Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-02

and Is iron hard and ht, without an ounce
of superf1uous flesh on his spare frame, is
many-sided and indomitabe. If he is still a
King today it is not because he was literally
born one but because he likes being King
and intends to go being a King if patience,
tact, adrotneSs, quick action and an audaciouS
archia1 tightrope.
In estimating his chances in the present
criSis-which may last through 1890 with in
teTmittent demonstrations, declarations riSings
and riots-it is worth remembering that, apart
from the fact that five assassins have tried to
get him and have failed he has been astutely
playing his cards for at le.st 20 Of his 40
years of life and kingship in order to retain
his throne
He has always been obstinate and irresistible.
Difficulties have stimulated him. The atmos-
phere in which he was brought up may be
illustrated by a story the Queen-mother, who
was regent during the first Is years of Alfonso's
reign, was fond of telling.
One evening when Alfonso was years old,
an anarchist threw a bomb near the palace.
When the news came up the women in the
royal nursery expressed surprise that they had
not heard the explosion. Piped quiet little
voice: IT heard it." 1t was the boy King, sit
ting mp in bed.
But you could not have heard it." said the
Queen-mother, smiling, elf we did not"
The King heard it." said Alfonso XIII
9ravely. 'The King hears everything"
At that age he had been impressed by the
supreme and sacred fact that he was King
and that Kings are not as other men.
HIS early life was Enthusiastically colored by
that knowledge that realization carefully in
culcated. 1t is told of him how, as a child,
he stood before Velasquezs famous painting of
Philip " of Spain and said 81 will have a
chin like that!" And from time to time for
years afterward he would be found trying to
mold his chin with his lean hands.
In his boyhood the republican movement
was strong. He was made aware of it. He
perceived how it affected the court and Queen
Christina. And one day, having been locked
in his room by his mother as punishment for
some misdemeanor, he flung up the window
and started to shout in shrill voice: Long
live the republicl Long live the republicl"
For heavens sake, stop this Scandal!' cried
the agitated Queen Christina, and at once
released him.
DESPTTE all, Alfonso developed a sense Of
humOr, although it is a strictly limited
one. He made himself popular, and so long as
he does not associate himself too closely with
the pOlticos On the one hand or the acts Of
military dictators on the other, there seems
no reason why his popularity should wane.
Among his faults-he has some-timidity has
no place. His nerve, his courage, compel adj
miration.
In his Madrid palace he treasures one of the
worlds queerest collections of mementos: .
fan; the rusty knife with which the assassin
tried to stab him as boy; the skeleton Of
the horse killed by the bomb hurled at him as
he drove with President Loubet in state through
bedecked Paris IN 1905; the poisoned feeding
bottle through which he nearly sucked death
before he was a year old; fragments Of the
steel bomb thrown at him and his bride just
after their marriage "a years ago in Madrid
(the Young Queen reached the palace with
her white satin wedding shoes splashed with
the blood of the killed and injured bystanders);
the revolver which Sanchez Allegro fired re-
peatedly at him in the open street (Alfons0
saved himself by squirting his horse on the
assassin and riding him down with shout).
His philosophy of kingship is summed up in
the declaration he made in answer to FumoTs
of his INTENDED abdication: "a King who alb
dicates is q deserter." In 1922 he got annoyed
with the pelfticos and delivered celebrated
speech at CordOva, which the government Of
the day thought 1t wisest to censor. year
later, still defying the politicos, he declared
he would perish on the quarterback If neces-
sary" Primo's coup detat which eliminated
the politicos, removed that necessity-at any
rate, for the time being
A glance at Primo de Riveras position, in
relation to the dictatorship of Mussolini, casts
much light on the whole situation in SPAIN
and on the Kings position in particular.
Haters of dictatorship were saying: This is the
beginning Of a tidal wave of democratic re-
action in Europe. Mark u.s. After De Rivera,
Mussolni!"
An error. The two relationships were as diff
ferent as the two dictators. The Spanish gen.
eraI, marquis, derived his power from the
army alone. Mussolini the self-made, derives
his power from a SoItdly organized party Of
over million and rivate militia which ap-
proximates the regular army in strength and
stin holds the key pc itions-telegraph Offices,
railway stations ports, naval bases, arsenals.
De Rivera could never ignore Alfonso, but
Mussolini can-and does-ignore King Victor
Emmanuel. Mussolni keeps sharp eye on the