REPUBLIC OF PORTUGAL.

Plain Speaking

REASONS FOR THE MILITARY

INTERVENTION OF PORTUGAL

IN THE EUROPEAN WAR.

ABRIDGED FROM A REPORT

Pnblished in the " DIARIO DO GOVERNO," No. 9, Series I, of 17tli January, 1917.

LONDON. 1917.

;-iJC(?

Walter Clinton Jackson Library

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Special Collections & Rare Books

World War I Pamphlet Collection

A MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNMENT TO THE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PORTUGAL ; CONVEYED IN THE HOPE THAT IT MAY FIND AN ECHO ABROAD

Inspired by the Interests of the People.

THE Convention between Great Britain and Portugal has been signed, allotting us our share in the . European conflict ; the hour has struck for the departure of our troops for the Western Front, where they are to fight side by side with our ancient and faithful ally. These events mark the close of a strenuous period in our history. Our attitude in presence of the great conflagration being what it is and has been, this step was inevitable from the first. Here in Portugal we know all the facts : those that wound and grieve us, as also those that stimulate and ennoble. The Government of Portugal has hidden nothing from the people; to friend and foe all the world over, nothing essential remains unrevealed. But, scattered as they are over a long period of time, those facts have yet to be assembled and Unked up in their due sequence. For the task of completing this chain of evidence the Government of Portugal

regards the present as a specially favourable moment. Having made its heavy demand on the heroism and self-sacrifice of the Portuguese people, it must not flinch from the duty of faithfully recording the paramount reasons which have made that demand inevitable. In honour- ing its engagements our Government has drawn its inspiration from the interests of the people.

This War is essentially one of Alliances.

Its original Cause of no direct Concern to most of the Nations now involved in it.

On the gth of March 19 16 Germany declared war upon Portugal. This fact has both antece- dents and consequents. In the Note handed to the Portuguese Government by order of the Im- perial Government, through its representative at Lisbon, Baron von Rosen, the motives for this resolution are set forth at length ; in some passages with disregard for the true facts, in others with perversion of their real significance. Germany's attitude towards Portugal has long been tortuous and enigmatical. That of Portugal towards Germany has always been frank and devoid of sophistries.

The European conflagration broke out on the 28th of July 1914, with a declaration of war by Austria upon Serbia. This brought with it the intervention of Russia, who, faithful

With the Compliments

of

Professor W. Macneile Dixon

(University of Glasgow).

8, BurKUNOHAM Gate, London, S.W 1. England

to her racial principles, determined that this little Slav country should not be sacrificed to foreign ambitions. On the 2nd of August, Ger- many, as Austria's ally, declared war upon Russia. It is worthy of note that this formidable contest, in which to-day no less than fourteen Powers are involved, is fundamentally one of alliances. These nations, almost exclusively, have no direct concern with the quarrel which started it. They are in the struggle for the sake of their alliances. They are fighting because they have grasped the truth that without those alliances their individual existence might at any moment come to an end. For the European nations, isolation is too dangerous to be longer possible. The Muscovite Colossus has become bound up with France. Even Britain, despite her match- less resources and her privileged geographical position, has enlarged her political horizons, has abandoned her ancient insularity, and, in conjunction with France and Russia, has created the Triple Entente, Nay more, an Asiatic Power, Japan, has sought and obtained an alliance with her. Driven thereto by the present war, Turkey and Bulgaria have become allies of Germany ; while Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, and Roumania, for similar reasons, have joined hands with the Entente Powers. But outside of these comparatively recent groups there stands one country, for centuries the ally of Great Britain. That country is Portugal.

If this war is one of alliances, seeing that the nations involved are in the field against one another in the name and the cause of their allies, what of Portugal ? Great Britain, on the 5th of August 1914, when Belgian neutrality had been violated by Germany, declared herself in a state of war with the Imperial Government and its people. Could Portugal have declared herself neutral ? To suppose this possible would be to ignore the character, traditions, spirit, and actual state of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.

The Oldest Alliance in the World.

