SPAIN: Hobson's Choice

Last week Generalissimo Francisco Franco ordered the Spanish people to vote on his new law of succession. A yes vote would not only make Franco "Chief of State" for life in a kingless "kingdom," but would give him the legal right to name the king or regent who would succeed him. A no vote simply meant that Franco would continue as dictator of Spain, without even a shadowy commitment to restore the monarchy.

Franco hoped to lure monarchists, who form his strongest opposition, into the Government camp. He had used the trick successfully before to divide his enemies; his maneuver...