The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-25
DEAD N SPAIN.
PEOPLE REFUSE TO PAT TRIBUTE
TO THE GOVERNMENT.
! Passive RsvsIutisn In which
Business Men, without Resort
Tag 70 Force or Riet, shat on
Revenues Of N Oppressive state.


Revenues Of N Oppressive state.
The strike Of the people Of Spain against
paying taxes to the present government 10
a passive revolution, the only means of
protest IN the power Of the citizens. The
government rests on the support Of the
military and the people are without arms.
There can be no redress at the polls. for
the Spanish election methods are such that
the representation in the cortes is not an
expression of the popular will.
Tho trouble dates from before the war
with America. but the expense Of that con-
test and the loss of the colonies have az
gravated the abuses. Crushed by taxation,
the people scarcely can support the weight.
The conditions are nearly as bad az they
were In France before the great revolution.
When Silvela's government took Office In
the spring Of this year the people hoped for
some reform. inasmuch as he made pledges
and he had a reputation for keeping his
promises. The premier proposed an in
crease in the budget of 100000. The bus
mess men of the nation resisted. They
cried for reform and reduction OF the finan-
cial burdens, which fell most heavily upon
them and under which they staggered.
Premier Silvela and villaverde. the finance
minister. agreed to keep in force the old
budget until autumn. when they promised
economies.
During the summer conference was
held Of the business men Of the nation,
delegates being sent from every chamber
of commerce in Spain. They went over tile
list Of expenditures and pruned out about
$160, 600. 900 which they thought could be cut
from the list. Silvela and villaverde paid
no attention to their demands. The tradi-
tional policy Of the Spanish politician has
been to treat the merchants and manu-
facturers much as they were treated In the
middle ages. Being the only industrious
and thrifty people In the country, they had
the most money and must pay all the
taxes. Hitherto they had been unable to
offer resistance. 80 Silvela and Villaverds
thought they had them at their mercy.
what the People Oppose.
. While they refused to decrease the bud
get, they did not increase 1t. However,
they made changes that aroused the In
dustrial classes. Reductions were made
in the expenditures for public works, edu-
cation posts, and telegraphs, all Of which
had had inadequate provision. But great
increases were made in the expenditures
for church, military and naval establish
ment, while the preposterous civil PEN
sions were left untouched.
The new budget, for instance, added to
the number of official berths in the army,
in order to afford sinecures for relatives
or dependents of important personages at
Madrid, dispossessed by the loss to Spain
OF Cuba and the Philippines. There are
many such officers In Spain, swarms OF
them being sent from Madrid to any dis
trict rich enough to support them.
Aside from these officials the army con-
tains, in proportion to the number of pri-
Yates, four times more officers than the
army of any other European nation. The
chambers of commerce wanted this pro-
portion decreased. but the ministry In
stead added to 1t.
1t is claimed by the merchants that at
least 40 per cent. Of the taxes gathered in
Catalonia Is squandered upon officers and
officials who are unnecessary, or where
needed are hindrance instead of help
to business. When these officers do any
work they want to be bribed for 1t. The
custom house house officials are not only
willing to receive brides in mitigation OF
tariffs, but even when the regular duties
are paid to the full amount they will not
pass the goods through the custom house
until they have been bribed. An English
manufacturer told a correspondent of the
London Daily News that for more than a
month he was compelled to see valuable
the wharves, the officials informing his
agent each day they had no time to ex-
anime and pass 1t.
Beginning of the Movement.
1t is against this state of affairs that
the Industrial classes Of Spain have struck.
The passive revolution began in Barcelona,
the chief manufacturing center Of the
nation and the most progressive city-the
only one in all Spain that is really enter
prising. Producing the most revenue, the
city was the one that could strike the
n "a
The movement began four months ago,
since which the commercial interests have
resisted the payment of taxes
The only resource left the government
under the civil laws was to levy dis
traint upon the goods of the manufacturer
or shopkeeper, to double the amount ef
the taxes he owed. The baker paid in
loaves, the confectioner in candy, and
other dealers in perisnable products. The
government officials were unable to sell the
stuff before 1t spoiled on their hands, The
staple articles met with no better SALE nor
would the people buy them In the other
manufacturing towns. Barcelona was filed
with soldiers. but the procedure Of tax
collecting in this fashion is slow, only
twenty houses a day being visited, while
thousands OF levies must be made.
A month ago military rule was pro.
claimed in Barcelona and several of the
leading citizens were sent to prison. Since
then business has been almost at stand
still. BY order Of the military. many Of
the most prominent merchants closed their
shops. In sympathy with them, other
shopkeepers in the same trades ceased
business, refusing to profit by the patriot
ism Of their competitors.
Now in the whole city the civil law has
been superseded. public meetings are for
hidden, most rigorous press censorship
has been established, and the chief manu-
featuring town OF Spain seems almost de-
serted The only shops that are open are
those that sell the necessaries of life. and
these close at 10 o'clock in the morning.
In spite of the outrages of the military
there has been no protest of force. There
has not been the slightest rioting or dis
turbance Of any kind. although the cjtv
Is often the most turbulent in Spain, and
1t Is there that the anarchists have done
the most damage. But this passive reyoIu
ton is led by the businessmen and sup
ported by everybody from the Catholic
archbishop to the beupars oil ho,,,-