Evening star., 1898-07-30
Some Queer Features of Life Amone
the Basques.
MAINTAIN A CERTAIN INDEPENDENCE
Notwithstanding They Are the Sub,
jects of Spain.
AN ORIGINAL PEOPLE

From the ST. Louis Giebe-Demoerat.
The most unfavorahie sign for the future
| quiet of Spain Las the arrival few days
| ago at the capital o. a large and lHfluen-
| tial deputation from the Basque provinces
| The men who composed this deputation
| vent to Madrid for the purpose of protest
| ing against the 20 pc cent increase In tax
| alton which has been announced by the
government a means of defraying the
expense of The war The increase was pro-
| Claimed for all the provinces Of the king
| dem, and distasteful il is 10 people OF
| every race and class In Spain, is doubly so
| TO the Basqaes, for these claim the righ.
| Of regulating their own taxation which
| they stoutly uphold against all aggression.
| To levy their own taxes and TO pay none
but those assessed by their own provincial
| and legislative assemblies is one CT the
| fueros or privileges which the Basdues
| h&Ve from time immemorial enjoyed. Every
| Basque throughout Spain ranks as a HI
| dalgo or nobleman by reason of his birth
| No Basque is subject to any laws other
| than those of his own people, and even in
| other parts Of Spain Basque committing
| a crime is not tried by the local tribunal
but is entitled to a hearing before a BASQUE
judge, and at Valladolid and at other
| points there are Basque courts for the trial
| OF such members of this race may have
| transgressed the laws. The three BASQUE
provinces Of Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya and Alava
are autonomous, electing their own iegisla-
| ures their own governors their own Off
| Gals of every rank and grade, eXcept post
| masters, aad being for all practical pur-
| poses absolutely indepe ndent of the Span
ism government, save that by convention
| they contribute certain amount TO tho
| Spanish revenues. The Vizcayans are not
| liable to military duty save when their
country is invaded, the conscription is
| never enforced in the Basque provinces, a
| Basque arrested for any crime, no matter
l Of far
| trial.
| Source of Annoyance.
These fueros have been a source Of in
| finite annoyance to the government from
| the fact that the Vizcayans form thus an
| independent community in the kingdom and
| have privileges so exaggerated that the
people OF other provinces complain bitterly
| of the immunities enjoyed by the Basques:
| the latter, they say, are no better than
| themselves, and should be placed on the
| same footing as the rest of SPANS people,
| both IN regard to military duty and taxa
| tion. Every attempt, however, that has
| been made to abolish the fueros has re-
| suited IN Basque insurrection, character
| lied by so much vigor that the government
| has hnally been forced to yield and pur-
| chase peace by renewing the fueros
| The people of the Basque provinces are
| the descendants of the aborigines of the
| country, who were IN possession when
| Spain was conquered by the Romans
| Arciently they were known as Vasccni and
| a relic of this primeval name is found in
| NlZcaya, the people calling themselves Viz
cayans. When the Romans conquered
Spain the aboriginal population retired to
| the mountains of the north and 10 the
| Pyrenees region. and there. I'm fortresses
| rendered impregnable by nature, they ce-
| ned all efforts of the conqucrors. The Ru-
| mans finally concluded "A convention with
| them similar to that which he Spanish
| government has been forced to make and
| utilized thousands of them III the Roman
| armies as auNiliaries. The Goths succeed.
| ed the Romans, but the 'joths made no i'm.
| precision on the Basque country The MooTs
| and the Spaniards were no more able Ia
| overcome them than were the Goths. Like
| the Bretons in Franco, the Welsh the
| Hlghiand Scotch, they have been overrun,
| but never overcome.
| Guerrilla Warfare.
| The country of the Basques is peculiarly
| suited to guerrilla warfare. and officers
| who have conducted operations against
| them unanimous in declaring that. a.
| guerrllas, the Basques have no equals
| Elle concentrated in the three provinces
| n2rIed so as TO constitute the great ma
lorlty OF the population, they widely
| disseminated throughout the PyIenees
| egion, northern Spain and southern France
| The whole of north Spain mountain BUS,
| the Cantabrian range following the coast
| at a distance of forty 10 aisy miles and
| breaking up near the sea into a number of
| branching chains which cover several prov
| inces. Thus from the Atlantic 10 the Mcdi-
| terranean there runs a1 almost continuous
| rugged chain, densely wooded and exceed
| ingly difficult for military operations These
| mountains are the natural habitat Of the
| Basques, and, whenever an insurrccti1n
fas broken out. the irhabitants remove to
| the mountain Businesses, and can infinitely
prolong the war againss any force broue ht
| to bear upon them.
| More Than a Million.
| The last government reports give the
| population of the three Basque provinces
| as: Vizcaya. 235.65O; Cuipuzcosa, Isl. .s45,
| and Alava, 92.915, total of over 600,
| but, as a matter of fact, this number does
not adequately represent the Basque pcpu-
| lation, for there are large communities in
| Navarro, and throughout Saragossa, HUI
| csca, Lerida and Corona they are almost
| equally numerous, that the Spanish Viz
| cayans are estimated 90 exceed 1000 900 in
| number, and on the other side of the Pyre-
| nees, within the territorial limits OF Trance
| there are probably 2J0,0u0 more
| Inc Basque country proper contains only
| few important towns. Many years ago
| the Spanish government complimented the
| Basques by selecting San Sebastian as the
| place of summer residence of the court
| The Basques expressed their satisfaction.
but were not perceptibly conciliated even
| by the residence of royalty in their midst
| Aside from San Sebastian the only large
town OF Importance is Bilbao, the capital
| OF Vizcaya. 1t Is a handsome town, for
| Spain. and although situated eight miles
| hom sea, on a small stream, and with a
| bad bar at the mouth, Bilbao has a larger
| commerce than any other city in Spain
excepting Cadiz. 1t is one Of the most pic
| turesque spots in the peninsula; in a noun
| tain gorge. on both sides of a beautiful
| stream, spanned by bridges so old that
| memory OF their erection has been lost. IL
| Is unique both in position and beauty II
mas magnificent cathedral, many public
| buildings in the Moorish style and a mill
tary history extending back hundreds of
years, for in every Carlist war it has been
/ mi ly ds-
| Tended against Carlist attack.
Valiant In War.
Not alone in their own wars have the
| Basques proved valiant AS mercenary SOL
| diers, they were at one time as well known
| in Europe the Swiss, their obstinacy,
| however, making them exceedingly in
| tractable even under their own officers, and
wholly unmanageabie under foreign con-
troll Gonsalvo de Cordoya had a body OF
them as mercenaries among his troops at
Rome, and said publicly that he would
rather undertake to keep lions than Viz
"a IfS rf..