SPANISH RAILWAYS.* IT has been the misfortune of Spain, with its vast extent, its productive capabilities, and boundless natural resources, to be behindhand with Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, and France, not only in the adoption of railroad communication, but in all and every means of transport, whether by land or by water. Even great roads have been long wanting or were in a deplorable condition; and whilst in France the average expense of travelling was one hundred leagues for 35 fr. in forty hours by the old system of diligence, the same distance was not accomplished in Spain in twice the time, and at an expense of 150 fr. Add to this there was great insecurity, the highways were infested with bandits, but these have luckily been at length put down since the institution of civil guards, and the roads are now almost as safe as in France itself. In consequence of this want of good roads and security, the abundance of one province could not prevent dearth in another next adjoining; the excess of labour in one quarter was unavailable in another; the very wines of Central Spain were wasted for want of an outlet; and it was impossible, from the same difficulties of intercommunication, to extinguish civil war, which, like a hydra, was incessantly breaking out afresh in some remote district. The junction of two seas that bathe a considerable territory has in all times been considered a source of wealth. Thus all the transit, all the produce, and all travellers coming from America or Great Britain, and arriving at the Oceanic ports of the Peninsula, will now be able to penetrate to the interior, or to extend their influence beyond, without passing the Straits of Gibraltar, so also, vice versa, to the products of the East arriving at the Mediterranean ports. Great Britain contemplates with unfeigned gratification the day when the wines of Valencia and Catalonia, stronger and better than those of France, although as yet unknown in this country, shall, by the establishment of railway communication between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, be sold in this country at a price even lower than that of the most ordinary of "vins ordinairs." France takes an almost equal delight in contemplating the day when railway communication from Bayonne to Alicante will convert a journey which, as now effected from Marseilles to Algeria, takes from forty-eight to sixty hours, and in bad weather sometimes from five to six days, to one of nine hours, or even less! It is not, however, all and everything for a state to possess railroads, they must have their affluents which will bring travellers and goods to their stations. It is these branch lines and branch roads that have given so great an impulse to railroad traffic in England, in Belgium, and in France. Such are as yet entirely wanting in Spain, and everything remains to be done in this particular, but government cannot but feel that when such a system is economically and yet effectively carried out, it will produce fifty per cent. upon all expenditure. Needless to add how im * De L'Espagne et de ses Chemins de Fer. Par Villiaumé. Deuxième edition. Paris: Garnier Frères. 1861. portant railway communication is to strategy and to defensive purposes. The existence of such more than double the defensive force of a country, while they are of little or no use to an invading army, as they can be easily cut off and destroyed where it is found necessary to do so. Spain is almost the only country whose metropolis is situated in its centre. This is no doubt what determined Charles V. to establish the seat of the monarchy in Madrid in preference to Burgos, Toledo, or Valladolid, which were already powerful and populous capitals at the time when Madrid was an obscure place surrounded by forests. He probably wished at the same time to avoid giving offence to these separate capitals of small kingdoms. It is a manifest advantage to a country to have its metropolis in its centre, as the movement, as well as the administration, converges there all the more readily. Hence, also, the network of Spanish railways has its centre in the capital, from whence it issues forth in five main arteries: 1st. A line which crosses the Guadarrama, by Old Castile and Leon, to the western provinces of the north, Galicia, Asturias, and the Biscayan provinces, to the frontier of France. These are designated the north railroads of Spain. 2nd. A line which is carried across the Iberian chain to the eastern provinces of the north, Aragon and Catalonia, terminating at Barcelona on the Mediterranean. Its principal station is at Saragossa, which constitutes about its centre. From this latter city the line proceeds to France, by Pampeluna, to Bayonne. 3rd. A line which is carried across the lower table-land of the central region, or New Castile, and which terminates on the Mediterranean at Alicante. It has a branch to the north-east to Valencia, and another to the south-west to Murcia and Carthagena. 4th. A line which is carried across the Sierra Morena, and takes the direction of the south, by the kingdom of Andalusia, by Manzanarès, Cordova, and Seville, as far as to Cadiz on the Ocean-that is to say, the most extreme southerly point of Spain. 