No. 525.
Mr. Cushing to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Madrid, February 11, 1875.
(Received March 12.)
No. 259.]
Sir: I annex hereto copy and translation of a
circular of which the professed object is to check, if possible, the
tendency to military pronunciamientos, which
constitutes one of the chronic evils of Spain.
Inasmuch as the acclamation of Don Alfonso was in its inception an act of
military pronunciamiento, many persons criticise the
circular as being illogical on the part of his government.
As regards theory or doctrine there is nothing new in the measure; every
previous government in Spain has applied to defeated
political
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generals the same
discipline of exile or of enforced quarters in the Canaries, the Balearic
Islands, or the Filipinas.
In execution of this circular three officers of the army, who were present at
a political demonstration accompanying the departure of Mr. Ruiz Zorrilla
from Madrid, as spoken of in my No. 256, namely, Generals Lagunero and
Izquierdo and Colonel Camona, have been ordered into quarters at the
Canaries or to leave Spain.
Measures of this character have this much of extenuation in Spain, that
defeated or minority parties appear to be intellectually or morally
incapable of legal opposition to the government of
the time being, but recur at once to conspiracy and to mutinous insurrection
as the means of regaining power. Mr. Castelar well said, in one of his best
speeches, that in the crisis of every party question here, it is reduced to
the inquiry, which has the cannons at its disposition
$ The patient electoral efforts of party minorities,
which one sees in the United States, and the courteous and tolerant appeal
to public opinion on the part of opposition parties in Great Britain, are
traits of constitutional government quite unknown and almost
incomprehensible in Spain.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No.
259.—Translation.]
Forbidding army officers to participate in party
contentions.
[From the “Gaceta de Madrid”
February 5, 1875.]
circular.
Your Excellency: The participation of military
men, whatever maybe their rank, in the various and continuous agitations
of public life, carries with it grave inconveniences, experienced at all
times, and in Spain especially as never before and more than in any
other country. To remedy such evils, whose own evidence needs no
extensive demonstration, many measures have been directed, both in Spain
and without; it being an established principle that the chiefs,
officers, and soldiers of the armed forces should remain in total
separation from party strife and from political ambition, so that they
may give no thought save to the exalted duty of defending the social
order, the laws, and the integrity and independence of their country.
From this principle, which is regarded as fundamental in every
well-ordered nation, exception is only admissible in the case of general
officers, for they may be, and frequently are, appointed responsible
ministers, or become members of the political assemblies in virtue of
the free suffrage of their constituents. Thus it has come about in Spain
until now, and thus it will be in future, especially if the coming
Cortes admit the compatibility of military office with legislative
functions, which is admitted, in greater or less degree, on all hands.
But while the Cortes of the nation are not convoked, and while liberty
of suffrage is temporarily suspended by the rigor of royal ordinances
and of military discipline, which is and should ever be still greater in
the high grades of the army than in the lower grades, equally for
chiefs, officers, and soldiers, the generals themselves, whatever be the
elevation of their post, should abstain from taking part in the contests
of parties. This is exacted of them by sound military principles, and
even by those of public right in normal times, and to-day it is moreover
exacted in a more stringent manner, by the perilous state of war in
which the nation now is. To meet the war with whatever elements of
utility the country holds, it is indispensable that the government of
the King may count alike upon all the generals, without distinction,
giving heed solely to their merits and military qualifications; and this
cannot, in point of fact, be reconciled with their participation in
active politics, however loyal may be their intentions. As was said more
than six years ago to the army, and by a minister certainly in no wise
suspicious for the most advanced political schools, “What is lawful to
citizens, who cannot exert upon the opinions of the rest other pressure
than that of their doctrines or their isolated influence, may be deemed
even punishable in those who wield the influence of command or of rank
in the element armed by the state to make the law respected by those who
fail to obey it or who forget it.’
Starting from this proper consideration and from recognized sound
military principles, which have been recalled to mind, and whose
observance has been already commanded in different circulars, the
regency-ministry of the kingdom has accorded to
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order that with the zeal which distinguishes your
excellency, and using all the efficacious means which are within the
reach of your authority, you will prevent military men of all classes
from taking part in reunions, manifestations, and any other acts
whatsoever of a public character, it being your excellency’s duty, In
case of controvention of this royal order, to proceed to the detention
of those who may fall into such culpability, and to give account
immediately to the government for the action which may be in order.
By order of the aforesaid regency-ministry, communicated by the president
thereof, minister of war ad interim, I say this
to your excellency for your cognizance and the consequent effects.
May God guard your excellency many years.
Madrid, February 4,
1875.
The secretary—
MARCELO DE AZCARRAGA
