Martial Law
By FRANCISCO SUAREZ
MADRID
TAKING advantage of the recently established Right of Petition, a group of liberals recently urged the College of Lawyers in Madrid to submit a motion to General Franco against the decree of September 21, 1960 (which extended the definition of military rebellion to such activities as strikes and the spreading of tenden- tious information), and asking him to reduce the jurisdiction of military courts., The days before the voting on this motion were hectic for all con- cerned. lturmendi, the Minister of Justice, declared that this was just one more of the series of malicious Communist campaigns directed from their centre in Belgium [sic]. Special delivery services were organised so that every lawyer in Madrid received a circular letter naïvely designed to shock the recipient into voting in accordance with official instructions, with such admonitions (in thick black letters) as 'One law—Moscow, One tribunal—the gaol: one Lawyer—a gun in the nape of the neck,' and 'Open the way for the Law of Terror!'
For the session when the College of Lawyers was to vote on the petition, the authorities made sure that all the members of the Bar of Madrid, who belonged to the Falange, the Unions, the Army and the Civil Service, were present. The Dean of the College, Sr. Fausto Vicente Gella, declared, in his speech, that justice should not be confused with total submission and the peace of silence. Nevertheless, the proposal of the liberal lawyers was rejected by 548 votes to 321; and Spain continues under martial law.
The situation in Spain is very different now from what it was under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. Neither the University nor the College of Lawyers can play a decisive part. Some of the most important strings lie in the hands of the ambitious and extremely intelligent Minister of Finance, Navarro Rubio, who also happens to be one of the most important members of the 'Secular Institute of Christian Perfection.' Through a new decree he has virtually become the economic dictator of all the Ministries. In the past these disposed of certain sums of money, known as 'special funds,' to supplement the insig- nificant official salaries of their civil servants. Now the system has changed. All 'special funds' V automatically to the Ministry of Finance; and each Ministry has to submit an estimate of the amount it needs; and Sr. Rubio decides to what extent the expenses are justified. He has, thereby, made sure that all the Ministries depend directly on him, * Meanwhile the traditional opposition groups go their weary way. Jose Maria Gil Robles; leader of the Christian Democrats, is organising a movement of 'active civic resistance,' and he has been in Barcelona discussing this brain-child with the leaders of all the various groups—and especially with the representative of the Mon- archists, the Baron de Vivez, chairman of several important companies, who likes to drive through the streets of Barcelona in a horse-drawn car- riage with a coachman wearing a top hat. On this issue Gil Robles has also gained the support of the Anarchist CNT—the only impres- sive force within the ranks of the opposition. Although it is an underground organisation, it is tolerated by the authorities under the implied condition that it will not interfere in any way until after a change of regime has taken place; its leaders, used to meet regularly several times a month—at least until last September, when the new decree came into force. The CNT remains important in spite of the fact that it does not have any outstanding personality at its head; it would certainly play a decisive part in the consti- tution of a provisional government along republi- can lines.
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A few days ago the Regional Court of Bar- celona was ordered by the Ministry, of the Interior to stop proceedings against the brothers Creix, who had been accused of violence and brutal treatment of prisoners in connection with last year's incident in Barcelona when, during a concert in memory of the poet Maragall, the audience rose to sing the Catalonian National Anthem which he had written. Several people were detained, among them Dr'. Jorge Pujol, sub- sequently condemned to eight years' imprison- ment; and some of them had denounced the brothers Creix, both members of the Brigada Social, the Spanish Secret Police, accusing them of beating and insulting the prisoners they inter- rogated. The indictment had been drawn up, but the instructions of the Minister of the Interior to stop proceedings are definite and final.
The Governor of Barcelona also asked the Minister of the Interior to see to it that at least these two would be moved somewhere else, but he received the answer that their place was in Barcelona and that they would continue to work there as before. Rumour has it that the Governor is threatening to resign.
On February 16 a small note appeared in the two principal newspapers of Madrid, ABC and Ya, that the Barcelona tribunal had refuted a charge of brutal treatment against several mem- bers of the police force. In the words of the notice this decision cleared the good name of the Spanish Police and put a stop to the vicious campaign of slander directed against it by cer- tain sectors of the foreign press. Significantly, this note did not appear in La Vanguardia of Barcelona.
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During the traditional !mid° Buto—a farcical trial which takes place in the Faculty of Law of the University of Barcelona at the beginning, of every spring term, where the legs of students; of professors and even of politicians are enthus- iastically pulled—someone referred in a way not altogether flattering to the all-pervading 'opus- suction.' The members of Opus Del are not cele- brated for their sense of humour, and a dozen students belonging to it stormed the platform. Windows were smashed and the microphone damagdd before the scrummage was stopped by the beadles turning off the light.
The Committee of the Students' Union decided to strike; the students of the Faculty of Law would not attend classes until steps had been taken to deal with Opus Dei hooliganism. Several other Faculties joined in the protest movement, resenting the way the organisation's members subordinate the academic interests of the Univer- sity as a whole to their party line. The strike continued off and on for almost two weeks, with the Minister of.Education, Jestls Rubio, taking a personal interest, and observing a strict policy of non-intervention—he is known not to be favourably inclined to those who constructed the Canonic University of Pamplona without his permission. But eventually the strike fizzled out. The Spanish students, most of them of comfort- able middle-class origins, have been kept in the cocoon of political indifference for too long; and the general structure of the Spanish regime does not permit a chain reaction. Nevertheless, the incident has had its importance: for once, all the opposition groups of the University were in agreement. Not even the members of the Falange or the Monarchists are in favour of the 'opus- suction' which is now a feature of all Spanish univel,ities.
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