him his confidence, the new Cabinet was sworn in slightly reconstituted. The crisis thus settled, the King visited Melilla (Jan. 7-13) amidst scenes of great enthusiasm, France being represented by Gen. Toutee and by the warship " Du Chayla." Rumours of a Spanish intervention in Portugal began to circulate then but were promptly met by a strong denial from Señor Canalejas himself. This second Ministry lasted till April 3. Its main efforts were spent in securing unanimity for the nego- tiations with the Vatican, the most important aoa^'siu. P oint of wnicn was the drafting of a new Associa- tions Bill to apply to religious as well as to ordinary communities or societies, the Vatican refusing to renew nego- tiations unless the Spanish Government agreed to submit its bill to the approval of the Holy See. Señor Canalejas naturally resisted such a condition.
The Government was somewhat weakened by the attacks of Senor Urzaiz and Señor Azcarate on its financial policy partic- ularly on their bills for the reform of the Public Debt Case. " T an( l f r certain alterations in the working of the Bank of Spain. But the end came from another quarter. A debate on the Ferrer case (see 25.568) gave rise to an extremely grave crisis. An outspoken speech by Don Mel- quiades Alvarez was answered by Señor Canalejas in a half- hearted way, which did not sufficiently conceal the fact that the prime minister was not far from agreeing with the op- ponents of the military court which had sentenced Ferrer. A deep discontent was soon manifest in the ranks of the officers of Madrid, and the War Secretary, Gen. Aznar, intimated that in his opinion the debate should be closed at once. Señor Canalejas submitted the resignation of the Cabinet to the King, who renewed his confidence to his prime minister. The new Cabinet appeared before the Cortes, and the debate on Ferrer's case was proceeded with in a somewhat cooler atmos- phere. The incident was, however, typical as a forerunner of much that was to come in future years.
The attention of Parliament was soon diverted towards Moroccan affairs. The French were preparing their advance on Fez, a fact which forced Spain to an active policy o/s/s? * n or der to maintain her much diminished rights in Morocco. The first signs of this policy were re- ceived with ill humour by the French press, and a press duel began then between the two nations which was to last to the very eve of the World War. Meanwhile the Government had introduced its long expected Associations Bill (May 8), which provoked a protest from all the archbishops and bishops headed by the primate. The Government were successful in passing the bill for the suppression of the octroi (May 22). This suc- cess initiated a campaign of active opposition from the Con- servatives, the aim of which was to defeat the bill in the Senate, but the plan failed, for the bill was passed by the Senate by 178 to 63 (June 3). The fact was significant of the amount of determi- nation exercised by the Crown, for if it had not used its influ- ence over the non-elective part of the Senate the Government would have been defeated by the Conservative vote.
The Government, meanwhile, in the teeth of popular opposition, rendered more dangerous by several strikes, was sending troops to Morocco and preparing for events. On June 9, Spanish troops landed at Laraish, thus putting France before a fait accompli which was not much to the taste of the Quai d'Orsay. France, however, was prevented from taking any strong action by the sudden arrival of the " Panther " at Agadir, but a certain tension prevailed between France and Spain all through the summer. At the same time, popular opposition to the war, not only to that which was going on in Morocco but to that which it was feared was going to break out in Europe as well, was spreading, and tended to encourage the extreme parties. Meet- ings took place in Barcelona and Madrid, this last one being stimulated by the presence of two French " comrades "; and a Republican rising plotted by the lower deck of the cruiser "Numancia," though unsuccessful, startled public opinion. The movement seems to have been connected with political efforts to overturn the monarchy, which were being prepared on land.
The greatest danger, however, was to come from a campaign of strikes which began early in the year. In Sept., nearly all these strikes still dragged on, and their effect was further aggravated by the feeling that the Govern- ment was attempting a big operation in Morocco behind the backs of the people. Grave disorders occurred in the Bilbao district, where 20,000 steel smelters went on strike, and the situation developed soon into a general strike, which spread to the coalfields of Asturias. The Government, which at first seemed inclined to favour the workers for the sake of national conciliation in view of the international situation, gradually veered round. They began by suspending the con- stitutional guarantees in Biscay (Sept. 12); then, on receipt of grave news from Asturias, in the whole of Spain (Sept. 19). By this time, the movement had spread to nearly the whole penin- sula, and grave disorders had occurred in Catalonia and Valen- cia, notably in Cullera, where a magistrate was mobbed to death. The Government met the situation with coolness and resolution, and by Sept. 22 the strike fever had abated upon the settle- ment of the Bilbao strike.
General Luque himself, though then a War Secretary, was sent to Morocco to preside over the operation, which began successfully on Dec. 6, but collapsed a few days later after a gallant attempt to force the passage of the Morocco: River Kert. The Spanish press voiced a belief, then ^ l ^ loa current in the Spanish army, that the Moorish tribes France. were provided with French arms and ammunition, and the imprisonment by the French Gen. Toutee of several French officials in Ujda gave some colour to this view, much resented though it was by the French press. General Luque, though in a veiled manner, suggested in an interview to the press that his failure had been due to lack of French coopera- tion. Under such unfavourable conditions began the nego- tiations for a Franco-Spanish agreement following upon the Franco-German Treaty on Morocco. The Spanish troops were soon attacked on the River Kert, and rumour attributed the move to French initiative. The matter had to be smoothed over by the Foreign Secretary, Señor Garcia Prieto (Dec. 28).
During the first days of the new year the case of the Cullera riots came before the military supreme court. The court pro- nounced seven death sentences, and a press cam- paign started at once for the reprieve of the seven Cullera condemned men. Señor Canalejas seized the oppor- ^epriererf. tunity to make the King benefit by the popularity which always follows acts of clemency. He brought his Cabinet unanimously to agree that six out of the seven men should be reprieved, but that the seventh, the head of the riot, known a3 El Chato de Cuqueta, could on no account be recommended for mercy. He then allowed King Alphonso to be besieged by petitioners, including the old mother of the doomed man, who was granted a special audience, so that the King might be pro- vided with an excuse for reopening the affair. Thereupon, Señor Canalejas agreed to reprieve El Chato, but resigned. Though the resignation was purely formal, the King took for himself all the merit of the act of clemency, and a wave of popular grati- tude was his reward. Thus by a mixture of mercy and ability, Senor Canalejas reversed in 1912 the position which Señor Maura had created by his uncompromising policy of 1909, and this incident did much to harden Señor Maura in his attitude of " implacable hostUidad " to the Liberal party.
Much of the parliamentary session was spent in the usual recriminations wherewith the Conservative party endeavoured to weaken Señor Canalejas' position, and on March n Senor Canalejas had to sacrifice several of his col- Cana/e/as leagues, notably his Minister of Public Works, Señor g*^!' Gasset. The King renewed his confidence to Señor stmcted. Canalejas, and the new Cabinet was reshuffled. The inclusion (as Minister of Education) of Señor Alba, known to be a personal follower of Señor Moret, was considered as a token of reconciliation between Señor Canalejas and his former chief. Señor Canalejas seized the opportunity afforded him by this crisis to adjourn Parliament until May i.
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