Show A LITTLE KING madrid june 6 all sorts of tale we been told abroad about the state of affairs ait the palace in madrid but the plain truth is that king altonso has riot yet become lung of spain although lie ascended to the throne a year ago ise is a grown man according to spanish ideas and yet he is almost as completely under his mothers rule as if he were child of ten he likes it no more than the majority of spanish people like it the situation is strained and trouble seems likely to come soon that great part of the people rich anil poor which usually keeps aloof from all political contentions as well as the numerous forces of ahe radical democratic party commanded by the popular cx jiin ister senor canalejas Can alejas hoped that his royal mother would retire completely from all matters concerning the state the young monarch would renounce forever the old political routine to which spain owes its actual decline dec liae and under the guidance of young intelligent ministers would devote bis birst cares to encouraging agricultural labors to the protection and development of commerce and national industry and the reorganization of the army and navy HAS TO ASK HIS MOTHER the truth is that alfonso XIII daily receives according to established rule each minister in his turn and presides every friday over the weekly council of ministers but ho never signs any decree without first having consulted his mother nor does he inake any omerea eions to his counsellors coun without the jipp of his mother or express any de eire which has not previously met with her maternal approval in any case in which an immediate reply is urgently required the sovereign allows his mother to frame a convenient answer and when ministerial crisis takes place the fro mier after having officially announced it to the king goes to confer directly with the queen mother by the strict orders of ciaria christina her non is obliged to lead almost the same life he led before being proclaimed king excepting of course his daily interview with the ministers ilia majesty rises at 7 inthe and in bummer and at 8 in autumn and winter after a tiglia be takes lessons in constitutional law in spanish in economy in drawing and languages alternately he gives audience to the premier other ministers and than repairs to his gymnasium situated on the ground floor of the palace where ho exercises for one hour PLAY AT A CENT A gabie later on after having lunched will i OH mother sisters and cousin the prince of austria ho mounts hia beloved horse and goes io review his troops in the various barra cag or tides his bicycle or automobile in the palace gardens or else goes a shooting in the royal preserves near adrid at his majesty returns to ane palace and takes fencing elsons essons until or 0 then he devotes himself again to hi studies until 7 at which hour he rejoins his family at dinner afterward the royal family retire to a private chamber ol 01 the queen mother where the la indulges in a gain of checkers with a maid of honor while the lying amuses i himself with playing at tre sillo with his or aide de camp and gentlemen in waiting tho stakes consist of one cent for each game played I 1 the winners put their gains into a small box and when three or four pesetas have ticen saved the amount is invested in the purchase of a national lottery ticket according to the queens wishes fortune however has not favored the king and his companions with eo mui public anarchists might attack henr secondly he relieves that if the actions ot the were less restrained he with inexperience of lira and state allaire and an excessively lively character might prove imprudent and endanger the interests ot the monarchy lastly the queen thinks t necessary that herreon her feon should lead a life because he la not physically strong the queen herself is to blame however for the kings inexperience because she has constantly kept her son confined in the royal palace without allowing him to mi youtha of his own age on the other hand her arguments as to the kings health mu it be admitted the young monarch is A s bot s ft rj as one far taing through the lottery when the strikes ten the and ler daughters rise all play ceases and the biag seeks hia bedroom the rule is practicably invariable excepting on the rare occasions on which a reception or banquet taka in the palace or when the royal family preside at ajay official ceremony VOW what reasons does the queen not allow her son more liberty of action in private as well aa state affairs why does ehe not permit him to lead a ies and luet elih personages at court affirm that there exist many weighty reasons in the first place alic queen fears that it her son appeared more frequently in T lf tall and thin and suffers from severe tenacious colds alarming frequency so much so that according to trustworthy the cobit physicians lenorea albera and ledesma impressed by thee circumstances submitted don alfona to a careful examination in of which they informed the queen tant her son showed symptoms of consumption her maj c sty greatly biot no time in calling to a consultation the eminent doctora camison and cortizo as well as some renowned military practitioners all of whom declared that although they did not exactly subscribe to the opinion that ilia majesty had consumption said that he showed a special predisposition toward tuberculosis the malady of which bis fathel died since that report was made his majesty has devoted less time than before to his studies accords very few audiences on horseback and goes shooting with lef and drives out in his ca arige more often besides this he is daily visited by one of the court physicians and is subjected to a diet in which milk vegetables and beef extract predominate this sort of treatment cauca the monarch 0 great deal of because iio is fond t the chang and military man oeuvres and in general all exercises which like fencing and gymnastics re strength and agility alfonso is really an excellent and indefatigable sportsman and when he goes shooting in the preserves of the bards or sometimes in IMS royal park of he usually kills in a comparatively short time COO to bares and some dozens of bucks and stage which he afterwards presents to the charitable establishments