WHAT SPAIN CAN GIVE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2676, 28 July 1913, Page 7

WHAT SPAIN CAN GIVE.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW WITH PREMIER. (Daily Mail Special Correspondent.) Madrid, In view of the rumors that are in free circulation upon the imminent possibility of tho Spanish Government entering into closer relations with one of tho combinations of European Powers — the Triple Alliance or the Triple Entente—the Premier, the Count de Romanones, signified his willingness to grant me a special interview upon the present circumstances of Spain, the forces acting upon his Government, and its disposition in regard to current problems. At the outset the Premier expressed the satisfaction he felt at the opportunity of conveying through the Daily Mail some statement regarding the great changes that had taken place in Spain in the most recent times and which'were now proceeding at such a speed as the peoples of other European nations did not understand or appreciate, and he further said that except iji so far as diplomatic restraint imposed silence he desired to speak freely. “Wo pass now in Spain,” he said, “through a most remarkable period of transition. The development of Spanish life is so reall and so thorough, the awakening vigor of the people is so marked, especially in regard to agriculture, that the more politicians are finding themselves put down. A Budget that is now 1,000,000,000 pesetas will ho in a very short period 1,500,000,000 pesetas. The American War was not all disaster. Since we lost Cuba the development of our country at home, especially in this matter of agriculture and mining, lias been immense. Before that event our methods might he said to have been characterised' by the simplicity of those of the Romans; now they are improved in accordance with the best modern ideas and, systems, and the effect is that the proportion of productions to effort and cost is doubled. Tlie stimulus that lias been given to agricultural, mining, and manufacturing interest is here, as elsewhere, reflected in the business done by the great railway companies, and it is a fact that lately the Spanish companies have been in a veritable crisis of difficulty in coping with the demands of transport tliat have been made upon them. I quote to you the case of one of our companies, which has just sent forth an urgent appeal to the companies of other countries to supply it at once with 3000 wagons that are needed without a moment’s delay. All this speaks of increasing wealth, and increasing means, and increasing power. Spain comes to liave new resources and a new confidence. ‘ Very well. Now, looking over Europe we see everywhere a vast increase in the armed forces of the nations. We feel in Spain that these circumstances demand also an increase in our own military power and in naval power also, and we have already taken means to accomplish it. We must have a larger Budget for the Ministry of War in the future than we have had in the past; we shall build more barracks, and everything in the matter of the army will be done on a larger scale. Already this year we have brought tlie system of compulsory service into existence. From this we are ' justified in expecting the most splendid results, and all the more so because w© find this military movement to be really popular among the people, and, again, that is assisted 1 by the abolition of class distinctions. Before it was a case of Miio working classes only going to the war; in future everyone will go to the war, and there is already much evidence of ia good improvement in national spirit. In comparison with the other European States we have hut a small army, but its increase in numbers and value trill be quick and great, and it is our immediate object to raise the strength of our standing army in time of peace from 100,000 to 200,000 men. “1 state these broad facts to_ show that Spain is going forward with a new life and is in the process of becoming an appreciable force, and to show that when she gives her friendship it will not be that of an impotent people and will not be given emptyhanded. From the Peninsula we look over Europe and we isee that the whole political system has changed within the last few years. Before there was only tho Triple Alliance; now there is the Triple Entente also, and new combinations and arrangements may be made or necessitated in view of recent developments in the East and the vast increase in armaments on the part of certain Powers. , How, then, do wo stand in Spain in regal’d to these new problems? Can we and ought we to bo as indifferent or disinterested as in the past? I think net. “Until now we have been isolated. We have been the friends of everybody; we hayo been tho enemies of nobody. The first problem that we have now to solve is whether Spain can continue in the isolated and absolutely neutral situation in which she exists at present; yes or no, there must be a definite decision. I am the President of the Con noil and I can assure you that not to any extent whatever is the Government as yet compromised; we have no commitment. “But,” said the Premier, pausing for a moment and then speaking with emphasis. “the time may come when we must have a commitment, and to which way must we incline? As you suggest, this is a delicate subject and is not one to be pursued in conversation now. Yet I .may sav to you that there is one fact standing out clearly in our minds at the present moment, when tho now life of Spain has begun and when we are on the threshold, perhaps, of a change in our situation, internationally, of supreme consequence. _ In this moment of change, almost of crisis, we must not forget, and we do not forget. that it is to the uttermost degree incumbent upon us that in any ©vent wo must so arrange our affairs that we must always be on the terms of the best friendisblip with our two chief neighbors by land and sea-, and while our chief neighbor by the land is France our chief neighbor by the sea is England. Nothing must interfere with our good relations with those two friends.