The just claims for the enforcement of the Subsídio Literário
The many petitions that sent to Parliament throughout the 19 century requested the
enforcement of the subsídio literário tax to in public education. The first plea was sent to
parliament on 14 April 821. It was a congratulation letter sent by the Municipality of
Torres Novas to the representatives of the Nation. The message of congratulation for the
revolutionary political success was followed by requests for intervention with a view to
regularizing primary and secondary education in the region. The lack of provision of
primary and secondary education subjects proved to be incomprehensible for the citizens
in view of their regular compliance with their taxes.
The inhabitants of the aforementioned Village cannot be indifferent spectators
of such deficiency, when they recall the considerable taxation imposed on
their wines, and which they pay every year, and whose collection is therefore
destined by the law to support the Teachers, and it is not being enforced in
the Village in proportion to the payment made (DP-MCCGE, session no. 58,
14/04/1821: 578).
The municipality of Torres Novas, determined to implement primary education, sent a
new petition to the Cortes on 24 April of the same year. Despite the order of the Board
of the General Directorate of Studies ratifying the intention of the region, the political
decision fell to the Finance Commission. We believe, however, that the decision satisfied
the interests of the municipality, considering the content of other requests presented that
evoked as an example the success of the Torres Novas district in its requests.
A similar situation was repeated a few years later, in the sessions of 23 and 27 January
1835, with several municipalities in the Province of Minho demanding the use of tax funds
in the development of public education in the region.
We also recall in the same parliamentary year two interventions by deputy José Ferreira
de Castro. The first, made on 14 March, highlighted the legislative compliance that
instituted the Lisbon Lyceum (Decree of 17 November 1836). He then drew attention to
the relevance of the collection of the subsídio literário, essential to the promotion of
public education, suggesting rigorous use of funds to encourage training. In the second,
it required the approval of "some small, and provisional measures" (DP-MCCDN, session
No. 54, 28/03/1835: 696) that would allow the founding of primary schools in rural
parishes and the creation of complementary training subjects in the district main cities–
logic, metaphysics, philosophy and ethics – with the aim of developing the education of
the youth, basing the materialization of the proposals on the good administration of the
subsídio literário.
In 1837, the six requirements relating to primary education called for the timely payment
of teachers and referred to the various procedures for using the subsídio literário in
different locations, underlining arbitrariness in its application. Deputy Baron of Ribeira de
Sabrosa, in the session of 13 March pointed out these random procedures, stating:
In the village of Canelas, homeland of my noble friend, Deputy João de
Lacerda, seven hundred thousand réis are paid as subsídio literário, but there
has never been a teacher of first letters there, nor there is today: on the
contrary, in Beira Baixa, villages that pay no more than 20$000 réis in