Spanish government

“ But, sir, why do I talk of Spain? “There are no longer Pyrenees!” There exists no such nation, no such being as a Spanish King, or Minister. It is a mere juggle, played off for the benefit of those who put the mechanism into motion. You know, sir, that you have no differences with Spain; that she is the passive tool of a superior power, to whom, at this moment, you are crouching. Are your differences, indeed, with Spain? And where are you going to send your political panacea, resolutions and handbills excepted, your sole arcanum of Government, your king cure all? ”

“ Those who wish for a liberal government and the regeneration of Spain will find them in my plan; those who fear the return of the queen and the Prince de la Paix may be reassured, since those individuals will have no influence and no credit. The nobles who wish for consideration and honors which they did not have in the past administration, will find them. Good Spaniards who wish for tranquillity and a wise administration, will find these advantages in a system which will maintain the integrity and independence of the Spanish monarchy. ”

“ But in Spain, as in Portugal, the question was between arbitrary rule and constitutional and parliamentary government, and in relation to Spain, as well as to Portugal, we thought that the interests of England in every point of view, commercial and political, would be benefited by the establishment of constitutional government.
If England has any interest more than another with reference to Spain, it is that Spain should be independent, that Spain should be Spanish. Spain for the Spaniards, is the maxim upon which we proceed in our policy with regard to Spain. ”

“ Section 1 Spain is hereby established as a social and democratic State, subject to the rule of law, which advocates freedom, justice, equality and political pluralism as highest values of its legal system. National sovereignty belongs to the Spanish people, from whom all state powers emanate. The political form of the Spanish State is the Parliamentary Monarchy. Section 2 The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards ”

“ For every line we cross, and every city and province we visit, is rich in association, even if the land is now but a great sepulchre of great peoples.
And we were in Spain. On the northern frontier, and in instant contact with the people of France, is a race that is Spanish only in name, and hardly that; a race that has, through all the mutations of government in this unstable country, maintained a sort of independence, with rights and privileges, manners and customs so peculiar to themselves, that they may be said to be in Spain, but not of Spain. ”

“ But in March 1820 the Spanish constitution, repudiated by King Fernando VII. soon after his restoration, was restored after a military rising in Spain. It was promulgated in Mexico, and the ecclesiastics and Spaniards, fearing that a Liberal Spanish government would force on them disendowment, toleration and other changes, induced Augustin de Iturbide, who had already been conspicuous in suppressing the risings, to take the field in order to effect what may be called a reactionary revolution. ”

“ General Francisco Franco and his army defeated the forces which wanted a republic, and also those who wanted to set up Communism. He is now the head of the Spanish government. Because he is considered a dictator, there are many Spanish people who disagree with the way he runs the government and are hoping to change it. In 1947 a new constitution was written in which General Franco agreed that Spain would one day have a king again, but the person who becomes king must be at least twenty-five years old. The old king is dead and there is nobody for the job right now. ”

“ From the time of its discovery, the Spanish government pushed forward its settlements in America, not only with vigor, but with eagerness; ”

“ When I have the satisfaction to deliver up the command, and to give an account of my operations to the representatives of the people, I am confident that they will not find in the epoch of my administration any of those strokes of venality, despotism, or corruption, which have characterized the agents of the Spanish government in America. To administer strict justice to all, rewarding virtue and patriotism, and punishing vice and sedition wherever it may be [Pg 352] found, is the model by which I shall regulate my actions, so long as I am placed at the head of this nation. ”

“ Of the ultimate independence of the Spanish Nation there is no reason to doubt: and for the immediate furtherance of the good cause, and a throwing-off of the yoke upon the first favourable opportunity by the different tracts of the country upon which it has been re-imposed, nothing is wanting but sincerity on the part of the government towards the provinces which are yet free. ”

“ Our relations with Spain are now of a more complicated, though less dangerous, character than they have been for many years. Our citizens have long held and continue to hold numerous claims against the Spanish Government. These had been ably urged for a series of years by our successive diplomatic representatives at Madrid, but without obtaining redress. The Spanish Government finally agreed to institute a joint commission for the adjustment of these claims, and on the 5th day of March, 1860, concluded a convention for this purpose with our present minister at Madrid. ”

“ Had the Spanish Government employed such men to further its influence by enlarging their following and extending their territories and spheres of activity, there is no doubt that a very significant step would have been taken which would have made clear to the Spanish authorities successful methods of procedure and new lines of policy that lead to success. ”

“ England becomes therefore responsible for a particular direction given to the internal Government of Spain, which to control she has no sufficient means. All England can do, and will have to do, is: to keep up a particular party in Spain to support her views.
France, knowing that this is directed against her, must take up the opposite party and follow the opposite policy in Spanish affairs. ”

“ The history of Spanish colonial legislation is the history of the impotent struggles of the government in behalf of the natives, against the avarice and cruelty of its subjects. It proves that an empire powerful at home—and Spain then was so—may be so widely extended that its authority shall scarcely be felt in its extremities. ”

“ In 1812 the constitutional government was [Pg 46] proclaimed, and copies of the constitution of the Spanish monarchy were the only books that were read, consulted, and studied by all classes. The formation of a constitutional corporation, cabildo, and the election of constitutional alcaldes, caused some uproar in the city; but the measures became alarming to the Spaniards when the election of deputies for the cortes took place. ”

