Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/21

SPAIN SPAIN about 30 sugar cane factories and about 40 beet root sugar factories. Manufactures and Commerce. — The manufactures of Spain are not as a whole important, but considerable ad- vances have been made in recent times. The most important industries are the manufacture of cotton, woolens and linens, cutlery and metal goods, paper, oilk, leather, tobacco, and cigars, be- sides wine, flour, and oil. There are about 750 concerns engaged in the man- ufacture of cotton. These employ about 70,000 looms with about 2,700,000 spin- dles. In woolen manufacture there are about 9,000 looms with about 665,000 spindles. The paper-making industry is of importance. There are about 150 paper mills engaged in the making of writing, printing, packing, and cigarette paper. Other important industries are glass making and the manufacture of corks. The total imports in 1918 were valued at £24,394,077. The exports were valued at £37,917,084. The chief articles of import were cotton and its manufac- tures, food stuffs, machinery, tobacco, gold, animals, wool, hair and silk. The chief articles of export are food stuffs and wine, metals and their manufac- tures, drug and chemical products, cot- ton and its manufactures, wool and its manufactures timber and its manufac- tures, and animals and their products. The total value of wine exported in 1918 was £3,725,137. The larger number of imports are received from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The chief exports are to France, United Kingdom, and the United States. Transportation. — There are about 10,- 000 miles of railway, of which about 7,000 are of normal gauge and about 4,000 of varying gauges. In October, 1919, the first underground electric rail- way service in Spain was inaugurated in Madrid, which covers a distance of about 5 miles. The railway systems belong to private companies but are nearly all subsidized by the govern- ment. There are about 70,000 miles of telegraph line and there is wireless con- nection with all important countries. The merchant navy consisted in 1919 of 475 steamers of 691,328 tons net, and 448 sailing vessels of 74,970 tons net. The chief shipping centers are Bilbao and Barcelona. Finances. — The total revenue in 1919 was 1,648,800,000 pesetas, and the ex- penditure 2,065,065,000 pesetas. The es- timated revenue in 1920-21 was 1,962,- 830,000 pesetas, and the estimated expenditure 2,373,155,000 pesetas. The national debt on January 1, 1920, amounted to 12,026,280,212 pesetas. Education. — A very large proportion of the population is illiterate. In 1910, the last date for which authoritative statistics are available, nearly 60 per cent, could neither read nor write. Edu- cation is nominally obligatory, but the law is not strictly enforced. There are about 27,000 public schools and about 6,000 private schools. The total num- ber of pupils is about 2,700,000. Public and primary schools are supported by the government, which spent in 1918 43,726,597 pesetas for educational pur- poses. Secondary education is carried on in institutions or middle class schools, of which there must be at least one in every province. There are about 60 of these institutions, with about 55,000 pupils. There are 11 universities, which were attended by about 25,000 students. These universities are at Barcelona, Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Oviedo, Sala- manca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Val- ladolid, and Saragossa. In addition there is a medical school at Cadiz and one in the Canary Islands. Army and Navy. — Military service is compulsory for a total period of 18 years. A general staff was established in 1916. The country is divided into 8 territorial districts, each under a cap- tain-general. The peace strength of the army in 1920 was fixed at 216,649 men of all ranks. Of these, about 65,000 were in Morocco. The army is organ- ized into 16 divisions, each including two brigades of infantry and one of artillery. There is a corps of aviators and the service in military aviation has been reorganized on a large scale. The navy consists of three dreadnoughts, one pre-dreadnought, and seven cruisers. There were in 1920, in addition to 13 destroyers, 26 modern torpedo boats, and 12 gun boats. A number of cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other similar vessels were under con- struction in 1921. The total strength of the navy is about 10,500 sailors and about 4,500 marines. Government. — By the constitution of 1876 Spain is declared a constitutional monarchy, with executive power vested in the king, and the legislative power in the Cortes with the king. The Cortes consists of a Senate and Congress. The Senate is composed of three classes: Those who sit by right of birth or offi- cial position, members nominated by the crown (these two classes not numbering more than 180 together), and 180 elected by the largest taxpayers of the kingdom and certain corporate bodies. The Congress contains 417 deputies, elected by citizens of 25 years of age who have enjoyed full civil rights in any municipality for two years. Voting is