The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-30
DON RAIN UNDO IS
LUCK|EST OF MEN
New Spanish Premier Has Had
a Remarkably Successful
Career.
Special Foreign Service.

Specla1 FOrelgn service.
MADRID, Aug. 29.-Don Raimundo
Villaverde, SPANS new premier, is one
of the luckiest of middle-class mortals.
His parents were modest well-to-do
country folk, but there was no reason
to suppose that their boy, was going to
climb straight up to the highest post
within the gift of the Spanish people.
He started out as a lawyer endowed
with good brains and an eloquent
tongue, perseverance and lots of ambi-
ton. Thereafter the steps to fame were
interestingly marked.
Step /. Crowds of clients.
2. Elected to parliament.
3. Attracted attention by hard work,
participation in every possible debate;
mastering all sorts of dry subjects too
busy to concern himself with the bril-
liant aristocracy of Madrid, which had
shown some inclination to take to its
bosom such a good-looking and prom
Using young man.
4. A sudden dash into society under
the wing of the Duchess de Donia, at
whose palace one could meet every
body-the greatest politicians, artists
and men Of science to be found in
Madrid. The smart young member
from Galicia soon made himself highly
| popular in this set and for the first
| time seems to have been detected from
his path to glory. So many Spanish
| beauties of high degree lavished their
| affections on him that he became gay
indeed for while-a veritable butter
fly of fashion.
5. A rich and attractive gentlewom-
| an, the Warehouses of Pozo Rubio Of
fered to marry the handsome young
gallant and was forthwith accepted.
Senior VillaVerde now put definite
sion all fpiUOtjtyr n
voted himself to fruitful labor for the
welfare of his country. Indeed, being
| no longer required to sacrifice all his
/ time and talent to his profession, Senior
| Villaverde now studied assiduouSly So
| cial and economical science, for which
| he had always felt prediction, and
| through his great intelligence soon
| rose to pre-epinence. He was success
| siVely named minister of justice and OF
4 finance to the general satisfaction.
i The most interesting period of Villa
j yerde'S political career began in 1899,
| after the disastrous war with the Unit
i ed States When once the treaty of
i peace had been signed and new cab
4 met, presided over by the leader of the
| Conservative party Senior Silvela was
4 formed, political men as well as the
1 majority Of the people recognized the
/ urgent necessity of introducing ample
| and radical reform into all branches of
public administration, and adopting a
| sound and liberal policy apt to raise
! the credit of the land. Senior Villa
verde, who occupied in Silvela's cab
met the post of minister of finance,
| brought a bill of taxation before par
lament with which he intended to in
crease the income of the treasury from
/ $4,000, 600 to 100000 900 pesetas, and
| with his peculiar energy and firmnesS
/ he succeeded in having this project ap-
l proved of.
But this heavy taxation raised such
storm of protests throughout the
whole of Spain, and so numerous and
bloody were the riots which it caused
in various provinces of the kingdom,
that Senior Villaverde was obliged to
send in his resignation, and two or
three months aftefWard, partly owing
| to this and partly to the unpopular
| marriage of the Princess of Asturias
| with Don Carlos of Bourbon, the whole
| cabinet was also forced to resign. The
| queen then decided to trust VillaVerde
| with the formatidl of new ministry;
| but in consequence of the unpopularity
| of his taxes, he found nobody disposed
| to second him in the work and there
| fore he had to renounce the charge
| When Senior Silvela was once more
/ called to govern the country at the end
| of 1902, he FASTENED to offer the port
! folio Of finances to his intimate friend,
| Senior Villaverde, but the latter being
| aware that Senior Silvela, with his we'll
! known weakness of character, had al
! lowed himself to be induced to give the
1 post of minister for the naval depart
/ ment to Senior Sanchez Toca, who be-
lieved in the urgent necessity for the
/ Reconstruction of the fleet, finally re-
/ fused to accept the offer and won back
the golden opinion of the public by
urging that the true basis of regenera-
! ton consisted in the reorganiZa ton OF
! national property. With great diff
/ Guilty, Silvela persuaded Villaverde to
accept the office of president of the
chamber of deputies.
Time very soon proved that Senior
/ Villaverde was not mistaken. The mere
| announcement that the government
4 through Senior Sanchez Teca, intended
i to bring a bill into parliament for the
| reconstruction of the fleet, was suffi-
cient to call forth demonstrations OF
| hostility in the chamber of deputies az
well as AL over Spain, so that Senior
-Silvela and his companions had to re-
sign. Then King Alphonso, interpret
ing the desires of the country, called
| upon Senior ViIlaverde to form a new
cabinet The elevation of this distin-
guished statesman to the highest office
! signifies the triumph Of a firm and saw
ing financial policy of which Spain has
i so much need in her present painful
and critical condition.