The times., 1898-05-22

ing for the man on horseback-in short.
Europe is anything but quiescent
Still. | do not look for another reyolu-
ton like the one that swept Europe in 1s4s
Present conditions are hardly such as to
precipitate such an event. The movement
In Spain and Italy seems to be socialist
ic. Indeed, republican and socialist are
synonymous terms in those countries. But
there are not enough republicans in Spain
TO lay the foundation of a permanent pop
uiar government. All the large cities have
Dig labor unions. which are socialistic. but
they are in the minority. Barcelona. for
example, is the most wide-awake and en-
terprising among the commercial cities of
the peninsula. and is a veritaIble socialist
lc stronghold. But outside the cities, the
republicasas have no following. Hence they
could not maintain a permanent govern
merat. But they have power enough just
now to cause serious trouble.
Bread riots are to be expected when
people are hungry. With many out Of
work there must be much suffering, par
ticularly when prices are high. A hun
-gry man is not inclined to argue, YOU
know. And the politicians are quick to
take advantage of this condition of
affairs. Yet, / do not see how Spain can
avoid having a monarchy of some kind.
The republicans certainly are not strong
enough to hold the reins of government,
and even if they did succeed in establish
ing one, it is not likely to last long The
people have not been trained to self-goy-
ernment, as the Anglo-Saxon race have
been.
''Whitelaw Reid told me when he came
back from Paris that France is only
waiting for the man on horseback. But
this has been the condition of the country
for some time. Still, you can never tell
when the crash will come
AN alliance between England and the
United States would be a good thing, and
would go great ways toward establish
ing general peace. This seems to be
the drift of things at present. Hence we
have nothing to fear from hostile combi-
nations against US on the continent, for
with Great Britain on our side, we can
easily take care of ourselves. The other
countries apparently have enough trou-
bles of their own to contend with. and
will be compelled to continue a neutral
policy toward us, much as they may dis
like us and want to aid Spain.
81 do not see that there is revolution
impending in Europe just now. But you
never can tell what damage will be DONE
if once confagration is started
The veteran soldier and statesman, Cen
Sickles, came over to Washington to
mingle with the ''boys in blue" In re-
sponse TO my questions, Gen. Sickles said: !:
The present unrest and uneasiness
shown in Spain. while partly due to lack
of employment for labor, and to the scant
supply of breadstuffs. is characteristic of
the Latin race. / do not think that it
augurs republican form of government.
1t might bring about a change of dynasty,
but viii not secure the establishment OF
permanent and stable republic.
Spain tried this experiment before, dur
ing my sojourn as American minister, and
had no less than four presidents inside of
year. Then the government was upset
by the army and superseded by a mon
archy.
The army is virtually the dictator in
Spain and will be the arbiter of the des-
TIMES of the Spaniards. Campos is an
honest and clever soldier. and may yet
become the virtual head of the nation.
The republicans are not numerous
enough, nor are the people trained for
popular government. Their two predom-