Democratic Forces United

There were many more changes in the political status of the country. For the first time in the history of Spain the forces of democracy seemed to be blended in an effort to work wonders for the triumph of their principles, and the dynastic Liberal Party had the hearty support of even the Republicans, some of whose principal leaders were inclined to accept a position in the Cabinet, under the belief that it was possible to accom-. plish by evolution what had been impossible through force or revolutionary agitation.

When the Canalejas Government was assured of a long, peaceful reign and the reorganization of the old parties was almost accomplished the blow came. Mr. Canalejas was assassinated by an anarchist. Again disorder prevailed. The Liberal Party was split into two factions, one headed by Garcia Prieto, Marquis of Aluceunas, in charge of the portfolio of Estate, and the other by Count Romanones, also a member of the Cabinet, whose followers were the more advanced and educated of the Liberal Party. The Marquis of Aluceunas was temporarily appointed Premier, but very soon the Liberal majority in Congress appointed Count Romanones as Premier and charged him with the reorganization of the Cabinet.

Six months later the split in the ranks of the Liberal Party precipitated a new crisis, and the Conservatives came into power under the Premiership of Mr. Dato, a former lieutenant of Maura's. He was charged by the King to form a new Cabinet. He did not hesitate to do so, notwithstanding the fact that Maura was recognized leader of the party. The King considered it advisable not to appoint Maura, the old leader, as the Republicans and Socialists threatened to use force if necessary, in case Maura should head a Conservative Cabinet.

Strict Neutrality Proclaimed

It was at that time that the great world war struck like a bolt from heaven. Premier Dato, after consulting all the political leaders of the country, proclaimed a policy of strict neutrality because it was the sincere wish of the

public. Some Liberals expressed themselves in favor of Spain joining with the Entente Powers, but the overwhelming majority of Parliamentary leaders as well as the masses of the people gave unmistakable signs of favoring a policy of strict neutrality, so as to keep the country out of the terrible war and to keep their sons off the fields of battle. Mr. Dato, who personally favored that policy, took advantage of the wave of public feeling and held his country back from useless destruction.

An unprecedented era of prosperity and good feeling was the result of Spain's neutrality. All the products of the soil, all its manufactures, found a ready market in the allied countries. Small establishments grew into modern plants equipped with with the latest machinery. Small villages attained in six months a degree of wealth and prosperity that they had never even thought of. But the thoughtless way in which merchants did business, exporting everything that was asked for by the allied countries, soon brought a scarcity of food products in the country. Prices soared to unusual heights, and the laboring classes found themselves unable to buy even the necessities of life. There were cases when people were unable to obtain food for money. The Government tried to prevent the exportation of foodstuffs by increasing the tariff, but this experiment was useless, as the merchants were able to export grain, cattle, and everything needed at home and still realize huge profits in France.

Food Scarcity Causes Unrest

This situation created the present conditions. Premier Dato was accused of not having shown enough ability to cope with the situation, and had to resign. As Count Romanones, the Liberal leader, had made pro-ally declarations, the King hesitated to call him to form the new Cabinet until he had declared himself in favor of neutrality. This he did, and was appointed Premier.

This precipitated a new crisis. Conservative elements started a demonstration in favor of adhering to neutrality at all costs, while their leaders went around the country calling meetings in which

they tried to awaken the ill-will of the people against the Entente Allies. They brought charges against England and France, whose policies in recent times, they declared, were consistently hostile to Spanish interests in Africa. The Gibraltar question was also brought up, and, on the whole, their work tended to range the sympathy of the people with the Central Empires.

The Liberals of the country found themselves in a very difficult position, because, pledged to a policy of absolute neutrality, they could not oppose the campaign of the Conservatives, started primarily and apparently on behalf of neutrality. Notwithstanding this, the Republican Party decided to oppose the Conservative propaganda, and started a campaign to enlighten the masses. The leaders endeavored to bring before the people the advantages of a policy favorable to the cause of the Entente Allies.

An Era of Strikes

Meanwhile, although the food situation was alleviated, the laborers found that their salaries were not enough to bring any comforts and that they earned scarcely enough to live. Very soon their discontent was shown in the organization of strikes, the most important of which was that of the railroad employes, who demanded higher wages. The Government was compelled to intervene, and the railroad companies agreed to meet the demands of the workers. Instead of calming the disorder, this resulted in the organization of more strikes, and as the men's claims were just they had to be granted; but the increase in salaries agreed to by the employers was not proportionate to the new economic conditions. The Government took measures to import grain, but the restrictions imposed by the British blockade and, on the other hand, the submarine war made it impossible to overcome the scarcity of food.

The pressure brought to bear on the Government by the diplomatic representatives of the Entente Allies, as well as the ruthless campaign of the German submarines, which had sunk several Spanish vessels while they were sailing within Spanish territorial waters, con

Garcia Prieto, Marquis of Alhucemas, the other prominent leader of the Liberal Party, undertook to form a new Cabinet pledged to maintain the policy of neutrality.

