“Why does the good God let that man live?” she sobbed. “If it is true that he is coming into power again, all our sons will be sent to Melilla to be killed. And we have been so contented because we thought we had got rid of him!”
The hope of the Ultramontanes was that the downfall of Moret would bring about a final and irremediable split in the Liberal party, which would facilitate the overthrow of Canalejas when the time came. And at first it seemed probable that this hope would be realised, for practically the whole of Moret’s Cabinet resigned with him, and refused to take office under Canalejas, while Canalejas himself at first acted as though he desired a permanent breach, by claiming that his appointment as Premier necessarily carried with it the leadership of the party—a proposition to which the party was by no means disposed to agree. But in time better counsels prevailed, and an interview between the Premier and his predecessor has lately been reported in the Press, in the course of which Canalejas frankly admitted the obligations of the party to Moret and the need that exists for his co-operation and advice—which Moret for his part professed himself quite ready to give, as indeed he had done ever since his resignation. So that it looks as though the danger of a breach had been avoided, at any rate for the present.
It is worth noting that the Government of Spain can be carried on for an indefinite time without the sessions of the Cortes. The Cortes adjourned for the summer recess in June, 1909, before the troubles began in Barcelona, and never met again. Throughout his tenure of office Moret tried without success to obtain the Royal decree for a dissolution. Canalejas was in office two months before he could get the decree signed, but at length, in April, 1910, it was announced that the General Election would definitely be held in May. The outgoing Cortes has a Conservative majority: what the next will be no man can say, although, having regard to the fact that a Liberal Ministry is in power, the presumption is that a Liberal majority will be returned. There is, however, no shadow of doubt that if the elections were conducted fairly and freely and the people could vote in accordance with their convictions, a Cortes would be returned with an overwhelming majority in favour of the Constitutional Monarchy, reform of abuses, and the destruction of the political influence and privileges of the Church.
POLITICAL PARTIES
CHAPTER XIII
POLITICAL PARTIES
It must not be supposed that the whole of the Conservative party shares the Carlist and Ultramontane views of the majority. The old school of Conservatives, led by Canovas, supported the Constitutional Monarchy as strongly as do the Liberals, and even now a contingent of strong constitutional Conservatives exists, although it is not easy to detect their influence on the general policy of the party with which they act. Their existence, however, was proved in October, 1909, when some of the leading men of Señor Maura’s party withdrew their adhesion to his leadership upon his declaration of “implacable hostility” towards the whole of the Liberal party. They saw, as did every one else, that the reactionary policy of the Ultramontane Premier was imperilling the existence of the Constitutional Monarchy.
To appreciate the disinterestedness of men who thus cut themselves off from the acknowledged leader of their party, whether in office or in opposition, the unwritten law of an alternate share of the spoils must be borne in mind. Thus a politician who deliberately deserts his party, from whatever motive, loses all chances of a salaried appointment when that party again has power to confer these political plums.
I make no apology for putting the facts thus plainly. They are spoken of with cynical frankness by all Spaniards, and it is considered a matter of course that any statesman who refuses to sell his favours to the highest bidder will be removed from place at the earliest opportunity by the intrigues of the many who live by political corruption.