The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-02-28
SPAIN AND THE SPANISH

NJ A Lane, in Chicago Times Herald:
1t is interesting to know that the total
population of Spain is 1865, 632. Many
people, without looking up the matter,
would say at a guess that SPANS pop
ulation was $4,000. 900 or 10000, 900. But
it is, in reality. not $4,000. 900. Spain has
an area of 1877 $40 square miles The
area of France is only few thousand
square miles greater, and yet France
has a population of very nearly 10000,
600. Texas has an area of 274, 1856 square
miles. Spain could be laid out on
Texas, and Texas would have 1856
square miles left over. The states of
Pennsylvania, New York. Illinois and
Alabama have more population to-
gether than has Spain, and are i'm
mensely more wealthy. These states
could borrow enough money, with their
whole field of commodities, men, and
capital behind the loan, to pay off at
one coup the whole national debt of
Spain. They could raise. pay and main
tain a bigger army than Spain could.
Their natural resources could outlast
Spain's ten to one. Their steam power
1, is infinitely greater. and as man power
can always be gagged by steam power.
you can imagine the difference. These
trated from all the rest Of the world.
Spain could hardly live a day.
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Spain was once the greatest nation on
the face of the globe. Say, rather, she
was twice so. First as a center of
learning and science under the Sara
Genie rule when the city of Cordovi had
a mile of gas-lit streets and fountains
of quicksilver played in the palace yard
of the caliph. Second, when she was
the greatest military power in Europe.
If you look at the names of countries,
cities and places in the western hemi
sphere you will realize what a grand
empire Spain once was, and what
power she welded over men. But
Spain could not stand the march of
modern invention. She has steadily
shrunk and shriveled and lost her pos
sessions, until now all she has left
worth speaking of is Cuba. The Philip
pines are insignificant possessions.
@ @ g
Why has Spain lost all her power?
The theorist who holds that education
is the cause of progress will point you
the answer in the statistics concerning
Spains illiteracy. Only one nation in
Europe is lower in enlightenment than
Spain. That is Italy OF all the pop
ulation of Spain only Is per cent can
read and write, 4 per cent can read
only and 6S per cent can neither read
nor write. When you come TO think of
it this fact staggers the mind. Here is
a nation in the heart of civilization,
and 6S per cent of its people have no
conception whatever of the marvels of
the printing press or of the letters that
Cadmus brought to Europe. But let US
go a little deeper into this matter of
illiteracy. l Co not desire to talk about
causes; the sociologists can do that.
But were one in the mind to do it a
sociological study of Spain would be
said. has a population of less than 49,
900, 900. and 6S per cent of her people
cannot read or write. The United States
has a population of, let US say, 10000
000 Of the native white population in
this country only per cent cannot read
or write. of the foreign whites only 10
per cent cannot read or write, and of
the colored population So per cent can
not read or write. But, accounting for
the foreigners and the negroes in the
computation. there is but IS per cent
of the population in this country that
cannot read or write. Think of it, Out
of nearly 100000 native white Ameri-
cans only 6 per cent cannot read or
write, and SPANS percentage is 6Si
g g g
Let us see how Spain compares in il
literacy with her neighbOrs. 1t is not
precisely just TO Spain to compare her
with such a wonderfully fortunate peo-
pie as we are. In England Iondon) 3
per cent of men and per cent of wo-
men make their marks on the marriage
register English ilIiteracy reaches a
little higher percentage in some of the
counties Sweden has hardly any illit
eracy at all Only oil per cent of the
recruits cannot write. OF the French
conscripts, only GA per cent cannot
read or write OF the recruits in the
German army, only one-quarter of l
per cent cannot read or write. In Aus
tria, Sc per cent of the children of
school age are at school. In the Rus
sian army recruiting, it was found that
only 20 per cent of the men were ig-
norane of letters. Russians at large
may be as illiterate as Spaniards, but
the statistics available do not show
that such is the case. The statistics in
the StatesmanS Year Book show Italy
to be considerably more illiterate than
Spain, but outside of Italy. SPANS ig-
norance is monstrous in Europe. The
banking power of Spain. like her steam
power, is practically nil. She has. in
all. not quite 1000 miles of railroads.
1t is fashionable to laugh at China
with her rs miles of steam railroads
and her backwardness in point of civ
ilization But IL must be admitted,
however much we dislike to do so.
that. making allowances for her en-
vironment and her advantages, Spain
is worse than China
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Who are the Spanish? What is their
blood. their ethnography. their race?
We have no end of history about Spain.
Philology tells US they are Latin. Their
language was once vulgar Latin, such
as the Romans spoke. But il was cor
rupted by invaders from the north and
grew to be what it is now. There are
traces in the language of ancient dia-
lects which the Spanish got from the