Alternative to Franco
D. COLUMBA CARY-ELWES*
IT may seem an ungracious act to criticise one's late host as I feel constrained in some respects to do. Franco was that host for six weeks. He, or rather his University Course at Segovia, and hundreds of kindly Spaniards all over Spain were the hosts, and delightful ones they were. It would be hard to find a people more ready to be helpful than the Spaniards. An Englishman will point out the way somewhere, perhaps give minute directions ; the Spaniard will go all the way with you, and often at great inconvenience to himself, as a Toledan worker did for us—there were two of us— walking an extra mile up the steep hill into the centre of the town, carrying a heavy load into the bargain. Yes, the civility of the Spaniards is remarkable. It seems then doubly ungracious to pass remarks behind their backs. But, after all, truth is the greatest kindness one can perform to one's friends. Another consideration is that many of the things that need saying arc things they would like themselves to say, but they cannot ; criticism is impossible in Spain except among friends.
This summer's visit was the third I have made in the last twenty years ; the first was in the hey-day of the Republic, the second during the Civil War. The first time the ominous threat of civil disorder was already hanging over all ; the second, Generalissimo Franco was already in power. There was no doubt then about the relief every- one felt that the anarchy had been overcome ; people were genuinely grateful to him.
Now it is no part of my purpose here to pronounce on the rights and wrongs of the military rising ; that is a thing of the past. What of today ? Franco was not the originally chosen chief. He became that almost by accident. But now he has been in power for twelve years. In the early days a dictatorship was understandable, if you grant that the rising was just. But today the situation is not the same ; the country is pacified, even though the Toulouse radio still bamboozles exiles into crossing the French frontier into Spain to find " the front " in the far south round Cordoba. Franco, more- over, has set in motion great public works ; there is the university reconstruction in Madrid, there are the houses built for the poor in innumerable towns, the dams to hold the precious water for irrigation and power, the redistribution of land in the south, notably the estates of the Duke of Medinaceli. The country is on the surface stable, and this is due definitely to Franco. But the fact remains that the regime is still a dictatorship, resting upon the army for its power.
According to the new Spanish constitution there is a Cortes, or body of representatives, in being. These persons are not chosen by universal suffrage, but only by those who were on the winning side. This may be a reasonable precaution in order to ensure their assent ; but it cannot be called representative government. Even supposing everyone were allowed the suffrage, this Cortes is a poor thing. The members are not permitted to speak at its sessions, but only to vote. As most of the deputies are staunch members of the Falangist party, the Generalissimo is assured of their assent, or nearly. On one or two occasions even these have voted "No," whereupon, like Henry VIII on a notable occasion, Franco issued a rebuke and the voting was reversed. In committee these repre- sentatives (of one knows not whom) are, it is true, allowed to open their mouths. But it must be admitted, and it may prove very important, that the skeleton of a democratic Government is there ; one day these robots might come to life and votes be cast at elections by the whole people. Even now, in theory, if one-third of the Cortes votes a law down, it does not pass. One day this power may change from a shadow to real life.
It is sometimes maintained in defence of the regime that the whole People did in fact on one occasion have an opportunity to express Its opinion—when Franco put before it the new law of succession, by which the heir to himself would not be the old king's son but his grandson. On this memorable occasion over eighty per cent. of the voting population declared in favour of the law, thus showing that they approved of Franco and his regime. For the motion had been Put forward as a vote of confidence. This sounded very convincing,
• Father Cary-Elwes is a master at Arnpleforth College. until one heard how the vote was obtained—by falsifying the count, by intimidation and by public ballot. Of course this did not occur In those parts where a favourable vote was a foregone conclusion, only in those parts where the vote was a foregone conclusion in the opposite sense.
The joint pastoral issued by the Catholic Bishops of Spain at the time 'is significant. Their lordships urged the faithful to use their vote, but only on three conditions—that the vote was secret, that no intimidation was used, and that the prospect of falsification of the results was guarded against. This is an unusual sort of exhortation.
It is impossible to imagine the English bishops doing anything so palpably. unnecessary. It must be concluded that in Spain it was a necessary warning. In the event nine bishops publicly refused to record their votes. It is apparently common knowledge that all these undemocratic methods were used in order to ensure popular support for Franco.
I do not wish to imply that Franco is a bad man. He appears to be in many ways a good man, with the best intentions, but he appears at least to be an unwise man. Or have circumstances been against him, to have turned so many of his friends into critics ? Circum- stances have been against him, it is true. A drought which has lasted for three years has been a calamity of the first magnitude, for Spain is fundamentally an agricultural and cattle-breeding country. It is estimated that last year half the sheep had to be killed or died for lack of food ; this year whole crops of whole provinces have failed, especially in the far south. Almost worse, because it is the industrial worker who suffers—and he dislikes Franco—the lack of water has meant lack of power and a consequent standstill in many industrial plants, with the inevitably resultant unemployment.
All this, and the attitude of the rest of the world, have created in Spain an economic situation of the utmost gravity. The unskilled worker gets from to to 52 pesetas a day. In food this means a small loaf or " hunk " of bread and some oil. Upon this he lives, and he is lucky if he secs a little meat at Christmas and some other great feast. He can afford no more. ' To exist in these conditions and not to be allowed to criticise, or find criticism in the Press or in the Cortes, is a lamentable state of affairs. The result is that no one believes the papers ;'the good intentions and the laudable efforts of the Government are discounted. Discontent rises, but under the surface, and the end can only be an explosion.
Franco and his supporters, of course, can point to the unfriendly attitude of the rich countries, and point also to the drought, to explain the poor state of the country's finances. They have a good excuse in both cases. But neither is the whole excuse. Many of the high Ministers are army men who may be good at their job, but that job is not finance. The rich still seem to the traveller far too rich ; and anyone will tell you, as we were told, that no one sends in a true return of his income. Taxes do not get paid. Thus the financial situation is much as it always was ; a few are excessively wealthy and the vast majority have much too little. These things breed Communism.
What is to be done in this complex and delicate situation ? Un- doubtedly General Franco still holds the power, though he may wear velvet gloves. Consequently, all this time he is preparing a soil favourable for his precise opposite—the mob and then Com- munism. If we help him we support a dictator and so increase the chance of Communism after him. If we do not help him financially national privation will produce the same result. Fortunately there is another way out of the impasse. Franco, for all the good he may have done in the past, should withdraw in time. Let us not be partisan either way, and admit that he has saved Spain from the fate of Hungary and of Poland. But it is clear that the usefulness of absolute power is over. Let the king-designate be called in, or at least let the reins of government be put into the control of the one party whose hands arc not stained with blood. The Republicans and
the Falangists fought ; the Socialists sided with the former. The Christian Democrats, on the other hand, with Gil Robles as their leader, stood aside. Their hour has come.
Within Spain, at the present moment, it might be unwise for any group of opinion to go openly against the Government. That way bloodshed might result. It is for the outside world in all friendliness to persuade the Caudillo that the situation, far from improving while he retains office, is deteriorating rapidly. Therefore without animus or party spirit—indeed, with friendliness towards him and towards all Spaniards—I, a Catholic priest, express that view that the Generalissimo should have the wisdom, in the interests of Spain and of the world, to withdraw from direct rule little by little, but begin- ning at once. He should give control to the people, also gradually but beginning at once, by allowing criticism, by granting free elections and by demilitarising the Government. The alternative, it seems impossible to doubt, is Communism or chaos.
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