804 



SPAIN. 



effective is approximately estimated at 734,680 

 infantry ; 23,300 cavalry, with 18,500 horses ; 

 30,350 'artillery, with 460 cannons; 7.500 en- 

 gineers ; 1,900 workmen ; 670 sanitary troops : 

 and 7,000 territorial troops in the Canary Islands ; 

 making a total of 805,400 men, without reckon- 

 ing the troops in the colonies. The Govern- 

 ment has decided to adopt the Mauser rifle for 

 the infantry. 



The Navy. The naval forces consist of ,2 

 first-class ironclads built in 1886, 2 second-class 

 ironclads, 4 nnarmored ships of the first, 8 of 

 the second, and 13 of the third-class, 4 gunboats, 

 32 small steamers, 13 torpedo boats, and 6 trans- 

 ports. There were under construction 2 first- 

 class armorclads, 1 of the second class, 2 first- 

 class, 1 second-class, and 4 third-class unarmored 

 steamers, 1 deck-protected cruiser, and 3 armored 

 gunboats. The " Biscaya," the second of three 

 plated cruisers ordered in June, 1889, from the 

 firm of Rivas & Palmer, of Bilboa. was launched 

 on July 8, 1891, and the third was launched in 

 October. The "Biscaya" is similar in all de- 

 tails to the " Infanta Teresa," which was 

 launched in September, 1890. 



Commerce. The total value of imports in 

 1889 was 866,311,000 pesetas, and of exports 896,- 

 856,000 pesetas. The foreign commerce was di- 

 vided among the principal nations as is shown 

 in the following table, giving the values of the 

 imports from and of the exports to each one in 

 pesetas : 



The principal imports and their values were as 

 follow: Cotton, 89,167.000 pesetas; woods, 45,- 

 947,000 pesetas ; coal, 40,374,000 pesetas ; sugar, 

 35,523,000 pesetas; machinery, 33,652,000 pese- 

 tas ; woolen goods, 29,839,000 pesetas ; tobacco, 

 28,800,000 pesetas; codfish, 27,435,000 pesetas; 

 iron, 26,580,000 pesetas ; wheat, 26,156.000 pese- 

 tas ; hides and skins, 19,190,000 pesetas ; chemi- 

 cals, 16,603,000 pesetas ; silk manufactures, 14,- 

 762,000 pesetas ; linen thread, 14,723,000 pesetas ; 

 spirits, 14,484,000 pesetas ; cotton goods, 13,273,- 

 000 pesetas; animals, 13,109,000 pesetas; cacao, 

 12,853,000 pesetas ; petroleum, 11.820.000 pese- 

 tas ; ships, 10,051,000 pesetas. The values of the 

 chief exports of domestic products were as fol- 

 low : Wine, 282,441,000 pesetas : copper, 61,812,- 

 000 pesetas; iron, 55,568,000 pesetas; lead, 48,- 

 358,000 pesetas; olive oil, 26,827.000 pesetas: 

 cork, 21,606,000 pesetas; animals, 21,083.000 

 pesetas ; oranges, 19,554,000 pesetas ; raisins, 

 17,340,000 pesetas; boots and shoes, 15,917,000 

 pesetas: wool, 15,531,000 pesetas; quicksilver, 

 11,057,000. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at Spanish ports during 1889 was 53,549, of 22,- 

 905,463 tons, including 475 vessels of war, of 

 563,935 tons. Of the merchant vessels, 38,852, of 

 9,995.333 tons, were Spanish, and 14,222, of 12,- 

 346,195 tons, were foreign. The merchant ma- 

 rine in 1890 comprised 1,359 sailing vessels of 

 over 50 tons, having an aggregate burden of 

 253.420 tons, and 350 steamers of over 100 tons, 

 of the aggregate net tonnage of 273,819 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs The 

 total length of the railroads at the beginning of 

 1889 was 6,043 miles. All the railroads were 

 built and operated by private companies, though 

 nearly all had their bonds guaranteed or received 

 subsidies from the Government. 



The post-office in 1889 forwarded 99,751,000 

 domestic and 12,600,000 international letters, 

 918,000 domestic and 222,000 international post- 

 cards, 34,727,000 domestic and 16,025,000 inter- 

 national printed inclosures and packets, and 89,- 

 000 domestic and 25,000 international registered 

 letters of the value of 119,201,000 and 31,275,000 

 francs, respectively. The receipts were 21,803,665 

 pesetas, expenses 12,274,634 pesetas. 



The length of telegraph lines on Jan. 1, 1890, 

 was 24,301 kilometres, or 14,270 miles, with 54,- 

 800 kilometres, or 34,250 miles, of wires, not in- 

 cluding 8,734 kilometres of lines belonging to 

 railroad companies. The number of internal 

 dispatches was 3,164,796; of international dis- 

 patches, 932,848; of dispatches connected with 

 the service, 142,784; the receipts for 1889-'90, 

 5,298,416 pesetas ; expenses, 7,229,755 pesetas. 



The New Cortes. The first Cortes under the 

 Regency, having completed the full term of five 

 years, was dissolved on Dec. 30, 1890, and elec- 

 tions were appointed for Feb. 1, 1892, for the 

 House of Deputies, and for Feb. 15 for Senators 

 in the new Cortes that was to meet on March 2, 

 under the new Government presided over by 

 Canovas del Castillo. The elections were the first 

 that took place under the law of universal suf- 

 frage, and were conducted by the Conservative 

 party, which had strenuously opposed the pas- 

 sage of that law. In the elections for Deputies 

 the most remarkable feature was the strength 

 displayed by the Republicans, who elected their 

 candidates by large majorities in five of the great 

 towns, and would have won in Madrid, Barcelona, 

 Saragossa, Sevilla. and Cadiz, in which they were 

 beaten by the Conservatives, if the party had not 

 divided into two factions. In Barcelona, Sara- 

 gossa, and Valencia they obtained more votes 

 than the Liberals, although workingmen and 

 Socialists largely abstained from voting. The 

 Republican leader, Nicolas Salmeron y Alfonso, 

 candidate in one of the suburbs of Barcelona, 

 was believed by the people to have been elected, 

 and great indignation was caused when Senor 

 Puig, the Conservative candidate, was declared 

 to have received the most votes. The announce- 

 ment was made on the day after mounted gen- 

 darmes had charged without provocation and 

 without warning upon a crowd who were listening 

 -to a speech from Sefior Salmeron and had fired 

 their carbines, dangerously wounding many peo- 

 ple, and apparently aiming at the orator. Fights 

 between Liberals and Carlists occurred in several 

 towns. An unusual number of parties placed 

 separate candidates in the field. Besides the 



