The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-11-05
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UNFORTUNATE SPAIN
Physical Wea<IIng,is Preco-
cious Only In Dissipation.
Boston Evening Transcript.

Boston Evening Transcript.
We need not accept all the graphic de-
tails Of Madrid dispatches to believe that
the royal family Of Spain Is in an unhappy
state that has brought prominently before
his subjects the bad qualities Of the boy
king. 1t will be nothing unprecedented III
the history Of either Austria or Spain if
the report that Queen Maria Christina,
the kings mother, has married gentle
man of her court. Many members Of the
house Of Austria, to which the queen be-
longs, have made similar marriages. One
of the archdukes Of a generation ago even
married rural innkeeper's daughter and
lived happily ever after. King Alfonso's
great-grandmOther, another Christina,
married for her second husband a very
handsome Spanish guardsman named Mu-
noz. subsequently ennobled as the Duke
Of Rianzares. She was a woman Of strong
character and strong passions and her
marriage with Munzos came none too soon
| for her prestige with her subjects.
Alfonzo's mother Is a woman OF so high
character that we may assume that If
She has entered into relations with Count
Escasura transcending mere friendly re-
gard, she has become his wife. She is
| indeed woman to be admired and re-
spected. During her long regency she
played a most difficult part with great
skill. Had she been able to prolong her
power it would have been all the better
for Spain, for her son now gives evil
dences Of those traits which have made
| the Spanish Bourbons discreditably con-
| spicuous among the royal houses Of Eu-
rope. Alfonso XIII. Is not a, sovereign
| of whom much could be expected. His
father was indeed a man Of energy and
intelligence but a dissipated consump-
tive. He had the weak physique and in
different moral tone to be expected of the
child Of Queen Isabella and Of the hus-
| hor n HxyIr oh h0f hot cd nd
! At the same time he had an energetic
temper which suggested the better sover-
efgn of the line, Charles III. Dissipated
as Alfonso XII was, there was nothing of
the faineant in him. 49, - 80
The present king appears to be preco-
cious only in dissipation. He Is but 16
years of age, and has received an educa-
ton which, however well intended, has
simply filled his head with what can be
put into it from books by other teachers.
Sickly from youth. he has been debarred
from those vigorous outdoor pursuits
which make the German princes young
athletes. while in intellectual, capital there
lies. The future Of Spain under the rule
Of such a king may furnish the world
with some interesting chapters In his
tory. In Spain the monarch reigns and
Ipartly governs, the country not having
become wholly parliamentary, and stu
pid or stubborn king has it in his power
to work a great deal Of mischief and pro-
woke revolution. srE -s...:-. ...-
Already the king gives trouble to. his
best advisers, men who realize that the
loyalty Of Spaniards to the kingly idea
has it's readily reached limits: The kings
ministers have not forgotten that less thar
| thirty five years ago his grandmother was
sent out of the kingdom, with very slight
ceremony. Nor have they forgotten that
the kings father was placed on the throne
by a coup ,d'etat undertaken and carried
to success by few determined military
men, Spain is a land where revolutions
come very easily and with few warnings
and the dynasty has been greatly weak
ened with the people by the losses of ter
ritory which Spain has suffered.