The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1953-03-06
By "THE BOOKWORM"

The author was in Europe as al
A. F. newsman from 10 5 to 1916
Five years of this time was spent il
Spain, first as a war correspondent
in the Spanish Civil war and later a.
head of the A. p. bureau in Madrid
He repeatedly covered all of Spain
Spanish Morocco and the Canaries
Fluent in both French and Spanish
he gathered much material by per.
sonal research among pesants, bank.
ers, workers and politicians. He saw
most of the gruesome sights that are
described and apparently pulls no
punches in telling what has happened
IN that unfortunate country and
why.
The author is no defender of
Communism but thinks the Commu-
nists must finally take over the 80
million of SPANS population unless
the two-thirds of these people who
are slowly starving as virtual slaves
can be rescued by less bloody and
heroic program. This he says can be
done by America, England a n d
France by political and economic
pressure that will force a republican
government and a redistribution of
land and wealth. This is what the
Spanish masses really want
He describes Spain as a long time
oligarchy owned and operated by an
interlocking Family" Of about 5000
people. These are the elite who live
in great luxury and are above all
law. This family is made up of five
main elements namely: nobility, mill
tary, clergy, industrialists and large
land owners. These are much inter-
married and many of their leaders
function IS two or three different
classes. These individuals have power
to confer on their associates what is
known as enchufe, equivalent to the
English words of drag or pull. This
brings about 100000 people into the
highly favored class, which is bound
by no moral code and no legal re-
striction, except an honor code to
protect each other.
About Is per cent of the popula-
ton, who are the minions such as
overseers, officials, highly skilled |
workers and other main or secondary
cogs in the machine get certain priv |
ileges from enchufe and are able to
live at fair standard of comfort |
anu btNChAg3 anu Di dCIlCc tAIOi llOilo
on all in lower ranks Some of these |
finally work up into the top crust |
of 100000 elite. Another 10 or Is |
per cent of the population have no
enchufe but are small land holders, |
small business operators and traders
of many kinds who can continue to
exc out a living. Still below these
are upward of 20 million people who
have nothing and are virtual slaves
that are slowly starving to death.
This repressive and inhuman sys-
tenn has been gradually building and
cementing itself together since 1889.
1t has been temporarily overthrow
two or three times, always to come
back a little stronger, despite the
fact that SPANS power as a nation
has been gradually diminishing. In
1928 King Alfonso III replaced
constitutional monarchy with a mill
tary dictatorship. 1t fell in 1880 and
by a year later wide spread revolts
had forced general election. The
vote for a republic was over-whelm
ing, Alfonso fled and three newly
political parties set up
coalition government in the form of
a Cortes, or Parliament. 1t voted 365
to 5O Tor republican form OF gov
eminent. No Communist had been
elected.
The Cortes produced and adopted
a modern constitution, which re-
quired many reforms but was no
more radical than the constitutions
of the more advanced countries in
Europe Adoption did not come, how ]
even, until there had been long and ]
bitter parliamentary debate over the
provisions concerning relationship
between the church and state. The
old oligarchy lost no opportunity to
spread this quarrel to the masses of
people. 1t pursued the same tactics
as regards redistribution of land, eX-
tension of democratic rights, curbs
on graft and every other reform that !
the Republican government sought to $
make. The purpose was to create
general public confusion. Unfortu-
nately this purpose was aided by the |,
three parties that held power in the
Cortes These fought each other I
and this spread to the
masses of people. Even then by an :
other popular election, held in Feb
ruary, 1886, the republican govern [
ment was heavily endorsed and a +
dozen or so of Communists were
.nota1 Il,n Ca,.foc