Street names

On 19 June 1890, on the proposal of the councillor (vereador) Dr José Joaquim de Freitas, the Council resolved to give the streets to be opened in future the names of various illustrious sons of this land. This resolution, sensible as it was, has seldom been obeyed, as anyone can easily see by walking through the city and reading the names with which various public thoroughfares have been christened or renamed in recent times.

For the name of a deceased citizen to appear on a street corner, something more is required, in our view, than the councillors’ fondness for his memory: he must also, while alive, have rendered some service to the country or to his homeland. Without this, such a tribute becomes ridiculous both for the person honoured and for those who pay it.

Dr Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo, the learned annotator of the ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra), the man whose historical works made him so worthy of the gratitude of Madeirans, has no street named after him in this city. This is despite the fact that, at the session of the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) of 27 January 1898, the president of that body declared his wish to confer with his colleagues on the tribute the Municipality ought to pay to that learned professor. Many other illustrious sons of this land, such as Baltasar Dias, João António Monteiro, Nicolau Bettencourt Pita, Francisco de Paula Medina e Vasconcelos, Marceliano Ribeiro de Mendonça, Francisco de Andrade, Justino António de Freitas, José Ferreira Pestana, Jaime Moniz, etc., etc., are likewise forgotten, through the ignorance or the lack of spirit and of justice of the administrative bodies!

It would not be advisable to undo everything deserving of criticism or ridicule that has been done over the last thirty or forty years in the naming of streets, so as not to add to the confusion that already exists on this matter today (1921). We do, however, consider it most desirable that, from now on, whatever was resolved at the council meeting of 19 June 1890 should be carried out whenever a street or public road is opened or inaugurated.

Municipal councils should exercise with the greatest circumspection the right granted to them to baptise or confirm the streets and roads of the municipality (concelho). They should do so not only to avoid giving an unflattering impression of their intelligence and judgement, but also to spare their residents harm; we have heard many of them complain bitterly about the arbitrary replacement of old names of public roads with others that there is no reason to adopt or perpetuate (1921).