740 



SPAIN. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at Spanish ports in 1885 was 17,055, of 2,673,- 

 269 tons, of which 7,421, of 708,211 tons sailed 

 under the Spanish flng. The number of clear- 

 ances was 15,240 ; the tonnage, 5,767,728. 



The mercantile marine in 1884 comprised 

 1,902 vessels of over 50 tons burden, including 

 426 steamers. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The railroads 

 in operation at the close of 1885 had a total 

 length of 9,185 kilometres. 



The post-office, in the course of the financial 

 year 1883-'84, transmitted 118,394,708 domes- 

 tic and 34,343,456 foreign letters and circu- 

 lars. 



The telegraph lines in 1884 had a total 

 length of 17,853 kilometres, with 43,446 kilo- 

 metres of wires. The number of dispatches 

 was 3,281,885, of which 483,581 were official, 

 2,048,459 private internal, and 749,845 inter- 

 national messages. The receipts were 5,881,- 

 767 pesetas. 



Politics and Legislation. The Sagasta ministry 

 took office under pledges to carry out an ex- 

 tensive programme of liberal reforms. Per- 

 sonal ambitions and party policy have inter- 

 fered with the fulfillment of the ministerial 

 promises, and it was not till 1887 that a begin- 

 ning was made by the introduction of a bill 

 for the establishment of trial by jury, one of 

 the less important of the reforms that were 

 promised. The bill, which was a compromise 

 measure, passed the Chamber of Deputies on 

 May 14. Civil marriage formed a part of the 

 programme, and in the early part of the year 

 the terms of a convention were arranged with 

 the Vatican sanctioning a law of civil marriage 

 under certain restrictions. 



In the early summer Gen. Salamanca through 

 the influence of Gen. Martinez Campos and at 

 the express desire of Queen Christina, was ap- 

 pointed Governor-General of Cuba. When on 

 the point of leaving for his post he uttered a 

 sharp criticism of the colonial policy of the 

 Government, and attacked Balaguer, the Colo- 

 nial Minister, in a public speech. The imme- 

 diate party of Sagasta, when Salamanca de- 

 clined to resign the office to which he had 

 been regularly appointed, insisted that the ap- 

 pointment should be canceled. After some 

 hesitation the Prime Minister advised the 

 Queen to revoke the nomination, and a decree 

 to that effect was issued on August 22. Gen. 

 Salamanca threatened to assail the colonial 

 administration in the Cortes, and call attention 

 particularly to immoral and corrupt practices 

 of the officials in Cuba. Sagasta endeavored 

 in vain to secure his neutrality by inducing 

 him to accept the governorship of the Philip- 

 pine Islands or the post of military governor 

 of Catalonia. 



A section of the Liberals joined the regular 

 Opposition in objecting to a bill proposed by 

 the Government for granting a subsidy of 

 8,250,000 pesetas to the Transatlantic Steam- 

 ship Company. Although there was no pros- 



pect of the defeat of the bill, Sagasta declared 

 that it would be considered a Cabinet question, 

 and by this tactical mistake incurred much 

 criticism. Gen. Cassola introduced bills for 

 the reorganization of the army, introducing 

 territorial military divisions, modifying the 

 system of captain-generalships, abolishing sub- 

 stitution except in the case of recruits who 

 are assigned to the colonial service, and re- 

 quiring those who secure exemption from such 

 service to perform active duty in the peninsula 

 army. Lopez Doininguez, Salamanca, Marti- 

 nez Campos, and other military generals who 

 were ambitious of sharing the credit of mili- 

 tary reforms opposed the plans with all their 

 influence. They first raised a technical objec- 

 tion to Cassola's project, on the ground that 

 bills presented by Jovellar and Castillo, the 

 former Liberal Ministers of War, were still 

 before the Cortes. This difficulty was ar- 

 ranged, and Gen. Cassola, who repeatedly an- 

 nounced his intention to resign, was persuaded 

 by his colleagues to retain his post, but the ac- 

 tion of the Committee of the Chamber in 

 altering essential features of his scheme ren- 

 dered his continuance in office uncertain. 



Popular Discontent. While the floating debt 

 of the Government is rapidly increasing, and a 

 crushing burden of taxes presses upon the 

 people and discourages enterprise, agriculture, 

 commerce, and manufacturing are depressed in 

 all the provinces of Spain, and lack of employ- 

 ment has produced a dangerous discontent 

 among the working classes. In the autumn 

 months of 1887 from 3,000 to 4,000 persons 

 emigrated from the provinces of Galicia, and 

 more than 15,000 from Catalonia, where, in 

 November, there were 20,000 laborers seeking 

 work. On April 2 a dynamite cartridge was 

 found concealed in the legislative chamber, 

 and one was exploded in the courtyard of the 

 finance ministry. Three days later a powder 

 magazine was exploded at Cafiete in the prov- 

 ince of Cuenca. Arms and explosives were 

 seized in some shops in Madrid by the police. 

 The fear of popular outbreaks impelled the 

 Government to take rigorous measures to re- 

 press democratic agitation in the press or on 

 the platform. 



Foreign Relations. In 1887 the long-desired 

 recognition of Spain as a great power, which 

 had previously been accorded by France, was 

 given by Germany, Austria, and Italy, through 

 the elevation of their ministers at the court of 

 Madrid to the rank of ambassadors. This act 

 was supposed to signify the adhesion of Spain 

 to Prince Bismarck's league of peace in some 

 qualified manner, like that in which England 

 joined the alliance about the same time. 



The Colonies. The colonial possessions of 

 Spain, comprising Cuba and Porto Kico, the 

 Philippine, Caroline, and Sulu islands, and Fer- 

 nando Po, Corisco, El obey, and other territory 

 on the Guinea coast, have a combined area of 

 429,120 square kilometres, and contain 8,023,- 

 300 inhabitants. Spain also possesses sover- 



