by the extension of the franchise to members of the working classes, and confining the work of registering the voters and electoral acts to the judicial authorities, that the genuineness and honesty of the ballot may be guarded, which is the basis of the entire representative system; regulating and making ministerial responsibility more effective; guaranteeing more surely the independence of the judicial authorities by introducing within the magistracy the promotion of the members thereof, following rules alike precise and unchangeable. Other measures will be submitted to you tending to stimulate local life, establishing a differential and graduated decentralization in proportion to the importance and growth of the municipalities, and to create and strengthen social organizations which may exercise functions which the State only discharges with difficulty in the ever-increasing complexity of modern life. Following its liberal policy, my Government will present drafts of laws to you modifying the law in regard to punishments for anarchism, dispensing with the Government's authorization for carrying on criminal lawsuits against government employees, altering the organization of the office of criminal instruction, and efficaciously regulating the responsibility of the respective functionaries; reforming the law of the freedom of the press, making previous censure impossible, and rapidly submitting the arrest, in cases where it is permitted, to the judicial authorities, the responsibility being shared by the press and by the arresting authority. In accordance with these indeas I have already willingly granted the amnesty proposed by my Government for crimes of printing, tried without the intervention of the accused. My Government gives very great attention to the important and capital subject of education, as well as regards general instruction in its different grades as to special, technical and professional instruction. Thus the proposal will be made to you that students who have shown marked capacity and application in various branches of study shall be sent to continue and complete their studies in some of the best foreign schools. Agricultural questions and the entire subject of national economy in all its different aspects and manifestations deserve none the less care from my Government. Many different interests are under discussion, rendering the close cooperation of Government and parliament all the more necessary in the elaboration and approval of commercial treaties, tariffs and other provisions, measures by which the Government can intervene in matters which chiefly depend on the initiative and activity of the productive and commercial classes. To improve the military institutions, assuring their stability and guaranteeing them against prejudicial disturbances, which come to them from repeated forms in their fundamental regulations, to the detriment of their regular duty; to develop the instruction of the army, with the idea of preparing squads of officers to exercise commanding functions in all military grades, and to proportion better the remuneration which the officers are receiving in their high and patriotic mission. These are the aims of various drafts of laws that will be presented to you by the ministry of war. The Government's program on the important subject of the navy includes an improvement of naval material as far as the treasury will allow, and the concentration of the command, instruction, and discipline of all the fleet services into one directing body, subordinating the fleet services, as those of the army, to a general plan of national defense. My Government will bestow the greatest attention on our foreign possessions, both as regards the maintenance of internal order there and as to the development of their various sources of wealth. Following the plan adopted by all truly colonizing nations, measures tending to a differentiated decentralization of the administration of the various possessions, in accordance with their peculiar problems and their state of development, and to the settlement of the economic and financial relations between the colonies and the realm will be submitted to you. The various ministries will also lay before you measures for protecting and aiding the working classes, for improving the situation of certain classes of functionaries, especially of the lower classes, and for regulating the financial condition of the clergy, establishing their compensation on a new footing. My Government found the tobacco situation established by the decree of the 6th of April, by which the bidding was opened for the award of the monopoly, and it is resolved to maintain precisely the attitude of the previous government. The contract resulting from this decree will be submitted to you for approval. My Government also finds the budget drawn up for 1906–1907, and the short space of time between the formation of the cabinet and the opening of the Cortes has not allowed it to be revised or modified, as had been intended. The cabinet submits it to your consideration as it found it. The public accounts need a profound and radical change in all branches which shall make them clear and definite, and which, with some other measures already referred to, will render easy and secure the parliamentary fiscalization of public receipts and expenses, and the responsibility of ministers, as well as of the various employees, fully effective. My Government intends to complete this reform by proposing the establishment of a parliamentary commission of public finances, a majority of whom shall be from the opposition and with power to correspond directly with all the departments of the Government. The ministry of the treasury of my Government will also present to you proposals to remodel the monetary system on the