New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 1875.
The recent European and American news is not without interest in this country. Don Alphonso, son of Queen Isabella, has been declared King of Spain, and he has entered the capital with the apparent approval of the inhabitants, and certainly with the support of the army, whose choice he is. Marshal Serrano and his family have reached Paris. So far, the monarchial cause has prospered. But becaiise the Dictatorship of Serrano has been brought to an end, it does not follow that therefore Republicanism is xmsuited to the Spanish people. On the contrary, we suspect the truth is the other way if the country were free to express an opinion. Marshal Serrano was not a Republican. He was forced upon Spain, by a military revolt, headed by the commandant of Madrid, General Pavia, who imitated Cromwell, after a fashion, by summarily dispersing the Cortes, and proclaiming a military dictatorship. The fittest instrument to the hand of this military conspirator was Serrano ; —a man who had served nearly every Government in Spain during his manhood, and who had been unfaithful to all. The Republican Government, under Senor Castelar, raised the credit of Spain in a few months, from the lowest depths, to as high a point as ever it reached under the late Bourbons; and if it had not been for the military revolt above referred to, consequent on an adverse vote in the Cortes, we are convinced Spain would at this day"have had a settled Republican Government, and that the ghost of Don Carlos would have been laid. But it was not to be. Spain and the Bourbons are not to be divorced. The innocent blood shed centuries ago in the endeavor to stifle free thought and liberty pf conscience in Spain, does not appear to have been atoned for, and whether the instrument be Don Carlos, or Serrano, or Don Alphonso, the result will be the same until full atonement ha 3 been made. Spain is a country literally stripped and peeled, and, despite diplomacy, it • will run out the sands of its national destiny. Don Alphonso is now King of Spain. The army has said it; and since Pavia's revolt, the army is supremo.. But how long will the young son of Isabella, of more than doubtful paternity, reign over Spain ? He is personally unable to rule the turbulent elements of Spanish society. He is inexperienced ; a young man who succeeds to the Throne by Divine Right, as against the other Pretender, who claims the Throne, if we may bo permitted the phrase, by Diviner Right. Don Carlos is a man of the world, with all his humbug and pretence, and if ho had Biicceeded in establishing himself, we have little doubt that he would have made an able and judicious ruler. But Don Alphonso is a mere youth, and will be a puppet in the hands of the generals who proclaimed him King. For this reason, neither Carlism is extinguished nor Republicanism destroyed. They both embody living principles ; Don Alphonso represents brute force ;—the army, which failed to crush Carlism, and could not subdue even the extreme Republicans. If Spain had' a hope at all, of late ycarsjjit was during the reign of KingAwADELTs', but the high-minded Savoyard would not submit to tho dictation of the army, and as his kingly office was repugnant to the Republicans, ho abdicated, bearing with him the admiration and'
respect of friends and enemies. But since then, Spain has been torn asunder by internecine war, and there is no virtue in Don Alphonso to heal the wound.
The attitude of foreign States is worth noting. It was rumored that Germany had recognised Don Alphonso as King of Spain, much in the same way as it was rumored that the German Emperor had recognised Serrano's Dictatorship. Both rumors were false. The Marshalate in France, and the Marshalate in Spain, were entirely different affairs. The one represented the will of a mighty and puissant nation ; the other, the will of an army, which for centuries has a record of defeats, and is only formidable to its fatherland. But there is something more than this. The Republic, the Interregnum during Prim's authority, the Government of King Amadeus, and the Dictators who succeeded, without exception, respected freedom of conscience, freedom of the Press, and freedom of worship. It remained for Don Alpiionso's mushroom Government to decree the suppression of two Protestant journals, and to close a Protestant chapel in Cadiz ; and the German Emperor refuses to recognise Don Alphonso until the decree in question has been rescinded. The moral effect of this action by the German Empire will be enormous. It may prove the death blow of Legitimacy in Spain ; it is certain to be sustained by all enlightened peoples. If the Spanish Bourbons will persist in playing into the hands of Prince Bismarck, it is not to be wondered at if that astute political gambler trumps their trick. Meanwhile the other European Powers stand aloof. But what about America? The United States are looking towards Cuba and Porto Rico ; and to say the truth, it is a marvel that the Washington Government has tolerated the Mediaeval tyranny of Spain on her coast for so long a period. Latterly, while Spain was nominally a Republic, there was an excuse for winking at Spanish enormities; but now that a kingling has been set up at Madrid by the army, the grim occupant of the White House, and his advisers, may think it high time to intervene. Earl Derby has exacted compensation from Spain for the Virginius affair ; this would be an excellent pretext for the United States Government to take a firm stand, inasmuch as Spain has always hitherto managed to evade a settlement of their demand for compensation arising out of the same transaction.
With regard to the internal affairs of the United States, the race difficulty in Louisiana and the Southern States is likely to lead to a change in the Washington Cabinet. Tt is impossible, however, to exonerate President Grant, who appears all along to have supported the " carpet-baggers " against the people. If a conciliatory and honest policy had been pursued by Grant, the South would now have been pacified and prosperous ; as it is, there is every probability of a social war —the greatest curse that could overtake any country.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4319, 23 January 1875, Page 2
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1,065New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 1875. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4319, 23 January 1875, Page 2
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