Evening star., 1897-01-02

the-centIry times is the readiness with
which people of culture. catching at
Ihrase. brand themselves and each other
as "degenerates' or "decadents," even
grouping entire nations under the oppro-
br.ous phrase. No one is mere ready to
apply the word 10 his own people than a
Travelled SpaEiard. and no toiiers with the
pen have ever given a more discouraging
picture OF their cwn people than have mod
ern Spanish realists like Valdes. They may
be too pessimistic. 1t may be more season.
able. as we'll as more cheerful, to look upon
the SPaniards as splendid race with un-
developed possibilities than as a decadent
people.
1t Is easy enough TO recognize upon the
streets of any Spanish city the types de-
picted by the realfsts; the irascible old
don. buried in irlp pene trable pride in his
worthless self; the slender, pale young man
whose mission in life is to finger a guitar;
the hosts of petty officials, and the men
with hard cruel faces who bear in their
weary eyes all the cynicism of centuries of
tackslding. One even catches glimpses of
the women of the novels. busy with the
intolerably petty details of small gossip.
But IL would be as absurd to judge Spain
by such types as to judge the United States
by the city corner loafer. l know not what
might be drawn by a foreign student Of
Tenderloin types In New York or a glance
at certain of our periodicals.
They Are Hard Workers.
The typical Spaniard Is not a loafer but
a man who keeps hard at work from dawn
to dark. That his work Is not more pro-
ductive is partly at least the fault of about
the worst government conceivable. There
are several Spanish provinces In which
good tobacco can be raised. In a single
one OF these the government has recently
shown its paternal care of industry by up
roofing 100000 growing plants. To raise
tobacco in Spain is forbidden in order that
the government may get money for Its
pressing necessities from the import duties
On Havana Without good roads. good
schools or good tools. the Spanish farmer
produces wonderful results.
AndalUsia is more uniformly cultivated
than any part of Great Britain; more than
any other European nation except Russia.
Spain is a land Of farmers. Her people in
the country are like French peasants
hardy, frugal content with little and will
Ing 10 work. They carry nearly all their
supplies on muieback. even in level and
rcpulous districts where wagon roads might
easily be built or improved; they use wood
en- plows OF noble Roman pattern, which
scratch the soil without turning it; but
;hey do work Their beef and mutton are
excelle4t- Fruit of many kinds is raised
there are extensive Plantations of olives
Tor oil and grapes for wine, and, except IN
the matter of timber, the country has plen-
ty OF resources to develop.
Were development is taking place. II IS
largely with English capital. The finest
sherry is produced on property owned by
EnglIshmen, Just as Englishmen cont roI
much OF the wine production of Portugal
The miaes at Huelva are owned and run by
Englishmen. The railroads are partly own
ed by English capitalists. If the naughty
dons were 10 put their pesetas into addi-
tonal railroads and into improving those
already built. into improving harbors at
Cadlz and elsewhere; into factories and
{ fTf|E.
nation might be far better off than IL is
with Cuba l. ought to be as possible for
Spain 10 make UP as 1t was for Italy, de-
cdGent enough nifty years ago; or Japan
when seemed as dead as Nineyeh as re
Gently ss 1870.
Result of Open Air Life.
To strong people anything is possible.
and the Span!ards are strong. There are
advantages, after all. In being an agricul-
tural folk Great Britain has abandoned
Farming Tor mining and manufacturing to
such an extent that the typical Engiishman
-hot the rlch man. but he who works with
BIS nands-is rather small. pale and under
sized a dweller in cities. The rural Irish
man II much bigger. the records of en-
hstments IN the queens army show The
typical Spaniard is rather like the Irish
nan. ROBUST looking and well grown p
dweller in the open air. But the rich span
lard OF the towns will not compare favor
ably In physique with the splendid big
centuries
Of plentiful food and exercise
In England the rich man is big and
strong and lives outdoors while the little
poor man breathes coal dust or cotton lin
racer cover. In Spain the poor man Is
b-g and strong and lives out of doors while
the rich man is pale and slight In both
countries Il Is the rich man that one mostly
reads about. and the corner loafer who Is
most visible: but II is the workingman who
really counts.
The True Race Type.
Even In the south. where intermarriaee
with the Moors was most frequent and the
sun Is hottest. the Spaniards are not all of
the dark and sallow type. Many of the
n est beautiful women of Andalusia have
reodish-brown hair. In CASTLE. as Ameri-
can readers will remember in the case OF
!he spanish 1nfanta EulaAa pure blonde
tspes are common, especially In the aristo-
.lauc ismiliss. The Gallegons of the north
she hardy mountaineers who alone In ali
SPAN We're never conquered by the Noors
anu who under Pelayo bekan the recon.
Gusst OF the country. are q pretty pure
1 11ellc race, comparable TO the Welsb or
Shiand scotch In their traits
ihe mixture Of Visigoths and Celts Ro-