TsT 3-4. 2002.

Dossier

♦ Tamás Szmrecsányi
Infrastructure Services and Foreign Capital in the Brazilian Economy (1850–1930)
Abstract:
This article examines the initial expansion of service infrastructure in Brazil and the role played in that expansion by foreign loans and investments, which are considered factors in the integration of the country’s national economy. Although its origins and emergence predated the onset of Brazilian industrialization, it was only during this latter process that both the infrastructure and foreign capital were able to fully demonstrate their overall economic importance, as well as the results and consequences of their impact. This occurred because the service infrastructure significantly reinforced the sectoral and regional division of labor, which began to develop in the late 19th century within the country’s construction industries. The presence of foreign capital and its influence have been very significant in Brazil and have undoubtedly contributed to the development and modernization of the national economy. However, at the same time, due mainly to a lack of government guidance and oversight, they have also, on several occasions, hindered the economy’s subsequent growth and diversification.

♦ José Luis Hernández Marco
Urban Development and Public Bus Transportation: Transportes Urbanos de Vitoria S.A.
Abstract:
This paper presents a long-term economic analysis of a specific case of a municipal public urban transit company, Transportes Urbanos de Vitoria, S.A., within the broader historical context of Spain throughout the second half of the 20th century and, more specifically, within the context of the current administrative capital of the Basque Country, which is undergoing rapid change. This study aims to examine, from an economic-historical perspective, the origins and historical evolution of the business model through which public transportation services were established in Vitoria following the Civil War. It is divided into three parts. The first part provides essential background on the characteristics of Vitoria’s urban growth and its causes to contextualize the urban setting in which the demand for transportation would emerge. The second part, after briefly mentioning the three unsuccessful private initiatives of the first four decades of the century—due to the city’s size and layout— focuses on the struggle between private and public initiatives from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, which culminated in the City Council’s exclusive control for the remainder of the 20th century and the legal establishment of the municipal company “Transportes Urbanos de Vitoria S.A.” in 1967. The third and final part of the study traces the business history of that company, TUVISA, up to the year 2000, focusing in particular on the causes of the deterioration in its financial performance since the late 1970s and the possible justification for public subsidies.

♦ Pedro M. Pérez Castroviejo
The Development of the Basque Hospital System: Administration and Financial Management, 1800–1936
Abstract:
This study analyzes the evolution of the Basque hospital system from the late 18th century through 1936, highlighting the direct relationship between the region’s economic potential and the provision of public healthcare services. These centers were collectively managed by the Charity Boards, whose responsibilities gradually expanded until—at least in the most advanced hospitals, such as the one in Bilbao—they gave way to personalized management carried out by a director who, as a salaried professional, took charge of both administrative and medical duties. The financial performance of these institutions varied, with the most notable differences relating to revenue. Expenditures were more uniform, with the majority allocated to food, salaries, and infrastructure. Spending on medications, still minimal, reflects the general limitations imposed by a restricted range of available drugs.

♦ Jesús Mirás Araujo
The Company “Aguas de La Coruña S.A.”: The Provision of a Basic Public Service in
, a Medium-Sized City, from 1939 to 1968
Abstract:
This article aims to describe the evolution of the water supply service in the city of A Coruña from the end of the Civil War until its municipalization in the late 1960s. It analyzes the stages that both the water supply and the company’s management went through, seeking to contextualize the case of A Coruña within the broader Spanish context.
The company awarded the service under a concession agreement, “Aguas de La Coruña, S.A.,” was founded in 1903. However, the water supply network built before the Civil War had to cope with the demands resulting from the rapid urban expansion of the postwar years. Consumption was growing rapidly, so the capacity provided by the initial concession was insufficient to meet the new demands. This made it necessary to undertake new projects to ensure an adequate water supply. Despite the changes implemented, the company’s history is marked by the frequent hardships faced by both management and service operations as a result of the autarkic context that prevailed during the early Franco era.

