The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-15
NEW ORDER
 IN OLD SPAIN
w. E.. Curtis Says Sentiment is
 Divided on Benefitc of Recent War.

Wm. E. Curtis Special Correspondence in The Chicago Record Herald.
 Madrid. Oct. 29.-There is a difference of opinion among people as to whether Der defeat in the war with the United States, and the loss of her colonies was bene-
 fcial to Spain. Many of the thinking na-
 tives. as we'll as foreigners, agree that the
 defeat was a bad thing, so far as the na-
 tional pride is concerned, but that the
 loss of the colonies was an advantage
 In several important respects. If one
 were to attempt to define public sentiment
 on this question, however, he would
 be promptly contradicted on one side
 or the other. A foreigner who has lived
 In Madrid for many years and knows the country thoroughly tells me that
 while the loss of the colonies deprived the country of the greatest cause of corrup- tion, it has compelled dishonest politic-
 lans to look for plunder at home, and
 thus has been a disadvantage. On the other hand, ahe says, 1t had stopped the drain upon the laboring element of the Kingdom, as well as upon the treasury, which had to pay many millions of dol-
 lars every year to support armies in Gu ba and the Philippines.
 In former times whenever the govern ment wanted to reward or get rid of a politician he was appointed to some office
 in Cuba or the Philippines. Favorites of the ministry and the crown were sent out there to get rich, and robbed both the people and the government. My friend referred to an acquaintance of his who was given contract to supply bacon to the army in Cuba, and at the same time appointed chief of that division of the customs which, collected, the duties upon his own importatiols. As a conse- quence he is now very rich man, al- though when he received his appointment he was very poor
 That sort of thing has been stopped. but the home government and the people of Spain have since had to suffer directly from the dishonesty of officials, certain portion of whom will make themselves rich by stealing. Again, the loss of the colonies has made it necessary for infiu- ential politicians to find places for their sons, their nephews, their poor relations and their proteges under the government at home, and for that reason the execu- tive departments, the customs. the postal service, and other branches of the pub lie service throughout the country have been loaded with useless and 'expensive clerks This has caused great dtssatis- faction, and the cry of "carpet-bagger" is heard all over the land.
 Hc tCQuCtiOH Ol lllo army dilu lile uc- struction of the navy have left idle sew eral thousand officers of all ranks and grades, from lieutenant generals down to sub-heutenants, who, having nothing else to do, have gone into politics more or less, and, being generally dissatisfied with the administration of the government. have stirred up discontent among the people. On the other hand, the farms and fac tories of Spain are no longer stripped of labor by conscription to fill the armies in the colonies. Several thousand young men, who had just attained their majority, had been sent to Cuba and the Philip pines annually for thirty years. and less than half of them ever came back The soil of the colonies is enriched with their bones. This constant drain has made la- bor scarce, and was not favorable to the introduction of new industrlesg The con- scripts were taken from the poorer class