The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-04-24

Hea0 SoI Wette.
Census re.arnz show shat very large
proportion Of the Inhabitants o: Span
are ll!iseYafe Nearly i2a.me In the
kingdom can neither read nor write In
the w.se.e OF Spain Il was found that
Dut s.ps4. ~ persons could read and
write sg9S persons coe.d read only.
and yet Spain supports 9s52s public and
5.gss private schools. A law making
edIcs ton compulsory was passed Ia
is51, but & was never enforced. partly
for political reasons and partly because
OF the wretehed pay. OF the teachers
10 10 siss0 year being a usual fee. In
higher education Spain Is not behind
hand. She has 10 large universities. car
rying an enrolment of is.es, students.
Spain gets It's revenue by a system of
direct and indirect taxation. stamp duties,
government raonopoiies. etc. Direct
taxes are imposed CT landed property,
houses. i've stock. commerce. registra-
ton acts, titles OF nobility. mortgages.
ese.: tbs indirect taxes come from for
eign imports. articles OF consumption.
tolls. bridge and ferry dues. Her rev.
enue for 1896 and 1Sss was Go. 10: her
expenditures Es.4&.5A. She had beside
this. however. extraordinary expeno-
i.ure OF fs 36o.oga. Her public debt ID
now over H.5oe. eoaop. including over
ls9.oc0e 600 incurred In Cuba.
What People Live On-Her Railways.
Spain is an agricultural country. In
the early part OF the century the coun-
try was swned by landed p1oprfetorS
who had acquired great tracts OF land.
but In recent years these tracts have
been divided and have passed into the
hands OF ANAL farmers and fruit grow
ers- The vine IL the most important cui-
tRfe. bu. large quantities OF oranges.
ra.sins nuts and olives are exported
every year. Spain Is rich In minerals.
the annual value OF her mineral exports
being about fs,eso.o0o She also manu-
features cotton goods. She has nearly
5000 looms. Her imports for 1860
amounted to GR. 366 s0S. Her exports
brought her in E34. $50 40. The most prim-
tive conditions prevail In many parts or
Spain and in some portions life Is al
mos; as IL was when Columbus Travelled
the country roads on foot leading his
little son by the hand. This is due 10
the meager means OF cominanca ion
there being but s.5is miles of railway in
the whole country. This is only 3.9 linear
miles of road for every 100 square niles
OF tsr.tnry New England alone has
as many miles OF railroad as has Spain
and her territory is not near.y as great
The same area as Spain picked out OF
the UPPER eastern United States has
nearly 80 GO miles OF road. But the Ieo-
eapar.soned mules, which. perhaps. make
UP In woGnaue romance what they lack
IN speed.
spain.
The domination OF the Catholic church
IN Spain is almost absolute. Nearly the
whole population adhere 10 that creed.
Indeed no other form OF worship is al
lowed 10 be practiced publicly. The last
census showed g. As priests living in the
6. dIoceses OF the country. There are 1854
monks living In icl monastertcs and IA, se2
nuns living Iii 1927 converts. There are 60
cathedrais 30 religious colleges and ls5Ga
churches Besides there are over 1000
houses devoted TO religious purposes. A
restricted liberty OF worship IL allowed
the Protesiants. but Il has to be Kept very
private. and no public announcement of
the fact IL permitted The church digni
taries are supported by the state.
Gordon of Forts.
spain Is well defended from Invasion
by Gordon Of forts and fortified towns
drawn completely around her frontier.
On the north there is Fuenterrabia, the
fortified port Of Passages and the mill
tary ports of Santona. Santander. Fer
rol Coruna ard vigo. In the Basque
provinces are Bilbao and Vt:oria- To
falla. Jaca. Nenasqna. Monzon. Puycer-
da. SEQ de Urzel Baiaquer and Lerida.
Nearer the Mediterranean are Cardona.
Uostairiea. camprcdon. Rpoia Corona.
Oiot. car,cfoiit. Ftgueras. on the Med
itcranean are PalaSnos. Barcelona Tara
soma, Malaga. A'ineria. Cartagena ard
Alicante. Logrono, Tudela. Zaragosa. Me-
GUINEA aud Tortosa are in the Ebro. Bur
gos and Morella lie TO the south a II.
Toro. Rodrigo. Valencia de AEantara,
Albuquerque and Eadajaz lie along the
Portuguese frontier. Tarifa and Aige-
ciras are Ia the strait of Gibraltar, and
sadlx IS at its entrance. Not all % these
ccuii withstand the projectilcs OF modern
great guns. but quite the best methods
prevail. and an army OF Invasion would
have some difficulty in breaking through
the barrier.
Could Mobilize Over = Million Sol
oilers.
Spain maintains - permanent army.
She also has what Is kuowe as an active
reserve and sedeutary reserve. each of
which could h. rened upon for supper,
In time 81 was. Any Spansard above the
age OF 10 Is liable 10 re called upor 20
serve In the permanent army for three
Years From this part ~ the army the
soldier passes 20 the active reserve for
fNree years service. and from thence TO
the xsdeBtaFy reserve for slx wears srYv-
ice- by paying l. so pesetas any one may
escape service. The colonial; army re-
ausres every abie-hodied subject 10 se-v.
eight years in the various reserves Thus
most Of the kings subjects are militia
men. and 4 is estimated that In time OF
reed Spain could easily mohaiize an Ell
Gent army OF essSSE5 men. TGe stand
sng army numbers about 7a.sa men. al
though recent levtes make this number