SPAIN. 



895 



The Council of Kintoten, appointed in 



ber, 1892, was comi>i>sed us follows; 1'n-i'lcni, 

 1'. M. Sagastu; Minister of Stale, Marquis do 

 ,;a ilc Annijo; Minister of .lustier. Mon- 

 trro Kios; .Minister of War, (ifii. . I. l.\n-/. l)- 

 iniiigur/. ; Minister of Marine, Admiral Corvern; 

 Minister of Hacienda, or l-'nianre, (i. < inmazo; 

 Minister of Government, or the Interior, Venan- 

 <-io (ion/.ale/ ; Minister of Komento, or Public 

 Works, Commerce, ami Agriculture, Morel Pren- 

 deixaM ; .Minister of the Colonies, Maura. 



Finances. The revenue for the fiscal year 

 189:5-'94, is estimated at 737,470.358 pesetas, or 

 francs, of which 290,423,473 pesetas are derived 

 from direct taxes, 281.708,000 pesetas from indi- 

 rect taxes, 129,940,000 pesetas from stamps and 

 rtgie enterprises, and 22.874,880 pesetas from 

 public property, and 12,470,000 pesetas were in 

 the treasury. The estimated expenditure is 736,- 

 501,837 pesetas, of which the chief items are 309,- 

 219,009 pesetas for the debt, 133,372,215 pesetas 

 for the army, 70,045,340 pesetas for public works 

 and education, 54,050,000 pesetas for indemni- 

 ties and pensions, 53,254.299 pesetas for justice, 

 20,544,829 pesetas for the interior, and 22,503,410 

 pesetas for the navy. 



The capital of the public debt, which pays 4 

 per cent., was 5,902,043,090 pesetas on Jan. 1, 

 1893 ; interest for the year, 271,150,858 pesetas. 



Commerce. The imports for 1891 were val- 

 ued at 1,018,771,000 pesetas; exports, 932,245,- 

 000 pesetas. The values of the principal imports 

 were: Cotton, 85,022,000 pesetas; coal, 50,305,- 

 000 pesetas; timber, 42,990,000 pesetas; ma- 

 chinery, 38,802,000 pesetas; gram, 31,020,000 

 pesetas; tobacco, 30,271,000 pesetas; sugar, 30,- 

 230,000 pesetas; codfish, 28,580,000 pesetas; 

 iron, 27,580,000 pesetas; woolens, 20,280,000 

 pesetas; spirits, 21,102,000 pestas. The princi- 

 pal exports and their values were : Wine, 310,- 

 244,000 pesetas ; lead, 01,930,000 pesetas ; copper, 

 47,401,000 pesetas ; iron, 43,439,000 pesetas ; cork, 

 20,847,000 pesetas; shoes, 21,028,000 pesetas; 

 animals, 14,924,000 pesetas; raisins, 14,459,000 

 pesetas ; flour, 12,807,000 pesetas ; quicksilver, 

 10,501,000 pesetas; grapes, 10,539,000 pesetas; 

 almonds, 10,494,000 pesetas; oranges, 10,417,000 

 pesetas; olive oil, 10,227,000 pesetas. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 in 1892 was 17,307, aggregating 11,585,712 tons, 

 and the number cleared was 17,110, aggregating 

 11,579.217 tons. The mercantile navy on Jan. 

 1, 1893, consisted of 1,233 sailing vessels, of 190,- 

 650 tons, and 474 steamers, of 455,489 tons. 



Communications. The railroads in opera- 

 tion in 1893 had a total length of 6.710 miles. 

 The post-office in 1891 carried 103.375,000 domes- 

 tic and 15,184,000 foreign letters, 842.000 postals, 

 and 74,670.000 newspapers, etc., besides 185,000 

 registered letters, containing 377,413,000 pestas. 

 The telegraphs, having a total length of 25,740 

 kilometres, with 50,512 kilometres of wires, trans- 

 mitted 3,421,255 paid internal and 1,147,442 in- 

 ternational dispatches. 



