POLITICAL GOVERNMENT
The Government of Spain ever since the restoration of Don Alfonso XII.
has been in reality what it was only in name before--a constitutional
monarchy. During the first years of the young King's reign, Cánovas del
Castillo being Prime Minister, there was a distinctly reactionary
tendency from the Liberalism of Prim and the revolutionary party of
1868. It was almost impossible that it should be otherwise, considering
the wild tumult of the varying opinions and the experiments in
government that the country had passed through; and some of the
difficulties of the situation to-day are no doubt due to the concessions
made to the ultra-Conservative party in the re-introduction of the
religious orders, which had been suppressed during the regency of
Cristina, and had never been tolerated even during the reign of the
_piadosa_, Isabel II.
Prim had, from the first moment that the success of the Revolution was
assured and the Queen and her _camarilla_ had crossed the frontier to
seek asylum in France, declared for a constitutional monarchy. "How can
you have a monarchy without a king?" he was asked by Castelar. "How can
you have a republic without republicans!" was his reply. He might have
made himself king or military dictator, but he wanted to be neither; nor
would he hear of Montpensier, to whom Topete and Serrano had pledged
themselves.
The House of Savoy was the next heir to the Spanish throne, had the
Bourbons become extinct, and to it the first glances of the Spanish
king-maker were directed, but difficulties arose from the dislike of the
Duke of Aosta himself to the scheme. A prince of some Liberal country
was what was wanted: there was even some talk of offering the crown to
the English Duke of Edinburgh, while one party dreamed of an Iberian
amalgamation, and suggested Dom Luis of Portugal or his father Dom
Ferdinand, the former regent. The candidature of Prince Leopold of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was a Roman Catholic, was looked upon with
a certain amount of favour, but at the eleventh hour Napoleon III. made
this scheme a pretext for the quarrel with Prussia which led to the
fateful war of 1870 and 1871. Eventually, almost two years after the
outbreak of the Revolution, Amadeo of Savoy was chosen by the Cortes at
Madrid by a majority of one hundred and five votes, only twenty-three
being given for Montpensier and sixty-three for a republic.
On the day that King Amadeo set foot on Spanish soil Prim was
assassinated; it was perfectly well known at whose instigation, and the
man whom the Spaniards themselves said was _demasiado honesto_ (too
honourable) for the hotch-potch of political parties into which he was
thrown without a friend or helper, began his vain effort to rule a
foreign nation in a constitutional manner. After he had thrown up the
thankless task in despair, the absurd Republic of Zorilla and Castelar
made confusion worse confounded, and it was with a feeling of relief to
all that the _pronunciamiento_ of Martinez Campos at Muviedro put an end
to the Spanish Republic under Serrano, and proclaimed the son of Isabel
II. as King.
He was but a lad of seventeen, but he had been educated in England; he
was known to be brave, dignified, and extremely liberal, so that he was
acclaimed throughout Spain, and during his short life he fully justified
the high opinion formed of him. But the Government of Cánovas was
reactionary, and when the unexpected death of Alfonzo XII. left his
young wife, the present Maria Cristina of Austria, a widow under
exceptionally trying circumstances, Cánovas himself placed his
resignation in her hands, knowing that the Liberals were the party of
the nation, and promised to give his own best efforts to work with what
had up to then been his Opposition, for the good of the country and of
the expected child, who a few months later had the unusual experience
of being "born a king."
Whatever may be said about the present Regent,--though in truth little
but good has been said or thought of her,--she has been most loyal to
the constitution, holding herself absolutely aloof from all favouritism
or even apparent predilection. She has devoted her life to the education
of her son and to his physical well-being, for he was not a strong child
in his early years, and she has done her best, possibly more than any
but a woman could have done, to keep the ship of State not only afloat,
but making headway during the minority of her son.
Two things militate against good government in Spain, and will continue
to do so until the whole system is changed: what is known in the country
as _caciquismo_, and the pernicious custom of changing all the
Government officials, down to the very porter at the doors, with every
change of ministry. It is much, however, that the Government does go out
in a constitutional manner instead of by a military _pronunciamiento_ on
each occasion, as in the old days; also that a civilian and not a
soldier is always at the head of it. In reality, there are two great
parties in Madrid, and only two: the _Empleados_ and the _Cesantes_--in
plain English, the "Ins" and the "Outs." Whatever ministry is in power
has behind it an immense army of provincial governors, secretaries,
clerks, down to the porters, and probably even the charwomen who clean
out the Government offices. This state of things is repeated over the
whole country, and there is naturally created and sustained an enormous
amount of bribery and corruption, which is continually at work
discrediting all governments and giving to Spanish affairs that "bad
name" which, according to our old proverb, is as bad as hanging. The
_Cesantes_ haunt certain _cafés_ and possess certain newspapers, and the
_Empleados_ other _cafés_ and other papers. The "Outs" and the "Ins"
meet at night to discuss their prospects, and wonderful are the stories
invented at these reunions, some of which even find their way into
English newspapers--if their correspondents are not up to the ways of
Spain--for we read ludicrous accounts of things supposed to have been
taking place, and are treated to solemn prophecies of events never
likely to occur, even in first-class English journals. It is naturally
the interest of these subordinate employees of a vicious system to
hasten or retard the day that shall see their respective chiefs change
position, and if a few plausible untruths can do it, be assured they
will not be wanting. Both in the popular novels, _de costumbres_, and in
actual life, it is the commonest thing to hear a man described as a
_Cesante_, in the same way that we should speak of him as being an
engineer or a doctor, as if being out of place were just as much an
employment as any other.
