The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-09
The Misery of Spain.
From he London Telegraph.

IS L~uItAON Attty '
MADRID. June 22.-There are other layers of the
population who are literally starving. Throughout
Spain, for example, the administration whose
mission it 10 to impart elementary instruction-are
terribly underpaid-on paper. In reality they are
not paid at all. With the exception Of two provinces,
these wretched Spanish "dominies" have not seen
the color OF the money owing to them for ten. twelve,
or twenty months. In various parts of the country
these teachers of the future generation have openly
taken to begging in the streets. The soldiers who
sacrificed their health and who lost their limbs in
Cuba and the Philippines are still tho unpaid cred
itors of the nation. while the money which the Gov
eminent expressly stipulated to pay them has been
handed over to the rebels AS an Involvement to keep the
peace. And everybody now knows how it was kept. A
few days ago a Sergeant decorated for his bravery in
the colonies walked about the streets begging q crust
OF bread, until the crowd gathered around him and
took pity on the pariah. The widows and orphans Of
the thousands Of brave youths who lost their lives in
Cuba are dying slowly of starvation.
The proportion Of women to men in Spain has be-
come very unfayorable for the former. and in Madrid
alone there are about 81, 1000 moro women than men.
And few can realize the meaning Of this terrible fact,
The soldiers in Cuba at this present moment have
unsatished claims against the Government for six
months pay, and entertain scant hopes of ever re-
ceiving II.
Throughout the whole peninsula and in every
branch of trade and manufacture the same dismal
story is told. In Cadiz the population Is face to face
with blank ruin. Ships laden with Spanish cargoes
for the colonies are Obliged TO deposit them in that
city. where trade and commerce are already dead.
Barcelona, whose rapid growth and comparative
wealth were dependent upon the markets of Cuba
and the Philippines. is suffering incalculable losses.
Works and factories there have been closed, thou.
sands thrown out OF employment. to whom forced
idleness Is equivalent to starvation. and beggardom
is assuming proportions which dismay and banie tho
police. To make matters worse. other occupations
which seemed independent Of the war arc suffering
at tho hand of nature, and everything seems hostile
to Spain. In Xerez. for instance. the ravages Of the
redoubtable phyllo1erA are such that in a couple Of
years more the native yintages will have entirely dis.
appeared, and sherry wine. in the good old sense Of
the term. will have become q thing OF the past.
No wonder, II under such appalling conditions of
existence. the people should exhibit no enthusiasm
for the hollow phrases OF glory. honor. patriotism,
&c. which are being trumpeted abroad by eloquent
young men whose heads are hlled with names from
Greek and Roman history and whose ambition yearns
for a place in the Cortes. / could give many startling
instances Of this realistic current among the people.
especially in those who have to bear the brunt Of the
war. But / have said enough to mako 1t clear that
Spanish politicians who have ruined their country
are not the Spanish people who only ask to be let live
in peace.