Evening star., 1933-08-06

uldH WHO has SCdTCely Sccu power idCc
to face, much less exhibited it-sud-
| denly. by the exigency Of the moment
stands pitted against an old, expert
| enced general-and the veteran accepts
him as ruler! The general himself
| wavering in his sympathies and indeed
surprised by the manly attitude Of his
| opponent, hands over his resignation.
| The new minister accepts 1t, but directs
| the general to remain in Office until he
, is replaced.
Republic Finds Man.
"At this moment" related an eye
witness of this scene, I'VE realized that
the Republic had found its man"
| When, a few months later, the law
| on the suppression of the religious Or
| ders sweeps the new republicans pell-
! nell into their first impasSioned strug-
! gle. AZana, then head of small party,
| holds himself in the background to
give precedence to the larger parties.
| Through change in plans. neverthe-
[ less, he is compelled to deliver a speech
| on the critical day. He improvises. In
| the confident belief that one cannot
| expel the orders from a land that
remains half-religious. he finds the
middle course; to prohibit only the
| most powerful order, that of the
Jesuits, but to restrict the activities
| of the others, to exclude them from
the schools and business.
The speech of the Minister of War
, splits the government asunder. Peo-
| pie recognize the statesman, approve
| his own governmental qualifications
! according to the parliamentary rule of
three, for the very reason that he has
no large party back of them. Sudden
| ly, on another day, Azana is a candi-
date for premier.
Come quickly to the chamber" he
| writes his friend, who told me Of the
event "A very serious thing is taking
place" When Azana meets the friend
| in the corridor and sees his anxious
face, apprehending trouble, he says to
him laughingly:
1T is not serious to become premier
| without preparation? In a few min
utes I shall be just that" An hour
later, when every one awaits his pro-
gram, he says only that they know him
| already, and that IT shall rule for one
month or for five years, exactly as long
as I have a majority We have the
| republic; first We must accomplish the
revolution"
In the same way he promulgated the
| laws on Catalonian autonomy, agra
| rian reform and even the rules against
| the religious orders.
Appears Stronger Now.
After all that he has endured as
head of the government, Azana today
| appears even stronger, more determined
and bolder in real action than in his
| theories. No wonder: A Stole who
| laughs at melodramatic scenes will feel
himself summoned more strongly by
fate if he acts responsibility than If he
destroys irresponsibility. When during
| the first production of his play, La
| Corono'-he already was minister Of
war-there we're persons who wished
| to assassinate him and he was advised
| not to attend the dress rehearsal at
| the theater. he marked: One of the
| group has been arrested already; there
| fore by now the others will have taken
/ to their heels Besides you surely
| know that I believe in fate"
In repeated conversations about the
past and future his good natured firm
| ness pleased me above all else.
Things are going more smoothly in
Spain than We expected" he said.
THE King betrayed every one. his min
isters his friends (This has been veri-
| fled for me by one of the most famous
RoyalistsD Primo seemed honest yet
| he handed over large state commits
sions to his friends and died wealthy
man. Possibly he was too weak for
! a dictator. When he came into power
We knew with certainty that now the
monarchy was nearing its end. Kings
| and generals-they became a fiction
long ago.
The collapse had to come; the die
tatorship only accelerated it. They be-
! lieved, all of them, that they were the
rulers. We knew they had not been
! lave fOr 10 hod
pared everything quietly, not with
shouting or with public speeches. One
day. after the collapse, when the cleo
tions for once were not prearranged,
/ the people called us. Without any
coup detat, for once an entire nation
actually favored overthrow of the gov
eminent. Corruption can endure no.
where in the long run, above AL not
with us. In Spain one pays more at
tention to character than to talent.
The King took away much money with
him; he behaved ignobly. No one
thinks Of his return, not even he him
self"
| No Soil for War.
| spoke of the menace which the
| officers remaining in the nation must
constitute: I compared this with the
| German situation and pointed to the
blunderS of an excessive tolerance and
objectivity which had ruined German
| democracy. They are calling you a
new Kerenski"
| He laughed "I have dismissed 12-
| 900 officers and 200 generals at one
stroke. Had any one proposed that
two years ago. he would have been
called mad. Kerenski? No form OF
Fascism is possible here: the dictator
ship demonstrated that when. with all
| its power, it failed to establish one.
Here is no school for subordination
! have learned much from the mistakes
of German democracy. In Spain the
feeling of equality harmonizes with the
feeling of dignity. I am using every
means which the constitution permits
I am armed. If the republic comes in
peril. then 1 must try to protect it with
all my power"
| Isn't your path here very narrow?"
| I'VE shall learn how to widen it,
IF you face so little danger from
abroad and have so few frontiers why
then have you an army and navy?"
| I'VE have reduced them by half, but
there are still thousands of officers
whom We must retain and support. We
are maritime nation. hence a neigh
| Dor of all lands which have coasts. u
You have written about men. Now
| that you are where you must lead them,
| are you disappointed in them?"
Writing Is a furnace which brings
| the iron to glow. Or, less POLITICALLY,
! it is good school. As minister of war
| I still found time to write-but today
! I do not. Among my colleagues I am
| the most unpolitical, therefore perhaps
, the most enthusiastic. That is probably
| why they call me to head them. I am
| not disappointed; first I studied men,
then learned how to deal with them" /"
Group Truly Democratic.
have found Azana, his ministers and
his secretaries truly democratic in their
intercourse with one another. That the
premier Is served his breakfast first Is
the only symbol of his superior rank. I
! think of the heel-clicking, the salutes,