A little more than two years before the out- break of the conflagration — to be accurate, on the 15th March 1912 — Dr. Augusto de Vas- concelos, then Premier and Foreign Minister of Portugal, had occasion to present to Parliament a codification of the clauses which for six cen- turies past bound Great Britain to Portugal. In December 1898 the British Government had presented to the House of Lords the text of the treaties in force between the two countries up to 1815, to which the later statement might be regarded as complemenlary. The earhest of those treaties was that of 1373, between Edward, King of England and France, and Dom Fernando, King of Portugal and the Algarves. Then fol- lowed those of 1386, 1642, 1654, 1660, 1661, 1703, and the Treaty of Vienna in 1815. By means of their essential clauses, the various

Anglo-Portuguese treaties, always recognised and respected alike by Portugal and by Britain, now constitute, as it were, one single treaty. In this way an international agreement, the most ancient in Europe, has been brought up to date, and indissolubly unites the two counties. The impression made upon the public mind in Portugal by this recital was so vivid that Government determined that it should be printed and given the fullest circulation through- out the country.

In 1914, the terms of the alliance being still fresh in the memory of our people. Great Britain found herself involved in a war with Germany. She at once laid her plans, assuming as a matter of course that no declaration of Portuguese neutrality would be made. And none was made. On the contrary. Dr. Bernardino Ma- chado, then Prime Minister, obtained parlia- mentary sanction, followed by enthusiastic public acclamation, for his very explicit definition of Portugal's attitude. These were his words : —

" No sooner was the Republic pro- claimed than all the nations hastened to declare to us their friendship, and one of them. Great Britain, her alliance. For our part, we haVe unceasingly done all in our power to respond to that friendship, which we sincerely prize; and we fully bear in mind the duties of the alliance we have freely undertaken, and from which

8

we shall under no circumstances shrink. Such is the international poHcy of concord and dignity which this Government strives to continue, assured that thus it will firmly consolidate the wishes of the revered Head of the State with the collective will of Congress and of the Portuguese people."

Germany aims her First Felon Blow

PorUignese Blood Spilt Unprovoked.

Such was our first public document as to the attitude of Portugal in face of the European conflict. No neutrality ; on the contrary, ample recognition of our duties as an ally, " from which under no circumstances shall we shrink." Germany could not pretend ignorance of our determination. Her representative in Lisbon knew all that passed. And later on, when she issued her Note declaring war upon us, her con- tention that such facilities as we had afforded to Great Britain stood as evidence, both of bad faith towards Germany and of vassalage towards our ally, was based on a distortion of fact. Our parliamentary engagement of 7th August 1914 did not aim at provoking Germany to hostilities, nor was our reinforcement of the garrisons in Angola and Mozambique other than precautionary ; the latter, moreover, was clearly justified by the German aggressions which pre- ceded and followed it.

-Only nineteen days had passed since Ger- many and Great Britain had made war. On the 24th of August 1914, in a region remote from the European field oi battle, the Portu- guese outpost of Maziua, in Mozambique, close to the frontier line of German East Africa, was treacherously assailed at dawn by a German force of sepoys and other auxiliaries. Its com- mander, surprised in his sleep, was shot dead, and the slender garrison only escaped the same fate by flight to the forest, being hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy. The Germans entered the post, seized all the valuables it contained, and burnt it to the ground. They did the same to the adjoining huts and to a native village in the vicinity; nothing escaped the flames.

Thus the first blood shed was ours, and it was shed by Germans without provocation on the part of Portugal. Meanwhile Germans lived unharmed in Portuguese territory, both in Portu- gal proper and the islands, and in the African colonies, carrying on their affairs and passing their existence tranquilly without let or hind- rance from anyone. The German Minister was left undisturbed in Lisbon, and his Government took no notice of the parliamentary declara- tion of 7th August, being fully aware that we were the allies of Great Britain and thus bound to fulfil our duties to her as such.

It was not long before it became clear that

10

her attack on the Maziua outpost was a first move in the game to be played out later. The Germans on the spot were evidently assured that an invasion of our colonies formed part of the general German plans. The invaders had photographs of the Maziua outpost, obtained beforehand — an easy matter, seeing that they came among us as friends, all the while nurturing schemes of treachery and rapine. Once war was unchained, they threw off all disguise, as was shown by their incursions into Angola at Nauhla and Cuangar. Their intentions, as it happened, were frustrated, but these unmis- takeably showed what would be the fate of our colonies if by any chance victory were to crown the Imperial German arms.

