Show spain may aay prove A second russia new york tork unfortunate spain a few citizens fabulously enriched and the mass of the lie population bitterly tin im ed by the war her banks so surfeited with gold gobi that tile the yellow metal Is at a discount and her people mostly going without sufficient to eat seems to keep international observers here on the brink of plunging into a state of disorderly turmoil like that recently witnessed in russia the sanguinary events of the world war distract attention from klug king alfonso country but history lil story Is being ninde made there which in ili normal times would nil fill the front pages of the newspapers find and be the hie principal topic of discussion liere here from the tea table to the cabinet room spain is probably tile hardest lift hit by the lie war of nil all the nations except those actu actually nily in the conflict in the early I 1 part art of the lie war the agitation between pro ally and pro gernian german groups was looked upon as a possible source of troubles trouble but this international question Is now overshadowed by a multitude of internal maladies any ally one of which would ordinarily be considered of major importance alfonso Is hissed altonso alfonso the athletic young kill king has lost ills former popularity ue ilk Is hissed in the theater find and stays awny away from polo games because of anticipated disagreeable hostile advin demonstrations this Is because lie he Is blamed for the series of impotent governments ern ments which battle weakly and ineffectually against the nations multiplying ti difficulties but alfonso Is no kalser kaiser lie ile Is as much at the mercy of the conflicting political current as his subjects however it Is tile the prerogative of a kings subjects to blame blaine him for everything that happens stall mail dispatches received receive here describe the labor disorders in spanish cities which have resulted result etl in several hundred deaths ns as likely to increase rather than diminish perhaps alil Is the most serious of the dangers threatening alfonso today the radical workmen to be compared with the bolshevik of petro grad are pursuing a course of aab sabotage 0 and destruction in tin an effort to intimidate the authorities but tile outbreaks in ili different cities appear to have little connection and tile hie movement Is not well organized whatever power the revolution has arises from the fact that it costs two find and a half times Is as much to live in spain as it lid did before the war adlle wages contrary to the experience in most other countries have remained stationary or actually decreased 2 many lines of profitable manufacturing have had to close cloe because their markets in the teutonic countries awl an in russia have been cut oft off by fear aar lines and because england and italy are stringently limiting importations in a few lines the entente allies have demanded nil an spain could produce and have made merchants and manufacturers wealthy beyond their wildest dreams but these obese exceptions have not relieved the general situation army its own master the army so far has proved dependable when alien set to the task of putting down the revolutionary workingmen but SPI edns army Is almost self gov arning as dussias Rus sias was for many w weeks last spring before was vas able to use the spectre of defeat by germany to restore discipline every army corps and smaller unit has it appears a council of defense this Is especially representative of the noncommissioned officers and commissioned officers of lower grade who feel themselves ill treated by the bureaucracy at madrid it will be remembered that in the army crisis of fl a few weeks ago the off officers leers were able to force the release of their lead rs rg who had been thrown into fortress prisons the army trouble Is not settled the officers demand technical c hanges changes in organization more pay and less favorit favoritism lm in promotions A third clearly defined source of trouble Is the separatist movement in catalonia the Catal cataland catalans Cat fins speak a different language from froin the peor people 1 I of madrid it might be described as midway between french and spanish is as C catalonia lies between france and die alie rest of spain the catalan Is insulted if called a spaniard catalan Is 19 what lie likes as a designation of nationality tiona lity the province of catalonia Is the wealthiest most prosperous and most progreso pro gresh she e in the country its capital barcelona Is the center and hotbed of roost most revolutionary movements in spain most of its people would rather be part of france franca than of spain they believe a n hidebound in curably Clr ably antique government at madrid Is presenting pre enting their taking a place with the most advanced peoples on the globe other spanish pro provinces ances would also hite to break away from the madrid government perhaps partly in imitation of catalonia but more on account of what differences in race language manners and habits of thought these three causes of trouble mentioned fire are easy for a foreigner to understand der stand but when the untutored american comes to plunge into the intricacies trica cies of spanish political parties constantly dividing changing their platforms and making now new alliances the head swirls three parties pro ally at the tha present moment the socialists ests republicans and reformist mal t anz nt up the so called block of tho the left are combined until the recent internal troubles became paramount tills block was concentrating its efforts on throwing spain into the war as an entente ally grievances against the germans are almost exactly like the united states continued outrages on undefended merchant iner chan t ships by the U boats not to go into all the maze of details one may say in general that the conservatives the clericals the high army officers and the leaders of the old families favor germany lint but there here are notable exceptions to the general rule that the alie aristocrats favor germany one bein abeln ili the duke of allia alba whose family has been famous in history for centuries the king himself Is believed to lean toward the entente ills his consort ena Is british through and through in fact she has incurred some unpopular ity by failure to conceal her preference for england to spain hut hat ahat the king may do matters little nigh high officers leers off in the government tit at madrid Is confined to a group of about a men bureaucrats no less stupid it if not so brutal as those 0 ot the czar cabinet follows cabinet in nn endless wearying round each one Is destined to failure from the start because of the brainless gos 09 in fix positions of importance if for no other reason tims thus unhappy spain stumbles on slie she Is ili buffeted by blasts from all elections the spaniard Is a natural revolutionary there seems little likelihood of a n solution of the lie coun arys troubles trouble little chance that any sort of a firm strong central government will take control find lead the people in the ways of a modern prosperous democracy carlista Car lists also a danger unusual as it would seem in ili these d anys a y spain may even witness conflicts over the cr cron ori the Car carlista listi tire are very strong most of the pro german conservatives tire are carlista Carlls Car lists ts they favor the claims to the throne of don jaline jaime of bourbon duke of madrid only son of the late don carlos lo 10 who now lives at frohsdorf Frohs dorf in austria and Is entirely identified with tile the german party in that country one thing Is quite certain alfonso would fight for his bis throne ue he would not yield weakly to force whether offered by the Car carlista Carlls lists ts or by any other of the ill many y potentially hostile parties or combinations lie ile would not climb down in trembling silent impo tence like nicholas romanoff lie he Is a soldier and fl a real one but altonso alfonso might bow to reason where force would not avail in a light moment he offered once to run as candidate for first president should the people desire a republic yet troubles tire are too deep seated and to involved to be cast off with a change of constitution what would help her most is the ending ol 01 0 the great war if ole he war goes on woes boes appear certain to increase |