The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-08-13
Nest and the coast ranges 70 thn east and sonlh

weet and tho coast ranges TO the east and south,
10. from below COrdova 10 the Atlantic a troe.
less expanse shaded only by scanty patches Of
selves and tho nearest slopes Of tho great
mountain masscs have been rnthessly stripped
land which knows no winter, and where the
summer sun 10 rs fierce az that which burns
III 5 Belgrade desert The springs Of water are
dcnce. The ancient methods Of irrigation used
ny phPnictans. Carthaginians Arabs and Moors
lowed 70 fall into ruin. 30 that, when the rain
grass grass is withered on the parched plains. the
wheat never comes to ear. or. when 1t does the
ear does not contain q single grain.
f., This his is what we witncsscd al around Seville
Gundalquivir to Cadiz, l saw with pity the
herds herds OF cattle as nearly resembling walking
derins over tho vast meadows, where Fem not zone one
blade Of green grass could be dscerned. or
lying down TO die near the margin Of the brnck-
through meadow and over hillside to find some me.
, I'M wholesome some TO nibhle The whole c9un,
from the mouth Of a" urnace I9okn ny as se @s
approached tho two great islands formed by
the branches Of tho river. at the fiat treeless
the air for some thirty foot above the ground
luiyorlng and dancing as one secs 1t above the
h Nesuyius when the molten lava hls 1t to the
brlm. In the fields around the farmsteads we
high. and in ear. but with my glasses couli
SEQ, the oar was, empty and the stalk saplcss
and white. In the new channel opened to
men with their families were employed by
Government to deepen and widen The water.
way; Ihey were housed in miserable huts Of
mud. covered with long grass. They had been
starving In their own villages. and ready in
u vl deSperation Tor any violence or mischief
nentary, employment. with enough to keep
body and soul together. But the slluva soil.
oNhaustlcss IN its fertility. stretching away for
miles and miles, and now u pesttential fever
haunted waste had been garden of delight in
and gardens and feds of waving corn because
Gods dew from heaven falls by night and the
is rains by day wherever the land is
water. Vow all this land belongs 70 great pro:
eNpanse for the purpose of pasturing. Their
herds and aocks roam attended by men az wild
~ themselves. without q fold to shelter them
by night. or shade tree TO protect them by day
from the rays Of the Andalusian sun.
The imnrovdence. the social tyranny. which
has turned into desert these once productive
and populons tracts has cared no better for the
towns and hnmlets that still cling to their up
OF dead tree. These poor people lost all their
crSrs last year by inandatipns and an ex.
Intelligent readers OF THE Sun will un-
hf in eSnsy 80 blessed
undation and the drought can be traced to the
same cause namely. the improyident greed OF
mountain sides and left the plain treelese and
unsheltered There is not one Of these towns
OF heart burning. of hatred toward these great
nronrietors. who have a care only to get from
the land they own the last farthng of what it
can yield. but who care not IL the least either
to improve 1t or &c provide for the comfort OF
the ,wretched men and women who tillit And
SO II you hear OF communistic risings in Se-
vile and el sewhere in Andausa you have only
TO remember TINT such men as the dukes /
have mentioned own each throughout Spain
and lordiy pa!ace which they never inhabit
while their dependents are periodically ex-
Another cause Of the backward state Of aR-
rlcnitural industry here, and indeed of all
peasant population. one of the noblest races in
the world, is thus unacquainted with all the
n improvements which place at the
Ia the machines which plough his soil plant
the seed in his furrow and cover it over, reap
ms ms plna ms sheaves, thresh winnow.
Is L because the peasants are opposed to ed
pcation Far from it. Here in Gaiicia. where
people and their children manifest the greatest |
s%se trw 70 obtain inStr4etion But schools
monopoly. eyer since the suppression OF the |
tcaching orders. n" one can open school |
teach without license. The masters and mis- |
trcsses, even when we'll qualified are misera-
a to that It Is left bare OF ffage ssno ona
unproyided with school books.
IN locality not Tar rom this. two adjoining |
parishes are, and hive been for long time
without schooIhouse They have the advan-
tago. however OF possess ing II Jealous school |
master. who makes Of his work an apostles |
labor Of love, He gets the boys and children
OF both parishes together under shelter of u |
high stone wall on the boundary line between |
them, and there teaches them at all seasons. |
Ihither daily. my ilustrious informant SAYS
the children have tlocked for wears in the sum.
lners heat and the winters cold in the min
the snow. the keen frost-tcacher and pupils |
Ioyousiy bearing with every hardShip-the |
former in order to iInpart and the latter to
obtain n II tile Of that knowledge which is more
precious than gold and silver
l doubt, unless your Irish readers would go
back to the times Of persecution and the reign
81 the hedge schools in ireland. If II more
touching story can be told OF any people illus
trhtinS their sincere love Of instruction. And
yet this IL only one instance among many
Or the other causes which make the labOrer
The slave Of the soil. and of other most impOr-
tant matters pertaining to this same labor
question, promise to treat in my next letter
what is said here being only IL preliminary.
BERNARD D REILLY.