The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-06-09
Don Carlos Not the Real Choice Of
the M0narchist Leaders.
PEACE AND ORDER UNDER TIE REPUBLIC.
Sentiments Of the European SOVereignS and
Their Interest in Spanish Affairs.
AMERICA spAINs BEST FRIEND.
A Message Through the Herald to MIL
lions of American Citizens.


MADRID, May Is, 1873.
Last night, at six O'clock the general cleo
tions throughout Spain were closed. The
Assembly which is to give a new constitution
to this disturbed country, is now reality and
will assume working shape before this letter
can appear in the HERALD. Two weeks hence
the 1877 newly-elected Deputies will meet at the
Congreso de los Diputados in the Carrera st.
Geronimo. It can be fairly said that nowhere
and at no time have elections been marked by
less excitement. The conservatives of all shades
resolved to abstain from voting, and conse-
quently, in Madrid itself, only one-fourth Of all
the electors exercised their rights. There were
many provincial districts where q Deputy was
returned by less than two hundred votes, and
in one instance nine voters returned repre-
sentative In fact the federalists alone went
to the ballot urns and the natural result was
that scarcely any except federalist Deputies
were elected A few distant conservative
localities, not sufficiently influenced by the
party leaders of Madrid, excepted themselves
from the rule agreed upon by the main body of
The conservatives, and returned some twenty
five Deputies of various retrograde shades-the
only opposition elements the federals are
to find in the Assembly. To these may
beaded, as far as the government is concerned,
some fifty ultra-socialsts, called intrdnsigentes
(irreconcilables), which are likely to give some
trouble to Sefior Figueras and his Ministers.
But, with some three hundred odd votes in an
Assembly of not fully four hundred Deputies,
any government might have considered itself
al[powerful, except a Spanish one. At all
events the President of the Spanish Republic,
to judge from his own words, does not con-
slider himself safe in any way whatever
In the first place. it must be borne in mind
that abstention from voting on the part of the
various anti-republican factions means, in
this case, much more than it means
usually. It is pure and simple re-
fusal to acknowledge the legality Of the
elections, and this implies, of course, at some
future date, an open revolt against the legisla-
ton of the Assembly. Various protests on
the part of the anti-repubican parties had
been already published and some of the
leaders of these parties, who had all fed after
the events of April %, intended to form juntas
on French soil, passing resolutions and mus
tering forces on the safe side of the frontier.
THE MISTAKE OF THE REAcrIoNIsTs
President Figueras, on receiving me on
Tuesday, said, with reference to this subject
1.-The representatives of conservative opin-
ions are acting in the most foolish and un-
patriotic manner. They seem to have learned
nothing from past experience. 1t was at all
times the strategy of the conservative oppo-
sition in this country to create vacuum
around the existing power, and the invariable
result was that when the power fell it was not
to make room for those who created the
vacuum, but for the party still more advanced
than that which was overthrow By Great
ing now vacuum around us they will not
open road to themselves, but to the dema-
gogues only; while, by accepting the
existing fact of a Spanish. Republic, and
by setting at work on the opposition
benches they would have balanced the forces
and have done certainly more good to the
country than they could, perhaps themselves
believe. They are almost sure to cause blood
to be shed now, while then they would have
been almost as sure to lead the country to
order and national regeneration, had they
courageously accepted the Republic"
Your correspondent asked the President
whether he considered that the anti-republican
party had many members whose services could
be rendered available by the Republic?
Certainly" answered the President,
''though it is not particularly pleasant for q
republican to make such an avowaI; but !
cannot deny the fact that the ablest statesmen
Spain possesses are in the ranks of the con-
servatives and monarchists.
DIFFICULTIES TO BE OVERCOME
Our party has still 10 try its forces and to