Spain and Her Dictator — II.
FROM the outset General Primo de Rivera has declared that the present regime in Spain is simply " a brief parenthesis in Spain's constitutional march." Nor do his adversaries question his sincerity of purpose. Their quarrel is quite as much with the King, whose unsatisfactory relations with the old Parliament precipitated the crisis in 1923. For the Marques de Estella " constitutional normality " means the discovery of forms of law and government that may reflect the realities of the national life. Not even a Dictator, however, can make bricks without straw ; in the country as a whole the attitude of cheerful indifference to- the Government does not vary, while passive resistance is maintained on grounds of political theory by the intellectual and professional classes, most of whom were brought up on the pure milk of Liberalism (old style). The Marques de Estella admitted frankly in one of his delightful " Official Notes " that " ninety per cent. of the Press remains hostile."
Visitors to Spain must always, however, make allow- ance for Spanish frankness and self-criticism. If one were to believe half the stories related by journalists and " intellectuals," one might as well straightaway prepare General Primo de Rivera's obituary notice. And the extraordinary thing is that not one of the critics has a positive solution to offer in place of the present emergency regime. They simply talk vaguely about another Army faction which is waiting for its chance to seize the reins of power, admitting ruefully that in that event the last stage of the Press and public liberties would be worse than the first.
The stumbling-block to any progress in Spain to-day in the political field seems to me to be that ineffable sentimiento de honor which Senores Unamuno and Madariaga have agreed in rating as the supreme national characteristic. The sense of honour of the country as a whole, as of the individual Spaniard, forbids them to give any positive encouragement to a regime that has violated the letter and the spirit of the covenant between king and nation, the Constitution of 1876. It does not seem to matter to them that the parliamentary system was by common consent moribund long before the Dictator administered the coup de grdce.
It is two years now since the experiment of the National Consultative Assembly was tried as a forlorn hope of stirring up some interest in politics. The idea was that this preliminary Assembly of Notables should broaden the basis of the Dictatorship and at the same time train a new political- class to understand what are the real national problems. This -Assembly was to work out a draft for a new and up,to-date Constitution and also to devise a new electoral law under which the Cortes, its successor, might be chosen. It was declared also— and the Marques de Estella still sticks to his promise— that the .proposed Constitution would be submitted to the country in the form of a Referendum. As we know, the_ Assembly forfeited any representative character which the Government may have wished to give it when the Liberals and leaders of the Industrial Labour Move- ment declined the seats that were offered to - them. Nevertheless, the work of the Assembly has not been sterile ; a certain amount of responsibility has been discharged on to the shoulders of others, and the spade work carried out in the Committees has left the Ministers free to tackle the hundred and one day-to-day problems which cannot, in Spain, be left to the Civil Service.
The response to the Government's attempt to ensure proper discussion of the new Constitution (the draft of which was published in July) was peculiarly Spanish. One Academy, that of Jurisprudence, passed a resolution that they would not select anyone to take part in the forthcoming debates, a snub which the Dictator swallowed with his usual good humour, remarking that it was an ironic commentary on this august body that, on the first occasion they had an opportunity of doing some- thing of real practical value in their own particular sphere, they preferred to remain merely academies One University Senate (Valladolid) elected the essayist, Unamuno, whose liberalism and outspokenness cost him his professorial chair many years ago ; his candida- ture was, of course, invalidated. The College of Lawyers in Madrid distinguished itself by voting a list containing the names of three of the bitterest of the Dictator's opponents. Not one of the ex-Ministers has yet an- nounced his intention of accepting the offer of a seat in the Assembly. The Labour-Socialist organization, too, maintains its attitude of passive resistance. In face of this continued opposition General Primo de Rivera seems to be shifting his ground. Unwilling to proceed towards " constitutional normality " in a vacuum, he has postponed the reopening of the Assembly until the new year.
The political position, then, is one of stalemate. Mean- while Spain's energies are devoted to rebuilding the econo- mic prosperity of the country which was so hampered and sterilized by the politicailleris of the days before 1923. Her Exhibitions at Barcelona and Seville are certainly " stupendous " achievements ; though, I am afraid, they represent a big financial drain. Recently the Government have made a complete volte-face in their monetary policy. They have decided to stabilize the peseta (the exact figure is not yet known), as a necessary preliminary to Spanish participation in the International Bank. Relations with Spanish American countries and Portugal have never been better, and on this subject I hope to write something in a later article. One thing is certain, that the old servile imitation of foreign institutions e.g., the British Parliament and the French administrative system, has gone for ever. Not the least of General Primo de Rivera's services to his country has been his attempt, under the shadow of a firm control by agents of the central Government, to build up a new administra- tion on the foundations of la patria chica; that local patriotism which is the most living and valuable force of the country.
