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diff --git a/42985-0.txt b/42985-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6f70e0f --- /dev/null +++ b/42985-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4015 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42985 *** + + Transcriber's Notes: + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal + signs=. + + Blank pages have been eliminated. + + Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the + original. + + A few typographical errors have been corrected. + + + + + SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN + PORTO RICO + + BY + FRED K. FLEAGLE + DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF PORTO RICO + + D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS + BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1917, + BY D. C. HEATH & CO. + 1 E 7 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +IT would seem presumptuous, even after ten years of residence in Porto +Rico, to attempt to classify the social problems of the Island and offer +suggestions as to their solution, were it not for the fact that this +work does not claim to be a complete and final analysis of the +situation, but is designed merely to gather up the material available, +and present it in such form that it may be made the basis of class-room +study. The absence of such a collection of data was a handicap to the +author in his work in rural sociology in the University of Porto Rico, +and this book represents, in a somewhat abbreviated form, the material +covered. The fundamental principles of sociology are touched on but +lightly, since there are already available many excellent books +presenting this phase of the subject. It is expected that the instructor +will supplement by references and discussions, using the facts presented +here to bring out the general principles of theoretical sociology. + +It is to be understood that the facts and data presented here are not to +be taken as a criticism of Porto Rico or of the Porto Ricans. They are +merely an exposition of the social situation as it exists, and do not +differ greatly, either in quantity or character, from similar facts +which could be gathered relating to any country. It is necessary, +however, to know our troubles if they are to be corrected, and we +deceive no one if we claim a state of human perfection which does not +exist. Neither do we relieve ourselves of responsibility for our own +mistakes by calling attention to the fact that other people have made +greater ones than we have. A frank facing of the situation, the +acknowledgment of whatever there may be that is unpleasant in a social +situation, and a sincere desire and attempt to make corrections, is the +only honest thing to do. + +I have always been optimistic for the future of Porto Rico. It is an +island endowed by Nature with more than the usual amount of beauty and +brightness. My relations with the people of Porto Rico have been such as +to convince me that they have absorbed much of the natural atmosphere of +brightness and sunshine which is their heritage, and I believe them sons +and daughters worthy of such a beautiful and pleasant island home as +Porto Rico. + +It will be noted that the emphasis in the following pages has been +placed on rural problems. This does not mean that there are more social +problems in the country than in the towns, but so little has been done +regarding country problems, and the course for which this material was +used as a basis being devoted to rural social problems, no attempt was +made to take up a discussion of the many topics which might be found in +the urban situations. + +Special acknowledgment is made for the material used from the reports of +Drs. Ashford and Gutierrez, and for the data from the reports of the +Insular Bureau of Labor while under the direction of Mr. J. Clark Bills, +Jr. Some of this material is quoted verbatim from the reports, and the +author does not wish to claim it as his own. + + FRED K. FLEAGLE, + _University of Porto Rico_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + POPULATION 1 + + THE JÍBARO 6 + + OVERPOPULATION 19 + + THE FAMILY 28 + + RURAL HOUSING CONDITIONS 37 + + WOMAN AND CHILD LABOR 50 + + INDUSTRIES 56 + + THE LAND PROBLEM AND UNEMPLOYMENT 61 + + POVERTY 68 + + SICKNESS AND DISEASE 76 + + CRIME 84 + + INTEMPERANCE 93 + + JUVENILE DELINQUENTS 97 + + RURAL SCHOOLS 105 + + THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY 112 + + RELATION OF THE TEACHER TO THE COMMUNITY 119 + + PRESENT-DAY RURAL SCHOOL MOVEMENTS 125 + + PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND LONGEVITY 130 + + + + +SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN PORTO RICO + + +POPULATION + + +THE Island of Porto Rico, covering an area of about 3,500 square miles, +had in 1910 a total population of 1,118,012. The population was divided +between the towns and country as follows: Urban population 224,620, or +20.1 per cent of the total number, and rural population 893,392, or 79.9 +per cent of the total number. From these figures it is evident that the +greatest problems of Porto Rico--those which affect nearly 80 per cent +of the population--are problems connected with rural life. Of course, +many of the people classified as rural inhabitants do not fall strictly +within this class, as by urban centers we mean towns with a population +of 2,500 inhabitants or more, and thus many of the smaller towns, which +really have the advantages of town life, are classified officially as +rural centers. + +The population of Porto Rico is 65.5 per cent, or nearly two thirds, +white, 30 per cent mulatto, and 4.5 per cent black. It is 98.9 per cent +native and 1.1 per cent foreign born. During the period from 1899 to +1910 there was an increase in the total population of the Island of 17.3 +per cent, which covered an increase of 25 per cent for the native +whites, a decrease of 14.5 per cent for the foreign born whites, a +decrease of 15.4 per cent for the blacks, and an increase of 10.1 per +cent for the mulattoes. The decrease in the number of foreign born +whites is due to the fact that in the census of 1899 this group included +persons born in the United States, while in 1910 these were classified +as natives. The decrease in the number of blacks is doubtless due to +intermarriage with other classes, and as a result we have the children +of such marriages classified as mulattoes. If the number of such +marriages were sufficiently great, the births of blacks would be +insufficient to offset the deaths, and the number of blacks would, in +that case, necessarily decrease. On this assumption we might very well +prophesy that within a few generations the black population in Porto +Rico will absolutely disappear, and that we shall have an increased +number of mulattoes who, in their turn, will tend to disappear, as they +mingle in marriage with people of less colored blood, and in time the +black race will be practically absorbed by the whites. + +Of the foreign countries represented, Spain, with 56.3 per cent of the +total foreign born, leads the list. Cuba and the other West Indies have +20.5 per cent to their credit, France 5.8 per cent, Italy 3.1 per cent, +England 2.9 per cent, Germany 1.9 per cent, Denmark 1.6 per cent, while +no other single country contributes so much as one per cent to the +foreign born population. + +The total number of foreign born in 1910 was 11,766. The rural +population of 893,392 was divided among the races as follows: Whites +604,541, blacks 32,918, mulattoes 255,923. Thus we see that the great +majority of the rural population is of the white race, due no doubt, to +the fact that the colder climate of the highlands of the interior does +not agree with the hereditary love which the colored race has for a warm +climate. + +The population of Porto Rico comprises a mixture of bloods and races +that complicates the social problems of the Island. The French, Italian, +and Spanish elements have tended to mix with the descendants of the +Indians originally found here, and to this has been added in many cases +a mixture of the blood of the colored race, introduced as slaves into +the Island. In some cases the races from the north of Europe have also +mingled, so that to-day it is inaccurate to speak of the Porto Ricans as +a people of one blood, and the characteristics of the people might be +called a composite of the various race elements which have entered into +the formation of the native population. + +The geographical and geological formation of the Island renders it +chiefly agricultural. Little is found in the way of mineral deposits, +and manufacturing on a large scale will never be carried on, due to the +lack of fuel supply and water power. The climate is agreeable and has no +doubt tended to render the people less active than would have been the +case in a colder climate. The prevalence of anemia and malaria +throughout the Island has also weakened the productive ability of the +people and has caused the casual observer to classify the Porto Rican +countryman as unambitious and lazy. The loss of vitality caused by the +diseases just mentioned, together with others which have visited the +Island from time to time, is almost impossible to determine, but there +is no doubt but that the laziness with which the Porto Rican countryman +is credited, disappears with great rapidity when his system has been +freed from the effects of disease. + +The Island imports a great part of its food supply, although food stuffs +of a vegetable nature are easily produced and might be raised in +sufficient quantity to maintain our present population. The Island is +too small to provide grazing areas for large numbers of cattle. + +The problems of the rural population have been practically untouched up +to the present time, as the dominating element in the social and +political life of Porto Rico has come from the towns. The rural people +have consequently lacked stimulus for self-improvement, inasmuch as +there was nothing done to make them dissatisfied with their condition +and lead them to try to better it. A system of rural schools has been +established by the Department of Education, but not in sufficient number +to accommodate all of the children of the country. The solution of the +rural situation depends upon proper schooling, a system of instruction +which will fit the children for living better rural lives and which +shall not be simply the graded system of the towns transplanted to the +country. The special problems of the country should be taken into +consideration in working out the course of study for the schools, and +specially trained teachers should be provided,--teachers who will look +upon their work in the rural school as their profession in life, and who +will make every effort to adapt themselves to the needs of the community +in which they may be located. A continuation of the work which the +Government has already started to improve the sanitary and hygienic +conditions under which the country people live, the abolishing of anemia +and malaria through continuous effort, and instruction as to proper diet +and care of the body, together with instruction as to how to secure the +necessary kinds of food seems to be the only solution to the rural +situation. Certain other problems which relate to the rural family will +solve themselves as the educational and economic situation is bettered. + + + + +THE JÍBARO + + +THE rural population of Porto Rico may be roughly divided into the +landowners, or planters, and the wage-earning countrymen. The planters +are usually people who in many ways closely resemble the country +gentleman or squire of England. They are people of considerable +importance in their communities, frequently well educated and widely +traveled, men who do not hesitate to spend their money freely for their +comfort and that of their families when the crops are plentiful and the +prices good. They exercise a sort of patronage over the country people +who work for them, many of whom live in houses on land provided by the +landlord. The laborers look to the landlord for guidance and for advice +in practically all matters pertaining to their economic life, and the +planter usually reciprocates by caring for the welfare of the countryman +to the best of his ability. + +Many of the planters, especially such as are located in the coffee +districts, have been badly handicapped by the partial destruction of +their coffee plantations through cyclones, and by the low price for +their product, since they have had to compete with South American coffee +in the European and American markets. In addition to this economic +disadvantage, the planters are also handicapped by the infirmity of +their laborers, most of whom are sufferers from anemia, and few of whom +are able to work without the immediate direction of a foreman. The +economic and social condition of the planters is not a matter of +particular interest to us in this connection, inasmuch as they are so +situated that they enjoy all of the advantages of an advanced stage of +civilization. The problem that confronts the progress of Porto Rico is +to be found in the day laborer of the country districts. The following +is taken from the book on _Uncinariasis in Porto Rico_, by Doctors +Ashford and Gutierrez: + +"Our patient has been in times past the _jíbaro_ and will be in time to +come. As we have seen already, while all country districts furnish an +incredible number of sick, the great breeding places of _necator +americanus_ are the coffee plantations, and this is the home of _el +palido_ (the pale man) of Porto Rico. + +"The _jíbaro_ is a type to be well studied before we essay to interest +him in bettering his own condition. Many have written of his virtues, +many of his defects, but few, even in Porto Rico, have seen through the +mist of a pandemic the real man beyond. + +"Coll y Toste says that the origin of the word _jíbaro_ proceeds from a +port in Cuba (Jibara), and that it is composed of two words of Indian +origin, _jiba_, meaning mountain, and _ero_, man. We cannot see the +necessity of invoking this port of Cuba with the excellently applicable +philology he gives us. + +"Brau says that the term is applied to-day to a laborer, but that its +true significance is 'a mountain dweller.' + +"Our understanding of the term, as it is applied to-day, is a peasant, +a tiller of the soil, a man whose life is not that of the town, and who +lacks its culture. And when we say that a man is a _jíbaro_, we put him +in a separate and distinct class, a class of country laborers. These +people 'live now as they lived 100 or 200 years ago, close to the soil.' +The _jíbaro_ is a squatter and does not own the land upon which he +builds his modest house, nor does that house cost him anything save the +trouble of building it. It is a framework of poles, with walls of the +bark of the royal palm (the _yagua_), with roof of the same material or +of a tough grass which is used for thatching, and with a floor of palm +boards. Generally the floor is well raised from the ground on posts, and +the family is truly a poor and miserable one which is content to have an +earthen floor. As a rule, there is but one room for a family, which +rarely goes below five, and whose upper limit is measured by the +accommodation afforded for sleeping. The cooking is done under a shed on +a pile of stones. Weyl says that the house should be valued at about +$20. + +"The food of the _jíbaro_ is poor in fats and the proteids are of +difficult assimilation, being of vegetable origin, as a rule. + +"He arises at dawn and takes a cocoanut dipperful of _café puya_ (coffee +without sugar). Naturally, he never uses milk. With this black coffee he +works till about twelve o'clock, when his wife brings him his breakfast, +corresponding to our lunch. This is composed of boiled salt codfish, +with oil, and has one of the following vegetables of the island to +furnish the carbohydrate element: banana, platano, ñame, batata or +yautia. + +"At three in the afternoon he takes another dipperful of coffee, as he +began the day. At dusk he returns to his house and has one single dish, +a sort of stew, made of the current vegetables of the island, with rice +and codfish. At rare intervals he treats himself to pork, of which he is +inordinately fond, and on still rarer occasions he visits the town and +eats quantities of bread, without butter, of course. + +"Of all this list of country food there are only three elements that are +bought--rice, codfish, and condiments. Rice is imported from the United +States and codfish from Nova Scotia. The bread he eats on his visits to +town is made of