The morning times., 1896-04-20
SPAIN SEES THE HANDWRITING
Decay and Ruin Prophesied by La
Liga Agraria.

Ll8d
TIE sacrifices made by the Spanish
government to send troops To Cuba make
themselves felt in those places from which
the men are drawn. a recent copy OF
La Liga Agraria, a paper devoted to
agricultural interests ID Spain, contains
the following editorial:
We are going at a rapid gait. The
war in Cuba taking away the young la
bortrS from our fields, the emigration
taking away to foreign countries Others
who are apt for agricultural work, DuU
whose ages exempt them from military
service, the expenses Which the war brings
with il, the lack OF work, the abstention Of
capital 1rOm ent6rnriSeS. the heavy taxes
on property, the scaDJ crops, the lack OF
sale Tor other products, the low remuncra-
lion obtained from cultivation, and the
actual misery in which the small farmers
find themselves, have determined d con-
dition OF things that sends horror into
the braveSt spirits.
valleys and hills smiling yeste rday;
esldS and inheritanceS worked recently
ID The peasants, are today in complete
abandonment, The Joy that reigned in the
country has been substituted by silence and
ruin, by the absent son. 10y the tenant who
has gone away 10 escape total ruin, by
destroyed in one hour the work of many
months, by the persecution OF the tax
collectors.
1t is The end.
Where are we going?
To depopulation first, to misery next,
and total ruin later.
Six hundred thousand men, who in
the last twenty years have abandoned the
fatherland, seeking employment which
\
flying figure, that should make those who
govern US stop 10 think, since they have
not done so up 10 this time.
The philoXera destroying our yip-s,
the low prices Of our agricultural products,
which decrease incomes and occupation,
are less horrifying pbantoms than the
depopulation OF our country, the abandon
ment OF our lands and the confiscation of
them 10y the state for unpaid taxes.
Far away in dark fastnesss, in un-
clement climate, and deadly war, our
Jeunsse is perishing, that youth which
yesterday made our fields joyful with
their tasks and their songs.
ITO the no less ungrateful Brazilian
shores we see the arrival of that other
. part Of the population OF our lands, strong
and healthy for the work that they do not
find at home, 10 be able TO sustain their
families.
what sad thoughts it ava kesl
Very soon, perhaps sooner than VIC our
selves expect, We Will see the comDlete
abandonment OF our country, and even the
dep0pHlation Of our cities up to this dav
OF Importance.
Agricultural life has become an i'm
possibility. How is it possible to cultivate
grains, or vines. or olive trees. to raise
cattle. and much less to establish indus
tries dependent on all these. IL the gov
ernmcnt is day by day growing worse. if
the population is decreasing very markedly.
n the fight which our products sustain
with foreign ones is insupportable, and
above all if tie price obtained by these
home products does not cover the expense
OF producing them?
People who do not progress fall into
decadence. Those who Increase and OBJ
tain n subsistence out OF their efforts
never perish, at least SO has a wise man
once said.
'tspain is fast going in the direction OF
its ruin. and if God does not remedy ft.
this situation VIII be the end"