The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-04-24

The general desire in this country for
some exact knowledge about Spain just
now is clearly evinced at the libraries
of all the large cities. The libraries
have been so pestered by the demands
of the public that they have placed all
the books relating to Our friends, the
enemy" on shelves where the people
can pick them out for themselves. Even
then the general thirst for facts about
Spain does not seem to be satisfied, and
all kinds Of impossible requests are
made for information which cannot be
furnished. It would seem, therefore,
that few plain statements concerning
the actual condition of the land of the
dons will make timely reading.
The kingdom Of Spain constitutes
what might be called the southwestern
arm of Europe, where it reaches down
and almost touches northern Africa. 1t
is a true peninsula, washed on three
sides by the waters Of the Med1ter-
raneap. the Bay of Biscay and the At
Iantic ocean, and Joined by wide neck
of land to France. The great fort OF
Gibraltar. cut from the solid rock of its
southern extremity, completely COM
mands the entrance to the MedIterran-
can. It is, however, owned and gar
TlSOne0 ON NTISdI oI1ldln- Spain 10 a
monarchy founded by the union of the
houses of Aragon and CASTLE during
the 18th century. She has been ruled
;17tarn1ittently by the houses of Ara
.ron Bourbon. Savoy and Hapsburg for
400 years, except once when Joseph Bo-
naparte was proclaimed king by his
brother. the Emperor Napoleon, and
once when the country was a. republic,
during 1873 and 1874. The house of
Bourbon are in power at present. al
though its supremacy is opposed by the
-arlists. who claim a bar sinister inter
feres with the purity of the descent.
The present king is Alfonso XIII, who,
however. is but Il years old, and whose
mother, Maria Christina, is the regent
of the country
HOW SPAIN IS GOVERNED.
The present constitution of Spain was
unclaimed in 1876. 1t proclaims the
<overnment to be a constitutional mon
archy, the executive resting in the king,
the power to make laws lin the cortes
with the king" The cortes are COM
posed of a senate and a congress equal
in authority There are three classes
of tors-first. senators by their own
right: secondly, senators nominated by
the crown and thirdly, senator's elected
nv the corporations of state, that is the
communal and provincial states, the
church. the universities, academies and
Fv the largest payers Of contributions.
Senators by their own right are the
grandees of the kingdom, whose titles
and possessions entitle them to the
privilege. The congress is formed by
deputies in the proportion of one to
every $4,000 population. In 1878 Cuba
was given the right TO send deputies to
the cortes in the proportion of one to
every 10000 free inhabitants paying 125
pesetas in taxes yearly. The constitu-
ton further enacts that the king is in
violable, bur his ministers are respon.
sible and all his DEGREES must be coun-
tersigned by one of them. The cortes
must approve his marriage before he
can contract it. and he cannot marry
anv one excluded by law from success
sion TO the crown. If all the lines be-
come extinct the king would be elected
by a vote of the nation" After the
king the reins of government are guild
ed by a. president OF the council and
ministers of foreign affairs, justice,
finance. the interior, war, marine, ag-
riculture, commerce and public works
and a minister of the colonies.
HER AREA AND POPULATION.
SPANS area and population, as it is
ct the present time is interesting, in
view of the fact that once her posses
sions were greater than those of any
other European power. Her present