THE TROUBLES IN SPAIN.
THE Spanish censorship is so severe that very little accurate news comes out of the country, yet it is plain enough from signs which cannot be hidden that all is not well. Simultaneous, or nearly simultaneous, events such as the raid across the frontier into Navarra, riots in Catalonia, and the notorious dinner party in Madrid,' at which men of responsibility and intelligence protested against the rule of the Directory, do not happen for nothing. On the whole we are inclined to think that though none of the present movements puts the bureau- cratic dictatorship in any immediate danger, there are in existence -aspirations which will have to be met and satis- fied, or sooner or later they will bring about a catastrophe. The various undercurrents arc well worth examination by anyone who wants to watch the development of Spanish affairs.
The Directory, when it established itself by a successful coup d' &at, discovered that three problems were likely to be more difficult than all the others put together.
These were the necessity of restoring the national finances, the necessity of deciding one way or the other what to do in Morocco—whether to carry on at all costs or to cut the loss—and the necessity of pacifying Catalonia either by a succession of conciliatory acts or by making there a political solitude and calling it peace. As a matter of fact, the balancing of the Budget and the campaign in Morocco react upon one another so intimately that they may almost be regarded as the same problem. If the loss in Morocco were cut the Budget might balance itself automatically. In spite of all the lack of purposed de- velopment revenue comes in easily enough, for Spain is -a country of rich resources. Jerrold said of a favoured land that if you tickled it with a hoe it smiled with harvest, -and the same thing is very nearly true of Spain, though not usually in an agricultural sense.
The Marquis de Estella, the President of the Directory, has shown great courage not so much in taking the field in Morocco, and deserting for the time being his proper business of governing Spain, as in deciding to treat with the Rifi and to teach the Spanish people to regard peace as lightly purchased by a small amount of so-called mili- tary humiliation. The question is, however, whether in his absence the Directory may not fall, or may not at least suffer such a decline in prestige that it will not be able to recover. That some persons think that the time has come to begin hacking at the weakening links which still hold the Directory in power is proved by the raids across the French frontier into Navarra. It was only a handful of armed men—about thirty, it is said—who crossed the frontier and were suddenly discovered at Vera in the early hours of Thursday, November 6th. The way the invaders were set upon by three members of the Civil Guard was a miracle of pluck, though we darcsay it has not surprised English people who have travelled in Spain and have learned to respect and admire the courtesy, the efficiency and the courage of the Guardia Civ . In the chase which followed most of the invaders were killed or cap- tured, and those who were judged to be most guilty among the survivors were summarily tried and executed. This raid was a poor thing in itself, and it becomes significant only when it is regarded in its proper context with con- temporary stirrings and disturbances iii other parts of Spain.
The chief reason why such raids cannot be taken very seriously is that they are hatched in France under the eyes of the French authorities who never have any wish to sec foreigners in the illicit possession of arms. TheSe and like preparations could not reach dangerous propor- tions unobserved. To that fact must be added the psychologically more interesting fact that exiles who return as invaders to the country of their birth practically never succeed. The really efficient rebel is the man who prepares his plot at home and stands his chance of being discovered before he is ready. The exiles are apparently not even agreed upon what they want. Some arc trying merely to bring down the Directory ; others are Cata- lonians pure and simple who arc concerned with nothing but the demand for Home Rule in their province ; others, again, are Republicans (like Seilor Ibanez, the well- known novelist) who direct from Paris what seems to be a losing attack upon the personal popularity of King Alfonso.
The Catalonian problem deserves particular attention because it may well be that the leadership in a new era may come from that enlightened, fiery and confused province. Catalonia seems to be going the way of Ireland. Every Catalonian is self-conscious ; he remembers his separate language ; he is proud of the industrial and agricultural pioneering of his fellow-provincials. What industrial centre in Spain can compare with Barcelona ! He looks upon the rest of Spain as benighted politically and industrially. A most interesting article from a special correspondent of the Times, published in Monday's issue, tells us that the former Nationalist leaders in Catalonia have dropped out of the movement, disheartened or pushed aside. Sefior Cambo, for instance, is an exile. Hs place and that of his colleagues have been taken by young men, many of whom are students with an inchoate ferment of revolutionary ideas working in their brains. Even the children are being instructed to express proper sentiments by rote. A child, for example, may refuse in a shop a sweetmeat which is wrapped in the pretty colours of the Spanish flag.
Before the War Catalonia was more or less appeased by receiving greater powers in local affairs than she had ever enjoyed before. She was given something resemb- ling what Ireland would have received under the Irish Councils Bill. The new central authority known as the Mancomunidad gave much satisfaction. Education leapt forward. A new University was founded. When the Directory seized power in Madrid, however, things were judged to be moving too fast in Catalonia. The Man- comunidad was dissolved ; the University was suppressed. A censorship such as had not been known for a long time was clapped on to the newspapers, and one paper of progressive views, whose readers are accustomed to be winnowed by the wings of liberty, appears daily with a blank space where the leading article ought to be.
What will come out of Catalonia ? Little but silence is coming at present. But the situation is not likely to last. If it is true, as we believe it to be, that violence is always accelerated by distress, it is only too likely that distress will be found before long sufficient for the violence. By law the Catalonian factory hand labours eight hours a day, but his Italian competitor works eleven. The Spanish worker earns 12 piastres or 8s. a day ; the Italian gets 36 lire, or about 7s. a week Italy, Belgium and Germany, but especially Italy, have cut Spain out of her markets in Cuba, South America, and even the Canaries. The danger is obvious. Barcelona and the other great industrial towns have been producing rather more than they can sell, though some of the factories arc closed. Unless the price of cotton becomes much lower, or Barce- lona wages are cut down, or the purchasing power of the rest of Spain—for the rest of Spain is now the chief market of Catalonia—becomes much greater, there will be a crash more or less severe. But who can confidently expect any of these preventive things to happen ? Such are some of the elements of the problem. In our judgment, for the reasons we have given, the Directory has still plenty of breathing time. We can only hope, as we do most sincerely, that• the accomplishment of the Marquis de Estella's retiring movement in Morocco, and an easier hand in the treatment of Catalonia, will stave off the danger, and that before it is too late wise leadership will be able to bring Spain round the curve from dictator- ship back to responsible government. In this respect the problems of Spain and Italy are alike—democracy, or at least the forms of democracy, must be won back, for personal rule brought in by a coup d'etat is never more than a stopgap, however necessary or salutary it may be at the moment of its arrival.
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