[EB]
During the decade between 1880 and 1890 the Spanish marine slowly
increased. Further to foster it, in 1895 a more general subsidy law was
enacted. This act granted a construction subsidy of forty pesetas
($7.72) per gross ton for wooden ships; seventy-five pesetas ($14.48),
for iron and steel steamers; and fifty-five pesetas ($10.62), for ships
of mixed construction and for sailing-ships of iron and steel.[EC]
The year following the passage of this law was marked by rapid expansion
in the national marine. Then came a more rapid decline. This was due, it
is assumed, to increased taxes, and business depression occasioned by
the colonial wars, involving enlarged Government expenditures and the
cutting off of much colonial trade.[EC] During the war with the United
States (1898) Spain lost eighteen large steamers of 31,316 tons. After
that war, with the development of her national resources, the Spanish
marine again began rapidly to grow.[EC]
In 1909 (law of June 14) the system was extended with the addition of
general navigation bounties calling for an annual expenditure of
2,750,000 pesetas ($530,750). For ships making monthly sailings to
various named points, among them Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentines,
and semi-weekly sailings to Algeria, bounties were provided ranging from
seven to seventeen cents per ton gross for every thousand miles run, to
continue for a period of ten years.
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