The Army Threatens Revolt

During this period the Republican and Socialist Parties had been waging a campaign in favor of a more democratic government, and they took advantage of the existing state of affairs to incite the people to revolution. The army, which up to this time had maintained the most strict discipline, seeing that the country was on the verge of a revolution, tried to exert its influence in favor of some needed reforms. The artillery corps and the engineers had organized commissions to present to the Government all claims pertaining to their particular arm of the service, and the infantry in the same manner proceeded to organize its claims.

In the first place, the soldiers' pay, on account of the high cost of food, was insufficient for the obtaining of proper rations. There had been great favoritism shown in the promotion of officers, and the commissions were organized to do away with all this injustice.

The Government was made aware of this movement, initiated in Catalonia, and the Minister of War ordered General Alfau, Military Governor of the province, to arrest the officers connected with it. General Alfau carried out the order, but presented his resignation as Governor and went to Madrid to protest against the unwise and unjust order, since the infantry was doing nothing more or less than the other arms of the service had done when they organized commissions.

General Marina was sent to Barcelona to succeed General Alfau, but on arriving there he found that the temper of the army was such that to insist on punishing the officers who had been arrested on the order of the Minister of War would provoke an open revolt. All the other branches of the military unit joined in manifestations in favor of the movement of the infantry, and the whole army became so threatening that the Government hastened to comply with the demands, beginning with the dismissal of General Aguilera, the Minister of War, on the charge that he had been the cause of all the discontent of the army. The example set by the army was followed by all military units of the nation, and even the clergy organized "juntas" to attend to its own welfare.

Uprisings in Catalonia

The King called into power the Conservative Party, and Premier Dato formed a Cabinet to cope with the situation. As the Congress was in recess, some of the Catalonian Congressmen requested of Premier Dato a decree which would allow them to convene. This the Premier refused, but the Catalonians attempted to convene, and they called an extraordinary legislature in the name of the majority of the representatives. The Government officials surrounded the building in which they were to meet and prevented them from so doing.

While all this was going on in high political circles the Republicans and Socialists, emboldened by the military unrest and by the general discontent of the masses, started a revolutionary campaign which culminated in uprisings in Catalonia, Valencia, and Viscaya. In Barcelona the trouble started with a strike of the railway employes. The military authorities lent the aid of the police to the companies in order that they might run their cars with strikebreakers, and this brought about clashes between the police and the strikers. In a very short time the whole city was in arms, and it was necessary for the military authorities to send troops to disarm the rebels, who had already built barricades in different parts of the city.

For six days there was street fighting of such nature that the troops in some places were compelled to use artillery fire against the houses in which the rebels had their headquarters. · According to official reports, the number of dead on the rebel side reached thirtythree, with sixty-six wounded, and the number of civilian dead is placed at 115, with 680 wounded.

In Valencia there was a similar uprising, and it has been impossible to obtain the exact number of dead and wounded, although it is said that there were more than five hundred casualties. In Bilbao, Province of Viscaya, the uprising was frankly republican. Two days of fierce fighting took place between the army and the populace.

Pro-German and Other Elements

The complexity of the situation in Spain is caused primarily by the economical conditions brought about by the war. The laboring classes know that the country is enjoying an era of unprecedented prosperity, that the middle and upper classes are becoming richer by leaps and bounds, that the Spanish peseta is at a premium above all other money, and, notwithstanding, they are not able to share in this wealth as do the other classes that are enriched at the cost of their labor.

At the same time the international situation exerts a great influence in di

viding public opinion into two clear factions. The conservative elements are without exception pro-German, and so are the army, the clergy, and a majority of the Liberal Party, while the Republicans and the Socialists, with a minority of the Liberal Party, are pro-ally. The masses are neutral, because they have been acquainted with the havoc and destruction that would be caused should Spain enter this war. Therefore they would gladly join in any uprising directed against Spain's participation in the war.

The King up to the present time has maintained strict neutrality, although his personal sympathies are believed to be pro-ally. His tolerance of all political opinions, his marked tendency to deal leniently with political offenses and conspiracies, and his courage, generosity,

T

and charitable traits have made him very popular with all classes. The Republicans know and readily acknowledge that the Spanish people are not advanced enough to be able to establish an orderly republican Government, because the radical elements predominate and the anarchists take advantage of any uprising to commit revolting acts of vandalism. This is recognized by the majority of the thinking class, although the forces of democracy begin to chafe under the constitutional monarchy, no matter how liberal in form and in practice it may be. At the same time, there is uneasiness and discontent among all classes, with a gradual disintegration of the old political parties, and this might at any time produce a national crisis that would change the whole political structure of the Spanish Peninsula.

HE man power of Germany in September, 1917, with the war casualties, was estimated by experts at the French Army Headquarters last month as follows:

Fixed formations on the various fronts, employed on lines of communication, and stationed in the interior, 5,500,000.

