Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1940. OUR OLDEST ALLY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 162, 8 June 1940, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1940. OUR OLDEST ALLY.

It was not mere political strategy that prompted Great Britain to recognise the anniversary of Portugal’s independence by conferring upon the Prime Minister aiid other important personages signal honours. Portugal is the home of a people w'lio have been associated in spirit and aspiration with the Empire for a longer period than any others, a people who in some, respects have developed on the same temperamental plan. Through the years staunchness and faithful adherence to this friendship have grown —there has never been any reason to doubt its sincerity nor reason to suspect an ulterior motive. True, Portugal’s foreign policy is based on a firm alliance with Britain) upon whom she depends for her colonial defence, but there has never been any case of bargaining. When _ the Spanish War was at its height, and Italy sought to establish bases at every conceivable point, the Portuguese withstood advances in the direction of ceding any of their territory for such a purpose, thus placing the Allies’ minds at rest in respect of at least one factor. In the present circumstances, wlien the Mediterranean is again likely to occupy more than academic attention, Britain expects to be granted the use of strategically important bases in Portugal. This country, so valuable geographically, has maintained its loyalty, and.there is no reason to believe that force of circumstances will occasion any weakening. Rich in history, it was, in the days of Yasco da Gama, also rich in commerce, but to-day the little country cl 35,000 square miles has comparatively few overseas connections, the chief being in East and West Africa, Guinea, and India. Chief interest lies within the State itself, which has become of in creasing importance. Recent reports have'gone so far as to suggest that, in the event of Italy entering the war as an ally oi Germany, Ills Holiness the Pope might leave the Vatican City and go to Portugal.

From the point ' of view of government an immense amount; of interest can be said to attach to the- Portuguese system—the Etada Novo, which was adopted in 1933. One of the tenets of this new creed is to restore the country to her former greatness, and a type of dictatorship on a corporative basis has been utilised. But it is a dictatorship essentially different from- that of Spain, Italy, and Germany, because Dr. Salazar, , the Premier-Dictator, is altogether different from the heads of those nations. In fact, the Portuguese form of government corresponds as faithfully as possible to the accepted principles of the Catholic Corporative State. The fabric rests on ten articles of political doctrine which recognise; that the individual has a place in society as, a member of a natural group, such as a family, guild, or rnunici-

pality. It has been well said that the State is not concerned with the abstract rights of man, but with the concrete liberties of men. The existence of a strong executive is recognised, but political representation is effected through guilds and corporations. In contrast to the Eascist regime it may be claimed that Portugal is authoritarian, not totalitarian, in outlook; the State is an instrument, not the end in itself, recognising moral and;'" ethical values far outside its ow.n. Family and faith remain ■ the transcendant virtues, and upon these foundations the Portuguese plan to erect a finer State. Theirs is a brave and exemplary ideal.