Chapter XXXIII: The Government of Spain

I. THE BEGINNINGS OF CONSTITUTIONALISM

*667. The Napoleonic Régime and the National Resistance.*--It was the fortune of the kingdom of Spain, as it was that of the several Italian states, to be made tributary to the dominion of Napoleon; and in Spain, as in Italy, the first phase of the growth of constitutional government fell within the period covered by the Corsican's ascendancy. Starting with the purpose of punishing Portugal for her refusal to break with Great Britain, Napoleon, during the years 1807-1808, worked out gradually an Iberian policy which comprehended not only the subversion of the independent Portuguese monarchy but also the reduction of Spain to the status of a subject kingdom. In pursuance of this programme French troops began, in February, 1808, the occupation of Spanish strongholds, including the capital. The aged Bourbon king, Charles IV., was induced to renounce his throne and the crown prince Ferdinand his claim to the succession, and, June 6, Joseph Bonaparte, since 1806 king of Naples, was designated sovereign. An assembly of ninety-one pliant Spanish notables, convened at Bayonne in the guise of a junta, was influenced both to "petition" the Emperor for Joseph's appointment and to ratify the _projet_ of a Napoleonic constitution.

Napoleon's seizure of the crown of Spain was an act of sheer violence, and from the outset Joseph was considered by his subjects a simple usurper. The establishment of the new régime at Madrid became the signal for a national uprising which not only compelled the Emperor seriously to modify his immediate plans and to lead in person a campaign of conquest, but contributed in the end to the collapse of the entire Napoleonic fabric. Upon the restoration of some degree of order there followed the introduction of a number of reforms--the sweeping away of the last vestiges of feudalism, the abolition of the tribunal of the Inquisition, the reduction of the number of monasteries and convents by a third, and the repeal of all internal customs. (p. 604) But the position occupied by the alien sovereign was never other than precarious. At no time did he secure control over the whole of the country, and during the successive stages of the Peninsular War of 1807-1814 his mastery of the situation diminished gradually to the vanishing point. At the outset the principal directing agencies of the opposition were the irregularly organized local juntas which sprang up in the various provinces, but before the end of 1808 there was constituted a central junta of thirty-four members, and in September, 1810, there was convened at Cadiz a general Cortes--not three estates, as tradition demanded, but a single assembly of indirectly elected deputies of the people.

*668. The Constitution of 1812.*--Professing allegiance to the captive Ferdinand, the Cortes of 1810 addressed itself first of all to the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of the national independence, but after a year it proceeded to draw up a constitution for a liberalized Bourbon monarchy. Save the fundamental decree upon which rested nominally the government, of Joseph Bonaparte, this constitution, promulgated March 19, 1812, was the first such instrument in Spanish history. It was, of course, the first to emanate from Spanish sources. Permeating it throughout were the radical principles of the French constitution of 1791. It asserted unreservedly the sovereignty of the people and proclaimed as inviolable the principle of equality before the law. Executive authority it intrusted to the king, but the monarch was left so scant a measure of independence that not only might he never prorogue or dissolve the Cortes, but not even might he marry or set foot outside the kingdom without express permission. For the actual exercise of the executive functions there were created seven departments, or ministries, each presided over by a responsible official. The fundamental powers of state were conferred upon a Cortes of one chamber, whose members were to be elected for a term of two years by indirect manhood suffrage. Various features of the French constitution which experience had shown to be ill-advised were reproduced blindly enough, among them the ineligibility of members of the legislative body for re-election and the disqualification of ministers to sit as members. The government of the towns was intrusted to the inhabitants; that of the provinces, to a governor appointed by the central authorities and an assembly of deputies popularly chosen for a term of four years. As the starting point of Spanish constitutional development the fundamental law of 1812 is of genuine interest. It is not to be imagined, however, that the instrument reflects with any degree of accuracy the political sentiment and ideals of the mass of the Spanish people. On the contrary, it was the work of a slender (p. 605) democratic minority, and it was never even submitted to the nation for ratification. It was a product of revolution, and at no time was there opportunity for its framers to put it completely into operation.[837]

[Footnote 837: For brief accounts of the Napoleonic
régime in Spain see Cambridge Modern History, IX.,
Chap. 11 (bibliography, pp. 851-853); Lavisse et
Rambaud, Histoire Générale, IX., Chap. 6; A.
Fournier, Life of Napoleon the First, 2 vols., (new
ed. New York, 1911), II., Chaps. 14-15; J. H. Rose,
Life of Napoleon I. (London, 1902), Chap. 28; M. A.
S. Hume, Modern Spain, 1788-1898 (London, 1899),
Chaps. 2-4; and H. B. Clarke, Modern Spain,
1815-1898 (Cambridge, 1906), Chap. 1. Of the
numerous histories of the Peninsular War the most
celebrated is W. Napier, History of the War in the
Peninsula and the South of France, 1807-1814, 10
vols. (London, 1828).]

*669. The Restoration and the Reign of Ferdinand VII.*--Upon the fall of Napoleon the legitimate sovereign, under the name of Ferdinand VII., was established forthwith upon the Spanish throne. At one time he had professed a purpose to perpetuate the new constitution, but even before his return to Madrid he pronounced both the constitution and the various decrees of the Cortes "null and of no effect," and when the Cortes undertook to press its claims to recognition it found itself powerless. In the restoration of absolutism the king was supported not only by the army, the nobility, and the Church, but also by the mass of the people. For constitutional government there was plainly little demand, and if Ferdinand had been possessed of even the most ordinary qualities of character and statesmanship, he might probably have ruled successfully in a perfectly despotic manner throughout the remainder of his life. As it was, the reaction was accompanied by such glaring excesses that the spirit of revolution was kept alive, and scarcely a twelvemonth passed in the course of which there were not menacing uprisings. In January, 1820, a revolt of unusual seriousness began in a mutiny at Cadiz on the part of the soldiers who were being gathered for service in America. The revolt spread and, to save himself, the king revived the constitution of 1812 and pledged himself to a scrupulous observance of its stipulations. The movement, however, was doomed to prompt and seemingly complete failure. The liberals were disunited, and the two years during which the king was virtually a prisoner in their hands comprised a period of sheer anarchy. The powers of the Holy Alliance, moreover, in congress at Verona (1822), adopted a programme of intervention, in execution of which, in April, 1823, the French government sent an army across the Pyrenees under the command of the Duke of Angoulême. A six months' campaign, culminating in the capture of Cadiz, whither the Cortes had carried the king, served effectively to crush the revolution and to reinstate the sovereign completely in the position which he had (p. 606) occupied prior to 1820. Then followed a fresh period of repression, in the course of which the constitution of 1812 was again set aside, and throughout the remaining decade of the reign the government of the kingdom was both despotic and utterly unprogressive.[838]

[Footnote 838: On the period covered by Ferdinand's
reign see Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap. 7
(bibliography, pp. 808-811); Lavisse et Rambaud,
Histoire Générale, X., Chap. 6; Clarke, Modern
Spain, Chaps. 2-4, and Hume, Modern Spain,
1788-1898, Chaps. 5-6. Extended works which touch
upon the constitutional aspects of the period
include: H. Gmelin, Studien zur Spanischen
Verfassungsgeschichte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts
(Stuttgart, 1905); G. Diercks, Geschichte Spaniens
(Berlin, 1895); A. Borrego, Historia de las Cortes
de España durante el siglo XIX. (Madrid, 1885); and
M. Calvo y Martin, Regimem parlamentario de España
en el siglo XIX. (Madrid, 1883). A valuable essay
is P. Bancada, El sentido social de la revolucion
de 1820, in _Revista Contemporânea_ (August,
1903).]

II. POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 1833-1876

*670. Maria Christina and the Estatuto Real of 1834.*--Ferdinand VII. died September 29, 1833, leaving no son. Regularly since the establishment of the Bourbon dynasty the succession in Spain had been governed by the principle of the Salic Law, imported originally from France. But, to the end that the inheritance might fall to a daughter rather than to his brother, Don Carlos, Ferdinand had promulgated, in 1830, a Pragmatic Sanction whereby the Salic principle was set aside. Don Carlos and his supporters refused absolutely to admit the validity of this act, but Ferdinand was succeeded by his three-year-old daughter, Isabella, and the government was placed in the hands of the queen-mother, Maria Christina of Naples, as regent.[839] Her administration of affairs lasted until 1840. From the constitutional point of view the period was important solely because, under stress of circumstances, the regent was driven to adopt a distinctly liberal policy, and, in time, to promulgate a new constitutional instrument. Don Carlos, supported by the nobility, the clergy, and other reactionary elements, kept up a guerilla war by which the tenure of the "Christinos" was endangered continuously. The regent was herself a thoroughgoing absolutist, but her sole hope lay in the support of (p. 607) the liberals, and to retain that it was necessary for her to make large concessions. The upshot was that in April, 1834, she issued a royal statute (_Estatuto Real_), whereby there was established a new type of Cortes, comprising two chambers instead of one. The upper house, or Estamento de Proceres, was essentially a senate; the lower, or Estamento de Procuradores, was a chamber of deputies. Members of the Procuradores were to be elected by taxpayers for a term of three years. Upon the Cortes was conferred power of taxation and of legislation; but the Government alone might propose laws, and the Cortes, like its ancient predecessor, was allowed no initiative save that of petitioning the Government to submit measures upon particular subjects. A minimum of one legislative session annually was stipulated; but the sovereign was left free otherwise to convoke and to dissolve the chambers at will. Ministers were recognized to be responsible solely to the crown.

[Footnote 839: In the mediæval states of Spain
there was no discrimination against female
succession. The Spanish Salic Law was enacted by a
decree of Philip V. in 1713, at the close of the
War of the Spanish Succession. Its original object
was to prevent the union of the crowns of France
and Spain. In view of the change which had come in
the international situation, Charles IV., supported
by the Cortes, in 1789 abrogated the act of 1713
and re-established the law of _Siete Partidas_
which permitted the succession of women. This
measure was recorded in the archives, but was not
published at the time; so that what Ferdinand VII.
did was simply to publish, May 19, 1830, at the
instigation of the Queen, this _pragmatica_, or
law, of 1789. The birth of Isabella occurred the
following October 10.]

*671. The Constitution of 1837.*--Toward the establishment of constitutional government the Statute of 1834 marked some, albeit small, advance. The Moderados, or moderate liberals, were disposed to accept it as the largest concession that, for the present, could be expected. But the Progressistas, or progressives, insisted upon a revival of the more democratic constitution of 1812, and in 1836 the regent was compelled by a widespread military revolt to sign a decree pledging the Government to this policy. A constituent Cortes was convoked and the outcome was the promulgation of the constitution of June 17, 1837, based upon the instrument of 1812, but in respect to liberalism standing midway between that instrument and the Statute of 1834. Like the constitution of 1812, that of 1837 affirmed the sovereignty of the nation and the responsibility of ministers to the legislative body. On the other hand, the Cortes was to consist, as under the Statute, of two houses, a Senate and a Congress. The members of the one were to be appointed for life by the crown; those of the other were to be elected by the people for three years. In a number of respects the instrument of 1837 resembled the recently adopted constitution of Belgium, even as the Statute of 1834 had resembled the French Charter of 1814. In the words of a Spanish historian, the document of 1837 had the two-fold importance of "assuring the constitutional principle, which thenceforth was never denied, and of ending the sentiment of idolatry for the constitution of 1812."[840]

[Footnote 840: R. Altamira, in Cambridge Modern
History, X., 238.]

*672. The Constitution of 1845.*--October 12, 1840, the regent Maria Christina was forced by the intensity of civil discord to abdicate and to withdraw to France. Her successor was General Espartero, leader of the Progressistas and the first of a long line of military men to whom it has fallen at various times to direct the governmental (p. 608) affairs of the Spanish nation. November 8, 1843, the princess Isabella although yet but thirteen years old, was declared of age and, under the name of Isabella II., was proclaimed sovereign. Her reign, covering the ensuing twenty years, comprised distinctly an era of stagnation and veiled absolutism. Nominally the constitution of 1837 continued in operation until 1845. At that time it was replaced by a revised and less liberal instrument, drawn up by the Moderados with the assistance of an ordinary Cortes. The duration of the Cortes was extended from three to four years, severer restrictions upon the press were established, supervision of the local authorities was still further centralized, and the requirement that the sovereign might not marry without the consent of the Cortez was rescinded. In the course of a revolutionary movement in 1854 there was convoked a constituent Cortes, dominated by Moderates and Progressives. The constitution which this body framed, comprising essentially a revival of the instrument of 1837, was never, however, put in operation. In the end, by a royal decree of 1856, the constitution of 1845 was amended and re-established. Save for some illiberal amendments of 1857,[841] which were repealed in 1864, this instrument of 1845 continued in operation until 1868. Throughout the period, however, constitutionalism was hardly more than a fiction.[842]

[Footnote 841: One established conditions under
which senatorial seats might be made hereditary.]

[Footnote 842: Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap.
7; XI., Chap. 20; Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire
Générale, X., Chap. 6; XI., Chap. 9; Hume, Modern
Spain, Chaps. 7-12; Clarke, Modern Spain, Chaps.
5-11; Mariano, La Regencia de D. Baldomero
Espartero (Madrid, 1870); J. Perez de Guzman, Las
Cortes y los Gobiernos del reinado de Da Isabel
II., in _La España Moderna_, 1903.]

*673. The Constitution of 1869: King Amadeo.*--By a revolt which began in September, 1868, the queen was compelled to flee from the country, and, eventually, June 25, 1869, to abdicate. A provisional government effected arrangements for the election of a Cortes by manhood suffrage, and this Cortes, convened at the capital, February 11, 1869, addressed itself first of all to the task of drafting a new national constitution. A considerable number of members advocated the establishment of a republic; but for so radical an innovation there was clearly no general demand, and in the end the proposition was rejected by a vote of 214 to 71. June 1 a constitution was adopted which, however, marked a large advance in the direction of liberalism. It contained substantial guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, liberty of religion, and the right of petition and of public assembly, and in unequivocal terms the sovereignty of the people was affirmed afresh. A Cortes of two houses was provided (p. 609) for, the members of the Senate to be chosen indirectly by the people through electoral colleges and the provincial assemblies, those of the Congress to be elected by manhood suffrage, the only qualification for voting being the attainment of the age of twenty-five years and possession of ordinary civil rights.