One thing that appears strange to a foreigner about these _Cesantes_ is
that they never seem even to dream of seeking other employment; they
simply sit down to wait until their particular patron is "in" again, and
in the old days they were a constant force making for the
_pronunciamiento_ which would sooner or later make a place for them. As
they had no means of existence except when in receipt of Government pay,
it is easy to understand that, according to their views, they had to
prepare for the evil day which assuredly awaited them, by appropriating
and exacting all the money that was possible during their short reign of
power. Probably the only difference between the highest and the lowest
official was in the actual amount he was able to acquire when he was
"in."
This system, subversive of all efficient service, and leading inevitably
to the worst evils of misappropriation of the national funds, had
perhaps its worst aspects in the colonies. A Government berth in Cuba
was a recognised means of making a fortune, or of rehabilitating a man
who had ruined himself by gambling at home. Appointments were made, not
because the man was fitted for the post, but because he had
influence--frequently that of some lady--with the person with whom the
appointments lay, or because he was in need of an opportunity for making
money easily. That there have always been statesmen and subordinate
officials above all such self-seeking, men of punctilious honour and of
absolutely clean hands, is known to all; but such men--as Espartero,
for instance--too often threw up the sponge, and would have naught to do
with governing nor with office of any description. Espartero, who is
generally spoken of as the "Aristides of Spain," when living in his
self-sought retirement at Logroño, even refused to be proclaimed as King
during the days when the crown was going a-begging, though he would
probably have been acclaimed as the saviour of his country by a large
majority. Long years of foreign kings and their generally contemptible
favourites and ministers, long years of tyranny and corruption in high
places, leavened the whole mass of Spanish bureaucracy; but the heart of
the nation remained sound, and those who would understand Spain must
draw a distinct line between her professional place-hunters and her
people.
Caciqueism is a mere consequence or outcome from the state of affairs
already described. While the deputies to the Cortes are supposed to be
freely elected as representatives by the people, in reality they are
simply nominees of the heads of the two political powers which have been
see-sawing as ministers for the last sixteen years. Two men since the
assassination of Cánovas have alternately occupied the post of First
Minister of the Crown: Don Práxadis Mateo Sagasta, one of those mobile
politicians who always fall on their feet whatever happens, and
Francisco Silvela, who may be described as a Liberal-Conservative in
contrast to Cánovas, who was a Tory of the old school, and aspired to be
a despot. Toryism, though the word is unknown there, dies hard in Spain;
but there are not wanting signs that the Conservatives of the new school
have the progress and emancipation of the country quite as much at heart
as any Liberal. It was the Conservative _Nacional_ that in a leading
article of March 29th in 1901, under the head of "Vicious Customs,"
called attention to the crowds of place-hunters who invade the public
offices after a change of ministry, and to the barefaced impudence of
some of their claims for preferment. "The remedy is in the hands of the
advisers of the Crown," it continued. "Let them shut the doors of their
offices against influence and intrigue, keep _Empleados_ of acknowledged
competence permanently in their posts, and not appoint new ones without
the conviction that they have capacity and aptitude for the work they
will have to do. By this means, if the problem be not entirely solved,
it will at least be in train for a solution satisfactory at once for a
good administration and for the highest interests of the State."
The way in which the wire-pulling is done from Madrid, in case of an
election, is through the _cacique_, or chief person in each
constituency; hence the name of the process. This person may be the
Civil Governor, the _Alcalde_, or merely a rich landowner or large
employer of labour in touch with the Government: the pressure brought
to bear may be of two sorts, taking the form of bribery or threat. The
voters who hang on to the skirts of the _cacique_ may hope for
Government employment, or they may fear a sudden call to pay up arrears
of rent or of taxes; the hint is given from headquarters, or a
Government candidate is sent down. It matters little how the thing is
done so long as the desired end is accomplished. Speaking of the general
election which took place last June, and in which it was well known
beforehand that the Liberals were to be returned in a large majority,
one of the Madrid newspapers wrote: "The people will vote, but assuredly
the deputies sent up to the Cortes will not be _their_ representatives,
nor their choice."
We, who have for so many years enjoyed a settled government, forget how
different all this is in a country like Spain, which has oftener had to
be reproached for enduring bad government than for a readiness to effect
violent changes, or to try new experiments; but the progress actually
made since the Revolution of 1868 has really been extraordinary, and it
has gone steadily forward. Spain has always been celebrated for the
making of _convenios_--a word which is scarcely correctly translated by
"arrangement." During the Carlist wars, the Government, and even
generals in command, made _convenios_ with the insurgents to allow
convoys to pass without interference, money value sometimes being a
factor in the case; but one of the strangest of these out-of-sight
agreements, and one which English people never understand, is that
which has existed almost ever since the Restoration between the
political parties in the Congress, or, at least, between their leaders.