♦ Nadia Fernández de Pinedo Echevarría
The Foundations of the Recovery of the Spanish Deep-Sea Merchant Fleet (1796–1850)
Abstract:
Between the late 18th century and the mid-19th century, trade between Spain and Cuba first underwent a profound crisis and then a spectacular recovery. Chronologically, this recovery took place in the second quarter of the century and was based on the development of trade routes that were far more complex than those of the late Age of Enlightenment. Thanks to the differential tariff rates between the Cuban and Spanish flags, the Spanish fleet dominated routes through which Mediterranean agricultural products were transported to the Río de la Plata, where dried beef was loaded for Cuba; from there, sailing in ballast, the ships would reach the United States, where raw cotton was loaded, or sail as far north as Canada in search of cod before returning to Europe. Spanish ships also transported Castilian flour from Santander and returned with colonial goods or headed to British, German, and Belgian ports with sugar, coffee, and cocoa… from where some perhaps returned to Cuba with textiles—linen—or to Santander with similar cargo. In contrast to the shuttle-style routes—such as Cádiz–Havana–Cádiz—typical of the late 18th century, by the mid-19th century, while these routes had not disappeared, much more complex routes had developed, linking Spain with the Río de la Plata, Cuba, the United States, and ports in Northern Europe, not to mention traffic through the Gulf of Mexico. This was a precursor to the tramp ships on which the fleet’s fortune was largely built at the end of the 19th century.

♦ Pilar Berdún Chéliz
The policy of direct aid to the shipbuilding industry and the merchant marine around the turn of the century (1876–1918)
Abstract:
During the last quarter of the 19th century, the use of government spending as an instrument of policy to promote the merchant marine and shipbuilding intensified in Europe. One of the main pillars of this budgetary policy was subsidies for private shipbuilding and shipping. The use of this approach in Spain—which we have characterized as a policy of direct aid to maritime industries and transportation—is the central theme of this study. This aid took two forms: postal subsidies and incentives. To gain a deeper understanding of these measures, we have conducted a two-pronged analysis. From a legislative perspective, we reviewed the main measures affecting the shipbuilding industry and the merchant marine. And from an economic perspective, by examining their reflection in budget line items and their actual disbursement, since only in this way could these measures constitute an effective policy rather than mere rhetoric. As a main conclusion, we can state that the total amount of the aid was not very significant in absolute terms, but it was significant in relation to the appropriations allocated to other key budget line items of the Ministry of Public Works. In any case, it must be borne in mind that most of the aid consisted of postal subsidies allocated to a single company, that the premiums only became significant after 1911, and that in subsequent years they were paid thanks to the approval of extraordinary appropriations and with significant delays.

♦ Carlos Larrinaga Rodríguez
The Northern Railroad and Its Trans-Pyrenean Link in the Mid-19th Century
Abstract:
Thanks to the laws enacted by the Progressives in 1855 and 1856, the French financial group the Péreires decided to build the Northern Railway with the aim of connecting Madrid with Irún and France. The Péreire family had high hopes for this route because they also held the concession for the French Midi Railway, which was to connect the border with Bordeaux and, consequently, with Paris. Furthermore, their ambition was to make Valladolid the major commercial, industrial, financial, and railway hub of northern Spain. Hence, they were interested in linking Madrid with the Castilian capital and the latter with the French border. In opposition to this trans-Pyrenean link, Navarre fought vigorously—with the support of La Rioja and Soria—to ensure that the cross-border railway connection in the western Pyrenees would run through the Alduides Valley, thereby allowing a connection with the Midi line at the French port of Bayonne. With this route—supported by José de Salamanca and the Rothschilds—products from these provinces and from Aragon could find an excellent market in France, thereby increasing their exports and significantly boosting their profits. Once again, the railroad emerged as both a major instrument for the modernization of a specific region or area and a source of conflict.

