Ibanez vs. Alfonso

The feud between Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Spanish author living in France, and King Alfonso (TIME, Oct. 20 et seq.) went on.

In Madrid, the Public Prosecutor presented to the President of the Supreme Tribunal an indictment against Ibanez for publication and distribution of pamphlets, constituting inter alia, the crime of lese-majeste*. The author was then summoned to appear within 15 days before a military judge in Madrid, to give testimony in his defense. Somewhere in France, somebody informed Ibanez of the summons. Roared he in hearty laughter: "I would just as soon take refuge on a cannibal island or throw myself into waters inhabited by crocodiles or famished sharks as to confide myself to the government of bandits now ruling Spain."

Meantime, at Paris, rumors tripped nakedly around whispering 1) that Ibanez was to be deported; 2) that he was to be sued by the French Government under an obscure and unquoted law. There was probably no truth in these reports.

*Lese-majeste literally, "injured majesty," with the connotation of "sovereign power." A term of law.