PRIMO DE RIVERA, SPAIN’S DICTATOR, DEFENDS DICTATORSHIP

Shannon News, 18 December 1928, Page 4

PRIMO DE RIVERA, SPAIN’S DICTATOR, DEFENDS DICTATORSHIP

CONDEMNS NOISY AND STERILE ASSEMBLIES. An important witness for the defence in the trial of Dictatorship v. Democracy is noted in the appearance in H Press interview of Spain's dictator, General Primo de Rivefa. Coming shortly after the celebration of the fifth anniversary of his dictatorship iri Spain, his brief but cogent testimony as given to the London ‘Referee, ’ attracted unde attention in the European Press, and seems of esp'ccial interest to the Paris ‘Temps,’ which notes among its salient passages ’the following:

“There are few ho can deny that from a material point of view, dictatorship in Europe have, on the whole, proved unprofitable to the countries in which exercised. This is easy to understand. In the, first place, Government Ministers ' under a dictatorship are not obliged to be present almost every day at parliamentary sessions, and thereby gain precious time devoted t« the study of the problems that surround then!.

“I am not an enemy of assemblies so long as they work seriously and cohsicentiously for. the greater good of the nation. But I condemn, and from the point of view of the real interests of the nation, noisy and sterile assemblies, which imagine that their principal task is to overthrow governments.”

In expanding his ideas of parliamentary governments, the ‘Temps’ finds General Primo de Rivera citing the case of the Government of France, of which he shys:— “It is true that when nations and their Parliaments reach, a high degree of culture, they escape the abovenamed peril. For example, the French Parliament very wisely suppressed certain" of its rights during the summer of 1926, when, in order to save the franc, it permitted M. Poincare to establish a veritable financial dictatorship. It is not hard to imagine what the fall of the ifranc would have been if the French Parliament had not aeted las it did act.”

Turning then to Belgium, this Paris daily notes that in his interview with the ‘Referee’ General Primo de Ri> vera pointed out that the Belgian Parliament showed real patriotism in momentarily yielding its pierogatiyes to allow the Government full financial authority, and the Spanish Dictator is quoted as follows:- ■

“Mr. Mussolini has declared that a democratic parliamentary regime is the luxury of rich nations. He is perfectly correct. In rich countries and highly civilised ones, Parliament, has its - usefulness, because their representu- <• tives know their duty, and, that it is not nceessary to'make much ado about nothing, V “Parliament has its usefulness, l shall add, as long as the situation is normal, butm days of crisis Parliaments should willingly limit their prerogatives. Whatever may be tile differences of opinion as to the political status and the •political aspect of Spain’s dictatorship, nobody can deny —for'the facts would contradict him—that 'during the past five years that country has. accomplished a material progress entirely notable which shows itself in all ■ branches of economic activity. As for rtalv. everybody is aware that chronic strikes have ceased, that the lira has been stabilised, that the provinces of the South are making ]> regress, and that regions formerly unlioalthful are now being developed.” ing two rooms between them.