A FOOLISH KING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 256, 4 December 1909, Page 3

A FOOLISH KING

Here are two dramatic and contrasted pictures' of Spain. One represents the King, the other his soldiers on the battlefield. • The first picture is by Mr„ W. J. Goode, and is from an article in the English Review on "The Present .Mo ment in Spain." THE KING IN UNDRESS, "From Madrid the young King had gone to San Sebastian for a day. lie returned for a Consejo de los Minis,,ros —a meeting of the Cabinet. At tlio ' station Ministers received him, in official costume, with all the paraphernalia of Court etiquette. To them appeared the King in deerstalker cap, lounge cos'tuine, free and easy in manner, full ot details' of his trip, his shooting, his pleasures; and . . . there was mi consejo. Such an utter disregard for the almost sacrosanct etiquette of the occasion, even more than the failure to appreciate the importance of the political situation, impressed everyone, and was commented on in tins severest fashion, even bv Ministerial supporters. "The Sovereign is apparently utterly powerless to impress any course oi action on his Ministers, in whose hands he is, to the public eye, a mere puppet. So that in the actual situation of anI tagonism to the Government in general and to the present Administration : :i particular there is nothing in the popular attitude towards the dynasty tlut can act as a counterpoise. "The short-lived popularity of the English marriage was partly founded on a hope, expressed in the wild welcome given here to the royal couple, ine address of welcome, pointed at tlio young queen much more than at the [ young king, said: 'We look to you as an Englishwoman lo introduce here English custom, English lloerty.' And now the inveterate Spanish hatred of foreigners lias returned by n revulsion of feeling, and the popularity has van- | islieil. When not active dislike, the I feeling is one of cool ci-ntenipt. Too much was doubtless expected of one who given no signs of intellectual power , or nolitical sagacity." j ' THE MISSING IN WAR. j The second picture is merely a correspondent's telegram to his paper; but . it is realistic in.the extreme. It is from i Tlie Times' correspondent at Madrid, i anil sent on 41 h October. It concerns I the Spanish in Morocco, lie says:

'"On September 22 t.he papers publish d lite first official intimation of the total losses' from June 9' to the end \ol August. The figures given were 164 dead and 98 missing. The missing had not been mentioned till that date, and the notice was probably designed to prepare the public mind for tlie tragic discovery that was to be expected when the advance oa Mount Gurngu began. {, lt will be remembered that towards the end of the action of July 27 General Pintos, in a hopeless attempt to storm tlu> Hill' positions on the Inner slopes' of tlie ir„onntain, led his battalions into a deep ravine, known as the Barraiieo del Lobo, or Wolf's (lully. llmp they were caught in a trap and almost annihilated. "A large proportion of. the men were in the depths of depression; jolliers were untrained nyi-iuts fresh from Madrid or Catalonia, where their heads had been filled with disloyalty and anti-militarism. Mos't of them had only disembarked a few hpurs before, and Die morale of the whole was very gopd.

Thanks to the devotion of the officers, ; tlie honor of the battalions was saved, but nearly everything else was fast. The 1 survivors got back to Melilla that nignt, ' and the details of the affair were buriea t in silence.

A TERRIBLE DISCOVERY. "Two months elapsed, and on September 27 a Spanish force again entered tlio Jlarranco del Lolio, this time on the' ; high tide of victory. What it Saw there has been described by more than ono correspondent. Scattered tar up the "Lilly, among the rocks and prickly I I pears, lay the remains of the dead and wounded officers aTid men left behind on July 27. The Moors had.taken mpst of i their clothes, and had partially burnt 'many of the bodies. Some had had| j (heir heads battered in with rocks, all ' liad been mutilated and disfigured, and I nil bore signs, both in attitude and oxfoiled is variously estimated at from 100 to 200. The remains were collected and taken to Melilla, where a funeral service was held over tliem on the very day r that the Spanish flag was hoisted on n Mount Gurugu."