Divisions undergoing formation and men in depots, 600,000.

Losses in killed, permanently disabled, and prisoners, 4,000,000; wounded under treatment in hospitals, 500,000. Total, 10,600,000.

The following figures account for all men called for service up to the present. Trained men mobilized immediately on the outbreak of the war, 4,500,000. Untrained ersatz (compensatory) servists called out, August, 1914, to February, 1915, 800,000.

re

Class of 1914 recruits called out November, 1914, to January, 1915, 450,000.

First ban of untrained Landsturm called out at the beginning of 1915, 1,100,000. Class 1915, called out May-July, 1915, 450,000.

Remainder of untrained Landsturm called out the same month, 150,000.

Class of 1916, called out SeptemberNovember, 1915, 450,000.

Contingent of hitherto exempted men called out in October, 1915, 300,000. Second contingent exempted men called out early in 1916, 200,000.

Second ban Landsturm early in 1916, 450,000.

Class of 1917, called out March-November, 1916, 450,000.

Third contingent exempted men late in 1916, 300,000.

Class of 1918, called out November, 1916, to March, 1917, 450,000.

Class of 1919, called out in part in 1917, 300,000.

Additional exempted men, 1917, 150,000.
Total, 11,500,000.

The discrepancy in the figures is accounted for by the omission of the mail units. The total mobilizable male resources of Germany since the beginning of hostilities, including the yearly classes of recruits up to 1920, number about 14,000,000. Those called up number 10,600,000. The remainder are accounted for as follows:

The remaining part of the class 1919 awaiting call, 150,000; class of 1920 still uncalled, 450,000; men employed as indispensable in industries and administrations, 500,000; men abroad unable to reach Germany, 200,000; men entirely exempted owing to physical disability, 2,100,000.

Recruits of the 1920 class cannot be called legally until they attain their seventeenth birthday.

R

USSIA during the month ended

Sept. 15, 1917, went through the most dramatic and trying period since the revolution was launched. This experience, in the judgment of competent observers, left the Provisional Government stronger, inspired new confidence in the permanency of the revolution, blasted the hopes of the reactionaries and monarchists, and dispelled definitely all fear that Russia would make a separate peace with the Central Powers.

The first theatric setting to the thrilling chapters which Russia is furnishing to modern history was the extraordinary conference which sat as a National Assembly at Moscow, the ancient capital. The extreme gravity of the country's position at the front and throughout the vast domain impelled Premier Kerensky to convoke, without waiting for a constituent assembly, an "Extraordinary National Council" to meet at Moscow on Aug. 26, 1917. At this conference the lines of cleavage, which later led to General Korniloff's rebellion, became clearly defined.

The conference consisted of 2,500 delegates, as follows: 188 members of the four Dumas, 100 representatives of the peasants, 229 representatives of the Councils of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates of all Russia, 147 delegates of the municipalities, 113 representatives of the Union of Zemstvos and towns, 150 representatives of industrial organizations and banks, 313 representatives of co-operative organizations and 176 of professional unions.

Kerensky's Speech at Moscow

Premier Kerensky opened the conference with a speech of great length, in which he reviewed the general situation, saying in part:

Those who think the moment has come to overthrow the revolutionary power with bayonets are making a mistake. Let them take care, for our authority is

supported by the boundless confidence of the people and by millions of soldiers who are defending us against the German invasion.

Citizens, the State is passing through a period of mortal danger. I do not say more, for you all understand. You see it, for each of you experiences it, in a different way. You all know the task incumbent upon you for the struggle against a powerful, implacable, and organized enemy demands great sacrifices, self-denial, deep love of our country, and the forgetting of domestic quarrels. Unfortunately, not all who are able are willing to offer all this on the altar of their country, ruined by war, and they thus render the critical situation of our country more serious every day.

In our political life this process of disorganization is worse, even causing certain nationalities living in Russia to seek their salvation, not in close union with the mother country, but in separatist aspirations. On top of all this come the shameful events at the front, when Russian troops, forgetting their duty to their country, gave way without resistance to the pressure of the enemy, thus forging for their people fresh chains of despotism. We fell so low because we could not free ourselves from the fatal inheritance of the old régime which we hated but obeyed because we feared it. Therefore now, when power rests on liberty, not on bayonets, we are transported with delight, although there is some hereditary distrust of this new power.

Those who once trembled before the government of autocrats now boldly march against the Government with arms in hand. But let them remember that our patience has its limits, and that those who go beyond them will have to settle with a Government which will make them remember the time of Czarism. We shall be implacable, because we are convinced that supreme power alone can assure the salvation of the country. That is why I shall oppose energetically all attempts to take advantage of Russia's national misfortunes, and whatever ultimatum is presented, I shall subject it to the supreme power and to myself, its head.

Not a Time for Decadence The Premier declared that the destructive period of the revolution had passed and that the time had come to