The constant commendation given by the Conservative and even by the Liberal Press of England to the strength and unity of the “Conservative” party under Señor Maura, and their adverse comments on the dissensions in the Liberal camp, have materially added to the difficulties, already serious enough, which block the path of Moret and those of his creed, and have strengthened the party of clerical reaction and absolutism.
The Heraldo, in an article on the benefits to the nation to be expected from Moret’s support of Canalejas’ Government, spoke as follows of the influence of England upon Spanish affairs:
“It now appears probable that the democratic Government will be consolidated by the disappearance of the danger to which we have referred [the split with Moret’s party]. If this proves the case, all Europe will recognise with satisfaction how the personal convictions of the monarch, strengthened perhaps by the healthy influence of his illustrious connections by marriage, are leading Spain along the paths of prosperity and gradually relieving us of the nightmare of reaction which has weighed so heavily upon our nation during the minority of Don Alfonso and the early years of his manhood.”
Centuries of government by the rich for the rich, and by the Church for the Church, have contributed to make reform exceedingly difficult, but at length the issues between political morality and the maintenance of the old abuses have been clearly set before the nation, in the struggle which ended with the dismissal of Señor Moret. He determined to have the country freed from the tyranny of the Cacique. His opponents desired to maintain the system. That was the whole point at issue.
At the moment it seemed as if those interested in the maintenance of a corrupt system had won a signal victory, and the men who are working for the moralising of political life would have been more than human had they spoken no word of the bitterness they felt at seeing, as it seemed, their work undone and their hopes frustrated. But there are apparent defeats which mark a stage on the road to final victory, and such a stage was marked, for the people of Spain, by the fall of Moret in February, 1910.
Turning to the other main body of political opinion, the Liberal party, with its offshoot, the Republicans, it is worth noting that many of these, including several of their most prominent and influential leaders, although professing republican opinions, are in reality staunch upholders of the constitutional Monarchy, their republicanism being more in the nature of a political counsel of perfection than a policy that they are actively forwarding. Thus Montero Rios, the leader of the Radical wing of the Liberals, who, if not avowedly a Republican, is closely allied to that party, recently said, à propos of the split in the Liberal camp which seemed imminent after the resignation of Moret, “I have always urged that our group should submit to the leadership of Moret, because he alone can hold the party together.” Melquiades Alvarez, one of the acknowledged leaders of the Republicans, made in October, 1909, an important speech in which he offered “a final truce” with the Monarchy, and Republican support to a programme of liberty of worship, restriction of the power of the Religious Orders, neutral schools, and social reform. “With the adoption of this programme permanent stability would be afforded to the Throne on the model of the English dynasty—a crowned Republic.” And Soriano, another prominent man in that party, said about the same time “The Republican revolution should be spiritual, not material. We do not desire to overthrow the Monarchy, but to implant education and progress” (italics mine). The term “Republican,” as used by the men of this school of thought, seems to connote a social and political Utopia rather than a particular form of government, and “republican” principles are quite compatible with an undeviating support of the Constitutional Monarchy.
These “idealist” Republicans would not thus group their party with the supporters of the Monarchy if they believed that the existence of the Throne were prejudicial to the nation. Nor would the Liberal-Monarchists accept without protest such an association with themselves, did they believe that these men were working to overthrow the Monarchy.
The truth is that all Spanish politicians who have the good of their country at heart recognise, even though they may disapprove, the traditional respect for the kingly office which is implanted in the mind of most peoples who have lived from childhood under the Monarchical system. In Spain, where the King who united Castile with Leon and expelled the Moslems from nearly the whole of the South is venerated as a saint, the tradition exists more strongly and has greater weight in determining the action of the masses at any given moment than in any other country except perhaps Russia.