Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-05-06
CONCERNING SPAIN,
The Country and Its History Briefly sltetched.

lht 8Cntiui htSllt III tilE NpuAAehJ 49,
some exact knowledge about Spain Just
now Is clearly evidenced at the llbrariei
of all the large cities. The libraries
have been so pestered by the demands
of the public that they have placed an
the books relating TO our FRIENDS, the
enemy" on shelves where the people
can pick them out for themselves.
The kingdom of Spain constitutes
what might be called the southwestern
arm OF Europe, where 1t reaches down
and almost touches nothern Africa. ii
Is true peninsula, washed on three
sides by the waters OF the Mediterrane-
an, the Bay OF Biscay and the Atlantic
ocean. and Joined by wide neck OF
land to France. The great fort of Glib
raltar, cut from the solid rock of Its
southern extremity, completely COM
mands the entrance to the Mediterrane-
an. IL is, however, owned and gar
risoned by Great Britain.
Spain ls monarchy founded by the
union of the houses of Aragon and cas-
tile during the fifteenth century. She
has been ruled intermittently by the
houses of Aragon, Bourbon, Savoy and
Hapsburg for 400 years, except once
when Joseph Bonaparte was proclaim
ed king by his brother. the Emperor
Napoleon, and once when the country
was republic. during 1873 and 1874.
The house of Bourbon liz in power at
posed by the Carlists. who claim bar
sinister lnterferes with the purity OF the
descent The present king Ia Alfonso
XIII. who however. is but ~ years old.
and whose mother. Maria Christina, IL
the regent OF the country.
The present constitution OF spain
was proclaimed In 1876. IT proclnlms
the government to be constitutional
monarchy. the executive resting In the
king the power to make laws In the
Cortes OF the king. The Cortes ARE
composed Of q senate and congress
equal In authority. There are three
classes of senators-first. senators by
their own right; secondly, senators
nominated by the crown. and thirdly.
senators elected by the corporations
of state--that is, the communal and
provincial states. the church. the uni
versities. academies and by the lnrg-
est payer OF contributions. Senator's
by their own right are the grandees
OF the kingdom whose titles and pos
sessions entlte them to the privilege,
large proportions OF the inhabitants OF
Spain are illiterate. Nearly l2,00O,OO0
in the kingdom an neither read nor
write. In the whole of Spain 1t was
found that but 5.00i.4G0 persons could
read and write. G0S,0O5 persons could
read only. and yet Spain supports "a
800 public and 5.b76 private schools. A
passed In 1857. but 1t was never en-
forced, partly for political reasons ana
partly because of the wretched pay OF
the teachers-s50 to 800 a year being
a usual fee. In higher education Spain
Is not behindhand. She has ten large
universities, carrying an enrolment OF
10000 students.
Spain IS well defended from invasion
by concord of forts and fortified
towns drawn completely around the
frontier. Not all of them could with
stand the projectiles of modern great
guns. but quite the best methods pre-
vail. and an army OF invasion would
have some difficulty In breaking
through the barrier.
Spain maintains n permanent army.
She also has what Is known as an ac-
tive reserves and sedentary reserve,
each OF which could be relied upon for
support In time OF war. Any Spaninrd
above the age of 10 is liable to be
called upon to serve in the permanent
army for three years. From this part
of the army the soldier passes to the
active reserves for three years SER
vice, and from thence to the seden-
tary reserve for six years service. BY
paying 1900 pesetas any one may es-
cape serving.
The colonial army requires every
able bodied subject to serve eight years
the kings subjects are militlamen, and
II Is estimated that in time of need
Spain could easily mobilize an efficient
army OF 1.0s2,595 men. The standing
army numbers about 10000 men. al
though recent levies make this num-
Der nearer 100000. SPANS navy is like
wise capable.
Most OF these vessels have normal
speed of 20 knots and several, notably
the Vizcaya and the Maria Teresa, ex-
coed this rate. Spain also has a num>
erous fleet of torpedo boats and tor
pedo-boat destroyers. Her fighting
navy IL manned by 1909 officers, 1900
lnarines and $4,000 sailors, besides about
] 900 mechanicians of various kinds.
This is In fact the army and this
the navy which will protect the beau
tiful Spanish cities which have known
less change since the days of the Moors
than almost any other in Europe.
Spain Is not. after all. modernized
nation in the sense that other nations
erned by the spirit OF Quixotism that
Isabella to pledge her jewels
80 that Columbus might start vest
ward; that caused Ferdinand and his
to move their throne chairs up
to the very walls of the Moorish
strongholds that the example might
Incite the chivnlrous bravery of their
urena and De Leon to pledge theii
estates that the Moors might be driven
from the Alhambra,
The present century has been the
most disastrous In Spanish history,
when the loss of the most precious
Jewels In her crown. her territorial
are considered. The
chances are that the year 1900 VIII see
her stripped OF all her land outside OF
her ancient homestead lying between
the Pyrenees and the seas. and which
she recovered from the Moors after
such hard struggle before Columbus
discovered America in 1892. That dis
covery gave to her almost the whole OF |
South America and much of North and |
Central America Every island of the |
West Indies group of any Importance |
Heated her nag. For centuries she |
drained these countries Of every bit OF |
revenue, Just as OF late years she has |
drained Cuba. In the days of her |
might and glory she ruled over some |
II the widest and richest possessions
n history. Then gradually these pos
,essions began to fall away from her.
lust as Cuba and the Philippine Islands
Ire breaking away today. Mostly
hese possessions were lost by success
ul revolutions.
The present nineteenth century has
'een the most disastrous in Spaln's
'ventful career. and In all the long
'tring of one hundred unlucky years
he decade between 1920 and 1880 was
he most unlucky to her. The year
500 dawned for her with the loss of
practically the whole of the Mississippi
ALLEY. This great slice In North
America cut from the crown was fol-
oweo by the loss of smaller strips OF