G96 



SPAIN. 



fought to retain their salaries, and generally had 

 influence enough with the party managers to 

 prevail, although some of his colleagues loyally 

 endeavored to carry out Gamazo's plans and in- 

 sisted on resigning when they failed. The Min- 

 ister of War, interdicted from cutting down the 

 number of captain-generalships and compelled to 

 allow extra pay to the few officers who were re- 

 tired, could only economize by reducing the 

 strength of the standing army. The Minister of 

 Justice proposed to consolidate the district crim- 

 inal courts, whereupon the lawyers struck and 

 refused to plead. In his budget, presented on 

 May 10, Senor Gamazo announced economies in 

 all departments of 32,000,000 pesetas, besides 

 1,000,000 pesetas remitted by the Queen, and an 

 increase in the revenue of 26,000,000 pesetas. 

 He asked for authority to negotiate for a new in- 

 ternal loan of 700,000,000 pesetas at 4 per cent, 

 for the purpose of paying the debt to the Bank 

 of Spain and other liabilities. The Government 

 dreaded the consequences of a Republican vic- 

 tory in the communal elections in May. To 

 avert it, a bill was brought in postponing the 

 elections till November. The pretext for this 

 measure was that the Republicans had gained 

 elections in the large cities by fraudulent regis- 

 tration and false returns, a statement designed 

 to rebut the bitter complaints made by the Con- 

 servatives against the Liberals for permitting the 

 Republicans to reappear in the arena of practical 

 politics. The Republicans, incensed at the cal- 

 umny and determined to frustrate, if possible, 

 the plans of the Government to extinguish their 

 constitutional movement, obstructed the bill, 

 keeping the house sitting for fifty-four consecu- 

 tive hours, until the legal date for the elections 

 had come. The ministry postponed the elections 

 arbitrarily by a royal decree, and, taking advan- 

 tage of the momentary retirement of the Repub- 

 licans to consult after the rejection of their sub- 

 stitute bill, called a vote against the protests of 

 the Republican members who were left on guard, 

 and passed the bill instantly by the almost unani- 

 mous vote of the members present, for none ex- 

 cept the Carlists sustained the Republicans in 

 their fight. The introduction of the bill was de- 

 layed until within two days of the communal 

 election day because the House was not organized 

 before, the ministers having consumed a month's 

 time in futile efforts to produce legal grounds for 

 unseating the Republican Deputies. For years 

 Sagasta and his fellow Liberals had invited and 

 urged the Federalist, Progressist, and Centralist 

 Republicans to take part in the pacific and legal 

 political contests and challenged them to show 

 their electoral and legislative strength. They 

 had formed a Republican coalition in the last 

 campaign, had put forward their best men, an 

 illustrious galaxy, outshining by their reputation 

 for patriotism, rectitude, eloquence, and learning 

 the chief representatives of both the great parties, 

 and had organized their party so quietly that the 

 Liberals and Conservatives were dumbfounded 

 at their electoral success. Sagasta now showed 

 that he was determined to stifle the Republican 

 vote, and for this reason the Republican mem- 

 bers, as soon as they returned from the lobby, an- 

 nounced that they would resign their seats, and 

 left the hall in a body. Although it was late at 

 night, the news spread through the city and 10,- 



000 people gathered to cheer them until the crowd 

 was dispersed by the police with drawn sabers. 

 Castelar, who since the establishment of universal 

 suffrage, trial by jury, and freedom of the press, 

 has been a Liberal in everything excepting ac- 

 ceptance of the dynasty, announced his retire- 

 ment from public life, while his lieutenants, Abar- 

 zuzu and Almagro, with the Possibilist journals 

 and committees, proclaimed their fidelity to Cas- 

 telar's ideas of a peaceful Republican evolu- 

 tion. 



Montero Rios, despairing of financial reform 

 in his department and meeting with opposition 

 to his plans in the Chamber, resigned on May 24, 

 and on July 6 was succeeded by Ruiz Capdepon. 

 Moret Prendergast, who took charge of Foreign 

 Affairs temporarily, was confirmed in that post, 

 though still retaining the portfolio of Public 

 Works. On Oct. 15 Lopez Puigcerver was ap- 

 pointed Minister of the Interior in the place of 

 Venancio Gonzalez, who retired on account of 

 ill health. The prospect of saving in the army 

 expenses was rendered remote by the operations 

 in Morocco, but he succeeded in obtaining the 

 consent of the Cortes to the main features of his 

 reform of the antiquated territorial organization 

 of the army. Instead of the numerous captain- 

 cies-general there will be 8 corps d'armee in Spain 

 and detached divisions in the Canaries, the Ba- 

 learic Islands, and Morocco. Of Gamazo's proj- 

 ects, including a readjustment of the alcohol and 

 other duties, the abolition of the Court of Ac- 

 counts and sinecures in various departments, the 

 funding of the floating debt and of State pen- 

 sions, and many other changes, some were aban- 

 doned and some were modified to accommodate 

 the Conservatives or objecting members of his 

 own party. The budget thus modified was ap- 

 proved in the beginning of August, and the 

 Cortes were then adjourned. 



A part of the Government programme affected 

 the ancient privileges of the Basque provinces, 

 and Republicans and Carlists joined in urging 

 the Basques to defend their prescriptive rights. 

 In San Sebastian, where the Queen was staying, 

 the populace mobbed the band for refusing to 

 play the Basque national hymn, " Guernicaco 

 Arbola," and stoned the hotel in which Premier 

 Sagasta was lodging and the troops that were 

 called out to quell the riot. Additional troops 

 were sent into the district to repress the incipi- 

 ent rebellion which threatened to develop into a 

 civil war like that waged against the Govern- 

 ment of Queen Christina by the Basque Carlists 

 for the same cause. Sagasta, in his first minis- 

 try, had annulled the political fueros or special 

 privileges of the Basques when they were weak- 

 ened by the war, and now he had decided to annul 

 their right, after the termination of the com- 

 pact of 1886, to assess and collect the national 

 taxes in their own way and pay the general sum 

 into the treasury through their provincial au- 

 thorities, and had informed the municipalities 

 that henceforth they would be treated on the 

 same footing as the rest of Spain. 



In other provinces also opposition to the Gov- 

 ernment reforms took the form of defiance of the 

 law. In Valencia, Catalonia, and Navarre, people 

 refused to pay taxes or to allow others to pay. 

 The new duties on wine, spirits, and tobacco 

 were especially resented by the poorer classes. 