Pending the selection of a sovereign, a regency was established under Marshal Serrano. Among the several dignitaries who were considered--Alfonso (son of the deposed Isabella) the Duke of Montpensier, Ferdinand of Savoy (brother of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy), King Luiz of Portugal, Ferdinand of Saxony, Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and Prince Amadeo, duke of Aosta, second son of Victor Emmanuel--favor settled eventually upon the last named, who was elected November 19, 1870, by a vote of 191 to 120. At the end of 1870 the new sovereign arrived in Spain, and February 2, 1871, he took oath to uphold the recently established constitution. From the outset, however, his position was one of extreme difficulty. He was opposed by those who desired a republic, by the Carlists, by the adherents of the former crown prince Alfonso, and by the clergy; and as a foreigner he was regarded with indifference, if not antipathy, by patriotic Spaniards generally. February 10, 1873, wearied by the turbulence in which he was engulfed, he resigned his powers into the hands of the Cortes, and by that body his abdication was forthwith accepted. It is a sufficient commentary upon the political character of the reign to observe that within the twenty-four months which it covered there were no fewer than six ministerial crises and three general elections.

*674. The Republic (1873-1875): Monarchy Restored.*--The breakdown of the elective monarchy, following thus closely the overthrow of absolutism, cleared the way for the triumph of the republicans. The monarchist parties, confronted suddenly by an unanticipated situation, were able to agree upon no plan of action, and the upshot was that, by a vote of 258 to 32, the Cortes declared for a republic and decreed that the drafting of a republican constitution should be undertaken by a specially elected convention. Although it was true, as Castelar asserted, that the monarchy had perished from natural causes, that the republic was the inevitable product of existing circumstance, and that the transition from the one to the other was effected without bloodshed, it was apparent from the outset that republicanism had not, after all, struck root deeply. A constitution was drawn up, but it was at no time really put into operation. The supporters of the new régime were far from agreed as to the kind of republic, federal or (p. 610) centralized, that should be established;[843] the republican leaders were mutually jealous and prone to profitless theorizing; the nation was lacking in the experience which is a prerequisite of self-government.[844] At home the republic was opposed by the monarchists of the various groups, by the clergy, and by the extreme particularists, and abroad it won the recognition of not one nation save the United States. The presidency of Figueras lasted four months; that of Pi y Margall, six weeks; that of Salmeron, a similar period; that of Castelar, about four months (September 7, 1873, to January 3, 1874). Castelar, however, was rather a dictator than a president, and so was his Conservative successor Serrano. By the beginning of 1874 it was admitted universally that the only escape from the anomalous situation in which the nation found itself lay in a restoration of the legitimist monarchy, in the person of Don Alfonso, son of Isabella II. The collapse of the republic was as swift and as noiseless as had been its establishment. The principal agency in it was the army, which, in December, 1874, declared definitely for Alfonso, after he had pledged himself to a grant of amnesty and the maintenance of constitutional government. December 31 a regency ministry under the presidency of Cánovas was announced, and the new reign began with the landing of the young sovereign at Barcelona, January 10, 1875. Between the premature and ineffective republicanism of the past year, on the one hand, and the absolutism of a Carlist government, on the other, the constitutional monarchy of Alfonso XII. seemed a logical, and to the mass of the Spanish people, an eminently satisfactory, compromise.[845]

[Footnote 843: Castelar favored a consolidated and
radical republic; Serrano, a consolidated and
conservative republic; Pi y Margall, a federal
republic, on the pattern of the United States;
Pavia, a republic which should be predominantly
military.]

[Footnote 844: In this connection may be mentioned
a remark of General Prim, one of the leading
spirits in the provisional government of 1868. When
asked why at that time he did not establish a
republic his reply was: "It would have been a
republic without republicans." There was no less a
dearth of real republicans in 1873-1874.]

[Footnote 845: On the revolutionary and republican
periods see Cambridge Modern History XI., Chap. 20
(bibliography, pp. 945-949); Lavisse et Rambaud,
Histoire Générale, XII., Chap. 9; Hume, Modern
Spain, Chap. 10; V. Cherbuliez, L'Espagne
politique, 1868-1873 (Paris, 1874); W. Lauser,
Geschichte Spaniens von dem Sturz Isabellas,
1868-1875 (Leipzig, 1877); E. H. Strobel, The
Spanish Revolution, 1868-1875 (London, 1898); E.
Rodriguez Solis, Historia del partido republicano
español (Madrid, 1893); Pi y Margall, Amadeo de
Saboya (Madrid, 1884); H. R. Whitehouse, Amadeus,
King of Spain (New York, 1897). A significant work
is E. Castelar, Historia del movimiento republicano
en Europa (Madrid, 1873-1874). Special works
dealing with the restoration include A. Houghton,
Les origines de la restauration des Bourbons en
Espagne (Paris, 1890); Diez de Tejada, Historia de
la restauracion (Madrid, 1879).]

III. THE PRESENT CONSTITUTION (p. 611)

*675. The Constitution Adopted.*--The year following the re-establishment of the monarchy was consumed largely in the suppression of the Carlists and the reorganization of the government. During this period Cánovas, at the head of a strong Conservative and Clerical ministry, ruled virtually as a dictator, and sooner or later most vestiges of the republic were swept away, while the nation was won over solidly to the new order. At the election of the first Cortes of the Restoration, January 22, 1876, the principle of manhood suffrage was continued in operation, though so docile did the electorate prove that Cánovas was able to secure, in both chambers, a heavy majority which was ready to vote at the Government's behest a franchise system of a much less liberal type. The first important task of this Cortes was the consideration and adoption of a new national constitution. As to the sort of constitution most desirable there was, as ever, wide difference of opinion. The Conservatives favored a revival of the instrument of 1845. The Liberals much preferred a restoration of that of 1869. A commission of thirty-nine, designated May 20, 1875, by a junta convened by Cánovas, had evolved with some difficulty an instrument which combined various features of both of these earlier documents, and by the Cortes of 1876 this proposed constitution was at length accorded definite, though by no means unanimous, assent (June 30). This instrument was put forthwith into operation, and it has remained to this day, substantially without alteration, the fundamental law of Spain. Based essentially upon the constitution of 1845, it none the less exhibits at many points the influence of the liberal principles which underlay the instrument of 1869.

*676. Contents: Guarantees of Individual Liberty.*--In scope the constitution is comprehensive. Its text falls into thirteen "titles" and eighty-nine articles. Like the constitution of Italy, it contains no provision for its own amendment; but in Spain, as also in Italy, the distinction between constituent and legislative powers is not sharply drawn and a simple act of the legislative body is in practice adequate to modify the working constitution of the kingdom. Among the thirteen titles one of the most elaborate is that in which are defined the rights and privileges of Spanish subjects and of aliens resident in Spain.[846] Among rights specifically guaranteed are those of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, peaceful assemblage, the formation of associations, petition, unrestrained choice of professions, and eligibility to public offices and employments, "according to (p. 612) merit and capacity." Immunities guaranteed include exemption from arrest, "except in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law"; exemption from imprisonment, except upon order of a competent judicial official; freedom from molestation on account of religious opinions, provided due respect for "Christian morality" be shown;[847] and exemption from search of papers and effects and from confiscation of property, save by authority legally competent. It is forbidden that either the military or the civil authorities shall impose any penalty other than such as shall have been established previously by law. Certain guarantees, i.e., those respecting arrest, imprisonment, search, freedom of domicile, freedom of speech and press, assemblage, and associations, may, under provision of the constitution, be suspended throughout the kingdom or in any portion thereof, but only when demanded by the security of the state, and then only temporarily and by means of a specific law. In no case may any other guarantee which is named in the constitution be withdrawn, even temporarily. When the Cortes is not in session the Government may suspend, through the medium of a royal decree, any one of the guarantees which the Cortes itself is authorized to suspend, but at the earliest opportunity such a decree must be submitted to the Cortes for ratification. It need hardly be pointed out that the opportunity for the evasion of constitutionalism which is created by this power of suspension is enormous, and anyone at all familiar with the history of public affairs in Spain would be able to cite numerous occasions upon which, upon pretexts more or less plausible, the guarantees of the fundamental law have been set at naught.[848]

[Footnote 846: No. 1. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 199-203.]

