further ask: 'Thcrc's no qucstion, thcn, of choos-

ing a new Chicf of Statc?''What frrr?' qr-rickly says S:rl:rzirr'. 'l tlrirrk it rvorrlrl

':'1ll

QUE,RIES LARGE AND SMALL

be hard, if not impossible, at this moment to findanybody with all the qualities which General Car-mona combines for the exercise of his office. Intelli-gcnce, prestige, tact, moral integrity, rectitude, and

a kindliness which doesn't however preclude himfrom the energy wanted, a sober, discreet energy.

He has managed to consolidate the principle of asupreme authority by giving the dictatorship's ac-

tions their necessary continuity. The country should

bc grateful to him for his efforts, his character, forthe tact and patriotism which he has displayed inhis post and with which he has settled all the diffi-t:ulties of our rdgime. We ought to think ourselves

Iucky to have any one so self-sacrificing; we're for-trrnate that he has agreed to continue in office.'

I arn not yet abandoning the question of the Con-stitution:

'In the new proposed Constitution is it definitelysr:ttled that we are to keep the principle of giving the

vott: exclusively to the head of the household? Theysiry, and I am bound to own that I see something init, that this arrangement is unfair. Sons who are

grown-up enough to have their own ideas but wholivr: with their parents have to come under theirlirllrr:r's votc, even though it may be clean contrarylo llrcir own notiorrs. For instance, only yesterday a

lr icrr<l r,l'as talking to mc. Hc was telling me that he

livcrl rvitlr lris nrollrcr. I-[t'r vcry moclcst bit of edu-r';t l irt r rl irl rr't ;tl l.l' l r.t' l. ktt,tt' :ttrytlritr'r at all about

1l'l( )

QUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

politics; but for all that, she was the head of thehousehold and hers was the legal vote.'

Dr. Salazar answered: 'That's a case, and theremust be plenty like it. But you can't base your socialsystem and your politics just on stories. Certainlythat arrangement seems at first sight most unfair,but all the same you must create and keep up yourfamily discipline as the very base of the nation's dis-cipline. The person who had all the responsibility ofrunning the house generallv knows better what isgood for them than even the more highly educatedperson who knows nothing of life. The truth is thatmost young men when they come to their majorityand to the time when they have opinions of theirown, leave home and start another one. And so thcydo get the vote. If they don't, then with a few excep-tions like your friend, it's because they haven't thencccssary pcrsonality; it wouldn't mattcr much whatthey thought about the destinies of their Fatherland.They will for the most part remain the ne'er-do-wells, the spendthrifts, the born-tireds, the peoplcwho have neither the will nor the capacity to leacitheir own lives. Besides, logically, \ /omen too woulclobject because they are almost always swallowcrlup in the man's vote, the vote of the head of tht:family.'

'Who told you', I ask, 'that thcy arc not objcctingi"'In Italy', Salazar rcpli<:s, 'N{rrssolini s:rirl in on<: ol'

his speechcs that thc wornctt wcittltl litrrglr in his firt,,'?,1,O

QUERIES LARGE AND SIIALL

if he gave them the vote; it was a privilege theydidn't interest themselves in. It seems that they

agreed, even the leminists!'

Political Parties Again

Now I must put to Dr. Salazat what I know is an

awkward and almost impertinent question, butwhich is very relevant indeed.

'All these special orders to do with the censorship,

the vote, the putting dolvn of parties, in short, excep-

tional Defence of the Realm orders, won't they come

to an end when the Constitution takes effect?'

Salazar is a little sphinx-like on the subject! 'It is

t;crtain that the promulgation of the Constitutionwill mark the end of the dictatorship in its present

firrm and will see some return to normal. But does

thc country want to be quite normal, is it anxious tolacc facts?'

I go on asking questions with assumed careless-

tross, as casually as though I was just pulling out mylr:rrrdkcrchief.

'Now the parties, for instance, will they be able tovott', to go to parliament, in fact to come to life:rgrrirr?'

l)r'. Sal:rzar rcplics a little vaguely."l'lrt't't: art: t:otrstittttiotts', ltc says, 'which recog-

rrizc llrt' r:xistcttt:t' of' llltt'tit's atttl wlriclr cvcn give

'.r,1 I

qUERIES LARGE AND SMALLthem almost the right to regulate their nation'saffairs. There are even countries which take thevote away from members who, once they've got intoparliament, abandon the party or group which putthem there. Our new Portuguese Constitution, how-ever, doesn't recognize any parties, and as far as

possible is going to protect the State against theirinterference by its very principles and by the addi-tional laws which it may have to make. We're re-stricting the direct vote, for instance, we're givingan indirect form to the official selection of the reprc-sentatives of the people; it's all to make lobbyingmore difficult, to prevent the formation of partiesand groups or any parliamentary action on their'part.'

'But why', I ask, 'this horror of party?'Salazar explains plainly what is in his mincl:

'You've got it wrong. Speaking generally, I have r-r,,

horror of party. What I have is a horror of paltyspirit in Portugal. One can say that for centurit'sEngland has existed with tr,vo great parties takilgturns in power, and so far she has managed quitr'well on her system. A political education has tauglrtthe people to sway between the two parties, inllrr-enced by the force of great ideas or by great aspir';r-tions or by national needs. But in Portugal our l)ru -

ties have been formed round indivicluals witlr rn(':ur,greedy little intercsts, ancl our partics lravc lr,'. r,

formed simply witl-r thc ol-rjt:r:t ol- satislyirrg littl,!.1?

qUERIES LARGE AND SN{ALL

nleannesses and greedinesses. That's the party spiritwhich must be done away with if we hope to do anyrcal reconstruction work. The treatment of a sick

nation demands from us that we should stop eitherlirr good or at least for a long time all this political:rt:tion in bits-and-pieces !'

By now our car has passed Dafundo, Cruz-Q,ue-lrrada, Caixias. The very twists in the road are keep-

irrg us to a conversation full of stops, of made-uprlrrt:stions, of perpetual changes in our programme.

O n Anti- P ar li ame nt ar i anis rn

I have another shot in my locker.'Some people', I say, 'set down your dislike for any

prrrty spirit to your own personal concentration ofllrlrat:tcr, your objection to talk. There are even

grcolrlc who suggest that you couldn't work in a par-li;rrrrcnt. "I'd like to see him", they say, "questionediu l':rrliament by a clever opponent!" There areotlrcrs who from time to time utter this Platonictlrrcrrt: "Ah! If only there wasn't a censorship!"'

S:rl:rzar, with a sort of fierce humility: 'Perhapstlrcy'r'r: right. They'd beat me, no doubt. Thoughpn lr;rps onc can get uscd to anything; even to doingrrollrirrg ol arty sort!' And now gradually his voice isr irrirrg. "['lrt: trtttlt is that I am profoundly anti-par-li,rrrrcrrl:rt'y. I Irlttc lltt: s1l<:ct:ltcs, tltc vcrbosity, thell,rrvcty, trtcittritttlt'ss irrtct'plcll:tliorts, tlrc rvity that

:? l:l

qUERIES LARGE AND SI\,TALI,

we waste passion, not round any great idea but justabout futilities, vanities, nothingnesses from the pointof any national good. In fact, a parliament frigltensme so much that while I recognize the necessity ofour new Constitution I amjust a little afraid of whatmay come out of it. There are three months of theyear when you've got to listen to parliamentary de-bates. Of course there are occasional ideas of value,but it's mostlyjust fine phrases, just words! The pre-sent Council of Ministers is good enough for -. j it,,a small parliament in a way, and it,s also useful anddoes something.'

I try to put in a good word for Santo Bento.r'Surely parliament', f say, .with all its heat of

clashing opinions can give things the warmth, thec9lou1, which thev lack, can do something to remedythe chilliness of atmosphere which you yourself arefrank enough to recognize.'

'Let's get this right,'says Salazar with his habitualpunctilious trick of crossing his ,t's! ,When I talkabout "chilliness" and public indifference I amthinking of exterior manifestation and not of thenation's soul, not of its interior life. The countrl,'sheart and conscience are with us. Every day we getproof of this, most expressive proofs of solidarity anclapproval. All that we are short of-I suppose youmust have technical experts in everything-arc

r Parliament House is an old Benedictinc Monastery, greatlyaugmented and modernizcd.-Trs,

QUERIES I,ARGE AND SMALLhelpers with the gift of stage-craft, setting thingsout. But the raw material of the country's interestin the dictatorship's work already exists perfectlyplainly. All it needs is a little touching up.'

Some Great fuestions

Now we have reached Pago d'Arcos. We arechoos-ing its esplanade for our stroll. Just to give pointto what I was talking about a man comes and begs

from us! ft's as though it was meant to make Sala-zar feel the urgency of dealing once and for allwith this question of mendicity. I take advantage ofthis little check to oien a new chapter and to startthe final part of my programme with some really bigquestions.

'When you were a university professor, when youwere academically busied with finance and econo-mics,' I say, 'did you often think of your ideas com-ing true, of your turning into our ruler?'

Salazar always chooses a bald truth, even whenit is less interesting than a harmless fib! 'Never!'

'But how', I say, 'did you ever get the extra-ordinary training that must have been needed tounderstand and deal with all the points which mustcomc into the business of ruling a country?'

'I ncvcr thouglht', said Salazar, 'of being a ruler,and I ncvcr wanted to bc onc; but I always wasintcrcstctl in politics :rnd nationlrl affirirs. So there

24524.4

qUERIES LARGE AND SMALLyou have an example prior to my entry into thegovernment which might give you an idea of thetenor of my actions, of the slow progress of which Iam always accused!'

I do not quite understand, and Salazar goes onwith his argument.

'That's the way', he says, 'that f trained myself.Quite slowly, without any hurry, almost withoutnoticing it myself, and absolutely without the slight-est personal ambition. So when my intervention inthe State machinery could be any use it was able tobe used as perhaps it couldn't have been used if Ihad deliberately cultivated it. The same thing hap-pens with a nation's progress. You've got to putstone on stone; but always unselfishly, without think-ing of any personal glories, without even thinkingtoo much of the crown of your building, of the finish-ing touch. Too much eagerness to get to the end, todo too many things at once, often leads to the endright enough-but to the end of everything!

Dr. Salazar's Political Formation

Now I'm going to broach one of the most delicatepoints in my questionnaire.

'Now where did you get your political education?Rend Richard, in a page on Portugal in his Je Suis

2+6

qUERIBS LARGE AND SMALL

Partout, puts you down as leaning to the politicalschool of Maurras.'

Salazar isn't running awayfrom the idea or hidinganything:

'When M. Richard was at Caramulo I was unableto receive him on account of my health. Otherwise Ishould have liked to have asked him to revise hisviews. Certainly I've read the political bools ofMaurras; they're most attractive in their clearness,

in their logic of construction-if only you can admittheir premisses! But between myself and the uncon-ditional admirers of the French doctrinaire there isa difference; let us call it a difference of attitude,strongly affecting us in the field of action. For Maur-ras and his disciples the political aspect is par excel-

lence the social aspect, and politics are the great fac-tor in a people's life, determining their whole evolu-tion. His war-cry is "Politics first", and it spealsclearly enough and marvellously sums up the rootidea of genuine "Maurrasians". Butwhatthat phrasestands for is wrong in history and sociology and is

dangerous in the bringing up of the younger genera-tion. Certainly politics have their place, they fulfilan important function, an all-important functionat certain times. Without that there wouldn't be adictatorship and I certainly shouldn't be here now.But a country's life is something wider and biggerth:rn that; it gcts larthcr away from a government'stn:rchirrcry ancl ;rctiotr tlt:rn many pcoplc imagine.

247

QUERIES LARGE AND SMALLA nation's history isn't only the history of its con-querors, its great kings. It is first and foremost aresult of men's work, the work imposed on them bytheir conditions, the result of the qualities and fail-ings of all the men who have to live under those con-ditions. I find it salutary for youth to put up to Maur-ras and his maxim of "Politics first" the oppositionquestion of Demolins: "A-t-on I'intdr€t i s'emparerdu pouvoir?" And the answer is "No!" It might stopthem from thinking that national problems can besolved simply by attacking a government's instru-ments. There is something we need which we havenever had, and the lack of which has been respon-sible for our ups-and-downs. We need a will to giveour actions a continuity. From time to time therehas appeared in the story of Portugal some king,some minister, leaderwho has raised the country andmade a bit of history; then when he vanishes or diesthe country drops again. Our country's past is full ofglory, full of heroism; but what we've needed, andespecially in the last hundred years, has been less

brilliance and more staying-power, something less

showybut with more perspective. Anything that justmakes its appeal to the heroism of our race withoutaltering its general attitude of mind, its way of look-ing at things, its way of doing things, all that maygive us back for a moment our pages of glorious past;but we burn ourselves up in the flamcs, and then jtrstrelapsc into thc mclancholy fatalism of which our

248

qUERIES LARGE AND SMAI,L

fado is the musical expression.r That's the cause ofour being a sad people; we're removed from the

realities of life because we're given to living in asham heroism. Norv if we're to do anything new, to

bring about a reformation, we shall have first to re-

form the individual, to alter his outlook in tune

with his atmosphere, so that he may be of use to

his country.'

Reformation

I must summon up my pluck and strike while the

iron is hot.'The thing they blame you for is just that you are

making our reformation more difficult because you

won't call in new blood, the very people who inall logic you ought first to think of. A national re-

building without any builders, they say, is a pata'dox!'

Salazar, resignedly and with a touch of sadness,

but a rather indignant sadness: 'They are not flair;

but what does it matter? I have been calling to posts

of State everybody who could promise me that theywere going to reform things and who at the same

time were competent enough. I can tell you that atthis very moment with all the unemployment thatthere is I have kept somc posts deliberately empty;

I Tl-tc.fado is a sort of lrallatl-nrrrsic peculiar to Portugal, andnlways rulr rr i trg witlt :r sort ol' ttrclirttt;lroly t:lclt'ttce.- Zrs.

2'1(.1

qUERIES LARGE AND SMALLI've been waiting to fill them with the right men,men who have an expert knowledge of their par-ticular subject and who have also the new spiritwhich I think just as indispensable. Q,uite often Ihave asked people who come to me if they know theideal man for such-and-such a job. But what hap-pens is this. Most young men become slaves to theabstract ideals which they think the best and putfar too much laith in some miracle, some almightypower of their ideals; and quite neglect to finish theirown education, to make themselves any particulargood to society. So let's look at the thing the otherway on; let our young men make themselves of someuse first, let them show proof that they're valuable

-and certainly some of them have turned out verybrilliant indeed. And then we'll give them withoutthe faintest difficulty jobs where they can get onrebuilding the nation. But before we can utilize aman he must show that he's some use.'

Still I argue: 'Now in Italy,' I say, 'Mussolini hadpluck enough to surround himself almost entirelywith go-ahead young men.'

'I keep telling you', says Salazarr'that you mustn'tcompare Italy and Portugal. Mussolini absolutelystarted off with three hundred and fifty thousandBlackshirts by taking over the Italian factories. Anyaction would be easy to the man who starts offwitha force like that. Now in Portugal that sort of clean-swecp, evcn if it wcrc possiblc or propcr, wouldn't

2rro

QUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

be defended by the nation. We are a poor country, a

sick country which can't readily stand strong trans-fusions of new blood. We must go slowly and step bystep. Besides, this very Mussolini you are always quo-ting has, according to Ludwig, said that his revolu-tion began with no more than 5o per cent of his

people and only quite lately took in by natural pro-gress of evolution the full Ioo per cent.'

I want to clear up one point still doubtful in mymind:

'Your excessive anxiety to make the individualstronger even at the cost of his discipline in certainideals, won't that tend to bring us back to democ-racy again?'

Salazar answered immediately:'The strengthening of the individual which I think

necessary and am always advocating has nothing todo with what they call the rights of man, and merelyrefers to his strengthening as a social element. Cer-tainly the individual can't exist without the com-munity; but the community, too, is also nothingwithout the individual.'

Now it is fast getting dusk. The night falling onus is already like a great black ocean. Instinctivelywe turn towards the car which offers us a light, thecity, return home, the end of the chapter.

'-15) I

QUERIES LARGB AND SMALL

The Kry to the Riddle

We are on the road back to Lisbon. There is aprolonged silence, profound, the deepest in all ourinterviews; it is a sort of parenthesis through whichflash all the certainties that I have reached and someof the little doubts which are beginning to scatternow like clouds. It is my own voice which closes theparenthesis:

'I mustn't tire you any more. I believe f 've reachedthe truth, that I have the key to the riddle, that Iknow just a little of your mind.'

Says Salazar, with that complex smile of his, justa suspicion of a smile: 'You think so? I know thatyou're used to interviewing people, that you're quiteaccustomed to talking to public figures. But this caseis so different, so difficult!'

I stress my unpretentiousness. 'I understood "justa little"r' I said.

Salazar was courteously curious. 'Well, what haveyou found out? What conclusions have you cometo?'

I am risking another of those smiles of his, but Ianswer boldly enough: 'Your ambition,' I say, 'yourperpetual dream-forgive me if I'm wrong-is tomodify our mentality. Little by little, with infinitepatience. You want to check man's intemperate pas-sions, atrophy them, silence them. You lvant to com-pel us, at least for the time being, to a slowcr, surer

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SJERIES LARGE AND SMALL

step; you believe that it would lower our tempera-

ture, cure our fever.''Go onr' says Salazar. 'Perhaps you're on the right

road.tAt once a tremendous question, the very greatest

of them all, outlines itself almost physically in frontof him, in front of me.

'But will this miracle be possible? To govern apeople, to understand them, won't that mean govern-

ing them with all their faults, even taking those faults

and using them as a governing power?'Salazar answers curtly, as though I were taking an

unfair advantage.'But I have been actingjust with the clearest know-

ledge of those faults. If I were a Cabinet minister inEngland my work would be wholly different. In races

and nationalities there are two types of faults. Thereare the faults due to nature, and while you can fightagainst them you can never crush them out by force;

so we always know aLatinfrom a Slav or an Anglo-Saxon. Then we have acquired faults, vices whichhave growt tp; especially faults of education, ofmentality. Well, if it's almost impossible to struggle

against the first class of faults, because they always

come up top again, it isn't nearly such an impossible

dream to get rid of the second class, to dispel thembit by bit. Look, for instance, how Japan has been

translormccl in thc short spacc of a generation.'Wc arc qtrict now. 'flttr c:tr ltits stoppccl by zr lcvel

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QUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

crossing, with dancing shadows and carriage lampslike specks of light in the darkness. The train passes

like a flash and the gates open. The car's start shakesme, wakes me up to another question, an echo of thefirst and just as important.

Last foustions

'These acquired faults, they're by now almost anessential part of national life. Supposing that theyturn against you? Supposing that your repressionmakes them burst out, like water from a tap gonewrong and which you can't shut offi'

Salazar is rather interested in my comparison andsuggests his own:

'Wouldn't it', he says, 'be rather the case of thescrew which works gently into the wood without everdamaging it; there's a constant gentle pressure, andlittle by little it gets right inside without ever provok-ing any violent resistance.'

