instruction. No better selection for this important branch of the ministry of fomento could have been made, as has been clearly shown by the administration of Mr. Riaño during the two years and a half that he remained at its head. The government of Señor Sagasta seriously faced, under the able direction of Señores Alvareda and Riaño, the problem of education. One of its first acts was to restore to their chairs the professors who had been removed under the Canovas government for the reasons already stated. And although no decree was issued abolishing the "official programmes" and "authorized text-books," these professors were allowed to teach as they thought fit, and during Señor Sagasta's administration, according to Mr. de Bunsen's report, "no questions were asked as to the text-books employed or the course of studies pursued in any Spanish school or university." Masters under the old régime were left for months without their salaries being paid, the arrears in February, 1881, amounting to no less than $1,000,000. These salaries, although small, were their only means of support, and by the irregular payment of them the masters and their families were placed in the most embarrassing and pitiful position. The Sagasta government saw the injustice of this treatment, and a royal decree was issued providing for the regular payment of the masters' salaries by the municipal authorities. Many other orders and decrees tending to the improvement of public instruction were issued by the Sagasta government, and, as it would seem, have produced beneficial results. Señor Canovas returned to power in January last, and the reformers of public instruction are fearful that the old system will be brought into use again. # A glance at the following table, prepared by Mr. de Bunsen, and based on the census of 1877 (the last published), will show the lamentable results of the system of education in Spain at least up to date: After deducting from the total population 2,413,438 boys and 2,350,193 girls below the age of 12, inclusive, it appears that there was in Spain in 1877 a population of 11,870,714 persons above that age, and that of these no less than 7,214,537 (viz, 2,683,320 males and 4,531,217 females), or about 60 per cent. were unable to read. The following statistics, taken from the annual report (just published) of the Central University of Madrid for the year 1881-'82, may be of interest: There were 370 students studying philosophy and letters; 2183 law; 310 science; 2,585 medicine, and 1,265 pharmacy. There were gradu ated 568 licentiates and 278 doctors. The expenses incurred amounted to 962,590 pesetas, or $185,779.87 in money of the United States, and the receipts to 1,036,205.25 pesetas or $199,987.61, showing a difference of receipts over expenses of 73,615.25 pesetas, or $14,207.74. The press has lately made bitter complaints against the buildings occupied by the public primary schools. It seems that nearly all these buildings were erected for private residences and, without suitable reforms being made, converted into public school houses by the municipal authorities. This is particularly true in regard to Madrid, and according to the press it is generally true as regards the school buildings throughout Spain. Exorbitant rents are exacted and paid for these buildings, and if the press may be relied upon, these rents would, in the course of ten years, amount to a sum sufficient to erect suitable schoolhouses not only at Madrid, but also in every province of the peninsula. The attention of the minister of fomento has been called to this fact, and he is urged at the same time, not only on account of the influence it would have upon public culture, but also on account of hygiene, to present to the Cortes a law providing for the erection of school buildings after the plan of those erected in other European countries and in the United States. * A large field is open to the present minister of fomento to show his zeal and interest in public instruction, and as he has public opinion, the press of his own party, and the press of the opposition to sustain him, it is hoped that he will avail himself of the occasion and adopt such measures as will tend to bring about the much needed and greatly desired reforms. * # Something has already been done in this direction [improvement of the educational system through private enterprise] by the establishment in 1876 of the "Free Institute" at Madrid. This institution was founded by the professors already referred to, who had been removed from their university chairs by the government of Señor Canovas, and was designed as a means of escape from the rigid forms of the state educational system and to teach on a liberal and independent plan. It has been very successful and a sketch of its foundation and of its system of teaching, taken from Mr. de Bunsen's report, may not be out of place: It was founded in 1876, the necessary funds being raised by the issue of shares to the amount of £7,000. A Board of Directors, composed of prominent men of all political parties, and presided over by Señor Moret, is charged with its general