The Washington herald., 1922-10-24

Madrid, Oct 23.-lf there Is one
word In the spanish news that the
American r.ader remembers in the
last five years it Is "Junta-" Minis
tries rose and fell with Balkan ra-
pidity, but through the maze of
changing cabinets that one word
confined to figure largely.
Lately you may have noticed that
1t appears less frequently. As q
matter of fact. the army juntas are
no longer the power they were. able
to dictate terms to minister and
demand audiences with this King.
1t was the King himself who sub
dued them. but he did II with the
tact for which he is famous. SO that
the juntas ars not yet aware of the
part he really played.
Their story is worth telling be-
cause 1t illuminates Spanish politics.
1t is the story of an army which
might for q time have initiated the
Pretorian Guard Of Rome. and OF n
King who acted with wisdom and
promptness that few Roman Emper-
ors possessed.
Began In 1918.
The junta movem ent began in 1918.
There was discomfort in the army
much of 1t justifiable-becaus pro-
motions were granted for colonial
service rather than by seniority.
Practically every oficer who hap
pened to get a wound in Morocco
went up in rank, and some were pro-
NOTED simply because they had
been at the front. The system gave
bad results. Officers in close touch
with Madrid politicians secured the
colonial appointments that meant
promotion. The provinces COM
planned bitterly. especially BARGE
Iona. which is Catalan by race and
none too fond Of the capital.
In fact the trouble began in BARGE
Iona. Most of the trouble in Spain
does. Barcelona is a sort of Span
ish Belfast, where government labor,
monarchists and adherents of Cata-
Ian separation smploy much the
same methods of terrorism as do
the factions. in listers capital.
Barcelona is Industrial and progress
sive: Madrid is neither.
General Rebuked.
The conspirators were infantry
officers of Barcelona, mostly Cata-
lans. Secretly they sent organizers
to Morocco and everywhere in the
peninsula except Madrid. In July,
1917, the conspiracy was ripe and
~ 10. liza
Spaniards. were won over. Then a
pronouncement was made. denounc-
ing the old system as the cause of
all Spains defeats and demanding
redress. which the newly formed
juntas (unions) declared themselves
ready to win by force. Spain was
aghast; the army had defied the gov
ernment.
The latter dispatched a Gen Ma
rina to Barcelona. He arrived by
the merest luck. for the juntas were
blocking the roads. He ordered the
rebels to disband. They answered
that he might shoot them II he
could. but they implied that he
couldn't. and. anyway, they refused
to disband. Marina imprisoned their
leaders. The civil guard. however
the boys in patent leather cooked
hats-and even the navy refused to
back him. Marina went home.
Spain was swept by pro-junta en-
thusiasm; the juntas appeared sud
denly as the Fighters of all wrongs,
like the Fascist for a while in Italy
Government servants organized their
own "juntas." All political partie !
coquetted with the army rebels. and
even the King corresponded with
them. This amounted to recognition,
and the government fell.
Juntas Win.
For the first tims in history the
new cabinet contained three Cata-
lans, aTsignficant fact. La Cierva,
war minister. proposed reforms for
the army, but none of them were
carried out except the Increase In
officers pay. Immediately the gov.
eminent servants demanded similar
raises. and upon refusal struck
They won.
Their first victory went to the
heads of the army juntas. They de-
nanded and obtained an order for
a reversal of, the old system Of pro-
motion. Meanwhile thS increases IN
pay had alienated the country. for
the cost of living had risen.
Through this sudden change in pub
lie opinion-a common occurrence in
Cr.0 L.