I am following up the train of my thoughts: 'Srp-posing that the situation crashes in your hands,breaks up into bits, into parties!'

'The question is well putr' says Salazar, 'and Idon't conceal that I've had my fears. But I believethat the worst moment, the scaffolding period, isover now. The promulgation of the Constitutionought to be the real foundations of the building

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qUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

which we are raising. After that, things ought togo faster, much faster.'

We're getting into Lisbon now; and now we'vereached the Street of the e4th ofJuly, a thorough-fare which the dictatorship has modernized andmade more imposing. There is a silence between us.

Salazar, with his quick perception, senses that I amnot absolutely happy yet and that I am still short ofcomplete conviction. It is he who breaks the silence.

"You've still got your doubts?''All this sickness of parties, of groups, of camarillasr'

I say, 'it all strikes me as incurable. It seems to me afundamental drawback.'

'Possibly,' says Salazar as iftalking to himself. 'ThePortuguese, like every people in disintegration, feelsome necessity for enrolling in clans, and so have atrick of forming groups round any dashing adven-turer, any leader who's more likely to take them towar, to civil war, than into the ways of peace.'

Now we're at the Cais do Sodr6. A train has justcome in. Its passengers are dispersing in every direc-tion, some in a hurry, others slowly as if weighteddown by their destiny, philosophically bearing theirqualities and their faults. Salazar is thinking moreof them than of me.

'I take pains enough', he says, 'to reach Ioo perccnt of my plans; if I only manage Bo per cent, well,th:rt is bctter than nothing. All those people will beso rnuch tlrt: bcttct'clff.'

25r5r

qUERIES LARGE AND SMALL

Now we are back in the Terreiro da PaEo. It is

really a fine pulpit for this modest man, this greatApostle of Figures. He himself with his face of per-petual concentration, seems almost lost in the vast-ness of the square, but his work, his work of orderlyreform, is worthily framed in the symmetrical sim-plicity of the lines of columns.

We have come to the very last minute of the greatinterview. I have a sort of emotion that we are end-ing things without having quite completed them;it's all too great, almost too infinite. Then in the lastinstant of all, while we are actually shaking hands Iget one more glimpse that gives me almost every-thing. Salazar's very last sentence is so revealing thatit makes perhaps the best picture of the man.

'And if they don't want me to manage a roo percent, or even 8o, what does it really matter! Thereare trains every day back to Coimbra or to SantaComba. If they force me to it, I can go back. Or'-and he had a subtle smile of heroism-'perhaps Imay not even go back-alive! Only, just so long as Iam here'-and he looks round at the ministries, atLisbon, at his country-'here I remain!'

And Dr. Salazar, slowly as ever, mounts the mainstairway of the Ministry of Finance, that stairwaythat leads at once to his hardship and his glory. Iwatch him climbing up. And behind me, watchinghim too, stands Portugal.

EPILOGUE

G... is a book by the French airman Antoine deSaint-Exupiry titled Vol de Nuit which can be re-garded as a masterpiece in the literature of aviation.

fts story centres round an aerodrome in SouthAmerica, and Andrd Gide has written a preface forthe book in which occurs this brief but suggestivesentence: 'Man's real happiness lies not in mere hap-piness itself but in the huppy acceptance of his duty.'

The principal personage in the book is Rividre, thegeneral inspector of all the Argentine aerodromes,and the leading figure, and almost the originator,of all the night flights of South America; he is ofcourse an imaginary character, but he is so closelydrawn and with a verisimilitude thatis almost brutalthat he seems to pass the frontier of fiction and tocome to life. We have a true leader here, all coldconcentration and apparent morose taciturnity.If hehas a heart at all, then it is buried deep down insidehim, and might almost as well be an electric bell-

R 257

t',

, '\],

: ,,'-:>..\

256

BPILOGUEpush. His will, his driving power, his ferocity, hislack of feeling, all discipline the central aerodromeat Buenos Aires, while electrifying the other aero-dromes like a dynamo through wires. It is his coldglance, his rare and sober gestures which by day andnight, by glorious morning or dark and threateningnight, perpetually send out the mail planes; thosepiloted by professional heroes, the men whose wivesand families must be always a prey to perpetualaruriety, always w-atching through opened windowsto see what the broken dawn may bring.

Rividre's second-in-command is Inspector Robi-neau, a man not a bit like his chief. He tries to copyhis manners, but only manages an exaggerated andformal severity that expresses itself merely in words;we have a barking of orders, a shouting of rebukes.And behind the cardboard armour which nobodyrespects and which takes in nobody, there is a veryordinary man, just a good fellow who would like tobe liked, who likes to be friends with other men.There is all the difference in the world between hispurely official authority and Rividre's prestige ofsilences and short words, long and short waves, so tospeak, sent out by his very soul and his very glance.

One clay we have Robineau displaying his weak-ness very patently. Here is the airman Pellerin justback from flying the Andes, returning from themost dangerous trip in the world, and just as calmlyanxious to rest and go to sleep as though hc was

258

EPILOGUE

merely offa comfortable train; and Robineau is sud-denly conscious of his own empty life, with no emo-tions, no danger in it, and he has a sense of irresis-tible affection for his subordinate. A solitary soul indistress! He talks to Pellerin as a friend, he asks himto a meal. Rividre hears of it as he hears of every-thing; it is ajar in his vast machine, and he sends forRobineau. He does not lose his temper for a second,he never loses his terrible calm, but in ever so shorta speech which is so marvellous that I am sorry notto be able to reproduce it here Rividre reminds thepoor weak man that he is Pellerin's chief. Sometime,perhaps even to-morrow, he may have to order himoff on a dangerous flight, send him, perhaps, evento his death. Then he can never allow himself to beweak, he must never permit any decision of his tobe half-hearted, to be sentimentalized. And to makegood that moment of weakness, that temporary stop-page of pure discipline, Rividre forces poor Robineauto make up some sham pretext on which he must im-mediately punish the quite innocent Pellerin. Andwhen Robineau doesn't understand, when he is hor-rified, when he is almost in revolt, Rividre winds upby saying: 'But do it all the same, just as if you didunderstand. You can be fond of the men you've gotto give ordcrs to, but neuer tell tltem so.'

Therc is Fabicn in that book, another great riderof thc clouds, fincst airman of all thc circus; and heis lost miscrably in onc of thc dangcrous night flights

259

EPILOGUE

which Rividre had planned and directed as the verygoal of all his soul. Then next day Fabien's sweet-heart is in the office, sobbing out her youth andbeauty, and Rividre comes near weakening. Fabien,sdreadful death strikes him as it strikes every clerk inthe office, every wireless man, every one connectedwith the business, as being the very end of the nightflights.

But Rividre doesn't yet know his own potentiali-ties. He gets up from his desk trembling a little, andgradually recovers himself. Orders to the staff thateverything must go on just as before; let the planesbe got up again, let them continue to defy the night;they must and shall beat it. One man is dead; to-morrow perhaps there may be more dead. What doesit matter?

That battle of the night-flying rvent on with relaysof living menl the battle was won. There was a fastand regular service linking up remote parts of theworld where linking up had seemed impossible. Thevictory was gained, but at a price. The planes climbedinto the sky with a roar that might have been thenote of some great organ. And Rividre stalks grimlyback to his toil through the lines of clerks who cowerbefore his steely glance.

In the history of Portugal there is a man ratherlike Rividre, the hero of that French story. No aero-planes sprang from his arms, but caraaela.r insteacl,

e6o

EPILOGUE

the wings of the ocean.r Here is the extreme point ofa fairy headland2 and here he is, as lonely as a sen-tinel or a hermit, bending over the manuscripts ofMarco Polo, over the maps of Valesca, those mari-time charts which 'made the tables groan', this manwho has cut himself offfrom the world to think onlyof the realities of his countrl, to devote himself to hisdream and to his certainty of its truth. He has nowife, no children, hardly even any friends, he liveswithin himself but always dreaming himself into thevastnesses of that unknown sea which he was deter-mined to conquer. Here is the Infante of Portugal,Prince Henry the Navigator, guided only by his owninterior light, indifferent, insensible to everythingsaid against him, even to accusations which seemedjust, which were just. There was Ceuta, the port ofthe imaginary Kingdom of PresterJohn, and Henrythe Navigator cruelly refuses to exchange it withthe Moors even for the liberty of his own brotherDom Fernando, and so he lets him die in thehell of Tangiers. There was Dom Pedro and hisdeath in the miserable battle of Alfarrobeira,s and

r The caravels ofthe old Portuguese navigators were first usedin r 44o ; they ranged in size from 5o to about zoo tons.- frr.

2 'Dream promontory' is the original. The famous School ofNavigation was on Cape Sagres, the Caput Sacrum of theRomans, the mysterious Ultima Thule of all the world thatthere was.-Zrs.

' ,449, whcn Dom Pedro was slain by his nephew, Afonso V.

-'I rs.

'.r (i r

EPILOGUE

there is Prince Henry icily indifferent to it all!What did he care about men's justice or injustice?

He knew what he wanted, he was very certain in-deed that his country would be great, and greatthrough him; he knew that future generations ofPortuguese would pronounce his name with grati-tude and respect and even with affection. He was

sure that the great dark ocean which tossed androared before his eyes, which defied him, challengedhim, he knew that one day it would turn itself intoa sea of light and life, his own interior light and faithbecoming real, becoming visible at last.

In r4g4 Gil Eannes,l after the failure of his effortin the year before, started out again in his nutshellof a boat and took his 'night flight', his plungeinto the unknown darkness.2 Other adventurers fol-lowed him. The spell was broken at last. The CapeVerde Islands, the Guinea Coast, these were thegreat answers to the mysticism, the tenacity of pur-pose, even to the cruelty of the Dreamer Prince. Callhim the Great Poet of the Astrolabe, of the Box-Compass, of the Quadrant.

Already the dreamwas clarifying, was turning intoI One of Henry the Navigator's esquires and the hero of the

rounding of Cape Bojador, the 'Bulging Cape' that was thelimit of the early explorations.-Irs.

2 The early Portuguese navigators called the Atlantic the

'Sea of Darkness', and Gil Eannes made his famous voyage ina barca, a partly decked-in boat of25 tons and with a crew oft4 men!-?-rr.

z6z

EPILOGUE

reality, into certainty. It was life now, with its pas-sions and struggles, its trees, its flowers, its earth stilltrembling in the pangs of birth. In r46o the Infanteof Portugal died, perhaps little. understood by hisgeneration, perhaps with none of the tears whichfell for his two dead brothers, perhaps without eventhe regret of any one. But before he died he haddrawn aside the veil from that great and terribleSea of Darkness. Then came the reaction whichalways follows action; and presently that passedtoo, and the carauelas started again, began to dis-cover fresh seas, to add glory after glory to the nameof Portugal, and always they were urged on by thesoul of the Great Navigator, by his spirit, by hisfinger pointing from the Promontory of Sagres. His-tory writes of him, in the words of Dr. Oliveira Mar-tins: 'Dominated by one great idea, inhuman as allgreat men are inhuman, he has his place by the sides

of Alfonso I andJohn II. The one gave us our coun-try, the other gave us our short-lived empire of theEast. Between these two comes Prince Henry, theheroic and unbreakable force from which Portugal,bcfore any other nation in Europe, derived thehonour of discovering the world and making it hervassal.' The world of to-day has come to recognizethc place of Prince Henry, not only in the historyof Portugal but in the history of civilization, thehistory of the earth.

Malirrs Arr<lri:, thc moclt'rn biographcr of Christo-r(i'1

EPILOGUE

pher Columbus, said something which I copy in fullas going straight to the heart of every Portuguese:'The genius of Prince Henry of Portugal takes in allhuman aspirations, both material and spiritual, bothindividual and national. It co-ordinates them allwithout sacrificing any of them, and it creates fromthem one strong and harmonious whole. That manwas at once a great savant and a great Christian, aman of action and a man of dreams, a clear mathe-matician- and a prince.'

One must dare to look at history in perspectiveand not to be afraid of drawing comparisons whichmay be bold but which are certainly revealing.Dr. Salazar's portrait can be traced line for linein that picture given by Marius Andrd; when onetakes care of one's perspectives and thinks purelyin terms of psychology, Dr. Salazar is the person-ality in the Portugal of to-day who comes nearestto Prince Henry, the Infante. Nuno Gonsalves (acontemporary of Prince Henry, and one of the mostfamous of ancient Portuguese painters) would doubt-less have been his ideal portrayer. Dr. Salazar hasneither the hardness of a Rividre nor the crueltyof our Great Navigator. As I have tried to show inmy interviews, he has feelings; I do not say thatthey show in his face, but they show in his eyes. Hcknows how to smile, how to have human emotions,how to play the Good Fairy. But where he is likc

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EPILOGUE

the Infante of Portugal, Prince Henry at Sagres,

where he resembles Saint-Exup6ry's airman hero,is in his tenacity, in his mysticism which managesnevertheless to grasp material essentials; in his abso-lute faith in himself, in that dream of his which mayseem impossible to others but which he himself knowswill come true because of the faith that is in him.

There was Prince Henry the Infante in his sea-

school at Sagres poring over his maps and his chartswith his cosmographerJacome of Majorca. And hereis a study in the Rua de Funchal and Dr. Salazarand his ministers bent over a budget which was oncea Sea of Darkness and which is now clearing up.Times have changed, and the sailing ships of theold navigators have turned into liners, into bridges,schools, harbours, works, infant welfare clinics, work-men's dwellings. If an Infante of Portugal were tocome to life again in this tortured age of ours whena people's happiness hangs between their financesand their economies, then he might very well beborn again as a Minister ofFinance, as aDr. OliveiraSalazar!

They say his is almost an alien personality, anddoes not understand us. Perhaps they are right, butis it a fault? Might it not have been the very distancereparating him either by nature or by set purposefrom the lowcr strata of his people which made itpossiblc for Prince Hcnry to achievc his dream? Isn'til irrst that distancc whiclr woulcl givc :rn asccndancy,

265

EPILOGUE

a driving power, an independence, which could leada nation to their highest destinies? Prince Henry,KingJohn II, Nunez Alvares, Afonso de Albuquer-que, the great names of the great days of Portugal,haven't they all been rather outside the people orelse only of them by the new paths which they them-selves had laid down, the new roads which theythemselves had mapped out?

Here is Dr. Salazar. His crime in everybody's eyes

was that he never spoke; they said that he was self-centred, thathewas aspiritual egoist. But he broughthimself to speak to me all right. Further, he sub-mitted himself like a child to a peremptory question-naire on almost every angle of an extremely compli-cated problem, knowing that everything that he saidwas going to be published. Taking a bird's-eye viewof our whole social and political panorama, he wasextraordinarily careful, meticulously painstaking,never attacking a single individual, but only todenounce principles. In his own interest as well as

in mine I sent him proofs of my articles (except ofthe first and last chapters of this book), and occa-sionally he would alter a single word which lookedinnocuous enough but which might conceivablyhave been detrimental to so-and-so.

Now how has it all been received in Portugal?With enthusiasm by the people, who admired himalready and who now admire him still more. With

s66

EPILOGUEinterest and curiosity by those who had hithertoreally known nothing about him, who had lookedupon him merely as a shadow, who had never beforebeen able to see his dream and his love for humanity.With despair and fury by those who could not bearto see him uplifted in the eyes of his nation. Therewere some people who read his statements again andagain,just as actorsread and re-read their lines for aplay, trying to find what they can read into theirpart or what they can get out of this passage or that.There were other people again who battened onevery word and every gesture like crows looking forcorpses, seeking to find some trifle out of which theycould make capital. There were even some peoplewho thought that we had gone wrong altogether. Igot Dr. Salazar's statements down all right, but inmy very first interview I somehow muddled up thenames of two Lisbon streets through which the carhad passed. Therefore, of course, everything mustbe wrong!

Actually there is a mistake, a very serious mistakeindeed. Whether we are for or against him, we haveno business to look at Dr. Salazar with the same eyesas those with which we should look at any other Por-tuguese statesman. Even the attacks on him fromthc pcople who are always against him ought, if theynrc to bc any good, be set on an entirely differentplanc. Dr. Salazar is a complctely new character inItot'tugucsc politics. FIis statcmcnts ancl phrases do

267

EPILOGUEnot rest at all on any stories or particular cases, theycannot be attacked on any grounds of commonplaceor of elementary axioms or of clich6s. It is just asthough we were to blame Pirandello or Bernard Shawbecause they do not write light operas or music-hallsketches. Whether we want to defend or attack Sala-zar, we must take the idea which lies behind whathe says. The supreme ideal which governs his words,which soars over his every opinion, whether onliberty or on violence. A man who lools you in theface and speaks as openly and frankly as Salazar hasdone at least deserves a place of honour, whether weare on his side or against him. Let us then look at hisvision as a whole. Let us leave pin-pricks to the small-minded.

But what after all does Dr. Salazar really aim at,what is this peculiar reformer really after? This vastplan of his, this monstrous, unbelievable, perhapseven dangerous plan! To alter the rhythm of a wholenation, to get it to deny its natural instincts, to ridit of all its passions, to build up again its prestige inthe world, and to do all this by a process which maycertainly be beneficial and freedom-bringingenoughin the long run but which is meantime often quitepainful! Will the thing ever be possible? Who is go-ing to give us the enthusiasm, the spiritual ardour,to walk with him, to suffer him as far as the goal?Shall we stand out? Or will he stand out? I just do

z68

EPILOGUEnot know myself. I am like everybody else; I havehad my moments of doubt. What f am sure of is this.That we ought to look up to and help this single-minded and purposeful soul in his dream. It is a virywonderful thing, this practical idealist in love withreality, this man who has given up everything, whohas renounced all vanities, all worldly lusts, just toshut himself up in izs Sagres School! Here he is, witha rug over his knees to keep himself warm, jugglingwith his figures on paper exactly as that other oneused to juggle with his galleons on the ocean!

Maybe his dream is impossible, maybe the Sea ofDarkness which he wars against will never brighten.But there must be something left, some good seedto fall on the earth, on our earth, our portugal! ,Ido everything I can to reach the hundred mark,' hesaid. 'But if I only reach eighty, it still won't be sobad. I shall be fairly satisfied!'

Fellow Portuguese! Salazar has spoken, has toldus what he had to say. He has trusted us with hisideals, with his plansl he has honestly told us of weak-nesses, of places where his plans have failed. Alreadyhe has shown us that he has got things done. Afte;his last speeches it is only reasonable to expect thatother plans of his will come to fruition, that otherthings are going to be done.

Herc is a man who is alone, heroically solitarytlrat hc may thc bcttcr think for us ancl for his and

z6o

EPILOGUE

our country. Let us leave him in Peace to follow his

path, to march slowly that he may arrive the quicker.Let us patiently await the fulfilment of his promises

to us. Here we have no dictatorshiPr no Party forced

upon us. This man is the dictator of himself, the

great moral leader of a nation.And now that we have heard him, let each of us

go back to our own life. Let us make no noise. Letus leave him to his work.

