The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-08-29
SPAIN AND THE WAR.
The Spanish People Do Not Know
Anything About It.

Anything About 1t.
A few hours in Madrid were amply
sufficient to prove that the state of
things had been vastly exaggerated,
and that the. bulk of the population took
little interest in the war with America,
which they regarded merely as an ex-
tension, or continuation, of the CO.
lonial troubles which have plagued
Spain and its exchequer for years; and
of which they had throughout been so
| ill-informed that they had but little
idea of their true gravity. During the
past six weeks excursions into the
Spanish provinces to the leading indus
trial and agricultural centers have re-
vealed almost precisely the same in
difference to the war as is felt in the
capital
Roughly speaking. the population of
Spain may be divided into the usual
three classes, but the middle classes
can hardly be said to exist save in the
more important towns. The lower
| classes, large proportion of whom in
the country districts is unable to read
or write, and whose knowledge of his
tory and geography is confined to a
few superstitious legends, could hardly
be expected to follow at all closely the
fortunes of their country at the present
time. individually they are kindly,
simple folk, but If you talk to them
about the troubles of their fatherland
they are at a loss to know what you
mean, and appear to think you are at
tempting some silly joke. Possibly the
prices of their small luxuries, such as
oil, tobacco, etc, have gone up some
what of late, but they have been used
to that sort Of thing for generations.
The peasantry, whose devotion to
their absentee landlords reminds one of
feudal times, are just now employed in
harvesting crops of unusual excellence,
and are in no mood to worry about
troubles abroad of which they have
heard little and understand nothing.
Moreover, the Catholic Church has an
influence over them which is almost
medieval-an influence which extends
to an almost equal extent over the poor
working population of the town. The
must not be ignored. and one can find
| them easily enough in pamphlets cal
culated to appeal even to many of the
we'll educated, who still trust implicitly
to its voice. Here is a quotation from
titled Religion and the War;" and is
sued not without authority. l give the
closing words literally translated: If
we triumph, we shall triumph with JUS
tice on our side; if they beat us, we
shall raise our eyes to God, and We
shall say in the beautiful legendary
phrase: What does it matter?"
1t is needless to say that the wealthy
af H..
who form the aristocracy of Madrid,
though devout Catholics almost to
man, have scarcely so simple faith as
have their uneducated interiors. Que
importa? indeed. They have ther
family position and honor to consider.
In bad times, when rents are scarce or
markets are low, there are many who,
ii is said, maintain their snowy estab
lishments in Madrid, and go for daily
promenades in their two-horsed brou
CHAINS, even though it is thereby ne
essary for them to starve their retinue,
and possibly themselves, in the necessa-
ries of life. But, unlike the poor, they
are continually grumblng, and are III
clined to attribute their pecuniary diff
culties to the Government to an ex-
tent which is scarcely fair And while
they lay stress upon their losses due
to the war, you can learn nothing about
the gains which many of the large
producers for foreign markets must
now be realizing, owing to the fall in
the exchange. rs
1t is asserted that the great deficiency
of silver in Spain, and the almost entire
disappearance of the gold coinage, is in
large measure due to the aristocrats
themselves, who have for years past
been laying up private stores Of bullion.
Despite the pride which has hitherto
prevented Spain from issuing the bank
notes for small amounts, which are
customary in'Htaly and Greece, its
monetary system is infinitely more
troublesome than it is in these coun-
tries. The smallest note is of twenty
five pesetas, worth at the present time
little more than half a sovereign. Eng
lish. Owing, however, to the scarcity
of silver, it is often difficult or impos-
sible to get these twenty-five pesetas
notes changed, although they are freely
taken in payment AT railway stations,
for example, if your fare is fifty-one
pesetas you can pay it easily enough,
but If it be only forty-nine pesetas you
must be provided with at least twenty
four pesetas in silver, unless you are
prepared to sacrifice your change. At
Gibraltar Spanish notes are now only
accepted at a reduction of 10 per cent.
of their face value in peSetas, and there
is no anxiety to- take them at even this
reduction.
It is no doubt, the middle classes of
Spain who have been most hardly-hit
by the war And among the middle
classes one must include, besides the
ordina y shopkeepers, the wealthy man
ufacturers of Barcelona and elsewhere.
For these industrious folk have no
wish to be reckoned among the aris-
tocracy, although the latter may in
clude bank clerks at Madrid who keep
up their proud position on salary
which does not amount per annum to
f40 of our money. That the manufac-
turers have lost a, large of their foreign
trade is true enough, but, on the other
hand, they have gained an amount OF
home trade which has never before
come their way. The Spanish mer-
chants and dealers can no longer af-
ford to buy their goods outside Spain,
now that the peseta is at only half its
former value, and the Spanish pro-
ducers have now .first-rate opportun-
ity Of convincing the consumers that
their goods are in no way inferior to
those of the foreigner who has enjoyed
long monopoly. 1t is indeed more
than possible that so far as trade Is
concerned the war and the consequent
fall in the value of Spanish silver mas
rot so far affected the commerce or
Spain so much as it has that of other