As we have seen, Portuguese and not German blood was the first to flow; and it was shed by Germans in Africa according to the same revolting tactics as those employed by them in Europe : ambush, treachery, slaughter, fire, and plunder. On the 19th of October of the same year they renewed their aggressions by attacking our fort of Naulila, to the north of German South- West Africa, where the brave ensign Sereno refused to let them raid with impunity. To avenge themselves for this disappointment they attacked the fort of Cuangar some ten days later, dis- playing a boundless ferocity. They rushed the fort at midnight, massacred the garrison, and refused to spare a luckless trader who chanced

II

to be spending the night there. They seized Lieutenant Machado, tied a rope round his neck and dragged him violently out of his room. When he implored them not to torture him but to put him to death mercifully, they slew him with bayonet thrusts. Another officer. Lieutenant Durao, met the same fate, as did a sergeant and many rank and file of the garrison. Meanwhile a machine gun played upon the victims from a German fort on the other side of the river. It must be borne in mind that only a few days before this, Portuguese and German officers had fraternised over a break- fast given by the former, and it had been agreed that in the event of orders being received on either side for the opening of hostilities, warnings should be exchanged between the outposts of the two belligerents.

As at Maziua, the Germans sacked the fort, , not sparing even the goods of the murdered merchant. They ordered the natives who ac- companied them to destroy the fort, and carried fire and sword into the interior. The post of Bunja was next attacked; that of Sambio was burnt ; they razed the post of Dirico to the ground after attacking it with machine guns; they took Mucusso, making the garrison pri- soners, but these subsequently escaped. They only refrained from attacking the post of Cuana- val, knowing its garrison to be strong enough to resist them.

12

Acts such as these denote a state of war. They are evidence of German hostiUty from the very beginning of the European conflagra- tion, and must be set in the balance against the allegations of the Note by which Germany seeks to pose as the injured party in a quarrel that has been forced upon her.

Germany the Innocent Victim of Portuguese Treachery,

In Portugal, meanwhile, events took their normal course, irrespective of events in Africa, although doubtless influenced by the gravity of the European military situation. In September and October 1914, British and French war- ships visited Lisbon in recognition of Portugal as an ally of the former Power. Baron von Rosen's Note conveying Germany's declaration of war alludes to this among other matters, where it asserts that " from the beginning of the war the Portuguese Government lent its support to the enemies of the German Empire in the form of acts contrary to neutrality."

True, our Government, duly mindful of treaty obligations, has always aided Britain in whatever manner she may have desired, but never surreptitiously or treacherously All our acts have been fair and above-board. When Germany accuses Portugal of not supplying her vessels with coal, of allowing British vessels the use of her harbours, or of having given

13

Great Britain a torpedo destroyer, she pretends to forget that such acts would only have been incorrect or mala fide had Portugal ever declared her neutrality. But Portuguese neutrality never existed; solidarity with Great Britain has been throughout the inspiration of our atti- tude, and that attitude received the unanimous ratification of Parliament at the earliest possible opportunity.

Portuguese Solidarity with Britain. Preparations for Armed Intervention.

Not only was moral and material support given by us to Great Britain, but, as early as October 1914, in pursuance of previous nego- tiations, a Portuguese military mission was despatched to London, where it conferred with the higher British military authorities as to joint action in the field. That, mission was received with every mark of sympathy, and the welcome accorded to the distinguished officers who composed it clearly showed the just appre- ciation in which our brave soldiers were held. That great and unfortunate Minister of War, Lord Kitchener, gave evidence of it in a letter to the Portuguese War Minister, General Pereira de E9a, on the subject of the work of that mission. And in France, whither it went after its visit to London, it was also laden with attentions of which our country has every right to be proud.

14

Portugal's position in face of the European conflict began to assume the aspect foreshadowed in the engagement and declaration of 7th August. Accordingly, on the 23rd of November 1914, Government once more' informed Congress of the new phase entered upon through inter- national developments. The Premier, Dr. Ber- nardino Machado, proposed the following Bill : —

" The Executive Power is hereby autho- ./ rised to make military intervention in the present international conflict of arms when- ever and in whatever manner it may be deemed necessary in our higher interests and duties as a free nation and an ally of Great Britain, and to take such extra- ordinary measures towards that end as the circumstances of the case may demand."

Complementary to his Bill, the President of the Ministry read out in Congresss the following explanatory note, drafted in agreement between the Portuguese and British Governments : — " At the very beginning of the war, Portugal spontaneously announced herself ready, as the ally of Great Britain, to give the latter every assistance. The Bri- tish Government, heartily grateful for this clear proof of solidarity, invited the Portuguese Government to act conjointly in such manner as might be stipulated between them, in military co-operation.