decimal basis and the gold standard; to reform the contract with the Bank of Portugal; to reorganize the system of government depositories (caixas economicas) and their extension to a greater number of places; to organize an assessment with rigorously defined bases, which, leveling the inequalities existing at present, will be the exact source of predial and registral taxes. Worthy peers of the realm and deputies of the Portuguese nation: The work of reform which the country needs is great and its accomplishment is difficult and perplexing. The strength of all is not sufficient for it, and thus I appeal confidently to your good will and patriotism, certain that, with the aid of God, you will accomplish a useful and lasting work that will honor your names and glorify our fatherland. The session is opened. No. 237.] Minister Bryan to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, Lisbon, Portugal, June 12, 1906. SIR: In continuation of my No. 235, of the 5th instant, I have the honor to report that the Cortes opened on June 1, as reported therein. was but short lived. The absence of a quorum, due to the refusal of the followers of the late ministry to attend and the general dissatisfaction with the manner in which the late elections were conducted, induced the King to call a council of state on June 5, at which it was decided to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and convoke a General Cortes for the 29th of September next. The present ministry promises to guarantee an absolutely free ballot at the elections to be held for the new Chamber of Deputies, and it is hoped that a legislature representative and able to accomplish legislation may be returned. I have, etc., CHARLES PAGE BRYAN. No. 252.] Chargé Fletcher to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, Lisbon, Portugal, October 1, 1906. SIR: I have the honor to report that, for the third time this year, the General Cortes was formally opened by the King on the 29th ultimo. The speech from the throne outlined a number of reforms which will be proposed. The most important being a law providing for ministerial responsibility; a new method of public accounting; a new election law providing for smaller election districts, one seat for each district, instead of large districts with majority and minority representation in each as at present, enlargement of the franchise and judicial supervision of elections; a much-needed reform in public instruction. Remedial legislation is also proposed for the judicial, public works, war, colonial, and navy departments. Several new commerical treaties, the negotiation of which the legation has previously reported, will be submitted and as soon as made public I will forward copies and translations. The contract for the tobacco monopoly, heretofore fully reported, will soon be taken up and will likely be approved. The question of the sanitarium concession at Madeira will also have to be settled. The opposition, consisting of the followers of Hintze Ribiero, four Republicans, and other smaller groups, will be very active, but it is believed that the coalition, composed of the followers of Luciano de Castro and João Franco, will be able to carry its programme through the lower chamber. The attitude of the House of Peers is likely to be hostile, on account of the Liberal tendencies of the present ministry, but will hardly be obstructive. Much interest is taken in the session just opened, and it is hoped that some real legislative work may be accomplished. I have, etc., HENRY P. FLETCHER. No. 244.] ALIEN REGULATIONS IN PORTUGUESE COLONIES. Chargé Fletcher to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, Libson, Portugal, July 16, 1906. SIR: I have the honor to forward herewith a translation of the regulations governing the entry, residence, etc., of foreigners in the colonial possessions of Portugal, which were promulgated by decree of July 4 last. And to be, etc., HENRY P. FLETCHER. [Inclosure. Translation.] Regulations governing the entry, residence, etc., of foreigners in Portuguese colonial possessions. It being found advisable to adopt measures which may facilitate the admission, residence, exit, and transit of foreigners in our colonial possessions, I deem it wise to decree as follows: ARTICLE 1. Foreigners are freely admitted into the colonies without a passport or any other document allowing their admission or establishing their identity; they are, however, required to present themselves within three days after their arrival to the administrative authority of the place where they entered the province, in order to secure a legal residence. 1. The following are excepted: (1) Consular agents; (2) foreign travelers, whose stay shall not exceed twenty days; but in every case they must state to the administrative authority the place and time of their stay. 2. The Government may take exceptional measures, when the good of the State demands it, to restrict the free admission of foreigners. ART. 2. A legal residence may be acquired by presenting a certificate of nationality approved by the applicant's consul, or, if it be impossible to obtain such a document, a passport, which, when approved by the administrative authority of the district where the foreigner proposes to settle, shall constitute a right of permanent residence. ART. 3. In default of a certificate of nationality or passport, a legal resi dence may be acquired through a sufficient bond, but if by reason of the foreigner's lack of acquaintances this can not be done, the administrative authority shall make due note of such declarations as he may make concerning his nationality, showing his name, nationality, age, profession, condition, whence he comes and whither he is proceeding, and any other particulars that may help to identify him shall likewise be mentioned. In such a case article 4 of the decree of July 17, 1871, and the third section of article 2 of the general police regulation of April 7, 1863, shall be followed. 