— 12 — 



conditions prevail scarcely requires comment: one can only express regret 

 that the development of this highly-promising and otherwise prosperous 

 land should be retarded by such artificial checks as have been imposed 

 there during the past decade or so. 



There has been very little alteration since last autumn in the econo- 

 mic condition of Spain. The bad harvests of 1909 and 1910 have been 

 followed in 1911 by good, and in parts even excellent, crops, especially 

 of wine and oil, but the effect of these is hardly perceptible owing to the 

 critical state of Spanish politics. In the first place the Morocco-adventure, 

 of which the end seems to be far distant, is always calling for fresh sacri- 

 fices of life and gold. The Liberal party still holds the reins of Govern- 

 ment, but such difficulties have been thrown in the path of the Prime 

 Minister by the Conservatives that he has twice offered his resignation 



Pesetas 



Imports from: 



1900 

 Million 



1909 

 Million 



Exports to: 



1900 

 Million 



1909 

 Million 



Germany 



France 



United Kingdom 



Belgium 



Portugal 



Russia 



Italy 



Holland and the rest of Europe 



77,8 

 147,4 

 249,3 

 43 

 41,9 

 42,6 

 24,2 

 74,3 



114,5 



198 



206,2 

 32,2 

 48,2 

 26,3 



93,9 



31,9 

 217,3 

 276,8 



25,3 



36 



24,4 

 42,2 



48,4 



238,9 



267,1 



36,2 



48,4 



42,6 

 88,1 



Total: 

 Increase : 



700,5 



719,3 



653,9 



769,7 



about 3°/o 



about 17,5°/o 



since last Autumn, and has only been induced to continue at his post by 

 the personal intervention of the King. Naturally, such an unsatisfactory 

 state of things is not exactly conducive to the revival of trade and in- 

 dustry. In spite of this both the imports and exports have increased 

 during the past decade, as will be seen from a comparison of the figures 

 for the years 1900 and 1909 which we quote from an article in the Heraldo 

 de Madrid. Statistical data of Spanish commerce are somewhat scarce, 

 and we give an abstract of the article in question, because the figure^ 

 give an approximate idea of the facts. They show that the direct export 

 trade from Germany to Spain has increased between 1900 and 1909 by 

 36 700 000 Pesetas, or nearly 50%! In connection with this it must be 

 remembered that large quantities of German goods are imported by way 

 of other countries, especially France and Great Britain, and appear in the 

 statistics as French or British goods. 



