New-York tribune., 1873-02-12
THE REPUBLIC IN SPAIN


been justified by ways that no man could have
foreseen. Yet there was nothing irrational OF
illogical in the vote which, last night, estab-
lished the Republic. 1t was an inherent fault
of the mOnarchical system which destroyed the
monarchy. 1t was the conviction that the Re
public was the only practical solution of the
crisis, which induced the vast majority of a
mOnarchical Congress to level to the ground
by one word the crumbling ruins of the struc-
ture they had built, to rear upon its foundations
new and more modern edifCe. What the
orators and the writers of the Republic have
said since the Constitution of 1869 was
adopted, what we have continually asserted,
is the simple truth, evident to all men of
candid minds, that the adoption of a demo-
cratic form of government made the monarchy
obsolete. From that hour every political road
led to the Republic. That Constitution was
built upon the ruins of every tradition
which had formerly been held sacred
in the Peninsula. The two ideas which
have stamped the deepest impress upon
the Spanish character for centuries, were 10y
atty and faith. The two things which the
world had considered impregnable and invio-
liable in Spain were the Throne and the
Church. But the Queen was driven from the
kingdom amid the acClamatiOns of the nation,
and religion was emancipated from ecclesi-
astical thralldom by Catholic votes in the Con-
sttuent COrtes. The national authority was
distinctly lodged in the people. The royal
prerogative was hedged about and lin
tied as strictly by the letter of the
fundamental law, as it was in England by the
IL ol1 of y-itr fOr
But the difference was that in England the
Constitution being living organism, old but
still vigorous, the monarchy remained as what
in the recent slang of science is called a
Survival" There was no logic nor expedi-
ency to induce a country like Spain, beginning
a new life, standing positively in an attitude
of free choice, to make any such compromise
with tradition. But the three great politicians
and soldiers who made the Revolution of
eptember-Prim, SerranO, and TOpete-were
men of too narrow ideas to admit the pOssi-
bility of the Republic. They could not con-
ceive of government without king. They
ransacked the nurseries of Europe to find one
They threw the Continent into war by the
disturbance raised in their quest. When at
last they had caught an available prince, he
came upon the throne only through the blood
of his Warwick, and the two years of his
reign have been far more turbulent than those
of the interregnum. The fact is that mon
archy is dead in Spain. The King is unneces-
sary.
This was the fact that informed the session
of Monday night. The quickness of the con-
version has nothing miraculous about it. The
Congress was composed of liberal men, accept
ing the monarchy, but devoted to the welfare
and the progress of Spain. Their leaders had
labored for two years to consolidate the
SavOyard dynasty, to found a settled and
orderly government. Suddenly, without
moments warning, they are told that their
King is angry at his Ministry and proposes to
go home. The affront is leveled as much
at them as at the Cabinet, for the
Cortes had just sustained the Ministry by an
overwhelming vote in the course which had
annoyed his Majesty. This, then, was the
security and permanence which the monarchy
offered. The Carlists were devastating the
villages of the north; the opposing parties
were intriguing in the lObbies and the bar
racks serious questions of colonial reforms
and emancipation were pending. There was
pressing need of concord and fortitude
LeJ lulb WAS Cno uoncnO oclotItu
by the King for renouncing his
obligations and deserting his post. The most
natural thought in the world was "What is
"the use of King, ~ While he remains on the
throne, he does no good, and if he chooses to
retire, he threatens the country with confu-
sion and civil war. Under the influence Of
these considerations, the Chamber obeyed.
not the ministry of their choice and
confidence, but the bold, consistent and
positive leader of the minority, Estanisao
Figueras, who spoke for revolution and
national sef-respect. The next day the King
Chamber saw there was but one thing to do.
They must go down to the bedrock. There
was to be no more halting halfway to demOc-
racy. They could not go back to- the BOurbons.
They could not make themselves ridiculous by
another prince. The same convic-
tOn came to the surface which rules inevitably
at Versailles. Whenever men take cOunsels of
their reason, the Republic is the form of gov
eminent which divides the least Before the |
King had packed his carpetbag the Congress-.
had voted the Republic by the imposing ma
l0rlty OF 259 TO 30. Fgueras and CASTELAR, sent |
the great news to NJ. Quinet at Versailles,
where 1t was needed, and where its effect will
be salutary
OF course no one dreams that the milen-
mum has arrived in this pentecOaal vote
The Republic is born in storm and stress. We
cannot parody the false boast of a late En-
DcrOr and say "Ihe Republic is peaeau Frae-