Estoril, ry32

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMAR(

lTranslator's NotelIn the following summary of some of the leadingresults of Dr. Salazar's work I for one find it totallyimpossible to give any literal translation of some ofthe Portuguese technical terms. My own obvious de-duction, of course, would be to set down any suchdifficulties to my personal incapacity, except that Ihave spoken of the matter to educated Portuguesewith a perfect knowledge of English, and that theytoo agree that, short of writing a whole explanatorytreatise of Portuguese constitutional law and history,there are some terms which are practically untrans-latable into literal English. So, for instance, I havehere to translate a Junta as a'parish council'. But itis not really that in the modern English legal sense,and we should probably have to go back to some-thing like the Saxon Wapentake to get the exactsense.

If any financially mindcd reader desires to knowthe prccisc valuc of a conto he has mcrcly to divide

27r

I270

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYa thousand escudos by r ro$ to arrive at the result inpounds. For myself, I find it easier to call it dro andhave done with it; I should say, however, that I amnot an international financier.-JonN GrenoNs.]

primary object of telling the Portuguese somethingabout the personality of their then almost unknownleader. His plans and his programme entered intothe series of interviews merely as a secondary con-sideration.

In this book, then, we have no need to set out indetail the actions of his government and their con-sequences. We have his political philosophy in hisinitial speech as Minister of Finance and in thespeeches which followed it (Discursos, Coimbra Press,Ltd., 1935). Hir was the deciding factor in the pro-cess of political thought which eventually led up tothe main theories comprised in the country's newConstitution. To him has been due the marvellousreform of Portuguese finance, a reform principallyresponsible for the national renaissance. To Dr. Sala-zar is owing the country's reformation in morale, inmaterial prosperity, and in foreign prestige, all sub-jects of pride to every Portuguese. His work, past,present, and future, is not in the very least supposedto be all included in the series of interviews printcclin this book.

THE NE\V PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYCertainly the interviews have gone into a good

many questions. But they by no means treat of allthe questions of national interest. In this last editionof the book, then, it might be as well to add an ap-pendix with some very brief summary of the workdone in the new Portugal.

These notes will simply stress Dr. Salazar's modeof thought and its sequence. The fruits of a stablegovernment, they are in every way worthy of theleader who made that government possible and ofthe potentialities which must all the time have beenthere in the national character, waiting for the manwho could develop them.

This book has so far published Dr. Salazar's say-ings. These notes are just the sayings come true.

By Decree No. zz4z8, ro April rg33, there wascreated a new Under-Secretary for State for 'Cor-porations and Social Organization'.

By Decree No. z3o48, e3 September 1933, therewas promulgated the 'Statute of National Work', akeystone of the Portuguese system of 'corporations'under the ideals of the new Constitution. On thesame date there were published the following sup-plementary orders, each dealing in some way withthc ncw 'corporations'. Decree No. 2go+g as toDnrployers' Associations, No. 23o5o as to NationalSynclicatcs, No. z3o5r as to Rural Associations, No.230:)3 as to thc N:rtiorral Institutc of Work andl't'ov ir lt'r rcr'.

I

272 273

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

The above legislation is intended to constitute the

framework of the 'corporation system'.

Emplo2erl Associations (gremios is the word in Por-

tuguese) may be compulsoryorvoluntary-the latterauthorized by Decree No. 24715 of 3 December

rg3+. They are organizations of employers of similartiades. Employers' Associations are united in re-

gional and nation al' Federations. Employers' Associa-

tions and federations of different activities but withcommon interests form Unions.

Law No. 1957, of zo May 1937, laid down the

principles of the corporative organization of agri-

c,.rlt.rte, the fundamental bodies being the FarmingAssociations.

National S2ndicates are comPosed of workers' Syn-

dicates of workers of the same calling in each area

are united into local or National Federations.

Rural or People's Associations (Casas do Pouo) ate

unions embracing workers both of the countryside

and of the small towns; Iocal landowners join the

unions compulsorily as'supporters'.Similar institutions called Fishermen's Associa-

tions have been created in fishing districts. All regis-

tered fishermen must belong to these organizations

and all other persons connected with the trade may

also belong if they wish. The fishing companies and

owners or charterers of fishing vessels are compul-

sorily 'patrons' of these associations and contribute

to their funds.27+

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

Corporations are selGcontained units, and stand forthe entire interests of production. In technical andeconomic matters the corporations are controlledand guided by the ministries respectively responsiblefor their particular spheres of work. The NationalInstitute of Labour and Pensions is responsible forthe discipline, rates of pan and insurance of labour.

These various bodies are exclusive. They alone arethe representatives, in the sight of the law, of theeconomic activities and professions of which theyare made up, whether particular firms or individualsare members or not.

The Corporations are not as yet in full workingorder. The Chamber of Corporations is subdividedinto the various sections corresponding to the futurecorporations, and so provides as it were the nucleusfor the system of future corporations.

These subdivisions are made up of representativesof the various corporate bodies that do so far exist;in respect of the forms of work as yet unorganizedvarious individuals have been chosen under powersgiven by Decree No. 24362, I5 August rgg4.

In the principal branches of industry the mastersalready have Associations and Federations.

There are, further, various organizations dealingprincipally with foreign commerce on the followinglines:

Institutes for assuring some official standard ofquality and gradc

271,

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

National Councils for co-ordinating production and

expanding national exPorts.

Regulating Commissions with the special function ofdealing with imports.

The-Government in its co-ordination of economic

activities uses as an instrument the Corporations

Council already mentioned as well as the Technical

Corporative Council of Commerce and Industry,

the latter called into being by Decree No' 2637o,

z4 February 1936. The corporative organization

was extended to the colonies by Decree Law 27552

of 5 March tg77.Th. Lubour Organi zationalready possesses about

two hundred and sixty national syndicates embrac-

ing various classes of work; it further possesses

roughly two hundred and eighty 'Casas do Povo'

and eight Fishermen's Associations.

In the corporations system there are collective

contracts. These fix conditions of labour, wages,

holidays, and insurance moneys.

Counting the contracts actually in being as well

as those *hi.h will shortly come into force, the Por-

tugal of to-day has roughly zoo,ooo workers em-

ployed under collective contract.- In social legislation the following enactments are

in actual opeiation. Hours of labour, with special

regulation, -fo, *o*.n and young people ; regulation

oiprovident funds and of insurancc in general;

accident compensation, workmcn's housing, labour

276

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

courts; a legal minimum wage to be fixed in suchcases as when the lack of collective contracts hadallowed a wage below reasonable standards. Bothstrikes and lock-outs are now legal crimes.

One would also wish to refer to welfare work.tThis provides for the worker's spare time suchamenities as educational recreation, physical train-ing, classes in various subjects, holiday camps, can-teens, and the like.

The question of cheap housing has been a con-stant source of anxiety to the Government. It in-herited the unfortunate fruits of the Socialist experi-ment of r9r9; up to rg27 the State had spent some

{6oo,ooo on housing. Some of this sum was mis-appropriated; some of the frauds had been punishedand others left to go by default. The net result wasno habitable houses at all.

This was the 'result' which the dictatorship hadto take over, and 763 workmen's flats have beenrepaired and finished and made habitable; they arenow occupied by members ofthe national syndicates,by civil and military officials, and by workmen onthe permanent staff of the State or municipalities.

By Decree No. z3o5z, z3 September 1933, theState and various municipalities and corporationsarc now building other working-class dwellings in

I Irr Portrrgucsc it is F.N.A.T.-Fundag6o Nacional para aAl<'gri:r no 'I'r:rb:rlho, litt:r.lrlly the 'National Itoundation forJoy in Work'. 'l'rs.

,r,1'1'l I

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYLisbon, Oporto, and several other towns throughoutthe country.

These workmen's dwellings are designed for pro-perly constituted households. They are let out onhire-purchase terms, the monthly payments includ-ing interest, redemption of capital, and insurancepremium in case of death, illness, or unemployment.

About 4,5oo such dwellings are planned or incourse of building. Still more are planned to bebuilt as the funds of the corporations increase, andas a result of the application of the statutoryreservesof provident societies for this purpose.

The revolution of z8th May 19z6 was broughtabout by the Army as a protest against the constantpolitical turmoil and Government swindles whichwere bringing the country to anarchy and ruin. TheArmy acquired, however, no privileged position ofany sort, beyond that of policing and maintainingthe State's new form of government, both before andafter the new Constitution had been promulgated.

Exactly as with every other branch of the nationalservices the Army had been starved through theState's mismanagement and poverty. Its equipmentwas insufficient for the country's bare protection.Portuguese officers and soldiers must always havetheir value, but beyond this there was practicallynothing.

In the first years of the dictatorship the needs of278

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYthe Army had perforce to be disregarded in face ofmore urgent national requirements. Nevertheless,considerable increase was made in military supplies.

{ very important step was taken in bringing upto date the Navy, which had been allowed to J.t._riorate into a few obsolete ships of practically nofighting value. A naval programm. *a, laid down,and the Navy was soon strengthened by fourteennew keels of a total tonnage of zz,ooo; this includedtwo first-class flotilla leaders, four second-class flo_tilla leaders, five destroyers, and three submarines.The naval air-force branch was strengthened withseveral modern and high-powered planes. About4oo,ooo contos was spent on the above, all being

!-""d in Portugal and without obtaining any loanslThe- second stage of the naval prog.u--e (com-prising three destroyers, three submaiirres, one tankship, six motor torpedo boats, one hydrographicsurvey vessel, and smaller units) is now blingreached. Several squadrons of seaplanes will also biadded.

_ In 1935 there came into being the SupremeCouncil of National Defence. Th; military com-mands were reorgarized, and the council took overthe general reconstruction of the Army, its rearma-ment, and the reform as well of the Nuvy.

Some 5oo,ooo contos have been allocated for theArmy's rcorsanization. This sum is to be spent over:r pcriod of'fivc yoars

^'rl is t:rkc'o.t of thciurpluses

279

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

from r9z8 to rg33. The programme was commenced

in 1936, and during that year and in the ensuing

one I8I16oo contos were expended on war material,

ships, and naval air force.

Public works on harbours and roads and on

various rural and urban betterments such as bridges

are now planned on a regular national system'

Whereas in the old days of Portuguese Party Govern-

ment such public works were usually a matter of poli-tical bargaining, the return ofsuch-and-such a mem-

ber to parliament being rewarded by such-and-such

a road or bridge being built in such-and-such a

district as a sort of electoral favour!

Portugal's new Constitution was published on the

zB May lg3z, and perfect freedom was allowed forits discussion. In the National Plebiscite of 19 March1933, tr2g2,B64votes were polled in favour of it, and

it was consequentlY adoPted.The National Assembly, sitting as a legislative

body for the first time, in 1935 introduced a few

alterations into the Constitution.Political parties as such have no longer any voice

in Portuguese affairs, the people electing their repre-

sentatives by direct vote.For the elections for the first National Assembly

only one list of candidates was put forward. 506,575electors voted in all, the candidatc at the top of the

zBo

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

poll securing 49r,oB8 votes; the least favoured can-didate secured 4B5,o7B votes.

Whereas in the last elections ever held for the oldparliament of the 'democratic republic' (in 1925)there had been only 4o7,96o electors whose voteswere split up amongst the various old parties.

Irrigation works are considerably on the increase.Before anything on a large scale which could

really substantially benefit the country could betaken in hand, all sorts of preparatory work had tobe begun; this started de noao, the old governmenthaving done nothing in the matter. Measurementsof rainfall had to be taken, falls in level had to begot out, drainage coefficients, suitable sites for dams,all kinds of topographical and trigonometrical cal-culations and so forth had to be made.

The areas so far planned out for irrigation amountto r Torooo hectares, at an estimated cost of 6oorooocontos.

The Secretariat of National Propaganda has pro-duced a film which can be shown at Syndicates'headquarters and in country parishes and whichcan be lent to any responsible body with a project-ing machine. Films have been taken to show someof the activities of the new Portugal.

For 1936 a sum of r,ooo contos has been allottedfor the making of morc films, onc a very long one toshow in dctail somc of thc Statc's work.

z[] r

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYMonuments of national historic interest have re-

ceived special attention from the Government bothin preservation and restoration. At the same timeold Government offices and the like have been re-paired and new ones have been built.

During the past nine years the National Govern-ment has spent over 23o,ooo contos on the aboveaccount, in addition to what has been spent bylocal authorities and not including new secondaryschools. This works budget has been progressivelyon the increase. During the financial year of rgz8-gsome r2,ooo contos was spent, as against 52,ooocontos provided under the r938 budget.

The State has made it its business to assist modernPortuguese art by the decoration of new publicbuildings; it has also arranged exhibitions of modernPortuguese art. There have also been State-organizedcompetitions for writers (national and foreign) andcomposers, and money prizes have been awarded. Inthis sphere, a reference should also be made to thecreation of the National Academy of Fine Art, tothe Colonial Exhibition at Oporto, and to the inter-national exhibitions, to the exhibition marking thetenth anniversary of the national Renaissance, tothe City of Lisbon Festivals; further there was thePortuguese Exhibition of Popular Art in Geneva,and this was later on re-erectcd in Lisbon as thcnucleus of, a future Muscum of Popular Art. A

zBz

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

People's Theatre has come into being; it is a travel-ling theatre designed to carry the drama to remotevillages which would otherwise have no opportunityof ever seeing a stage. Educational 'holiday camps'have also been started.

The old Council of National Education has nowbecome the 'Institute of High Culture', an Academyof History has been created, and the scope of Portu-guese museums and libraries has been much en-larged. The arts, in short, have been encouraged inevery possible way, both in their higher and in theirmore popular forms.

Two large hospitals are now being proposed, onein Lisbon and one in Oporto. It is intended thatthey shall serve as medical schools, and 6orooo con-tos has been set aside from the budgets of the lastfive years for their foundations.

In rgz8 the number of patients treated by civilhospitals, clinics, etc., was 89,553; by r936 this figurehad increased to r r8,3g4. At the end of rgz8 thenumber of patients actually in hospital was roro+7iat the end of r936 the number was r rro7g.

The detailed figures for hospital, etc., treatmentwcrc as follows:

Consultationsl'irst airlV:t<:t:itr;rtionsSrrrgir':rl opcrlrtiolrs

rg2Be85,687Bo7, r 85

r r,874r ll,,;3r,

ruIl'3

r936537,584

r,BB4,63o6o,64o38,394

I

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYThe State has taken the anti-tuberculosis cam-

paign into serious account, and special provisionsfor sufferers are now made by the National Assis-tance Board. The State Budget includes a particularallotment for anti-tuberculosis treatment as well as

for the building of special clinics. Anti-tuberculosistreatment was in the Budget of rgzS-g allotted9,63o contos under the headings of the Home Office,the War Office, and the Admiralty. By the Budgetof r93B this sum had increased to 15,364 contos.

The Portuguese Institute of Cancer Research wasstarted in rgz3. By rgzT it had only sufficient fundsto allow of the beginning of various research build-ings, and these began to be used at the end of ry27,By rg3B the Institute was financed with r,637 escu-dos. The progress made from rgz8 to 1936 was almostentirely due to Dr. Salazar's personal interest in theproblem ofcancer.

In so very brief a summary it would not be pos-sible to give any detailed account of the system ofpublic assistance in Portugal, and the followingfigures are only given to show roughly what has beendone under Dr. Salazar's rigime, and then only inthe directly State-controlled services (i.e. the GeneralDirection of Assistance).

Public assistance is largely under control ofvariousauthorities, the Public Health Service having, forinstance, the care of the poor as a part of its duties.

In the rgz8-9 Budget 6r,B9r contos was grantedzB+

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

by the Home Office for Public Assistance; by rg38this sum had increased to 77,757 contos. In rgz8there were 14,267 children boardedinvarious PublicCharity Institutions, in r936, 16,9z4.

A note should be made ofthe Government's specialwinter relief for the poor. In 1933-4 2,5oo contoswas allotted for this purpose; in 1936, 3,ooo contos.

Portuguese unemployment is comparatively slightin relation to that ofother countries. The Portuguesepopulation-increase stands at a figure amongst thehighest in Europe, emigration is nowadays next toimpossible to those countries towhich in the old daysthe Portuguese used to go, while to a very large extentthose countries' own difficulties have led to a largenumber of emigrants actually returning to Portugal.From rg2r to rg3o the average annual migrationfrom Portugal was about 34,ooo; from I93r to Ig35this figure had fallen to about 7,Soo ayear.

With all that, the unemployment figures are onlyas follows:

Percentage ofpopulation

o'55o'56o'59o'49

r934I935r936r937

Unzmplo2ed

39,5364r, r r9

43,o5436,448

Dr, Salazar's economic policy accounted for these

etl5

t

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

figures being so low. There were public works, andagriculture, industry, and commerce, also enor-mously increased their activities. According to thefigures of the Bank of Portugal and counting roo as

the basic standard of economic activity of r93r, thefigure for 3r December rg35 stood at 13r'6.

In r93r there was created a special Unemploy-ment Insurance. The fund was raised by a compul-sory tax of e per cent on all urban workers' wages(but excluding the agricultural labourer). Employershad to contribute a further r per cent of wages andsalaries, while a special 2 per cent tax was levied onproperty.

Up to 3o June rg37 this fund amounted in all toz4z,49z contosl 95 per cent of the fund is earmarkedfor public worls carried out by the State and bymunicipal bodies; the fund can pay up to 50 percent of the officially estimated value of such works,but will pay only for labour and stafl and of courseonly under approved conditions. The 5 per centbalance of the fund can be given to direct help for theunemployed, free meals, help in buying clothes, boots,etc., and in making special allowances for the sick.

In the battle against illiteracy, one of the coun-try's most grievous inheritances from a sad past,considerable progress has been made.

The following figures of registration at schools inratio to the population are illuminating:

z86

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

Registration atPopulation at scluols

rgr r roo (basis) rgog-ror92O ror19z5-z6 r16r93o tr41936 t22.s

too (basis)

r93516 r69.r

In the direction of elementary education, andomitting the cost of school buildings, the Budget inrgz8-9 allowed B4,ooo contosl in 1936, ro3,o8rcontos.

By Decree No. rg4r, lr April 1936, the NationalMinistry of Education was reformed. ft is now pro-posing to take in hand not merely scholastic educa-tion as such but also the moral and physical trainingof the young people of the poorer classes. The prin-ciples on which the reform of elementary educationis based, approved by the National Assembly andcontained in Law No. r969 of eo May rg3B, will gofar to solve this problem.

Apart, however, from general education, technicaland higher schools, one would note the extensionof educational facilities now being brought about bythe 'corporations'. It will be the duty of the ,syndi-

cates' to assist tradc schools and classes. The RuralAssociations, too, will havc to do somcthing in theclirct:tion of tcaching cvcn thc adults as wcll as their

ztlT

I

ll

I

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

younger charges; they will have to look after theirphysique and their recreation.

There is, too, the welfare movement, 'for Joy inWork', which has started courses of general andspecial training, so far with splendid results.

Under the New State very special attention hasbeen paid to the health of students, and there is amedical service for this very purpose, so vital to thefuture of the race.

Under the Ministry of Education comes the bodyknown as 'Portuguese Youth', an organization in-tended to develop physique, character, and patrio-tism. Order, discipline, and cadet-training are allfeatures of its policy, which is intended to em-brace all young people, whether actual students ornot.