5th. A line which connects Madrid with Lisbon by the western centre -that is to say, by Ciudad Real, Merida, and Badajoz. The company of the northern railways of Spain has a capital of 100,000,000 fr., divided into 200,000 shares of 500 fr., with six per cent. during the construction of the lines, and any benefits that may 'be derived by parts that may be in working order superadded. The founders are the General Societies of Movable Credit of France and Spain, the General Society for promoting National Industry of Belgium, the Belgian Bank, and a long list of names, which comprises some of the great financiers, bankers, and diplomatists of the Continent. There is a council of administration over and above this. The northern railway presents a continuous line from Madrid to the French frontier by the Escurial, Avila, Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Burgos, Vittoria, Tolosa, Saint Sebastian, and Irun, with a branch to Alar del Rey, which is further extended by a railroad actually in operation to Santander. The whole length is 729 kilometres of 1000 French yards, or about two-thirds of an English mile each, and of which 128 from Valladolid to Alar were opened on the 1st of August, 1860; 42 from Valladolid to Medina del Campo on the 18th of September, 1860; and 157 from San Chidrian to Medina del Campo, and from Venta de Banos to Burgos and Quintanaplia, in December, 1860, making altogether 327 kilometres in operation. The following are also announced: 50 kilometres from Madrid to the Escurial in June, 1861; 147 from Quintanaplia to Miranda and Alsasua in the present year; 101 from the Escurial to San Chidrian in 1862; and 60 from Tolosa to Irun at the end of the same year. The total expense has been estimated at 206,000,000 fr. The subsidy granted by the state is 56,000,000 fr.; 150,000,000 fr. have to be provided by the company, of which 100,000,000 fr. by the social capital, and 50,000,000 fr. by 200,000 "obligations," issued at 250 fr., but repayable at 500 fr. This will be about 205,700 fr. per kilometre, which will be increased by the interest payable during construction. It appears to M. Villiaumé that even this estimate will be increased by at least three or four per cent. by the expenses entailed by 48 tunnels: 1 between Madrid and the Escurial; 5 in the Sierra Quaderama; 9 between Burgos and Salvatura; 26 in the Pyrenees, between Alsasua and Beasain; and 7 between Beasain and Irun; altogether 17 kilometres of tunnel. On the other hand, land is cheap, and good oak timber abundant. Considerable indeed, an unusual width is given to the road. The northern railroad of Spain establishes relations between the metropolis and provinces, which represent by themselves alone more than a fourth of the population of Spain, or about 4,400,000 inhabitants. It will further determine the course of commerce between the greater part of the Peninsula and North America, Great Britain, the French ports on the Atlantic, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Russia, and Sweden. Santander, Bilbao, and Saint Sebastian are destined to be the future emporia for these exchanges in all that concerns Castile and Madrid, and the two latter are likely to monopolise the commerce of the Basque provinces, Navarre, Aragon, and even of Catalonia, when the network is completed. The movement of commerce between France and Spain is already very considerable, especially since so much Spanish wine has been used in the manufacture of claret, and this commerce will be increased by further facilities of communication; but the most important advantage is looked forward to in the increased facilities of communication opened with the Spanish colonies. Cuba and Porto Rico produce annually 400,000 tons of sugar, 10,000 to 15,000 tons of coffee, and 5000 to 6000 tons of tobacco, and as the exchange most sought after-corn and manufactured goods-are met with in the north-the Biscayan ports will be sought for in preference to others in the south. There is also coal in the Cantabrian chain. The station of the northern railroad is near the gate of St. Vincent, at Madrid, and it communicates with the line of Alicante by a railway, which curves round the exterior of the capital. Issuing from Madrid, it crosses the Manzanares and reaches the Escurial, a monastic palace erected by Philip II. in consequence of a vow taken the morning of the battle of St. Quentin, in 1557, on which occasion he routed the French army. This decisive engagement was fought on the day of St. Laurence, and hence the form of a gridiron, the instrument of martyrdom of this saint, given to the said palatial monastery. It cost 54,000,000 fr.; estimated at 216,000,000 fr. in our times. Philip, M. Villiaumé argues (L'Esprit de la Guerre, liv. iv. ch. ix.), could have easily subjected all France as a result of this victory, but he did not know how to follow up his successes, and the narrow-minded, gloomy, and bigoted monarch, instead of raising his mother country to the pinnacle of power, sowed the seeds of decay by his despotism, his fanaticism, his love of war, and his financial blunders. The railway is prolonged by Arevalo and Medina del Campo to Valladolid. Medina del Campo, with its characteristic Hispano-Moorish name-Medina, "city," del Campo, of the plain-is a town of from 4000 to 5000 inhabitants, instead of the 70,000 which it formerly contained, and enjoys celebrity for its fairs, at which there is an exceeding business done in the wools and cloths of Cuença, Avila, and Segovia, in the silk of Toledo and Seville, in the leathers of Cordova, remnant of a Moorish branch of industry, in the groceries of Valencia and Lisbon, and the manufactures of Flanders and of France. Valladolid was the capital of Ferdinand and Isabella, as also the seat of government under Charles V.; and even Philip II. dwelt there in the early part of his career. Boasting once of its 100,000 inhabitants, it has now barely 25,000. What is designated as the Leonais-Castilan upland