New-York tribune., 1902-05-17
ALFONSO XIII.

Long live the King" is a phrase to which
the democratic tongues of America are unused,
save as a matter Of neighborly courtesy.
in the latter respect it may properly be hearu
to-day upon our shores. as a distant Dut
none the less sincere echo of the popular
plaudits AZ Madrid. The President has grace
fully sounded the keynote in his letter to the
King of Spain in wishes for his majestys
long and happy life and for the prosperity and
benefcenCe of his reign. To the Spanish ma
ton. too good wishes and congratulations are
due today upon the peaceful and suspicious
accession of its King and upon the strong con-
firmation of the historic dynasty In few lands
have dynastic disputes and conflicts been more
frequent and more costly than in Spain. The
history of that peninsula is crowded with chap
ters about WARS of the Spanish Succession"
and "Carlist Wars" To-day all such disturb
ances seem past and done with The legitimate
heir of the Bourbon line is upon the throne, by
virtue not only of inheritance. but also, we
may well believe, Of the popular will. So long
as the Spanish people desire a monarch, so
long may Alfonso XIII reign in peace and hap
piness!
1t is a far different Spain TO the throne
of which the young King comes to-day from
that over which his predecessors relgned. Time
was when the King of Spain was also King Of
the Two Siciles, Of Jerusalem, Of the East
and West Indies, OF the American continents,
and of the Pacific Ocean Those titles. too,
were largely effective in the days when Spain
possessed the largest navy and the most pow
erful army in the world But from Ferdinand
/ TO Ferdinand VII there was a decline and
fall comparable with that OF Rome itself. II
Alfonso XIII has during his minority suffered
further losses of territory, he has at least re-
gained something in honor. The kingdom of
Spain is smaller to-day, but it is stronger and
more respected than it was when Ferdinand
was kept upon its throne by alien bayonets, or
when the Infamous Spanish Marriages" were
dictated by a greedy alien king. In these late
years of storm and stress Alfonso has lost
much, but not honor, and he comes TO his throne
entitled to the sincere respect of all the world.
There is peculiar interest in the fact that, az
already reported in our dispatches, the special
Envoy of the United States has been made the
most welcome and honored of foreign guests
at the royal inauguration and that one Of the
most cordial messages of congratulation and
good wishes to the young King was sent by
the President of this republic For the United
States owes its existence to the enterprise OF
Spain, 1t occupies land every inch of which
was once claimed by Spain and was granted
to Spain by what was then the paramount
power Of the world, and finally 1t struck the
blow which deprived Spain OF the last of her
colonial possessions and reduced the empire
upon which once the sun never set to its
ancient limits between the Pyrenees and the
Pillars of Hercules. Most interesting is it, too,
that the President who sends this cordial
greeting to his great and good friend" comes
from that sturdy race which first resisted,
challenged and broke the power OF Spain Mt
the height of her glory, and was himself con-
spicuOus leader in the campaign which caused
her last defeats and losses. In the undoubted
sincerity with which these greetings are given
and received we may see fine token of the
passing away of both the earlier and the later
animosities, and an establishment of relations
which persuade us the brotherhood Of man"
is not an empty dream.