In the nineteenth century the monopoly of salt industry functioned throughout the Habsburg monarchy. This monopoly acknowledged the underground salt for state ownership. Until the early 1890s the sale of salt took place on free-market principles. Recognizing the need to control the prices of salt as an important article of first necessity, Galician autonomous government decided to organize salt trade themselves. Under the agreement of 1892 with the Austrian government the sale of salt was organized by the National Department. The National Parliament had also set up a special Commission which oversaw the activities of the National Department regarding the sale of salt. The responsibility of the National Department was also to sell kainite (fertilizer salt). At the end of the nineteenth century there functioned 280 stores and 3500 agencies of salt trade under the National Board of Salt in Galicia. Therefore, domestic authorities in Galicia managed to organize the sale of salt at low prices, which was of great importance for the poverty – stricken community of the region. Despite many efforts, the attempts to obtain the right to mine salt under the control of Galician autonomous authorities’ board were unsuccessful.