San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-01-09
SPANISH REFORMS.
NO PRACTICAL HOME GOVERNMENT
CONTEMPLATED.
Local Militia, Trade, Tariffs, Revenues,
Police, Courts, ETC., All Regu-
lated By Spain.

New York, Jan. "a special to the
World from Madrid says:
The decisive stage is rapidly APP
preaching for ascertaining the real
drift in the relations between Spain
and her West Indian colonies and be-
tween Spain and the United States.
The issue now rests entirely with
the Madrid government as all the as
poets and the enventualities OF the
question have been kindly, consider
ately, fully and frankly laid before the
duke of Tetuan and Premier Cano-
vas very lately.
1t is no secret in political and diplo-
matte circles in Madrid that the Amer
lean government cannot accept the re-
forms decreed for Porto Rico. But
the United States executive might in
duce Congress and public opinion in
the United States to take them as a
definite formula of what Spain intends
to place on record as her final con-
cessions for the settlement of the Gu
ban question.
People outside of Spain jumped at
| the erroneous conclusion that the Ma
drid government was on the high road
to granting to the West Indian colo
MES self government, similar to that
of Canada and Australia. Nothing
of the kind was ever intended, either
| by the present government or by any
Spanish political party. Premier Ca
novas only expressed the sentiment, of
the majority of the Spanish when he
said recently that Spain could never
so so far in her colonial reforms as
to establish a Canadian regime. Au-
| tonomy in the English sense of the
| word, was not contemplated by Senior
| Sagasta and Senior Abaruza, as colon
| ial minister, when they requested and
| obtained the assent of all the Spanish
! parties in January 1890, to the famous
| bill which Premier Canovas and his
minister for the colonies made use of
in issuing on New Years day in 1897,
| DEGREES recognizing and increasing the
| powers of the government, and grant
| ing only administrative municipal and
| provincial reforms to Porto Rico.
In fact under these DEGREES the mu-
| ricipal and provincial councils there
| will be organized on much the same
| lines as the Spanish provincial coun-
| ellis and municipalities, with about the
| same control over purely local matters
| and over that part of the revenues
| from taxation destined for public
| works, education and strictly local adj
| ministratiOn, subject, however, to the
| supervision and the veto of the SUI
| perior authorities and the government
| appointed by Spain.
The majority of the insular council
| is to be composed of nominees of the
| crown.
| The majority is to be elective. This
| council is not intended to be in any
| way a legislative body, but an assem-
| bly, which will be consulted in all de-
/ fined cases and may express wishes or
| opinions not at all binding on the gov
| eminent. The insular council is not
| a parliament, but a consulting assem-
| bly, with limited control over the acts
| of the provincial and municipal coun-
| ellis.
| Porto Rico will continue TO be rep
resented in the Spanish CorteZby by
| two senators and twelve deputies,
elected in the island by a very restric-
| tive franchise. The imperial parli-
| ament will continue to discuss and
vote legislation, budgets and tariffs for
| the West Indies, drawn up and pre-
scented by the minister for the colo
| MES. All branches of the civil service
courts of justice and customs service,
will continue to be recruited in the
mother country. The army, navy
and police will remain in the hands of
the imperial government and the gov
eminent will have full control Of the
local militia and the volunteers. The
imperial parliament, above all, will re-
tain powers to regulate the trade and
tariffs of the colonies, whose trea-
ties of commerce will be negotiated by
the Madrid executive.