Mr. Foster to Mr. Bayard.
Madrid, June 24, 1885. (Received July 6.)
Sir: The ministerial crisis * * * may be better understood by some notice of the existing political parties in the countries.
The political parties of Spain maybe divided as follows: (1) The Conservatives; (2) the Liberals; and (3) the Republicans. The Conservatives embrace the greater portion of the elements which were in [Page 721] strumental in re-establishing the Bourbon dynasty by placing the young King Alfonso XII on the throne, and to these are added the chief part of the former adherents of Don Carlos who have any participation in public affairs, that element having ceased to exist as an organized force in the country. Under the administration of this party the constitution of 1876, now in force, was framed. * * * In its ranks are to be found the extreme royalists and partisans of the temporal power of the Church of Borne. Under various ministries it controlled the Government from the advent of Don Alfonso in 1875 to 1881, and again returned to power in January, 1884, under the leadership of Sr. Cánovas del Castillo, who is recognized as one of the ablest of Spanish statesmen of the present century.
The Liberal party claims to be distinctively and uncompromisingly monarchical and loyal to the present sovereign, but seeks to harmonize these conditions with the progressive and liberal tendencies of European Governments. It carried on a warm contest with the Conservative party during the first years of Don Alfonso’s reign, and after being reinforced by a section of the latter party under the lead of Martinez Campos, and other generals who had taken an active part in the restoration of the King, * * * the Liberals, under the leadership of Sr. Sagasta, were called to assume the Government in February, 1881. The party had attained to power by a combination of all the monarchical elements opposed to the Conservatives, and represented various shades of opinion and policies. Once in power, its leader found it impossible to satisfy all the elements which had supported him, and with the usual tendency to conservatism which the responsibilities of government bring with them, his administration failed to satisfy the more extreme Liberals, who organized a new party, known as the Dynastic Left. The programme of this new party embraced the re-establishment of the constitution of 1869, or a modification of the present constitution by the enlargement of the suffrage, greater religious liberty, the recognition of civil marriage, trial by jury, further guarantees to the press, and other reforms. This division of the Liberal party resulted in the overthrow of the Sagasta ministry in October, 1883, and the constitution of a cabinet framed by the Dynastic Left. But this cabinet was short lived, as it was opposed both by the Sagasta Liberals and the United Conservative party. In the apparent hopeless divisions of the Liberal elements, the King recalled the Conservatives to power under Canovas, in January, 1884.
The third party in Spain is that of the Republicans. They represent a large minority in most of the cities and manufacturing centers, and are an important factor in the elections. But they exercise very little direct influence in legislative affairs, because of their internal differences, being divided into at least three distinct sections, with opposing details of policy, and with no concert of action among themselves.
The Liberal party out of power has had in the past year an opportunity to learn the necessity of union, and taking advantage of the general opposition awakened by the repressive measures of the present Conservative minority, was able last spring to effect a combination of all the elements opposed to the Cánovas Government, including both the Dynastic Left and the Republicans, and making the municipal elections held last month throughout the nation the occasion of a united demonstration, they agreed upon a list of candidates for the city councils or ayuntamientos, and were overwhelmingly successful in most of the cities. The result was a complete surprise to the ministry, and for a time it was thought they would be compelled to tender their resignations or make [Page 722] a modification by the admission of less extreme men to the cabinet; but no change occurred.
These elections, however, greatly encouraged the Liberals, and have led them to agree with the Dynastic Left upon a platform to be the future policy of the united Liberals. Sr. Sagasta’s opposition to the programme of the Left has been based upon the fact that it contemplated a constituent Cortes to adopt a new constitution or amendments of the present one—a step which he regarded as full of danger for the monarchical institutions of the country. He claims that all the measures referred to above as the distinctive reforms of the Dynastic Left can be carried out by legislation under the existing constitution. He has, therefore, accepted those measures in full, and pledged himself and his party to carry them out by legislative enactments should he be recalled to power. This reconciliation, coupled with the result of the municipal elections of last month, has given the leaders of the Liberal party great confidence in its early restoration to power. They alleged that the country has in unmistakable ways condemned the Conservative ministry; that the latter recognizes that it neither possesses the support of the nation nor the confidence of the King; that it precipitated the crisis of the 20th instant, making the King’s proposed visit to the cholera district a pretext to escape from the difficult position in which it had placed itself by its own folly and bad government, and that its early fall is beyond any doubt.
I am. &c.,