Arizona republican., 1910-07-31
The Crisis in Spain.

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 dom of public worship-that is to say, permitting non-C Catholic organ
 izations to display signs and other 1 insignia on their churches-it was predicted in these columns that grave results would soon confront the cab met The June decree was only one ernment into the position of present peril. Following that decree, the government opened negotiations with l the vatican for modification of the | "concordat" of 1851. Negotiations had not proceeded far until the pope
 and his advisers informed the Span | ish government that, while the vat
 ican was willing to consider a mod l ification of the concordat, a repeal
 of the decree of June II was a nee 1 essary prerequisite. An "impasse" having been reached. Premier Can | alejas proceeded with other features | of his program of reform. He for
 mulated another decree. which was duly signed by the king, changing arbitrarily the terms of the concor- | dat. thus indicating that the govern
 ment proposed to go ahead and ig-
 nore the possibilities of an agreement
 with the vatican through negotia- | tions. The pope at once indicated his displeasure. and as a result of the | strained relations thus brought about, the Spanish ambassador was recalled | from the vatican, as related in our dispatches from Madrid yesterday. A l revolution threatens Alfonso. If he l continues to stand by Canalejas, he ! faces the certainty of civil war. Don
 Jaime, son of Don Carlos, the late
 pretender to the throne. announces
 his readiness to place himself at the | head of the clerical party and fight
 for the restoration of the status quo and of course the dethronement of
 young Alfonso.
 The concordat of 1851 provides for support of a vast number of Catholic
 organizations from the public treas
 ury. The priests are all on salary from the government, and this, with
 the support of parOchial schools and | the numerous orders that already ex- | isted called for an annual expendi-
 ture running into millions of dollars | Following the expulsion of the re- | ligious orders from France. a few years ago, a large proportion of them were transferred bodily to Spain.
 thus increasing the national expense for their support. Somewhat cur iously, however, the movement for
 masses of taxpayers, but from the
 thousands of merchants in the king
 dom. Tradesmen complained that
 they could not withstand the com
 petition of the religious orders in
 business. In the manufacture of
 wine and numerous other commod- ities, the religious orders, protected
 by exemption from taxation and by
 subsidies from the government, were
 making themselves more and more in 1 vincible in commercial competition.
 As we have already said, the pope
 indicated his appreciation of the sit
 uation, and his willingness to consider
 a modification of the concordat, but
 he was not willing to take up any
 question relating thereto until the
 government should abrogate its de- cree granting freedom of religious
 worship to non- Catholics. Canalejas
 free worship, however. and standing
 for that principle, the existing hos
 tilities have resulted.
 | It was a difficult situation, from
 whatever viewpoint the king and his
 premier considered it. The murder
 by court martial of Ferrer, the so-
 cialiist school teacher of Barcelona,
 had inflamed the working classes of all Europe against "clericalism." and ' the reaction in Spain had driven
 Premier Maura, the conservative Header from power. When Canalejas was summoned to form a cabinet he
 informed the young monarch that
 the stability of the government de- pended upon a relaxation of its rigid stand for clericalism. On the other
 hand. to embark upon a program of
 religious reform meant to arouse the
 hostility of the Catholic clergy of the
 kingdom. How powerful this influ- ence is may be inferred from the
 latest statistics The number of re- lligious orders is 3,253. of which 5s7
 are for men Comprising over 10000
 monks), and 2,656 are for women.
 There are over 10000 nuns. Of the
 religious orders for men. 294 are de- voted to education, 92 to the training of missionaries, and 97 to the train
 ing of priests Of the women's or ders, slO are for education, 1923 are