Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-08-11
SPANISH CONDITIONS.


religious nature. arising out Of a con-
nict between church and state. The
relation between the two IL defined In
the concordat Of 1851. In which IL IS
stipulated. among other things;
That the Catholic religion. to the
exclusion OF all others, remains the sole
religion " Spain and shall ever he
uafntained as such. that education,
public and private shall conform TO
the doctrines OF the church: that
blshons and all other ministers OF re-
llgion shall be aided by the public
powers In their efforts against the
wicFeiness Of those seeking 20 perVert
the flith and I'm suppressing harmful
books. that endowment Of the church
i shall consist Of ta) property restored 10
t IL hv the law Of is45. OBJ Funds raised
by the sale OF Indulgences under the
Bull of the Holy Crusade. (c) Funds
from the sale Of mastership and COM
Memberships OF religious knighthood.
. (d) state taxes to be collected by state
. tax gathcrers on rural and urban prop
erty sufficient for the proper maii-
tcnance Of the church and (e) still out
. standing church property To be sold
by the state and proceeds paid 20 the
clergy I'm per cent bonds; and that
tho church have full authority 10 &C.
auire and hold real and personal prop
erty
The trouble was precipitated when
Canalejas demanded reduction Of the
tcllgious orders that were multiplying
IN the country without proper author
ity. when this demand was ignored.
the Minister, supported by the King
and the Liberals, proceeded 20 with
draw the restriction placed upon
Professionals In the matter OF advertis-
ing their services The Vatican at once
assumed a defensive attitude.
Put the trouble IL not altogether OF
religious nature. II Is also the ma
tural result OF the racial and political
differences that divide Spain in almost
hostile camps The Basque princes and
Catalonia have never accepted spanish
rule as final The Galatians and Basques
do not regard themselves as Spaniards.
In their mountain Businesses they are
singing their national songs and dream
ing of liberty The Castilians, OF course,
regard themselves as superior to the
rest OF the people, and tho Asturian
has few interests in common with Ar
ragonese. 1t Ia a complicated situation
or which the Carlists who deny the
constitutionality OF the law that de-
prived Don Carlos OF his place in the
succession, are ever ready to take ad-
vantage
The present turmoil has served 10
call attention to the wonderful grip the
church has on the people Of Spain. For
the apparently trivial reason that the
government was willing to grant
Protestant ministers the privilege OF
was about TO be started. civil war
seemed imminent. and is perhaps not
yet averted
II has also called attention to another
fact. that the church, notwithsta nding
this tremendous influence, has been un-
able to bring about union between the
dlsunited elements. or even highly civ
ilized conditions. They tell us that n
Spain with a state church. only about
20 to 25 per cent Of the population can
read and write They tell us that in
the rural districts. the lack Of cduca-
tional and transportation facilities IL
remarkable. Five thousand villages
have access to the outside world only
by means OF bride paths. sham and
hyprocricy prevail In the words OF
one writer. every law or plan in Spain
gets as far as the paper Il Is written
on--and no farther. For instance. there
are countless fine roads In spain--on
paper There Is a law restricting the
number OF male religious orders to
three, law confirmed by the Concordnt
and there are six hundred male re-
igious orders, which, together with the
2,05s orders FOR women, own a consid-
cradle amount OF property. In the hands
OF the religious orders lies the educa-
ton OF the people, noble as we'll as
peasant The children OF the upper
classes receive their training at the
hands of the Jesuts, while the teaching
order of ST. Joseph administers the
schools for the middle classes" And
such are the results! nliteracy and
primitive condiuonsl Surely It cannot
be said that the state religion Of Spain
has 80 far been a power unto saliva
ton" TO that country
Alfonso has visited England and
France, undoubtedly to get advice and
TO strengthen the friendly relations OK.
listing. In France the impression is said
TO prevail that the trouble win be
smoothed over. The King certainly has
the sympathy OF the French people
with the exception Of the clerical party