administration, while its education management is in the hands of a board of nine of its forty-two professors. There are now about three hundred names on the books. The greater part of the boys are between the ages of ten and fifteen, but some remain till the age of eighteen. All are out-boarders, belonging to a well-to-do middle class and paying from 128. to 178. a month. Children from five years upwards are also taken in, and special attention is devoted to their education. The general system upon which this institute is based is completely novel. The whole plan of studies is embraced in the curriculum of every term, instead of a given subject being finished off to make way for another. The difference between the instruction which is given in the higher and lower classes lies, therefore, not in its subject-matter, but in the degree to which the subject-matter is developed. Thus, for instance, the younger pupils, as well as the older ones, are taken to the national picture gallery for lectures on art, but whereas the former have pointed out to them the broader and more general characteristics of the various schools, the lectures which are given to the latter comprise a much more minute and detailed examination of the same ground. Besides receiving a general State education, with a view to obtaining the degree of bachelor by examination at a public institute, the boys are instructed in music, the fine arts, gymnastics, carpentering, and other accomplishments. They are encouraged to devote some of their spare time to athletic games, and great care is spent on such details as cleanliness, neatness in dress, and orderly behavior-points which at the public schools of Spain are completely neglected. The pupils are taught in small classes, and associate on terms of intimacy and friendship with the masters. Each boy is taken once or twice a week to visit one of the museums, factories, workshops, courts of law, or public departments of the Government at Madrid. Holidays in term time are devoted to expeditions to points of scientific or historical interest within easy reach of the capital, and the regular holidays in the summer months are spent in similar expeditions, not unlike "reading parties," to remote parts of Spain. The extra expenditure on this account is met by donations, the boys themselves paying as far as they are able. Such expeditions are carefully mapped out and prepared for by a special course of study beforehand, with a view to the composition of detailed essays by the boys on their return to school. The "free institute" has been so successful, as compared with other schools, in raising the general intelligence of its pupils, and its somewhat ideal methods have already produced such excellent results, that it is beginning to attract very general attention. Funds are now being raised for providing the institute with a suitable building, which is to accommodate from 400 to 500 pupils, and which will bring the establishment still more prominently before the public. UNITED STATES CONSULATE-GENERAL, DWIGHT T. REED, Madrid, May 19, 1884. SILK HARVEST OF 1884. REPORT BY CONSUL PEIXOTTO, OF LYONS. The following is the latest intelligence received to this date concerning the silk harvests of this season. France. The educations destined for seed are in the third and fourth age inthe Department of the Pyrénées Orientales, and look well. In the Gard, Southern Ardèche Bouches-du-Rhone, the Var, and a portion of the Vancluse, the second age has been passed. In other sections of these departments the educations are backward, owing to the cold weather. In the Departments of the Isère, Drome, and Northern Ardèche, as well as in the Upper Cévennes, the season is still more behind; warm weather and rain are greatly needed. Frosts have caused considerable injury at several points, notably in the low lying sections and along river borders. Italy.-Worms are at the second age in the South and Center, at the first in Venetia and the plains of Lombardy, and only hatching in Upper Lombardy and Piedmont. Vegetation progressive, and mulberry leaves show well throughout the kingdom. Spain. The fourth age has been passed prosperously. In the Murcie district the flacherie has, as in late years, occasioned injury. Cocoons are expected this week in market. Valence presents advanced conditions. The Spanish silk crop bids fair and will be the earliest harvested. Syria.-Worms approaching the third age on the low lands, and are in the first and second in the mountainous regions. No complaints. China.-Telegrams to 1st of May announce a greatly reduced crop, owing to the bad season. I may add also to the general prevalence of disease in the silk worm. The first Canton crop has been gathered and is reported the smallest ever known. Réumé.-Though too early to make an estimate, all indications favor a fair if not abundant European crop. The latter for France is impossible, owing to diminished seeding. BENJAMIN F. PEIXOTTO, UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Lyons, May 6, 1884. Consul. COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF NEWCHWANG FOR 1883. REPORT BY VICE-CONSUL BANDINEL, OF NEWCHWANG. IMPORTS. Cotton goods.