American flour. + +"This is a normal _jíbaro_ diet. With the wage paid him he can get no +better, but aside from this he is wedded to cheap bulky foods, chiefly +for reasons to be stated, and is completely ignorant of the importance +of certain foods which any hygienist would like to add to his bill of +fare. If the normal food of the _jíbaro_, as stated, were his usual +food, it would not be so serious a matter, nor would the _jíbaro_ +complain so bitterly of his wretched ration, but the fact is he does not +get the menu detailed above save when he can be said to be prosperous. +Only a few cents difference in wages will cut out the small proportion +of animal proteids he obtains, the codfish, and a cyclone will drive him +in sheer desperation to the town. + +"Aside from all this, if wages were better, it is said, he would leave +his ration as it now is and spend his surplus otherwise. This has not +been given, however, a very earnest trial. He takes also more rum than +he is given credit for by those who have accepted the formula that the +_jíbaro_ does not drink, but it is true that he is not usually +intemperate in this sense. One of his vices is _la mascaura_ (the wad of +tobacco), and he believes the juice of the tobacco to be beneficial in +warding off tetanus. + +"The _jíbaro_, mountain bred, avoids the town whenever possible, avoids +the genteel life of a civilization higher than that of his own. He +instinctively tucks his little hut away in the most inaccessible spots; +he shrinks from the stranger and lapses into stolid silence when brought +face to face with things that are foreign to his life. He does this +because he has been made to feel that he must do all that he is told to +do by established authority, and he knows that this authority never +takes the trouble to look for him unless it expects to get something out +of him; because he is suspicious of outsiders, having been too often led +astray by false prophets and disappointed by broken promises; because he +realizes that he is not a free agent anywhere save in the mountain +fastnesses. In other words, he seeks liberty in his home, freedom from +the constant repression of those he recognizes as his superiors, and +exemption from a repetition of deceptions that have been so often +practiced upon him. He has always been made to stay strictly in his +class, in the _jíbaro_ class. Frequently when he tries to express +himself he is laughed down, frowned down, or growled down. '_Tu eres un +jíbaro_' is not a term of reproach exactly, but it means 'You are not +in a position to express yourself, for you are only a mountaineer. You +know nothing of our world; you are still a child. Your place is under +the shade of the coffee tree; the mark you bear is clear to everyone; +you are a _jíbaro_.' Thus there is a great difference between the +_jíbaro_ and those who are not _jíbaros_, _i.e._, those who live in +towns or those who command in the country. This distinction is neither +made unkindly nor roughly. All the Porto Rican people are kindly and +they love their _jíbaros_, but nevertheless they treat them as though +they were children. And the _jíbaro_ loyally follows his educated, +emancipated fellow citizen, perfectly satisfied to be guided as the +latter sees fit. + +"Much of this guidance is excellent, and it is not our mission to seek +to break down barriers which to-day, may be needful. The _jíbaro_ is +respectful and obedient, fearful of the law and never defiant of his +superiors; he is generous to a fault, sharing with any wayfarer his last +plantain; he is devoted to his family and to his friends. Had he been +ill treated by the educated and controlling class in the island he would +be sullen and savage, but this has not been the case. If it is true that +the _jíbaro_ is in many ways differentiated from the upper classes, it +is equally true that there is no masonry so strong as that existing +among the _jíbaros_ of Porto Rico. Bound to each other by the most +intricate ties of relationship and by a still more potent one, the +eternal bond conferred by the title _compadre_ or godfather, they share +their troubles and shield each other as though they belonged to one +great family. It is really wonderful to see how quickly and with what +complete self-abnegation an orphaned child or widowed mother is gathered +into some poor neighbor's hut and there cared for. For these very same +reasons search for a miscreant in the mountains is a formidable +undertaking. On inquiry no one knows him, never saw him, never even +heard of him, and the closest scrutiny of their faces will not detect +the faintest trace of interest or even of intelligence. + +"Care must be taken in deducing facts from questioning a group of +_jíbaros_ even in the most unimportant matters. They are tremendously +suspicious and generally let someone among them who is _leido_ (one who +has established a local reputation for worldly wisdom) speak for them. +One can be pretty sure that the rest will say 'amen' to all of his +remarks. It is said that this deep suspicion of a strange investigator +proceeds from the methods employed by the Spanish _guardia civil_ or +rural guard, to run down those suspected of unfaithfulness to the +administration, petty infringement of the law, etc. + +"The _jíbaro_ is equally superstitious and very quickly impressed by a +supernatural explanation of any phenomena he cannot understand. The more +outlandish the explanation of a disease the better he likes it, and for +this reason the _curandero_ or local charlatan is so popular and +powerful in the mountains. We very much fear that our abrupt tumbling in +the dust of an ancient explanation of his for anemia, our assertion that +it was due to 'worms' and our administration of 'strong medicine' which +practically put him _hors de combat_ for the day, accounts for part +of our early success. In spite of this lack of knowledge of the world +above him he has one quality which is his ever ready defense, his +astuteness. There is one phrase much used in describing the _jíbaro's_ +acuteness of observation. Referring to a trade it is said: '_Para un +jíbaro, otro, y para los dos, el demonio_,' which means, 'To get the +best of a jíbaro, employ another, and to catch both, Satan himself must +take charge of them.' + +"This astuteness, despite all of the great obstacles in the path of our +work among them, was what chiefly led to success in bringing these +people under treatment. They soon saw that we got results, and with a +fact capable of sensational proof in our hands, the _jíbaro_ accepted us +and we joined the 'order' to which we have made reference. From that +time he has been our friend, and better friends no man ever had, for his +entire support is given us; he preaches our 'new medicine' and wherever +we have expounded these things to him by word of mouth and by virtue of +proof he takes pride in explaining, better than any representative of +the upper classes, how the disease is acquired and how it may be +prevented. + +"The prime fact, however, is that he has, until recently, been much +neglected, neglected by those who are not of his class, neglected by the +authorities. There are municipalities whose town forms but a tenth of +the population of the outlying country, whose taxes are collected to +support it, yet which seem to forget the submerged mass in the +mountains. This being so for the towns which are surrounded by these +people, how attenuated the interest becomes in the capital and larger +cities of the island, and how extremely diluted that of the continental +American who neither knows his needs nor even what _jíbaro_ means. + +"Education will transform this _jíbaro_ into something much better or +much worse, for he will not remain content as he is when he can read, +write, and see the world with his own eyes. In this education the +respect he bears his more fortunate compatriots, the power for good they +have over him, and the confidence he reposes in them must be preserved. +The labor he must perform to enrich the island must be dignified by his +employer and by himself, or else the hills will be deserted and the +_jíbaro_ will become a vicious hanger-on of towns. Better homes, better +means of communication with towns, now becoming an accomplished fact, +better food, education, in which remarkable progress is being made at +this day, better habits of life, especially in the modern prevention of +disease, must form a part of any plan adopted to improve his condition. +The planter who to-day sees the laborer must see in him the man whose +bodily, mental, and moral development will make the plantation a +success. The planter is the man of all men in Porto Rico who must begin +to help the _jíbaro_ upward in order to emerge from his own present +industrial depression. This lack of mental contact, of a common ground +of interest between the _jíbaro_ and the better class of Porto Ricans +drives the former to charlatans for his medical advice, to the wild +fruits and vegetables of the interior for his food, and to weird creeds +for his religious comfort. + +"His dependency causes him to look for protection, for direction and for +ideas from the planter, from the municipality, and from the Insular +Government. He considers himself a ward of his employer and of those +placed in authority over him. He does not care to accept any +responsibility for the simple reason that he has always been made to +feel that he is not a responsible person. Therefore, how can we blame +him when we find him without shoes, knowing that by wearing them he will +protect himself against a dangerous infirmity; without bacon and corn, +without household furniture, with but one room for his entire family. + +"It is a specious excuse, nothing more nor less, which avers that the +_jíbaro_ is born the way he is and cannot be changed at this late day, +that we must await a new generation, etc. On that principle we could +expect very little from the antituberculosis crusades in New York. The +truth is that to change the _jíbaro_, we must convince him that he will +be bettered by the change, and he is sharp enough to change then, but +the gist of all is that these changes must be begun by the men to whom +the _jíbaro_ has always looked for light, and this means good hard work +and much perseverance, tact, and genuine personal interest. From our +acquaintance with the men to whom this burden will fall we should say +that they are not only sufficiently good business men to realize the +benefit they would get out of a healthy laboring class, but that the +innate patriotism of the Porto Rican agriculturist and the deeper +underlying sympathy for his _jíbaro_ will some day bring about reforms +that they alone can make possible. + +"Agricultural laborers, in spite of the small wages they receive, are +nearly if not quite as expensive as those in the United States, for with +50 per cent less of efficiency from disease and wasteful methods of +work, the difference in wage is of small advantage. Weyl states: + + 'The small equity which the planter holds in the estate which he + cultivates does not permit him to pay any higher wages, and the + poverty of the planter prevents him from making the outlay + necessary for the proper cultivation of his land.' + +"Few coffee planters have anywhere near a reasonable amount of their +land under cultivation for the reason that with the poor help and +methods now existent they are unable to extend their plant. The regular +labor, employed all the year round, the peons--who form a relatively +small percentage of the entire number available for work--are paid for a +full day's work, and their degree of anemia is such as to prevent their +doing but about 50 per cent of what they are paid for doing. Our +estimate of the relative efficiency of labor was made from what the +planter himself told us and by a simple experiment which we tried upon +about 500 adult workers in different parts of the interior. We +questioned each one as to the amount of coffee he could pick in a day +and found that from two to three _almudes_ was the utmost the majority +could do, and that one _almud_ was too much for many. Some stated that +after picking a sack full in a remote part of the plantation they were +unable to get it in to the mill without a mule, on account of the fact +that their limbs refused to bear them up. When these people were working +at light work, and at a time when the more they picked, the greater the +profit to themselves, is it reasonable to suppose that when working for +a wage without this incentive this 50 or 60 per cent labor would be any +more efficient? This reduction in laboring capacity demonstrates what a +heavy toll is paid by both employer and employee to uncinariasis in +Porto Rico. + +"As to absentee landlords, Weyl says: + + 'Many of the absentee owners of Porto Rican properties and many of + their agents in Porto Rico consider the island and its population + as equally fit for the crassest exploitation, and are as + contemptuous of the people as they are enthusiastic about the + island. The current use by many Americans of an opprobrious epithet + for Porto Ricans bespeaks an attitude which takes no account of the + human phase of the problem, but considers the population as + composed merely of so many laborers willing to work for such and + such a price.' + +"Thus the poor laborer, his earning capacity cut down by his disease, +with employment which is at best very irregular, with his sick wife and +children for whom he has to buy 'iron tonics' that cost all that he can +rake and scrape together, without money for clothes, much less for +shoes, with a palm-bark hut not too well protected against the damp cold +of the grove in which he lives, with not a scrap of furniture save, +perhaps, a hammock, and, worst of all, with a miserable diet lacking in +proteids and fats, lives from day to day, saving nothing, knowing +nothing of the world beyond his plantation, working mechanically simply +because he is not the drone he has been too frequently painted outside +of Porto Rico, but without any object save to keep on living as +generations have done before him. It has been our experience that when +he is asked 'Why have you sought our dispensary?' the answer has almost +invariably been, 'Because I can no longer work.' The _jíbaro_, +nevertheless, has ever been the lever which has raised the bank account +of Porto Rico, and with an average of 40 per cent of hemoglobin and two +and a half millions of red corpuscles per cubic millimeter he has +labored from sun to sun in the coffee plantation of the mountains, in +the sugar estate of the coast land, and in the tobacco field of the +foothills, in addition to his personal coöperation in other industries +and commercial enterprises. He is a sick man and deserves our highest +respect, and merits our most careful attention as a vital element in the +economic life of the island. The American people should take seriously +into account his future, which is at present anything but promising." + + + + +OVERPOPULATION + + +WHEN we say that a country is overpopulated we speak in relative terms, +inasmuch as the overpopulation of a country does not depend upon the +density of the population alone, but also upon the ability of that +country to produce a sufficient amount of foodstuffs to maintain its +population. Thus a country which has a relatively small population and a +still smaller ability to produce foodstuffs would be more overpopulated +than a country of similar size with a larger population and a still +greater production of foodstuffs. + +In considering the case of Porto Rico, we find that the Island contains +8,317 square kilometers of land. The estimated population at the present +time is 1,200,000. This gives about 140 persons to the square kilometer +as compared with 72 persons in France, 237 persons in Belgium, and 252 +in Saxony. If the productive ability of the soil of Porto Rico is as +great as that of Belgium and Saxony, we must conclude that Porto Rico is +not overpopulated. If for any reason it is less, then the extent of +overpopulation increases directly as the soil grows less in productive +ability. + +Porto Rico has about ten times as many inhabitants per square acre as +the average throughout the United States; but the conditions of climate +do a great deal to equalize this difference. In the first place, the +soil is available in Porto Rico for the production of crops throughout +the twelve months of the year, whereas in parts of the United States and +in northern Europe the soil is usable for only a portion of the year on +account of its unproductive condition during the winter months. Another +matter that must be taken