BARCELONA REVOLT. SCENES OF SAVAGE BRUTALITY

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 59, 7 September 1909, Page 3

BARCELONA REVOLT. SCENES OF SAVAGE BRUTALITY

FORTY CHURCHES BURNED. MANY KILLED AND WOUNDED. The Barcelona revolt (writes the London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald under date 6th August) began on Monday morning as a protest against the Moroccan War, the Republicans alleging that it was a capitalists' campaign. Easy payment exemptions for military service, which are now suspended., highly favoured the richer classes, so that Morocco provided, a ground for the agitations. As Monday progressed the tramways and many establishments continued j working. It was to 'stop this remnant of activity, says the Daily Telegraph's correspondent, that vigilance began. Tramcars were .derailed, overturned, and stoned, and the combative propensities of the crowd were aroused. There were only 800 soldiers in the city, and some civi 1 guards. The latter confronted the rioters and dispersed them in one quarter, but they were reinforced in another, and disorder spread everywhere. When the soldiers appeared on the scene they were greeted with "Long live" the army. We don't want you to die in Africa. This unjust war was brought about by mine proprietors, not by the nation," but the soldiers did not fraternise. They remained inert. They carried out evolutions, and when ordered to "fire" some disobeyed, while others fired into the air. Many of the civil guard used their weapons vigorously ; others refused to fire on the peopl^. In the midst of this confusion the civil governor resigned, and the military governor wired for reinforcements. MOB OUT OF CONTROL. At 10 o'clock on Monday evening, the mob had passed out of control. They abandoned stone-throwing in the centre of the town, and went further afield. They fired the Convent of Escolapios and the Church of Saint Pablo. This -was the first taste of battle against the clergy, and inspired the mob to fresh outrages. There is a long-standing hatred between democracy and the clergy, because they were privileged, exempt from taxation,- and possess enormous wealth, firming a State within the State ; they constitute one of the strongest conservative barriers against the aspirations of the democrats. In Barcelona particularly for the last 15 years have convents multiplied. Orders which fled from Cuba and the Philippines took refuge here. They crowd the best quarters of the city, and their buildings here are amongst the most imposing in Barcelona. Many monastic institutions in Barcelona have become industrial establishments, which produce all kinds of things, from liqueurs to table linen, under conditions .which," with the exemption of taxes, which are very heavy in Spain, render them extremely favourable. These are practical reasons for popular hostility. The idea of burning these institutions is not new. It had already been suggested by the radical press as a summary means of making an end to the^ priests, and came up again at an opportune moment when the revolutionists felt that they had a free hand. ATTACK ON EXTRAORDINARY LINES. The attack or. the convents was carried out in a very extraordinary fashion. In a deserted street there appeared a man on a bicycle, who'ihade a sort of reconnaissance, and finding no civil guards about, disappeared. Shortly afterwards up came five or six boys with a tin of petroleum, with "which they sprinkled the doors. They then set fire to the building and hurried away. Then arrived a group, who completed the work of incendiarism. The numbers rarely exceeded 100 persons. Some religious establishments were quietly burned under the very eyes of a squad of soldiers, with grounded arms. 4.t several convents there arrived heralds of incendiarism, who knocked at the doors, and said to the porter, " We will return in half j an hour, and burn the church and convent. You had better leave it." The monks accordingly left and took refuge in neighbouring houses. This work became systematic on Tuesday night, 27th July. Eighteen fires illuminated the j whole city, and only the providential lack of wind prevented- an immense disaster. Nearly all the churches in Barcelona were destroyed. One church, which must have been very beautiful — that of Santa Modrona — shut in between barricades, was completely gutted under the destroying tongues of the flames, and the sculptured stone of the entrance fell. A magnificent stained glass window was shattered, and the window frames melted. Many masterpieces of art have been lost. PERVERSE FURY. Scenes of most savage brutality were witnessed. Popular fancy fed itself upon fantastic stories of secrets of inquisition, and torture chambers. Thus, after the fire had devoured the Magdalen Convent, the mob entered it, inspired by perverse fury. They reached a room on the ground floor, and saw what appeared bricked-np windows. These were vaults ; because convents have the privilege of burying their dead within the walls. Criea the mob, "Here's the treasury. s This is where they buried their gold and silver." So with stones, staves, and axes, they began to batter down the masonry. Coffins appeared. There was a moment's hesitation, and silence. All respect had vanished even for the dead. Impure hands stretched into the vault, hauled out the coffins' amidst savage cries and laughter. Coffins^ were smashed -with stones and kicked open. There were fourteen, containing bodies of nuns. The Canaille laughed in the faces of the dead sisters, and tore off their shrouds. Some bodies weie placed standing at the door, rifles being slipped under their crossed arms, so they should resemble sentries. Thus they remained until the next day. Two corpses were carried to Rambla, and left in the doorway of a patrician's house. The incendiaries got up a mock funeral, and marched in a proces&ion, accompanied by^ their wives, singing profane songs. PLUNDER. During Tuesday gunsmiths' shops Were plundered of fiiearms and barricades thrown up at many of the street corners, but the mob's chief occupation was to fire the churches and convents. One section of the mob armed with rifles and revolvers, took possession of an empty house. The gendarmes and a few soldiers laid siege to the buildings and dislodged them. The troops were fired on from windows, and in nearly all the streets scores of white flags hung out. At night the only light in the town was the burning buildings. A gang of incendiaries, with torches and petroleum attempted to fire the Jesuit monastery in the suburb of Saria. This place became the chief refuge for the clergy. Many bad reached the building in disguise — some in women's dress. The Jesuit fatheia and pupils kept the mob at bay with firearms. When fresh troops entered the city on the 29th the artillery was used against some of the barricades. A t>olic<> post, which the mob holly bosieged tor sev.er&l hours, jvae adisyed, *

The crowd attempting to fire the convent near the University was caught in the flank by the troops. A couplo of volleys sent the mob flying in every direction. By this time the violence of the mob was wearing out, and the absence of food helped to bring about order. Nevertheless the rioters attacked another convent on the 30th, and on the 31st they again endeavoured to fire the convent in Calle Eogerdel Flor. Gendarmerie fired on them, killed six, and look 16 prisoners. Military action became effective on Thursday. During that day, Friday, and Saturday there was much firing from roofs and windows. The barricades were but little used. Half a dozen in the suburbs were surrendered after the lirst shot. The rioters had little stomach for fighting. They robbed shops, shot, three or four priests, who ran away from them, and vented their violence on everything connected with the church. Altogether close on 40 convents and churches were destroyed. The total death-roll did not exceed 150. The wounded numbered 300, and about 500 were locked up in a fortress for trial. These totals are hardly the figures of a revolution. They show, says one reporter, that Barcelona did not move. By Saturday night the disturbance had fizzled out. There were '•lots in other Catalonian towns, but the trouble was chiefly centred at Barcelona.