CONFUSION IN SPAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20491, 17 February 1930, Page 8

CONFUSION IN SPAIN.

The situation in Spain, following the retirement of General de Rivera, and the cessation of his dictatorship, is evidently one of dangerous instability. Since such descriptions of events and movements as emerge from the country have run the gauntlet of a strict censorship, it cannot be imagined that they give anything like a connected account of what is happening. It is evident, however, that the' attempts to re-establish constitutional government on the old model are complicated by a new aggressiveness in the republican movement. - This is not by any means an unknown force in Spanish life. It has existed for a long time, and when any active measures have been taken against it by the authorities, the leading spirits have been accustomed to take refuge in France and direct - their campaign from that country. There was a good deal of that done while General de Rivera controlled the country. Meantime, the immediate possibilities are difficult to assess because nothing is said about the attitude or the intentions of the army. The military element in Spanish life has a very strong influence on public life. t Sometimes it has seemed as though various organisations of army officers were actually running the country.,; The favour of the army had much to do with the accession of General de Rivera to power when he first became Dictator. Apart from details, the state of confusion, as a general spectacle, illustrates the weakness of a dictatorship in the modern world. Its only safety lies in the maintenance of its grip on the country, Unless during its term complete arrangements are made for the transfer of authority in the event of the dictator relinquishing it, a country which has been deprived of the ordinary machinery of government is liable to find itself without any government at all in a time of emergency. That seems to be the position with Spain. .It 3 power to emerge unscathed from present experiences is being tested. ' At a distance, with necessarily fragmentary information, it is impossible to.foresee what will be the " outcome"' of the disturbing experiences through which the country is passing.