It is not possible in this summary to set out everydetail of Dr. Salazar's financial work. One wouldhave to begin by saying that the budgets of the lastten years had shown a series of chronic deficits; fromrgro to rgz8 alone the Portuguese finances had runup a debt of some eighty million pounds! The very firststep had therefore to be one of complete economicreconstruction. From the z7 April rge8 Dr. Salazarcontinuously held office first and foremost as Minis-ter of Finance.

During the seven years of his administration theresults may be very briefly summarized as follows:

zBB

THE NBW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY(a) From rgz8-g to rg37 the actual balances rose

to rr58Trooo contos.(D) On 3o June r9z8 there was a floating debt of

2,o65,ooo contos. This has been totally wiped out.By 3, December rg37 the country had a surplus ofB57,ooo contos.

(c) The nominal value of the National Debt hasnow been reduced by about 1126o,oo0 contos.

(d) The rate of interest of public loans has beensuccessively reduced from 6f, per cent down to 3lper cent and Conversions have further decreased thegeneral charges.

(a) The bank rate of the Banco de Portugal hasbeen reduced from 7L per cent to 4! per cent.

Certainly, to arrive at these figures, the Portu-guese tax-payer has had to suffer. But his sacrificeswere both lower and more fairly apportioned thanthe sacrifices that he had to put up with in the pre-dictatorship periods with the depreciation of thepurchasing power of his currency.

The following figures relative to the cost of livingspeak eloquently. Taking roo as the ratio for r9r4the figure for rgz8 was 21425; for rg37 it had gonedown to 2rro2.

The satisfactory financial balance was also arrivedat by a rigorous cutting-down of all wasteful publiccxpenscs. Nothing, however, was touched whichmight conducc to thc restoration of the country'sprospcrity or s:rfcty. ltoacls, harbours, railways, tele-

I

z{lty

ll

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

graphs, and telephones, buildings, national monu'*.tttt, irrigation, waterworks, betterments both ur-

ban and rural, forestry, orchard-planting, the Navy,

the Army, nothing was cut down in any of these

services.But a good many reforms were made in public

accountancy. And in fact the new Constitution dealt

very exhaustively indeed with the accountancy ofpublic moneys. Tax collection too and taxation ingeneral was thoroughly overhauled, and above all

Irr.ty sort of favour in tax collection was absolutely

abolished.A11 the above reforms were carried out without

anyfresh foreign loans ofany sort. In I927 Portugal

had thought a foreign loan of twelve million pounds

to be an absolute necessity. The Portuguese credit

was then such that the League of Nations demanded

the right of controlling the loan if granted' The con-

dition was refused by Portugal as incompatible withher national dignity, and actually the loan never

materiahized. Seven years later the country had very

nearly this amount of money of her own.

The new Portugal has now reached the point ofbeing able seriously to consider a fifteen years' plan

of ectnomic reconstruction. In this period she pro-

poses to spencl 6,5oo,ooo contos (ab9u1 d6o,ooo,ooo),.rr.ty item of which is alreacly carcfully mapped out'

This economic reconstruction of the country will290

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

take in railways, roads, airports, commercial andfishery harbours, telegraphs and telephones, irriga-tion, tou'n planning, fresh schools and other build-ings, the restoration of monuments of historic inter-est, city improvements in Lisbon and Oporto,colonial credits, and generally all other undertakingslikely to improve the national finances.

It is expected that the ordinary budget balanceswill provide a certain amount of the necessary fundsfor this programme, while 2rooorooo contos may beraised by loans.

1936 was to be the first year of the plan, andnearly Boorooo contos were set aside for it.

Previous budgets had produced balances fromwhich r84,ooo contos were earmarked for improve-ments in the Portuguese Army, Nury, and NavalAir Force, with something left over for rural better-ments, the hospitals with their medical schools, fora great new stadium in Lisbon, and for the restora-tion of some of the national monuments.

The same balances further permitted of 5oo,ooocontos being spent in a spread-out period of fiveyears in Army re-equipment (including the summentioned in the last paragraph).

Under the new Portugal the principle of loans forany purpose not essentially remunerative has beenrigorously avoided.

In r93r Portugal wcnt off the Gold Standard,after England and various othcr countrics had done

29r

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

the same. The policy, however, was not followed, as

many had feared, by undue inflation of paper cur-rency or by any grave revolution in the cost ofliving.

The now sound financial position of the State un-doubtedly helped; as did also the confidence feltboth at home and abroad in the Government'shonesty and in Portugal's stability and freedom fromrevolution.

In earlier years a large part of Portugal's capitalhad gone abroad; investors had perhaps been un-patriotic, but had taken up foreign investments as

the only way of saving their holdings. Now, with thenew stability of Portugal and with the troubles anduncertainties of other countries, the best part of thisgold came back to Portugal.

There was trouble in the way of sending moneyfrom Brazil, and there were other countries, too,from which it was difficult to get it out. Variousforeign stocks had suspended payment of their in-terest, a fact which for some time largely accountedfor the deficit in our trade balances. And then, withall set-backs, it was reckoned that the Portuguesegold which was available abroad for our Govern-ment and for our banks increased by r,r76,o00 con-tos from theJune of r93r to the December of 1937.

Portuguese overseas trade largely escaped theworld economic slump both in volume and in value.

The following tables speak for themselves, and it292

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

is obvious that Portugal has escaped the economicbankruptcies of various other countries.

(In thousands of contos and in thousands of tons)

r929r930I93Ir932r933r93+r935r936r937

IuponrsValues Weiglrts

zr5z9 zrg&r2r4o7 21452

r1734 Z,OB9

1186z r,87521282 2rro22rt2g 2r29t2,3oo 2$65r,999 2rt372$65 2,64o

ExpontsValues Weights

TrO73 trt620,945 1,358or8r r rro39orTgr rroTror8o2 rr24go,9o9 r1323or923 rrr12rro3o 1166r

tr2r7 118z6

On the export side the decrease of value from ther9z9 figures reaches a maximum of z6'e per cent,in rg3z, its minimum being r r'2 per cent in 1929. In1935 it stands at I3'g per cent. The falling-off inprices is as a rule balanced by the quantities.

On the import side the quantity tables show thatPortugal is not one of the countries contributing toworld depression. Ifthe classes of goods are examinedin detail it is seen that the steady increase in ourimports of raw materials proves the development ofour industries.

A previous paragraph in this summary touches onthe cost of living. This index figure has been quiteunaffcctcd by any qucstion of gold.

293

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYA financial reform of r93r laid down certain

restrictions for currency actually in circulation.The banks have deposits of national currency

which have increased from gr2BTrooo contos in r93lto 5,34g,ooo contos in r937.

In bill-discounting and protesting the same resultsare shown of the effects of the economic crisis onPortuguese finance.

(Values given in thousands of contos)

DrscouNrno PnornsrnoNumber Value Number Value

rg3o 11749,617 6,8o1 7o,7ir 255Ig3 r r,524,269. S,4or 77,56o 296rg32 r,459,754 4,Brr 46,6o3 r4SIg33 r,SSo,452 5,o5r 95,066 ro3rgg+ r,69r,561 5,509 3r,723 94rg35 r,g72,2rt 6,284 29,995 Bz1936 z,rr8,og4 6,52r gz,r}7 BorggT 2,2B7,Tgg 6,957 35, ro3 r2S

Finalln one would note that the Issuing Bank hadreserves which rose from g4.r5 per cent in the Julyof I93r to 45.35 per cent in the December of ryg7.The minimum legal limit for the entire reserve isfixed at 30 per cent, whereas actually the bankreserve is z7.g8 per cent in metal alone. This per-centage is bascd on the legal parity of currency; if

29+

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

actual present-day gold value was to be reckoned,the bank reserve would then stand at 45'z petcent.

One of the most notable undertakings of the newGovernment has been in law reform. On the 5th ofJuly r93z Professor Manuel Rodrigues was appointedMinister ofJustice in Dr. Salazar's Government. Itis to this gentleman's professional skill that the re-forms are largely due.

A new and simpler bankruptcy code has beenevolved, and higher material and moral protectionhas been glven to commercial interests.

With the coming into power of the New State acertain number of businesses collapsed or got intodifficulties. These, however, were businesses whichhad been founded during the war period or duringthe inflation which immediately followed the war;they had been badly financed and badly managed,and their collapse was a natural sequence either ofthe economic crisis or of their having to put theirhouses in order with a real economy and with realaccounts! Actually under the new State more com-panies have been founded than ever before, and moreprosperous ones. The following are the figures ofcompany promotions and windings-up ever sinceexact statistics have been available:

I

295

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY(Figures given in contos)

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

character in Christianizing and civilizing the nativepeoples, and this high mission was now to be intensi-fied.

The Premier's views on the question were em-bodied in Decrees No. z3zz8 and No. 29229, both of15 November 1933, entitled as on'Colonial Organi-zation' and on'Reform of Overseas Administration'.

There were many faults and even vicious faultshanded down from the past which had to be takenin hand. The colonies had long been a financialdrain on the Fatherland, administration after ad-ministration having tried this plausible-seemingexperiment or that, but usually with the idea offinding still more and more jobs rather than ofbenefiting the colonies.

From r85o to r9e5 Portugal's colonies cost theTreasury, directly and indirectly, nearly one hundred

andfft2 million gold pounds. At the time of the comingof the dictatorship there were no real plans of anysort even laid down for colonial working.

The world slump affected every country mostseverely in its colonies. Portugal was no exceptionto this rule. Exactly as in Continental Portugal so

in colonial Portugal the New State had to begin itswork by a complete reformation of Governmentmachinery at the same time as it was faced by allits difficulties of foreign trade.

The Home Govcrnment began its task in ther:olonics by rc-establishing orclcr in administration

2l)7

Companies

formed72,67765,53968,o5487$zG6s,448Bg,I54B4,zzg

56,8r5

Companies

wound up

48,65o5zro6443,72254,78437,ro9zB,7oz29,84527,o47

r930I93Ir932r933r934r935r936r937

The National Statute of Labour lays down that'Companies are bound to create reserves to protectthemselves against particular contingencies andgeneral crises'.

In the matter of Portugal's colonial possessions agreat deal has been done to stabilize politics, govern-ment, and commerce.

On the Bth ofJuly rg3o Dr. Salazar, then in tem-porary charge of the Colonial Office, promulgated a

new Colonial Act which was afterwards incorpor-ated in the Constitution of 1933. This Act wasdesigned to throw a new complexion on the Portu-guese Empire. It was for the future to be one com-posite whole and not as heretofore a string of iso-lated colonies; the only distinctions were to be thenecessary differences ofthe various races. Portuguesecolonization has for centuries possessed a distinctive

296

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

and in finance. It was necessary to take stock, so tospeak. Deficits, debts, gross waste of public funds,poor accountancy, absence of exact statistics, non-production of official accounts, so long as all theseexisted nothing could be done in the way of helpingcommerce.

If the crisis was to be beaten then some sanity mustbe arrived at in public administration. Actually thePortuguese colonies probably rather benefited fromtheir very backwardness; they hadn't had the arti-ficial development of some other countries' colonies,and so had perhaps been less hardly hit bythe slump.

To create a united Portuguese Imperial Policy, toget the colonies' finances back to something likenormal, to reform their administration, these werethe first tasks of the new Colonial Ministry. Onemust give every possible credit to the work of Dr.Armindo Monteiro (afterwards Minister of ForeignAffairs) for his work at the Colonial Office from 3rMay r93r to rr May 1935.

The colonies' debts were adjusted, though onlyat the cost of considerable sacrifices by Lisbon andthe Fatherland in the matter of payments on loans.At the same time the colonies were forbidden to con-tract further debts with foreign countries. Themother country made considerable financial sacri-fices in order to adjust the colonial debts. Some ofthese were consolidated and the charges were in cer-tain cascs reduced and thcir payment postponcd.

2gB

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUM\{ARYIn particular, the matter of the transfers from An-

gola Stock was arranged, though with particularsacrifices. In the long run, however, that solutionof the colony's difficulties showed a correct vision.Angola has now settled down to a sane and reason-able economy.

Both Angola and the other colonies are now fastprogressing under the new ideal of a Portugueseempire united in policy and economic interest.Their natural resources are being developed, butallowing always for the conditions of foreign markets,for proper trade with the Fatherland, and for theirseveral capacities for colonization. Each colony'strue economic possibilities are being explored, andcapitalist adventures w-ith suspicious connections arenowadays discouraged.

Portugal's colonies have long been of service totheir neighbours as a supply for the labour market,besides affording good means of communication.Portugal has now to colonize them for the moral edu-cation and welfare of the natives themselves. Howthey are progressing under the new rigime is shownby the ever-increasing immigration of whites fromthe Fatherland. This immigration is now givingsomething of a permanent white population and isbinding the colonies more firmly to their Portugal.

The question of social hygiene has received con-siclcrablt: attcntiol'r fi'orn thc Ncw Statc.

2!X)

I

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

Public Assistance and Public Health Services havealready been mentioned, but in addition there arevarious new health services in connection withlabour, and particularly with the employment ofwomen and young people.

For many years Portugal boasted laws on this sub-ject. But the laws were never carried into effect. Theold 'Democratic Government' which styled itself 'ofthe people and for the people' never worked itslaws!

To-day it is different, and the laws are strictlyenforced. Special authorities ensure that new regu-lations are carried out in every detail. Hours of workand hygiene of workshops are to-day severely super-vised.

Apart from the anti-tuberculosis campaign alreadyreferred to, various regulations have now come intobeing as to the notification and prevention of infec-tious diseases.

A good deal has been done in the way of provid-ing children's playgrounds in working-class districts.Where private charity has been insufficient, then theState has been glad to help either in upkeep or inproviding a site. These playgrounds have been foundmost efficacious in keeping the little ones from theevils of the streets. At the same time, many of theelementary schools in poorer districts have beenequipped with canteens for cheap meals; these werealmost unhcard of in thc Portugal of 19z6.

300

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYIn 'lycdes' and girls' secondary schools there has

been introduced the teaching of hygiene, and the girlsnow have classes for the bathing and dressing andcare of babies. The whole law as to the position ofminors has been amended, and in this respect thelegal officers now work hand in hand with the schoolauthorities.

Pornographic literature is now rigorously sup-pressed, and there is a general campaign against allforms of immorality.

The pulling down of old slums and the buildingof new working-class districts has proved extra-ordinarily beneficial both morally and socially.

In recapitulating the social work of the New Stateone would draw special attention to three institutions,all of recent creation. There is the Family DelenceLeague, which has a branch in every town in Portu-gal and in nearly every village. Its object, ofcourse,is to strengthen the family by every possible means,social, recreational, and so forth. The New Stateregards the family as the basis of society, the veryfoundation of order, the source of the nation's safetyand development. There is what in England wouldprobably be called the Mothers' LInion, with thespecial duty of bringing up the new generation as

healthy and happy mothers and children. And thereis the Portuguese Youth Movement, which has al-ready been mentioned.

3c)r

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

Some note should be given here of the Portugueseelectoral system.

The Chief of State must be a Portuguese nationalby birth, must be a Portuguese citizen by residence,must be aged at least thirty-five, and must be in fullpossession of all civil and political rights.

He must be nominated by zoo elector citizens andmust sign his own nomination paper. The SupremeCourt ofJustice sitting in open session will proclaimthe nominee with most votes.

All citizens may vote for the Chief of State whoare on the electors'register and who can produce thenecessary certificate to that effect.

The electors' register is composed of the follow-ing:

(o) Portuguese citizens of the male sex, agedtwenty-one, and able to read and write.

(6) Portuguese citizens of the male sex, undertwenty-one, but'emancipated' (i.e. self-supporting),and able to read and write.

(c) Portuguese citizens who may be illiterate butwho pay a certain amount of taxes, either State ormunicipal.

(d) Portuguese citizens of female sex, either agedtwenty-one or 'emancipated', but of higher or atleast secondary education.

The qualifications for electors for the NationalAssembly are as above.

The Assembly consists of ninety deputies elected

302

THB NBW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

by direct vote but en bloc. Lists are made up contain-ing names of ninety candidates; each list is signedby eoo electoral nominatorsl each list must be inthe office of the Attorney-General of the Republicat least thirty days before the election. Each listmust be signed by each of the ninety candidates witha declaration that theyaccept candidature and agreeto the fundamental principles of the New State.

Candidates for the Assembly may be any Portu-guese electors able to read and write, but with thefollowing exceptions:

They cannot be those without a fixed residencefor the last five years (unless they have certificatesto the effect that they have been on Governmentservice).

They cannot be those who have ever been offici-ally exiled, or those in prison, whether on a politicalor any ordinary criminal charge, or those who byGovernment order are forbidden to reside within acertain area (as within so many miles of the capital).

They cannot be those who subscribe to or admitany theories of anarchism; they cannot be those whoprofess any theories contrary to the existence of Por-tugal as a sovereign and independent State.

Further, officials and others in Government pay areineligible except with specified Government consent.

Candidates must not appear on more than onelist of potential deputies. Names may be crossed out,but no substitutions can bc made.

ii

303

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYEach candidate's votes are counted as belonging

to the list on which his name appears, and the listobtaining most votes is the winner.

Parish Councils. Up to 1936 the parish councilswere elected by 'Portuguese citizens of both sexes

with the responsibility of "head of family" '. Thishas been interpreted as meaning the following:

(o) A Portuguese male citizen with duly consti-tuted family living with him and subject to hisauthority.

(r) A Portuguese woman-widow, divorced orjudicially separated, or spinster-of age, of duly ac-knowledged moral qualifications, who maintainsherself and parents, grandparents, or children orgrand-children, or collateral kin.

(c) A Portuguese male citizen, of age, with separ-ate household of his own.

Municipal Councils are constituted by: the Presi-dent of the Municipal Council, who shall have adeputy, both being appointed by the Government;by representatives, ex oficio and by election, of theParish Councils, of the Misericordias (Relief Insti-tutions), of the corporative organizations, and of theprincipal taxpayers. These councils hold office forthree years.

There are further Provincial Councils. Each pro-vince has so many'municipal chambers'or, roughly,urban district councils. Each sends a 'procurator' tothe Provincial Council. The Provincial Council also

304

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

has procurators elected by the provinces'federationsof corporations and syndicates. There are also pro-curators elected by the various 'institutes of localutility' in the province. Further representatives maybe co-opted from the teaching profession in the pro-vince.

These councils are elected for three years.

There used, in the early days of the dictatorship,to be a Public Safety Tax levied on the salaries ofevery Government official, high or low. On rst Julyrg34 this tax was halved. From June to Decemberr936 it was totally suspended.

Some extracts are now given from Dr. Salazar'sspeeches and reports apropos to Portugal's specialattitude to the world crisis in trade.

'The crisis has nearly everywhere brought abouta new economic nationalism which I consider so

narrow and so foreign to the true interests of thenations adopting it that we Portuguese have so farrefused to take it up in spite of the pressure broughtto bear on us by other countries. I am anxious thatthis economic nationalism should in no way be con-fused with the new nationalist policy which our Por-tugal is adopting.

