In these pardon and
penalty are meted out in a spirit of pure opportunism.
I was discussing Zurdo Olivares one day with Emiliano Iglesias in the
office of _El Radical_, when I asked him:
"How was it that Zurdo Olivares could save himself after playing such an
active role in the tragic week at Barcelona?"
"Zurdo's salvation was indirectly owing to me," replied Iglesias.
"But, my dear sir!"
"Yes, indeed."
"How did that happen?"
"Very naturally. There were three cases to be tried; one was against
Ferrer, one against Zurdo, and another against me. A friend who enjoyed
the necessary influence, succeeded in quashing the case against me, as a
matter of personal favour, and as it seemed rather barefaced to make an
exception alone in my favour, it was decided to include Zurdo Olivares,
who, thanks to the arrangement, escaped being shot."
"Then, if an influential friend of yours had not been a member of the
Ministry, you would both have been shot in the moat at Montjuich?"
"Beyond question."
And this took place in the heyday of Conservative power.
THE STERNNESS OF THE LAW
There are men who believe that the State, as at present constituted, is
the end and culmination of all human effort. According to this view, the
State is the best possible state, and its organization is considered so
perfect that its laws, discipline and formulae are held to be sacred and
immutable in men's eyes.
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