SPAIN. 



ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY AND TUNNEL. 81 9 



and other eminent adherents of the then fast- 

 collapsing Revolutionary party led by Sefior 

 Ruiz Zorrilla, there remained but an insignifi- 

 cant fraction, " incapable of doing much mis- 

 chief." It was regarded as probable that the 

 Martos section would unite with that of Sefior 

 Castelar, whose policy " only supports the idea 

 of a republic if it can be obtained by peaceful 

 and legitimate means." 



The speech from the throne was voted upon 

 November 16th (after a debate of three weeks), 

 by a majority of 247 against 33, the Democratic- 

 Monarchical party having abstained from vot- 

 ing. The Ministers of Justice and Foreign 

 Affairs defended their departments against the 

 charges made by Seftores Canovas, Moret, and 

 Castelar. Sen or Sagasta, on the part of the 

 Government, summed up on the entire discus- 

 sion. He asserted that the country was hap- 

 pier and far more prosperous under the present 

 Liberal Government than under the previous 

 Conservative Government. He particularly 

 pointed out the improvement of credit at home 

 and abroad. He said that his policy was one 

 of conciliation, and intended to attract to a 

 constitutional monarchy all the diverse polit- 

 ical elements which had hitherto distracted the 

 country, and he congratulated himself on the 

 success of his efforts so far. He especially 

 alluded to the formation of the Democratic- 

 Monarchical party, under Sefior Moret, which 

 he welcomed with open arms, and the benevo- 

 lent attitude of the Republicans a contrast to 

 their hostility to the Conservatives. He short- 

 ened his speech so that he might not delay the 

 introduction of Sefior Camacho's plans of finan- 

 cial reforms, which required immediate discus- 

 sion and settlement. On Sefior Canovas rising 

 to speak a third time, an impatient fraction of 

 the majority refused to hear him, and the vote 

 was taken amid great noise and confusion. 



A question by a Cuban Senator as to nego- 

 tiations between the Spanish and British Gov- 

 ernments for the return of Gibraltar to Spain, 

 was replied to by the Marquis de la Vega do 

 Armijo, who said that " the Government would 

 act as the good of the country and the main- 

 tenance of amicable relations with friendly na- 

 tions required." Replying to another Senator 

 respecting the entry of the French troops into 

 Morocco, the Foreign Minister stated that the 

 point at which the French had arrived was de- 

 batable ground, some uncertainty existing as to 

 whether it belonged to Algeria or Morocco, but 

 " in any case, the Government would not neg- 

 lect Spanish interests." 



Animated and prolonged debates in the 

 Cortes were provoked by the publication, in 

 the London " Gazette," of a notice respecting 

 the British settlement in Borneo, to which ter- 

 ritory Spain urged a claim, based on a treaty 

 with the Sultan Sooloo. In a Spanish note to 

 the British Government, the grounds of that 

 claim were recapitulated, and reliance expressed 

 that England would do nothing to prejudice 

 Spanish rights. Sefior Cafiamarque, a Liberal 



deputy, imputed to the laches of the late Con- 

 servative Government the present position of 

 the English Company in North Borneo. The 

 Marquis de la Vega de Armijo, replying on be- 

 half of the Government, declined to enter into 

 the question when negotiations were still pend- 

 ing. Sefior Francisco Silvela, ex-Minister of the 

 Interior in the previous Government, defended 

 Sefior Collantes and his brother, the late For- 

 eign Minister, from the charges made by Sefior 

 Cafiamarque. He considered that the recogni- 

 tion of the rights of Spain over Jolo obtained 

 in the period referred to from England and 

 Germany was greatly to the credit and not to 

 the discredit of the Conservative Government. 

 He pointed out that, according to modern in- 

 ternational law, it was not sufficient to take 

 nominal possession of barbarous countries in 

 the name of any civilized state, and he quoted 

 the authorities and practice to show that juris- 

 diction must be actually exercised, directly or 

 indirectly, by the states desirous to make good 

 their title. Sefior Canovas, summing up the de- 

 bate on the part of the Conservative party, in- 

 dorsed the remarks of Sefior Silvela, adding 

 that it was impossible to deny the English 

 Government's right to the course adopted, and 

 while he maintained the right of every nation, 

 after discussion and investigation, to decide 

 upon her own course of action, suited to the 

 best interests of her subjects, he deprecated 

 any step in this question tending to lead the 

 Government into difficulties. 



The centenary of Calderon de la Barca, the 

 " Shakespeare of Spain," was celebrated at 

 Madrid with great magnificence on May 22d. 

 Seventy thousand visitors hurried to the capi- 

 tal to witness the festivities delegates from 

 home and foreign corporations, including the 

 Mayor of Rome, and the representative of the 

 municipality of Paris. 



On October llth the investiture of King Al- 

 fonso with the Order of the Garter took place 

 at the Royal Palace in Madrid. The investi- 

 ture was performed with full ceremonies, for 

 the first time in the case of a king of Spain 

 for the last three hundred years. 



ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY AND TUN- 

 NEL. The great tunnel of the St. Gothard 

 Railway was officially opened for the passage 

 of local trains during the last days of 1881. 

 The railway of which the tunnel will form a 

 part is designed to connect the North Sea with 

 the Mediterranean by the most direct route, 

 and passes through the chain of the Alps at a 

 central point. It has been built by a Swiss 

 company, assisted by German and Italian capi- 

 tal, as a third transalpine route, and to pre- 

 serve for Switzerland its chare of the traffic 

 between North European and Italian ports, 

 which otherwise might bo diverted from that 

 country by the lines through the Mont Cenis 

 Tunnel and the Bronner Pass of the Tyrol. 

 The tunnel has been pronounced by engineers 

 one of the greatest works, if not the greatest 

 one, ever yet executed by man. It is about 