[Footnote 847: By Article II Roman Catholicism is
declared to be the religion of the state. "The
nation," it is stipulated further, "binds itself to
maintain this religion and its ministers." Dodd,
Modern Constitutions, II., 201.]

[Footnote 848: An official text of the constitution
of 1876 is published by the Spanish Government
under the title Constitución politica de la
monarchia Española y leyes complementarias (4th
ed., Madrid, 1901). The texts of all of the Spanish
constitutions of the nineteenth century are printed
in the first volume of Muro y Martinez,
Constituciones de España y de las demas naciones de
Europa, con la historia general de España (Madrid,
1881); also in the first volume--Constituciones y
reglamentos (Madrid, 1906)--of a collection
projected by the Spanish Government under the title
of Publicaciones Parlamentarias. English versions
of the instrument of 1876 appear in British and
Foreign State Papers, LXVII. (1875-1876), 118 ff.,
and Dodd, Modern Constitutions, II., 199-216. An
excellent brief treatise on Spanish constitutional
development is H. Gmelin, Studien zur spanischen
Verfassungsgeschichte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts
(Stuttgart, 1905); on Spanish constitutional law,
M. Torres Campos, Das Staatsrecht des Königreichs
Spanien (Freiburg, 1889), in Marquardsen's
Handbuch; on Spanish administrative law, V.
Santamaria de Paredes, Curso de derecho
administrativo (5th ed., Madrid, 1898); and on the
comparative aspects of Spanish institutions, R. de
Oloriz, La Constitución española comparada con las
de Inglaterra, Estados-Unidos, Francia y Alemania
(Valencia, 1904). More extended works of importance
include V. Santamaria de Paredes, Curso de derecho
politico (6th ed., Madrid, 1898), and A. Posada,
Tratado de derecho administrativo (Madrid,
1897-1898). A monumental collection of laws
relating to Spanish administrative affairs is M.
Martinez Alcubilla, Diccionario de la
administración Española, Peninsular y Ultramarina
(5th ed., 1892-1894), to which is added annually an
appendix containing texts of the most recent laws
and decrees. Special treatises of importance are M.
M. Calvo, Regimen parlamentario en España (Madrid,
1883); J. Costa, Oligarquia y Caciquismo como la
forma actual del Gobierno en España (Madrid, 1903);
and Y. Guytot, L'évolution politique et sociale de
l'Espagne (Paris, 1899). Mention may be made of R.
Fraoso, Las constituciones de España, in _Revista
de España_, June-July, 1880.]

IV. THE CROWN AND THE MINISTRY (p. 613)

*677. The Rules of Succession.*--Executive power in the kingdom is vested solely in the crown, although in practice it devolves to a large degree upon the council of ministers. Kingship is hereditary, and in regulation of the succession the constitution lays down the general principle that an elder line shall always be preferred to younger ones; in the same line, the nearer degree of kinship to the more remote; in the same degree of kinship, the male to the female; in the same sex, the older to the younger person. By the original constitution Alfonso XII. was declared to be the legitimate sovereign, and provision was made that if the line of legitimate descendants of Alfonso should be extinguished, his sisters should succeed in the established order; then his aunt (the sister of his mother Isabella II.) and her legitimate descendants; and, finally, the descendants of his uncles, the brothers of Ferdinand VII.[849] It will be recalled that the Pragmatic Sanction of 1830 abolished in Spain the Salic principle and restored the ancient right of females to inherit. Spain is, indeed, one of the few European states in which this right exists. At the same time, as has been pointed out, when the degree of kinship is identical, preference is accorded the male. Thus it came about that the present sovereign, Alfonso XIII., the posthumous son of Alfonso XII., took precedence over his two sisters, both of whom were older than he, and the elder of whom, Maria de las Mercedes, actually was queen from the death of her father, November 25, 1885, until the birth of her brother, May 17, 1886.[850]

[Footnote 849: Arts. 59-61. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, II., 211.]

[Footnote 850: She was, however, but a child five
years of age.]

*678. Regencies.*--Any member of the royal family who may be incapable of governing, or who by his conduct may have forfeited his claim to the good-will of the nation, may be excluded from the succession by (p. 614) law. Disputes concerning rights or facts involved in the succession are to be adjusted by law, and in event that all of the family lines mentioned in the constitution should be extinguished it would become the duty of the Cortes to make such disposal of the crown as might be adjudged "most suitable to the nation."[851] Both the sovereign and the heir presumptive are forbidden to marry any person who by law is excluded from the succession. They are, indeed, forbidden to contract a marriage at all until after the Cortes shall have examined and approved the stipulations involved. The age of majority of the sovereign is fixed at sixteen years. When the king is a minor, his father or his mother, or, in default of a living parent, the relative who stands next in the order of succession, is constituted regent, provided always that such person be a Spaniard at least twenty years of age and not by law excluded from the succession. Should there be no one upon whom the regency may lawfully devolve, it is the duty of the Cortes to appoint a regency of one, three, or five persons. If, at any time, in the judgment of the Cortes, the sovereign becomes incapacitated to rule, a regency is required to be vested in the crown prince, provided he be sixteen years of age. In default of a qualified crown prince the regency devolves upon the queen; and in default of both son and queen, upon a person determined in accordance with the rules already mentioned.

[Footnote 851: Art. 62. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 212.]

*679. Powers of the Crown.*--The powers of the crown are of the sort common among continental monarchies. By the constitution they are thrown into two groups, i.e., those which may be exercised freely and independently and those which may be exercised only upon the authorization of a special law. Enumeration of the first group begins with the sweeping statement that "the power of executing the laws is vested in the king, and his authority extends to everything which conduces to the preservation of public order at home and the security of the state abroad, in conformity with the constitution and the laws."[852] Powers specifically named include the approval and promulgation of the laws; the issuing of decrees, regulations, and instructions designed to facilitate the execution of the laws; the appointment and dismissal of ministers and of civil officials generally; command of the army and navy and direction of the land and naval forces; the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace;[853] the conduct of diplomatic and commercial relations with foreign states; the pardoning of offenders; the control of the coinage; (p. 615) and the conferring of honors and distinctions of every kind. Of powers which the sovereign may exercise only in pursuance of authority specially conferred by law there are five, as follows: alienation, cession, or exchange of any portion of Spanish territory; incorporation of new territory; admission of foreign troops into the kingdom; ratification of all treaties which are binding individually upon Spaniards, and of treaties of offensive alliance which stipulate the payment of subsidies to any foreign power, or which relate especially to commerce; and abdication of the crown in favor of the heir-presumptive.

[Footnote 852: Art. 50. Ibid., II., 210.]

[Footnote 853: It is required that subsequent to a
declaration of war or the conclusion of peace the
king shall submit to the Cortes a report
accompanied by pertinent documents.]

