KING ALFONSO

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 312, 25 April 1911, Page 2

KING ALFONSO

CHARGES OP EMBEZZLEMENT

A cable m the Sydney 'Sun,' dated Madrid, April 9, states : —

An unusual sensation is shaking the whole of society, and, indeed, the whole of Spain.

Speaking from the floor of the Cortes yesterday Deputy Ursaiz, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a leading Conservative, virtually accused King Alfonso of a gigantic scheme of embezzlement of public f;nids m. connection with the redemption of the National Debt. Toward this end the Premier. Senor Canalejas, has been steadfastly striving.

The seriousness of t.'ie c'larpas was hardly appreciated at firs*, but tho Republicans are now busy disseminating talk upon the matter, and the effects are likely to be more serious to the royal house than years of Kadical campaigning.

In brief, the deputy's charges are these : — The Government a little while ago submitted a proposal to i'edejm, at par, bonds that had originally hveu sold at a very low figure. If this proposal were ratified it would mean iliat the holders would clear over £1,000,000, most of which would, it appears, fall to the King. "This suggestion," declared Ursaiz, "is immorality and embezzlement, and it is the King who proposes it. It is nothing more nor less than a crime."

The progressive newspaper ' Espana Neuva ' follows up this dramatic statement by printing a list which shows that to the King a sum of 19,445 pesetas has already been paid, to his eldest son 1,368 pesetas, to his wife 1,250, to his mother 694, to his Aunt Isabel 694, to his Aunt Eulalia 418, to his Aunt Pase 418, and to his sister Maria 418, making a total of 24,705 pesetas, or nearly £1,000..

In sarcastic vein the paper adds : " In return for this the King attended mass, took part m a polo match and m equestriaii tournaments, but we know of no donations that he has made to charity."