The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-15

Already the local governments In several
 large cities in Spain and in many of. the
 small towns are controlled by Republicans
 and socialists, and with the ordinary
 methods of conducting elections in Spain.
 it is essential to secure the. officials who
 control the ballot boxes and count the votes.
 Arbitrary measures are now being taken
 by the government to prevent the success of the republicans; editors. politicians.
 even members of the parliament are be- ing arrested ana thrown into jail for sedition The republicans and socialists are prohibited from holding meetings, and
 their newspapers are suppressed. The
 conduct of the government in this respect has been so tyrranical and arbitrary that even Fl Imparcial, the organ of the king,
 which is edited by Mir. Gasset. Minister
 of Commerce and Agriculture. of whom
 wrote you yesterday, has protested and
 has declared that the constitution Is being
 violated to an extent that no ministry can
 approve or defend. The severity Of the
 police, as is usual under such circum- stances is reacting against the govern
 ment and bringing to the republicans
 much sympathy and support.
 The administration will be in very em- barrassing predicament on the first or next January unless the cortes yields and passes the budget, for after that date every dollar in the treasury will be locked up and not a cent can be spent legally for any official 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.
 The trouble in Spain Is that the old parties have no competent leaders, and are demoralized and rotten. For sixteen years, while the regency lasted, the gov | ernment has been run by a few thousand professional politicians for the power and glory and money they could get out of it. | The regency preserved the throne and in- ternal peace. which has disappointed the prophets of evil, who predicted calamity
 when the Queen was placed in power. but
 that has been chiefly due to succession Of sacrifices and compromises and a
 friendly understanding between the lead CTS of the old parties. The Queen mother has made most generous concessions to | the church.. which now enjoys greater
 liberties and exemptions than at any time
 since the reign of Philip II. in that way she has secured its powerful and unfiag- ging support.
 The administration, of affairs has been passed back and forth between the lead CTS of the two parties-Mr. Canovas of
 the conservatives and Mir. Sagasta of the Liberals, and although they abused each other in the parliament, in the news-
 sapers and from the platform, there has
 always been a friendly understanding un-
 der which the authority has been shifted from the one to the other whenever 1t was necessary to satisfy public clamor. When a conservative ministry became so unpopular that the people would not tolerate 1t any longer. MT. Canovas and his cabinets would tender their resigna- tions, MT. Sagasta and his lieutenants would be asked to form a cabinet, and would remain in control until the public was tired of them. Then MT. Canovas would come in again. This arrangement has been continued between the ins and the outs until now. Negotiations for the transfer of power have been carried on quite openly, and, their progress has been published from day to day in the news papers 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 disbursements of the revenues and the command of the army and navy by
 the assignment of officers to the differ- ent departments and the staff. By mutual
 understanding the uncerlings. occupying desks in the several executive depart
 ments and subordinate posts in the serv l ice throughout the hcountry, have not
 been disturbed and are perhaps quite
 evenly distributed between the two par
 ties. None but the principal officials