The Young King of Spain.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 21, 22 May 1902, Page 6

The Young King of Spain.

Ara o\s") Xllf. is at fi.st f-ight (says a wri?er in a contemporary) a rteii<ure lad— thin, p-de. -md of nervous appearance. Some say he has inherited the eonmituMonal it.firmuy of his father, others that hn appearance h nome-thing he fharc9 in common with all the men of the House of Hdp«burg. During the manoeuvres held at Carabautbel t-otre tnontns asro the young King remained seven hours in the f-addle with ut exhibiting any symptoms of fatigue, and his pir-oiial staff no 1 iced that even a prolonged canter did nothing to weaken hi-* \oice, When the day's work was over he was as a i.uatidiis he wis at the beginning. This is excellent news for Spain as far as it go<*, but it does not go far enough. It is almost inevitable that the joung King should have the seeds of consumpin his blood, and Madrid in notoriously the worst city in Europe for people with a tendency to lung trouble.

A strong, h- althy King can give the land the period of repose t 1 at will enable it :o develop Us internal resources, find occupation t\ r its growing population outsMe the corrupt world of officialdom, outgrow Carli-m, ami become once nrr<3 v Power to be reckoned wit'i. The reven-e of the picture is not pleasing. An invalid director of State, whose various factions are like an unruly horse that must be ridden on the curb, cannot fulfil his duties, and if anything happens to him the Prince.-s of the Asturias would become Queen of Spain, ami her hubband, Carlos de Borbon, Prince of Asturias, would become King Consort. Against such a development the old unquiet elements in Soain would rise up again. The possibility of it is said to have brought Senor Sagaata into°temporary opposition with the Queen Regent when the question of the marriage was first mooted.

Alfonso XIII. will be entirely dependent, for some time at least, upon the advice and guidance of the people who have the power in their hands to-dny. They tay in Madrid that Government will be largely in the hands cf the Queen-mother, Senor Sagasta and the Duke of Tetuan, descendant of the Red O'Donnell of Ulster. The last-named statesman is an adherent to a Conservative regime that accepts neither the absolutism o' the Carlist programme, nor the somewhat watered conservatism of Senor Silvela ; he refuse 3 all oftiee, and will not reconcile himself to any compromise. He is an enlightened statesman none the less, and will place his best efforts at the disposal of the Queen Regent, who has always succeeded in attracting to her service the mo&t sustaining elements in the country. With statesmen who desire no more than the progreps of Spain, and a mother whose life has been marked by most rigid devotion to duty, the young Kinj, will start upon his work well equipped. It will be well for the country if his advisers succeed in impressing upon him the necessity of refraining from experiments of every sort. Spain's partial recovery has been due to her wise handling by statesmen who have been rather unjustly deemed opportunists.