'The crisis gravely threw back the world's inter-national commercial relations, and much of theentente made since the war was lost in the crisis.Thcrc wcre labour troublcs, hcavy losscs, over-pro-

lI

l

3()5

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

duction, alteration in values, stagnationofcommerce,all these had their repercussions in internal politics;public opinion here and there insisted on tariffwars,on direct and indirect fines on exports, on restric-tions on foreign trade. This was an exaggerated pro-tection which only concealed a country's true capa-city of production, and in the long run it militatedseverely against all interests. In the end there wereeven regulations forbidding work to foreigners to adistrict. In short, every country was looking onlyafter itself, with the net result that the remedies for thecrisis were in the end infinitely worse than the disease.

'We in Portugal loyally signed the internationalconvention as to the restrictions on foreign trade.Furthermore, we are amongst the few countries whohonoured our bond. We rigorously abstained fromadding to the chaos of the world trade by grantingany premiums on exports; we raised our importtariffs so very slightly that our own Portuguesemanufacturers are everywhere complaining andour country has suffered enormously through thedumping of cheap foreign goods on our market;we set up foreign labour regulations designed tocause as little trouble as possible to other people,and even then we excepted from our regulations thenationals of such countries as were favoured by ourtreaties or by traditional claim upon our friendship.'(Speech of ry May r%r.)

'Restrictions and prohibitions of foreign tradr:,

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THE NBW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

high duties and taxes, broken or strained relations

of one country with another and consequent diffi-culties in the free transfer of capital, all these are atpresent enormous obstacles in the direction of the

exparsion of international commerce and in the

economic reconstruction of many countries. We

Portuguese have fought hard for a fair freedom oftrade coupled with a very moderate degree of pro-tection; and we have sought to keep up regularpayments by means of open markets for foreign ex-

change. We have done our best to make no discrimi-nations of particular countries or particular classes

of goods; we have struggled hard to keep out oftariffwars withhighhome taxes, permits for imports,official restrictions onquantities ofgoods or on prices,

and all the rest of it. But we haven't found too muchencouragement; not many nations have been as gen-

erous as ourselves. There are countries which have

put all sorts of difficulties in the way of our sending

them our goodsl there have even been difficulties inthe way of their paylng us for what we have sent

them. We are driven, then, in discussing future tradeagreements to point out our own position. We our-selves are a country which is a great importer, and

further we are a country which punctually pays itsdebts. We are renewing our trade agreements and

treaties, and we are renewing them on the lines ofprotecting our own nation. We arc not inclined togo on buying ad lib. from countrics which apparcntly

307

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

are not inclined to buy from us; we are especiallynot inclined to go on buying from countries whichcannot promise to pay us for the little that they takefrom us as against the great deal that in the past wehave taken from them.' (Report from ry33-4 PublicAccounts.)

'We are going on with our principles of moderateprotection coupled with freedom of commerce andfree transfer of capital. But we are going on in theface of a world which with very few exceptions is

governing its trade on very different ideals. Thereare "best-favoured nations", all kinds of discrimina-tions in classes of goods, import permits, restrictionson foreign money, high taxation, tariffwars, it is allthe order of the day, and it is invading one countryafter another. We on our side have certainly man-aged to keep alive with our methods. There are othercountries whose ideas do not seem to have come upto expectations, and so we are more than doubtfulwhether their ideas can have been right! But it is

equally certain that our methods are closing certaindoors to Portuguese commerce while our doors areopen to all. It is certain that while we are keepingalive we are also having our troubles. Indeed, Iadmit that there must be special cases where ourpolicy puts us at a disadvantage.

'If this state of affairs is to go on, if internationaltrade is to be paralysed through international sus-

picions and jcalousics, if all cconomic lifc is to go on

308

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

suffering through this cause or that; if there is to bean exaggerated Government control of nationalfinances-and the poorer the finances the tighterthe control, and the more bitter towards othernations-then, if all this goes on, we of Portugal aregoing to find a still higher inducement towards thepolicy outlined in our last year's report. In our tradeagreements with other countries we shall have stillfurther to stress our own position of free marketsand free-flowing capital. We may even have to gofurther. We may have to give further attention to thequestions of trade and production of ContinentalPortugal and her colonies. We may find sufficientcause in those questions to lead us to alter our entiresystem of trade with foreign countries. We shall haveto remember, however, that we are not alone in theworld. Both in foreign politics and foreign tradewe cannot entirely dissociate ourselves from othercountries' mistakes and misfortunes. As is the case

with every other country, our peace and prosperitymust depend at least in part on other nations.Much of our purchasing power must remain inforeign hands, and whether we like it or not wehave to remember the goods which we might sellabroad and fail to sell, or the goods which we do selland for which we do not get punctually paid. Wemay keep our conceptions ofworld solidarity, we maykeep our icleals; but in practice our Portugal is notfilr:rrrci:rlly strong t:nough to lt:t us m'cckly assume

30{)

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYthe mere role of isolation, of unprotesting victim ofother nations' selfishness. At this very time the na-tions of Europe are walled in by barriers of distrust;and this in spite of all the conferences and speeches,

and possibly to some extent even because of all theconferences and speeches! From these barriers arisetwo facts, the most dominant, the most poignant ofour age. Those facts are firstly the exaggerated eco-nomic dictatorships of country after country, eco-nomic controls far beyond any reason and actuallytending to economics which are in themselves al-most wars. Our second fact is that nearly everycountry is spending far more than it can afford, andis spending on armaments.' (Report 0n rg3l-S PublicAccounts.)

'The fight which has for some time been going onin world trade is now growing still more bitter. Wesee countries putting on economic regulations withthe open and avowed object not of balancing inter-national trade in general, but of fixing purely uni-lateral balances for or against other countries.

'We Portuguese will not willingly abandon ourideals of fair trade and moderate protection, thoseideals which have shaped our foreign policy in eco-nomic matters. At the same time the PortugueseGovernment cannot and will not face with indif-ference practices which would soon kill our foreigntrade, which would lead to thc total collapse of thcentire financial rcconstnlction of our country, a rc-

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

construction built up with so much effort, so muchsacrifice by the Portuguese people.

'The Government refuses to stand back with itshands folded in the face of an attempt to impose onPortugal a ledger which shows a loss, a ledger whichwould turn us Portuguese into compulsory debtors.Are we tamely to watch regulation after regulationbeing passed abroad with the object of cutting downour exports to nothing or next to nothing? Are wewilly-nilly to be written down as owing debts whichactually we should never at any called-upon mo-ment be able to liquidate?

'Those countries which stop our export trade, arewe supposed to go on giving them the same freemarket with ourselves which we do offer to theimports!' (Report on Decree Law No. 2557, 2 June,r%s-)

'It is a known fact that there is no one rule govern-ing the economic life and public finance of allnations, and that no civilized country can ensurethat it will not be affected by reactions caused bygiven situations in other countries. When, havingexhausted the recourse to import restrictions andprohibitions, to quotas, to increased duties, to con-sumption and circulation rates, countries plungedinto a monetary war for commercial ends; when, inorclcr to dcfcncl thc arbitrary valuc of currency,fttn:igrr lluyrnt:rrls rvcl'r: ;>rolribit<:cl, as wcll as thc

?ro :l I I

THB NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

transfer and the free circulation of capital; when, allthese measures being insufficient to restore economicor financial balance so as to accumulate funds forarmaments, or to effect an exaggerated nationaliza-tion of production within the boundaries of eachcountry, the next step was to repudiate debts andsuspend payments-vr'hen, I say, these things tookplace, the economy and finance of many States otherthan those directly concerned were gravely affected.

In view of this, how far and for how long shall weremain subject to the three great principles of truth,honestl, and libert2 which we have endeavoured tofollow (the first two absolutely, and the third to alarge extent) in the administration of Portuguesefinance and in the ordering of economic life? Myanswer is, to the very limit of the material and moralresponsibility we may be allowed to retain.

'For two reasons: in the first place if we comparethe principles applied in this country with thoseapplied in others to solve the same difficulties, thereseems to be no reason why we should give up ours;furthermore, the solutions employed by other coun-tries are certainly no better or more effective, tojudge by their results. After all, we have overcomeour crises while in other countries conditions havegone from bad to worse. Secondly, ifit is undoubtedlytrue that certain principles till quite recently be-lieved to be universal and everlasting are now con-demned as unsuitablc undcr the changed conditions

312

THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYof the modern world, many new experiments havebeen shown to be no more than measures of expedi-ency and certainly not axioms of economic organiza-tion or of financial administration capable of replac-ing the old ones. In periods of crisis, the minds ofmen cannot distinguish clearly between condemnedpractices and those permanent axioms which holdwherever human conditions are stable. Natural lawis usually stronger than any amount of revolutionaryardour. We shall continue to put our trust in it, inour endeavour to correct those things which fromthe point of view of human interest appear deficientor actually wrong.

'This does not mean that we shall let ourselves (orbe allowed to) remain without profit or glory-ratherincurring the risk ofsevere losses, followers ofsystemswhich various countries, one after another, appearto have abandoned. We depend so much on oneanother in the international community that nocountry can fix an independent course for herself;her policy must to a large extent be dictated bythe conduct of others.' (Report 0n rgg7 Public Ac-counts.)

By Legal Decree No. z678z of r3 July r936 therecame into being a Special Council. It is composedautomatically of the Premier and of the Ministersof Finance, of Foreign Affairs, of Commerce andfndustry, and it may include when necessary theMinistcr of Colonics and thc Minister of Agriculture.

3r3

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARYThere are also seats for certain permanent Civil Ser-vants in a consultative capacity.

The object of the council is the defence of portu-gal's economic position in face of the present inter_national economic difficulties. The vu.iorrs Govern-ment offices connected with foreign affairs are thequicker and more easily linked up by this council inthe face ofany emergency.

The two decrees quoted above sufficiently illus-trate Dr. Salazar's views on international economicproblems. One would note that the powers men-tioned in the above decrees have been most sparinglyexercised.

Or 4 March rg2g a speech of Dr. Salazar asMinister of Finance dealt with the portuguese CiuilSeruice. He had as a programme its reconstructionwith the object ofgetting more work done, adecreasein the number of personnel, and higher pay.

A series of reforms has now completely reoiganizedevery branch of the service, with results beneficialboth to the national purse and to the employees'own morale.

The State on deliberate principle endeavours tocut down its own officials in the interests of economy.

Decree No. z6115 of e3 November 1935 stan-dardized salaries ofvarious branches and giades ofthe service. There had in the old days been privi-leged positions, and there were certain officials with

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

salaries far higher than those of other officials withexactly the same duties. All this was now done awaywith, and salaries were standardized. At the sametime the Government introduced a pensions schemeapplicable even to the lowest ratings of the perma-nent staff.

Persons attached to the Civil Service were alsogranted paid holidays, as well as paynent duringsickness. A similar reform was introduced by Nos.z84oz-z94o4 of 3r December 1937, affecting theArmy cadres, pay, pensions, and retirements.

Since the political enemies of the New State havethought fit to challenge the existence of the creditsshown in Portugal's budgets, it might be as well togo into some figures.

The Portuguese credits were challenged on thestrength of the figures in the statistical lists of theLeague of Nations.

The League worked on the following principle.If a country raised a loan, then the interest and otherexpenses of the loan were shown in its debit columns;the loan itself, however, was not allowed to be shownamongst the country's credits. In this way, it waseasy to get a budget with a deficit!

The judgement of the League's experts, if carriedto its logical conclusion, must lead to the followingcurious results:

First. Only thosc countrir:s whosc crcdit is so bad

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

or whose resources are so desperately poor that theycannot raise a loan and which live virtually fromhand to mouth will ever really literally satisfy theirnormal needs with their normal revenues. In otherwords, by the League of Nations' standards the onlycountries which could ever have'balanced budgets'are the very poor countries to which the road to anyprogress is barred!

Second. No loan could be a legitimate financialoperation.

Third. According to the judgement of Geneva aconversion loan meant to reduce interest chargeswould have the odd effect of counting as a deficit!

On two separate occasions Dr. Salazar, as Minis-ter of Finance, drew attention to these anomaliesand pointed out the fallaciousness of the League'sfigures.

Finally-on the 5th of February r936-the Pro-fessor of Finance, Monsieur Gaston Jdze, wrote aneditorial article in his Reaue de Science et Ltgislation

financilres,In his prefatory remarks he draws com-parisons between different states. One cannot com-pare, he says, things that are incomparable. Theprofessor then goes on to note that when attemptingto draw up such statistical tables it is necessary 'toadopt a series of correctives'. He adds that this hadunhappily often been forgotten.

Actually the League, taking Dr. Salazar's reason-ing into consideration, modified its previous views

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THE NEW PORTUGAL: A SUMMARY

and published its returns for 1935-6 and followingyears in accordance with the principles defended bythe Portuguese Minister of Finance.

The statistics relative to the Portuguese Budgetare as follows. (League of Nations' Tear Book, Figuresgrven in millions of escudos.)

Receiptsfcar Classifcation Total -fro* Total Balancc

Receipts loaru Expenses

rggg-4 Ordinary r,g8o'9 r,9r8'3 * 6z'6Extraordinary 235'g zor.B 168'6 + 67'3

rg34-5 Ordinary 3,o48.7 2,724.t + 924'6Extraordinary 176.5 r53.8 r84'o - 7's

1936 Ordinary 2,047'4 r,Bz5'o I zzz'4Extraordinary gns 6o6.7 g2g.r + 4.2

19371 Ordinary r,936.o r,93o.3 + S'7Extraordinary 488'g 47t.6 4go'4 - 2'r

rg38' Ordinary r,994.6 r,988.e * 6.4Extraordinary 477.9 470.4 4Br.o - 3.r

1 Budget.

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Ttu foltowing interai'ew was giaen b1 Dr. Salazar to

Senlwr Feno qfter tlu publitatinn in Lisbon of tlu uolutne

containing tlufue preaious interuiews and the Epilogue. Tluauthor, iho ,^ sent b1t ttu'Didrio dz Noticias' as a speci'al

correspondtnt to ttu I'ondon Ecornmic Cotfererue in ry33,wblud, on returningfrorn England, to luar the great statcs-

rnan expound once more his aiews on tlu chief international

probhms of tlu moment. This is the reason wlry thefollowi'ng

chapter appears at the end of tlu book.

,,\,,

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AFTER THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

:

Th, hu*let of Vimieiro, in Santa Comba, overagainst Salazar's modest domain. A row of countrycottages standing like beggars by the wayside. Twoof them, pink-washed and faded, claim our atten-tion. One is the schoolhouse, built by Dr. Salazar'sfather and where young Antonio learnt his first letters.It is a humble establishment, a farmer's endowment,but it has borne good fruit and is still in the family.The present schoolmistress is Dr. Salazar's sister,who teaches reading, writing, reckoning, and thefear of God to her young charges. The other cottageis residential. It has sash windows set two feet fromthe ground, with a very plain door in between. Infront of each small window is a bed of flowers, hardlylarger than a window-box, gay with cottage rosesand marguerites. The doorway is entwined with acreeper which starts from the left-hand window andextends over the whole front. I ask myself what busi-ncss have I herc. After fivc long interviews, in the

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

course of which I freely questioned Salazar and ob-

tained frank and explicit answers on every subject,

had I any right now to take advantage of his kind-

ness, to force my way into his retreat, into his child-

hood's home? What was my real purpose? Why was

I returning to the fraY?

I had worked it all out in London. Amid the

Babel concourse that assembled in the Geological

Museum for the Conference; amid the sibylline utter-

ances and cross-word puzzles of two thousand

representatives and so much ado about nothing, Iheard the question put: 'I wonder what Salazar

thinks about all this; what would he say if he were

here?' Thus it was that I left London at the very

beginning of the season to journey to Santa Comba

on this fine SundaY morning.The contrast between London and Santa Comba

is, believe me, very striking. Instead of the discor-

dant symphony of Piccadilly and Oxford Street, ofthe endleis shouting of the newspaper boys who

make the afternoon hideous with their 'Late Finals'

and'All scores', Santa Comba offered me aluminous

and enchanted silence broken only by the singing ofthc birds. In place of famous parks with their mono-

tonous stretches of lawn, grazed over by grimy,

mclancholy sheep, here was the boundless country-

siclc, unfcttered by iron railings, very Nature of vcry

Naturc. Again, not Claridgc's or the Carlton, but

thc rustic cottagc of thc man who controls thc dcs-

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERBNCE

tinies of Portugal. No medalled porter in gorgeousuniform came to the door but Maria, Salazar's faith'ful servant, who told me to come in and that Masterwas expecting me.

Finally, instead of Ramsay Macdonald's rathertheatrical oratory and his impassioned but spectacu'lar idealism, the simplicity of a country professorwho not so much makes speeches as occasionallythinks aloud for the nation's benefit.

Salazar received me in a kind of conservatory:flooded with sunshine, and garnished with threechairs and a wooden what-not with rows of flower-pots-a rude altar to the earth's fertility and beauty.

'Dinner's on the table,' announced Maria with thevoice of one bearing good news. We passed into thecool dining-room abutting on to the conservatory,and sat down to our meal. As the vegetables in thesteaming soup came from Salazar's own property Iwas given a practical demonstration of the Ministerof Finance's ability as a market gardener.

The Curse d Rumours

I ate in silence, relishing the homely peace andloath to break it with chatter, so in the end it wasSalazar who asked the first question.

'What ncws from Lisbon?'f rcgarclcrl thc fnrit rlish in front of mc, hcapcd

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with pears, greengages, apricots, and,early apples-real news from the near-by orchard; then I con-

sidered Lisbon and her infinite pettiness and replied

with shame:'Rumours and lYing tongues!'

'Tell me some of the choicer rumours''

I satisfied his curiositY, rePorting the usual kind of

thing:'T-here is talk of risings, conspiracies, pronuncia'

mentos,Government crises both local and general' ' ' 'A little of everything. . . . It has even been said that

a new Government would shortly be formed under

one of your Ministers and that you, sir, would go to

Switzerland for two months' rest''

'switzerland?' exclaimed Salazar, with a tinge of

irony, cutting himself a laree slice of bread the while'

'and who, PraY, will pay for my holiday?'

I refused to be sicll-tracked and endeavoured to

test Salazar's reaction to the unrest of the capital'

'Do these lying reports disturb you?' I inquired'

'Not at uit; i tty to keep calm under all circum-

stances.'

The Chronic Grumblers

I urged the Point:'Dori't you believe that there is great discontcnt

in many sections of national lifc?'

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Salazar replied pessimistically:'Only too well, I'm afraid. Chronic grumbling is

an old-established custom in Portugal; no govern-ment will ever be able to put an end to it.'

I sounded my host again. 'But why? Why these

eternal complaints?'As I put this question I prepared to taste the wine

which llIaria had just poured into my glass. Salazarstopped me.

'Don't drink that; she's made a mistake. I have abetter one; it is from my own cellar but quite drink-able.'

