The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-27
Charges 1oderate, Medicine Included.
SPAIN AS SHE Is TODAY.
Her Present Condition and Her Past
History.

Her Present Condition and Her Past
History.
(From the New York SUM-
The present constitution of Spain was
proclaimed in 1876. 1t proclaims the gov
ernment to be a constitutional mon
archy. the executive resting in the King,
the power to make laws lin the Cortes
with the King" The C0rtes are COM
posed of senate and congress- equal
in authority. There are three classes of
senators-first. senators by their own
right; secondly senators nominated by
the Crown, and thirdly, senators elected
by the corporations of state; that is, the
communal and provincial states, the
church. the universities, academies, and
BY the largest payers of contributions.
Senators by their own right are the gran
dees 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 5000 pop
ulation In 1873 Cuba secured the right
to send deputies to the COrtes in the
proportion of one to every 1000 free in
habitants paying l25 pesetas in taxes
yearly. The constitution further enacts
that the King is inviolabie, but his min
isters are responsible. and all his DEGREES
must he countersigned by one of them.
The Cortes must approve his marriage
before he can contract it, and he can
not marry anyone excluded by law from
succession to the crown. II all the lines
become extinct. the King would be elect
ed by "A vote of the nation" After the
King the reins of government are guided
by a president of the council and min
listers of foreign affairs justice. finance.
the interior. war. marine. agriculture.
commerce and public works, and "a min
lister of the colonies.
SPANS area and population. as they
are at the present time. are interesting
in view of the fact that once her pos
sessions were greater than those of any
other European power. Her present
area. including the Balearic and Canary
Islands, each of which is considered a
province, is 1900 square miles. New
| York. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and all
of the New England States combined
| have an area of .065 square miles.
Spain is therefore trifie larger than
these States. On the other hand Texas
has an area of 250 go square miles. so
that Texas is a. go square miles larger
than Spain. The population of Spain is
estimated to be $50. .Z3I. about the
same as that OF the New England and
the Middle States named
Besides the Canary and Balearic ISL
ands Spain holds the colonies of Cuba
area 1865 miles; population before the
war. 1851 .6S7; Porto lGco, area 3590
square miles. population 500. 10S. Total
area and population in America, 45.205
square miles and 2.43S, 395 persons re-
spectively. Her possessions in Asia are:
The Philippine Islands. area Il4S26
square miles. population 200. 900; the Su-
Ia Islands, area $50 square miles popu-
lation 1900; the Caroline Islands and
PalaOs, area 800 square miles population
5000; the Marianne Islands. area 42G
square miles, population 1O172. Total
area and population in Asia I16 25S
square miles and 7l2l.172 persons.
Her possessions in Africa are Rio de
Orc and Adrar, area 2i3, 900 square miles
population 10000; Ifui (near Cape NUM-
area q square miles population 5000;
Fernando PO. Annabon. COrisco, EIobey
and San Juan. area $50 square miles, pop
ulation 30 600. Total area and population
in Africa, 2i5.SU square miles and I36, 900
persons. The total area of Spains for
eign possessions is 4O5.33S square miles
The total population is 9695. So persons
So that her foreign possessions have an
area more than twice large as her
own and foreign population nearly half
the size Of her own. OF course when
she loses Cuba her foreign area will be
reduced One-ninth and her foreign popu-
latiOn if the loss of garrison is con-
sidered. reduced nearly one-sixth
Census returns show that a very large
proportion of the inhabitants of Spain
are illiterate. Nearly 120O.0O0 i'm the
kingdom can neither read nor write In
the whole of Spain it was found that but
=
60SO O05 persons could read only, and yet
Spain supports 24,529 public and 5576 pri-
vate schools A law making education
compulsory was passed I'm 1851 but il was
never enforced. partly for political rea-
sons and partly because of the wretched
pay of the teachers-S50 to 800 a year
being a usual fee. In higher educatio
Spain is not behindhand. She has ten
large universities. carrying an enroll
ment of $1,000 students.
Spain gets its revenue by a system of
direct and indirect taxation. stamp duties,
government monopolies. etc. Direct taxes
are imposed on landed properties houses,
live stock. commerce, registration acts.
titles Of nobility mortgages, etc: the
indirect taxes come from foreign i'm
ports, articles of consumption, tolls,
bridge and ferry dues. Her revenue for
1896 and 1897 was ESQ, al, ,450; her expendi-
lures i3O, 40b,9S4 she ndu beside this.
however. an extraordinary expenditure
of So $4,000. Her public debt is now over
81, 700 000, COO including over s350.O00 600 in
CURED in Cuba.
Spain is an agricultural country. In
the early part of the century the country
was owned by landed proprietors who
had acquired great tracts of land but in
recent years these tracts have been di-
vided and have passed into the hands of
small farmers and fruit growers. The
grape is the most important culture, but
large quantities of oranges. raisins. nuts
and olives are exported every year. Spain
is rich in minerals, the annual value of
her mineral exports being about f6,64O,-
600. She also manufactures cotton goods
She has nearly 10000 looms. Her imports
for 1867 amounted to f29, 1856 90S. Her
exports brought her in e34, $50. 400. The
most primitive conditions prevail in
many parts of Spain and in some parts
life is almost as il was when Columbus
travelled the country roads on foot lead
ing his little son by the hand. This is
due to the meager means of communica-
tion there being only 1854 miles of rail-
roads in the whole country. This is only
3.9 linear miles of road for every 100
square miles of territory. New England
alone has as many miles of railroad as
has Spain, and her territory is not nearly
as great. The same area as Spain picked
out of the upper Eastern United States