“ The latter had the fight of intervention in ecclesiastical and military affairs, finance, commercial and political administration, and even at times, they succeeded to the government on the death or absence of the governor or captain-general. A number of reasons existed for this disparity of power: from the very beginning, and certainly before the audiencias were established in Spain, the municipalities and the nobles exercised powers of local legislation. ”

“ It is, moreover, to be observed that no other government has exercised a like action towards them. This explains what must be kept in mind—the constant tradition and conviction of the Spanish people in respect to that sovereignty—a tradition and a conviction which were manifested, two months ago, with an ardor and an animosity capable of compromising for an instant the internal peace of two friendly governments and their mutual relations. ”

“ In this event you will exercise a sound discretion in applying the powers given with respect to debts, titles to land, civil officers, and the continuation of the Spanish laws; taking care to commit the Government on no point further than may be necessary. And should any Spanish military force remain within the country, after the occupancy by the troops of the United States, you may, in such case, aid in their removal from the same. ”

“ When Spain was confronted with the necessity of governing her vast empire, it was natural that she should profit by her former administrative experience, and make use of those institutions of government which had proved successful at home. ”

“ The government which Spain established in America was admirably suited to the problem which confronted her there. It is certain that Spain put into operation within a short time a more finished and successful scheme of government than did any colonizing nation in any other part of the world. This may be accounted for by the fact that, before Spain embarked on a career of colonization, she had developed laws and institutions at home which were suited to the solution of colonial problems and she had no more to do than to inaugurate them in the colonies. ”

“ If a Self-governing Community does not fulfil the obligations imposed upon it by the Constitution or other laws, or acts in a way that is seriously prejudicial to the general interest of Spain, the Government, after having lodged a complaint with the President of the Self-governing Community and failed to receive satisfaction therefore, may, following approval granted by the overall majority of the Senate, take all measures necessary to compel the Community to meet said obligations, or to protect the abovementioned general interest. ”

“ They have ruined their estates by mismanagement and extravagance, and impoverished the country by the neglect of their immense possessions. Should there be a revolution in Spain, wounded pride, and party spirit, would deny them the proper share of power in the constitution, to which their lands, their ancient rights, and their remaining influence entitle them. Thus excluded from their chief and peculiar duty of keeping the [Pg 30] balance of power between the throne and the people, the Spanish grandees will remain a heavy burthen on the nation ”

“ There has never been in Spain the bitter separation of nobles and people; together they both worked for their freedom, keeping a fraternal relationship that is uncommon in history. The Spanish temperament, like the English, has an intense loyalty and love of tradition; it finds its happiest condition under a monarchy, but the history of the 19th century shows it must be a constitutional monarchy; a modern king rules for the good of the people since he rules by will of the people. ”

“ Even to-day a rigid centralization carries the pettiest affair to Madrid for settlement,{35} and lays upon the Prime Minister a crushing load of work. Etiquette is carried to excess, and there are in Spain many “formal natures,” men who would perish upon a ceremony rather than come to a quick and common-sense conclusion. But the true defect of Spanish politics is that they have a tendency to become abstract, with many excellent formulas and catchwords, but divorced from reality, a kind of up-to-date scholasticism. ”

“ A sketch of the political history of a country is necessarily concerned with the externals of politics—the shifting balance of parties, changes of ministries, the elaboration of political programmes; and these have their importance. It must, however, not be forgotten that in a country in which, as in Spain,Spanish Politics. the constitutional consciousness of the mass of the people is very little developed, all these things reflect only very imperfectly the great underlying forces by which the life of the nation is being moulded and its destiny determined. ”

“ Moreover we admit no superiorities and do not willingly accept king or president, priest or prophet.” It is this refractoriness which has made the Spanish so hard a people to govern, and wrought permanent mischief to their prosperity as a nation. They would seem to have still to learn the true dignity of loyalty and service. Every Spaniard, of however humble a position, considers that he is well qualified to criticize the measures of his rulers, and still more the fancied measures that he chooses to attribute to them. ”

“ In 1812 the Spanish Cortes enacted a constitution which embodied many such reforms as the freedom of the press, the suppression of the Inquisition, the closing of monasteries and convents, the expulsion of the Jesuits and the cutting off of all privileges belonging exclusively to the army and the nobility. To crown all, the people were invested with power. But long before the ignorant peasantry of Spain could realize their high privileges a counter-revolution had seated Ferdinand on the throne, as firm a believer as ever in
"The right divine of kings to govern wrong." ”

“ The Spaniards are the grandees of the country; too proud to work, they leave all business to the foreigners and all labor to the Indians, retaining in connection with the half-breeds all political power. When the regents appointed by Spain were expelled in the early part of the present century, republics were established, but they were republics only in name; the people were neither educated nor fitted for self-government. ”

“ In Spain, the advocates of continual change, in most cases in which personal interest is not their moving spring, hope to arrive ultimately at a republic. Now, no one more than myself admires the theories of Constitutional governments, of universal political power and of republicanism: the last system would be the best of all, were it only for the equality it is to establish. But how are men to be equalised by the manufacturers of a government? How are the ignorant and uneducated to be furnished with legislative capacity, or the poor or unprincipled armed against the seductions of bribery? ”