♦ Jorge Schvarzer and Teresita Gómez
The Western Railroad in Argentina: Between the Demands of the City and the Countryside (1854–1870)
Abstract:
This article aims to analyze the experience of the Western Railway, which, around 1850, sought to connect Buenos Aires with the most distant regions of the Pampas. Two decades later, this railroad barely exceeded 20 km in length, but the contribution of this pioneering railway company was highly significant.
It helped promote urban growth, along with other lines built within the province of Buenos Aires, where it became firmly established, generating significant passenger traffic over two decades—traffic that proved more important than freight traffic in economic and social terms. This traffic spurred the city’s expansion beyond its former geographical boundaries and led to a sharp increase in land values along the strip traversed by its route.

♦ Elena Salerno
State Railroads, Connectivity, and Politics in Argentina
Abstract:
In Argentina, the state financed, built, and operated the state railroads guided by a principle of subsidiarity. During the liberal era, it promoted regional economies by building railroads in areas where private capital did not reach and by strengthening provincial elites politically and economically. During that time, two trends alternated: one that favored state investment and another that promoted the sale of profitable lines in order to reduce state involvement or invest in more remote regions with low or no economic profitability.
Beginning with the Yrigoyen administration (1916–1922), changes were introduced, and the orientation of railway policy was partially modified. Plans to sell or lease state-owned lines were abandoned, work to expand the network resumed, and—to improve its profitability—studies were launched to explore a direct route into the city of Buenos Aires. When the State Railroads finally reached the Federal Capital in the late 1930s, competition from motorized transportation marked the beginning of their decline. Even then, the Argentine government maintained a policy of subsidies aimed at protecting British investors who were interested in withdrawing from an industry that had ceased to be profitable.

♦ Manuel Simó Rodríguez
Corporate Archives in Andalusia
Abstract:
This article aims to provide a review and update on the current state of business archives in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. The scattered nature of the sources and the limited knowledge of these archives make this task difficult. After reviewing the main documentary collections, the article highlights the need, on the one hand, to strengthen public mechanisms for providing information about and protecting these archives and, on the other hand, to support the few but interesting initiatives being developed in the private sector. With proactive policies, it will be possible to incorporate these sources of knowledge about the socioeconomic world into Andalusia’s rich archival heritage.

♦ Albert Taulé Tello
The Public Visibility of Corporate Archives in Catalonia
Abstract:
This article analyzes the public presence of historical business, industrial, commercial, and professional collections held in Catalonia’s public archives. This presence can be observed primarily in two areas: first, within the archival field itself, where the work of the National Archive of Catalonia, the Historical Archive of Sabadell, and the Municipal Archive of Barcelona stands out. The publication of inventories and collaboration on events that promote the dissemination of industrial collections are the archives’ main priorities.
On the other hand, in the broader field of historical heritage. In this context, mention is made of the growing trend toward recovering collections linked to the “world of work”—as exemplified by the work carried out by the García Cipriano Foundation–Historical Archive of the CONC—and of the attention being paid to industrial documentary heritage by the field of industrial archaeology.
Despite recent examples of outreach, a shared network involving interested institutions—similar to the one that exists in Catalonia regarding movable and immovable industrial heritage—would allow for greater visibility of this documentary heritage.

Reviews

♦ Rafael Alcaide González
Aguilar Civera, I., and Vidal Olivares, J. (Eds.) (2002), 150 Years of Railroads in the Valencian Community, 1852–2002
♦ Francisco Polo Muriel
Franz Anton Gerstner (1997), Early American Railroads
♦ Javier Olivares
Lena Andersson Skog and Olle Kranz (Editors) (1999), Institutions in the Transport and
Communications Industries. State and Private Actors in the Making of Institutional Patterns,
1850–1990
♦ Miguel Jiménez
José A. Tartajo, Juanjo Olaizola Elordi, José María Valero, J. Peña, Jordi Ibáñez, Enrique
Andrés Gramage, Lluciá Giner, Emilio Gardé, and Hugh Taylor (2001), Trolleybus