He then answered my question:'You ask me why there is always a host of grumb-

lers. In the first place, when, because of a people'ssocial formation, the State is everything or almosteverything, there are multitudes of persons andinterests w'hose lives and satisfaction, respectively,depend largely on the control of power, on the indi-vidual wielding power, on having a friend at courtor the friend of a friend. In such countries the Stateis not only encumbered with duties and cares whichshould by right belong to private bodies and cannotalways be executed to the satisfaction of everybody,but its progress is constantly being impeded by theacutc individualism of the society around it. Mencan unite on behalf of a collective interest, but whenit is mattcr of incliviclual good thc most they can dois to lbrrn partics anrl cliqucs. T'hc pcrsonal zcst

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which is such a marked feature of our politicalstruggles is in part explainable by this fact. But thereare other causes, such as the gulf between our swift,southern imagination and our sluggish and undisci-plined will. This disparity, in my opinion, creates anunbalanced state of mind. Unless we are able radi-cally to modify our manner of being, we are likelyto continue to be melancholy, unsatisfied, and, as itwere, in revolt. The education which comes fromaction and experience should make us most con-scious of our true value, more optimistic and at thesame time more tolerant, and abler to appreciateone another's points of view and endeavours.'

[Jnconscious Tribute

Wishing to 'keep the pot a-boiling' I went on:'It is said that the action of the Government, if

we except the work of the Minister of Finance, hasbeen slow.'

Salazar answered:'Slow? One could prove exactly the opposite by

even a cursory examination of the u'ork achieved inthe various departments of public life. I know rn'hypeople say our work is slow. It is because, before ourtime, the political atmosphere was such that no onethought of expecting the Government to carry outany undertaking, quickly or slowly. But our Govcrn-

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ment is.regarded in quite another way and since wehave set out to accomplish a definite scheme of work,people have become exacting. They tax us with notdoing with sufficient speed those things which pastgovernments were either unable or unwilling to doat all, and which people never thought of demand-ing from them. Our adversaries have the hardihoodto reproach us for not achieving in five or sixyears things which they, for sixteen years, made noattempt even to begin. Actually, of course, theaccusation of slowness brought against us is really acompliment, and also a sign of development, formen may be said to progress in proportion to thesum of their physical, intellectual, and moral de-mands. As a member of the Government I can onlyrejoice that people should clamour for those thingsthey feel the need of, for it shows that their consciouswants are greater and that they wish to satisfy them,whereas in the past their very wretchedness pre-cluded them from feeling those requirements or everdreaming that they could be satisfied. In brief, Ithink it is very natural that they should show a grow-ing impatience at the slowness-often unavoidable

-in accomplishing each and every public under-taking; also that they should gradually take progressfor granted and show less excitement or gratitudeeven over public improvements and higher standardsgcnerally.

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

Disquiet

'But it is the members of the movement, especiallythe younger section, that are loudest in their criti-cism and urge the example of modern Italy andGermany.'

'Again it is natural that they should do so,' saidSalazar,'but you must agree that the "dynamic"manifestations in those countries which fire theirimaginations are often a matter of words and ges-

tures rather than actual deeds. Such expressions ofnational enthusiasm are frequently necessary, for inbetween the important reforms, if they are genuinelyprofitable and founded on reality, there must neces-

sarily be long periods of inaction. Mussolini and nowHitler fill those otherwise void periods with inflam-matory speeches, processions, festivals, and remindtheir people over and over again of what has beendone and what is being planned for the future. Andrightly so, for in this way they check the naturalimpatience of the people, who are ever avid for sen-

sation, for difficult political solutions and demonstra-tions of authority. We shall have to supply thisgeneral want by an intense propaganda of our ownselves, conscientiously organized, though it is regret-table that Truth should require such trappings, so

many bells and drums-in fact more or less the same

means as are normally employed to bolster up lies.'Paul Val6ry's Regards sur le monde actucl contains a

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCEpassa.ge which seems to be particularly aimed atSalazar and is indeed an excellent portrait of him.Here it is: 'Suppose you are given unlimited power;you are an honest man and keenly desirous of doingyour best; you have a solid understanding and keenvision, so that you can judge the value ofl things inthemselves and in relation to one another. You havebecome detached from yourself and placed in sohigh and powerful a position that your own personalinterests are no longer worth considering, in face ofthe national opportunities before you, and the powerto make or unmake at will. Unlike an ordinarybeing you will no longer be troubled by impatienceor frightened by the trust placed upon you. Well,having attained those heights, what will you do,particularlv, in an age like ours?'

I must apologize for this digression, but I think thatSalazar's record is the best answer to Valiry's query.

Uphill Work

Lunch had been brought to a fitting end by oneof Maria's delicious sweets. The Minister of Financenow invited me to see his property-a large gardenlovingly tended, and reflecting the innate neatnessand compactness of the owner's mind. We stoppeda while at thc threshing-floor, which is against thehtxrsc, :rncl :rs wc madc our way along thc trclliscd

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

walk Salazar discoursed on garden husbandry-howhe grew potatoes, maize, and grapes-till we passed

out of the garden through a rvicket. fn one stride wecrossed the tiny stream marching with the gardenwall, and climbed to the top of a hillock overlookingthe green and pleasant property of the farmer states-

man. The midday sun beat mercilessly upon ourheads and we were glad to sit in the generous shadeof an oak and contemplate the scene before us-sharp, almost metallic in the burning sunlight. Con-versation flowed slowly, with long pauses, as befittedour surroundings.

'Here is my experimental estate, my economiclaboratory, so to speak,' said Salazar.

I looked again at the market garden, so neatly andgeometrically laid out, and understood my host's

meaning.'There is the rnaize, the potato patch on this side,

and the grape vine beyond,' he added.The little property stood out like a bright patch

against the brown landscape; each well-tendedshrub, each bed, each fruit tree had the satisfyingair of being items in a well-balanced budget. Thevery paths and boundary walls, of granite stone,

were as precise and inflexible as the ruled lines of aledger. This may seem fanciful and 'literary' to myreaders, but any one sitting under that oak-tree and

S4zingover the Salazar's garden, shining like a gooddeed in a naughty world, would agree with mc.

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THB LONDON ECONOI\{IC CONFERENCE

'A symbol of your budget?' I could not helpremarking to my host.

He smiled and said:'Maybe. I'm afraid this one doesn't show a

surplus.'As if in answer to my mute question, he went on:'All my savings were sunk here. As you see, this

little estate is small but not overcrowded. In fact itis almost luxurious. My cellar could hold most of thewine produced in the village. The threshing-floor ismuch too large, and the fountain is all but useless.

It is a costly but eloquent example of the problemof the smallholding. Most of them cannot be self-supporting on account of the cost of the variousaccessories required for their proper working. Buthow shall I explain it? We are all land-hungry andwilling to commit every sort of folly to satisfy thatcraving-hence we dig new wells, repair walls, buymodern implements. In almost every case we dis-regard the question of how much such an investmentcan yield and the result is certain loss. For my part,I have personally verified the truth of the followingmaxim: 'Nowadays in order to live and march withthe times, no farmer can work alone.'

I pricked up my ears. 'So you defend agrariancommunism?' I inquired.

'Not at all,' replied Salazar with warmth. 'Thenotion of property is essential, for it is the stimulusthat cnablcs mcn to wrt'st :r livclilrood from the un-

I

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

willing earth they think their own. What I adviseis a wide application ol communal facilities-thewinepress, the threshing-floor, the barns, might wellbe held in common, so that each f;armer should nothave to ruin himself with expensive installations. Imay tell you that this threshing-floor before you isnot really a luxury because all my neighbours use it.The fountain appears to be unnecessary, but halfthe village draw water from it as there is no publicfountain. Do you see those washing stands along thestream? I had them built so that the village womenmight do their washing more conveniently. Andthough my property is surrounded by a wall, youmay have noticed the number of gates in that wall.'

'All this must have cost you a great deal of money,'I hazarded.

Salazar was looking with pride at his flourishingdomain, his miniature Portugal.

'A good deal,' he replied, 'but I can't say howmuch, for I've lost touch with my private affairssince I moved to Lisbon. The improvement of thislittlc estate occupied a number of workmen for anumbcr of years, on and off. The last of them left ashort while ago, with regret, for they had becomearccustomed to this land as if it were their own.'

I supposc I registered surprise, for he added:'Slow work, I know; but what is well done need

not bc clone again.'

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

From Santa Comba to London

f now broached the subject that was uppermost inmy thoughts.

'In short, Santa Comba has taught you more thanLondon.'

Salazar was willing to follow my lead:'The Economic Conference in London was fore-

doomed to failure. It confirmed the decay of demo-cracy and international parliamentarianism alreadyshown at the League of Nations. How can it be pos-tulated that all countries should go to Geneva todiscuss a// subjects regardless of whether those sub-jects affect their individual national lives or not?When colonial problems come up for discussion,every country thinks herself entitled to advise andvote on the subject, though they may have nocolonies, no colonial past or experience. The samemight be said of other questions, for no matter whattheir nature may be the same procedure must befollowed: the Council works its way dorvn the listand calls upon the countries, in alphabetical order,to express their views. I consider the practice im-moral and absurd, for it is the straight road to cliquesand party rule, which can manifest themselves ininternational as well as in national elective systems.One country, one vote-very well; a country can beworked upon, squared, or constrained to pledge hervotc, by prcssurc from a slronscr country which may

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

be peculiarly interested in the subject under con-sideration. Let us no longer overlook the sad flact

that the League is an ordinary parliament and sub-ject to the lobbying and hole-and-corner tactics ofsuch bodies.'

I could not help adding: 'And the inevitable pub-lic gallery which must be played to.'

Salazar went on:'I am quite aware that to-day there is an intense

international life, but these successive conferences,almost always badly prepared, and in most cases

held at the instance of the League, betray the defec-tive structure of the latter, and end by emphasizingits chief defects.

The Pact of Four

'If that is the case, how shall we reach the neces-

sary agreements over questions affecting the lives ofnations?'

'The Pact of Four suggested by Mussolini (who isthe natural enemy of democracy and parliamen-tarianism), which was to be signed by Italy, GreatBritain, France, and Germany, seems to me to be abetter solution. Let us not forget that those fourcountries, on account of their size and the extentand magnitude of their interests, are the ones mostaffected by the political, economic, and financial

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

problems of Europe. Their own great problems arealso Europe's problems.'

'But surely the Pact is the most dangerous arrange-ment of all, for the great Powers can thus deliberatehow to become greater at the expense of the smallercountries.'

'That is certainly a possibility,' answered Salazar,who in politics is a realist. 'Everything would dependon the manner in which the representatives of thefour Powers would approach the great problemsentrusted to them for solution. Iq moved by trueinternational spirit, they desired to heal their owncountries so that the rest of Europe too might behealed, then I hold that greater practical resultswould come from a meeting of four just men thanfrom any number of international conferences in-volving thousands of representatives. The very ab-sence of intermediaries (however well-intentionedthese might be) would be an aid to progress. If, onthe other hand, those four men prove to be insin-cere, if they nourish private ambitions and dreamsof aggrandizement, and propose to interfere with theprivate lives of other nations, then the confidence ofEurope would be automatically withdrawn. As arnatter of fact, the situation would hardly arise, forif they were not naturally loyal, if their joint actionwere not guided by strict international morality,thcy would fall out among themselvcs and thcarrangemcnt would come to a natural cnd.'

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False Notions

I fired my last shot at the Pact of Four:'Countries with colonies have, more than others,

serious cause to mistrust the Pact of Four.''I really cannot see', Salazar replied, 'why the

Pact or any of the countries forming it should notbe trusted; I believe in the power of justice whenbacked by u strong determination to enlorce it.Rather should we fear the success, the vogue of cer-tain false but attractive notions which unfortunatelyare put into circulation often by well-balanced andreputable pe$ons, for those ideas become readilycurrent and are quickly regarded as firm principles.'

'Can you give me an instance?''Do you know of the motion put forward by an

Italian Senator of the name of Michelis, that colo-nies should be internationalized?'

'No.''Well, this Michelis is a man of great ability and

scholarship and his suggestion, which was admirablypresented, seemed to be as novel and easy as the one

advanced by Columbus for the egg. Europe is atgrips with unemployment. There are countrieswhich are patently overcrowded; on the other handthere are vast unpopulated territories in the colonies.

Very well. Why not solve the problems by settlingthe excess, unemployed population of Europe inthose colonies. Nothing could be simpler. One nation

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has no colonies but thousands of unemployed; an-other has enormous territories overseas but notenough hands to exploit them. Excellent; send theexcess population to those colonies. The solutionseems not only humane but in accordance with thebest economic principles. But on the heels of thisattractive idea there comes that of internationalcollaboration, regardless of whether the countriesconcerned are colonial or not, and the so-called de-nationalized zones or areas. Sarraut, in France, hasadvanced pretty much the same scheme as SignorMichelis, in Italy. The plan is sincere but dangerous;it is marked by a captious simplicity which ensuresits being readily acceptable in most circles and islikely to create around it a school of thought whichmight inspire all sorts of undesirable experimentsand adventures.

'Nevertheless. . . .''Nevertheless, the idea is one of those luminous

and attractive untruths. It is based on a particularexplanation of the crisis and the effects of the latter,which I do not believe to be based on fact; the term"colony" is assumed to mean a territory strictlybarred to foreign capital or foreign labour. NowPortugal, for instance, allows practically free entryinto her colonies to capital and to persons desiringemployment there. The only reservation she makesis that such capital and such persons shall bccomeparrt ol'thc nationa"l cconomic systcm ancl not con-

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stitute alien centres in the middle of the community.This proviso goes to the very root of the problem andit is worth while noticing that a similar policy to thatsuggested for the colonies is not advocated in the case

of countries which in point of territory and popula-tion are in like conditions to the territories overseas.I should mention that the Hon. Senator has neversubmitted his bold plan to the League.I thinkhe waswise not to.'

I took advantage of the allusion to the LondonConference to go on with my cross-examination ofSalazar on the subject of the decline and fall of thatConference.

'Independently of the causes already known andenumerated, what other reasons brought about thecollapse of the Conference?'

Salazar,judiciously:'Perhaps two reasons may be added: In the first

place an international solution is perhaps not pos-sible for the problem of the crisis, especially without aprevious agreement by the four or five major powerson the monetary policy best suited to all. I cannotunderstand why MacDonald went to America, andthen opened the Conference without first agreeingwith Roosevelt upon that very policy on which, as

the world well knew, depended the success of theConference. No effective action was possible with-out the collaboration of the United States, and yetthe United States were powerless to restore monc-

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tary and economic peace since they had plungedinto a bold policy of inflation and the devaluation ofthe dollar, of the development of trade by means ofdepreciation (for such time as that method could pro-duce the right effect), of compensating the fall ofthe pound sterling in world markets by acorrespond-ing devaluation of their currency. In face of theimmense astonishment shown by other countries,who were surprised by the boldness of the experi-ment-which, were it not for its long duration, mightbe explained by other facts-all that America couldretort, as far as I can remember, was the followingdisingenuous argument: "European countries havelived in a rigime of monetary depreciation for manyyears and nobody has called them to account; thedollar slumped only three months ago and yet thereis already a chorus of protest." This is very muchlike: "They have had their fling, so why not we?"Unfortunately the conditions are not at all similar.After the War, which was a veritable social earth-quake lasting five long years, society found itself withexhausted stocks and was moved by a very strongand legitimate desire to live and to recruit its strengthafter such a long period of suffering and destruction.It was this tired feeling, this craving for life and agood time at all costs, that gave rise to the multitudeof wildcat schemes, to the mirage of fabulous profits.The scale of remuncration was so large, commissionsso monstrous, that bank fluctuations wcrc allowcd

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to pass unperceived, for the margin was wide enoughto cover all losses. Alas, that golden period is nowover and business shows a marked trend downwards.Consumption is reduced to a minimum, and themargin of profits is so small that exchange fluctua-tions are only too readily fclt. Gradually the post-wargeneration has come down to a firm level, though Iam aware that certain currencies have not yet foundtheir true parity. We are now entering upon thestage of real stabilization and perhaps this will bethe most painful period. Indeed, I do not know howwe shall be able to achieve it by the present means.The great Powers who dominate in money mattersseem to have transferred their economic strife tothe monetary plane; they no longer fight rvith tariffsbut by means of the rise and fall of their respectivecurrencies, to such an extent that the phenomenonmust be recognized as one of the unique features ofour age. It is because matters have reached such apass that I think the cure will be long and painful.'

Results of tlte London Conference

'And so the results of the London Conference werenot very encouragirrg?'

Salazar continued in pessimistic vein, but strictlyimpartial withal:

'We must not deceive ourselves. The cconomic

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position of Europe, of the world, is likely to becomemore acute as a result of the London Confcrence.The sixty countries which took part in it have theirsad plight shown to them in lurid colours and arenow more than ever aware of the inherent weaknessof the situation. The struggle will proceed, for lackof some great economic leadership, for lack of a suit-able platform for the stabilization of world trade.Moreover, a great many countries which had placedall their hopes on the success and efficacy of theConference will now be disappointed and will haveto fall back on their own resources.'

I now addressed Salazar with the desperate en-treaty of one consulting a specialist in a serious case

of illncss:'But what is to be done? What measures can be

taken to avert a general catastrophe?'To which Salazar, with the reticence of a wise

physician:'We must aid and not oppose nature; save the

parts which are whole and cut awav those which aredead; preserve order where order already exists;see that peace is not replaced by war; toil unremit-tingly, suffer and not be discouraged; each mustwork for his own good, not fbrgetting the difficultiesof the others; avoid selfishness, preserve a clear idealof international co-operation, and help to maintainconfidence by thc very intcgrity of the methods em-ployccl; by bcing c:rlnr whcrc othcrs tcnd to show

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

panic; to retrench in so far as one can; to be sympa-thetic towards the misfortunes of others, for this isno time to make one's fortune, and above all to bepatient and know how to wait, for calm will comeafter the storm.'

I put one last question on the subject:'Were you satisfied with the part played by the

Portuguese Delegation?'There was no mistaking Salazar's warmth:'f was very pleased indeed. The whole country

should be grateful to Senhor Caeiro de Mata lorhaving spoken, in London, with the true voice of theNew Movement in Portugal. And the other membersof the delegation ably supported him and dischargedtheir duties no less well.'

Here we were interrupted. Doctor Jer6nimo de

Lacerda, Head of the Caramulo Mountain Sana-torium, who rrr'as to conduct us to the top of hisbeloved mountain, now joined us and sat down onthe seat beside us, under the shade of the hospitabletree. He addressed Sal.azar in his usual fi'ank nlan-ner:

'So the workmen have gone at last?'Salazar told hinr what he had already told me,

narnely, that he believed that they had been sorryto go.

Doctor Lacerda went on:'I am not surprised. You pay higher wages than

any one else. At Caramulo r,l'e have no sltot'lagc ol

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

labour, but we cannot afford to pay such goodwages as you.'

