Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-09

itbtcu 10 an extent tnat no ministry can ap-
prove or defend. Tie severity o. the pol ce.
as is usual under sucn crcu instances. IS
reacting aga nst the government and brin =
ing to the republicans much sympathy and
support
The administration will be in a very
Uarrassing predcament on the LIST of next
January unless the cortes yields and passes
the budget for after that date every dollar
in the treasury will be locked up and n 1t a
cent can be spent legally for any Off al
purpose. Not dollar can be given even to
the king. and people need not pay taxes.
But 1t is very likely that the cortes will
provide the same old appropriations after it
has enjoyed the satisfaction of abusing and
frightening the ministry.
No Competent Leaders,
The trouble in Spain is that the old par
ties have no competent leaders, and are
democrat zed and rotten. For sixteen years.
while the regency lasted the government
has been run by a few thousand profess
sional politicians for the power and glory
and money they could get out of it. The
regency preserved the throne and internal
peace, which has disappointed the prophets
OF evil who predicted calamity when the
queen was placed in power, but that has
fees and compromises and a friendly I'M
Outstanding between the leaders of the old
parties The queen mother has made most
generous concess. ons to the church which
now enjoys greater liberties and exemp-
Philip il. In that way she has secured it's
powerful and unflagging support.
The administration of affairs has been
passed back and forth between the leaders
of the two partes-Mr. Canovas of the con-
servatveS and Mr.. Sagasta of the liberals.
and, although they abused each other in the
parliament, in the newspapers and from the
platform, there has always been friendly
understanding under which the authority
has been shifted from the one to the other
whenever IT was necessary to satisfy public
clamor. When conservative ministry be-
came so unpopular that the people would
not tolerate it any longer, Mr.. Canovas and
his cabinets would tender their res.gna-
tons, Mr.. Sagasta and his lieutenants
would be asked to form a cabinet and
would remain in control until the public
was tired of them. Then Mr.. Canovas
would come in again. This arrangement
has been continued between the ms and the
outs until now. Negotiations for the trans
fer of power have been carried on quite
openly, and their progress has been pub
lished from day to day in the newspapers
as matter of course.
The government is so centralized that the
prime minister controls not only the great
offices of state, but the collection and s.
bursements of the revenues, and the COM
mand of the army and navy by the assign
ment of officers to the different depart-
ments and the staff. BY mutual under
standing the underlings, occupying desks in
the several executive departments and sub
ordinate posts in the service throughout the
country, have not been disturbed, and are
perhaps quite evenly distributed between
the two parties. None but the principal
officials and the heads of affairs have been
removed with change of ministry. But
what they call crisis that Is the resump-
ton Of power by the outs, has always made
it necessary for them to find places for a
few and sometimes many new men who
have acquired influence in the meantime
Thus the numerical strength of the govern
ment has been constantly increasing until
the different departments are now crowded
with employees who have nothing to do but
draw their salaries and seldom go to their
desks except on pay day. An Official in one
of the ministries told me the other day that
out of a total of 1000 people on the pay
.OU
We're doing any actual work while out of
thirtytwo men whose names were on the
register in his particular division only sew
Ell were regular and punctual in attendance
and several he had never seen.
The Former Method,
Mr.. Canovas. the conservative leader. and
man of great ability. was assassinated
several years ago; Mr.. Sagasta, the liberal
leader, died last year, and Mr. Castelar,
the republican leader, died four years ago
Thus disappeared the men who have con-
trolled the affairs and the opinions of Spain
for quarter of a century. Mr.. Canovas
was succeeded by Mr.. Silvela, who initiated
his predecessor closely as possible and
remained in power until last july when he
was compelled to resign. He has since pub
licly announced his permanent retirement
from politics. He has been succeeded by
Mr. Fillaverde, the present prime minister,
whose ability and honesty are universally
conceded, but he is very unpopular among
the active politicians because of his scru-
pies, economical tendencies and business
like habits Those who familiar with
Spanish politics predict that the conserva-
tive party will decline to accept him as it's
leader. lie has been tried in several re-
sponsible positions and has made an unim-
peachable record. He has been a member
of the cortes from the city of Madrid al
most continuously for twenty years; he
was civil governor of Madrid during ter
rible cholera epidemic a few years ago
which tested his physical courage and abil-
ity. He has been president of the chamber
of deputies. minister of the interior and
minister of finance, and In each of those
positions has made distinct success Many
people consider him the ablest man in
Spain today. but he is too honest and too
exact to be acceptable to the conservative
party. The politicians say that he has no
sympathy with the poor because his wife
is so rich She is daughter of the Marquis
Molans, for many years ambassador to
France. He was prominent In public az
fairs during the reign OF Isabella H.
Senior Maura, eX-liberal, who has
never been accused of the faults that make
Villaverde unpopular. is ambitious to be
leader of the conservative party, and is
quite likely to be elected, although people
who know him we'll declare that he lacks
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