The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-17
SPINS IDEA OF THE WAR.
Much Indifference and More Amazing
Ignorance.
Madrid Letter in London Mail.

| is engaged.
In England one had been told that the
| whole nation was stirred to its foundations,
that rioting mad already begun, that every
| thing was possible between a bloodless revo-
| luton and repetition of the horrors of the
Spanish commune. A few hours in Madrid
were amply sufficient to prove that the state
of things had been vastly exaggerated, and
that the bulk of the population took little
| interest in the war with America, which
they regarded merely as an extension or
continuation of the colonial troubles which
have plagued Spain and its exchequer for
years, and OF which they had throughout
been so ill-nformed that they had but little
idea of their true gravity
| During the past six weeks excursions into
the Spanish provinces to the leading indus
| trial and agricultural centers have revealed
| almost precisely the same indifference to the
war as is felt in the capital That the
Spanish newspapers do all in their power to
discourage this indifference is natural
enough and it may even be the case that
many of the writer's do conscientiously be-
| lieve that their own sentiments of alternate
| enthusiasm and despair are shared by their
readers. They endeayor to impress upon
the stranger their theory that he cannot
possibly estimate the amount of feeling
| about the war by the mere behavior Of the
| Spaniards whom he encounters and to
whom he talks. They desire you to believe
that they are not the demonstrative people
that you perhaps think they are
! To some slight extent this may be true
enough. But it seems quite clear that the
Spaniard does not allow his private opinions
about the suicidal folly of the war to in
terfere with his behavior in public.
! he
may be divided into the usual three classes,
| but the middle classes can hardly be said
to exist save in the more important towns.
Inc lower classes, a large proportion of
Whom in the country districts are unable to
| read or write, and whose knowledge of his
tory and geography is confined to a few
SuperSt1tiouS legends, could hardly be ex-
pected to follow at all closely the fortunes
| OF their country at the present time. In
| dlvidually they are kindly, simple folk, but
II you talk to- them about the troubles of
! their fatherland they are at a loss to know
what you mean and appear to think you are
| attempting some silly joke. Possibly the
prices of their small luxuries, such as oil
| tobacco, etc, have gone up somewhat of
/ late, but they have been used to that sort
| of thing for generations.
| The peasantry, whose devotion to their
absentee landlords reminds one of feudal
times, are just now employed in harvesting
crops of unusual excellence, and are in no
mood to worry about troubles abroad Of
which they have heard little and under
stand nothing. Moreover, the Catholic
/
| almost mediaeval-an influence which ex-
tends to an almost equal extent over the
poor working population of the town.
The view of the church at the present
| crisis must not be ignored, and one can find
/ them easily enough in pamphlets calculated
| to appeal even to many of the well-edu-
| Gated, who still trust implicitly to it's voice
| Here is a quotation from a very recent
! June, 1885, brochure, entitled, Religion
and the War" and issued not without au-
thority. give the closing words literally
| translated: Jtn-0rt
IF we triumph we shall triumph with jus
tice on our side; if they beat US, we shall
raise our eyes to God, and we shall say in
the beautiful legendary phrase: What does
These comforting words, "Que importa, if
only we do our duty? may not be literally
accurate, save in their spiritual signifi-
of the Spanish population. who, in their
private life, are curiously fatalistic. When
domestic disasters occur, or the bread
earning son is demanded by his country, for
military service, there is no long grumbling.
Que importa, it is the will of Cod, pro-
vides consolation to many poor soul, who
| does not know which way to look for the
| future.
In addition, the poorer population of Spain
is VIGOROUSLY improvident in money mat
tiers. That they will pawn their blanket (by
which is implied their last possession in the
world in order to go. to the bull fight. is
the popular and not altogether exaggerated
| idea of their ,recklessness
| 1t is needless to say that the wealthy men
OF Spain, the absentee landlords who form
| the aristocracy of Madrid, though devout
| Catholics almost to a man, have scarcely so
simple a faith as have their uneducated in
| feriOrS. Que importa? indeed. They have
their family position and honor to consider
In bad times. when rents are scarce or mar
kets are low, there are many who, it is said.
maintain their snowy establishments in
| Madrid, and go for daily promenades in
I their tWo-horSe broughamS. even though it
Is thereby necessary for them to, starye
the necessaries of life. But, unlike the
poor, they are continually grumbling, and
ficulties to the government to an extent
which is scarcely fair. And while they lay
stress upon their losses due to the war, you
can learn nothing about the gains which
many of the large producers for foreign
markets must now be realizing, owing to
the fall in the exchange.
1t is even asserted that the great defcien-
cy of silver in Spain, and the almost entire
disappearance of the gold coinage, is in
selves, who have for years past been laying
up private stores for bullion Despite the
pride which has hitherto prevented Spain
amounts, which are customary in Italy and
| Greece, its monetary system is infinitely
more troublesome than it is in these coun-
tries. The smallest note is of twenty-five
| pesetas, worth at the present time little
more than half sovereign, English. Owing
| difficult or impossible to get these twenty
! flVe-peSeta notes changed, although they
are fire, freely taken in payment At railway
one pesetas you can pay 1t easily enough
but If it be only forty-nine pesetas you
must be provided with at least twenty-four
| pesetas in silver, unless you are prepared
| to sacrifice your change. At Gibraltar Span
| ish notes are now only accepted at a reduc-
| ton of 10 per cent. of their face value in
| pesetaS, and there is no anxiety to take
them at even this reduction.
1t is, no doubt, the middle classes of Spain
| who have been most hardly hit by the war;
| And among the middle classes one must in
| clude. besides the ordinary shopkeepers, the
wealthy manufacturers of Barcelona and
| elsewhere. For these industrious folk have
! no wish to be reckoned among the ars-
| tocracy. although the latter may include
bank clerks at Madrid who keep up their
! proud position on salary which does not
| amount per annum to &40 of our money
| That the manufacturers have lost a large
! share of their foreign trade is true enough
| but on the other hand. they have gained
| an amount of home trade which has never
before come their way. The Spanish mer-
| chants and dealers can no longer afford TO
| buy their goods outside Spain now that the
| peseta is at only half its former value and
| the Spanish producers have now a first
| rate opportunity of convincing the consum-
| erS that their goods are in no way inferior
| to those of the foreigner who has enjoyed
a long monopoly.
1t is, indeed, more than possible that so
| far as trade is concerned, the war and the
| consequent fall in the value of Spanish sill
yer has not, so far. affected the commerce
| of Spain as much as it has that of other
! European nations.
At present the dignifed peace, on which
| Spain insists. seems unattainable 1t is prac-
| tically agreed by the well-informed that
an undignifed peace will mean a revolution
and that unless this be bloodless peace so
far as SPANS Internal prosperity is con-
ing pan into the fire. 1T is even said that
Don Carlos himself, whose chances a