*680. The Ministry: Organization and Functions.*--In Spain, as in constitutional states generally, the powers appertaining to the executive are exercised in the main by the ministers. Concerning the ministry the constitution has little to say. It, in truth, assumes, rather than makes specific provision for, the ministry's existence. It confers upon the crown the power freely to appoint and to dismiss ministers; it stipulates that ministers may be senators or deputies and may participate in the proceedings of both legislative chambers, but may vote only in the chambers to which they belong; and, most important of all, it enjoins that ministers shall be responsible, and that no order of the king may be executed unless countersigned by a minister, who thereby assumes personal responsibility for it. This principle of ministerial responsibility, which found its first expression in Spain in the constitution of 1812, is enforced nowadays sufficiently, at least, to ensure the nation, through the Cortes, some actual control over the policies and measures of the executive. Of ministries there are at present nine, as follows: Foreign Affairs; Justice; Finance; War; Marine; Interior; Public Instruction and Fine Arts; Commerce; and Public Works. At the head of the ministerial council is a president, or premier, who, under royal approval, selects his colleagues, but ordinarily assumes himself no portfolio. It is the function of the ministers not only to serve as the heads of executive departments and to explain and defend in the legislative chambers the acts of the government, but, in their collective capacity, to formulate measures for presentation to the Cortes and, especially, to submit every year for examination and discussion a general budget, accompanied by a scheme of taxation or other proposed means of meeting prospective expenditures. In each chamber there is reserved for the ministers of the crown a front bench to the right of the presiding official. The practice of interpellation exists, although ministries rarely retire by reason of a vote of censure arising therefrom. But any minister may be impeached by the Congress before the Senate. In Spain, as in France and Italy, the parliamentary system is nominally in (p. 616) operation; but, as in the countries mentioned, the multiplicity and instability of party groups render the workings of the system totally different from what they are in Great Britain. Ministries are invariably composite rather than homogeneous in political complexion, with the consequence that they are unable to present a solid front or long to retain their hold upon the nation's confidence.

V. THE CORTES

*681. The Senate: Composition.*--The legislative powers of the kingdom are vested in "the Cortes, together with the king." The Cortes consists of two co-ordinate chambers, the Senate and the Congress of Deputies. In the composition of the Senate the prescriptive, appointive, and elective principles are curiously intertwined, the chamber containing one group of men who are members in their own right, another who are appointed by the crown and sit for life, and a third who are elected by the corporations of the state and by the large taxpayers. In number the first two categories jointly may not exceed 180; the third is fixed definitely at that figure. In point of fact the life senators nominated by the crown number 100, while the quota of prescriptive members varies considerably. This last-mentioned group comprises grown sons of the sovereign and of the heir-presumptive; the admirals of the navy and the captains-general of the army; the patriarch of the Indies and the archbishops; the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Accounts, and the Supreme Councils of War and Marine, after two years of service; and grandees of Spain[854] in their own right, who are not subjects of another power and who have a proved yearly income of 60,000 pesetas ($12,000) derived from real property of their own, or from rights legally equivalent to real property.[855]

[Footnote 854: The rank of grandee (_grande_) is a
dignity conferred by the sovereign, either for life
or as an hereditary honor.]

[Footnote 855: Art. 21. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 204].

*682. Appointment and Election of Senators.*--Appointment of senators by the crown is made by special decree, in which must be stated the grounds upon which each appointment is based. In the selection of appointees the sovereign is not entirely free, but since the constitution designates no fewer than twelve classes from which appointments may be made, the range of choice is large. Among the categories enumerated are the presidents of the legislative chambers; deputies who have been members of as many as three congresses, or who have served during as many as eight sessions; ministers of the crown; bishops; grandees; lieutenant-generals of the army and vice-admirals of the navy, of (p. 617) two years' standing; ambassadors, after two years of active service, and ministers plenipotentiary, after four years; presidents and directors of the half-dozen royal academies, and persons who in point of seniority belong within the first half of the list of members of these respective bodies; head professors in the universities, who have held this rank and have performed the duties pertaining to it through a period of four years; and a variety of other administrative, judicial, and professional functionaries. Persons belonging to any one of these groups, however, are eligible for appointment only in the event that they enjoy an annual income of 7,500 pesetas ($1,500), derived from property of their own or from salaries of permanent employments, or from pensions or retirement allowances. In addition to the classes mentioned persons are eligible who for two years have possessed an annual income of 20,000 pesetas, or who have paid into the public treasury a direct tax of 4,000 pesetas, provided that in addition they possess titles of nobility, or have been members of the Cortes, provincial deputies, or mayors in capitals of provinces or in towns of more than 20,000 inhabitants. Appointments are made regularly for life.

The conditions under which the quota of 180 elected senators are chosen were defined by a statute of February 8, 1877. One senator is chosen by the clergy in each of the nine archbishoprics; one by each of the six royal academies; one by each of the ten universities; five by the economic societies; and the remaining 150 by electoral colleges in the several provinces. The electoral college is composed of members of the provincial deputations and of representatives chosen from among the municipal councillors and largest taxpayers of the towns and municipal districts. But no one may become a senator by election who would be ineligible, under the conditions above mentioned, to be appointed to a seat by the crown. And it is required in all cases that to become a senator one must be a Spaniard, must have attained the age of thirty-five, must have the free management of his property, and must not have been subjected to criminal proceedings, nor have been deprived of the exercise of his political rights. The term of elected senators is ten years. One-half of the number is renewed every five years; but upon a dissolution of the elected portion of the chamber by the crown, the quota is renewed integrally.[856]

[Footnote 856: Arts. 20-26. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, II., 203-206.]

*683. The Congress of Deputies: Composition and Election.*--The lower legislative chamber is composed of deputies chosen directly by the inhabitants of the several electoral districts into which the kingdom is divided. From the adoption of the present constitution until 1890 the franchise was restricted severely by property qualifications. (p. 618) A reform bill which became law June 29, 1890, however, re-established in effect the scheme of manhood suffrage which had been in operation during the revolutionary epoch 1869-1875. Under the provisions of a law of August 8, 1907, by which the electoral system was further regulated, the franchise is conferred upon all male Spaniards who have attained the age of twenty-five, who have resided in their electoral district not less than two years, and who have not been deprived judicially of their civil rights.[857] Except, indeed, in the case of certain judicial officials and of persons more than seventy years of age, the exercise of the voting privilege is, as in Belgium and in some of the Austrian provinces, compulsory. The constitution requires that there shall be at least one deputy for every 50,000 inhabitants. The total membership of the Congress is at present 406. In the majority of districts but a single deputy is chosen, but in twenty-eight of the larger ones two or more are elected by _scrutin de liste_, with provision for the representation of minorities. In districts in which two or three deputies are to be chosen, each elector votes for one fewer than the number to be elected; in districts where from four to seven are to be chosen, the elector votes for two fewer than the total number; and where the aggregate number is eight to ten, or more than ten, he votes for three or four fewer, respectively. Any Spaniard who is qualified for the exercise of the suffrage is eligible for election, and for indefinite re-election, as a deputy, save that no member of the clergy may be chosen. The term of membership is five years, though by reason of not infrequent dissolutions the period of service is actually briefer. As is true also of senators, deputies receive no pay for their services.[858]

[Footnote 857: There is the customary regulation
that soldiers and sailors in active service may not
vote.]

[Footnote 858: J. Vila Serra, Manual de elecciones
de Diputados a Cortes (Valencia, 1907); J. Lon y
Albareda, Nueva ley electoral de 8 de Agosto de
1907, comentada (Madrid, 1907); M. Vivanco y L. San
Martin, La reforma electoral (Madrid, 1907).]

