mission which had been formed to study the constitution of the Council and on which he had consented to serve.

SPAIN.

The year opened auspiciously for Spain with the striking success of the flight to South America. The first weeks were spent in final preparation of this long-projected event, and on January 22 Comandante Franco and his companions left Palos de Moguer, the spot from which Columbus sailed on his memorable voyage, and reached the Grand Canaries the same afternoon. Using a Dornier Wal flying boat fitted with British Napier engines, they flew with practically uninterrupted success via the Cape Verde Islands and Fernando Noronha to Pernambuco, and thence via Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires, where they arrived on February 10. The flight was followed throughout with intense interest in the Peninsula, and attracted attention abroad. Its successful termination aroused immense enthusiasm in Spain and the Argentine; Royal and national honours were bestowed upon the aviators, who were given a rousing reception at Buenos Aires, followed, a few hours later, in Madrid, by a monster demonstration in their honour. The Royal Decree of March 25 regulating the military status of emigrants, and thereby enabling several hundred thousand Spaniards in America to resume their native citizenship, and the Naval Programme authorised on March 28, were both indirect consequences of the Atlantic flight. Comandante Franco's triumphal return on April 5, on board the Argentine cruiser Buenos Aires, and his reception by the King at Seville were made the occasion of a naval demonstration and a reaffirmation of Hispano-American sympathies. The same day witnessed the departure of another air-squadron on the no less successful flight from Madrid to Manila.

The semi-civil Cabinet justified its recent creation by seriously tackling the problem of financial and economic reform. A comprehensive scheme of railway and road construction was drawn up and, unlike the programmes of former Governments, was tɔ be actually begun during the year. Hydro-electric development took a leap forward with the establishment of autonomous corporations, each controlling one of the great river-basins of Spain, and the "Confederación del Ebro," dealing with an area equal to one-seventh of the extent of the country and a rainfall of onehalf of the total, was to prove a signal success from its organisation on March 3.

Meanwhile, events in Morocco, which had engrossed the attention of Spain and dominated her policy since 1909, began to move apace. Abd-el-Krim, though weakened in power, still retained the prestige of his former victories. The negotiations begun at Ujda on April 27 between representatives of France and

Spain on the one hand and the Rifi delegates on the other broke down early in May over the demands of the latter; and the final offensive against Abd-el-Krim, set in motion on May 7 simultaneously by the French in the South and the Spaniards in the North led, after short but sharp fighting, to the utter collapse of the Moorish power. On May 26 Abd-el-Krim surrendered to the French, and, though the task of pacification yet remained, the Moroccan problem in the acute form it had taken in the last years, disappeared.

But, as on the occasion of the victory at Alhucemas in the preceding autumn, so now the very success of the Marquis de Estella's policy in Morocco seemed to rouse his political opponents at home to action. Though the Jabala tribes remained in revolt, the occupation of the Army was now largely gone, and from seeking honours and advancement in Africa, the corps of officers turned once more to interference in politics. The question of rewards to be bestowed for meritorious service in the field raised the first clouds of a storm that was to cast its shadow over Spain for the remainder of the year.

A decree published on June 9, forbidding Army officers to refuse promotion by merit, met with determined resistance on the part of the Artillery, who threatened to resign en masse. Though there was as yet no open breach of discipline, it was evident that the evil days of the Military Juntas had returned. The agitation culminated in a widespread conspiracy against the Directory, the effects of which were frustrated by its timely discovery on the night of June 23. Some thirty persons were arrested, among them Dr. Marañón, a well-known physician of Liberal leanings, and General Aguilera, a former Minister of War; while Captain-General Weyler, the "grand old man" of the Spanish Army, who had signed the plotters' manifesto, was placed under supervision. In addition, heavy fines were imposed on the ringleaders; half a million pesetas on Count Romanones alone. News of a plot to murder the King and Queen in Paris on their way to London, though not directly connected with the conspiracy, served to heighten the feeling of political insecurity. The anarchist attack on the Dictator on July 31 at Barcelona appeared, indeed, to be the act of a mere fanatic, but the political situation worsened, and weakened Spain's renewed agitation for a permanent seat on the Council of the League of Nations and her claim to Tangier, put forward on August 15. In pressing these claims simultaneously and somewhat bluntly, the Government encouraged the nation to entertain high hopes, the shattering of which led to bitter disappointment voiced internationally in the abrupt withdrawal of Spain from Geneva on August 31, and at home in renewed disorders.

Unrest in the Army, and particularly the Artillery, had continued to smoulder on the question of promotion, and was now

fanned into the flame of open rebellion. On September 4 the Artillery Corps stationed at Segovia, Valladolid, and Pamplona mutinied, and the country once more found itself in the throes of a military revolution. In this crisis the Marquis de Estella acted with energy. The King hastened to Madrid from San Sebastian, and on the morning of September 5 martial law was proclaimed throughout Spain. Strong action by the Government, and particularly Royal influence over the officers, enabled the revolt to be suppressed without much bloodshed; order was restored on September 7, and on the following day the King was able to raise the state of martial law and return to the seaside. The Dictator had again emerged triumphant from the trial. The attempts of his political enemies to overthrow him had once more failed for lack of support on the part of the general public, to whom his régime, though unconstitutional, was evidently acceptable. The Presidential Party of the Patriotic Union organised a national plebiscite, for which voting began on September 13, and lasted for several days; and although the conditions precluded the recording of any adverse votes, the fact that six million votes were obtained in favour of the Dictator was some indication of his popularity. The result was perhaps due to his very unconstitutionality rather than to any general desire to see Parliamentary Government restored; for, though the promise was held out finally to convoke a National Assembly in the second week of November, its non-fulfilment on this, as on previous occasions, roused no feeling in the nation. The disbandment of the Artillery Corps and the suspension of the officers from rank and pay for three months left the opposition unreconciled, but impotent; and from the point of view of political change, the remainder of the year was a period of stagnation

The Royal visit to Barcelona passed off uneventfully. In equal order proceeded the gradual pacification of the Spanish zone in Morocco with the aid of native levies recruited from amongst Abd-el-Krim's warriors. The ill-conceived Perpignan plot, detected early in November, hardly caused a ripple on the surface of political calm.