1. The party concerned shall have issued to him a permission of residence when he shall have complied with the terms of the preceding article. ART. 4. Treaty stipulations relative to the subjects of various nations are not affected by the two preceding articles. ART. 5. The document which constitutes a legal permission of residence, when once viséed by the proper consular officer, where such exists, and by the administrative or police authority, shall serve as a safe conduct or permission for free transit if the foreigner change his residence within the province or leave by land or sea. ART. 6. Foreigners who do not secure a legal residence, or present themselves to the administrative authority within the space of time prescribed by this decree, shall undergo a fine of from 5$000 to 20$000 reis, and if they do not then secure a legal residence, they may be obliged to leave the country within the time fixed by the governor. ART. 7. If, after having secured and established a legal residence, foreigners commit actions which endanger public safety or refuse to obey the laws of the land, or in any other manner transgress the laws of the realm, they shall be immediately ordered to leave the province within certain time. 1. When the administrative and police authorities of the district in which the foreigner resides shall have been informed of any act such as those described in the preceding article, they shall investigate the matter, and shall transmit the investigation, with due comment thereon, to the governor of the province. 2. If the investigation shall disclose sufficient disturbances of the public order to warrant the foreigner's expulsion, the governor may expel the foreigner. 3. If the foreigner remain in the province after he has been ordered to leave, he shall be forcibly expelled and shall be conducted to the frontier by the public authorities. ART. 8. An expelled foreigner reentering the province shall be captured and imprisoned for not less than fifteen days nor more than six months, and shall be again expelled. ART. 9. The administrative authorities shall send every month a note to the governor of the district, informing him of all matters concerning strangers within his jurisdiction, and the governors of the districts shall send copies of such reports to the governor of the province, that a registry of the foreign population may be made. ART. 10. The fee for a legal residence shall not exceed 500 reis, inclusive of the proper stamp, all official registries, visés, and references being gratuitous. ART. 11. Foreigners who have received condemnatory sentences, who have committed crimes, and who are under the special vigilance of the police, shall reside subject to the proper criminal legislation. 1. Foreigners who have been twice condemned for vagrancy can be expelled from the province. ART. 12. Foreigners who enter a province within a year from the day when this decree shall go into execution and do not acquire a legal residence, shall be obliged to do so within ninety days, under penalty of the provisions of article 6. ART. 13. The provincial governors shall publish in the Official Bulletin such regulations as may seem advisable for the execution of this decree. ART. 14. Contrary legislation is revoked. The minister and secretary of state for marine and the colonies has thus understood this decree and will carry it into effect. Palace, 4 July, 1906. KING. AYRES DE ORNELLAS DE VASCONCELLOS. ROUMANIA. RELATIONS BETWEEN GREECE AND ROUMANIA. Minister Riddle to the Secretary of State. No. 14. Roumanian Series.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Bucharest, March 1, 1906. SIR: Referring to Mr. Moore's Nos. 11, of August 21, and 16," of September 20, 1905, and to my No. 2, of October 16, 1905, relative to the Greco-Roumanian conflict in Macedonia, I have the honor to forward in a separate parcel by book-post the "Green Book" containing the diplomatic correspondence (in French) between the two governments up to the time of the breaking off of official relations by the withdrawal of the respective diplomatic representatives. The acrimony already existing between the two governments has been further intensified by the recent expulsion of seven prominent and wealthy Greek residents of this country, who were accused of belonging to a Greek patriotic society, the Hellenismos, which was said to have held secret meetings and raised money in Roumania to further the Greek propaganda in Macedonia. To celebrate these expulsions and to avenge past grievances in Macedonia, a street mob forcibly entered the Greek church in Bucharest and there read the liturgy in the Roumanian language on the night after the expulsions were voted by the council of ministers. I have, etc., J. W. RIDDLE. Minister Riddle to the Secretary of State. No. 23. Roumanian Series.] AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: Referring to my No. 14, of March 1 last, relating to GrecoRoumanian relations, I have the honor to inform you that diplomatic relations between the two countries were last week officially broken off. They have been practically suspended since September, 1905, as the Roumanian representatives in Greece and the Greek representatives in Roumania have been absent from their posts since that date. The Greek Government found such an arrangement unsatisfactory, as there was no one to look after Greek interests in Roumania, and accordingly declared diplomatic relations broken off, at the same time intrusting the protection of Greek subjects and Greek interests in Roumania to the Russian legation. I have, etc., J. W. RIDDLE. a Not printed. |