Spain 325 



pared, and regulations for the conduct of the traffic some of which 

 were distinctly worthy of commendation drawn up, to which the 

 concessionaries had to undertake to conform. 



Under this decree concessions for thirty-five exchange systems 

 were granted, the State proportion of the gross receipts varying 

 from 10 per cent, in Valladolid, Seville, Granada, and Alicante, to 

 20 per cent, in Madrid and Saragossa, 31^ per cent, in Valencia, 

 33i P er cent, in Barcelona, and 34 per cent, in Bilbao ; and 

 averaging 20-66 per cent, all round. 



The principal maximum rates, payable quarterly in advance, as 

 fixed by law were as follow : 



Per annum 

 s. d. 



Subscriber to a local exchange located within the muni- 

 cipal boundary', with the instrument in his private 

 office or house . . . . . . 12 o o 



For a telephone connected to the local exchange, but 

 fixed in a casino, club, hotel, cafe, theatre, railway 

 station, or other place where it could be used by 

 strangers . . . . . . . . 40 o o 



Three-minute local talk from a public telephone station . o o I -44 



This local rate of 1 2/. payable by the subscriber meant that the 

 concessionary companies had to earn dividends 



Per annum 



s. d. 



In Madrid on I2/. 20 per cent. . . . . .9120 



,, Bilbao on I2/. 34 per cent. . . . . .7185 



., Barcelona on I2/. 3375 per cent 7 19 o 



,, Valencia on I2/. 31 -5 per cent. . . . . 845 

 ,, Valladolid, &c., on 1 2/. 10 per cent. . . .10160 



and so, providing subscribers were forthcoming in any decent 

 number, were in clover, even the lowest net rates being ample for 

 the purpose. How Swedish, Swiss, and Dutch telephone managers, 

 accustomed to work on 5/., 4/., and even 2/. gs. id. rates, would 

 revel in such exuberant figures ! Imagine Mynheer Jan Sot (see 

 Dutch section, p. 220) established on the banks of classical 

 Guadalquivir with net rates ranging from 8/. to io/. i6s. ! Spain, 

 to him, would be a telephonic El Dorado indeed. 



But a telephone company without subscribers gets on but in- 

 differently well. The anticipated rush of hotel and casino keepers and 