Actually the widespread feeling of dissatisfaction is not against the Dictator himself, but because he has yielded so -frequently to the insistent demands of the Church to control what Spaniards shall think, and, indeed, whether they shall think at all. The Universities episode in the spring of this year, which has naturally very% much tarnished the reputation of General Primo de Rivenv abroad, was,- of course, -provoked by the unending conflict between Church and State which in Spain has not yet been fought out. As we know, the Dictator had to climb down quite soon when he tried to come to conclusions with the academic world, and it is only fair to the Jesuits to say that in face of the sustained protest they themselves intimated that they were prepared to waive their original demand. Even so, the position of Spanish education is bad enough. The Dictator has been persuaded to impose the texto unico (standard text-books) in all the schools and Universities, after the manner of his opposite number in Italy, and the names of the authors of these text- books are eloquent of the ecclesiastical revival of strength. An excellent article, " Canonical Books," appeared recently in El Sol showing from recent examinations of secondary schools what evil effects such " mediaeval " habits had on the youthful intelligence. For, in reality, the same custom of parrot-like memory training has been taken over into the Spanish Universities from the Theo- logical Seminaries. I am speaking from personal experi- ence when I say that not only is the student not encouraged to read any books outside the appointed text-book, but he is examined solely on his mnemonic knowledge of the lecturer's material. Questions to be answered orally are written down on separate pieces of paper and then thrown together in a hat or some such receptacle. Each student then draws his lot. In this way, as the writer in El Sol suggests, " devotion to ritual and unshakable faith in the lottery " are agreeably combined. Not in that way will Spain be fitted to take her place in the modern world.
When six years ago Senor Jose Ortega y Gasset told us that Spain was not a nation but a congeries of water- tight compartments, he stated a fact that is becoming more evident every day. Since 1928 there has probably been more real progress in the country than at any time since the reign of Charles III ; but neither far-reaching administrative reforms nor the improvement of com- munications and the extensive development of electrical power can transform Spain in five years into a modern State. The Church, the Army, the Press, the intellectuals, the Socialists, each of these and the other constituent elements of the national life continues to revolve on its own axis, heedless of the dangers which must attend a persistent refusal to co-operate. Where a con- ception of the res publica is practically non-existent, the art of government becomes supremely difficult, and none of the ordinary recipes can possibly apply. Charm he never so wisely, the bluff and genial Dictator is still at a loss to effect a synthesis, still unable to connect together these organs healthy enough in themselves so as to build up that sound physical constitution which Spain needs before she is strong enough for a political existence.
The ways of the Spanish Dictator are not those of any recognized form of government, ancient or modern. He does not commend himself, therefore, to the student of politics, nor, indeed, does this bluff untutored soldier stop to consider whether or not man is a political animal. Did he not announce last year, to the disgust of the " intellectuals," that " politics hinder government " ? His regime, however, well deserves the description he has given it himself of " patriarchal dictatorship," and in the eyes of an impartial observer General Primo de Rivera comes out very favourably. To anyone who goes to Spain after having been in Italy or Russia, especially, the Spanish Dictator's treatment of his political opponents is an eye-opener. It is a fact which is insufficiently appreciated abroad, that during the six years of his rule, if we except the drastic measures taken by his colleague, General Martinez Anido, against the gunmen and criminals in Barcelona, 'there has not been a single instance of personal violence or of bloodshed. Sometimes heavy fines- have been-'imposed; it is true, but on persons like the ex-Liberal Prime Minister, Count Romanones, who were known to be well able to pay them. Arrests, too, have been plentiful, when conspiracy was in the air; but as a preventive measure only, not followed by any high-handed attempt to crush the Opposition. Except for one or two mistakes of judgment—the ease of Miguel de Unamuno is the classic example—General Primo 'de Rivera has behaved, as we should say in England, like a gentleman, and • has redeemed for us moderns the name of Dictator. For this reason liberal- minded Englishmen who go to Spain, if they discount half the calumny that is spread about, cannot but' wish
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