is very productive in cereals. These have been transported to Santander by means of a canal, opened for now nearly a quarter of a century, between Valladolid and Alar del Rey, at the foot of the Cantabrian chain, and thence by road to the port of Santander. Branch canals also deviate to Palencia and Rioseco, two centres of corn produce. In 1855 the upland in question exported 1,000,000 of hectolitres of 22 gallons each by Santander, 750,000 by Bilbao, and 250,000 by St. Sebastian, equal to about one-fifth of the exportation of all Russia. The traffic of Santander, Bilbao, and St. Sebastian has been much increased of late by the export of wines-a branch of commerce which may be expected to assume very large proportions under the new tariff. The comparative amount of business done in 1855 was 79,993,000 fr. for Santander, 67,901,000 fr. for Bilbao, and 17,887,000 fr. for St. Sebastian, whilst all the ports of Murcia, Valencia, and New Castile put together only represented a total of 70,000,000 fr. Santander has a sheltered harbour accessible to vessels of large tonnage, the most frequented in the north of Spain, and third in point of commerce, having only Cadiz and Barcelona above it. The inhabitants, 18,000 in number, are said to be distinguished by the amenity of their manners, and it is the wateringplace as well as the port of Madrid. The coal basin of the Orbo is not far distant from Alar del Rey, on the western acclivity of the Cantabrian chain. Above all, sheep are numerous on this upland. Formerly that which ought to have been a source of wealth was one of misery. The great and the powerful-princes and prelates-had a general right of pasturage, so that cultivation was rendered impossible; but the rights of the peasant and the farmer have since been protected by the constitution. The annual produce of wools from old Castile, Léon, and Estramadura, is from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 of kilogrammes of 2 lbs. 3 oz. 4 drs. each. The best wools come from the pastures of Segovia and Soria. The climate of the north of Spain is adapted for French and Belgians alike. The Spanish language attained its highest perfection among the Castilians: they first united with royalty against feudalism, they also in stituted a liberal and representative monarchy, and constituted Madrid a great city. The railway follows from Miranda de Ebro to Vittoria, the line of the valley of Zadorra, a distance of thirty-three kilometres. The passage of the Pyrenees is comprised with its tunnels between Alsasua and Villafranca. This mountain-land is the least arable in Spain, but it is well wooded, and commerce and industry have always prospered, owing to the privi leges maintained by the indomitable mountaineers. For six centuries the Basques have worked in iron and steel, especially in Guipascoa, where are also many other branches of industry, including rope-spinning, tanning, linen and cotton, paper, and paper-hangings. The introduction. of railway communication has been a godsend to so industrious a community of people. The Island of Pheasants, at the mouth of the Bidassoa, where Louis XIV. wedded Maria Theresa, and where Cardinal Mazarin caught a fever which cut short his career, and to a certain extent that of his intriguing nieces, is being gradually carried awayemblem of the protocols which declared that there was no longer any Pyrenees. It is to be hoped in the present day, when the intimacy of people no longer depends upon the faith of princes, but upon commerce and industry and the fusion of interests, that the removal of the barrier will be more of a reality. The company of the railway from Madrid to Saragossa and to Alicante is administered by a council. Its capital is 456,000,000 of reals, or 126,000,000 of francs, represented by 240,000 shares of 1900 reals, or 500 francs, each. The power of emitting "obligations," or preference shares, and of raising money on debentures, appears to be almost unlimited, and threatens to involve the original shareholders in the same state of financial extinction as has occurred both in this country and in France. The concession granted to this company comprises 1211 kilometres. 1st. From Madrid to Alicante, 455 kilometres; 2nd. From Madrid to Saragossa, 345 kilometres; 3rd. From Castillego to Toledo, 26 kilometres; 4th. From Alcazar to St. Jean at Ciudad Real, 138 kilometres; 5th. From Albacete to Carthagena, 247 kilometres. Add to this, the company obtained the concession of the railway from Manzanarès to Cordova, 248 kilometres in length, in October, 1860. The railroad from Madrid to Alicante is already in full operation, and its mean receipts amount to 33,000 fr. per kilometre of 1000 French yards. The line from Madrid to Jadraque, on the way to Saragossa, is open a distance of 103 kilometres, and the section from Alcazar, of St. Juan, to Ciudad Real is open for a distance of 72 kilometres. This road leads, first, to Toledo, the old Gothic capital of Spain, fifteen leagues to the south-east of Madrid. This old city, so imbedded in the Tagus as to be most formidable in its defences, seems, with its narrow streets and Gothic steeples, to belong to another age. Its population of 200,000 has dwindled also down to 20,000. Taken by the Moors and recaptured by the Castilians, it became the capital of the Spanish kings, after they had expelled the Moors, till the time of Charles V. Toledo has also ever been the stronghold of bigotry and fanaticism. It was a council held there in 694 which issued the abominable edict that all the Jews of Spain shall be slaves, all their goods confiscated, and all 66 |