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

Of Napoleon's wars. and worse was to
come, for three years after Napoleon
had been sent to St Helena mutterings
of revolt were heard in the American
colonies. BY 1920 the whole OF Span
ish America was In open insurrection.
Heroic attempts were made by the gov
trnment to put down the rebellions
that had sprung UP all over the Span
ish colonies, but from Mexico to Chilli
the whole country was up and armed.
and the few troops that could be sent
from Spain accomplished nothing. The
same policy that is now being prose-
cuted in Cuba-that of extermination-
was attempted In America, but the
Spaniards were too few to exterminats
whole nations, and. though the war
was prosecuted with as much vigor as
could be shown by a degenerate race,
before the close of 1926 the Spaniards
had been driven from every position on
the mainland of America and their
splendid empire was gone Since then
the decline of Spain has been stlll more
marked than before. Revolution has
succeeded revolution: war with
France in ls.3, civil wars in the Basque
country. the Carlist war and other
struggles have tended to weaken the
nation. while industries are paralyzsd
agriculture is at Il standstill, and of its
former greatness Spain retains only
the pride of recollection.
THE CAUSES.
So rapid a decline and u fall so great
have not taken place without attract
Ing the attention of philosophical minds
which have eXerted themselves to dis
cover and explain the causes of the de-
hp
territory within it's limits than any
other known to the historian 1t Is in
teresting to observe that. in general,
the historians have explained the phe-
nomenon according to their own preju-
dices. The PrOtestants uses the de-
cline as an object lesson against the
prevalent religion of SPAIN, finding q
full and satisfactory explanation in the
Inquisition and the suppression of the
freedom Of religious opinion one Catho-
lie historian, on the contrary, attributes
the decadence to the leniency In deal
Ing with heresy In its early stages, af-
firming that had Charles V. exerted due
diligence In stamping out the Reforma-
ton In Germany, Spain would be today
what she was then, the greatest power
on the earth. The political economist
teaches that the enormous wealth
brought from America, instead of en-
rlching, really impoverished Spain, since
1t induced neglect Of home industries
and generated an extravaganza which
became the ruin Of the nation. Buckle
finds, or thinks he finds, the cause,
partly at least, in the superstitious rev.
erence for authority which kept the
Spaniards faithful to church and state,
even while they knew the one to be
corrupt and the other incompetent.
Pride of character and an arrogance
that excited the hatred of all foreign
ers and the antagonism of all foreign
states. the warlike habits of the Span
ish people, confirmed by eight centuries
of constant conflict with the Moors,
draining the country of its best men
and leaving only the weakly and infirm,
each and every one of these causes, to-
gether with innumerable others, have
been upheld by able advocates. Ex-
plain 1t as we may, the fact remains,
that from whatever cause of causes the
Spain of today is but phantom of the
Spain of three centuries ago; the splen-
did empire of Charles V. and Philip II.
has not melted away. 1t has been vio-
lently rent in pieces, and not leading
power in the world but has grown
great. in some degree, at the expense of
Spain.