It is an arrangement, loyally carried out, by which each party is
allowed in turn to come into power. The Cortes is elected to suit the
party whose turn it is to be in office, and there is little reality in
the apparent differences. Silvela and Sagasta go backwards and forwards
with the regularity of a pendulum, and the country goes on its way
improving its position daily and hourly, with small thanks to its
Government.
Perhaps it is as well! It gives assurance, at least, that no
particularly wild schemes or subversive changes shall be made. When one
administration has almost wrecked the ship, as in the Caserta marriage,
the other comes in peacefully, and sets the public mind at rest; both
parties wish for peace and quietness, and no more revolutions, and the
political seesaw keeps the helm fairly straight in ordinary weather. To
what extent the insane and disastrous policy which led to the war with
America by its shilly-shally treatment of Cuba, now promising autonomy,
now putting down the grinding heel of tyranny, and to what extent the
suicidal action of the oscillating parties--for both share the
responsibility--in their instructions to their generals and admirals,
and the astounding unpreparedness for war of any kind, still less with a
country like America, may be traced to this system of "arrangements,"
which allows one party to hand its responsibilities over to the other,
one can only guess. It is to be hoped that when the two figureheads at
present before the country go over to the majority, there may come to
the front some earnest and truly patriotic ministers, who have been
quietly training in the school of practical politics, and can take the
helm with some hope of doing away with the crying evils of _empleomania_
and _caciquismo_. Until then there will be no political greatness for
Spain.
The advance which Spain has made, "in spite of her Governments, and not
by their assistance," has been remarkable in past years. Since the
beginning of the last century she has gone through a series of political
upheavals and disasters which might well have destroyed any country;
and, in fact, her division into so many differing nationalities has,
perhaps, been her greatest safeguard. Even after the Revolution of 1868
the series of events through which she passed was enough to have
paralysed her whole material prosperity; the actual loss in materials,
and still more in the lives of her sons, during the fratricidal wars at
home and in her colonies, is incalculable, and that she was not ruined,
but, on the contrary, advanced steadily in industry and commerce during
the whole time, shows her enormous inherent vitality. Since then she has
undergone the lamentable war with America, has lost her chief colonies,
and the Peninsula has been well-nigh swamped by the _repatriados_ from
Cuba, returning to their native country penniless and, in many cases,
worn out. And yet the state of Spain was never so promising, her steady
progress never more assured. Looking back to the Revolution, it will be
enough to name some of the measures secured for the benefit of the
people. They include complete civil and religious liberty, with reforms
in the administration of the laws and the condition of prisoners,
liberty of education, and the spread of normal schools into every corner
of the Peninsula, the establishment of savings banks for the poor,
somewhat on the lines of England's Post Office Savings Bank; railways
have received an enormous impulse; quays and breakwaters have been
erected, so that every portion of the kingdom is now in immediate touch
with Madrid; while the universities are sending forth daily young men
thoroughly trained as engineers, electricians, doctors, and scientists
of every variety to take the places which some years ago were almost
necessarily filled by foreigners for want of trained native talent.
Local government in the smaller towns of the Peninsula is generally said
to be very good, and to work with great smoothness and efficiency
hand-in-hand with centralised authority in Madrid. The fusion of the
varying nationalities is gradually gaining ground, and the hard-and-fast
line between the provinces is disappearing. There is more nationality
now in matters of every-day life than there has ever been before. In old
times it needed the touch of a foreign hand, the threat of foreign
interference, to rouse the nation as one man. Commerce and industry and
the national emulation between province and province are doing gradually
what it once needed the avarice of a Napoleon to evoke.
The paper constitutions of Spain have been many, beginning with that of
1812, which the Liberals tried to force on Ferdinand VII., to that of
1845, which the Conservatives look upon as the ideal, or that of 1869,
embodying all that the Revolution had gained from absolutism, including
manhood suffrage. In the first Cortes summoned after the Restoration,
thanks to the good sense of Castelar, the Republican party, from being
conspirators, became a parliamentary party in opposition. Zorilla alone,
looking upon it as a sham, retired to France in disgust. By the new
constitution of 1876, the power of making laws remained, as before,
vested in the Cortes and the Crown: the Senate consists of three
classes, Grandes, Bishops, and high officers of State sitting by right,
with one hundred members nominated by the Crown, and one hundred and
eighty elected by provincial Councils, universities, and other
corporations. Half of the elected members go out every five years. The
deputies to the Congress are elected by indirect vote on a residential
manhood suffrage, and they number four hundred and thirty-one. A
certain number of equal electoral districts of fifty thousand
inhabitants elect one member each; and twenty-six large districts,
having several representatives, send eighty-eight members to the Cortes.
Every province has its provincial elective Council, managing its local
affairs, and each commune its separate District Council, with control
over local taxation. Yet, though ostensibly free, these local bodies are
practically in the power of the political wire-puller, or _cacique_.