Evening star., 1924-12-07
SPA|N'S PROBLEM
OF S|NN FE|N T|NCE
CataIonia's Fight for Inde-
pendence Like Irish Strug-
gle With Britain.

Correspondence Of TT-w'F and Ne" f'''
PARIS, Novembe -Catalonia is
n sort Of Spanish Ireland. 1t is AAron-
iCaNy In state of disaffection, just
IS Ireland used to be. 1t wants to
run its own affairs from its own Dub
lin, Barcelona. That is why trouble
in Spain starts so quickly in Catalo-
MIA. The people are always ready
for it.
If Catalonia is regarded from this
point OF view. it simplifies much that
happens there. Whenever a Spanish
communique refers to bandits" in
Catalonia. change the word to Sim
Feiner" and the news is much more
easily grasped. The struggle for in
dependence Is in it's essentials sufff-
GENTLY like the Sim Fein movement
in ireland to justify the analogy.
All than happens in Spain of a revo-
lutionary nature must not, however
be judged from this angle. 1t is easy
10 push the analogy too far. The Cat
alans are more active in the revolt
against the dictatorship of Primo de
Rivera because of their burning de-
sire for independence, but the rest of
Spain wants the dictatorship no more
than Catalonia.
Fight For Whole Nation.
When the Irish were struggling for
freedom the English people as a
whole were indifferent to their cause.
They were fighting alone. But the
Galatians in their present fight are
able to combine the idea of inde-
rcndence for Catalonia and freedom
Tor all the Spanish people. They are
not alone in their fight.
nj In
method between the Catalans and the
Irish. Tho Irish developed their re-
volts right under the nose of the con-
Ntabulary and the British occupyin &
forces. There was a finesse about
the Sim Fein movement that the
Catalaus have not perfected. In the
recent effort at an uprising the bases
were across the French frontier. The
fights occurred between the bands
which slipped over the frontier and
The constab bulary. In ireland there
was a Sim Fein behind every thorn
hedge. 1t may come to the type of
uprising in Catalonia, but il has been
concentrated SO far.
Leaving aside the general unrest in
Spain and taking Catalonia apart, ii
is easy toa see why local patriotism
Is SO strong. The Catalans always
consider themselves Catalans first and
q.
history of their own, customs and
language Of their own. They also
rhink in their own way. They oc-
"upy only a corner of Spain, a por-
tiou of the old kingdom of Arag
hut it is the richest corner. Its agri-
culture is varied; it's industry pro-
duces three times as much as the rest
Of Spain. It has the biggest savings
bank balances, also the most deter
mined revolutionistS.
Assert Bayonet Rules.
In Barcelona the cab drivers point
30 the closed university as the side
car drivers used to point to the Irish
Parliament in Dublin. From the
iinanciers who see the Spanish state
supported to a large extent by Cata-
l"nia to the students whose uuiver-
sity was closed every one feels that
Catalonia is rich Spanish fief, de-
prived of ali rights Of self-govern-
ment and governed by the bayonet
The provincial parliament, the
ManCOmunidad. was suppressed by
the dictatorship: the University of
barcelona, where the most liberal
education in Spain was obtainable, has
also been suppressed. it's newspapers
dare not print what people are think
ing. To the Catalans with their po-
Iltical history, especially their recent
history, IL is insupportable.
In the old days of Philip V the Cat
alan Cortes and its local privileges
were suppressed and 1t took nearly
2OO years to get part OF them back.
The intervening wars did not help
and the Catalans always found them
selves under the rule of Madrid 1t
was only after Catalonia began TO
assume its present commercial and
Industrial Importance that the Cata-
Ian parliament. the Mancumunidad,
was permitted by royal decree a little
more than ten years ago.
,knG Regrets Course.
Then came the opening of the Uni
versity of Barcelona, which proved to
be the center of the movement for in
dependence. King Alfonso long ago
regretted he had permitted the Uni
versity of Barcelona to grow, but
there was nothing he could do against
it, provided he permitted it to exist
at all Prima de Rivera decided to
close it as well as dissolve the Man
communidad.
1t might have been possible for the
dictator to put the lid on Barcelona
in this manner if that were all mod
ern Barcelona stood for. But it has
also been the center of the demand
for social reform. The Catalans are
individualists, so they have not fol-
lowed Marx. The long histories of
submission and obedience which pre-
pared Germany and Russia for the
MARKHAM program did not work in
Catalonia.
Social discomfort there has taken
the form of individualistic, anarchistic
outbursts. The freedom of thought
in the university has gone straight
through the people. Students and
dtscontented factory workers think
much the same.
That is what makes the Catalan
unrest dangerous for the dictatorship
Mere republicanism is likely to be
reasonable. But separatism and class
Rntagonism are unreasonable and vio-
lent, and the Spanish government has
found no way of quieting them ex-
cept force. Whenever the revolution
comes In Spain, Catalonia Is sure to
be in the lead, and it will probably
be the Catalan recklessness which
will carry the revolution along.