LEADER OF SPAIN

Evening Star, Issue 22325, 29 April 1936, Page 7

LEADER OF SPAIN

THE RETURN OF AZANA COMPROMISE OF LEFT Never before in the last three years have the Spanish people had, as they have now, the impression of a lasting, strong Government (writes a Madrid correspondent in the ‘ Manchester Guardian 1 ). Don Manuel Azana was a Prime Minister for nearly two years from 1931 to 1933 —and his period of office has been the longest since .the Republic. He comes Again as a Prime Minister, after a period of persecution, defamation, and even imprisonment. No man has been more hated. His presence in the theatre was very often made the occasion' of furious protestations from Conservative audiences. One day, in a church at Saragossa, Azana was attending the wedding of a relative, and as soon as the parishioners noticed his presence; they made such angry and noisy outbursts that that saored place became like a market. Azana was hated by Conservatives and Catholics. He was the man who tried —but never succeeded—to take the lands from the grandees and! to enforce an increase of the income tax for the rich. It is often forgotten that Spain is the only European country where taxes are low for the wealthy and comparatively high for the poor, as there is hardly any direct taxation, but only indirect. Azana was the man who enforced the disestablishment of the church, passed a law of divorce, and other laws depriving the Roman Catholic Church of its civil powers. He was the man who made the unforgettable blunder of saying, “ Spain is no more Catholic. 11 The Catholics felt insulted, and even the sceptics were troubled by these daring words. But not only the Conservatives and the Catholics hated' him. The extremists and the Syndicalists .considered him the real enemy of the sooSal revolution and the most energetic, unmerciful breaker of unlawful strikes. He had to deal with different revolutionary movements in his two years of office, and he crushed them, with the support of his Socialist colleagues in the Government. What has happened in Spain that has brought back Azana to be the head of his country? Two years of misrule from the Conservatives and Catholic ranks, two years of financial petty scandals from the Lerroux Party (the Radical Party), and the sentimentality of the Spanish people, who lean very easily towards the persecuted, are the main reasons for the present glorification of Azana. Spain is furthermore a Left country. The majority of the people are either Liberal, Radical, or revolutionary, and when they get together their strength is sufficient to sweep away the old Conservative and Catholic forces. _ At the last elections all the Republicans of the Left, all the Socialists, Syndicalists, and Communists decided to fight together against reaction, and they won easily. If they did not win before it was only because they were not united. Azana was the only great personality they could use as leader. He is an extremely intelligent man, witty, learned, a distinguished writer, a great orator, and he has the reputation of being an “ iron man. 11 He is, too, an honest politician, and the Spanish people are very keen about being ruled by honest men. The fact that Azana ! s party has now the same number of M.P.s as the Socialist Party—--Bo—does0 —does not mean that Azana 1 * party is strong in the country, but that the Socialist tactics have changed, and aim now to support a Liberal-Radical Government, giving to the non-Socialist Republicans the electoral support of their organisation and the parliamentary support of their party.

But Socialism in Spain is getting more revolutionary every day. . Socialists 1 support of a relatively moderate Republican like Azana is : a matter of tactics. They prefer Government to do the job of the restoration of. social, religious, and political laws passed during the two first years or the Republic when they were in the Government. These laws, are not in force now because the Right Government suspended them. Azana will start all over again the revolution ended in 1933. That revolution.is limited to the distribution of big estates, the religious laws, the increase of wages : for, the workers, and the enforcement of the Republican Constitution. But Azana will not go further. He is not _ a Socialist. He was never a Socialist* He emphasised it in all his speeches* “I am not a Socialist and I am not a socialisatbr 11 (a man who wants, to socialise something). When the constitutional laws are enforced Senor immediate task will be over. And then what will follow? One may look for a disintegration of the present Popular Front. The Socialists, together with the Communists, will try to carry the revolution further. If Senor Azana refuses to follow them, will he, be able to check the new drive, without relying on the support of the Conservatives or the Centre? But what is'hardly in doubt is that the Popular Front on its present basis will not last more than the necessary, time to restore the Republic of 1931-33. And with the split of the revolutionary cbalitipn Spain may find herself once again with the Conservatives and Catholic* in power. - ■ ■