Editorial data

António Sérgio was the director and Augusto Reis Machado the secretary of Pela Grei. As “Pela lei e pela grei” was the motto of the magazine Nação Portuguesa, a propaganda organ of integralismo lusitano, it’s possible that the mentors of Pela Grei intended to distance themselves from that ideological field, disputing concepts, and the nationalist bias that sustains it is factual.

The unsigned – as with all other editorials – article “Do intuito e natureza desta revista” outlines the editorial commitment: to call upon the “grei”, the conscience, and the “interest of the community” for common action and understanding in the face of the remains of the days, in the name of a profound economic and financial change, which would translate into increased production and better social redistribution of income. And who would do this? “Experts” supported by a national government, in turn supported by “public opinion”.

There are two diagnostic blocks that sustain this reformist ambition: the secular crisis, produced by the invasions and the loss of Brazil, and the submersion of interests and clienteles in political parties. These two aspects remain part of national history and only Mouzinho da Silveira is seen as a pioneering reformer, for his liberation of agriculture and, consequently, industry and commerce. On the other hand, nothing transformative is considered to have happened in a century, and political movements are assumed to have failed. Expressing the will of collective thought against political passions, the call for “true Democracy” and the will to free the Republic from “Jacobin-demagogic manias” are simultaneously asserted.

Given the focus on the urgency of economic and financial reform, the long and detailed articles by Ezequiel de Campos, which diagnose and propose reforms, do not come as a surprise. This option is highlighted in the first issue, almost as a speculative reflection of Mouzinho da Silveira in recognizing the role of land in the necessary structural changes of the economy. António Sérgio is responsible for the analysis of political and social issues, with an emphasis on criticizing dominant teaching models and proposing new ones. And although a wide range of contributors can be identified, from the third issue onwards the magazine became the project of António Sérgio and Ezequiel de Campos, even if the number of articles written by the latter is greater than the former.

What united them to persist, alone, in their attempts at Reformation? The shared notion of a party system captured by the interests of the oligarchy, the idea of a “Revolution” that would convert the elites and reform the productive structure, that would ensure economic progress and the redistribution of wealth; They were united by the condemnation of “political passions”, the search for the “new man”, the condemnation of the “class struggle”¹, always pejoratively described in the name of an ideal of cooperation and solidarity between classes².

The project was fleeting and, in 1926, their paths diverged: while Ezequiel de Campos aligned himself with the status quo and, while maintaining his criticism of dominant agrarian interests, took on prominent roles, namely that of attorney of the Câmara Corporativa (1935-1965), António Sérgio went into exile and, along with his past adversaries, distinguished himself as an opponent of the regime.

Cecília Honório

On the reform of the elites, the concept of Revolution, or the condemnation of the concept of class struggle (“narrow”, “petty”, “erroneous”), see the unsigned article, “Da necessidade de as elites fazerem uma revolução pacífica”, Pela Grei, n.º 4, pp. 194-198.↩︎
A “despicable and disturbing” idea, Pela Grei, “A situação económica e social. O morbo gaulês”, n.º 5, p. 269.↩︎