into consideration in the question of +overpopulation, is the severity of the climate. Where the climate is +severe, the country will maintain in comfort a much smaller population +than where the climate is as friendly to the human race as we find it in +Porto Rico. + +Of the population of Porto Rico in 1910, about 75 per cent lived in +communities that had less than 500 inhabitants, showing conclusively +that the great majority of the people of Porto Rico should be classified +as rural inhabitants and that the problems which affect the rural people +of Porto Rico are the problems which would affect, to a great extent, +the entire Island. Only two cities in the Island have a population of +more than 25,000, while only 30 would fall under the head of urban +territory, that is, towns which have a population of 2,500 or more. + +The rate of increase of population in Porto Rico is far in excess of the +rate of increase in the United States, and this is one of the things +that must be taken into consideration in considering the question of +overpopulation. In the United States the rate of increase among the +class of people whose salaries range from $700 to $2,500 is from ten to +twelve per thousand. In Porto Rico, the rate of increase is about twenty +per thousand. + +The following table shows a comparison between the birth rate, death +rate, and rate of increase in the United States and Porto Rico, the +figures given representing the birth and death rate for every thousand +of the population in each country. + + UNITED STATES + Birth rate Death rate Increase + + _Poor Class_: 35 to 40 25 to 35 5 to 10 + _Intermediate class_: 25 to 30 15 to 18 10 to 12 + _Well-to-do class_: 12 to 18 12 to 15 4 to 6 + + PORTO RICO (1914-15) + Birth rate Death rate Increase + 39.12 19.72 19 to 20 + +In order to maintain the population of a country, there must be about +400 children between the ages of one and five years for every thousand +women between the ages of fifteen and forty-five. The following table +shows how Porto Rico compares in this respect with other countries. + + United States 492 children per thousand women + France 409 " " " " + Germany 535 " " " " + England 429 " " " " + Sweden 522 " " " " + Porto Rico 725 " " " " + +Thus we see that the rate of increase of the population of Porto Rico is +much greater than that of the United States. When we take into +consideration the advancement being made in sanitary science in Porto +Rico and in the elimination of disease, as well as the increased +facilities for caring for sickness, we may expect that the rate of +increase here will be augmented each year. + +The general opinion is that Porto Rico is so thickly populated that a +crisis is inevitable, unless some means is found for remedying the +present situation. It does not seem, however, that we are justified in +coming to such a conclusion when we consider the much more densely +populated countries of Belgium and Saxony. Increased production of the +soil due to intensive agriculture, and modern methods of farming, as +well as the breaking up of the land into small farms, have been the +means of taking care of the vast populations of European countries where +climatic conditions are not as favorable as they are in Porto Rico. Of +the total acreage of Porto Rico about 94 per cent is in farms, and we +find that only 30,000 people are directly dependent upon these farms for +their support. Of the total number of acres included in farm land, about +75 per cent is improved and under cultivation, so that there is still +about one quarter of the land that can be devoted to agriculture when it +has been connected with markets, or by other means rendered available +for this purpose. There are in Porto Rico more than 58,000 farms, 46,779 +of which are operated by their owners. These, in the great majority of +cases, are small farms and are of the kind which bring the greatest +amount of benefit to the Island. Some 10,000 farms are operated by +tenants, and these farms also are usually small. + +The following table shows the number of farms of various sizes in the +Island to-day: + + Farms under 5 acres 20,650 + Farms from 5 to 9 acres 11,309 + Farms from 10 to 19 acres 10,045 + Farms from 20 to 49 acres 8,872 + Farms from 50 to 99 acres 3,728 + Farms from 100 to 174 acres 1,726 + Farms from 175 to 499 acres 1,502 + Farms from 500 to 999 acres 332 + Farms of 1000 acres or more 207 + +Of the owners and tenants of these farms 44,521 are white and 13,850 are +colored. About 95 per cent of all the owned farms are free from +mortgage. The average size of the farms in Porto Rico is about 35¾ +acres. + +The experience of European countries has been that large farms, in a +densely populated country are detrimental to the community welfare, +because the holding of such farms by a few condemns a large percentage +of the population to a dependent condition. As the number of farms +decreases, the number of salaried laborers must increase, and as this +floating population increases, there is also a tendency for crime to +increase, as the man who has no responsibilities as a proprietor of land +often lacks the fundamental stimulus to make him observe the laws of his +country. The landowner, having obtained even a small parcel of land, has +an incentive for hard work, wishing to better his financial condition, +while the dependent salaried man, with no visible stimulus for saving, +tends to spend his money as fast as it is earned and seldom accumulates +any property. To such an extent is the possession of land regarded as a +benefit to the individual and an incentive toward good citizenship, that +in some European countries the government has made arrangements to loan +money to worthy young men for the purchase of small farms on the ground +that the government gains a desirable citizen every time that it creates +a landholder. The Government of Porto Rico might well take some steps to +encourage dependent laborers to accumulate property, either by means of +loans to those who desire to purchase property, or by opening up +government land for settlement under the Homestead Act. + +The rise in the price of land and the fact that the greater part of the +land of Porto Rico is devoted to industries which are most productive +when conducted on a fairly large scale, has tended to the accumulation +of large tracts of land, and legal measures should be enacted against +the accumulation of tracts of land of more than 100 or 200 acres, and +providing for the distribution of any large tracts in case of the death +of the present owner: + +At the present time a good deal of the foodstuffs of Porto Rico is +imported into the Island while if there were more widely extended +division of the land into a large number of small farms, the production +of these foodstuffs could be greatly increased, although, of course, +this would tend to decrease the production of certain other crops which +at present claim the chief attention of the people of Porto Rico. + +According to the Report of the Governor of Porto Rico for 1914-15, the +division of land among the various industries, as well as the average +value per acre of land for each of the industries, is shown by the +following table: + + Average value + Crop Acreage per acre + + Cane 211,110 $106.95 + Coffee 165,170 61.60 + Tobacco 18,040 80.81 + Pineapples 3,761 105.24 + Citrus fruits 5,274 121.78 + Coconuts 6,088 118.33 + Minor fruits 102,274 27.53 + +From this table we see that certain industries, such as the cultivation +of pineapples or citrus fruits, which can be carried on successfully on +relatively small farms, bring practically as high a return per acre as +does the production of sugar cane, which is essentially a large farm +product. This argument would not necessarily do away with the +cultivation of sugar cane, but would tend to increase the cultivation of +other crops wherever and whenever the soil and climatic conditions would +permit. + +An increase in the number of owned farms and a consequent decrease in +the number of dependent wage earners, together with the increased +production of foodstuffs which such a system of land management would +necessarily bring as a result, providing the management of the farms was +carried on under modern scientific methods, would, to a great extent, +relieve the situation of overpopulation which we now face. Porto Rico +can support twice the population which she now has with comparative +ease, providing some means is found to relieve the economic situation of +the greater part of the people and to prevent the accumulation of wealth +in the hands of a comparatively small number. It is estimated at the +present time that the wealth of Porto Rico is in the hands of less than +15 per cent of the population, and the remaining 85 per cent are +dependent for their living upon daily or monthly wages. Such a situation +must be changed or else the question of overpopulation will become +indeed serious. There is no particular reason to fear that the +population will increase to such an extent that we shall be unable to +support ourselves on what the Island may produce; but with the increase +of population under present conditions, trouble between capital and +labor and between workmen and their employers cannot be avoided. + +Emigration as a means of relief to the overpopulation of Porto Rico will +not solve the question. In the first place, the Porto Rican people are +essentially a home-loving people, clinging closely to family ties and +not at all disposed to migrate to other countries. A few cases of Porto +Rican families who have moved to other countries have shown that in the +majority of instances the migration was not successful. In the second +place, in order to relieve the situation at all it would be necessary to +provide for the emigration of a large number of families. The removal of +100 or 500 families from Porto Rico would not make any appreciable +difference in the economic situation that we find to-day. The average +family consists of five people, and the removal of 5,000 unskilled +laborers from the Island would not tend to relieve the situation. + +The only means of meeting the situation of overpopulation is through +increasing the food production of the Island by means of division into +small farms, intensive cultivation, and modern methods of farming. The +school must do its share in the teaching of small-farm and garden +farming, and the Government should assume the responsibility for +fostering the increase of the number of small farms as well as for +assisting in the educational work to improve the methods of +cultivation. + + + + +THE FAMILY + + +THE family is the simplest combination of individuals that we find in +organized society and is the basis of social group forms. It ranks in +importance as a social institution with the church, the state, and the +school, coming into existence before any of these three institutions. It +existed in a complete form, consisting of father, mother, and children +long before there was such an institution as civil or religious +marriage. In the history of mankind, the family and marriage grew up +together, the importance of the family requiring certain marriage +customs by which the members of the family could be held together to +protect the interests of the children. + +In Porto Rico we find the average family consisting of five people, and +according to the census of 1910, in the total population 15 years of age +and over, 43.7 per cent of the males and 38 per cent of the females were +single; 36.2 per cent of the males of the total population and 35.4 per +cent of the females were married, while 16 per cent of the males (or a +total of 50,113), and 15.7 per cent of the females (or a total of +51,073), were consensually married, that is, living together by mutual +consent, but without the benefit of a civil or ecclesiastical +marriage.[1] This proportion is somewhat lower than it was in 1899, as +the percentage of consensual marriages in comparison with the population +at that time was 16.3 per cent for the males and 15.2 per cent for the +females. The difference, however, does not exceed one half of one per +cent, and there were actually 17,046 more people living together +consensually in 1910 than in 1899. The seriousness of the situation may +be seen when we consider that of the total population of the Island over +15 years of age, 31.7 per cent, nearly one third, representing 101,186 +people, are living together without any form of marriage ceremony. + + [1] The difference in numbers between men and women living together + consensually is doubtless due to the fact that many men who have + legitimate wives also have consensual wives or mistresses. + +Many reasons have been given for the prevalence of the consensual +marriage in Porto Rico, among which are to be found the necessity of the +ecclesiastical marriage with its complicated forms and the relatively +costly ceremonies which prevailed before the institution of civil +marriage under the American Government. It seems quite probable, +however, that this custom is a relic of the consensual marriage form, +which was established by the early colonizers of Porto Rico, many of +whom came to the Island, leaving their families behind, and entered into +consensual marriage relations with the native women of the Island. In +this way the custom was established, and there was a lack of public +opinion against it which has existed down to the present time, and +until, through the influence of the schools, public opinion against this +form of union can be roused, very little progress will be made in +changing conditions. + +There is no doubt but that many of the consensual marriages are +considered by the parties concerned just as permanent as those +performed by civil or ecclesiastical authorities, and the question of +immorality does not enter into their view of the situation. It is a +question of mutual consent, and especially in the country districts, the +knowledge of the law in regard to these matters is very vague. The +greatest harm in cases of marriage of this sort lies in the tendency to +prevent the spread of public opinion against the custom and in the ease +with which the family relations can be broken at the will of either +member of the family, with the resulting unprotected condition of the +children which may have been born into the family. + +The number of persons of illegitimate birth in the Island of Porto Rico, +as given by the census of 1899 and that of 1910, is as follows: + + White illegitimates 1899 66,855 + White illegitimates 1910 76,695 + Colored illegitimates 1899 81,750 + Colored illegitimates 1910 78,554 + +Thus we see that there was an actual increase of nearly 10,000 white +illegitimate children from the year 1899 to 1910, or an increase of 14.7 +per cent; but during the same time the white population had increased +24.7 per cent, so that there was an actual decrease in the percentage, +according to population, of nearly 10 per cent. During the same period +the colored population had increased 5.9 per cent, but the number of +colored illegitimate children had decreased 3.9 per cent, there being +actually a less number of colored illegitimate children in 1910 than in +1899, although the population had increased. It seems very probable that +this is due to the fact that the great majority of the colored +population in Porto Rico is to be found in the towns, where the school +system is more efficient than in the country districts and where customs +change more easily, due to wider associations and to more frequent and +continued intercourse with people of other points of view. + +In the country the custom has remained, with little change, due to the +fact that the isolation of the country people and the comparatively +small number of children in the rural schools has given little +opportunity to work against the existing situation. Of the children from +the ages of one to ten years there was only an increase of 1,397 white +illegitimate children between 1899 and 1910, which was not anywhere near +the rate of increase of the white population as a whole. During the same +period there was an actual decrease in the number of colored +illegitimate children between the ages of one and ten years, amounting +to 7,717, or a total decrease of illegitimate children under 10 years of +age of 6,320, which would lead us to believe that within the last ten +years the births of consensual marriage and the number of illegitimate +children have decreased much more rapidly than the total census figures +would indicate. + +In addition to the question of consensual marriages, we find that under +the Spanish administration, when ecclesiastical