Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/220

 SPAIN

190

SPAIN

the insane asylum of Santa Isabel, at Leganes, with 130 beds for poor patients, 30 beds for paying patients of the first, and 40 for those of the second, class. The objeets of these last two establishments are indicated by their names. The asylums are the Hospitals of Jesiis Nazareno, the Carmen, the King's Hospital at Toledo, and that for superannuated workingmen, the first and second of these being for men and for women respectively, each with 2.50 beds; the third, mixed, 60 beds for either sex; the last, for men only, to the num- ber of 80. The schools for the blind are: Santa Cata- hna (29 pupils); La Union, for 106 orphan girls.

The number of persons benefited in all these estab- lishments was 30,606 during the five years from 1904 to 1908. Moreover, in the single year 1908, the pub- lic consulting-room of the Princesa Hospital pre- scribed for more than 8000 persons; that of the Ophthalmic Institute for more than 4000. The ap- propriation for charitable purposes in the general estimate of the Government amounted to 2,665,775 pesetas ($499,208), not including subventions to cer- tain private establishments. The annual expenditure on the general establishments is 774,818 pesetas.

The charitable institutions, municipal and pro- vincial, may be classified as follows:

Spain. Without counting the important donations with which it has contributed to more efficient service in the department of pubUc charities, the alms given directly for the maintenance of many charitable asso- ciations, to the needy on the pubUc highways, or pri- vately to succour those who are ashamed to beg, it may be said that the capital expended by private charity in Spain for the relief of the physically and morally indigent is enormous. Indeed, were it not for the rapacity of many, the egoism of some, and the carelessness of all, this alone would suffice to counter- act in great part the ravages of extreme poverty and to .solve many of the problems of pauperism. The number of charitable institutions founded and sus- tained in Spain by private means is 9107. I^arge as this number is, it represents less than one-half the number of those that have existed and those that still exist without being known. Their capital amounts to 400,652,370.36 pesetas ($80,130,000), yielding an income of 10,405,872.18 pesetas ($2,081,000). Of this capital 152,417,413 pesetas ($30,480,000) are invested in registered bonds; 80,095,269 ($16,019,000) in cer- tificates payable to bearer; 28,048,888 ($5,609,000) in city property; 31,951,114 ($6,390,000) in mort- gages and country property; 17,753,815 ($3,550,000)

Number.

Cases.

Beds.

Expenses.

Alms Distributed,

Hospitals ]^?Sl;:::

Asylums

51 339 70 19 7 8 34 53

3,.520,975 4.342,354 3,740.431 1,427,349 10.650 78.485 3,351.662 3,056.709

11,558 18,263 14,322 4,236 104 354 9,944 11.052

5,927,052 7.243,964 3,113.476 1,133,232

24,603 3,508.893 5,031,436

22.355.07 155,370.56 296,360.00

13,045.00

82,710.00

Establishments of various kinds

88,979.00

The figures in the fourth and fifth columns of the above table represent Spanish pesetas. The peseta is approximately equivalent to 19 cents United States currency.

Besides these charitable institutions, the dis- pensaries, consulting stations and chnics, noted in the "Memoranda" above referred to as a single group, must be taken into consideration. They are 113 in number and exist in all the provinces except Cdceres, Cuenca, Gerona, Guadalajara, Huesca, L6rida, Logroiio, Lugo, Orense, and Toledo. Through these institutions 1,261,361 persons have received assist- ance, 420,397 medical prescriptions have been given, 45,893 food rations, and 4762 articles of clothing dis- tributed, 10,565 allowances provided for nursing mothers, amounting to 37,829 pesetas ($7,500), and 608,686 quarts of milk distributed. In the statistics of provincial and municipal charities may also be in- cluded gratuitous medical attendance and attention to sanitary precautions. The first is supplied by 7769 physicians who visit 813,815 families, approx- imately 3,257,260 individuals, that is to say that each physician has 419 persons under his care; the second is carried on by means of establishments in 23 of the provinces. The expenditure of the provinces on charities amounts to 26,436,273 pesetas (about $5,270,000), 44.72% of their budget; and of the municipaUties, 18,206,329 pesetas ($3,600,000), 6.23% of their budget. The average for each individual is 2.26 pesetas (about 42§ cents). The provincial and municipal revenues for charitable purposes are re- spectively 5,961,794 pesetas ($1,190,000), and 2,387,- 347 pesetas ($470,000), a total of 8,349,141 ($1,660,- 000), a rate of 0.44 pesetas (about 8j cents) per capita. These totals do not include Navarre and the Basque provinces.

In striking contrast with the insufficiency and scarcity of funds and resources which characterizes the official charities, is the enormous amount expended and the variety of institutions founded by private munificence in the endeavour to meet this need in

in loans; and 27,694,432 ($5,538,000) in shares of the Bank of Spain. All this capital, however, does not produce the results intended by the donors. In Seiior La Cierva's "Memoranda" the number of the institutions which are inoperative, with their prop- erties, are summarized under one heading (No. 4). Fortunately they are not many — 4631 — with a capi- tal of 6,862,380 pesetas ($1,372,000) and an income of 378,832 pesetas ($75,700).

It is to be noted, also, that the capital for charitable purposes increases continually and in no insignificant proportion. The reports of the registrars and nota- ries, and the data published by the " Direcci6n General de lo Contencioso ", show that the acquisitions to charitable institutions, official and private, from 1899 to 1908 have netted 161,330,354.38 pesetas ($.32,266,- 000) for the State, from taxes on inheritances and transfers of real estate, which gives a total annual average of 17,925,596.04 pesetas ($3,585,000), an an- nual average of .96 pesetas (nearly 18 cents) for each inliabitant. Chronologically the charitable founda- tions mav be classified as follows:

Centdrt.

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

Religious

For the Poor

For the Sick

Economic and So- cial

Educational

For dowries and pensions

5

4 6

3

4

5 3

1

2

6

5

4

1 3

6

4 5

1 6

3

2 5 4

3 G

1

2

6 4

3 5

1

(The figures in this table are symbolical, representing only the proportionate numbers of the respective classes.)