BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-03-10
The Spanish Situation.

The rsigning family in Spain might yer,
truthfully alter the familiar text so as to
make it read, Gin the multitude OF enc
mics" there is safety; for it is only the he.
teroge1eous character Of the various fac.
tions there that renders a successful revolu.
ton most improbable. Were all fke NAL
contents united in purpose, and did they
possess even one moderately capable leader,
the young Kings crown might easily be
wrested from him in less than forty eight
lours. The situation is not very differen.
from that qohich France exhibited in 1889,
when Gen. Boalanger enjoyed lis temporary
elevation. Up to the supreme moment
when final action was necessary, the forces
of discomfort were almost irresistible but
when that moment came then Boulangisrn
was seen to be thing of shreds and patches,
since Royslists, Imperialists, Radicals and
Socialists could not possibly agree upon .
q common plan.
And 50 it is in Spain, only the factions
there are still more numerous than they
sCere in France, and they hate each other
with much more intensity. There are the
artisans and laborers who suffer from the
unequal pressure Of the s'octroi" There are
the OarlIsts and the ultra. .Olericals There
are the philosophical Republicans of the
old fashioned school of CASTELAR,. There are
the Separatists, who would like to have
commercial Spain separated from the sgricul
tural provinces and made into q wholly dis
tinct kingdom. And, finally, thereare the rad
ical Democrats, fiery, hostile to the existing
dynasty or to any dynasty, and often given
over to anarchistic dreams which are fed by
propagandists from Italy and France Here
10 indeed q powder magazine, store house
of political combustibles sufficient to blow
the monarchy to atoms; yet 1t is not likely
that there will be an explosion at the pre-
sent time. Carlism is under the ban OF the
Church Just now; the ultra-O Clerical or Je-
suit party is terribly unpopular, as soitness
the religious riots OF last year; while the
old fashioned moderate Republicans dislike
and fear the anarchistic element ss much
as do the sdherentS of the reignipg house
Altogether, then, Alfonso's throne is prob
ably safe for some years to come; and while
Weyler continues to serve the King as Mi
mister of War, the army can be safey counted
on as loyal.
Spain, hoioever, is in q bad acay all
around. Sagasta truly called it Gan ansemic
nation" and its scarmest friends can hardly
take an optimistic vieW of its immediate.
fu.ure. Its debts devour it. Taxation is at
once oppressive and unequal. The resources
of the country have Seen drained. The
spirit of party 0bscures the sentiment Of
patriotism. Worse than ell, Spain has to
some extent lost even its proverbial pride
sohich was, at the worst, form of national
self respect. When it disposed OF the few
remnants Of its once great colonial empire
by selling the Ladrone Islands to Germany,
and when in consequence it definitely gave
up its claim to be naval power even of
the second clcss, it reached depth which
it had never touched before. St nor Silvela
very truly said: VOur actual situation
is the most calamitous that has been seen
since our nationality vas SO badly constituted
by their Catholic msjesties But the fact
that Spanish statesman should say this to
the world With perfect. frankness gives the
measure of SPANS political extremity to
day..