*684. Sessions and Status of the Chambers.*--The Cortes, consisting thus of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies, is required by the constitution to be convened by the crown in regular session at least once each year. Extraordinary sessions may be held, and upon the death or incapacitation of the sovereign the chambers must be assembled forthwith. To the crown belongs the power not only to convene, but also to suspend and to terminate the sessions, and to dissolve, simultaneously or separately, the Congress and the elective portion of the Senate. In the event, however, of a dissolution, the sovereign is obliged to convene the newly constituted Cortes within the space of three months. Except when it devolves upon the Senate to exercise (p. 619) its purely judicial functions, neither of the chambers may be assembled without the other. In no case may the two chambers sit as a single assembly, or deliberate in the presence of the sovereign. Each body is authorized to judge the qualifications of its members and to frame and adopt its own rules of procedure. The Senate elects its secretaries, but its president and vice-president are designated, for each session, and from the senators themselves, by the crown. The Congress, on the other hand, elects from its membership all of its own officials. Sessions of both chambers are public, though "when secrecy is necessary" the doors may be closed. A majority of the members constitutes a quorum, and measures are passed by a majority vote. No senator or deputy may be held to account by legal process for any opinion uttered or for any vote cast within the chamber to which he belongs; and, save when taken in the commission of an offense, a member is entitled to all of the safeguards against arrest and judicial proceedings which are extended customarily to members of legislative bodies in constitutional states.[859]

[Footnote 859: It is to be observed that these
guarantees are not quite absolute. During the
crisis of 1904 the Maura government required the
Congress to suspend the legislative immunity of no
fewer than 140 members, and for the first time
since 1834 deputies were handed over to the courts
to be tried for offenses of a purely political
character.]

*685. Functions and Powers of the Cortes.*--The function of the Cortes is primarily legislative. Each chamber shares with the crown the right to initiate measures, and no proposal can become law until it has received the sanction of the two houses. Rejection of a bill by either chamber, or by the crown, precludes the possibility of a reappearance of the project during the continuance of the session. Measures relating to taxation and to the public credit must be presented, in the first instance, in the Congress of Deputies, and it is made the specific obligation of the Government every year to lay before that body for examination and approval a budget of revenues and expenditures. Only upon authority of law may the Government alienate property belonging to the state, or borrow money on the public credit. Under Spanish constitutional theory the Cortes is the agent of the sovereign nation. It is authorized, therefore, not only to discharge the usual functions of legislation but also to do three other things of fundamental importance. In the first place, it receives from the sovereign, from the heir-apparent, and from the regent or regency of the kingdom, the oath of fidelity to the constitution and the laws. In the second place, under provisions contained within the constitution, it elects the regent or regency and appoints a guardian for a (p. 620) minor sovereign. Finally, to maintain the responsibility of ministers to the lower chamber, and, through it, to the nation, the Congress is authorized to impeach, and the Senate to try, at any time any member of the Government.[860]

[Footnote 860: Arts. 32-47. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, II., 207-209. On the Cortes may be
consulted, in addition to the constitutional
treatises mentioned on pp. 612-613, A. Borrego,
Historia de las Cortes de Españo durante el siglo
XIX. (Madrid, 1885), and A. Pons y Umbert,
Organizaciôn y funcionamento de las Cortes segun
las constituciones españolas y reglamentacion de
dicho cuerpo colegislador (Madrid, 1906).]

VI. POLITICAL PARTIES

*686. Party Groups After 1869.*--Since the dawn of constitutionalism political life in Spain has comprised much of the time a sheer game between the "ins" and the "outs", in which issues have counted for little and the schemings of the caciques, or professional wire-pullers and bosses, have counted for well-nigh everything. For the exercise of independent popular judgment upon fundamental political questions aptitude has been meager and opportunity rare. Political parties there have been, and still are, and certain of them have exhibited distinct power of survival. Yet it must be observed that even the stablest of them are essentially the creatures of the political leaders and that at no time have they exhibited the broadly national rootage of political parties in other states of western Europe.

Party cleavages in Spain had their beginning early in the nineteenth century, but for the origins of the groups which share in an important manner nowadays in the politics of the kingdom it is not necessary to return to a period more remote than that of the revolution of 1868. Subsequent to the expulsion of Queen Isabella at least four groups were thrown into more or less sharp relief. One was the Carlists, supporters of the claims of Don Carlos and, in respect to political principle, avowed absolutists. A second comprised the Republicans, led by Castelar, whose demand for the establishment of a republic, rejected in 1869, carried the day upon the breakdown of the Amadeo monarchy four years later. Between the Carlists, on the one hand, and the Republicans, on the other, stood the mass of the political leaders, and, so far as may be judged, of the nation also. All were agreed upon the general principle of constitutional monarchy. But upon the precise nature of the government which had been established and of the public policy which ought to be pursued there was, and could be, little agreement. The consequence was a sharp-cut cleavage, by which there were set off in opposition to each other two large parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals; and, save for the brief (p. 621) ascendancy of the Republicans in 1873-1874, it is these two parties which have shared between them the government of the kingdom from the establishment of the limited monarchy in 1869 to the present day. Both of these leading parties have been pledged continuously to maintain the constitution and all of the popular privileges--freedom of speech, liberty of the press, safety of property, the right of establishing associations, and the like--guaranteed by that instrument. Upon the _methods_ by which these things shall be maintained the parties originally divided and still are disagreed. Fundamentally, the policy of the Liberals is to commit the guardianship of public privileges to the courts of justice, while that of the Conservatives is to retain it rather in the hands of the ministerial and administrative authorities. In the normal course of development the Liberal party has tended to draw to itself those liberal elements generally which are satisfied to rely upon legal means for the realization of their purposes, e.g., the free-traders, the labor forces, and many of the socialists. Similarly the Conservative party has attracted a considerable proportion of the reactionaries, especially the Ultramontanes, by whom special stress is placed upon the maintenance of peace with the Vatican, and many representatives of the old Moderate party which was swept out of existence by the overturn of 1868.

*687. Liberals and Conservatives: Cánovas and Sagasta.*--The first public act of Alfonso XII., following his proclamation as king, December 29, 1874, was to call to his side in the capacity of premier Cánovas del Castillo, by whom was formed a strong Conservative ministry. Consequent upon the convocation of the Cortes of 1876 and the adoption of the new constitution of that year, the various groups of Liberals were drawn into a fairly compact opposition party, supporting the Alfonsist dynasty and the new constitutional régime, but proposing to labor, by peaceful means, for the restoration of as many as possible of the more liberal features of the constitution of 1869. It is of interest to observe that the party, in its earlier years, was encouraged by Cánovas, on the theory that there would be provided by it a natural and harmless outlet for inevitable ebullitions of the liberal spirit. Under the able leadership of Sagasta the development of the party was rapid, and in 1881 Cánovas determined to give the country a taste of Liberal rule. Following a collusive "defeat" the premier retired, whereupon Sagasta was designated premier and a Liberal ministry was established which held office somewhat more than two years. By the Republicans and other radical forces the ministry of Sagasta was harassed unsparingly, just as had been that of Cánovas, and the actual working policies of (p. 622) the two differed in scarcely any particular. Within the Liberal ranks, indeed, a "dynastic Left" became so troublesome that Sagasta, after two years, yielded office to the leader of the disaffected elements, Posada Herrera. The only effect of the experiment was to demonstrate that between the Conservatives led by Cánovas and the Liberals led by Sagasta there was no room for a third party.