15

Thus would the two Governments secure the objects of the alhance for centuries subsisting between their nations, the main- tenance of which was matter of common and equal interest to both parties." Parliament greeted the reading of the note

with applause, and the Government Bill passed

into law.

New and Grave Events in Africa. Portugal's Military Plans Retarded.

Details had still to be worked out in con- sultation with our ally, and selection to be made of the field in which our co-operation might be most effectively exercised. At that stage, lack of material and imperfect organisa- tion were the main obstacles to progress. The task of creating a field force capable of taking the part assigned to it, against forces numbering millions of men, and these armed with the most perfect instruments of war, was indeed a for- midable one; but the Government of Portugal was determined to see it through. And it may be confidently asserted that, long ere this, Portuguese troops would have been fighting beside their allies in Europe, had not new and grave events in Angola compelled her to divert to the African field the bulk of her available forces.

On the i8th December 1914, about a month after the parliamentary resolution for military

i6

intervention had been passed, a sanguinary conflict took place at Naulila between the expedi- tionary force under Colonel Rogadas and the German forces of Damaraland. Once again the Germans crossed our Angolan frontier in force, having meanwhile incited an insurrection among the natives subject to our rule. Blows were exchanged, and in the end the Portuguese troops had to retire, but the victory remained doubtful ; so much so that the Germans, instead of advancing further, hastily withdrew to their own territories. Of the great feats of valour displayed by Portuguese officers and men during that action, the country has had the amplest information from the Hps of trustworthy witnesses.

The battle of Naulila would have been nothing more than an incident in the African war, as our troops were preparing to renew the fight and carry it into the enemy's country, had not the rapid advance of the South African forces into Damaraland driven the Germans to capitulate before the Portuguese had had time to take their revenge for the raids just described, but under the Command of General Pereira de Ega, who had replaced Colonel Ro^adas as leader of the expeditionary force, our troops found sufficient work in suppressing the re- belhon of the Cuanhamas, instigated by German agency. The tribe was completely subjugated and punished in the end.

17

In 1915, despite the incidents of an interna\ order which marked it, the work of miHtary organisation went on, allowing us to cherish the hope that Portugal would shortly possess an army worthy of her traditions and of the place she occupied in Europe. The task is not yet finished, but the Government of Portugal is already in a position to assure the country that it now possesses a force sufficient not merely for defensive purposes, but also for those of her treaty engagements.

German aggression, however, has been un- ceasing, though the Imperial Government, affect- ing ignorance of what was then taking place in Africa, continued to retain its representative at Lisbon. On the 3rd of April, the steamer Douro was sunk, either by a submarine or a German mine, when on a voyage between Cardiff and Oporto. At the end of May another Portu- guese merchant vessel, the Cisne, was similarly sunk at the entrance of the English channel. In this case, a German submarine torpedoed it after verifying its Portuguese nationality, seizing the provisions the boat was carrying, and direct- ing the crew to abandon it.

Portugal's Economic Straits.

The Interned German Vessels.

What neither the Portuguese nor any other Government similarly circumstanced could pre-

vent was the alarming increase in the cost of living, especially among the poorer classes — a burden shared by belligerent and neutral alike. Being short of merchant vessels under our own flag, we had become dependent upon foreign shipping. But foreign shipping was now failing us, owing to the submarine menace and the ever- increasing losses of tonnage, causing freights to rise higher and higher.

Since the earliest days of the war, some dozens of German vessels had been lying idle in our harbours, where they had taken refuge when hostilities first broke out. For a year and a half, notwithstanding the economic condi- tion of the country due to deficient tonnage. Government avoided the use of those ships. Yet our rights, internal and conventional, would fully have justified our attachment of them, irrespective of successive German aggressions upon us. A stage was at last reached when it was no longer possible to refrain from the action obviously indicated. Imperious need on the part of the country coincided with a not inferior interest on that of our ally; the tonnage repre- sented by those ships had to return into mercantile circulation. This was yet another of those acts of assistance which Portugal, in virtue of her alHance with Great Britain, had never failed to perform whenever asked.

