Rumor v. Fact

Rumor. King Alfonso XIII, having piously buried his mother (TIME, Feb. 18), turned to affairs of state, last week, with such vigor that news leaks through the Spanish censorship envisioning His Majesty as demanding the resignation of General Don Miguel Primo de Rivera, who has now dictated for five and a half years.

Fact. A few days previously King Al fonso signed a royal decree empowering the government: 1) To impose a fine of from 25 to 2,500 pesetas ($3.80 to $380), and imprisonment from one to 14 days on anyone arrested by the police and pro nounced guilty by the Minister of the Interior, General Martinez Anido. of "speaking in a public place against the government, the Crown, or the interests of the Nation;" 2) To suppress any society or club upon whose premises such speaking may occur; 3) To dismiss any employe of the State deemed hostile to the government.

Statement. Through the Associated Press and the United Press both heard last week via underground grapevine that King Alfonso had broken with General Primo de Rivera, the dictator had just rapped out the following statement to correspondents in Madrid:

"You may say that the army is well disciplined. You may say, also, that the King has complete confidence in the government and in me. The King and I always have been and are today in the closest harmony.

"I hope that before 1932 we shall have finished our task completely, both the Constitution and all the complementary laws. But I don't think it will require three years.....

"I have worked hard for more than five years and I am tired. I can still carry the burden another two years, but no longer. I feel that there should be a younger government and younger leaders, and I shall be happy to turn my responsibilities over to them."

Comment. The aged Don Alvaro de Figueroa y Torres, Conte de Romanones, several times Prime Minister of Spain, and leader of the once great but now quiescent Liberal Party, commented last week at Madrid:

"The dictatorship may end tomorrow, or one knows not when. I believe that its end is nearer now than it has ever been. Finally, all depends upon King Alfonso. As long as the King supports de Rivera, he will remain in power. But the moment when the King refuses to support him further, the dictator will be doomed and the regime will fall. It is to be doubted whether the King can afford to support him much longer."