of th capital A ON 63 CENTS A DAY another favorite pursuit of donai fonso is to put himself at the head of one or two regiments of infantry and cavalry and lead them to the great encampment camp ment of carabanchel anchel where he makes them perform various evolutions and for which he has acquired particular ability ahe likes also to present himself unexpectedly in the barracks of some cavalry regiment and to order all the mento aft on horseback Sin mediately then lie usually rewards the first two soldiers who appear before him mounted ath all the money he happens to have about him which gea brally docs not exceed thirty or forty pesetas pes or from 6 to 8 the royal family of spain enjoys an annual income of over one and a half millions of dollars but all their wealth is administered by the queen mother who according to many statements is supposed to deposit a part of it in the banks of vienna and london be this as it may it is a fact that alfonso XIII receives as his monthly allowance of pocket money only a hundred beset as or 20 of which he spends in cigars and turkish cigarettes of which he consumes an extraordinary eitra ordinary number undoubtedly this constant penury 0 o which don Alfonso finds himself reduced as not calculated to make him beaire that donna maria christina should continue to be the true sovereign of spain but are other more powerful reasons which make the young monarch desire to see his mother depart from th court and reside in some other city in the king doni or abroad HE FOR alfona ol 01 the priestly which ahe queen dmd excises suan great influence in the policy of the court and adale he would like to open alie doors of his palace to the liberal element of tho aristocracy and of the wealtha citizens he like to intervene directly in nil state affairs and to favor democracy hede he de sires to exercise his own will like the emperor of germany as he once ye marked to a courtier lie has an ardent longing to visit the principal stated of europe AS ho confessed to various princes who came to madrid year on the occasion of his coronation but this wish of hi cannot be realized at pre because if alfonso XIII undertook a journey through europe he naturally would bo obliged to pay a ekit to the president of the bronch republic and donna maria christina docs not think it desirable to strengthen bonds of freind shin with a republic the sovereign would also have to visit the king of italy and donna maria christina fears that this would greatly displease the pope A visit to the king of england would also bo and donna maria christina believes that this would provoke an anti monarchial agitation in her own country because in spain the policy of england inspires much antipathy especially since the war with the united states meanwhile alfonso XIII understands peT focy well that the retired life professing for his mother sentiments of profound affection and graU tude ia wishing that he could find agomo p ble plan of obtaining wore freedom and especially that she would not put so many obstacles in the way of his getting married personages who know the king intimately testify that he inherits the pro amative disposition of ilia eatn cr and that he has repeatedly suggested to the queen that it in time a bride was found for him the queen moth m realizes ito he full importance of getting her son ROM hla ate which he leads and the small active share which he takes in state affairs even after having been proclaimed king have chilled the sympathies and weakened the hopes which his coming of age had awakened throughout the whole nation ia demonstrated by the fact that in the last few months the kepueli cart party has acquired extraordinary power TO GET MARRIED for all these reasons it may be af finned that kins altonso although married immediately but sho can find no one to suit her a a prospective mother in taw recently wrote to the emperor of austria and to the pope begging them to assist her in the selection of a wife for her son according to absolutely trustworthy private information the emperor of austria has answered his royal and proposed various princess chosa hanft I 1 have not been able 0 o but I 1 know that the queen did not approve of them for ODO or another ot political or religious reasons the pope alo replied only last week to maria chris tina promising to do bia best in the matter but expressing at the same time his opinion that don alfonso is still too young to be married nevertheless a high functionary at court whom I 1 questioned yesterday concerning this particular subject assured me that tho ardent king never lost an opportunity of manifesting td hia mother aa well as to his sisters and cousin his fervent wish to marry and although it was still impossible to make predictions with any certainty it was worth while stating that the king gave pronounced proofs of admiration for tha princess louise of orleans the beamut ful young sister of queen amelia of portugal when she was staying in sia adrid recently and lodged at the royal palace for three davs the marked gallantry with which don alfonso treated her was observed by everybody at court it may be owing to this circumstance perhaps that louise of orleans and her mother departed from madrid a few days earlier than the date they had fixed A few significant words recently a t by alfonso XIII may tervo to give a pretty clear idea of the sentiments which he harbors toward the united states A few weeks ago tha monarch re in solemn audience the new aar bas gador of the united states arthue hardy who came to present his bials the king treated mr great courtesy and was very and affable with him but as soon as ibo dimster had left the hall where the inception had taken place alfonso 2311 heaved a deyp sigh and turning to ona of his courtiers who stood at hia ride sadly with profound eno tion now many most have been wakened awakened a within me through tha enoe of that and what hard work it costs me to feign that which I 1 do not fecat then slightly shaking his aitu a pensive air he added in a as if ha speaking to hana effa when will my monarchy eter be what that caf these words uttered by denoo sovereign and for the authenticity of which I 1 can vouch are so eloquent s 3 to render all comment BROWN |