THE SPANISH THRONE

Otago Witness, Issue 3698, 27 January 1925, Page 25

THE SPANISH THRONE

GREAT FESTIVITIES AT MADRID. THE MOROCCO SITUATION. MADRID, January 20. Festivities on a colossal scale, which are to be attended by provincial and municipal delegations, are being arranged in Madrid for January 23, in honour ot the Monarchy.

General Primo de Rivera had a great reception on landing at Algeciras. in a speech at the Town Hall he announced that he would return t-o Morocco within a week after the Madrid ceremonies with the new High Commissioner, as he himself was resuming the direction of the Spanish Government now that the situation in Morocco was easier. General de Rivera denounced Vicente Ibanez and his attacks on King Alfonso, and rejoiced at the outburst of popular indignation in Spain evoked by the foreign campaign against the King. Cheering crowds and illuminated streets welcomed General de Rivera on his arrival at his birthplace (Perez). Meanwhile, the Tangier correspondent describes concentrations of the Riffs in the Anjera region. They are, he says, attacking the Spanish troops, and are even firing into Tetuan.

SPAIN’S OFFENSIVE. LONDON, January 22. The Tangier correspondent of The Times states that the Spanish losses in yesterday’s offensive against the Anjera tribes are reported to be 200 killed and wounded. The tribesmen’s losses were insignificant, as they never appeared in the open. The fighting continues.

VICENTE IBANEZ. LONDON, January 22.

The correspondent of the. Daily Express at Nice states that Vicente Ibanez, in an interview, attributed his wife’s death to the shock caused by the sequestration of his estates. “ Although King Alfonso has stopped prosecuting me in France,” Ibanez said, “he has seized everything I possess in Spain. He burnt my books, and is tyrannising over my friends and relations. I suppose I cannot even send a wreath, as they would burn it. King Alfonso is a hypocrite. He stopped my prosecution, not because of his liberalism, but because he was frightened of the opinion of the world. It would have been his trial not mien.”

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SPAIN? “Vincente Blasco Ibanez has written a book entitled ‘Alfonso XIII Unmasked.’ It is a scurrilous attack on King Alfonso and other prominent persons in Spain,” says the Daily Express.

“Although the book seems to have been withheld from publication in England, it has circulated to the extent of 20,000 copies in a French translation. ‘‘lbanez is, of course, the famous author of ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,’ which had so remarkable a success in its film form. ‘The Matador’ is, however, his best novel. He has a wide popularity in America, and his books have been translated into many languages. His vogue, however, lies chiefly outside Spain, where his work is comparatively unrecognised and unpopular. He has been absent for some time from Spain, and his last visit to his native country led to excitement and disturbance. “The author attributes all of Spain’s “misfortunes to the King, saying, ‘Yes, I, a Spaniard, declare at the very outset—from patriotism, for the honour of the nation, I accuse Alfonso XIII.’ “Senor Ibanez brings grave charges against the King in connection with the disastrous Moroccan campaign. He attributes the memorable disaster to General Silvestre’s army to the King’s private orders to that general. Twelve thousand Spaniards were killed; a few hundred escaped. When General Silvestre’s papers were examined, says the author, ‘they found a letter in which the King gave Silvestre the following advice: ‘Do as 1 tell you (in the familiar second person singular), and don’t worry about the War Minister; he’s a fool.’ “As a result of this disaster, a commission was appointed to inquire into its cause. When it had concluded its inquiries, ‘the culpability of the King was determined clearly, both by oral testimony and by documents.’ What was the result, according to Senor Ibanez? King Alfonso, he states, feared exposure. ‘lt became necessary to smother this gigantic scandal; therefore he hastened the coup d’etat which the military junta was preparing, the coup d’etat which established the present Directory.’ “The Matin learns from Madrid that the Marquis de Magaz, Acting-President of the Directory, convened a meeting of journalists and informed them that a revolution was being prepared abroad, specially in France. He .appealed to the patriotism of the journalists, and asked them to defend their King and country. “In an interview with the Excelsior, Count de Romanones, the former Spanish Prime Minister, is reported as having declared that ‘here was no fear of a revolution in Spain, for, as long as the campaign in Morocco continued, no patriotic Spaniard would dream of creating political disturbances. He added that there was only one form of monarchy possible in Spain, and that was a constitutional monarchy. “Because of an article sent in to a newspaper in Buenos Ayres by Don Miguel de Unamuno, this European philosopher, and Greek professor at the University of Salamanca, was sentenced to exile by King Alfonso of Spain. The article showed Unamuno to be in open rebellion against the despotism that now reigns in Spain, and contained very serious reflections on the King.

“It is all very mysterious,” says the Manchester Guardian. “Undoubtedly someone called at Messrs Hacliette’e—about the book by Ibanez— and the fact of an official visit and message, although unaccompanied by say threat of proceedings, wou.d un dly be interpreted b> most people as a .. aiming. There is no law, so far as I know, against the publication and selling of bocks disliked by the majority that attack foreign rulers, and everyone can remember the many bitter publications against Tsais and, before the war, against the Kaiser.”