It is stated on good authority that the Spanish Government,
which is alarmed about Morocco as well as about the internal situation, would gladly make a close alliance with any Great Power. The German Emperor has accordingly offered him- self, and Prince Henry has been despatched to Spain to see if he cannot conciliate public opinion. A Spanish alliance would gratify William IL, as it would give his Fleet a foothold in the Mediterranean, and might even promote his trans- marine policy, the Spanish-American States being inclined for a defensive alliance among themselves, in which Spain, as the " country of origin," would be included. An alliance between Madrid and Berlin will, however, be a difficult matter to arrange, as it would excite strong suspicion in France, which directs a powerful party in Spain, and has a control over Spanish finance that no Government of Madrid can disregard. All parties in Spain, however, are just now more or less shattered, and there will be nothing but intrigue there until it becomes more clear who is to rule. At present the King and his mother hold the ultimate authority; but they refuse to settle the Clerical question, which is the pivot of all internal combinations. Note the gradual rise of Sefior Canalejas, whose programme is agrarian reform, very much on the Irish lines, but with permanent tenancy substituted for peasant- proprietorship.
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