SPAIN'S "PRESIDENT."

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 21, 25 January 1930, Page 10

SPAIN'S "PRESIDENT."

"HOW I BECAME DICTATOR DE RIVERA LIGHTS A, ClOAfe NO TIME FOR | (Our Madrid Correspondent.) If anyone believed that Spain', Die*, tor lives in a well-guarded fortreftjSpt would be sadly mistaken. My menfc with the "President," *at called throughout the countrv 4 o'clock. When I called at'th* W* Office no one inquired what my busing was. The only sentry outside wit® ing a novel, one by the late Blill" Ibanez, the Republican author., - After a short wait in the mf. chamber I was introduced in • sence of the Dictator, General Primo £ Rivera. He is a stockily-built amiable, with'a round face and an <r£?" tious laugh. As he extends his : ' grips mine I feel quite at home in large working-room. The place doea n£ remind one in the least of MuMdinV"' pretentious reception hall. On thewalh* can be seen numerous cartoons ridienliJthe Dictator. There is no poge W neither with the man nor surroundings. • • I request the President before we dis. cuss politics to speak about himself ' lights a, cigar and begins to, talk'gloJw'. thoughtfully. ° Wly ' "My father was a General Staff offl«r but he gave up the military career and devoted himself to agriculture " "He retired to his estate 'at J ert , where he died in 1898, after a life with hard work and assiduous f apn?i<* tion to duty. My mother cameflom a distinguished and wealthy family." J?. inherited the title of Marquess: Estella, and I was educated mainlylwi; 'my uncle, Don Fernando. • "He exerted a great influence over or life. He was a good soldier; he becw,. Minister of War, and a verv diitin." ' guished : one at that, and living entourage I saw and leaint a great deal*' about military as well as political nutters. _ I may add that as a soldier I had 1 occasion to fight for my country, of which I am proud. And thir experienced has given me a clear insight into tb needs of the Fatherland. "That explains practically ho* I became a Dictator. In the impossible situation that grew out of the war's aftermath, when the country : wai tor asunder by party strife and the nation helpless amid the chaos created, something had to be done. There warWfk doubt on that point in all . minds. The dictatorship became a n'eces.f-> sity. The best proof of it is the fact that there was no talk of 'Marching oa to Madrid." The dictatorship was the simplest thing in the world to accomplish. I was in Barcelona; I iook-'tte - train to Madrid; the Government was ' absolutely incapable of offering thd slightest resistance, and I became' Dictator. That is, in short, all'that happened." I then asked the Dictator how ha employed his time. "I rise every day at 8 a.m. During the morning I read reports and news- ' papers and receive the Ministers and other high officials. Sometimes I write articles, because I value the enormous influence wielded by the .Press. The people, are more deeply impressed by the written word than by speeches. "Then I have lunch, without meat or wine. I drink,wine only, at official dinners when toasting. After a short rest in the' afternoon—our, customary siesta—l resume my work, which-fre-,, quently compels me to burn the midnight oil. "I am not afraid of work. I have always worked hard in my life, as 1 . possess little fortune. I have no time for hobbies. Riding is my only exercise. I am very fond of horses." "How long may the Dictatorship last!" •- I queried. • "I consider the Dictatorship merely a* a period of transition. Opinion in foreign countries seems to take for granted that the Spanish Dictatorship is a kind of terrorist system, but it is nothing of.the sort. It merely means the preparation for a new and important national task." - An attendant came in and announced/ the French Ambassador. So I took my leave from Primo de Rivera, who k certainly the most democratic of all dicta- : tors.—(A.A.N.S. Copyright.) r : _«• ' . 1