-There has been a decrease in the following articles: Gray shirtings, which have to contend with the greater durability of drills and sheetings, and the lower prices of T-cloths; white shirtings, which in former years were much used in summer clothes, as they were fairly thick, looked well, and washed well; but are now flimsy, roughly made, and will not stand washing; English sheetings, for which better rates could be obtained elswhere. On the other hand there has been an increase in the following articles: T-cloths, which, when dyed, have a large consumption owing to their cheapness; American drills and sheetings, which can be used both dyed and undyed. They are wider and cheaper than nankeens, and more durable than shirtings or T-cloths; their consumption is spreading among the villagers, who find it advantageous to sell their home-made cloths and invest the proceeds in American cotton handkerchiefs, which are now retailed at the same price as the Chinese article. A new and larger description has been recently imported, and is being used by the natives to wrap their bundles in; the Chinese cloth used for that purpose being very roughly made, and four times the price. Chintzes, of which several new and gaudy patterns were imported, suitable for coverlets, funeral trappings, and New Year presents. Woolen goods.-The consumption of camlets has increased at the expense apparently of Spanish stripes and Russian cloth, being more durable than the one and less expensive than the other. It has been extensively purchased by the soldiers, with whom it is a favorite clothing material. Metals. There is a very noticeable decrease in tin-plates, which are suffering from over importation in 1882, from the lower rates at which copper, lead, and tin, can now be purchased, and from the utilization. by the tin-smiths of the tin-lined cases in which so many foreign goods are packed. Iron wire has decreased very slightly. In all other kinds there is a great increase. Hoops are used now for casks, buckets, and many other articles, which were formerly bound with twine or bamboo; and speaking generally, it is found more expensive to mine the native than to import the foreign iron. I am informed, however, that the up country markets are overstocked, which may lead to a diminished import in 1884. Sundries.-There has been a decrease in the following articles: Matches and needles, the import of which in 1881 and 1882 exceeded the consumption, and raw cotton, the local crops of which were very good in 1883, succeeding a failure in 1882; and an increase in the following: Brown sugar, the consumption of which was stimulated by the low price; rice, the native crop of which was light; sapanwood, which is much used in the vicinity of Kirin for dying clothes; dyes and colors, principally red and green, which are easier to use, brighter and cheaper, though less durable than the native colors. A certain portion of these and of brass buttons find their way overland to Corea. Paints, which are lighter and cheaper than the native article. EXPORTS. A decrease may be noted in the following articles: Bean oil, which suffered from the competition of rape oil in the southern markets; sesamum seed, of which the crop was small; wild, raw, and refuse silk, which were too dear for profitable export, and skins and skin rugs, for which there was very little demand in Shanghai. An increase may be noted in the following articles: Shamshu (spirits) and pearl barley, which were unusually cheap; beans, the export of which was stimulated by low cost, cheap freights, and good selling prices in spring and summer; bean cakes, which were largely exported in the autumn, owing to the sudden advance in the bean market. NAVIGATION. These tables, when compared with those for 1882, show an increase in steamers of fifteen vessels and 21,006 tons and a decrease in sailing vessels of five vessels and 291 tons, being a total increase of ten vessels and 20,715 tons. The ice broke up on 22d March; the first steamer arrived on the 24th, the first sailing vessel on the 28th. The last sailing vessel left on the 22d November, the last steamer on the 24th. Ice first appeared in quantity on 24th November, but the river did not freeze across for another month. Freights were lower than in the previous year, and eight vessels had to leave at the end of the season without obtaining cargoes, as the new beans were dear and scarce and in many cases imperfectly dried. The quantity of imports and exports shows again an improvement and the result of the year's trade has been fairly satisfactory to the merchants. It seems as if the worst had passed and a steady improvement may now be annually expected. The authorities have abolished the tax on carts mentioned in my last year's report, having found that the result did not answer to their expectation. FRED'K BANDINEL, Vice-Consul. New-Chiang, March 1, 1884. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, COMMERCE OF GIBRARA, CUBA. Statement showing the imports at Gibara, Cuba, for the year ending December, 1883. |