In 1885 Cánovas returned to power, but for only a brief interval, for upon the establishment of the regency of Queen Christina, following the death of Alfonso XII., November 25, 1885, Sagasta was called upon to form the first of a series of ministries over which he presided continuously through the ensuing five years. In the memorable Pact of El Pardo it had been agreed between the Liberal and Conservative leaders that each would assist the other in the defense of the dynasty and of the constitution, and although Sagasta had avowed the intention of reintroducing certain principles of the constitution of 1869 he was pledged to proceed in a cautious manner and a conciliatory spirit. The elections of 1884 yielded a substantial Conservative majority in both chambers of the Cortes. None the less the Conservatives accorded the Liberal government their support, until by the elections of 1886 the Liberals themselves acquired control of the two houses. Throughout three years Castelar and the more moderate Republicans co-operated actively with the Government in the re-introduction of jury trial, the revival of liberty of the press, and a number of other liberal measures; but the Government was annoyed continually by attacks and intrigues participated in by both the less conciliatory Republicans and the Carlists. The crowning achievement of the Sagasta ministry was the carrying through of the manhood suffrage act of June 29, 1890. Within a month after the promulgation of the suffrage law the regent gave Sagasta to understand that the time had arrived for a change of leaders. The Cánovas ministry which was thereupon established endured two and a half years, and was given distinction principally by its introduction, in 1892, of the thoroughgoing protectionist régime which prevails in Spain to-day. The Conservatives falling into discord, Cánovas resigned, December 8, 1892; and at the elections of the following year the Conservatives carried only one hundred seats in the Chamber. During the period from December, 1892, to March, 1895, Sagasta was again at the helm.

*688. The American War and Ministerial Changes, 1895-1902.*--Between 1895 and 1901 there was a rapid succession of ministries, virtually all of which were both made and unmade by situations arising from (p. 623) the war in Cuba and the subsequent contest with the United States. In the hope of averting American intervention a new Cánovas government, established in 1895, brought forward a measure for the introduction of home rule in Cuba, but while the bill was pending, Cánovas was assassinated, August 9, 1897, and the proposition failed. The new Conservative cabinet of General Azcarraga soon retired, and although the Sagasta government which succeeded recalled General Weyler from Cuba and inaugurated a policy of conciliation, the situation had got beyond control and war with the United States ensued. By the succession of Spanish defeats the popularity of the Liberal régime was strained to the breaking point, and at the close of the war Sagasta's ministry gave place to a ministry formed by the new Conservative leader Silvela. The elections of April 16, 1899, yielded the Silvelists a majority and the ministry, reconstituted September 28 of the same year, retained power until March 6, 1901. At that date the Liberals gained the upper hand once more; and, with two brief intervals, Sagasta remained in office until December 3, 1902. Within scarcely more than a month after his final retirement, the great Liberal leader passed away.

*689. Parties Since the Death of Sagasta.*--A second Silvela ministry, established December 6, 1902, brought the Conservatives again into power. This ministry, which lasted but a few months, was followed successively by four other Conservative governments, as follows: that of Villaverde, May, 1903, to December, 1903; that of Antonio Maura y Montanes, December, 1903, to December, 1904; the second of General Azcarraga, December, 1904, to January, 1905; and the second of Villaverde, from January, 1905, to June, 1905. Of these the most virile was that of Maura, a former Liberal, whose spirit of conciliation and progressiveness entitled him to be considered one of the few real statesmen of Spain in the present generation.

Following the death of Sagasta the Liberals passed through a period of demoralization, but under the leadership of Montero Rios they gradually recovered, and in June, 1905, the government of Villaverde was succeeded by one presided over by Rios. At the elections of September 10, 1905, the Ministerialists secured 227 seats and the Conservatives of all groups but 126 (the remainder being scattered); but discord arose and, November 29 following, the cabinet of Rios resigned. Upon the great ecclesiastical questions of the day--civil marriage, the law of associations, and the secularization of education--both parties, but especially the Liberals, were disrupted completely, and during the period of but little more than a year between the retirement of Rios and the return to power of Maura, January 24, 1907, no fewer than five ministries sought successively to grapple (p. 624) with the situation. Under Maura a measure of stability was restored. The premier, although a Catholic, was moderately anti-clerical. His principal purpose was to maintain order and to elevate the plane of politics by a reform of the local government. At the elections of April 21, 1907, the Conservatives won a victory so decisive that in the Congress they secured a majority of 88 seats over all other groups combined.[861] The fall of the Maura ministry, October 21, 1909, came in consequence largely of the Moroccan crisis, but more immediately by reason of embarrassment incident to the execution of the anarchist-philosopher Señor Ferrer. The Liberal ministry of Moret, constituted October 22, 1909, lacked substantial parliamentary support and was short-lived. February 9, 1910, there was established under Canalejas, leader of the democratic group, a cabinet representative of various Liberal and Radical elements and made up almost wholly of men new to ministerial office.[862]

[Footnote 861: The exact distribution of seats was
as follows: Conservatives, 256; Liberals, 66;
Solidarists, 53; Republicans, 32; Democrats, 9;
Independents, 8.]

[Footnote 862: November 12, 1912, Premier Canalejas
was assassinated. He was succeeded by the president
of the Congress of Deputies, Alvaro de Romanones,
under whom the Liberal ministry was continued in
office.]

*690. The Elections of 1910.*--The first important act of Canalejas was
to persuade the sovereign, as Moret had vainly sought to do, to
dissolve the Cortes, to the end that the Liberal ministry might appeal
to the country. The elections were held May 10. They were of peculiar
interest by reason of the fact that now for the first time there was
put into operation an electoral measure of the recent Maura government
whereby it is required that every candidate for a seat in the lower
chamber shall be placed in nomination by two ex-senators, two
ex-deputies, or three members of the general council of the province.
This regulation had been opposed by the Republicans and by the radical
elements generally on the ground that it put in the hands of the
Government power virtually to dictate candidacies in many electoral
districts, and the results seemed fairly to sustain the charge. May 1,
in accordance with a provision of the law, 120 deputies--upwards of
one-third of the total number to be chosen--were declared elected, by
reason of having no competitors. Of these 70 were Liberals, 39 were
Conservatives, and the remainder belonged to minor groups. In the
districts in which there were contests the Government also won
decisively a few days later, as it did likewise in the senatorial
elections of May 15. The results of the elections, as officially
reported, may be tabulated as follows:
(p. 625)
CONGRESS
OF
DEPUTIES
| Elected indirectly
| by the people, May 15
| |
| | Elected by
| | the corporations,
| | etc., May 15
| | |
| | | SENATE
| | | Total elected
| | | |
| | | | Immovable portion
| | | | of Senate
| | | | |
| | | | | Grand
| | | | | Total
| | | | | |
Liberals 229 92 11 103 70 173
Dissenting Liberals 0 3 0 3 0 3
Conservatives 107 35 7 42 77 119
Republicans 40 3 1 4 0 4
Carlists 9 4 0 4 2 6
Regionalists 8 4 1 5 0 5
Integrists 7 0 0 0 0 0
Independents 5 1 1 2 16 18
Socialists 1 0 0 0 0 0
Catholics 0 5 0 5 8 13
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
406 147 21 168 173[863] 341

[Footnote 863: Some seats vacant.]

