itting as an administrative
court. The commune was governed by a mayor, appointed by the central
authorities on nomination of the governor of the district, and a
council of five to fifteen members elected on a single ticket by the
communal voters. The council was presided over, not by the mayor, but
by one of its own members. The governing agencies of the parish were
an elected council (_junta de parochia_), presided over by the parish
priest, and the _regidor_, named by the district governor to represent
the interests of the central government. Throughout the entire system
the preponderating fact was the thoroughgoing centralization which,
through the governors, mayors, and _regadores_, the authorities at
Lisbon were able to maintain.

III. THE REVOLUTION OF 1910

*705. Political Unsettlement, 1908-1910.*--The period of two and a half
years which elapsed between the accession of Manoel II., in February,
1908, and his deposition, in October, 1910, was one of continued
political stress. The sovereign was youthful, inexperienced, and
lacking in political training. His advisers were divided in their
counsels and impelled largely by selfish motives, and in the teeth of
rapidly spreading republican and socialist propaganda the old dynastic
parties kept up unremittingly their unseemly recriminations. In
February, 1909, the king called into consultation the leaders of the
various monarchist groups and sought to impress upon them the
necessity of co-operation, and when the Cortes was convened, March 1,
the Speech from the Throne announced optimistically a programme of
constructive legislation, embracing, among other things, the enactment
of more liberal press laws, a reform of primary education, and a
readjustment of taxation. Within the Cortes, however, it was found
impossible to carry any one of the measures proposed and, March 29,
the Henriquez ministry, after only three months in office, resigned.
During the remainder of the year three successive ministries were set
up: that of General Sebastiano Telles, which lasted only from April 11
until May 4; that of Wencelao de Lima, extending from May 4 to
December 21; and that of Beirao, which continued from December 21 to
early June of the following year. The De Lima cabinet was formed from
elements which stood largely outside the swirl of party politics, (p. 640)
but the Republican and Regenerador opposition was so intense that
nothing could be accomplished by it. The Beirao