These governmental revolutions scarcely affected the administration of the country. The treasury is always empty, the annual receipts do not suffice to pay the interest upon the national debt, taxes have increased, the conscription demands more men than ever, and the schools diminish in numbers.[171] {466}

The political and administrative divisions of the country have remained the same since 1841. Spain is divided into forty-nine provinces, including the Canaries. Each province is subdivided into districts, and has its civil governor. The communes are governed by an alcalde, or mayor, assisted by an ayuntamiento, or municipal council, of from four to twenty-eight members. The judicial administration is modelled on that of France. There are 9,400 justices of the peace (one for each commune), about 500 inferior courts, 15 courts of appeal, and a supreme court sitting at Madrid.

[Μ]

Fig. 189.—FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE IBERIAN PENINSULA.

For military purposes continental Spain is divided into twelve districts, each under a captain-general. These are New Castile, Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, Valencia with Múrcia, Galicia, Granada, Old Castile, Estremadura, Burgos, Navarra, and the Basque provinces. The Balearic Isles, the Canaries, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines constitute five additional districts. Military service is compulsory, but substitutes are admitted on payment of a heavy ransom. The annual levy varies exceedingly, and as many as 80,000 men are officially stated to have been levied in a single year, though 60,000 would appear to be the utmost the population can supply. The term of service is seven years in the cavalry and artillery, eight years in the infantry, of which three are passed in the “provincial militia.” About 100,000 men are supposed to be actually under arms in the {467} peninsula, 130,000 are on furlough, and 70,000 men are stationed in the colonies, mostly in Cuba, where about one-fourth of the total strength perish annually.

The principal fortresses are St. Sebastian, Santoña, and Santander, on the Bay of Biscay; Ferrol, La Coruña, and Vigo, on the rias of Galicia; Ciudad Rodrigo, on the Portuguese frontier; Cádiz and Tarifa, at the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar; Málaga, Cartagena, Alicante, and Barcelona, on the Me­di­ter­ra­nean; Figueras, Pamplona, and Zaragoza, at the foot of the Pyrenees.

The navy consists of 123 steamers, propelled by engines of 24,694 horse-power, armed with 755 guns, and manned by 14,000 sailors and 5,500 marines. Six of these vessels are ironclad frigates. The number of superior officers is exceedingly large, and their salaries weigh heavily upon the treasury.

Fig. 190.—DIAGRAM EXHIBITING THE EXTENT OF THE CASTILIAN LANGUAGE.

Scale 1 : 36,000,000.