Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1931 THE CATALANS AND SPAIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 6 August 1931, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1931 THE CATALANS AND SPAIN

THE Catalans’ demand that they shall govern themselves under their own constitution is hundreds of years old. Largely Frankish in blood, they actually did govern themselves constitutionally some eight centuries ago. Furthermore, largely free, from the Moorish yoke, they kept their blood purer than did many other divisions of the Spanish race; so that at the present time it is no wonder that they desire to manage their own political affairs, and to revert to their ancient autonomy. This is not to be wondered at, for not only do they possess their own racial and political ideals, but also a dialect and a literature of their own. Indeed, prior to the 19th century, they had their own penal code; they used Catalan in their schools; and used their own code of commercial law and legal tribunals. In other words, in demanding the right to govern themselves iu accordance with their ancient prerogatives they arc merely insisting upon what was theirs centuries ago, hut wrested from them by latterday kings nf Spain. Alfonso XIII, although a good Spaniard and a patriot of the highest order, .hd much to alienate the loyalty of the Catalans by discouraging their desire to preserve their I’acial and political autonomy, though part of the Spanish tuition. In earlier times these national proclivities of theirs had been ruthlessly discouraged by Philip V., and when, at the Height- of his power, Alfonso determined to discourage the Catalans’ racial aspirations, from the throne of his palace at Barcelona lie told them plainly that lie was the heir and executor of Philip, and as such he abolished their cherished liberties and abrogated their much-prized charters ! Following upon those deprivations, the Dictator Primo de Rivera determined to eradicate Catalonia’s determination to preserve her racial and political identity, and actually wont so far as to forbid one of her leading hankers to speak in the Catalan dialect when addressing an important gathering of his fellow-Catalans upon the stabilisation of the value of the peseta! Being a high-spirited people, this treatment made the Catalans more determined than ever to win their political freedom at the earliest possible moment, and naturally, as the Dictatorship waned, that determination developed into an effort to abolish the Crown, with the result that Catalonia became the spearhead of the revolutionary movement. Upon the abdication of Alfonso tho Catalans proclaimed a separate and independent republic and, though they have declared that they desire that their country shall remain united to the rest of Spain, they have formulated their own constitution, have established their own government, and now request tho republican government at Madrid to recognise their autonomy. It is already understood that the Spanish ’ Government has agreed that they shall use their' own. language officially and in their schools and colleges, fly their own flag, sing their own national anthem, and convene their own national assembly, provided that they shall recognise the superiority of the central government and pay taxes to it; and it now remains to be seen if the national Cortes will endorse these concessions and the Catalan constitution. If such recognition is conceded all will he well, but the concession of self-government to Catalonia may mean the demand of similar autonomy by the Basques and other divisions of the Spanish nation. Therefore the issue is somewhat in doubt, since naturally the central government desires above all tilings to avoid weakening the Spanish Republic, which as yet cannot be said to he established so strongly as to be proof against any possible attempts which may he made with a view to restoring the monarchy. Recognition by the Spanish Cortes of the political aspirations of Catalonia will almost certainly awaken in the Basques and oilier divisions of the Spanish nation similar aspirations, so that the newly-established Republican Government of Spain is faced with a higlilyconiplex problem. If the Catalan Constitution is recognised and endorsed, the probability is that demands for similar Constitutions will he made by other seclions of the Spanish nation, and high statesmanship will he demanded of President Zamora and his colleagues if all •such aspirations are to be encouraged, without weakening the strength and unity of the Republic of Spain. That the problem facing President Zamora is soluble is proved by the existence of the British Commonwealth of Nations, in which autonomy and unity exist side by side. Will the Spanish politicians have the genius to adopt some such constitutional expedient, or. will they refuse to endorse tile autonomy of the Catalans?