The times., 1898-08-16
THE INERT MApR1LENEs.
A People Who Neither Read Nor
Care for Public Events

Mr.. William T. Brewster who was in
Madrid for several weeks immediately
preceding the declaration of war. says
tnat the most noticeable thing about the
! attitude OF the Spanish people was the
inertia which seemed to pervade all class
es. More attention was paid to the OBJ
servance of time-honored customs than
10 public affairs either in Spain or the
colonies. The Spaniard, even when he
can read, is not reader of newspapers.
Like some people in this country. he
never reads papers whose views do not
agree with his own, and he does not care
to read reiterations of his own opinions.
Mr.. Brewster says of the Spanish papers
at that time
The papers foamed at the mouth about
as often as they were issued They de-
nouneed any compromise, and yielding
funed at America and waxed warm over
the deeds of their ancestors The worst
OF them printed wild, mendaeious dis
patches about America and the general
ly weak, enervate, good-for-nothing state
OF affairs in that country. The best of
J.
ysis OF document. as of President Nc
kinieys message, but the analysis was
never very penetrative or long sustained
The leading article was much more fire.
quently an exhortation to the Spanish TO
stand firm and fight unwarrantable ag-
sression. or a glowing tribute to the an
cient glory of the arms of Spain and her
modern honor. now crudely Knocked at by
the Yankees
In what they had to print on this sub
Ject one found much interesting reading
ana opportunity for generalization. II
they were fond of proclaiming, the Yam
heeS thihk that because we have only
ohe-aaafter OF their population we shall
tiioi eiore, submit 10 their outrageous de-
Hahos, they deceive themselves Can a
/ nation OF shop-keepers and pie-stickars-
such were their terms-combat success
fuily with US, with the descendants OF
soldiers who drove out of the peninsula
the great Napoleon and his fierce war
riors, or of the sailors who, had il no.
been for the base flight of the French
would have worsted the British at Ira
falgar? So, too. one heard a good deal
about Sagantum and Nunantia. 10 saw
nothing about such less obsolete places
as Saragossa. In our own civil war. ac-
cording TO the Spanish view, the only val
or of spirit of arms was displayed by the
soldiers of the Confederacy: they. not the
Northern armies, were los yalientes. had
'honra.' So far as / could make out from
all their declaiming, the Spanish idea OF
honor is today. as in the time of Charles
V, the honor of arms, the idea which is
beginning to sap French and German in
stitutions. If any foreigner interfares in
your affairs, withstand him, for his in
terference means that he regards you as
mt subject for bullying, an imputation
against the honor OF your soldiers which
can be shown false only by a fight Walk
about with chip on your shoulder and
If you are numerically thrashed so much
the better; you will have shown yourself
fearless in the face of odds. Such. 10 an
ucipate events. is the satisfaction the
Spanish get out of the Manila fight: We
can die, aye. and die bravely: no man
shall call US towards. But in all this ad-
mirable idea, which the papers were fond
every day Of procIaiming. you scarcely
caught glimmerlng of that more mod
ern and as Anglo-Saxons think. higher
idea of honor-the notion of paying your
debts. of blessing your land with free in
stitutions, OF doing justice 10 your SER
want and keeping faith with your neigh
bor
why all this talk had apparently so
small effect on the people of Madrid was.
fancy, the common reason, in more
striking illustrat ton than usual Most OF
US read only the journals We agree with.
and the Spaniard not only refused 10 read
the opposition papers, but, being a scant
reader at best, did not care to bother him
self with reading reiterations of the most
hxed article of his secular creed-the eter-
nal glory of Spain. News. of course. was
well. enough. but you could get il from
gossip in the Puerto del Sol or pick II
up in some cafe along the Alcala. and in
quite as imaginative and interesting form.
Numerous Illustrations of this attitude
of mind. of refusal TO accept new ideas
an attitude, to be sure. not exclusively
Spanish-are to be had. Perhaps the best
comes from the affair of the Maine There
Were plenty of articles about the cause of
that sad event in the Madrid papers. and
the Spaniard had made up his mind that
the ship was blown up from within. by
accident due TO the carelessness of her
officers. Consequently, the short. meagre,
assertive report of vague Spanish COM
mission. published about this time, was
admirable, conclusive, just: that of the
American commission, however ample ex-
act and minute, was simply untrue: the
men composing the board were as a
Spanlard said 10 me, sin honra' 1t was
simply useless to expect the prejudging
Spaniard even to read the evidence as
presented. He preferred il as presented
by his own commission.
Il had got hold of the best paper in Mad
rid. clean. well-printed sheet. costing
three cents. less than 30 per cent premium
on god In ii was A leader of real sanity
and moderation, which. CHANGING TO meet
my landlord. l showed TO him. But he
would have none of it-politely enough
even though / dilated en- its good sense
He never read the papers. ne said; the
writers were low. yenal fellows. The pa
per / held in my hand had been bought up
by the American minister for his Gov
ernment; another was owned oy the Car
lists. others by the Republicans. several
by the government; another was anti-dy-
nastic, and the daily of greatest circu.a-
ton TOO jingoist!c.'
''He failed to give me any evidence in
support of his assertions, or 20 take into
account the fact that in all the papers
the opinions were about the same. with
which. indeed. his own were in note
worthy accord