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

taken singly, whose treasure was spent
as prize money In Amsterdam. Bordeaux
and Portsmouth by elated sailors.
INCOMPETENT RULERS.
In addition to these reverses abroad,
a train Of disasters came at home from
the incompetence OF the Spanish rulers.
No country was probably ever so
cursed with fanatical and imbecile
kings as was Spain during the seven
teenth century. Each seemed, II pos
sible, little worse than his predeces-
sor; a little more stupid, q little more
bigoted. a little less able to see facts
that We're obvious to all others. until
the like was ended by an IDIOT scarce
ly able to master the knowledge neces-
sary to sign his name to state papers
The consequences were apparent. both
at home and abroad. Travellers through
Spain declared that the whole cOun-
try seemed under blight. Industry
was dead, the farms We're untitled, the
pastures untenanted, the population
had fallen off to an alarming extent,
the roads between towns could not be
used. The provinces and dependent
states were in constant rebellion. There
We're instructions in Italy and Sicily,
Portugal recovered its independence,
th' t'cdliSit WtIt out rOI tnt
Netherlands. there were wars with
France in which the arms of the latter
We're uniformly victorious, the Amer
lean colonies were almost completely
cut off from intercourse with the home
government on account of the activity
of English and Dutch cruisers, while
what news came was largely of mis-
fortune, for the mines of precious metal
were falling, rival viceroys and COVER
nors We're fighting, and the pirates of
the West Indies infested the coasts of
Mexico, Central America and Vene-
zuela to such an extent that only
large and well-armed fleet could pass
in safety through the gauntlet of pirate
brigantines. To crown all. under
Charles H., at the beginning of the fol-
lowing century, came the famous war
of the Spanish succession, in which the
best blood of Spain was poured out on
distant fields In a quarrel in which the
Spanish people felt little interest and
at its close the power Of the state was
still further reduced by the cessiOns
which Philip V. was compelled to make
in order to maintain himself on the
Spanish throne.
THE AMERICAN REVOLT.
The eighteenth century was a period
of almost uninterrupted disaster. Two
unsuccessful wars were waged with
Ensiand; during one, Gibraltar became
an English possession; during the 9TH
er, when Spain took sides with France
after the revolution, the Spanish fleet
was destroyed. all the ports Of Spain
were blockaded and the country re-
duced to abject misery. But these
great misfortunes were small when
compared to those which came in the
first quarter of this century. The at
tempt of Napoleon to force a French
king upon the Spanish people led to-
guerrilla war against the invaders,
which ragged for years in every nook
and corner of the peninsula and though
successful. left the country barren
waste. officers of Wellington's
army have left accounts of the pltiable
condition of Spain and its inhabitants
as witnessed during their campaigns
against the French Throughout whole
provinces not farm was under culti-
vation: heaps of ashes and standing
chimneys marked the sites Of towns
and villages, ana a few ragged, starv-
ing .wretches, picking up ecorns in the
forests. represented the population.
Such was the state Of Spain at the end