The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-08 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The following decree was issued by the Regent on the
29th ult., and which may be termed the new Constitution

of the Basque provinces :

" TO HIS HIGHNESS THE REGENT..
" Most Serene Senor—The rebellion which was ex-
cited against the lawfully constituted Government of this
country has been crushed ; it now becomes the duty of
the same Government to establish its triumph, and to

put an end for ever to new reactions. The general attri-
butes conferred by the Constitution of the monarchy on
the Executive, as well as the special powers granted
by the law of the 25th of October, 1839, are sufficient to
point out the line of conduct which it is now necessary
to follow, freed es it is from the obstacles which formerly
encountered it in a more legitimate form, but which
have now completely disappeared. The deputations
of the three Basque provinces, having falsified their in-
cessant protestations of loyalty, raised the standard of
insurrection, but startled at .the cry of horror uttered by
the entire kingdom, they have abandoned the country
which they intended to compromise, carrying with them
the conviction that the Basques would not make common
cause with rebels. The administration thus became
helpless, and the superior political authorities saw at
once the necessity of adopting provisional measures, in
order that the action of the Government should not be
paralysed, and in order that the serious evils thus threat-
ened might be avoided by the people. Under these cir-
cumstances, the first consideration suggested was that of
reorganization, and the Minister who subscribes this
paper is of opinion that a case has arisen for the appli-
cation of the principle of constitutional unity, and that
to this principle must now be submitted every other spe-
cies of institution, however previously opposed to it.
" The Government charged by the 45th article of the
Constitution with the preservation of public order in
the interior* cannot confide this case to mere agents,
who boast of an absolute independence, and who have

practised an opposition to its determination of so sys-
tematic and uninterrupted a kind as not even to stop at
rebellion. The Government, though not professing
principles of such extreme centralisation as to crush
all provincial and municipal interests beneath the weight
of the fiscal authority, proclaims the administrative unity
and the real dependence of its agents in everything
which relates to the functions conferred on them by the
Government : to act otherwise would be to render any
system of government impossible ; and such a thing as
➢Zinisterial responsibility would have no existence.
Hence arises the necessity of confiding the protection
and public security in the Basque provinces exclusively
to the agents of the Government.
" The action of the executive power is now the only
one which suffers impediments under the present system.
The Legislative authority receives a new veto which is
not recognised, but rather repelled by the constitution.
The laws solemnly sanctioned by the Crown, after
having been voted by the Cortes, in which the Repre-
sentatives of those same provinces are sitting, as well as
the decrees of the Government, are obliged to be sub-
mitted to the foral pase,f and those laws, and those de-
crees, which happen to please the provincial authorities
are the only ones which obtain their ratification. Neither
is the judicial authority exempt from the ordeal of the
pase ; its judgments are contravened by the strange in-
tervention of a Provincial Administration, which assumes
to itself the power of impeding the execution of the ju-
dicial sentence. . .

" Thus the pase conspires against the harmonious di-
vision of the high attributes of the State, against the
dignity of the Crown and of the Cortes, against the
powers of the Government, and against the judicial in-
dependence and authority of the courts of justice. Such
an anomaly
.must therefore entirely cease to exist, inas-
much as it is incompatible with the fundamental laws of
the monarchy.
" The 69th article of the Constitution provides that
the deputies of provinces shall be named by the same
electors as the deputies to the Cortes. In the Basque
provinces the right of electing is limited to a very few
persons, and those do not represent the country ; in the
province of Biscay the election is conducted by ballot.
The absurdity of such systems of franchise has the ef-
fect of imposing on certain families and casts the
whole weight of the public burdens, so as to render
them the patrimony of a few. With respect to the
ayuntamientos, it is not the quality of Spaniard or of
resident which confers the electoral right, active or
passive ; to be an elector it is necsssary to be an hidalgo,
or a Biscayan by origin. The modes of election vary in
every town, according to its peculiar ordinances and cus-
toms. Thus it happens, that from the election made in
council to that effected by the ballot, or by lot, there are
manifold forms of municipal organization. Privilege
takes the place of general rules, the municipal offices are
retained in perpetuity by a few,who seem to assume the
right of transmitting them to ieir descendants, and that
article of the constitution is of no avail which declares
that ell Spaniards are equally admissible to public em-
ployment and public offices, according to their capacity
or their merit. The time has come wen such a mono-
poly must cease. Your Highness has promised to free
the people from that disgraceful tyranny by which they
are bound. The 69th and icult articles of the consti-
tution must be now seriously realised.
" The Minister who has the honour of addressing to
your Highness these observations, proposes their applii
cation to the Basque provinces, as the necessary means
whereby to preserve the constitutional unity, and to free
the people from the privileges which crush them.
" The judicial organization which has been established;
as well at the instance of the towns themselves as from
the obligation imposed on the Government of taking
care that justice should be promptly and completely ad-
ministered, has already effected remarkable ameliora-
tions, notwithstanding the obstinate resistance of the
deputations. Biscay, whose judicial divisions and attri-
butes present a chaos, still exhibits the anomaly of akal-
dias rendered patrimonial by fuero—that is to say, that
there yet exists there the absurd principle that the obli-
gation of administering justice is a right, or privilege,
which can be purchased and transmitted as any other
species of goods which constitute the property of private
individuals. The creation of judicial districts is an exi-
gency of society which can no longer be deferred.
"The establishment of custom-houses along the coast
and frontier has always been considered as beneficial.
It is recommended by all the good principles of adminis-
tration and economy. Agriculture, industry, and com-
merce, all equally require it, and it is exacted by the ne-
cessity of constitutional unity. These measures are by no',
means of a novel kind. In the reign of Philip V., and
during the preceding constitutional epoch, they were'
brougt into effect ; .in order to consult the good of the
Basque provinces as well as that of the entire nation
these same measures must be now adopted.
"But this is not all ; until a permanent administra-
tion for the country be organised a provisional one must
be created. The attempt lately made in Guipuscoa§ has
produced good results. The election of an administra-
tive and deliberative commission ought to be extended to
the provinces of Alava and Biscay, in order that by these
means the collection, distribution, and employment of
the public funds may be properly secured, and that the
political and material necessities of the people may be
consulted. •
" These considerations induce me to submit to your
Highness the following project of a decree.
" FACUNDO INFANTE.
" Vittoria, Oct. 29, 1841.