The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-25

dustries which build up the substantial
prosperity of a nation were neglected,
while thousands of the young men. the
best blood of the country, fiocked to
America to join those who had gone be-
fore in the search Of gold. SO great
was the outflow of the bone and sinew
of the nation that in 1894 mechanics
In the cities Of Spain commanded four
times the daily wages that had been
paid thirty years earlier. while. In the
agricultural districts, labor could not
be had at any price, and hundreds of
farms remained untitled because of the
lack of men to perform the necessary
work The stupid policy of the gov
ernment still further increased the diff
ficulty, for Philip H., affirming that he
would rather not reign at all than
reign over heretics and unbelievers, be-
gan policy of expelling Dissenters,
Jews and MoriscOes. who took with
them a large share Of the Industries and
arts of Spain. The expulsion Of the
Moors in particular did infinite dam
age to the country. for whatever of
Industrial skill remained I'm 1t belonged
to them, and the result of their emigra-
tiOn was the immediate humiliation of
Spanish manufactures. This. however,
was only a part of the Spanish misfor-
tunes. The sudden exaltation of Spain
produced a degree Of pride that, to
other nations, was uncomfortable, while
the wealth of the Spanish monarch ex-
cited the bitter envy of all his con-
temporary sOvereigns. and led to COM
binations against the Spanish power.
Personal pique often plays as import
ant q part In national as in society
affairs, and when the ambassadors of
England. France and Venice found the
representative of the majesty of Spain
claiming precedence over themselves,
because, to use the grandiloQuent Ian
guagc of one don, my master rules
the earth and your kings are but his
puppets" 1t was natural. not only that
they should report their grievance to
their governments, but also that their
indignant sovereigns should take up the
quarrel and make 1t personal to them
selves.
THE WARS OF CHARLES v.
The consequence was that even dur
ing the reign of Charles V. the empire
became involved in war with all it's
neighbors, while the peace within was
often broken on account of the zeal
with which the state undertook to and
the church in the extirpation of heresy.
iHcIc was q iOu6 anu COStly war WITH
Francis l., arising from the jealousy
felt by France for her more powerful
neighbor; there was longer and still
more expensive strife waged against
the PrOtestants of Germany and the
people of the Netherlands, while
Charles, though eager to exterminate
heretics, did not scruple to make war
on the pope, and military operations
on large scale were also carried on
against the Turks, Tunis and Algiers
The consequence was that even the
enormous sums sent to the imperial
treasury from Mexico and Peru were
insufficient to defray the expenses of
these campaigns, and Charles was
forced to levy extraordinary taxes on
the people. This caused revolts all over
Spain, and in several provinces guer-
rilla war was carried on by the people
against the imperial. troops for several
of the later years Of the reign of
Charles. Even the extraordinary levies
failed to produce funds in sufficient
amount to carry out the plans of
Charles and he was finally compelled
to contract an enormous debt. for the
payment of which he pledged the reve-
nues of the state. There Is abundant
reason to believe that Charles clearly
foresaw the approaching decline of the
Spanish power, but there is no special
evidence to show that he abdicated in
order to escape his share of the re-
sponsibility. He was not q man TO
shirk responsibility. His abdication
seems to have been the. act Of an old,
broken. disappointed and thoroughly
heart-sick man.. He had seen all his
plans fall. He had seen France once
crushed, but stronger than ever: he had
seen Protestantism apparently exter-
minated In Germany, but having ten
times more adherents at the close than