marriage was the only +form recognized, there were no divorces registered in the Island of +Porto Rico. With the introduction of the civil marriage after the +American occupation, and the institution of divorce laws and the +recognition of divorce by the civil authorities, the question of divorce +began to demand attention, and in 1910 we find a total of 1,246 divorces +among the people in the Island of Porto Rico. About two thirds of these +were women,[2] and the divorce question will undoubtedly in time bring +as many problems in Porto Rico as it has in the United States. + + [2] This would indicate that many of the divorced men had remarried + and were listed in the census as married instead of divorced. + +According to the last report of the Insular Chief of Police, it is +estimated that there are in the Island of Porto Rico at the present time +about 10,000 homeless children under 12 years of age who live by +whatever means they are able, many of them begging or stealing, and most +of them having no permanent lodging place, sleeping at night in boxes or +on doorsteps, or wherever they happen to find a lodging place secure +from the rain. These children are, for the most part, deserted and +abandoned children of illegitimate parentage, or orphan children whose +parents have left no provision for their care and education, and they +constitute a fertile soil for the implanting of criminal tendencies and +are ready material for older people of criminal habits. They constitute +a danger to the security of the community, and if it were not for the +relatively high death rate that is found among people of this class, the +Island would soon be overrun by citizens brought up under these +criminal-forming conditions. The Insular Government should take +measures to reduce this danger by means of the compulsory industrial +education of this class of boys and girls. There is enough Government +land available to colonize them in different parts of the Island under +the care of people trained in reformatory and industrial methods, and +this should be done in order that they may become self-supporting +individuals who will contribute to the comfort of the community, rather +than parasites who live on the charity of others. There are any number +of small industries in which they might be trained, as well as along +agricultural lines, and the trades which lack skilled workmen in Porto +Rico would be much benefited by adding to their number graduates of +industrial trade schools, taken from children of this class; these +schools should be operated by the Government, at Government expense, but +could be made largely self-supporting by means of the sale of the +services of the boys, or through the sale of the products turned out. + +The living accommodations of the average rural family are very +unsatisfactory, consisting, as they do, of a dwelling house of one room, +or at the most, two. This reduced house space makes it necessary to eat +and live and sleep in the same room, rendering impossible any degree of +privacy on the part of any of the family. This condition in the case of +growing boys and girls is very undesirable, particularly since it is a +custom to take in as members of the family relatives, sometimes of a +rather remote degree of relationship, in case they are left unprotected. +Another feature of family life which tends toward degeneration and +which is found to a great extent in Porto Rico, is the intermarriage +between relatives within comparatively close degrees of consanguinity. +The civil laws of Porto Rico prohibit the marriage of persons of closer +degrees of relationship than first cousins, and the ecclesiastical laws +of the Roman Church prohibit marriage within eight degrees of +consanguinity. In the record of one family which produced 25 cases of +insanity in two generations, it was found that there had been a +considerable amount of intermarriage between relatives, one of the +grandparents marrying a person who was prohibited by the ecclesiastical +law on four different grounds on account of consanguinity. +Ecclesiastical permission had been obtained to overcome these +difficulties and the marriage took place. There is no doubt that close +intermarriage and the failure to introduce new stock into the family +tends to both mental and physical degeneration. And where families +intermarry for generations, as we find to be the custom in a great many +instances in Porto Rico, there can be no doubt of the ultimate +disastrous outcome from this custom. + +The average Porto Rican family lives very happily and contentedly, the +parents displaying great affection for the children and for relatives +even of a remote degree of relationship. In the case of the death of +parents, relatives usually adopt or take charge of the children which +may be left and bring them up as carefully as they would children of +their own. The family group is naturally closer among Latin peoples +than among Anglo-Saxon races, and this has tended to do away with some +of the vices of family life which are found among Anglo-Saxon peoples, +while the same circumstances have tended to increase other +unsatisfactory conditions of family life peculiar to Latin races. + +One of the features which, from the standpoint of society, may have an +unfortunate result is the mixture of races in the family life. While +this has not taken place to such an extent in the country districts as +it has in the towns, nevertheless, a great many families in Porto Rico +are composed of mixed races. The biological tendency in cases of mixed +races, according to most authorities, is a decrease in the number of +children in the family as generation succeeds generation, unless there +is an addition of new blood to a considerable extent. This may possibly +be one of the means which Nature has provided for solving the problem of +overpopulation in Porto Rico, but there is the added fact that usually +as the succeeding generations become fewer in regard to numbers, they +also become less capable mentally and physically. The race question in +Porto Rico will undoubtedly come to be one of the problems that has to +be solved, and it will be more difficult of solution than the race +problem in the United States, where the races are becoming more widely +separated every year and where it is very infrequent to find persons of +the two races in the same family. In Porto Rico the problem will be +intensified because it is not merely a problem between races, but a race +problem which involves the family organization in many cases. The +government of Brazil has predicted that in a hundred years there will +be no black inhabitants in the Brazilian republic, that they will be +entirely assimilated by the white race or carried off by disease. The +census report for Porto Rico shows a falling off in the black race of +about 9,000 in the last ten years, and an increase of about 30,000 in +the mixed or mulatto population. Thus the assimilation of the black +population is gradually taking place, and whether this will in time lead +to a complete assimilation, or whether the mixed race will become +weakened through this racial intermarriage to such an extent that it +will eventually refuse to propagate, is a question which only time can +answer. There is no doubt, however, that this is one of the problems +that must be confronted in Porto Rico. + + + + +RURAL HOUSING CONDITIONS + + +THE housing of a people is always a matter of prime importance in their +social life and development. There is little progress until the housing +conditions are comfortable and hygienic, and the development of the home +and the family life depends to a great extent on the conditions under +which a people lives. The housing conditions in Porto Rico, especially +for the poorer classes, are far from satisfactory. The dwellings of the +country people are described as follows, in the Report on the Housing +Conditions in Porto Rico, published by the Insular Bureau of Labor in +1914: + +"There are five general problems which the laborer or employer in +tropical countries, who is anxious to build cheap but proper houses, has +to meet. The first is to provide adequate protection against the heat. +As in northern countries it is necessary to shut out the cold winds and +generate and conserve artificial heat within the house, so in tropical +countries it is equally important to let in the breezes and to clear out +any artificial heat that may arise. + +"The second problem is to provide protection against the frequent +tropical rains. This is especially important in tropical countries that +have a protracted rainy season, as it is often difficult to shut out the +rain without also shutting out the fresh air. + +"The third problem is the provision of adequate sanitary facilities. Due +to the heat in southern countries and to the humidity that prevails +during certain seasons of the year, this problem is more difficult of +solution and likewise more important than in countries farther north. + +"The fourth problem is that of securing cheap and durable building +materials. In a land like Porto Rico where tropical shrubs and the palm +are practically the only woods that the laborers are able to obtain, we +must not expect the same solid, commodious habitations which are found +in northern countries where the pine and hemlock abound. + +"The fifth problem, perhaps as important as any of the preceding and +certainly as difficult to remedy, arises partly from the generosity of +nature herself. People can live in tropical countries in almost any form +of habitation. Cold winters have not obliged the poorer classes to be +adepts in house construction. Poverty has forced them to live as cheaply +as possible. Naturally, the laboring classes engaged in tilling the soil +still make their homes in the cheapest forms of huts. This problem has, +therefore, three aspects--an over-indulgent climate, poverty, and a lack +of opportunity by the poorer classes to learn better methods of house +construction. + +"In Porto Rico we have, in addition to the problems mentioned above, two +special conditions which have influenced the form and quality of our +laborers' houses. The first is that the seasonal character of many of +our agricultural industries forces the laborers to migrate from one +section to another in order to find work and, naturally, they are not +inclined to go to the expense and exertion of building substantial +homes. The second, and more important, arises from the fact that the +greater part of our laborers do not own the land their houses are placed +upon and, being subject to ejection at the will of their landlords, they +have no incentive to beautify or improve their homes. + +"According to the census of 1910, the urban territory of Porto +Rico--that is, the places of 2,500 inhabitants or more--contained +224,620 inhabitants, or 20.1 per cent of the total population, while +893,392 inhabitants, or 79.9 per cent, lived in places of less than +2,500 inhabitants, and of these, 837,725 lived in strictly rural +territory. Needless to state, the greater part of the rural inhabitants +belong to the laboring classes and live in the types of rural homes +described in this section. + +"We have divided the habitations of rural laborers, according to their +construction, into the following types: (1) Single houses of thatch, (2) +single houses of wood and zinc, (3) tenements of wood and zinc. + +"Most of the thatched huts in the rural sections have been built by the +laborers who live in them. The land upon which these houses are built +is, however, usually the property of some plantation or landowner. Only +in the more inaccessible sections inland do the laborers who have built +these thatched houses also own the land they are placed upon. It is the +custom among the landowners to allow laborers who work for them to take +the necessary materials--grass, sticks, palm-bark, etc.--from the land +and build their huts. This is done, of course, with the consent of the +landowner, and the huts so built are legally attached to the land and +become the property of the landowner. As a matter of fact, the laborers +who have built these huts claim them as their property and are allowed +to live in them without charge or molestation so long as they work for +the landowner when their services are needed. When a laborer who has +built a hut leaves it and moves to another's land, the hut is claimed by +the landowner and some other laborer is allowed to move into it. There +are also some of these huts that have been built by the landowners at +their own expense, but the plantation owners and other landowners who +have gone into the business of building houses for their workmen usually +construct a better type of house. The thatched hut, therefore, while it +is legally a plantation house, is not usually so considered, either by +the landowner or the laborer. + +"If we judge the importance of a type of house from the number of people +who live in it, this thatched hut is far more important than any other +rural or urban type. The great mass of the rural laborers live in houses +of this type and, as has been shown, fully three-fourths of the total +laborers of the Island live in rural sections. + +"The homes of the wealthy in all parts of the world are constructed to +conform to the standards of the age and place in which they are erected, +and to the personal desires of the occupants, regard being taken only of +the absolutely necessary conditions of environment. The houses of the +poor, on the other hand, are the direct product of local environment. +The hut of the inland laborer of Porto Rico, the _jíbaro_, is a striking +illustration of the effect of environment upon the type of house in +which the poor live. + +"The problem of obtaining cheap and durable building materials is a very +difficult one for the poor laborers of Porto Rico. Hard woods are +extremely scarce, and the poor inland laborer cannot afford to buy +imported lumber, and, therefore, he has been obliged to utilize the +coarse grasses and the products of the palm trees that are accessible at +little or no expense except the labor necessary in their preparation. +Furthermore, many of these people have not the skill nor the necessary +tools to use materials such as stone and clay which they might be able +to obtain. Also, the migratory character of many of these inland +laborers, and the fact that they do not own the land their houses are +built upon, have been fundamental influences in preventing the +development of better house types. The principal agricultural +industries, _i.e._, coffee, sugar, and tobacco, have a busy and a dull +season, and many of the inland laborers are obliged to migrate from one +section to another in order to find work. For this reason hundreds of +laborers pass annually from the inland hills where coffee is grown down +to the sugar plantations on the coast, and then back again to the hills, +the busy seasons of sugar and coffee being at different times of the +year. Of course, these laborers cannot move their houses with them about +the Island, and they naturally tend to build the cheapest kind of +temporary structures. Also very few of them own the land their houses +are placed upon. They are mere squatters, or tenants at will, and the +land owner may eject them at any time for little or no cause, so that +there is no incentive to build substantial structures, and there is no +chance of developing that pride in the home which is so essential to the +building of good houses. + +"The inland laborers who live in these huts have been their own +architects and builders, and they model their homes after the old type +that has prevailed among the hills for centuries. The framework of these +huts is of poles and small sticks cut from shrub trees and nailed or +tied together at the corners with native fiber ropes. The roofs are +generally thatched with a long, tough grass, and the walls are +constructed by binding leaves of the royal palm (_yaguas_) with sticks +and fiber. The floor is of boards or slabs and is raised from one to two +feet above the ground. In some sections _yaguas_ are also used for the +roofs, and in the inland there are many huts with walls of slabs from +the trunk of the palm trees. These huts are usually divided into two +rooms by a flimsy partition of _yaguas_, one room being used as a +bedroom and the other as a combined living and dining room. The kitchen +is a separate room or shed at the rear, and, probably because of the +danger of fire, is usually without floor. The furniture consists of +hammocks, boxes for chairs, a rough table, and a few dishes, all made +from gourds, except the iron pot used in cooking. The value