Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-01-07
SELF.SATISFIED PEOPLE.
The Illiteracy Existing Among the MI
iOrity of the Snanish Canitais Popul,

SELF-SATISFIED PEOPLE.
The IllIteracy Existing Among the Ma
jorlty of tho Spanish Capitals Popula.
ton.
Madrid is not distributing CONNER.
cial center. The localities of principal
production have each its neighboring
port, like Oporto, Heres, Malaga, Val
encia and Barcelona. What is brought,
here is usually for the consumption of
its inhabitants and most of it is from
long distance. There are so few manu-
facturers in Spain that nearly every
thing in the shops, including fabrics of
silk, wool, cotton, metals of all kinds
and all articles of Uertu, is imported
things of an ornamental kind princi-
pally from France. The Government
is poor and has imposed high duties,
which are in certain cases intended to
be protective. Provisions and fruits of
all kinds are also in nearly all cases
brought some distance, so that every
thing that the inhabitant needs to eat
or wear is expensive. One pays high
for his luxuries at Madrid; and even for
the luxury of living here at all The
pleasures of such climate can not be
had without a proportionate expendi-
ture. One is sure to remark before he
has been long in Spain that the Span
itrds do not excel in anything. They
have not the trained eye and hand.
They lack delicacy of touch, as they
lack delicacy of sentiment. If you see
anything of native make in the shops
you promptly recognize it by its
coarseness of texture or handling.
Their native wines are bad, with
some few exceptions. They have no
skill in confectionery. Among peo-
pie where those who are able to read
are the exceptions, the bookstores are
for the best of reasons few and stocks
of books small. In Spanish towns of
the second and third class there are
few works to be had besides few
French novels. There are numerous
bookstores in Madrid, but not one TO be
compared with several in San Fran
cisco. The books are often half French,
and nearly all in cheap paper binding,
while there are almost always about
the place signs of the greatcstnegligence
and even slovenliness; books thrown
promiscuously upon the shelves, many
often lying on the floor, which is COW
cred with litter of dirt and torn pa
per, among which the clerks make
their way with difficulty and the book
keeper calmly sits, calculating his by
no means princely gains. Italy IS full
of books on every industry in which
the people are or ought to be engaged.
There is everywhere manifested in that
country sincere desire to learn, and
the Government, the educated men,
those who are authors and qualified to
instruct, make every possible
effort to encourage and as
sist the aspiration. There is a
wonderful contrast to all this in
Spain. There is nothing that CORE
spends with the cheap popular hand
books that one finds in every book shop
in Italy. There is absolutelyno manual
existing on the raisin culture. There
may be one or two most unsatisfactory
ones on the olive and three or four on
the vine and wine-making, while there
are fifteen or twenty works of all sizes,
some of them costly, on the bull ring.
This fact speaks volumes for the tastes
of the common people. The poor work
man will spend every summer during
the season his entire earnings in this
kind of amusement, and one or two
peseters tor gaudy Autograph of the
ugly physiognomy of one of the most
famous fighters, when he would no,
spend penny for a newspaper. Most
of the journals in Spain are published
at a penny; but one is rarely seen in
the hands of a Spaniard of the lower
class, while in Italy you will see often
the coachman reading on his box, the
street vender at his stall, and some
times the commonest workman seated
on stone and spelling out his morn
ing sheet with painful effort. 1t viii
be very difficult to render education
general among people who are so thor
oughly satisfied with themselves, wht
have so little desire to learn, ant
scarcely know that there is worl(
outside of Spain. Madrid Cor. Sa'
Francisco Chronicle.