706 



SPAIN. 



her last two monarchs, presented the sad spec- 

 tacle of a loyal and generous people lavishly 

 devoting their wealth and their blood for the 

 benefit of kings who repaid these heroic sacri- 

 fices with the blackest ingratitude. The peo- 

 ple patiently waited until their sufferings were 

 overflowing. That moment having arrived, 

 the people took their stand upon the ground 

 of modern popular right. The circular treats 

 upon the question of religious liberty, stating 

 that the useless legal obstacles hitherto thrown 

 in the way of other creeds would disappear, 

 even as they had already disappeared from the 

 habits of the people. In conclusion, the min- 

 ister says that the Spanish revolution could 

 cause no alarm to other countries, and, there- 

 fore, the Government was in hopes that for- 

 eign nations would not refuse to entertain 

 friendly relations with revolutionary Spain. 



The first country which recognized the Pro- 

 visional Government of Spain was the United 

 States. Mr. Hale, the ambassador of the 

 United States, notified Marshal Serrano of the 

 fact on the 9th of October. All the other 

 Governments represented in Madrid soon fol- 

 lowed. 



While the leaders of the different parties 

 which effected the revolution were agreed 

 that the future form of government should be 

 decided by the constituent Cortes, the Liberal 

 Union and the Progressists were unanimous 

 in declaring their preference for a monarchy. 

 The Democrats split on the question, one sec- 

 tion joining the Liberal Union and Progressists, 

 and the others declaring in favor of a republic. 

 Actually, there were henceforth, besides the 

 Eeactionists, two great parties, the Liberal 

 Monarchists and the Eepublicans. The latter 

 party soon developed a strength which aston- 

 ished the Provisional Government. The lead- 

 ers of the Eepublican party were Jos6 Maria de 

 Orense, who for some years had lived a refugee 

 in the south of France ; Garrido, a distinguished 

 writer 'on Spanish affairs ; Oastelar, the best 

 orator of the party; and General Pierrad. Seflor 

 Orense, in the name of the Central Eepublican 

 Committee, published the programme of the 

 party, of which the following are the principal 

 heads : 



1. Form of government: democratic federal re- 

 public. 



2. Legislative power: A single Chamber, elected 

 annually by universal suffrage. 



3. Executive power : A President, nominated by 

 the Chambers without limitation of time, but remov- 

 able at the pleasure of the Chamber. 



4. Judicial power : Appointment of judges, to be 

 wholly independent of the legislative and executive 

 powers. 



5. The central, or national, government to manage 

 the army and navy ; the code ; external and diplo- 

 matic affairs ; statistics ; the customs-house, while it 

 lasts j post-office and telegraphs; disputes between 

 provinces ; unity of money, weights, and measures ; 

 extinction of the public debt (the money to be pro- 

 vided from the sale of the royal patrimony, national 

 property, and mines) ; railways on a large scale. 



6. The security to every citizen of his individual 

 and primordial rights, which are as follow: Per- 



sonal liberty, property, freedom of worship, freedom 

 of the press, right of meeting. 



7. The penalty of death, slavery, imprisonment, 

 monopolies of the sale of salt and tobacco, taxes on 

 consumption, etc., are to be abolished. 



8. Customs, prisons, and judicial processes to be 

 immediately reformed. 



^ 9. Domicile and private correspondence to be in- 

 violable. 



10. Education, choice of professions and employ- 

 ments.banks and credit institutions to be free. 



11. The provincial deputations, alcaldes, municipal 

 councils and magistrates to be elected by universal 

 suffrage, their meetings to be open, and a report of 

 the proceedings to be published. These bodies to 

 decide upon all questions which do not come under 

 the control of the central government. 



12. Eevenue to be raised by one tax, direct and 

 general. 



13. The Spanish possessions abroad to enjoy the 

 same rights as the mother country. 



14. The post-office, telegraphic, and other services 

 to be paid for out or the profits they produce, and 

 taxation to be reduced in proportion as these profits 

 increase. 



15. The civil guard alone shall act as a police. The 

 army to be for the national defence, and a volunteer 

 force to be proposed for the preservation of internal 

 order. Spain renounces wars of conquest, and will 

 make war only when its independence is menaced. 



On the 18th of December municipal elections 

 took place throughout Spain, upon the basis of 

 universal suffrage. The Eepublicans obtained a 

 majority in most qf the large cities, except 

 Madrid. The participation of the people in 

 these elections was, on the whole, but small. 

 In Madrid the schedules or tickets to be issued 

 to the electors to empower them to vote were 

 76,432. Of these only 53,612 were either dis- 

 tributed or applied for; 22,820 were left un- 

 claimed at the mayor's* office. The actual 

 voters in the city were only 27,600, of whom 

 24,000 gave their suffrage for monarchic coun- 

 cillors, and 3,600 favored Eepublican candi- 

 dates. In Barcelona the voters were 47,000, 

 of whom only 17,000 pronounced in favor of 

 monarchic candidates, and 30,000 voted for the 

 Eepublicans. In Valencia the voters were less 

 than 4,000 : the Eepublican candidate at the 

 head of the poll only obtained 2,524 votes; 

 and the most successful of his monarchic op- 

 ponents only 806. 



As soon after the success of the revolution 

 it was generally regarded as probable that 

 Spain would remain a monarchy, the question 

 who would be elected King by the Cortes 

 greatly agitated the public mind. It became 

 apparent that, among the many names pro- 

 posed, those of the Duke de Montpensier, and 

 of Dom Fernando of Portugal, father of the 

 King of Portugal, had the greatest number of 

 partisans. Dom Fernando was generally re- 

 ported as decidedly opposed to an acceptance 

 of the throne, in case it should be offered. The 

 Duke de Montpensier, on the other hand, made 

 great exertions to secure his election. In ac- 

 cordance with a wish, expressed by the Provi- 

 sional Government, he did not return to Spain, 

 except for a few days during December, after 

 the outbreak of disturbances in Cadiz, when 

 he asked for permission to aid in putting down 