We walked down the slope and passed once moreinto the garden; alter admiring the circular.trelliscovered with vine r,r,'hich Doctor Lacerda, with pro-fessional eye, computed would yield half a pipe, wehad a long drink at the fountain which Salazarshares with his neighbours. I now noticed for thefirst time the beauty of the enclosed terrace with itswindows and creepers and an inquisitive tree rvhichseems to have as little discretion as a newspaper-man. We left Salazar's hermitage and got into a lastcar bound for the summit of Caramulo in the veryheart of the province of Beira.

Economic Nationalism or Internationalism

As we sped through the countryside I could nothelp noticing that the intense cultivation, the slopesof the hills laid out in terraces for better economy,the entire absence of any waste, rvas of a piece rvithSalazar's little estate.

I returned to the subject ofthe London Conferenceand its problems:

'Do you believe in a protectionist policy by tariffsor would you rather have free trade between coun-tries?'

Salazar, who was now wcaring an immense pair

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

of smoked spectacles against the glare of the sun,replied:

'I believe in a policy of moderate tariffs, the kindthat have a disciplinary and beneficial effect uponthe country since they neither prohibit legitimatetrade nor encourage parasitic industries. I am cer-tainly an upholder ofeconomic nationalism providedthat the similar claims ofother countries are not over-looked in the process. I am quite aware that these

scruples, this regard for neighbours is not in fashionjust now, but then I believe that national selfishness

is at the bottom of the confusion now impeding theprogress of Europe and of the world generally. Whatis mainly lacking in the contemporary rvorld is thatindispensable feeling of international morality with-out w'hich neither trust nor harmony is possible.Modern pledges, treaties, agreements, are, generallyspeaking, not worth the paper they are written on;they are drawn up for old times' sake, as it were, onthe assumption that in all likelihood they will not be

executed; they are a means of gaining time, of keep-ing the ball rolling, they are like children's games.

Can you understand the recklessness with whichcertain countries rush into a policy of frozen foreigncredits or depreciate their own currency almost tonothing? Believe me, the root of the trouble is ego-

tism, that damnable indifference to the welfare ofothers. To my mind, one should endeavour to solve

one's economic difficulties on a national basis, but,

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THB LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

for the sake of national interests, the policy followedshould be in harmony with international interests.The observance of such a rule entails at times heawsacrifices but it is the only way ofrestoring confidenceand stability in the world. I adhere strictly to thisprinciple and I, or rather the country, stand theracket cheerfully. The only money which I am con-scious of having wasted or perhaps not saved in thecourse of myadministrationof the countrv's financesis the money lost in London when Britain went offthe gold standard. I feel quite convinced that Britainfaced that particular crisis in quite a different spiritfrom that which she afterwards showed; she cameoffthe gold standard because she could not do other-wise. I could have transferred, with small loss, ourcash positions to other countries; but at the momentit was our duty not to increase Britain's difficulties;it would have been indelicate and disloyal to haveacted in any other way. I may tell you that I haveacted in a similar fashion in other instances and withother countries. I may also add that I feel quiteisolated in my conduct and that in the end I shallprobably do like everv one else.'

'In order to defend national interests. . .' Iprompted.

Indiuidual and National Moralitl

'Naturally,' replicd Salazar, 'but much against

343

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCB

my will and I shall be sorry that the world does notunderstand that that morality which it has forsakenis as necessary to the life of nations as it is to the lifeof society. The only rn'ay of remedving a nationalcrisis is to have confidence in the country's capacityto recover and not to believe that the country isalready as good as dead. Do not let us forget that arun on a bank, even in the case of a solvent establish-ment, is very dangerous, for it may bring about areal collapse.'

'I am sorry the $azy world of to-day has no earfor such sentiments.'

Salazar's tone was both resigned and ironic:'Indeed you may sav that; they no longer com-

mand respect in our own age; perhaps it is truer tosay that they have not yet begun to be acceptedagain. Not so long ago these very principles werestill current, and crises were certainly not so acutenor did they spell the constant threat of war. Mora-lity, whether among individuals or nations, goeshand in hand with stability, with healthy conditionsof existence. I am inclined to go further and ask:can there be individual morality without nationalmorality? How shall a society react to bad nationalexample? The relations between individuals reflectthe relations between countries. International de-moralization is bound to stimulate and indeed tojustify national and individual demoralization,

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

Tarif War

'The tariff struggles which have broken out invarious parts of Europe are instances of that badspirit, of that unchivalrous behaviour you speak of.'

'Precisely,' said Salazar. 'I never thought, forinstance, that I should ever have recourse to certainmeasures I have recently enforced and which I amthe first to acknowledge to be valueless from aneconomic point of view, and indeed to be almostpreposterous. Yet before judging the wisdom of suchmeasures we must trace them to their sources andso learn who were primarily responsible for them.Everything that followed was the logical conse-quence of the first ill-judged step. It is quite pos-sible that Right has changed sides more than once,but I maintain that the only fair way of appraisingthe matter is to put the question: Who started it?Moreover it is necessary that certain great countrieswhom we respect, love, and admire, should beaware of our existence, of our vital interests and ofour self-respect, which is not a whit less than theirown.

Exports and Imports

'How can balance be maintained between exportsand imports so as to prcvcnt thcse tariff wars, thesc

34it34+

THE I.ONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

mutual and constant aggressions?' I inquired obiter.Salazar spoke eloquently on the subject:'Such equilibrium is bound to exist and in reality

is always there if we take into consideration not onlythe actual trade figures but also what economists callinvisible exports and imports, i.e. renewal of capital,remittances of emigrants, proceeds of tourism, inter-national services. To demand that all countriesshould have their imports and exports of goods instrict equilibrium is like defying nature. The coun-tries belonging to the older civilizations have, likeindividuals, invested capital, and the interest on itis usually paid, directly or indirectly, in the formof goods produced by their debtors. Consequentlytheir trade balance cannot be in a state of equili-brium, fortunately for the vounger or poorer coun-tries who are in their debt. The prime absurdity iswhen each country attempts to maintain strict tradebalance with each of its clients and suppliers. Forcxample, France, a country of strong economic re-sources, is still concerned with this false ideal ofbalance. It is a crude notion ofexchange and barterwhich is no longer possible in these days of specializedproduction. Norway cannot buy from us as muchwine as we can buy cod from her. Yet France canprofit by the disparitv, for only if u'e buy a greatdeal of cod can the Norwegianshipmaster order fromParis expensive dresses for his wife.'

We had arrived at Tondela, which is a pleasant

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

village in Beira, with scattered cottages and ample

gardens. I felt it was good to rest and retemper one's

mind amidst such sane and agreeable surroundings.

As the car stopped the notables of the village came

forward to pay their respects to the Prime Minister,who received them amicably and in true countryfashion. Of one he inquired about the health of his

wife; of another r,r'hether his little girl had passed her

examination. He was also curious about countryaffairs and the farming reports. We n'ere joined byanother car in which travelled the parish priest and

the sons of Dr. Lacerda, and at last the little expedi-

tion set out for Caramulo, whose immense mass

could now be perceived ahead. In the meantime

conversation flowed PleasantlY.

Tlte Problem d Disarmament

'Now that you have explained the failure of the

Economic Conference,' I began, 'I should like tohear your views on the causes of the difficulties withwhich the Disarmament Conference has been con-

stantly faced.''The two cases are not comparable. It is not true

to say that the Disarmament Conference has failedlike the Economic Conference. The former has atleast bccn able to draw up a working text which can

bc carcfully studied and may lead to some results.

Thcrc thc obstaclcs arc not so much technical as

347

THE I,ONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

psychological. The international atmosphere hasnot been propitious to a sincere and loyal agreement.To try to make peace between two men at the verymoment when they are engaged in fighting seems

to me a difficult feat and one which is more likelyto make matters worse. It is true that it may benecessary to intervene in order to prevent a seriousissue. But the task is a hard one, for the mutual dis-trust that prevails renders any action difficult;neither party can believe the other's sincerity. Wesee it clearly in the matter of naval, air, and armyprogrammes, which continue to be prepared andexecuted. It is quite impossible to prevent a richcountry from desiring to be strong or to prevent aweak country from making every effort to safeguardits interests. At the bottom there is almost invariably"the satanic laughter of economic facts", to quotethe old treatises from which I studied whcn I r,r.as

young. Well, what is the solution? It seems to methat the only possible route is to disarm economically.

Let us put an end to that state of mind which canprovoke a war. Having done this let us destroy, ifwe can, the idea of war.'

Nationalism and War

I continue mv cross-examination:'fs not war the natural outcome of exaggerated

nationalism?'

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THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

Salazar's answer was precise:'Order alrvays goes hand in hand with peace.

When a country, even bv reason of an exaggerated

national spirit, arrives at a state of perfect order it isobviously more disinclined to go to war than a coun-try which is constantly agitated by internal strife.The danger begins only when that country, in spite

of its own internal order, is driven to war by thedisorder prevailing outside its borders, for then itscapacity for war and its enthusiasm is greater thanthose of its neighbours and any sudden step can pro-voke a world conflict. I know that the opposite has

also been shown to be true: The exaltation ofnational feeling has at times created the desire fordominance, for the control of other peoples. Acountry in that state becomes warlike, insolent,defiant, and consequently dangerous. One cannotsay that those countries are genuinely brave, butonly that they have a taste for bravado.

Hitler

My next question was indiscreet. 'How do youregard Hitler?'

Salazar very soberly:'Europe owes him a great service in having forced

back with dauntless cnergy the menacing tide ofCornmutrisnr. Orrly I li'ar hc may go too far in thc

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llTHE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

economic and social spheres. The struggle against cer-tain ideas and systems is of greater importance thanthe struggle against groups of men. Were the wordCommunism to disappear from Germany, but theidea toremain under another name, the dangerwouldbe the same. It is usually risky to adopt the same

$'eapons as your adversary, for they are apt to beturned on you. Mussolini, Iike Hitler, has built roundhim a great popular movement, but perhaps he has

shown greater prudence, a more Latin insight, shallwe say, in his work of national reconstruction.'

'Have you heard of the plan attributed to Musso-lini for reviving the Austro-Hungarian Empire?'

'Yes, I have heard of it and quite understand thefeeling, without taking sides in the matter. It is cer-tain that the reaction against Hitler has given risein Austria to a strong national sentiment which has

much to commend it, but the important question is

whether Austria, which is like a large head with a

small body, is in a position ever to make good. Herbudget lives by successive loans from the League ofNations, by frequent appeals to Geneva. She can-not do otherwise, it is true, but she can hardly goon that way for ever.'

Portugal and Great Britain

'And what about the international lile of Portugal?

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

The same policies as heretofore, or is there any newplan of rapprochement or alliance?'

'Our policy is to respect those who respect us andto observe u'ith the greatest fidelity our ancientalliance with Great Britain, now firmer than ever.It is a curious fact that there should be an alliancebetween two countries of such widely different na-tures and ways of thinking and that it should havelasted for so many centuries by force of mutualinterests. I do not believe in being sentimental onthis subject (nor on other political matters); I donot wish to linger on the nature of the alliance noron the exceptionally friendly utterances that havebeen made in the course of diplomatic conversa-tions. I am a conscious and conscientious friend ofBritain-few governments in our history have beenmore so than mine-and I shall strive to the endthat the alliance may be something more than senti-ment and tradition and may rest on community ofeconomic, financial, and political interests clearlyconsidered and equitably satisfied. My own policyof administration is based a good deal on the Britishmodel; let us hope that this fact will promote abetter understanding between the two countries andlead us from international protestations to inter-national facts, which is what counts in politics.'

Wc were now climbing the mountain. Salazargrew mor(: absent-mindcd as new vistas opened be-fot't: otrr t:vt's. Bt'low us strctchccl a chessboarcl of

il350 35I

ltl

htl

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFBRENCE

smallholdings, dotted with scattered cottages, whichseemed to have grown out of the soil, and here andthere hamlets, toylike in their proportions. Themajestic silence, which some distant church bellsseemed but to enhance, discouraged any sustainedconversation, inviting us rather to the contempla-tion of the living world at our feet.

Salazar, whose praise of men is very restrained,was lavish in his admiration of the scene. He keptrepeating:

'How beautiful it all is.'At times the landscape vanished as we plunged

through shady woods of wild pine, eucalyptus, oaks,and acacias which pressed close to the white roadwinding ever upwards.

'This is like Bussaco, but wilder,' observed Salazar.I took advantage of the mood and inquired:'Do you know your Portugal well?''I take every opportunity to become acquainted

with Portugal,' replied the Prime Minister.

At the Top of Caramulo

We had now reached Caramulo, one of the bestvantage points to brood over the land of Portugal,one and indivisible, with which Salazar's name is so

intimatelylinked. Mdme Lacerda met us on the roadand led us to the house where the Prime Minister

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

is wont to spend his few weeks' holiday every year'.It is a typical country house with a wide terrace andconverging stone stairs outside. Three pines stand assentries at the foot of the stairway and incidentallymake it rather difficult for the motor to approachthe house. Doctor Lacerda, ever the practical man,remarked:

'Those trees must come down.'Salazar showed concern, for, contrary to what

people think and even to what he perhaps thinkshimself, he has a great store of feeling:

'Certainly not, I love to see them swaying in thebreeze and to hear them moan at night. I shouldmiss them very much.'

We climbed the stairs and entered the dining-room, which Salazar affected not to recognize. Theold furniture, which was apparently of a massiveand depressing qualitv, had been replaced by gayblue furniture from Alentajo, bright with hand-painted flowers. Chintz cushions of a cheerful pat-tern had also been provided and the fireplace hadbeen redecorated with pictorial a4lejos. Printedstuffs from Alcobaga were hung over the doors.Salazar was enchanted. Whose the magic wand?Where was the kind fairy? There was no answer,but we noticed that Mdme Lacerda was unaccount-ably absent from the room.

From the dining-room we passed to the greatterrace which is one of the notable features of Doc-

352 353

THE LONDON ECONOMIC CONFERENCE

tor Lacerda's charming habitation. We were now atthe very summit of the mountain which has workedso many marvellous cures on sufferers. Below us, as

far as the eye could reach, lay our own country, inserried ridges and curtains of mist.

Salazar stood a little in front of us, his head out-lined against the landscape. Caramulo was a fittingpedestal for this great figure, on whom the hopes ofPortugal repose. The mighty range was well inkeeping with his mighty vision. In cities and otherplaces where they meanly strive, Salazar must per-force feign smallness, even timidity, but in his truesurroundings, amid the eternal hills which neitherprevaricate nor flatter, he is seen in his true proPor-tions. We drew back and left him to his contempla-tion of the land that is his and ours. Salazar wasalone, or rather he thought he was, for all aroundhim stood Portugal, watching him and envelopinghim.

35+

INDEX

Admirdty, the, 284Afonso V, Dom, ro8Africa,63, ro8, rr3z.Agriculture, 58,59,274, e86; the

Minister of, 3I3Air Force, the (and Aviation),

trr n., 2574o, z7g, zgr, 948Ajuda, alluded to,43; the Work-

men's Settlement at, 441' thePalace of, 44r tgr

Alcobaga, 353Alentajo, 353Alfama, 7rAlfarrobeira, Battle of, c6r & z.Alfeite, 33Alfonso I, 263Nvatez, Nunez, 266Amadora, rIr & z.; the aero-

drome at, r43America, 49, 58, 6t, zzg, 257,

336,337AndrC, Marius, quoted, z69,264Angola, 64, zzg, zgo, zgr & n.,

299Arco do Cego, new housing at,

r5, l6

z.*

Army, the, privileges of, rg7-4o;alluded to, t7g, 2gt, 2go, 2gti3 r 5, 348i and the CmigrCs, zor n.,Salazar's confidence in, zo3;duties of in the New State, e78;reorganization of, z7g, z8o

Arsenal, the Alfeite, 33; the OldNaval, 33

Arts and Crafts, ez-5, zr4, z8zAtlantic, the, z6zn, z0gAustro-Hungarian Empire, the,

350Avenida da India, the, 64

- da Liberdade, the, 26, rz7,r48

- da Republica, the, r3z

- Fontes Pereira de Melo, the,25

Azores, the, 57

Balilla (Italy), the, t34Bank of Portugal, the, 216, 222,

286, r89Batalha, z3Bauer, General, describes Sala-

zar, lr5, 116

355

INDEX INDEXBeggary, r98 & n.

Beira, g4r, 947Belem Tower, the, 38, 43, Sgr 64Belgium, 69B€raud, Henri, What I Saw in

Romz cited, ro5Berlin,64, azoBill-discounting, 294Boitac (architect), 58Bojador, Cape, z6zn.Brazil, ro8, rg5, I96,2gqBudget, the (and Fiscal policy),

alluded to, 136, I38,2o5r 206,2 t o, 2 r 2-16, 2r7-2o, egz, gt S;hostile influences against, 224,225, 226i Angola, z3o; PublicWorks and, z8r; and tubercu-losis treatment, zB4; and Edu-cation, zB7; present anticipa-tions of, egr; credits in chal-lenged, gr1-r7

Buenos Aires, e5B

Bussaco, 35e

Cabral, Pedro Alvarez, ro8Cais do Sodr6, the, e55Caixias, e43Campo Grande, r3z

- Maior, r9

- Pequeno, r3zCaneEas, r34Cape Verde Islands, the, z6aCaramulo, 247, 34o, 947, 952-4t

Mountain Sanatorium, th.,340

Caravels, Portuguese, z6orz6t n.

Carmo Monastery, the, 74Carmona, President General,

zot, zg8, zggCasa de Portugal, the, ez8 & z.

Cascais, 234Catholic Party, the, alluded to,

rz8, r43, 16o; the CatholicCentre, r4r, t4zi Mussoliniand, 176

Censorship, 24, 25,26, 29, r5oet seq.