of such +furniture is usually from $4 to $6, and the value of such a house from +$10 to $20. + +"This hut of the inland laborer with its thatched roof and open +construction is, in many respects, a much better house than the casual +observer is likely to believe. A well-constructed thatch roof, when it +is new, offers sufficient protection against rain and excellent +protection from the heat of the tropic sun. New palm bark walls are also +adequate to keep out the rains. Furthermore, almost without exception, +the floors are raised above the ground, so that the surface waters after +a shower run freely under the hut and wash away any refuse that may have +accumulated, and then the sunlight and winds quickly dry the remaining +dampness. In other words, a new well-built hut of this type is a +properly ventilated, cool, and reasonably sanitary habitation, and +represents the best effort of the laborers to adapt themselves, in their +poverty-stricken condition, to the circumstances of their environment. +On the other hand, these huts deteriorate very rapidly. Within six +months or a year, a dozen varieties of insects have made their nests in +the thatched roof, the palm-leaves have cracked, and the floor sags. + +"One who stands on some projecting point high up on a mountain side in +the interior of the Island and carefully scans the hillsides about and +the valley beneath, will be amazed at the number of small huts of this +type that lie within his view. There are hundreds of them. Every knoll +is crowned by its hut; every hillside is dotted by them. No two are ever +placed together; each family seeks its own free life. It is practically +true that one cannot shout in any part of our Island and not be heard +by the occupants of one or more of these huts. + +"To say that these people are contented and prefer to live as they do, +is not true. Customs clinch themselves upon a people so that they appear +contented, and these inland laborers have lived under the same +conditions for three centuries. Their standards of living are modest, +and their desires are few. In this sense they are contented. Yet there +is a deep and powerful change coming over them. They are going to the +cities in greater number than ever before; their children are attending +the little schools in the hills. New ambitions are awakening. When the +dull season comes, they cannot find work. There are times when many of +them are hungry. They are not contented. + +"That the Porto Rican laborer is of cheerful disposition is especially +true of the so-called _jíbaro_. He has been obliged to find his joy in +simple things. He greets you with a smile; he welcomes you to his house +and cheerfully divides his cup of coffee with you; he dances with a show +of gayety on a Sunday afternoon. He is ever cheerful, but not happy. +There may be some customs and prejudices of minor importance that he is +loath to change, but in the main he prefers to live as he does because +he is obliged so to live. Those who adhere to the _laissez faire_ policy +and believe that conditions are good enough as they are, do not know the +real heart of these people. They need and deserve and must ultimately +receive the opportunity to improve their living and working conditions. + +"There are two important causes for the erection of plantation houses: +(1) For the employer, the practical advantage of having a resident +supply of labor on his land; (2) for the laborer, the necessity of +living near his work. Laborers who live in plantation houses are more +largely dependent upon the plantation than are laborers who live in +their own homes. One of the conditions of occupying a plantation house +is that the occupants will work for the plantation whenever their +services are required. Laborers living in plantation houses, can, +therefore, be depended upon by their employers, and this is a great +advantage to the plantation owner. Furthermore, such houses are usually +much better than the laborers who live in them could afford to build for +themselves. Frequently, also, the holdings of the plantation are so +extensive that it would not be possible for the laborers, even if they +had the money, to buy land upon which to build their houses within +walking distance of their work. + +"There are great differences between the single houses of wood and zinc +erected by the various plantations. The better types have been built by +employers who wished to provide healthful and comfortable +quarters--increase the efficiency of their laborers as well as to hold +their labor supply. Unfortunately, at present, such houses are not being +erected by the plantations in all parts of the Island. The majority of +these houses have been built with the sole purpose of holding as large a +labor supply as possible at the least expense. + +"The houses of this type are usually roofed with large strips of zinc, +nailed directly upon the rafters. These roofs are low, unceiled and, as +a result, the houses are extremely hot. The walls are of imported +lumber, sometimes the boards being matched and in other cases +clapboarded. The better houses are painted to diminish the depreciation +and to awaken the pride of the occupants in their homes. The walls are +six or seven feet high. The floors are of boards and raised from one to +two feet above the ground. The houses are set upon posts so that there +is a clear space under them that can be easily cleaned. On the interior +they are divided by half partitions into two or three rooms and are +usually provided with separate kitchens, frequently one kitchen serving +for from one to four houses. These houses cost from $70 to $150, the +average being about $80, according to their size and construction. This +description refers to the better houses of this type and, unfortunately, +the majority of the single plantation houses are not so well +constructed. + +"These tenements represent the older type of plantation houses and +fortunately very few of them are being built at the present time. Their +construction has been prompted by the same reason that has induced +employers to build the single type of plantation house--the desire to +hold a resident supply of labor on the plantation. They are, however, +far inferior to the single houses. + +"The better rural tenements are built with zinc roofs, board walls and +floors, and are raised from one to two feet above the ground. They are +unceiled and have no windows. In the inland many of them have zinc +walls. The poorer ones are located on low, swampy land and are built of +oil cans, pieces of boxes, and other odds and ends. Some of them have +separate kitchens and sanitary facilities, but many have nothing except +such temporary and inadequate structures as the occupants have +themselves built. The first reason for building tenements of this type +has been, of course, to house the greatest number of laborers at the +least expense. They are long structures, one or two rooms wide, each +room an apartment, and crowded with people. Although these rural +tenements are not usually being built at present, there are still +hundreds of them in use. + +"The worst housing conditions upon the plantations prevail in the +buildings, usually tenements of this type, set aside as sleeping +quarters for unmarried laborers. This type of labor is transient, coming +for a few months during the busy season and then passing on to another +section of the Island. Consequently, they are crowded into whatever +quarters may be available at the time. The leaky rooms of the old sugar +mills, the worst rooms in the tenements, single houses that have been +unused for six months and are out of repair and filthy, are usually used +for the emergency--an emergency that lasts from three to six months. +Six, eight, or ten hammocks are hung up between bare walls in a room 10 +feet by 15 feet and are all filled each night. Conditions of ventilation +and general sanitation are frightful. + +"There is one notable exception. One of the largest centrals of our +Island has constructed a large, well-ventilated, and comfortable men's +apartment. The floor is of matched boards, solid and clean. The walls +are also of matched boards, but there is an open space two feet wide at +the top of the walls extending around the building. Overhanging eaves +prevent the rain from beating in through this opening. The roof is of +heavy paper nailed to a thick wooden ceiling. Frames are arranged in the +interior of the building for hanging hammocks, and around the walls are +large individual lockers for the use of those sleeping there. Finally, +the building is cleaned thoroughly every day. + +"No description of the housing conditions of rural laborers would be +complete without mention of the gardens cultivated by the occupants of +the houses. It is safe to say that nine out of every ten laborers in the +rural sections, with the exception of those who live in plantation +houses where there is no land that they are permitted to cultivate, have +planted some sort of garden. It is also true that these gardens are, in +most cases, of very little practical use. Well cultivated and productive +gardens belonging to rural laborers are hard to find. + +"The average garden consists of two or three plantain or banana trees, a +few tubers, and some medicinal plants. Frequently, there are many and +beautiful flowers. Whatever vegetables there may be are poorly cared for +and do not produce more than a third of a proper yield. + +"This subject is of tremendous importance. The soil and climate of Porto +Rico are such that it should be able, even with its dense population, to +produce most of its food. There are unused plots of ground around +practically every hut in the interior of the Island. The decrease in the +production of sugar is going to throw many laborers out of work and they +will be obliged to raise most of their own food or suffer. Many reasons +have been advanced to explain the absence of good small gardens. The +laborers themselves say that they do not plant and cultivate gardens +because they do not own the land and they are allowed to plant only on +condition that they give the greater part of their produce to the +landowners. They claim also that it does not pay to break up the ground +for one crop and that after they have got plantains, etc., growing they +may be obliged to move. It is also true that in most cases they have not +money enough to buy the seed or hire the oxen and implements needed for +breaking up the ground. + +"Also, in some parts of the south coast, it is too dry for profitable +gardening. On the other hand, landowners frequently say that the reasons +why laborers in the rural sections do not plant gardens are lack of +knowledge of gardening methods, lack of realization of the benefits that +they could derive from good gardens, and custom. Without discussing the +relative merits of these reasons, there are two things that must be +faced--such laborers must be educated, so far as possible by example, +and they must be offered the opportunity to hold land with some fixity +of tenure, either by purchasing it on the installment plan or by +obtaining leases from the present landowners." + + + + +WOMAN AND CHILD LABOR + + +FORTUNATELY, the factory system has not been introduced to any great +extent into Porto Rico, nor in all probability will woman and child +labor in factory employment ever constitute a serious problem. The +census of 1910 gives only a total of 1912 woman wage earners in various +industries of the Island. This, of course, does not include the woman +who works throughout the rural districts, and whose condition +constitutes the problem which must be studied and remedied in the +Island. + +The average unskilled laborer in the country districts of Porto Rico +does not earn a sufficient sum to enable him to maintain his family in +comfort. As a result, the wife, and frequently the children, must +contribute to the support of the family as much as they can. In some +parts of the Island, the tasks of the country women are largely limited +to their housework and the cultivation of whatever garden products they +may raise, because such crops as sugar cane do not call to any great +extent for the use of woman labor. In other sections of the Island, +however, particularly those parts where coffee growing is the chief +industry, the gathering and caring for the coffee crop is left, to a +great extent, to the women and children. This, of course, results in a +financial saving to the coffee grower, as the wages for woman and child +labor are much less than for the services of men. The unhealthful +results, however, more than offset the advantages gained by adding the +mother's wages to the family income. + +The harmful results from woman labor may be classified as direct and +indirect. Under the directly harmful results are the weakened physical +condition of the mother, the increased susceptibility to diseases which +are especially common in the coffee districts, particularly anemia, and +such diseases as are the results of exposure. The larva of the hookworm +lives and finds a fertile field for action in the damp and shady regions +devoted to the production of coffee, and as the majority of the women +laborers are not accustomed to wear shoes, they easily permit contact +and contagion from this disease. + +The strength of children and their ability to withstand disease depends +to a great extent upon whether or not they are physically strong at the +period of their birth and during the time they are under the direct care +of the mother. A mother whose system has been weakened by the +debilitating effects of anemia, cannot nourish her child and provide him +with the necessary amount of food, and as a result, the child is either +anemic, or a victim to malnutrition as a result of introducing solid +food into his system before the digestive organs are prepared to take +care of such food. + +Among the indirectly harmful results of woman labor is the necessary +separation of the mothers from the children of the family. The mother on +going to work, either leaves her children in the care of a neighbor, or +leaves them at home where the older children take care of the younger. +This deprives the children of the mother's influence and allows them +liberty to associate with children who may be undesirable companions, +which would be avoided to a great extent if the mother were present to +take care of them. The Juvenile Court records in the United States show +that 85 per cent of the delinquent children brought before the court +have been led into bad habits through the failure of one or both of the +parents to take care of their supervision during play hours. Divorce in +the United States has been strongly attacked for the reason that it +deprives the child of one of his legal protectors. From the same point +of view, woman and child labor, which deprives the child of the care of +his mother, must inevitably produce bad results in the growing +generation. + +The use of child labor in Porto Rico is not particularly preferred +except in coffee districts and in certain agricultural sections where +boys are used at certain times of the year to help drive the oxen, or to +help in planting the crop. As this is outdoor work it does not have the +devitalizing effect upon the child's body which factory work would have, +and as it does not require concentrated attention, it is relieved from +the monotony which would tend to lower the child's mental ability. The +evil results which must be guarded against are those arising from +overwork and from association with undesirable characters while the +child is not under the supervision of his parents. In addition to this, +the child who is engaged at work must lose the benefits which he should +be receiving from attendance at school. During the last year, the +Department of Education has attempted to solve this problem by changing +the vacation period, so that the long vacation of three months will fall +at the coffee-picking season in such sections of the Island as are +devoted to the production of this crop, and where previously there was a +great decrease in school attendance at the time when the harvesting of +the coffee was in progress. This, undoubtedly, will greatly help to do +away with the harmful results which formerly were the consequences of +irregular attendance or non-attendance at school on the part of a great +many of the children in the coffee-growing districts. + +An increase in the number of rural schools so that all of the children +of the rural districts can be accommodated, is also necessary before +this problem is entirely solved. At the present time, a large number of +the children in the country