New-York tribune., 1917-07-21
Illegal Session
OF Catalonian
Deputies Fails
Meeting in Barcelona Dis
solves After Appeal by
the Governor

Barcelona, Spain, July 2o.-The pro-
posed meeting of members of the
Cortes. called by the Catalonian dele
gates after the government recently
declined to authorize a regular session
of the Cortes, has been abandoned,
The abandonment was decided upon
after a personal appeal by the Gov
ernor. Tho city is completely calm
Madrid July 2O.-Oficial accounts OF
the occurrences at Barcelona yesterday
in connection with the attempt by mem
bers of the Cortes to hold an unau'
thorized session there minimize the i'm
portance of the happenings. Complete
tranquility now prevails in Barcelona,
il is declared.
One man was badly wounded during
a collision with the police at one point,
and at another troops charged crowd
that had assembled. Details of these
occurrences are lacking in the an
nouncement regarding them made by
the Ministry OF the Interior.
Police Prevent Meeting
The minister stated that the parlia-
mentarians, after vainly trying to meet
at various places in the city, finally
assembled at the Fine Arts Club, but
the unexpected arrival of the police
there prevented them from proceeding
with the meeting.
The only disorders reported were the
two occurrences previously specified
The citizen who was hurt received his
wound when a crowd tried to run a
barricade that had been erected in the
Rua Condeasalto.
The threat of forceful stoppage of
the meeting by the Governor of the
Province of Barcelona upon his arrival
at the hall where the members hal
assembled was effective in bringing It
to an end, according to the account
given by the Minister of the Interior.
"The Governor" he said, "entere1
alone. Sehor Abadal Ia Catalonian
Deputy, who was presiding, greeted
him. The Governor requested the
meeting to dissolve, and this dialogue
followed:
"Senor Absdsl: we are the repre-
sentatives of the country, desirous of
treating subjects of high patriotic i'm
portance.'
Demands Meeting Dissolve
"The Governor: IF this is repre-
sentative meeting it is seditious. IL it
is a meeting simply of citizens during
the suspension of the constitutional
guarantees and without authorization,
it is unlawful, and | beg of you to re-
tire
"Senor Abadal: We will not leave
except by violence.
"A Voice: Use force, then
"The Governor: 4 am the force
"Senor Abadal: Since tie Governor
invites us 60 leave, upon him rests the
responsibility for what may come
"The Senators and Deputies" added
the minister, "then left the building.
Some of them sought to incite the
crowds massed around the building to
acts of violence"
Premier Dato informed the newspa-
per representatives who interviewed
him that the Offices and stores in Bar
celona had been closed during the
hours from 3 p. m. to p. m. Nothing
alarming, he declared. Lad occurred to
justify pessimistic view of the situa-
tion. Complete calm prevailed through
out the provinces throughout the day,
he said, and delay in the train service
from Barcelona was due to an accident
at Caspe which had no connection
whatever with the Barcelona happen
ings.
The Minister Of the Interior stated
that groups of railroad men at Valen-
cia and Castellon had struck, but later
had returned to work. He insisted that
these incidents had nothing TO do with
the events in Catalonia, since the rail-
road men did not sympathize with the
separatist movement