*691. Republicanism and Socialism.*--Among other accounts, the elections of 1910 were notable by reason of the return to the Congress for the first time of a socialist member. In Madrid, as in other centers of population, the Government concluded with the Conservatives an _entente_ calculated to hold in check the rising tide of socialism and republicanism. Under the stimulus thus afforded the Socialists at last responded to the overtures which the Republicans had long been making, and the coalition which resulted was successful in returning to Parliament the Socialist leader Iglesias, together with an otherwise all but unbroken contingent of Republicans. In Barcelona and elsewhere Republican gains were decisive. None the less the Republican forces continue to be so embarrassed by factional strife as to be not really formidable. The Socialists, however, exhibit a larger degree of unity. As in Italy, France, and most European countries, they are growing both in numbers and in effectiveness of organization. In Spain, as in Italy, the historic parties which have been accustomed to share between them the control of the state have, in reality, long since lost much of the vitality which they once possessed. The terms "Liberal" and "Conservative" denote even less than once they did bodies of men standing for recognized political principles, or even for recognized political policies. The field for the development of parties which shall take more cognizance of the nation's actual conditions and be more responsive to its demands seems wide and, on the whole, not unpromising.[864]

[Footnote 864: On political parties in Spain two
older works are A. Borrego, Organizaciôn de los
Partidos (Madrid, 1855) and El Partido Conservador
(Madrid, 1857). Two valuable books are E. Rodriguez
Solis, Historia del partido republicano español
(Madrid, 1893) and B. M. Andrade y Uribe, Maura und
di Konservativen Partei in Spanien (Karlsruhe,
1912). The subject is sketched excellently to 1898
in Clarke, Modern Spain, Chaps. 14-16. In the
domain of periodical literature may be mentioned A.
Marvaud, Les élections espagnoles de mai 1907, in
_Annales des Sciences Politiques_, July, 1907; C.
David, Les élections espagnoles, in _Questions
Diplomatiques et Coloniales_, May 16, 1907; A.
Marvaud, Un aspect nouveau du Catalanisme, ibid.,
June 16, 1907; La situation politique et financière
de l'Espagne, ibid., Dec. 16, 1908; La rentrée des
Cortes et la situation en Espagne, ibid., June 16,
1910. A well-informed sketch is L. G. Guijarro,
Spain since 1898, in _Yale Review_, May, 1909.]

VII. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (p. 626)

*692. Law and Justice.*--The law of Spain is founded upon the Roman law, the Gothic common law, and, more immediately, the Leyes de Toro, a national code promulgated by the Cortes of Toro in 1501. By the constitution it is stipulated that the same codes shall be in operation throughout all portions of the realm and that in these codes shall be maintained but one system of law, to be applied in all ordinary civil and criminal cases in which Spanish subjects shall be involved. The civil code which is at present in operation was put in effect throughout the entire kingdom May 1, 1889. The penal code dates from 1870, but was amended in 1877. The code of civil procedure was put in operation April 1, 1881, and that of criminal procedure, June 22, 1882. A new commercial code took effect August 22, 1885.

"The power of applying the laws in civil and criminal cases," says the constitution, "shall belong exclusively to the courts, which shall exercise no other functions than those of judging and of enforcing their judgments."[865] What courts shall be established, the organization of each, its powers, the manner of exercising them, and the qualifications which its members must possess, are left to be determined by law. The civil hierarchy to-day comprises tribunals of four grades: the municipal courts, the courts of first instance, the courts of appeal, and the Supreme Court at Madrid. The justices of the peace of the municipal courts are charged with the registration of births and deaths, the preparation of voting lists, the performance of civil marriage, and the hearing of petty cases to the end that conciliation, if possible, may be effected between the litigants. No civil case may be brought in any higher court until effort shall have been made to adjust it in a justice's tribunal. In each of the 495 _partidos judiciales_, or judicial districts, of the kingdom is a court of first instance, empowered to take cognizance of all causes, both civil and criminal. From these tribunals lies appeal in civil cases to fifteen _audiencias territoriales_. By a law of April 20, 1888--the measure by which was introduced the use of the jury in (p. 627) the majority of criminal causes--there were established forty-seven _audiencias criminales_, one in each province of the kingdom, and these have become virtually courts of assize, their sessions being held four times a year. Finally, at Madrid is established a Supreme Court, modelled on the French Court of Cassation, whose function it is to decide questions relating to the competence of the inferior tribunals and to rule on points of law when appeals are carried from these tribunals. Cases involving matters of administrative law, decided formerly by the provincial councils and the Council of State, are disposed of now in the _audiencias_ and in the fourth chamber of the Supreme Court.[866]

[Footnote 865: Art. 76. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 213.]

[Footnote 866: G. Marin, La jurisdiction
contentieuse administrative en Espagne, in _Revue
du Droit Public_, Oct.-Dec., 1906.]

Justice is administered in the name of the king. All judgments must be pronounced in open court, and by the constitution it is guaranteed specifically that proceedings in criminal matters shall be public. In every tribunal the state is represented by _abogados fiscales_ (public prosecutors) and counsel nominated by the crown. Magistrates and judges, appointed by the crown, may not be removed, suspended, or transferred, save under circumstances minutely stipulated in the organic judicial laws. But judges are responsible personally for any violation of law of which they may be guilty.

*693. Local Government: the Province and the Commune.*--Prior to 1833 the Spanish mainland comprised thirteen provinces, by which were preserved in a large measure both the nomenclature and the geographical identity of the ancient kingdoms and principalities from which the nation was constructed. In the year mentioned the number of provinces was increased to forty-seven, at which figure it remains at the present day. The essential agencies of government in the province are two--the governor and the _diputacion provincial_, or provincial council. The governor is appointed by the crown and it is his function, under the direction of the Minister of the Interior, to represent the central government in the provincial council and in the general administrative business of the province. The provincial council is composed of members chosen by the voters of the province, which means, under the law of June 28, 1890, all male Spaniards of the age of twenty-five. Under the presidency of the governor the body meets yearly, and in the intervals between sessions it is represented by a _commission provinciale_, or provincial committee, elected annually. The size of the council varies roughly according to the population of the province.

The smallest governmental unit is the commune, and the number of (p. 628) communes in the kingdom is approximately 8,000. In each is an _ayuntamiento_, or council, the members of which, varying in number from five to thirty-nine, are elected for four years (one-half retiring biennially) by those residents of the commune who are qualified to vote for members of the provincial councils. To serve as the chief executive officer of the municipality the _ayuntamiento_ regularly elects from its own number an _alcalde_, or mayor, although in the larger towns appointment of the mayor is reserved to the crown.

*694. Principles of Local Control.*--After stipulating that the organization and powers of the provincial and municipal councils shall be regulated by law, the constitution lays down certain fundamental principles to be observed in the enactment of such legislation. These are (1) the management of the local interests of the province and the commune shall be left entirely to the respective councils; (2) the estimates, accounts, and official acts of these bodies shall invariably be made public; (3) the fiscal powers of the councils shall be so determined that the financial system of the nation may never be brought in jeopardy; and (4) in order to prevent the councils from exceeding their prerogatives to the prejudice of general and established interests the power of intervention shall be reserved to the sovereign and, under certain circumstances, to the Cortes.[867] The theory, carried over from the liberal constitution of 1869, is that within the spheres marked out for them by law the provinces and the municipalities are autonomous. And it undoubtedly is true that, compared with the system in operation prior to 1868, the present régime represents distinct decentralization. None the less it must be said that in practice there is ever a tendency on the part of the central authorities to encroach upon the privileges of the local governing agencies, and through several years there has been under consideration a reorganization of the entire administrative system in the direction of less rather than more liberalism. In 1909 a Local Administration bill devised by the recent Maura ministry was adopted by the lower chamber of the Cortes. This measure, which was combatted with vigor by the Liberal party, proposed to enlarge the fiscal autonomy of the communes, but at the same time to modify the provincial and municipal electoral system by the establishment of an educational qualification, by the admission of corporations to electoral privileges, and by otherwise lessening the weight of the vote of the individual citizen. In the Senate the measure met determined opposition, and as yet its fate is uncertain.[868]

[Footnote 867: Art. 84. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 215.]

[Footnote 868: J. Gascon y Marin, La réforme du
régime local en Espagne, in _Revue du Droit
Public_, April-June, 1909.]