But our action itself, giving important ad- vantages to the nation which Germany regarded

19

as her most hated foe, might be seized upon as a pretext for intolerable retaliation upon Portugal, already the sufferer from her barbarity. Fore- seeing this, and fully realising the responsibilities involved, the British Government, on the 17th February 19 16, instructed its Minister at Lisbon, " to urge upon the Government of the Republic, in the name of the Alliance, the requisition of all the enemy vessels lying in Portuguese ports, which will be made use of for Portuguese trade navigation, and also between Lisbon and such other ports as may be determined by agreement between the two Governments."

On the 23rd of February, the Portuguese Government carried out the requisition of the German vessels anchored in the national ports.

" A Singular Breach of Right."

Germany's Pose : Injured Innocence.

The attachment of these ships, once resolved upon, had to be effected without delay, lest their crews should practise acts of sabotage upon them, which indeed they did, so far as time per- mitted, even before the decision of Government could have been known to them. Nevertheless, the Government of Portugal took no reprisals against the authors of the mischief.

On the day on which the ships were requisi- tioned, the Portuguese Minister at BerHn was

2C

instructed by telegraph to notify the Imperial Government of the action taken and to make a statement of the views of his own Government as to the question of right, the position of the crews, and the indemnity payable. Four days later. Baron von Rosen, the German Minister at Lisbon, in a note to the Foreign Minister of Portugal, described the action of the Potruguese Government as " a singular breach of right, and an act of force," and demanded its immediate revocation.

Portugal in reply justified her proceedings, citing a precept of international law already applied by Italy, without demur on the part of Germany, to the case of German interned ships in Italian ports. She expressed herself unable to modify the action she had taken, and further instructed her representative, should Germany persist in charging her with a breach of neutrality, to remind the Imperial Government that it had acquiesced in the Portuguese Republic's declara- tion of loyalty to her British ally, made on the 7th August 1914, by retaining her representative at Lisbon and permitting the continued residence of Portugal's representative at Berlin.

The reply of the Imperial Government to this communication took the form of a Note declaring war, bearing date 9th March 1916, and handed by Baron von Rosen to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This lengthy and arrogant document Was reported upon by Government to Parliament

21

on the following day, and it aroused general and legitimate indignation. In it the German Government recounted the various acts of Portu- gal which it regarded as infringing a neutrality never declared by us.

Among these were : the prohibition of coal supply to the German ships, the permission given for the stay of British men-of-war in our ports, the passage of British troops through Mozambique, the utilisation of Madeira as a naval base, and the transfer of the torpedo- destroyer Lis to Great Britain; one and all being acts manifestly in harmony with our duties as an ally of Great Britain. That Portu- gal had sold guns to the Entente Powers, as alleged by Germany, was false; and an equally grave distortion of the facts was the assertion that the soldiers who accompanied Dr. Schultz- Jena nto Angola on the 19th of October 1914 had been enticed there by us, made prisorers without just cause shown, and some of these prisoners shot subsequently, the rest being retained. No evidence of this was adduced by Germany, but what was proved was Germany's own hostile attitude throughout the transaction. In the same connection, the German Note cited other matters with the object of showing her an innocent victim of Portuguese high-handedness, ignoring the fact that these occurrences had taken place when German armed parties were actually on Portuguese soil as invaders.

22

' After rejecting the juridical arguments pre- ferred by the Portuguese Government in the case of the requisitioned ships, and stigmatising the act as a violation of rights, performed as a proof of vassalage to Great Britain — this from the State which had invaded Belgium, tearing up the treaty guaranteeing her neutrality to which Germany herself was a signatory — the Note concluded with a declaration of war against Portugal.

When this document had been read, and Government heard upon it, Parliament unani- mously voted the following motion, proposed by Dr. Alexandre Braga : —

" The Congress of the Republic, having heard the declarations of Government, supports its action, and recognises the opportuneness of creating a National Minis- try which shall continue to safeguard the honour and interests of the country, carrying into effect the deliberations of the Legislative Power conducive to that end."

The Declaration of War: and After.

Mititary Operations in East Africa.

War with Germany was thus declared. Thepe soon followed the rupture of diplomatic relations with Austria. And as it was natural and neces-

23

sary that our solidarity with the Allied Nations should be strengthened, understandings were entered into with Powers other than Great Britain. This was the first logical consequence of the events of 9th March. We were repre- sented at the political and military conference of the Allies, held shortly after at Paris, by our Minister in France ; and later on, at the economic conference of the same Allies, likewise at Paris, by delegates specially nominated by Govern- ment. An official mission was also sent to London to ascertain exactly the proposed arrange- ments of the British Government regarding our status as belligerents, and at the same time to settle various pending diplomatic questions.