The Government could devote its entire attention to the task of administrative reorganisation. Under the young and energetic Ministers of Finance and Public Works real progress was made in this direction. In addition to improvements in the existing means of communication, contracts were given out for the construction of nearly 400 miles of railway and over 4,000 miles of roads. The Compañía Telefónica Nacional achieved a striking success in rapidly reorganising and extending the telephone service throughout Spain; 45,000 miles of new line were laid, and the automatic telephone opened in Santander in the summer, and in Madrid on December 29. The problem of financial reform was attacked at its root by drastic changes in the system of

taxation. Less can be said in favour of the attempts of the Government to control trade. The Decree of July 9 for the protection of national industries brought foreign trade, particularly in steel, to a standstill and rendered a revision of the Anglo-Spanish Trade Treaty necessary. The prohibition, on November 4, of the establishment of any new industrial undertaking or the extension of existing works without the consent of a Government Committee proved to what extremes the policy of protection was being carried. Yet another successful flight, whereby the "Atlántida " squadron reached Fernando Po on Christmas Day, and the final pardon of the mutinous Artillery officers on December 31, formed a fitting close to the year.

PORTUGAL.

When the year 1926 opened, Dr. Bernardino Machado had been shortly before elected President of the Republic for the second time, and Dr. Antonio Maria da Silva was the Prime Minister of a democratic Government, the result of the General Election, which had taken place in the previous November.

Two questions were agitating public opinion. One was the doings of a secret society which called itself the "Red Legion," the members of which were committing almost daily, the most repulsive crimes; bomb-throwing with destruction of property, and attempted assassinations, directed chiefly against the officers of the Courts and the police. A reign of terror existed, and it was impossible to bring the culprits to justice, as owing to the threats of the members of the Legion, no jury could be got to serve and no witness dared to give evidence against the criminals.

The Government adopted strong measures and arrested about fifty of the culprits and deported them as convicts to some of the West African colonies. Some have since escaped, some have died, and some have settled down to an honest life and have no wish to return.

The other question was the scandal of the so-called false five hundred Escudos notes. A group of individuals, with their headquarters in Holland, had, through false pretences, induced a respectable firm in London to print Bank of Portugal notes of identical design to those in currency, to the extent of about two million pounds sterling, and a great portion of these notes got into circulation. The Bank of Portugal, as soon as it got wind of the affair, redeemed these spurious notes. Men in high position were implicated, the Minister of Venezuela to Lisbon, and the Portuguese Minister to The Hague. In Lisbon a number of persons, including an ex-Minister of Commerce, were arrested, and at the end of the year were all awaiting trial. The trial of one of the group has taken place in Holland and he has been sentenced to eleven months' imprisonment.

On January 16 an English naval division visited Lisbon to invite the Minister of Marine, Commander Pereira da Silva, to assist at the naval manœuvres of the Atlantic Squadron taking place off the southern coast of Portugal. The compliment was very much appreciated.

On the early morning of February 2 an attempt was made by a few army officers, sergeants, and civilians on the National Republican barracks at Campolide, near Lisbon, but it was immediately suppressed and prisoners taken. Later in the day it became known that a revolutionary force with artillery had left Vendas Novas, and was concentrating in Almada, a small town on the south side of the Tagus opposite Lisbon. At five in the afternoon the rebels commenced to fire on Lisbon, but while some damage was done, no lives were lost; the bombardment did not last long. During the night the rebels were surrounded by Government troops and surrendered. The head of the movement was a civilian, Senhor Martins Junior, and its object the establishment of a Radical Government.

On April 8 the tobacco question was brought up in the Chamber of Deputies for discussion. The monopoly which had been held by a private company for a great number of years was to expire on April 30, and it was the desire of the Government that it should become a regie or Government monopoly. Very disorderly scenes occurred in the House. The Opposition prevented any Minister from obtaining a hearing, and at the sitting on April 30 the disorder was so great that the House had to be cleared by the military. The greater part of the Press and public opinion were against the Government.

During May matters did not improve, and feeling was running high, until on the evening of the 27th, it began to be rumoured that something serious was to be expected.

On the early morning of the 28th news arrived in Lisbon that General Gomes da Costa was in Braga, and had, at the head of the 8th Division of the Army there, started a revolution. Little by little the other military units in the country gave in their adhesion with the exception of the Lisbon garrison, whose attitude was doubtful. They decided to march on Lisbon, and for some days troops were concentrating around Lisbon, and occupying the surrounding positions of vantage, with artillery.

In the meantime the Government had placed its resignation in the hands of the President of the Republic. General Gomes da Costa dissolved the two Houses of Parliament and a triumvirate was formed consisting of himself, Commander Cabeçadas, who had been implicated in the movement of July 19, 1925, and General Carmona.

Shortly afterwards the President of the Republic transferred his powers to Commander Cabeçadas, who, in turn, transferred them to General Gomes da Costa, but the transference was not