The Express.
London, England, 1860-09-01 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPT. 1.

Ir Spain, in her attempted renaissance, is not
capable of asserting for herself the rank of one of
the Great Powers, we really do not see how the
rest of Europe is to help her. Great Powers con-
stitute themselves; they are not a self-elective
body nominating each other. Their number
is altogether arbitrary, and the fact that five, and
only five, Great Powers are now recognised,
springs from the pm-existing fact that there are
only five Powers whose military or commercial
predominance has secured to them a leading
voice in the councils of Europe. The simple
reason of each of these Powers having main-
tained its position as a Great Power is,
that it is too powerful to be neglected
in the settlement of any European question. Why
did this country and France invite Prussia to be
• party to the Treaty of Paris of 1858 for the
settlement of the Turkish war, with which Prussia
had no concern, either as principal, auxiliary, or
mediator ? Simply because Prussia was a State
tmi powerful to be left uncommitted to a political
settlement which was designed to be of universal
acceptation. Let Spain but render herself as for-
midable as Prussia now is, and on the occasion of
the first general settlement in Europe Spain will
be readily called in to join in the guarantees that
the other Great Powers may make.
The alssunlity, however, of the proposal for
the artificial constitution of Spain as one of the
Great Powers of Europe must not blind us to the
fact that Spain is a country which, during the last
ten or fifteen yews, has largely increased in wealth
and population. It is possible, therefore, that
hereafter she way again attain the position to
which she now aspires ; but for the present her
ambition isaltogetherpremature. It is an interesting
fact that since the year 1846 the Spanish popula-
tion ►ppears to have advanced more rapidly than
the French, not only in relation to its actual
amount, hut also positively. In 1846 the pope-
'then was returned at 12,182,000 ; it is now
returned at 15,484,000. We acknowledge that
there is some reason to doubt the precise accuracy
of returns of population in a country possessing so
defective a local administration ; but we appre-
hend that there can be no question of a large in-
crease. Meanwhile in France the population
during the five years 1851-56 did not increami by
more than about 380,000, nor is it likely
that the next census of 1881 will present a snore
favourable result. If we turn from the increase
in the Spanish population to the increase of
Spanish commerce, we are met by an official state-
nivnt which bears the impress of somewhat reck-
less exaggeration. In 1850 the imports an
valued at 872,000,000 reale, and the exports at
484000,000 ; the total being 1,160,000,000
teals. In 1864 we find this total augmented to
1,806,000,000 reale, and in 1857 to as much as
2,723,000,000. Beyond this date our figures
do. not carry us ; but it does not
seem reasonable to credit the assertion that
Spanish trade has increased 17 135 per cent. in
the short space of seven years. Probably, if we
were to halve this increase, we should fix it at the
utniost presumable maximum ; and such an
ampientation would suffice to justify sanguine pre- ,
diction' of the future of Spain. We are told by'
the government that the tonnage of the shipping
has increased proportionally ; that the manufac-
ture and exportation of wine have increased also
in a degree which implies • great increase of
domestic cultivation ; and an on. Spain has cer-
tainly evinced considerable activity during the last
few years in the construction of railways ; and
this is an element of progress sand reform
in which there can be no deception. More than
pa) lalernetres--about 600 miles—of railway
are now in actual working in the Spanish penin- I
sula, and we remember that but a few years ago
the only Spanish railway in existence was that
between Madrid and .tranjuex. There are also
some four hundred miles of railway in course of
construction, the total in working and construction
hieing thus over a thousand. Whether or not all
the lines of railway already authorised by the
State have been sanctioned in a definite expecta-
tion of their being undertaken, we cannot lay ;
hht it is certain that lines to the extent of some five
thousand five hundred kilometres, or about thruel
thousand rive hundred miles, have been so autho-
rised. This "theme, if really carried into effect,
will absorbSpaniali industry, and more than Spanish
capital, for many years.
It will be asked, however, what means hale the
Spaniards for such gigantic enterprises I We
imagine that everything in Spain that is connected
wi In railways is moulded on the French system. ii
French capital and French engineers are distri-