[22] So clearly is this recognised on all sides, and so impossible does political honesty on the part of the rich appear to Spaniards, that the Heraldo, the leading moderate-Liberal paper, in the course of its comments on the rejection by the English House of Lords of the Budget of 1909, said that if the Lords permitted the people to vote as they pleased, this action on their part would have been justifiable, but that naturally they would take the usual means to secure the suffrages of those over whom they had control, and with the immense wealth at their command would easily influence the elections in the direction they desired.
[23] In Spain not only every city, but every town and nearly every village, has its Ayuntamiento, more or less equivalent to our town or village Council, and its Alcalde, who has a good deal more power than the Mayor of a Corporation.
[24] The peseta is the same as the franc.
[25] The sums set down in the schedules are less than those named. The tax has been increased at different times, and the additions amount in all to about 66 per cent.
[26] The Spanish dollar, value five pesetas, and counted by the poor as twenty reals.
[27] The cuarto was a little over two centimes.
[28] “History of European Morals,” Chap. IV.
[29] In a decaying town of some 15,000 inhabitants, once wealthy and prosperous, two large new buildings have been erected during the last half-century, while on all sides dwelling-houses, great and small, are falling into ruin. These are the Jesuit College and the bullring; and the people say that the one is the parent of the other.
[30] For a full account of the political parties in Spain see “The Backwardness of Spain,” by John Chamberlain. The author has an exhaustive knowledge of the country, and of many phases of society in Spain, but in my opinion he has not informed himself of the mind of the provincial and rural population. This class, if only from their numbers, cannot fail to exercise a strong influence over politics, when once they obtain the right to vote which the Constitution gives them.