The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-12-26
.SPAIN'SEND is NEAR
THAT DE0RgPIT OLD INIQUITY
TOTrERS TO ITS FALL.

Final Groau in The Long Agony OF Tyr
amy aud Oppression Not to be Deiaye'
Longer Than Few Years, Possibi,
Months-The Government Feeble, In
efficient aud vaciliating n Always an,
Hopiessly Baukrups Besides-Dou Car
los and His People Will Execute tn
Coup de Grace.
Chicago, Dec 25.-There is every indi
cation now that the present royal gov
eminent OF Spain will not last many
years. proba bly, not many months longer
The government is feeble, inefficient
nous OF all, bankrupt. In all likelihood
| the pretender TO the throne, Don Carlos
and mis- friends who are scattered over
Spain, will raise the Carlist standard
not many miles from Madrid before the
new year is old. Then will come the
long anticipated revolution, the child
| king and his regent mother may be
forced to flee for their lives, Carlos may
crown himself, a new order Of things
may be inaugurated, and Cuba may be
freed, falling away OF its own weight
! from the palsied grasp Of a nation at
| the point OF death.
1t is drama of intense interest that
is enacting in Spain as the year 1897
draws to its close. It may prove to be
only comedy. But. on the other hand,
it may turn out tragedy Of the grim
cnuf. +ro no. v-;n a q
fate of more European nations than
Spain.
The stage extends from the Pyrenees
TO the Straits of Gibraltar, from the
Mediterranean to the Atlantic; a vast
Stag@and the mountains crowd in upon
it just as they do in the third act Of
Carmen" while In the background they
take the place of the crags and rocks
OF the painted and more or less tremu-
lous hangings and reach on and on until
the coast line is discovered or new
theaters to the north and to the west.
There is no all-dominant figure that
holds the center. no strong overpowering
personality for whom are reserved the
loudest plaudits of a house that includes
the civilized world. Bue there are some
interesting people in the cast nevertfe-
less. There is a good and capable and
virtuous woman to begin with, Maria
Christiana, queen regent OF this stage
which is called Spain. Note first that
she is virtuous. During a whole century
before her time the queens OF Spain,
regnant or non-regnant, did not excel
in virtue. Indeed, their proper place was
n III
Louisa, wife OF Charles w; Maria Chris
tiana, wife Of Ferdinand VII; Isabella,
daughter of this Maria Christiana and
OF Ferdinand-all these reveled in i'm
morality with contemptuous disregard
for public opinion. Therefore the mod
esty and virtue Of the present Maria
ChNsdans should pe as precious treas
ure to the Spanish nation and should win
the people to her and to her little boy,
the young King Alfonso XIII. The
good woman, the innocent child, make
together an attractive picture. One feels
more for them as one looks upon the
rugged grandeur Of the stage and stud
les the fierce drama that is developing
about them A motley group Of charac-
ters it is. Ex-dictators there are, and
ex-presidents. little generals by the doz-
en-, rabid republicans who would have
no king, and rabil Carlists who would
have a king with the attributes and
powers OF Philip II. And these last
are the strangest OF all. Is it possible
that they really have a serious follow
ing? Are they anything more than the
rag, tag and bobtail stage chorus?
CARLISTS ARE FLOURIsHING.
According to late dispatches it would
seem that they are. Though their tnu-
lar chief is beyond the mountains, his
representative, the Marquis Of Cerralbo,
claims that the Carlist propaganda is
fiourishing in every part OF Spain He
declares that he has thorough organi- |
Zation in all the towns and villages He |
IS only waiting for favorable moment |!
TO arrive, when ne will give the word |
to his forces and calmly assume charge |
OF the country. Then the true king, |
Carlos, or Charles VII will cross the |
frontier and come into his own, bring /
ing along Prince Jaime, his sor, and such |
or his daughters as are not fighting |
him in courts Of law or elsewhere.
Whether ne shall succeed or not, 1t /
may be said for this Carlos that he IL
not new TO the business OF invading
Spain and proclaiming himself king. He
hrst entered upon his apprenticeship in
1872, when he put himself at the head OF |,
a genuine CHORUS army and fed high |
IT'S hopes wit hSolne remarkably grandil-
oquent literature, Of which ne was the
seeking hero. Then ne
% l
etry, came back to fight another day.
1t was in the fall of 1873 that he re-
turned and from that time until the fall
II 1875 he skipped about among the
mountains OF northern Spain in a man
Ter 10 please the most eXacting lover OF
'omance. One Of his adversaries was
Martinez Campos Of Cuban fame, and
another was Valeriano Weyler Of Gu
IAN infamy, who served under Campos.
His principal lieutenant was one Dor
'egaray, a general of no mean abilities
Sue, though there were good men in
Command on both sides. il was a curious
var, resembling in some respects the
resent conflict in Cuba. When an army
,ood more than an even chance to be
lefeated it would dissolve. ana the men
'OuAu uISSdppeaf over Iie mOunL9ln
'aSses like 50 many goats. Occ7 sionaily
lard pitched battles would occur, and
gain there would be long periods OF
est. during which the country went
bout its affairs as II nothing extraor-
inary were taking place within its bor-
ers. A. these times no one was much
n danger, but the brave generals kept
neir armies together and recuperated
0 that they might be equal TO the task
Z preparing the splendid huiletins which 8