But what demanded the especial attention of Government was the financial problem; the study of the facilities to be afforded in London for those external operations which our Govern- ment might have to undertake. The journey of the Finance Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was, however, principally determined by an honourable invitation received from the British Government, to which we could not fail to respond cordially, the better to strengthen friendly relations between the two countries.

, Meanwhile, subsequent to the declaration of war, military operations had begun in East Africa with the re-conquest of Kionga, insolently usurped by Germany from us in 1894. When Kionga had been taken, Portuguese troops

24

crossed the Rovuma, invaded the enemy's terri- tory, and, sweeping him before them, penetrated the German colony up to the walls of the fort of Newala. Through that ebb and flow charac- terising the present war, we had temporarily to give way, but the war in Africa is going on favourably, and we hope soon to defeat the Germans on their own ground and plant the Portuguese standard there.

On her side, Germany does not spare us. No sooner was war declared than mines were found laid by the enemy at the entrance to the Port of Lisbon, Thanks to our intrepid marine, the Germans were unable to carry out their designs to the full. Despite its numerical infe- riority in ships, constant watch and ward has been kept, up to the present ensuring our coasts from attack. An instance of this traditional and stead- fast bravery may be cited in the feat of our little gunboat the Iho, repelling the attack of a German submarine on the high seas. But recent events, such as the chase of the Machico, the attack upon Funchal, the torpedoing of the barque Emilia, the sinking of several Portuguese ships at sea, and the attempt upon St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands, into whose harbour an enemy submarine managed to penetrate, clearly show that the rage of the Germans, though impotent in many cases, is bitter and will be vented with the utmost barbarity whenever the opportunity presents itself.

An Anglo-Portuguese Financial Entente.

On the return of our two Ministers from London, Parliament was convoked for the 7th of August, so that the results of their mission might be reported to Congress. The Finance Minister related the agreements arrived at in regard to the handing over of the ex-German ships, and the financial questions bearing upon the war. It was decided to hire to a commission representing the British Government all the vessels not required for our own urgent necessi- ties, those ships being returned as soon as the special circumstances created by the war should be at an end. Thus our aspiration towards the. possession of an important mercantile marine was safeguarded, turning to account meanwhile the risks and perils brought to us by the war.

As to war finance, the British Government agreed that the following Note should be com- municated to Parliament : —

" The British Government has agreed with the Government of Portugal to grant the latter such loans as may be required for the payment of all expenditure for purposes directly connected with the war which the two Governments shall agree to incur in Great Britain, or exceptionally, in other allied countries. The British Government will make these loans to the Portuguese

26

Government on the same terms as it may raise money from time to time by means of Treasury Bills. The total sum lent to the Portuguese Government shall be repaid by the latter to the British Government within two years, reckoned from the date of signature of the Treaty of Peace, out of the product of an external loan to be negotiated by Portugal, and for the emission of which the British Government will give every possible facility."

The Minister for Foreign Affairs then read out in Congress the invitation of the British Government to Portugal to take her place in the European war along with the Allies. A mo- tion of approval was then preferred by Senator Correia Barreto, and adopted by Congress, confirming to the Executive Powers the faculties already conceded.

A Hearty Send Off to the Departing Troops.

For the first time within a hundred years will the flag of Portugal float over the battle-fields of Europe. It is too soon yet to estimate the advantages of the attitude assumed by Portugal ; but it is at least certain that she has proclaimed herself a nation worthy of the traditions of her past and the high hopes of her future. The Portuguese Government salutes the soldiers who

27

are leaving her : the army and navy, in whose patriotism and intrepidity rests the safety of the country. The honour of representing it at this juncture, the culminating point of j^the national existence, sufficed to compensate them for the toil of that mission whose execution has been confided to them.

(Signed)

Antonio Jose de Almeida.

Bras Mousinho de Albuquerque.

Luis de Mesquita Carvalho.

Affonso Costa.

Jose Mendes Ribeiro Norton de Matos.

ViTOR Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho.

augusto luiz viera soares.

Francisco Jose Fernades Costa.

JosE Pedro Martins.

Antonio Maria da Silva.

Presidency of the Ministry, lyih January 1917.

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