672 



SPAIN. 



The Premier made a speech before a private 

 meeting of his supporters, in which he declared 

 that, having consolidated the monarchy and 

 pacified the country and its principal colony, 

 the Government would continue the same pol- 

 icy it had pursued, and would in the forthcom- 

 ing session give special attention to finance and 

 the promotion of the material interests of the 

 nation. 



A democratic manifesto was published in 

 Madrid, April 6th, signed by 279 former depu- 

 ties and senators, and 21 journalists. It de- 

 manded religious liberty, liberty of the press 

 and of public meeting, association and educa- 

 tion, universal suffrage, decentralization, oblig- 

 atory military service for all, economy in the 

 public service, respect for the rights of individ- 

 uals, improved control over the finances, assim- 

 ilation of Cuba to the mother-country, and the 

 irremovability of the judges. 



An arrangement was made known during 

 May which had been effected between Sefiors 

 Sagasta de Posada Herrera and Alonzo Mar- 

 tinez, as the respective leaders of every shade 

 of dynastic Liberalism in the country, with 

 Marshal Martinez Campos, for the coalescence 

 of all their factions into one party against the 

 Conservative Administration that had now 

 been in office for six years. This movement, 

 which was regarded as one of great importance 

 to the realm, since it would give it two parties 

 supporting the monarchy, was embraced in a 

 few days by 131 Monarchist senators and dep- 

 uties, 3 marshals, and 115 generals. A meet- 

 ing of the leaders of the party was held at San 

 Sebastian, in August, when very strong lan- 

 guage was used against the Conservative Cabi- 

 net of Sefior Canovas del Castillo. On the 7th 

 of November, Marshal Martinez Campos had 

 an interview with Marshal Serrano, in the 

 course of which it was shown that both states- 

 men shared the opinions of dynastic Liberal- 

 ism and of Sefior Sagasta. Marshal Serrano, 

 however, expressed himself determined not to 

 issue from the voluntary retirement which he 

 had maintained for six years. 



Sefior Castelar, speaking at Alcira, October 

 8th, said that his principal wish was to see or- 

 der maintained in the army and in the Church, 

 the tenure of property guaranteed, and the 

 principle of administrative decentralization car- 

 ried out, and that he would support any Gov- 

 ernment which could maintain order. 



The Minister of the Interior was given a din- 

 ner, late in November, by 450 members of the 

 Liberal-Conservative party in Seville, when he 

 said. in his speeech that Sefior Canovas del 

 Castillo had made Spain one of the freest na- 

 tions in Europe, and described the King as the 

 symbol of the happiness, welfare, and progress 

 of the nation. 



The budget for 1880-'81 was presented in 

 the Chamber of Deputies, February 17th, by 

 the Marquis de Orovio, Minister of Finance, 

 who estimated the revenue for the coming year 

 at 792,000,000 pesetas, and the expenditure at 



829,000,000 pesetas. The maximum amount 

 of the floating debt for the year would be one 

 fourth of the estimated receipts, and the Min- 

 ister asked for authorization to borrow money 

 to that amount. He pointed out that it might 

 be necessary to exceed the maximum named in 

 the event of the outbreak of war or serious dis- 

 turbances. The Minister also demanded leave 

 to procure the sum destined for the service of 

 the floating debt by means of bonds, anticipat- 

 ing the receipts of the present budget. The 

 Government furthermore wished to be able to 

 obtain funds, in exchange for pagares or drafts 

 on the Imperial Treasury, at a rate to be fixed 

 by the Minister of Finance. The pagares would 

 be drawn at three, six, or nine months. 



The budget for Cuba was presented by the 

 Minister for the Colonies, February 19th. The 

 ordinary expenditure was set down at 37,500,- 

 000 pesetas, and the extraordinary expenditure 

 at 10,000,000 pesetas. Various new taxes 

 would have to be imposed during the continu- 

 ance of the war. Authorization was asked to 

 contract a loan, in order to repay the advance 

 made by the Hispano-Colonial Bank, cover the 

 deficit, and unify the debts. In the discussion 

 of these estimates, April 5th, Sefior Laiglesia 

 said, in behalf of the Budget Committee, that 

 it was imperatively necessary to borrow a suffi- 

 cient sum to pay off 50,000,000 pesetas, which 

 were owing to the army, and 67,000,000 pese- 

 tas that were owing to the military contractors. 

 The entire budget was finally adopted. The 

 floating debt of the island was limited to 6,- 

 000,000 pesetas, except in the event of unfore- 

 seen circumstances. The strength of the per- 

 manent army in Cuba was fixed at 40,000 

 men. 



Affairs continued to be disturbed in Cuba, 

 with insurrectionary movements and occasional 

 skirmishes. At the beginning of April appli- 

 cations for amnesty had been made by 382 per- 

 sons, including several leaders and subordinate 

 officers. Five persons out of a number who 

 were condemned to death for complicity in a 

 conspiracy were shot in May, and the sentences 

 of the other leaders of the movement were 

 commuted. Calisto Garcia, the leader of the 

 former insurrection, disembarked in May, near 

 Santiago de Cuba, with fifteen men. Troops 

 were immediately sent in pursuit of him. The 

 insurgent leader in the district of Cinco Villas 

 and the remnant of his band surrendered them- 

 selves in September. Measures were adopted 

 for withdrawing a part of the forces from the 

 island, and in November the commander-in- 

 chief had disarmed several war-vessels, and 

 was disbanding one thousand men of the army 

 weekly, and perfect tranquillity was said to pre- 

 vail throughout the island. A plot to create 

 disturbances among the Creoles in Cuba, to 

 which, however, the semi-official press in Mad- 

 rid attached but little importance, was discov- 

 ered in December. A general rising of the free 

 blacks and mulattoes in the mountains and jun- 

 gle around Santiago de Cuba was planned to 





