The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-17
ntrRoPEAN p1s1NTnGRArIoN.

The present disturbed condition Of
Srain with the remorseless Weyler as
the only intermediary between the peo
pie and their rulers naturally gives rise
to much of speculation as to the future
position of that people in the scale OF
international life. Wherever the Spanish
race has found Judgment on the Anerl-
can continent the principle of political
revolution has found a sure abiding
place Whether the national disposition
lies at the basis of this condition, it is
certain that from the earliest record OF
Spanish administration of American af-
fairs the spirit OF cabal has dominated
and has almost invariably ended in blood.
| Pizarro's followers were not alone in
the internal strife which prevailed among
them. Nor is any age or stage. Of Span
ish control in America any less fruitful
than another In such demonstrations.
We may safely assume from all Span
fsh history that it is only the strong arra
of might which Will prevent the Spanish
people from extending the spirit Of ma
tional strife all over the country. The
present dynasty is insecure. No other
form of rule which may follow it prom
ises to be any more, secure. The trouble
lies in the native disposition, rather than
in any special unftness Of a given form
| of government or a given personnel in
the control OF that government.
Spain may be said to rest on the verge
of another political revolution, as soon
as the people or their leaders may deem
such an experiment feasible But in this
regard it must be said that Spain is not
alone among the continental nations.
Two other nations are threatened from
| day to day with political upheaval.
Austria and Italy are governed without
| the sanction of their people. 1t is not to
| be doubted that if a national plebiscite
could be ordered in either case the pres
ent government would be decreed at IN
end. Moral degeneracy seems to lie at
the bottom of the difficulty in Italy. ln-
ternal strife among contending nation
alities Will accomplish the downfall of
! the Austrian empire if it is destined to
disappear during the present century.
In Spain and Italy the trouble is due
| to the peoples rulers. In Austria 1t is
tn the people themselves. In Italy the
people are ruthlessly robbed and OPP
| pressed in the name of United Italy,
All semblance of responsibility, moral Or
otherwise, seems to be effectively laid
aside in Italy by the ruling classes. Tha
| scandals Of the Malta have been followed
by those of the Comorra. While the
Malta appears dead but is only sham
ming death, the head of the Comorra
is recognized as King of Naples The
| whole of the South of Italy is concededly
ruled by the order. 1t is a secret So
ciety, which visits death on those who
are discovered to have yielded up any of
| it's secrets. 1t lives on gambling and
usury, so far as its lower members are
| concerned. It's directors hold high-places
| in national and municipal life, and ae-
| Complish their ends through corruption,
bribery libel, threats and, when need
demands, murder. To get opportunity to
| fulfill any sort Of public contract the
| first requirement is that the heads of the
| order must be bribed. The poor are made
| to yield up their substance through
gambling and usury to the lower class
leaders among the Commorristi. While
through the courage and uprightness OF
| the editor of a small Socialist paper the
head of the order was recently exposed
| Cor public marauder, a thief brfbe-
| tal1er, blackmailer and murderer, holding
| high public station, the order still main
tains its control. The faces of the poor
continue to be ground into the earth
under the new royal regime as under the
old; and political and social life alike in
| Italy have beneath them a vast moral
| Vesuvius which may at any time break
forth into a condition of violent eruption
In Austria a state of political chaos
reigns The people are In despair There
| seems no way out of the difficulties which
| follow each other so rapidly. Only the
| 1iA11uSECS VI Lie SIHpSIOE IL Is
which has prevented an outbreak and the
effectuation Of the disintegration of ma
tional forces which threatens every day.
| There is nothing homogeneous in the Aus
TRAN people. They are Czechs or Ger
mans or Poles or Hungarians; but not
| Austrians. The different national ele-
| ments fight among themselves until they
| have reduced the nominal parliamentary
/ system into a mere pretense, and have
forced from the emperor the vain threat
that constitutionalism will come to an
end and absolutism take its place unless
some measure Of agreement can be es-
tabIished among the warning factions of
/ the reichsrath. While there is no such rea-
son to look forward to the early demise
of Franz Joseph as some profess to be-
| 1ieve, and while he can doubtless con-
tinue during his reign to hold the warning
factions in control the fate of the Aus
trian empire-is sealed. There is no health
| in the bones OF. the nation. Other ma