The Army and Navy. The law of Dec. 16, 

 1891, increased the annual recruit of the army 

 from 49,000 to 80,000 men. The war effective is 

 estimated at 203,000 foot and 21,000 horse. The 

 peace strength of the permanent army in 1893 

 was 115,735 men of all arms. 



The war fleet in 1893 was composed of 1 



armor-clad turret ship of 9,902 ton, 3 armored 

 eriii-ers, '.\ deck-protected cruiwrs of the first 

 da-s and '.'> of the third clans, 2 frigates. 18 un- 

 protec-teil cruisers, 47 gunboats of \nrious sizes, 

 7 torpedo gunboats, 12 sloop gunbouts, 1 tor- 

 pedo catcher, 12 first-class and 3 third-class tor- 

 ["<!<. boats, 1 submarine torpedo boat, and 1 

 monitor. There were 2 turret ships lacking 

 their armament, and in various stages of con- 

 struction there were 2 armored frigates, 3 arm- 

 ored cruisers, 1 torpedo dispatch vessel, 2 torpedo 

 gunboats, and 4 first -class and 20 second -class 

 torpedo boats. 



The Sagasta Ministry. The Conservative 

 ministry of Canovas del Castillo was defeated 

 through a revulsion of virtuous indignation in 

 its own party because it shielded some of its cor- 

 rupt followers from punishment and because it 

 showed no determination to correct the abuses 

 that perpetuated the deficit in the budget. The 

 Liberal leader formed a Cabinet of the most dis- 

 tinguished men of his party, taken from all sec- 

 tions, who were pledged to reform the budget 

 under the guidance of a financial moralist who 

 had pointed out the source and nature of the fis- 

 cal disorder. A dissolution was necessary to give 

 the Liberals a majority. The Chamber consisted 

 of 280 Conservatives, 90 Liberals, 9 Republicans 

 of the Castelar group, 17 Advanced Republicans, 

 4 Carlists, 4 Ultramontanes, and several Cuban 

 Autonomists. The general election took place 

 on March 5. 1893, after all the officials had been 

 changed and the usual measures taken to secure 

 an overwhelming ministerial majority. The 

 Conservatives and Moderate Republicans were 

 allowed to elect respectable minorities, while the 

 Government employed all the old devices to 

 thwart the Extreme Republicans, only to find 

 that under universal suffrage the vote of the in- 

 dustrial centers could no longer be constrained. 

 The Liberals elected 822 members, the Conserva- 

 tives 48 adherents of Canovas and 15 who fol- 

 low Silvela, the Republicans 10 Moderates and 

 23 Extremists, and the Carlists 6 representatives. 

 In Madrid 6 Republicans and 2 Ministerialists 

 were elected. In the senatorial elections a few 

 days later 7 Moderate Republicans were chosen 

 by the universities and academies. 



The Cortes were opened on April 5. The 

 speech from the throne promised economies and 

 increased revenue that would abolish the deficit 

 of 70,000,000 pesetas. The Marquis de Armijo 

 retired from the Cabinet to accept the presidency 

 of the Chamber. Admiral Cervera had resigned 

 a fortnight before because he would not consent 

 to the reduction of the naval budget, and Admi- 

 ral Pasquin was induced, on March 23, to accept 

 the portfolio. Seflor Gamazo encountered ob- 

 stacles in every direction in attempting to carry 

 out his programme of financial reform. The rig- 

 orous assessment and collection of the taxes which 

 influential rich men have always evaded the 

 taxes on land, trade, mines, incomes, etc. was a 

 work requiring time and one which bristled with 

 difficulties from the start. Retrenchment in every 

 department was a plainer course, of which every 

 one saw the necessity until it affected his pocket. 

 The Queen Regent was willing to sacrifice 1,000,- 

 000 pesetas of the civil list, but the host of super- 

 numerary officeholders and the 22.000 officers on 

 the pay rolls of an army of 90,000 rank and file 



