In Madrid, the Marquis de Estella, better known as General Primo de Rivera, President of the Spanish Military Directory, sat at his desk. A large number of people visited him, came away with faces more anxiously clouded than they were when to him they went. Not a word that could be relied upon reached the public which, because of the number of his visitors, was confirmed in its conviction that Señor de Rivera was not merely twiddling his thumbs. Primo, "robust, determined, democratic by nature, a man slightly above medium height, with a halo of dark hair engulfing a shiny, bald pate and an upper lip bristling with mustachios," this man, the so-called Dictator of Spain, dressed in a uniform of olive green, was silent. "No doubt," said the man-in-the-street, "all this commotion has to do with the French war in Morocco." (See FRANCE.)
Indeed, a question was on many tongues: What does Spain intend to do ? The Spanish wanted to know, so did the French, the English, the Italians. The answer was given by the news.
Coup d'État. The basic reason of General Rivera's coup d'état in 1923 (TIME, Sept. 24, 1923) was imbedded in the conviction that Spanish liberty was "merely the liberty to go ill-governed." The Government of Spain was corrupt, the Spanish War in Morocco, which had dragged on for ten years, was being criminally conducted. Thus, it came about that, from the outset of his rule, General de Rivera had one foot in Spain, one foot in Morocco.
Spanish Foot. It was the declared intention of the General to revert as soon as possible to constitutional government ; but, while the Moroccan War hung on, it was impossible to shift responsibility without admitting a defeat which was not borne out by the facts. The Military Directory, despite heavy expenditure entailed by the war, corrected many abuses, balanced the budget by exercising strict economy. This, however, was a mixed blessing, because it reacted unfavorably on trade. But the principal weakness of the Directory was, and still is, that it has never been able to indict a single former minister among those who were so categorically charged with malfeasance at the time of the coup d'état.
The strength of the Directory, on the other hand, rests upon its recognition—and perhaps involuntary support—by King Alfonso. The King is tremendously popular in Spain with most of the people, who tolerate the Directory for that reason. The fact is borne out by the Liberal-Conservative ex-Premier, Señor Sanchez Guerra, in a recent speech: "The . . . Directory ... is upheld solely by the confidence of the Crown," which "without consulting the people, has transformed Spain from a constitutional into an absolute monarchy." In effect, this was criticism of the Directory and the King; but, in view of the support which the King receives from the people, it was reduced as effective criticism to a mere empty commentary.