The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-07-27

The peasant, a lion cloth girt about his
waist. still bestrides his mule IN sublime
| ignorance OF Americas triumph. News
travels slowly in Spain. where the morning
I paper is not more necessary than vine
and bread: and it would be safe TO wager
/ that if you encountered wayfarer ~ TIE
sierras and spoke to him of battles and
! alarms his mind would revert slowly to
! the half-known giories CT the Peninsula.
| But the ignorance of tie country may be
matched by the apparent indifference of the
towns. and for this Indifference another
! explanation must be sought
Spain woke up one morning to find that
her colonies had been snatchei from her,
that the last link had been snapped IN
the chain which once bound her to the
splendid victories Of her golden century
And she accepted the discovery with an
admirable tranquility OF mind. Cuba and
the Philippines, alas were hers no more.
Henceforth she would lose the RESPONSE
b!lity. as well as the excitement. of q
| lingering campaign. But with that lofty
pride which refuses to realize humiiia-
ton Spain put the truth away from her.
and took up her occupations once more
with rare yet perfect resignation to the
! inevitable.
Nor was the strange security unexpected.
The Spaniards have always shown them
selves either unconscious OF, or superior TO.
disaster. There is now. as there was three
centuries ago, touch of Moorish fataiism
in their character. Kismet, they murmur.
as the Moors did also, who once peopled
the country, and when there is no help for
disaster they wrap themselves in triple
cloak Of arrogance and grimly smile at
facts, as though they only half believed ii
them.
Now, this faculty of proud quietude sep
arates the Spaniards from the other Latin
peoples. Had France been forced six
months ago to accept an irksome peace
what would have been her condition today?
a worse anarchy would reign than now
disfgures her ungoyerned capital. Civil
war would have taken the place OF a pa
triotic struggle, and the free citizens OF
Paris. glutted with the enemy's blood
would long since have been at one anoth-
er's threats. For the red terror of revo-
luton is the constant camp follower OF
France, stalking on the heels of battle. to
make disaster ten times more disastrous.
When the Frenchman has received a blow
he must perforce apportion blame not to
those who dealt it, but to those who per-
mitted 1t to be dealt, and the Commune
was a logical conclusion to the German
victory. Yet how differently has Spain
: 1
no speech of revolution, no fear of blood
shed, but merely a well justified hatred OF
} peculation, and an uneasy feeling that pol
itics will not permit the proper punishment
OF the offenders.
Nor is Spain's loss an unmixed nisfor-
tune. When America accepted wider re-
sponsibilities she amply increased the rev.
enue of her foe, since Cuba and the Phil
ippines, if they fattered Spanish pride. at
| q ha i-f1 lot
In the fierce desire OF expansion, which
today has laid hold of the more active,
restless nations. the peoples OF the South
can take no share. The competition is too
pressing for their gay. slothful. pleasure
loving temperament. Where life is easy
and work is hard we cannot expect to find
a colonial policy conceived with spirit
and the Andalusians, for instance will not
sacrifice themselves for islands over the
sea, SO long as their climate counsels them
to idleness and their sell yields wine and
olives to a simple scratching. So it was
that for many years Spain failed either
to govern or profit by her colonies; the
war, conducted by INSCRIPTIONS generals
was a certain guarantee Of poverty, and
it is a significant truth that by shifting
the burden Spain has enriched herself II
is a long while since the peseta bore the
l value which it bears today
But though the war is over and accept
ed Loyalty for what 1t achieved, the Span.
iards. in private, still nurse a painful
wound.
The eternal dislike of strangers, IN whict
they rival the ancient Athenians. is more
bitter. more intense than ever. Collective
ly, maybe, it finds no expression, but yol
= will hardly converse with solitary Span
) lard without discovering the signs of
private resentment. Now this resentmen
D is cherished mildly against the Americans
who have triumphed in war, but NOR,
l ! strenuously against the English who's
sympathy, says Spain. vas too loudly anC
violently expressed. But this resentmen
5 will soon be merged in the unwilling toll
D Grafton which Spain extends to all foreign
ers, and then the war will have left Iittl,
2 trace. save in rest from colonial warfar,
t and In a handsomely repleDished cxche
t ! quer.
: And what OF the future? VIII Spain
now she is confined forever within Ger owl
S borders. win back something OF her ole
( wealth and prosperity? VIII she establish
Q the peace and tranquility which are bes
= suited to her character? No disturbanc,
| is likely to come from without, sirct
France. though she has just demanded
e with threat. that the Spanish debt SHOULD
e be paid in full, Is too busy cleaning he
e own house to covet the house Of her neigh
e Dor Besides the Pyrenees have Away
e they were not, Europe would not be likel,
: to witness the encroachment Of France.
In truth. Spain will now be left to worl
: out her own destiny, and there is no fea
j son why she should not face the new cen
6 fury with hope and confidence. The fac
that she has passed through the crisis o
e defeat with the merest threat Of revolution
s is proof enough that her varied province
= are ali standing Loyalty by the throne an
; that there IS little chance OF irlmeGiat
n dissention. Indeed. all over Europe pre-
i tenders are under a cloud. and Lestinisn
= Is wisely held an exploded doctrine. TIL
). Cariists in Spain have 10 better prospec
e than the Royaiists or Bonapartists Il
= France since our practical age has reccg
c rized quite clearly that every country eX
o lists for the governed, uot for the govern
e ments; and not even Spain, doc!ia thoug
: she be 10 historical tradition. viii eve
again accept the theory Of divine right.
d Perhaps her NEST instant dagger is tn
e possible detection OF Catalonia, whose il
d habitants we're always rebels Gt heart
II and who have today far better excuse 20
rebellion than before Now. Catalonia
G with its active and most modern capital
It Barcelona is the workshop OF Spain; an
while the Ministers at Madrid spend til
Il nations money, 1t is Catalonia that has I
h find the bulk of it. Wherefore it is nc