cannot attend school, either because the +school in the neighborhood is overcrowded, or because the nearest school +is at too great a distance for them to attend with regularity. The +removal of these conditions unfortunately depends upon an added +appropriation for the maintenance of the Department of Education, and it +is doubtful whether the income of the Island will be sufficient to +supply the needed increase for years to come. With the gradual +improvement of roads, consolidated schools may help to solve the +problem, and a half-day enrollment for each group will tend to increase +the number of children that can be taken care of. Children who find that +they cannot obtain a place in the school will naturally be made use of +by their parents for wage-earning purposes whenever possible, but the +great majority of parents would not put their children at work if the +children were enrolled in school and if irregularity of attendance were +to lead to dismissal from the school. + +Another thing that would help to relieve the situation, as far as woman +and child labor is concerned, would be the establishment of a minimum +wage for unskilled farm labor, such wage to be sufficient to enable the +laborer to maintain his family without the help of money earned by the +wife or children. The time of the wife could be occupied in poultry +raising and in caring for the family garden, which would also tend to +reduce the cost of living for the family and could easily be +established, if the landowner were to provide sufficient garden space +with each house in addition to the regular wages paid his laborers. Of +course, methods of gardening would have to be included in the rural +school programs, and the rural teacher should act as a supervisor of +these gardens and advisor to the people of the community in which he is +employed. + +The important things to guard against in the life of the family, from +the standpoint of the welfare of both the family and the community, are +that the mother need not be obliged to dissipate the strength, through +outside labor, which she needs in the raising and caring for her +family. The lack of proper supervision of the children through the +absence of the mother from the home must also be guarded against. In +case it can be proved that a father is unable through his own efforts to +earn sufficient to maintain his family, a system of mothers' pensions +carried on by the government should be established in order that the +mother may be safeguarded from want in case of the death of her husband, +and that she may not be obliged to help him in the maintenance of the +family through the performance of such labor as would interfere with her +regular family obligations. + + + + +INDUSTRIES + + +THE principal industries of Porto Rico are necessarily of an +agricultural character, and their importance to the Island financially +is shown by the fact that during the year 1914-15 exports to the value +of $49,356,907 left for the United States and foreign countries. The +imports for the same period reached the amount of $33,884,296, thus +giving a good surplus to the Island after the total imports had been +paid for. The principal classes of imports are the foodstuffs which +might be produced in sufficient quantities to maintain the population of +Porto Rico. This is a situation which should receive attention, inasmuch +as the Island is capable of producing all of the foodstuffs which it +needs for its own consumption. The principal article of export from +Porto Rico is sugar and other products of the sugar cane. The article of +export second in value is tobacco in its various forms. Third comes +coffee; and these three products make up the chief source of wealth. + +The chief criticism in regard to the agricultural situation of Porto +Rico at the present time, is that there has been very little development +of small farm products which would tend to make it possible and +profitable for the landholder who is in possession of only a few acres +to earn a comfortable living. The climate and soil of Porto Rico would, +undoubtedly, lend themselves to the production of many fruits and +vegetables which could be raised with profit on farms limited in size, +and which would enable the small farmer to maintain his family. + +In addition to the introduction of agricultural products fitted for +small farm production, an opportunity should be given and efforts +encouraged for the establishment and improvement of such lines of work +as can be carried on in the homes or by a small group of people working +independently. Among these kinds of work are several, such as the +hat-making and basket-making industries, the production of handmade lace +and embroidery, and other forms of needlework, which might be carried on +by women working independently during the time they have free from the +occupations of their household work. These handmade articles of Porto +Rico are much sought after by tourists, and there is no doubt but that a +large and profitable market could be opened for them in the United +States, if efforts were made to establish the production on a commercial +basis. The individual living in a small town who devotes himself to hat +making is handicapped because he has no steady market for his goods and +is obliged to sell them or trade them for whatever he can obtain from +retail dealers, who themselves attempt to secure only the limited trade +which enters their stores. In order to make industries of this sort +profitable to the producers, it will be necessary to secure a new and +permanent market for the goods, and either the government or some group +of individuals who will not exploit the workers, should act as +middlemen to see that the work is uniform in character, and to attend to +the handling of the finished products and the supplying of a market for +it in the United States. Working as individuals, the countrymen or +dwellers in small towns have turned out products which differ in quality +and in design, and very frequently the lack of resources has obliged +them to construct their products from unsuitable or cheap materials. + +They have been accustomed to ask for their products as high a price as +they thought they could obtain, and often this price is too high for the +quality of the article, while sometimes it does not pay for the labor +and time which has been expended in the production of the article. By +systematizing the work and putting it under the direction of competent +supervisors who would specify the quality of material to be used in the +production of the articles, and who would fix a price which would fairly +represent the time and labor expended by the producer, and who would be +able to reject work that did not meet the standard set, the value of the +goods would be increased. An equally necessary step in this matter would +be the providing of a regular market for the goods and the supervision +of production, so that the market would not be overloaded with certain +articles and lacking in others. Experiments already carried out have +proved the existence of a market for Porto Rican goods in the United +States, and the matter should be taken up under the supervision of the +Insular Government. + +In order to produce trained workers for the production of these +articles, it would be necessary to establish schools for their +instruction which might well be under the direction of the Department of +Education. These schools would not necessarily last throughout the year, +nor would they require any great expenditure of money for their +maintenance. The character of the school should depend upon the locality +in which it was established and should be designed only for the training +of skilled workmen, either child or adult, in particular lines of work. +Short courses of two or three months in these industrial schools should +be offered, and the people who attend them should be assured of a market +for their goods when they have arrived at a point where they can produce +goods of the proper standard. The money expended in the establishment +and maintenance of these schools would more than double the earning +capacity of the unskilled worker, and the general welfare of the +community would be increased by the changing of unskilled and +unproductive citizens into trained, productive laborers. + +It is a well established fact that the trained workman is the most +desirable kind of citizen. The unskilled laborer has no steady market +for his labor and is the first victim in the wage system whenever a +financial crisis causes the employer to lessen his expenses. The +unskilled laborer has for sale a product which the average employer is +not anxious to obtain, whereas the skilled worker can find a much more +steady and regular market for his labor. The lawless, irresponsible +class of citizens in any community is always composed to a great extent +of the unskilled laborers, and any country which has an overwhelming +proportion of its population composed of this class of people is in +constant danger of labor disturbances and conflicts between employers +and employees. The great majority of the men in penal institutions are +unskilled laborers, and if the proportion of this type of citizens is +sufficiently large, it may constitute a real danger to the community. +With increased ability to earn wages comes the desire to improve living +conditions and to rise higher in the social scale. This demands added +education, more hygienic surroundings, and better food and clothing. The +man who earns fifty cents a day, and that at irregular periods, is an +early victim to dissatisfaction and is easily made to believe that life +has not much for him in the future, and that he has not been fairly +treated by his employer. The skilled laborer who earns double this +amount or more, begins to take a new interest in life, as he can see the +results which have come from his directed efforts, and values the +benefit to his family; he educates his children, sees to it that they +are well clothed and fed, and he himself becomes interested in the life +and problems of the community as he becomes gradually a person of some +importance in its economic and social life. A dependent wage-earning +population usually lacks ideals of self-improvement, but the +steady-working, independent producer of marketable goods is constantly +striving to improve the amount and quality of his products. + + + + +THE LAND PROBLEM AND UNEMPLOYMENT + + +ONE of the most difficult problems to solve in the case of a small +country such as Porto Rico, and one which has a definite bearing on both +the economic and the social life of the people, is the land situation. +This is especially true when the chief industries are such as lend +themselves more readily to large plantation farming rather than to small +industries or crops which can be raised profitably on small areas. The +most important products of Porto Rico to-day are large-farm products, +and they naturally tend to develop a small number of large landowners +and a large number of landless citizens. There were in 1910, 46,799 +farms operated by their owners, and it was estimated that 600,000 people +or 117,647 families in rural sections belonged to the landless class. An +equally large proportion of landless citizens is found in urban centers. +Of the 10,936 people in Puerta de Tierra in 1913, only 178 or about 30 +families owned the land on which their houses were located. It is +estimated that there are at least 800,000 people or 156,860 landless +families in Porto Rico. + +In addition to the tendency toward lawlessness that is always found +where there is an overproportion of landless citizens, the systems of +land rental in Porto Rico have certain unfortunate economic aspects +which call for consideration. Part of the renters live in houses which +are owned by the proprietor of the land upon which their houses are +located, and here the case resolves itself simply into the ordinary +relations of renters and householders. This system does not differ to +any great extent from the ordinary rent system in the States and has the +same disadvantages, both economical and social, which are to be found +wherever the rental system is in operation. + +A second system which has been known as the "Land Rent System" is +somewhat different. Under this system a man rents a lot from the owner +of the property and proceeds to erect his own house upon the land. He +then owns the house but not the land upon which it is located. Usually +he rents from the proprietor from month to month or from year to year +and has no definite lease of the land, and there is nothing to prevent +the owner from raising the rental price or from demanding the house of +the renter whenever he feels so inclined. As a matter of fact, it +frequently happens that the land is rented to householders at fifty +cents or a dollar monthly for the purpose of building houses, and within +a short time after the completion of the house the owner of the land +advances the price of rent, so that the house owner finds himself unable +to meet the increased cost. He then has no choice except to move out and +leave his house, together with the amount of work and invested money +which it represents, or to sell the house to another person. Usually the +house is sold to the owner of the land himself, who thus comes into +possession, at a very reduced price, of a house which he, in turn, +rents to another individual. This system is extremely unfortunate for +the renter and should be abolished by the passing of legislation which +would require the granting of a lease for a certain definite period to +every person who builds upon land owned by another. + +A modification of this system is frequently found in the cases where +employees build their houses upon the land which belongs to the +plantation. In many cases the employer does his utmost to make the life +of his tenants as pleasant as possible, granting them garden plots and +trying to make them permanent employees by offering them certain +advantages. In many cases, however, the employer maintains a company +store and requires his employees to purchase all their provisions from +the store, thus making a double profit from them, and frequently +charging them higher prices than they would have to pay elsewhere. In +other cases the employer guarantees the credit of his workmen at a given +local store, and on pay day he turns over to the local storekeeper the +amount due the workmen and the storekeeper deducts from this the amount +which is owing him for provisions and hands over to the workmen what may +be left. As the average countryman has little idea of business and is +lacking in knowledge of how to keep accurate accounts, and, moreover, +since a credit system always tends to extravagance, it frequently +happens that the workman is never entirely out of debt. There is a law +approved in 1908 which makes it unlawful "for any corporation, company, +firm or person engaged in any trade or business, whether directly or +indirectly, to issue, sell, give or deliver to any person employed by +such corporation, company, firm or person, payments of wages to such +laborers, or as an advance for labor not due, in any script, token, +draft, check or other evidence of indebtedness payable or redeemable +otherwise than in lawful money." Section 2 of the same law provides that +"if any corporation, company, firm or person shall coerce or compel or +attempt to coerce or compel an employee to purchase goods or supplies in +payment of wages due him from any corporation, company, firm or person, +such said named corporation, company, firm or person shall be guilty of +a misdemeanor." In this way attempts have been made to protect the +laborer from exploitation, but violations of the law are not uncommon. + +There is need for legislation to provide opportunity for the man of +small means to purchase sufficient land to establish a home. In Porto +Rico there are about 121,346 acres of government lands located in +various parts of the Island which might well be opened to settlement at +a nominal price. Legislation should also be passed which would provide +that private land which is not used for produce for a given term of +years might be opened to settlement and sold to people who would occupy +it and use it for production. There are many acres of private land in +Porto Rico which are not used at all and have not been used for years. +The accumulation of land by an individual or a corporation for purposes +of speculation or for purposes other than cultivation and use for the +production of crops should be discouraged, because the limited amount of +land in the Island does not permit such accumulation