Ceuta, e6rChamberlain, Sir Austen, Pra;[,;

Salazar answers, 38-42Chamber of Corporations, the,

275Charlemagne, r 13

Child Welfare, 136, 294, goo

Christina of Sweden, Queen,quoted, r8r; alluded to.. r8s

Church, the, zg, t76Church of Good Memory, ther 44'Civil Governor's Department',

the, r8gClair, Ren€, Iz7Clemenceau, quoted, 88Clinics, 283Coimbra, tt2, tt+, 126, r4gr 256Colonial Exhibition (Oporto),

the, e8e

- Ministry, the, alluded tor 2go,3r3; and an Imperial Policy,298

- Office, the,296, eg8

Colonies, 6z-4, zzg-gt, 276, 296,297, 298,299, 3o9, 394, 3gs

Columbus, Christopher, z6g, 264,33+

Communism, 27, 5or 55, s8-6r,16o,63, r64, r65, r7g,175,929,33o, 349,35o

Corporations and Social Organi-zations, 279, 276

Corporative State (Constitutionand Laws), the New, explained,rS et seq.; the Army and, r4o;and propaganda, r4g1' andcensorship, r1o et seq.; Salazardiscusses, r56i; accepts morallimitations, t77; the Order ofAmnesty and, 2ot & z.; dis-contents and, 2oz1 and theVote, z3&-4o1 discussed, e4r,z4a; alluded to, 254; Salazarand, z7z; the Army's duties in,e7B; the Constitution Pub-lished, a8o; and PublicmoneYs,ego; and the Colonial Act, 296;and social hygiene, 2gg-3ol;and the Family, 3oI; challengeto Budger of, 3r5

Cost of Living, 2o, 224, 289Credit Predial Bank, the, zeoCruz-Quebrada, z4gCurrency, the, zzt-4r 294,3tl

Dafundo, 243Dante, e3ed'Albuquerque, Afonso, ro8, e66

da Camara, Commandant Filo'mena, r43

da Costa, General Gomes, ItI,ttz & n,, r4g

de Barros, Jodo, 196 & z.de Castro, Jodo, ro8de Castro (Sculptor), Machado,

r34de Cordes, General Sinel, t43de Lacerda, Dr. Jeronimo, 34o,

34r,347,353, 3541 355

- fvf15., 352, 353de Mata, Senhor Caeiro, 34od'Ors, Eugene, 3z

de Reynold, Count Gonzague, 65Decree Laws, Government, cited,

273-7, 287, 297, 313, gr4Defence, National, and censor-

ship, e7, zB; the SupremeCouncil of, z7g

Defence of the Realm Order,the, zoI n,, 2o3, 241

Democracn alluded to, 8, 39iand the League of Nations,6r;the crisis of, r7r, r7z; Com-munism and, r73

Demolins, quoted, 248'Desired', the, rr3 @ n.Diario de Noti,cias, 'the, quoted,

rZ et sell.; alluded to, r2t, r22& 2., 16o, 196, eo6

Dictatorship, Portuguese andItalian compared, r7S et scq.ialluded to, 2o5, zzr, zgg; and,Taxation, ee6; and the NewConstitution, 24ri and theArrny,278, z7g

Diplomatic Service, the, ze8Disarmament Conference, the,

347Discursos (Coimbra Press),

alluded to,27eDuarte Nuno, Dom (claimant to

ttrrone), re8 & z.

Eannes (t+g+), GiI, e6z & a.Ebro, the, 168Economic Conference (London),

the,33tEdward VII Park, the, e6Education, 25, 66, g2-4, ro2-5,

204-9, 2r4, 234, 283, 287

- The Council of National, e8g

- The Minister of, zg4

3s6 3s7

INDEXFducation, The National Minis- & n,, r24, r48, r9o, 2og, 2gg.

tryof,z87,288 256

INDEX

Elections, z8o, l8r, 3oz-5Errigration, 58, e85Emigrlsr the, aot n.,2ogEmployers' Associations, 16, 19,

54' 273, 274Escudo, the, and the Pound ster-

ling, zzr-4; alluded to, 21-2Estado Nooo, tle, 5oEstoril, ttre railway, 44; Tourise

and, zz7Europe, Dictatorship in, 8; and

the League of Nations, 6r;alluded to, 63, 97, rzr, 263,333'334, 337, 339' 342' 349ibanking in, zzzl the VersaillesTreaty and, zz91 distrust in,3ro

Exhibition of Popular Art (Gen-eva), the, z8z

- of the Portuguese World(rggg-+o), the,56

Exports, 299, 906, grr,945,946

Fado (ballad music), the, 249&n.

Family Defence League, the, 3orFarming Associations, the, r8,

274Fascism, g, gg, t7S ct scq.

Feminism, 2954, z4o, z4rFernando, Dom, z6rFerro, Antonio, interviews with

Dr. Salazar, quoted, rg ct seq.,

tz4ct scq., t49 ctscq.rtTSet scq.,2oo ct scq., 234 ct scq., g2t ct scq.ialluded to, 83, 86, 87, 95

Fifth Congress of Critics, the, r r 5Finance, the Ministry of, rr3

Fiscal Policy (saa Budget)Fishermen's Associations, 274,

276Foch, Manhal, quoted, za9Folk-lore, zzFouchC, I8zFrance, 63, ro8, 382,335,346Francis I of France, r88French Revolution, the, r55, 16r

General Savings Bank, the, 136,r70

Geneva, 621 64, z8z, 916, ggr,350

Geological Museum (London),the, 3zo

George V, King, Silver Jubileespeech quoted, 7, 8

Germany, 69, 229, 332, 35oGide, Andr6, quoted, e57Giraudoux, quoted, 45Gold Standard, the, 22r, 2gt,

343Golega, r9Gonsalves (artist), Nuno, 264Great Britain, the Constitutional

Monarchy of, 7, 8; the Consti-tution of, 95; Salazar, onConstitution of, gF4z, 6o;Salazar, on relations with, 49;and tlle Portuguese colonies,63; alluded to, ro8, r5r,206,253, 332i her financial condi-tion, zrrl and currencS ze3;Portugal's relations with, tz3,35r; party politics in, z4z; and,the Gold Standard, 2gr,343

Guinea Coast, the, e6z

Henry the Navigator (r46o), TheInfante Prince, z0r, z6z,263,264,265

Hitler, alluded to,9,72r 326; andcolonies, 63; Salazar on, 349,350

Holiday camps, educational,283

Holland, 63, ro8ffome Office, the, e84, 285Hospitals, 289, 284, 2gtHouse of Co--ons, the, 4oHousing, 45r 52, 196, r7o, zo7,

278, gS2

Illiteracy, 25r 26, zo4, zo6,286fmports, 293, 306, 3t I, 345' 346Industrial Exhibition, the, r87,

227Institute of Social Assurance, the,

r36Irrigation, z8rItaly,69,97, ro6, t67, r7S, t78,

2341 2+Or 25O, 332, 335

Jacomb of Majorca, 265

Japan, e53

Jer6nimos (Ajuda), the, 44, 52,54' 55, 58, 64

Jesuit Missions, the, ro8Jdze, Mons Gaston, 3t6Joio the Fint, Dom, ro8John II, King, z69, 266

Junta Nagional de Educagio,the, ee

Labour, Salazar, on, 134-6; inRussia, r37; village, zra; theColonies and, 299

- The National Statute of e96

- Organization, the, e76Landowners, the, rBLatzarus, M. Louis, Maxims of

Public Poli.E, quoted, r54, r55League of Nations, the, 6r, 62,

29o, 3r5-I 7, 33r, 332, 336, 35o;the Tcar Book quoted, grT

Legion, the Portr.rgueser 5rr 55Lenin, 16r, r75Leo XIII, Pope, 164Light Infantry regiment, the 7tl,

72Lisbon, tg, 2r, 26, 33, 3\ 43, 44,

7rr 72, 73, rr4, r22, t27, t+3,r87, r98, zr2, zt1, z2o, 2go,252, 2SS, 256, 267, 278, 282,283, 2gr, 3211 922, ggo

Literature, 25, 24, 25, 282, SotLondon, 42t 47, 64, zzor 228 n.,

32o,331, 34or 343

- Economic Conference, the,336 et s.q.

Louis XIV of France, z16, zr7Lousa village, I5gLudwig, [mil, r2r, t22,25tLu-iarr rgz, t4g

MacDonald, J. Ramsay, S2tt336

Maceira, 19Machiavelli, r2o, t78, r8t, r8z,

r87, rg7, zg7Madeira, 57, r8o, 2o2r zrgMafra, 29, rgrManuel, or-King, t28 n,, r7gMarco Polo, e6rMaria (Salazar's servant), gzlMarques, Sr. Leal, re4Martim Moniz Gatc (St.

George's Castle), 74, 75

358

I

359

INDEX INDEX

Martins, Dr. Oliveira, alludedto, 46; qgoted, 263

Mam, Karl (and Marxism),alluded to, 3o; Lenin and, 16r

Massis, Henri, 48Maurras, 247, z4BMedical Schools, z8g, zgrMedicis, the, r88Michelis, Senator, 334'335, 336Minho, the, zzMinister of PublicWorks, the,2o9Mint (Lisbon), the, 14Misericordia (Lisbon), the: tlle

Church, I95; the Councils(Relief), 3o4

Mocidafu, the, 52, 55Monforte da Beira, rg, eeMontachique, r59Monteiro, Dr. Armindo, 23or 2gB

Moors, the, z6rMozambique,64Municipal Councils, 3o4Museum of Popular Art, the, z8zMussolini, 9, 17, 5r,63, 72, ro5,

r2o, r2t, t22, t6o, I75-8, tB5,r8B, 235, 24or 25or 25rt 326t332' 35o

Naples, 47Napoleon, rII, r33, l8t, r88National Academy of Fine Art,

the, e8z

- Assembly, the, and the Con-stitution, 34, 35i and legisla-tion, 35-7; elections for, 28o,2Br, go2,3o3; and Educationreform, e87

- Assistance Board, the, e84

- Broadcasting Station, the' 22,

54

- Commemorations (r94o), the,

3B

- Councils, e76

- Debt, the, zB9

- Foundation for Joy in Work,the, 54, 277 n., zBB

- Irxtitute of Labour and Pen-sions, the, 275

- Institute of Statistics, the, 14

- Irstitute of Work and Provi-dence, the, e73

- Labour Institute, the, 16, 49

- Overseas Bank, the, zzo

- Plebiscite (rggg), the, z8o

- Propaganda, the Secretariatof, e8t

- Revolution, the, 4o, 4r, 4z

- Syndicates, the, 275, 274

- Theatre, the, r8g, IgI

- IJnion, the, r45, t46, t47Navy, the, condition, and re-

corrstruction, of, z7g; alludedto, 29o, 2gtr 34B

Nazism, g, 39Necessidades Palace, the, 44, r9rNew York, 47, 48, zz4n.Norway (and Norwegians), ro8,

2o8, 346

Oporto, 47, r98 n,r 278, z8z,283,29r

Order of Amnesty, the, zor & n.

Pacheco, Sr. Duarte, 2r, t43Pago d'Arcos, 245Pact of Four, Mussolini's, 332,

333, 334Pais, Sidonio, tao & z.Paris, 47,64, z2o, zz8, 946Parish Councils, 3o4

Pedro, Dom, z6t & n.People's Theatre, the,2r' 22,54t

28gPilsudski, Marshal, I7g, r8oPinto, Fernio Mendes, 196 & z.Pirandello, e68Plantin, Le Bonheur de ce Monde,

200Plato, t6IPoinsard, M., I73Police Intelligence Office, the,

I83Population, 57, 285, 287Portugal, dictatorship in, 8; and

Salazar, r4; the New State andLaws of, 2r et seq.i the Legionand Youth Organizations of,

5r, 52t 55; the centenarycelebrations (tg3g-4o), 56, 69,

economic activity of, 57; thecolonies of,69; Salazar on, 89

et seq.; the ArmY in' r37-4o1'estate-splitting in, 168; social-ist experiments in, r7o1 andFascism, t75 et seq.i and a Five-Year Plan, 206; Salazar'sBudget and, 2og et seq.i Povertyin, zro; and the crisis, ar9 al

sag.l Britain's relations with,22gi new industry in, zz7;child mentality in, 234; andwomen, 227, 238, z4o; Salazarreviews the past of, z4B; anhistorical note on' r6e$; andSalazat, e66-B; a summary ofSalazar's work for, 272 et seq'iPublic Works in, e8ol ProPa-ganda films and, e8r; PublicAssistance in, zB4; unemPloY-ment in, eB5; and emigration,

285; present reconstruction int2go et seq.i and investments,2g2; the colonies of, z96, 335;the electoral system of, 3oz-5;and the world crisis, BoS et

seq.; the Civil Service' 3t4;challenge to credits oq 3I5;the international life of, 35o-352

Portuguese Industrial Associa-tion, the, zz7

Poverty, 47,48r 52-4,93, 95, I9BPress, the, and censonhip, 28, 3rt

3z; alluded to, I5r, I5z, I53tr8o

Prester John, e6rProvincial Councils, the, 3o4, 3o5Public Assistance, zB4, eB5, 3oo,

304

- Charity fnstitutions, the, r85

- Opinion, 3r, 3z

- Safety Tax, the, 2r4,3os

- Works, z8o, 286, 2891 2go,29r

Queluz, tS4, t4g' tgt

Red Flag, the, 6oReformation, the, 16IRegulating Commissions, e76Republic, the, proclamation of,

e61 power of the President oll97; the Royalists and, re&-3r1elections, eBI

'Rest Camps' rg8 z.Revolution of May 28th, the,

r3o, r3r, l3B, r43, r44, r5B,rBg,278

Richard, Ren6, Je Suis Partout,citd, 246, e47

36r36o

INDEX INDEX

Rocio (Lisbon), the, 3r, r4BRodrigues, Professor Manuel,

295Rome, e5, 64, ro5, r77Roosevelt, President, 336Rotunda (Lisbon), the, z6Royalists, the, rz8 & n., rzg-gzRua Augusta, the, r16

- z4 de Julho, the, 33, 94

- do Arsenal, the, 33

- do Funchal,the, r74r 2t6,222

- do Ouro, the, 3rRural and Fishermen's lJnions,

the, r6Rural Associations, r7-rg, z7g,

274, 287Russia,59r 60,97, 16r, 16z, 163,

r65

Sagres, Cape, e6r, 263, e65, e69Saint Anthony, rzoSaint-ExupCry, Antoine de, Vol

de Nuit, cited, e57-6o; alludedto, 265

St. George's Castle, 69, 7o, 7t ctseq.

St. Louis de Maranhio, r95St. Luzia, the Belvedere of, 7ISt. Thomas More, 16rSalazar, Dr. Antonio D'Oliveira,

alluded to, 8, 9; AntonioFerro's interviews with (see

Ferro, Antonio); on Consti-tutional reconstruction, t6, 17,

34, 3Si on Rural Associations,18, rg; on the Employer'sAssociations, r9; on the Wor-kers' Syndicates, 2I; on Art,e3, 24i on censorship, 24, 25,26,27, z9; on llliteracy, r5-B,

2o4;on Public Opinion, 3r, 3aion legislative power, 35, 36ihis answer to Chamberlain'sstrictures, 98-42; and GreatBritain, 43; on the AjudaWorkmen'g Settlement, 45, 49ion progress and poverty, 47,48, 52,53; on wealth, 49; onnational economics, 56-8; onCommunism, 5916r, 16o-3;on the decline of the League ofNations, 6r, 621 on Portugal'scolonies, 631 64; on the Portu-guese people, 65-8; on indi-vidual rights, 75; the un-obtrusiveness of, 763 explainshis unemotionalism, 77, 78; hisisolation, 79; and power, 8o;Foreword by, 8g ct scq.i onnational ideals,84,85; rise topower o{, 87, 88; reviewsPortuguese history and educa-tion, 8C€+; on nationalpolicy, 95 ct scq.i as Minister ofFinance, rre at sag.; publicreaction to, r16, rtTi as

President of Council andPrime Minister, rt8, I35 n.;speech on his position, te4 z.;the author's first interviewwith, r e5 ct seq.l characteristicsof re6; on the Royalist prob-lem, tzg-32; on fidelity toprinciples, rgg; on labour,134-6; on the Army, ry7-4oion the Catholic Group, r4r,t42i recounts his politicalcareer, r43; and old politicalparties, t44, r4S; on theNational Union, I45-7; exam-

ines AutlrorilY :rrxl l,ilrertY,r54-6; rtrr tltc (irtlsliltttion,r56-9,'r31|-4o; orr lrrlcgralSocialism, 163-ll; ()rr State

Socialism, r6q-7r; <xt l)r:mo-cracy's crisis, t7t' 172; onFascism, r75 et seq.; the resi-

dence of, 2oo, 'ltg; dcfends theOrder of AmncstY, zot-3; anddefence, 2og' 2o4i on educa-tion, eo5-g; the financial tasks

of, zog ct seq.i the budget of,2t7, 2r9i and the crisis, zI524; tzrxation and, zz5, zz61industry, tourists' and, zz6,zz7; the Portuguese coloniesand, ezg:gz; on children andthe State, 234i on feminism,2354, 24oi and Politicalparties, a4r-3; and Parliament,e43-5; self-training of, 246; thepolitical education of, z4G$;compares Italian and Portu-guese Reformations' 25o' 25t;on National faults, 253; on hisplan, e55, e56; descriPtion of,264; public reactions to' 266'e67; the ideals and aims ot268, e69; a summary of thework of, 272 et seq'i and cancer,aB4; his economic PolicY al-luded to, zB5, e86; the financialwork of, e8&4o; on the worldcrisis, 3o5 et seq.i o\ the CivilScrvice, 3I4, 3I5i the firstschool oll 3Ig; on public dis-content, 323, 324, 310, 327 ; onthc Govcrtrmt:ttt's l)r()gr('ss,

324, 32$ thc g;tillt'rr of, '3'.r7,

3ztl, 319; ott lltr: lt:tr'l ol' lloltt,

333-5; on the London Econo-mic Conference' 336 et scq,l

on avoiding a general catas-trophe, 33g; on moralitY, 343,B44i on exports and imPorts,

346; on war, 3491' on Hitler,349, 35oi on.Portugal's Potcf'35I, 352i an imPression of, 354

Santa Bento (Parliament House),244 &. n.

Santa Comba, r43 & 2., zo8,2Og,2tr, 256, 3I9, 32O, 33r

Sio Carlos Opera ffouse, the,r89, r9r

Sarraut, M., 335Savonarola, r2oSchool teachers' 2o7, 2ogSchools, 286, zB7r 29I' 3or' 3r9Sebastian (tS78)' King, r13 n.

Secretariado de ProPagandaNagional, the, zr, 54

Seipel, Herr, reoShaw, G. Bernard, e68

Sieburg, Frederick, D'News Por'tugal cited,68

Sintra Palaces, the, r9tSlums,3otSocialism, 50, t63 et seq'r 277

Sorel, Georges, r78Spain, the war in, 43; and Por-

tugal, I r 3 2., irrigation in, 168

State Mercantile Marine, the,r70

Statute of National Work, the,273

Supreme Court of Justice, the,

302Switzerland, t5t' 322

'l':rgrts, lltc, r1r1, ryQ, J{

t

zGz:t

( i:t

Talleyrand, r8zTammany IiIalJ, zz4 n.Tangiers, 16rTariff, the, 9o16 ct scq., 342, 345Technical Corporative Council of

Commerce and Industry, tLe,276

Technical School (Lisbon), the,14, 2r

Terreiro do Pago (Black HorseSquare), alluded to, 33, 74,r48, zgo, 256; the Ministry ofFinance in, r r3 & n., tz4, t48,r9o, 2o9, e33, 256

Tin Can Village, 53Tondela, 346Tourists (and Tourism), zz7, zz8Treaty of the Lateran, the, 176

Unemployment, e85; Insurance,a86; and colonies, 935

INDEXValdry, Paul, quoted, gz7Valesca, a6rVasco da Gama, ro8

- Square, the, 56Versailles, z16

- Treaty, the, lzgViera, Fattrer Antonio, r95 & a.Vila Boim, 19Vimieiro, gr9

War Debts, the, zzgWar of rgr4, the, Portuguese

Expeditionary Force ia, r r r z.;alluded to, tgg, 1681 337

War Ofrce, the, rg9, r84 (

Winstanley, Gerald, 16rWorkers' Syndicates, the, zr, 54Working Classes, the, 16, r8, 6o,

r34 & 2., 136,286

Youth Organization, the Portu-guese, 5r, 288, got

g6+