The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-14
TWO NATIONS COMPARED
FOR 400 YEARS SPAIN HAS
GONE BACKWARD
Population AS Large In sos AS In
lS9S-The Nation Largely Agri-
cultural, With Most Primitive
MethOds-Wages of LabOrers
Not One-Fifth of Those of La
bOrers In the United States.

MethOds-WuSes or LaDOrers
Not One-Fifth of Those of La
bOrers In the United States.
From Gunton's May Magazine.
The history of Spanish dominion in
Cuba covers a period of almost exact
ly four hundred years. Discovered by
Columbus in 1892, and twice revisited
by him, Cuba was, before 1920, the site
of several flourshing Spanish colonies.
1t was in 1919 that a band of settlers
crossed from the southern shore Of the
| island and founded Havana, the future
metropolis Of the West Indies and po-
litical center of Spanish authority in
this hemisphere.
Spain was at this time the very
summit of her national career The
union of all the independent kingdoms
of the peninsula had just been accom-
plished under Ferdinand and Isabella,
and in the succeeding reign the i'm
mense colonies of Peru and Mexico were
added. But Spain could not stand
prosperity. Ingrained in the very
temperament and character Of the
Spanish race was (and Isl the naughty,
cavalier spirit; and this, once in pos
| session of imperial power, became ar
rogant and cruel tyranny Military
| prowess and political sway were every
| where held superior to the common
| rights of humanity. For the arts of
| peace, as a source of national great
ness, Spain has ever had a profound
contempt. Conquest-not Of nature, but
| of other men-Was the IDEAL. A ma
| ton erected on such a basis could not
endure. Decay and decline were in
| evitab BILE. From the InquiSition, the
hideous barbarities Of Philip II, the ex-
pulsion of the Moors with their indus
tries, the Great Armada and the devas-
| tation of Holland, to the humiliating
war of the Spanish succession was a
| rapid and easy step. Spain had be-,
| come a second-rate power and, despite
| some temporary revivals, she has
steadily dropped behind in the onward
march Of civilization until today in all
| Europe only the Turks stand lower in
| the scale.
NO GROWTH SHOWN.
The population Of the Spanish PENN
sula at the close of the nineteenth
| century is not materially larger than it
| was one thousand years ago. under the
| Moors. Then, 1t was estimated at TO-,
| 600, 000 now 1t Is about 22.000,000, of
which Spain has 17,5OO,OO0 and Portugal
| the rest Ever since the war Of Philip
II. and the expulsion Of the Moors the
country has been impoverished and in
| dustrially stagnant.
| AS a 1lation, Spain has not yet adj
vanced beyond the agricultural stage.
Nearly rs per cent Of her people are
engaged in farming; their methods are
of the most primitive sort and the re-
suits comparatively meagre. Stock
raising and mining are important in
dustries but, like agriculture. are OF
the rural, isolating, and socially nom
progressive type; that is, in their in
fluence upon the lives and individual
development Of the people engaged in
them. Only per cent of the Spanish
people are employed in manufacturing;
contrast this with the co per cent zap
proximately) classified under manufac-
turing and other non-agricultural in
dustries in the United States, and the
IS per cent in England. The natural
consequence of this dearth OF manu-
featuring industries is marked absence
| of large cities and towns. Madrid, the
| largest city, has less than. half a mil
lion population, and there are only four
other cities in the whole kingdom hav-
| ing more than c100.0 900; viz, Barcelona,
| Valencia, Sevilla and Malaga.
WAGES COMPARED.
The poverty and low state of social
| life and civilization of the Spaniards
| is indexed quite accurately by their
wage rates. For instance, the average
weekly pay of a bricklayer in Spain
| (N1alagal is $3.50; in the United States,e
S21 .18; Of a mason, $3.50 in Spain, $21
| in the United States; Of a carpenter,
States: of a blacksmith, $3.50 in Spain,
| $16.02 in the United States; of a tin
smith, SO in Spain, $14.95 in the United
| States; of printers, $3.50 in Spain, $16.42
in the United States; of laborers,
porters, etc. $2.75 in Spain, $S.sS in the
United States. While rents and pos
| sibly prices of a few native products
are lower in Spain than in the United
| States, the difference comes nowhere
near eQualling the wide disparity in
| wages. Moreover, in comparison of
| this sort the quality of the living. must
| be considered as well as the nominal
cost. Thus, lower rents nearly always
| imply inferior accommodations, and,
| to the average Spaniard, most Of the
| comforts and conveniences in ordinary
use here are unattainable luXuries.
That the low rate Of Spanish wages
does really mean a proportionately low
| consumption and low standard of liv-
| ing is substantiated by one or two
significant facts of another character;
for instance, the per capita annual con-
sumption of wooden goods in Spain is
| only 8 shillings' worth. as against 10
shillings In the United States; Of sugar.
| 5 pounds per annum in Spain, 43
pounds in the United States; Of beef,
| 16 pounds per annum in Spain, 62
pounds in the United States; of all
meats. 40 pounds In Spain, 120 in the
United States; of butter, none in Spain.
is pounds in the United States; Of
coffee. four pounds in Spain, lib in the
| United States.
FEW SCHOOLS.
According to the latest statistics OBJ
| tainable on the subject, two-thirds Of
the adult population Of Spain is filter
ate. Only "a per cent were able to
write, in 1881. At that time Spain was
spending about 100000 per annum on
education, or about 1915 per pupil, as
against $3.50 per pupil in the United
| States at the same time. The state
religion Is Roman Catholic, and prac-
| tically the entire population profess
that faith. Only limited freedom of
\ worship is granted to Protestants; their
services must be entirely private and
cannot be publicly announced.
FINANCES DEPLORABLE.
The financial condition of the Spanish
! government is most deplorable Not
| since the restoration of the present
| dynasty, in 1874, has there been a sur
plus in the annual accounts. Lotteries
nonopolies, mortgages Of state proper
ties, and various forms Of special tax
| alton have been resorted to, in vain
The enormous national debt chiefly a
relic of the former Cuban rebellion and
internal uprisings, amounted in jan
uary, 1893 according to writer in
Harper's Weekly, to some 7,136, 1895, 900
pesetas; nearly 100000 of which bore
an annual interest charge of 271, $780,
S58 pesetas.