except at the +expense of the poorer class of people. There is at present a law +preventing the accumulation of more than 500 acres of land by any +company or corporation, but no penalty has been provided for the +violation of this law, and it is practically useless as it stands at +present. + +In addition to providing means by which people would be encouraged to +own and manage small farms, coöperative organizations for providing a +market for the products of these farms should be established. +Undoubtedly, the government should start such a movement. The spirit of +coöperation is not strong in Porto Rico at the present time, and the +small farm holder finds himself at a disadvantage when he has to compete +with the larger producer and when he is obliged to find a market for his +goods. Some such system as exists in Denmark, where the farmers of a +community have joined themselves into coöperative associations for +selling their products and the purchase of necessary supplies, might +very well be introduced into Porto Rico. This would tend not only to +improve the economic situation by bringing better prices and a steady +market for the farm products, and by making possible the purchase of +necessary supplies in larger quantities, but it would also help to +encourage a sense of unity and mutual confidence among the people of a +given community, which would be of immense value in raising the standard +of citizenship. Community pride and a definite desire for improvement +would necessarily follow such a movement. + +Farming is one of the few occupations which is not influenced by +seasons, so far as unemployment is concerned. Practically all of the +trades have their busy seasons and their idle seasons, and any movement +which would tend to make employment more permanent by providing small +farms for a larger number of people, would be of immense benefit to the +Island as a whole. The Bureau of Labor of Porto Rico in an investigation +which covered the last five months of the year 1913, found that of the +total number of union men reported, 27 per cent were unemployed during +the month of August, 26 per cent during September, 38 per cent during +October, 34 per cent during November, and 46 per cent during December. +The men reporting were engaged in various occupations. It was estimated +that 28 per cent of all the laborers who reported were unemployed on +account of lack of work and not on account of not desiring work. The +different trades represented are as follows: among the dock laborers 62 +per cent were unemployed, 56 per cent of the carpenters, 47 per cent of +the agricultural laborers, 23 per cent of the cigar makers, and 10 per +cent of the typesetters reported that they could not find employment. +Thus it will be seen that when the individual workman is at the mercy of +the employer, he has no independent status such as he would have were he +the owner of even a very modest piece of property, and it is inevitable +that he will find employment only part of the year. Part time +employment tends to low standards of living, because during the period +of reduced financial income the standards of living are lowered, and +when it is found that the family can exist on the reduced income there +is little inducement for seeking work since the desire for economy and +saving is not greatly developed among the working classes of Porto Rico. + +We find a gradual lowering of the moral standard as the necessary +accompaniment of low standards of living, and if continued long enough, +this low moral standard gradually leads to moral and social +degeneration. The necessary steps should be taken by the legislature to +provide for the relief of the landless and unemployed classes, as +otherwise these people will constitute a serious handicap for the +economic and social development of a competent body of citizens. + + + + +POVERTY + + +THE meaning of the word poverty is relative and depends upon the class +of people to whom the word is applied. Poverty, technically, is the lack +of an income sufficient to maintain the individual as the society in +which he lives demands that he should live. Thus a wealthy man may live +in relative poverty if he is in a circle of acquaintances who are much +more wealthy than he is. The amount of income necessary to keep one from +being classed in the poverty-stricken group decreases with the +simplicity of individual, family, and community life. The amount of +property necessary to keep one from poverty in the country is not as +great as the amount of property necessary to keep one from poverty in +the cities, due to the fact that the standards of living in the country +are much simpler and require less expenditure of money to conform to the +social standards. Pauperism is not the same as poverty. Poverty may be +only temporary, depending upon unfavorable conditions which have reduced +the income of the family, such as sickness, accident, lack of +employment, or other factors beyond the control of the individual. +Poverty does not necessarily involve any moral degeneration, while the +pauper is entirely dependent on society and is a moral degenerate. +Poverty, in general, however, is a dangerous condition, because it +generally leads to pauperism. Poverty perpetuates itself if not taken +care of; and if the poor man should give up the struggle against +poverty, the general effect on society would be injurious, because, +through contact, standards of living, social disease, and bad morals are +contagious. + +The competition between capital and labor, which often leads to poverty, +is not fair if it is limited to the individual members of society. As +the individual capitalist has more influence than the individual +laborer, labor must be organized in order to equalize the situation. The +competitive process between capital and labor, and between industrial +organizations, should be controlled so that people should not be +compelled to compete on an unfair basis. + +The existing conditions in any community are largely responsible for +poverty and often for pauperism. They are especially responsible for the +attitude of the individual in regard to poverty as to whether he will +make a fight to gain a place in society above the poverty-stricken +class, or whether he simply resigns himself to his fate and continues to +live in a poverty-stricken condition. In this situation, the well-to-do +class is more responsible for poverty than any other class, because they +have the most power, both legislative and moral, and they must assume +for this reason a greater share of responsibility regarding the +conditions in any given community. Poverty can be alleviated, but +probably not entirely eliminated, and some of the means of combating +poverty are the following: + +First.--Education. By this means the efficiency of the individual in +adjusting himself to trade environment is increased. + +Second.--The self-support of weaker classes through voluntary +associations among themselves, such as labor movements. + +Third.--The proper kind of legal protection, such as factory, and woman +and child labor laws, safeguards in factory work, the minimum wage, and +accident laws. + +Fourth.--Rational charity, by which cases of unusual necessity can be +cared for. This charity should act as a temporary agency and should not +become permanent, as in that case it tends to pauperism. + +Fifth.--Eugenics, by which the physically and mentally unfit, who +contribute largely to the pauper class, may be eliminated from society +and prevented from propagating a second generation. + +Modern charity is more democratic than older charity, and in its +workings material aid is made subordinate to moral aid. It is optimistic +and believes that radical improvements in social conditions are +possible. It believes that the family should always be a self-supporting +group, that charity should try to make the poverty-stricken family +self-supporting, and that the family should be kept together. + +One of the improvements in modern charity is what is known as organized +charity, which is a sort of clearing house for the charities of a +community. Organized charity does not extend material aid so much as it +attempts to find work for needy individuals and thus do away with +poverty by putting the family on a self-supporting basis. Organized +charity would do away with the begging pauper and require him to +present his case at the headquarters of the society, where an +investigation of the necessities of his particular case could be made +and an effort to find suitable employment for him undertaken. The +individual who wished to contribute to charity would contribute to the +central organization instead of to the wandering beggar. This would have +two distinct benefits to society, as it would prevent the disagreeable +sights often encountered where begging is allowed in public, and it +would prevent the individual member of society from being imposed upon +by a beggar who might be in sufficiently good physical condition to +undertake work which would bring in enough to maintain himself and his +family. + +The question of organized charity in Porto Rico has been suggested at +different times, but it has never met with any great popular response, +due to the customs and traditions of a charity-giving people. The Island +to-day has a large number of paupers who are entirely dependent upon the +charity which they receive through begging, and the custom of giving in +response to the requests of these beggars is so widespread, that at the +present time organized charity would have a most difficult field of work +to undertake. + +The Island of Porto Rico is prosperous. In the last fiscal year there +was a surplus of about $15,000,000 of exports over the imports into the +Island; but the distribution of wealth in Porto Rico is not equalized. +It has been estimated that the wealth of the Island is in the hands of +about 15 per cent of the population, and that the remaining 85 per cent +are practically dependent upon uncertain labor and wage conditions for +their maintenance. The per capita wealth of a country determines to a +great degree the financial situation as far as the average individual is +concerned. From the following list of per capita wealth in some of the +leading countries, it will be possible to estimate how the average Porto +Rican compares with the average citizen of other countries in this +regard. The following list is based on statistics of 1909: + + Great Britain per capita wealth $1,442 + France " " " 1,257 + Australia " " " 1,228 + United States " " " 1,123 + Denmark " " " 1,104 + Canada " " " 949 + Belgium " " " 734 + Germany " " " 707 + Spain " " " 548 + Austria Hungary " " " 499 + Greece " " " 485 + Italy " " " 485 + Portugal " " " 417 + Russia " " " 296 + Porto Rico " " " 182 + +From the above table it will be seen that the average individual in +Porto Rico is comparatively poor. + +The economic situation in Porto Rico is giving rise to the formation of +classes based on wealth. With the introduction of available markets and +modern methods of commerce and industry which followed the American +occupation, the land values rapidly increased. The small landholder, +seeing the increase in price which came about and believing that it was +to his best advantage to sell his land, disposed of it to the +representatives of large landholding concerns for what, to him, was a +fabulous price. As soon as the money from this sale was expended, the +original landholder found himself absolutely dependent upon the mercy of +a wage-paying employer. In this way a great part of small landholdings +passed into the hands of representatives of large landholdings and +caused the formation of the two groups, the capitalistic group, which is +limited to a comparatively small number of people, and the wage-earning +group, which comprises probably 90 per cent of the population of Porto +Rico. As a result we lack in Porto Rico the great middle class of +financially independent farmers which constitutes the strength of the +United States and the more prosperous European countries. A serious and +systematic effort to build up a prosperous and independent middle class, +either by encouraging small-farm or other industries, is necessary if +the majority of the people are to attain the advantages which they +should enjoy, and if the social and economic status of the Island is to +be made equitable and stable. + +The reduced wage system and the absolute dependence of the wage-earning +group has given rise to a great many labor disturbances within the last +few years. These labor disturbances have included both city and country +groups and have in nearly all cases been caused by an effort to better +the working conditions and to secure an increase of wages. In the great +majority of the cases there is no doubt but that the laborers were +justified in asking for better conditions than those which actually +existed. That the disturbances sometimes ended in riots and led to the +destruction of property is the fault of the educational condition of the +people, who are easily excited and led to believe that only by the use +of violence can they secure the things which they demand. + +The relation between poverty and health and poverty and morals is very +close. The poverty-stricken family cannot be led to take any great +amount of interest in society or health betterment until means have been +produced by which the economic situation of the family group can be +bettered. The expense of living uses up the daily wage of the ordinary +unskilled laborer in Porto Rico, who averages fifty or sixty cents per +day for the time that the weather and his physical condition permit him +to work. There is also a close relation between sickness and poverty, +the average countryman of Porto Rico being only partly as efficient a +worker as he should be, due to physical weakness caused by anemia or +malaria. Poverty is closely related to degeneration and crime, +especially when it descends into pauperism and absolute dependence upon +charity. + +The climate and geographical conditions of Porto Rico have never +provided the laborer with any incentive to economize, inasmuch as he has +no need for providing against a period of cold, and Nature produces some +form of plant or vegetable food throughout the entire year. Clothing and +lodging may be of the simplest and still prevent much suffering under +such conditions, and with physical weakness caused by disease, the +tendency is to live for the present, and to take little care for the +future through a system of saving and economy. The average manual +laborer saves nothing and makes little effort to accumulate property. +Incentive must be provided through education which will accustom the +countryman to the idea of accumulation of property in a small way, so +that dependence upon charity will not be necessary in the case of a +financial or economic crisis. That there is a movement toward saving is +evident from the fact that on June 30, 1915, there were savings accounts +to the amount of $1,909,969.34 in the various banks in the Island. This, +however, is a comparatively small amount, and the younger generation +should be given definite instruction and incentives along the line of +savings. The introduction of the Postal Savings Bank has been of great +value in this respect, and the school savings banks have also done their +share in inculcating the principles of economy. + + + + +SICKNESS AND DISEASE + + +THE Island of Porto Rico is more free from disease than the average +tropical or semi-tropical country, due to the active efforts of the +medical profession and of the special commissions and departments +created for the elimination of disease within the last few years. +Nevertheless, a great deal of sickness which might be avoided, part of +which is responsible for death, and part of which merely incapacitates +the sufferers or renders them less useful citizens, is to be found. The +elimination of such diseases as smallpox and yellow fever, which +formerly were responsible for a great number of deaths and which +descended upon the Island as epidemics with considerable regularity, has +been accomplished, and if similar care were taken in the case of less +dreaded diseases, there is reason to believe that they could also be +wiped out of existence in the Island. + +For the year 1915-16 there was a total of 26,572 deaths in Porto Rico. +Most of these deaths were from diseases classified as transmissible, +and, consequently, from diseases which could be prevented by complete +quarantine. Following is a list of the number of deaths from the +diseases which took the heaviest toll in the Island: + + Rickets 1,271 + Tuberculosis (lungs) 2,125 + Malaria 1,290 + Typhoid fever 94 + Whooping cough 167 + Tetanus 109 + Cancer 365 + Meningitis 344 + Epilepsy 57 + Acute bronchitis 1,015 + Chronic bronchitis 309 + Bronco-pneumonia 822 + Pneumonia 569 + Diarrhea and enteritis under two years 3,485 + Diarrhea and enteritis two years and over 870 + Infantile tetanus 729 + Lack of care in infancy 117 + Congenital debility in children 1,145 + Uncinariasis 479 + Smallpox 9 + Diphtheria 26 + +The two diseases which are of most vital importance to the people of +Porto Rico at present are undoubtedly tuberculosis and anemia. The +ravages of tuberculosis are more noticeable in the cities, and it has +been stated that in 1912, on one street in San Juan, 12 out of every 100 +residents died of this disease. Anemia is prevalent throughout the +Island, but is more noticeable in the country districts than in the +cities, and while the death rate for anemia is not so high as the death +rate of some other diseases, yet by reason of weakening the vitality of +the sufferers it tends to offer a fertile spot for the incubation of +germs of other diseases, and the working and producing power of the +individual is lessened with the acuteness of the disease. + +It has been claimed that anemia was introduced into Porto Rico by the +negroes who were brought here as slaves in the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries, and the identity of the disease with the anemia existing in +about 20 per cent of all the negroes of the Gold Coast has been +determined. The disease was for a long time limited to the coast land +and was propagated on the sugar plantations, but after the introduction +of coffee, which has come to be the chief product of the mountain +regions, the disease was propagated throughout the entire Island. + +This disease has left its trace among the country people and they have +been accused of laziness and idleness when it is probable that the cause +of the apparent disinclination for work is due to the weakened physical +condition which is a result of the anemia. In this connection, Drs. +Gutierrez and Ashford in their work on _Uncinariasis in Porto Rico_ +quote Col. George D. Flinter, an Englishman in the service of Spain, who +published in 1834 "An account of Porto Rico," as follows: + +"The common white people, or lowest class (called _jíbaros_), swing in +their hammocks all day long, smoking cigars and scraping their native +guitars.... Most of these colonists are inconceivably lazy and +indifferent. Lying back in their hammocks, the entire day is passed +praying or smoking. Their children, isolated from the cities, without +education, live in social equality with the young negroes of both sexes, +acquiring perverted customs, only to later become cruel with their +slaves." + +Commenting on this statement, Drs. Gutierrez and Ashford speak as +follows: + +"What if these people were merely innocent victims of a disease, modern +only in name? What if the brand placed by the Spaniard, the Englishman, +and the Frenchman in olden times upon the _jíbaro_ of Porto Rico were a +bitter injustice? The early reports savor strongly of those touristic +impressions of the Island which from time to time crop out in the press +of modern America, in which 'laziness and worthlessness' of the +'natives' are to be inferred, if, indeed, these very words are not +employed to describe a sick workingman, with only half of the blood he +should have in his body." + +"True, Col. Flinter, Field Marshall Count O'Reilly, and the rest of the +long list of early 'observers' did not know what uncinariasis was. But +is it necessary that we have a record of microscopic examinations of the +feces of the people they describe to realize what can be read between +the lines? Convicts, adventurers, and gypsies may have formed part of +the element that colonized Porto Rico, but we cannot believe that these +were all, nor that their descendants were 'lazy' and 'worthless.' + +"We cannot believe that vicious idleness comes natural to the Spanish +colonist, even in the Tropics, for the very reason that we have seen +these descendants at their very worst, after the neglect of four +centuries by their mother country, and after the laborious increase of +an anemic population in the face of a deadly disease, whose nature was +neither known nor studied, work from sunrise to sunset and seek medical +attention, not because they felt sick, but because they could no longer +work. + +"We strongly feel that these writers have unconsciously described +uncinariasis. Are the Spanish people considered 'lazy' by those who know +them? Were those Spaniards who conquered Mexico, Peru, and all South +America, who formed so formidable a power in the Middle Ages, a lazy +people? + +"Is it 'laziness' or disease that is this very day attracting the +attention of the United States to the descendant of the pure-blooded +English stock in the Southern Appalachian Range, in the mountains of +Carolina and Tennessee, the section of our country where the greatest +predominance of 'pure American blood' occurs, despised by the negro who +calls him 'poor white trash'?" + +During the year 1914-15 there were 6,644 deaths of children under two +years of age, which constituted 28.8 per cent of the total mortality of +the Island. Approximately 14 out of every 100 children born, died in +infancy, and the death rate for the total population was 5.55 per cent +for children under one year of age, and 7.71 per cent for children under +two years of age. Diarrhea and enteritis were responsible for 33.8 per +cent of infant mortality; congenital debility for 13.14 per cent; +infantile tetanus for 10.32; while disease of the respiratory organs +caused 16.17 per cent of the infant mortality. + +It has never been definitely determined just what losses, from the point +of view of days of labor, or from the point of view of vitality of the +laborer, have been caused by malaria. Mr. D. L. Van Dine, in an article +in the _Southern Medical Journal_ for March, 1915, gives the result of +some of his investigations among the laboring class in Louisiana. In +this study, which was made on one of the large plantations and which +covered 74 tenant families with a total of 299 individuals, he shows the +losses which occurred from May to October 15, 1914. There were 970 days +of actual illness of such a nature that the illness was reported to the +physician. Forty-eight out of the seventy-four families were reported to +the doctor for malaria. According to Mr. Van Dine, this does not take +into consideration mild attacks of malaria which were not reported to +the physician, especially in the cases of children. He has estimated +that there were at least 487 days lost in cases which were not reported +to the doctor. He also estimates that there was a loss of 385 days on +the part of the adults who assisted in caring for the malaria patients. +It is estimated that there was a loss in days of labor equal to nearly +six days and a half for each case of malaria. It will easily be seen +that this may be a serious loss of time as far as the production of +crops is concerned, and even thus it does not fairly represent the loss, +as it does not take into consideration the weakened energy of the man +just before or just after the malarial attack. + +Undoubtedly, there is as great a loss in Porto Rico from malaria as is +indicated in the statements just made. It has been reported that in some +sections of the Island, 85 per cent of the people were found to have +malaria germs in their blood. Between the two diseases of malaria and +anemia, there is no doubt that the physical condition of the Porto Rican +countrymen is gradually debilitated. + +Since the American occupation, stress has been laid upon the attempts to +eliminate anemia, and this work has received special attention since +1906. During the year 1914-15 there were 32,278 new cases of anemia +treated in different parts of the Island, and 15,497 cases were +discharged as cured. + +Undoubtedly a great deal of the illness in Porto Rico is the result of +improper food, or food prepared in an improper manner. Malnutrition +among children is frequent and leads to such diseases as rickets, which +we find has an exceptionally high death rate. In the recent measurements +given at the University among university students, it has been found +that there was an average depth of chest of nearly half an inch more +than is found in the American boy or girl of the same age, and this has +been considered as an indication of malnutrition and general softening +of the bones in early childhood. + +A hemoglobin test which was given to the students of the University this +year showed that the average among the men was 80.04 per cent, and only +77.6 per cent among the women. The average for Porto Rico should not +fall below 85 per cent, and the anemic conditions indicated by the low +average is an indication that the disease is to be found not only among +the country people, but also among people of the best conditions of +life. + +It will be impossible to settle the economic and social problems of +Porto Rico until the question of personal health has been more nearly +solved than it is to-day. With a large proportion of the country people +sick from anemia and malaria, and with tuberculosis as prevalent as it +is at the present time, the weakened vitality will not permit strenuous +or continued work sufficient to improve economic conditions to any great +extent. Social conditions, depending as they do upon the economic +situation, must also be slow of improvement, and the most important work +facing the Government of Porto Rico at present is the elimination of +such diseases as impair the physical condition of the people and thus +interfere with economic and social progress. + + + + +CRIME + + +GENERALLY speaking, criminals may be divided into three classes: first, +those who direct crime but who take no active part in the commission of +the crime themselves; second, those who commit crimes which require a +considerable amount of personal courage; third, those who commit crimes +which do not necessarily involve any great amount of personal courage. +There might be added a fourth class, which would consist of those who +commit crime through ignorance of the law or carelessness in informing +themselves of exact legal measures and in heeding this knowledge when +once obtained. During the year 1915-16 there was a total of 53,006 +arrests in the Island of Porto Rico. Of this number, nearly 47,000 were +men and the rest were women. On the basis of a population of 1,200,000, +this would give one arrest for every 22 persons in the Island. Of this +total number of arrests, however, only 438 were cases of felony. There +were a great many arrests for the infraction of municipal +ordinances,--something over 11,000 in all,--and more than 8,000 arrests +for disturbance of the peace. Over 9,000 were for gambling, and over +2,000 for petty larceny; about 5,000 arrests were for infraction of the +sanitary laws, and nearly 2,000 arrests were for infraction of road +laws. This shows that the greater number of arrests was for +comparatively unimportant crimes; by unimportant meaning, of course, +those crimes which do not directly involve the loss of life or of any +great amount of property. The felonies committed during the year were as +follows: + + Murders 41 + Homicides 26 + Attempt at murder 30 + Robbery 5 + Rape 15 + Seduction 24 + Crime against nature 3 + Arson 5 + Burglary 148 + Forgery 6 + Counterfeiting 1 + Grand larceny 10 + Cattle stealing 25 + Smuggling 5 + Extortion 2 + Crime against the public health and security 55 + Mayhem 11 + Violation of postal laws 5 + Violation of graves 1 + Conspiracy 8 + Falsification 7 + +giving a total of 438, which includes not only those sentenced but also +those indicted and acquitted. From this table it will be seen that a +relatively small number of the actual felonies committed are felonies +involving loss of life or an attempt against life. In support of this +table, and in proof of the fact that crimes of violence are relatively +few in Porto Rico, the following table is given, which is a record of +the convictions of the district courts of the Island of Porto Rico in +criminal cases, for the years 1913-14 and 1914-15, and of the convicts +in the penitentiary June 30, 1915: + + Number of Percentage In peni- Per cent + convictions of crimes tentiary in prison + + 1913- 1914- 1913- 1914- + 14 15 14 15 + Violation of laws + enacted in + exercise of + police powers 220 842 .23 .45 142 .10 + Against persons 286 432 .30 .23 371 .25 + Against property 329 312 .34 .17 779 .53 + Against the + administration of + public justice 29 142 .03 .08 21 .01 + Against decency 40 51 .04 .03 97 .06 + Against good morals 36 35 .04 .02 20 .01 + Against reputation 9 16 .01 .01 ... ... + Unclassified 10 7 .01 .01 38 .03 + --- ----- ----- + Totals 959 1,837 1,468 + +From the above table it will be seen that crimes against persons +constitute 23 to 30 per cent of the crimes committed. Of the total +number of convicts in the penitentiary for the commission of crime, 25 +per cent, during the year 1914-15, were there for crimes against +persons. Thus we may definitely state that about 25 per cent of the +crimes carried to the district courts of Porto Rico are those which +involve attempts against the life or well-being of another person. It +will be noticed from the above table that with few exceptions the +percentages of crimes for the two years are very nearly equal. In +1913-14, 34 per cent of the crimes were against property, which was not +strange when we consider that this was a year of financial crisis, due +to the sugar situation. In the same year 23 per cent of the crimes were +in violation of laws enacted in exercise of police powers. These crimes +included breach of the peace. + +In the following year, 1914-15, when we had about 17,000 laborers +engaged in strikes throughout the Island, and when in addition to this +there was a general Insular election, we find that the number of crimes +against property dropped to 17 per cent, whereas the number of crimes in +violation of laws enacted in exercise of police powers rose from 23 per +cent to 45 per cent. This would tend to prove that the average +lawbreaker in Porto Rico is easily influenced by economic circumstances +and by social surroundings, and that at such a period as that of strikes +or elections criminal tendencies take the direction of breach of the +peace and violation of municipal ordinances, rather than such crimes as +arson, burglary, embezzlement, or forgery. + +The influence of the election year is also noticeable in the group of +crimes prejudicial to the administration of public justice, which +includes contempt of court, bribery, and perjury. During the year +1913-14, 3 per cent of the convictions fell under this head, while +during the year 1914-15, the amount was 8 per cent. It will be noticed +that of the prisoners in the penitentiary the percentage of those +convicted for violation of laws enacted in exercise of police power is +only 10 per cent, much less than the percentage of those convicted in +the district courts. This, of course, is accounted for by the fact that +the great majority of violations of these laws are punishable by fines +rather than by imprisonment. In the same way, the percentage of +prisoners for crimes against property is much larger than the percentage +of convictions in the district courts for this crime, due, of course, to +the fact that these crimes are more frequently punished by a prison +sentence than by a fine, thus giving an accumulation from year to year +of convicts, which overbalances the per cent of the court convictions +for any single year. + +According to the report of the Insular Chief of Police, the town which +had the greatest number of arrests, in proportion to its population, for +the year 1915-16, was Arroyo, where there was one arrest for every 8.47 +persons. This was followed by Salinas, with one arrest for every 8.82 +persons. The town with the best record was Las Marías, where there was +one arrest for every 162.03 persons. On the basis of the records of the +municipal courts for the three years of 1912-13, 1913-14, and 1914-15, +the judicial districts stand in the following relation as far as the +number of criminal cases presented during that time is concerned. The +table given shows one criminal case presented every three years for the +number of inhabitants indicated in each judicial district. + + San Juan, one case for every 17.79 persons + Rio Piedras " " " " 18.42 " + Patillas " " " " 19.94 " + Vieques " " " " 19.98 " + Salinas " " " " 23.34 " + Guayama " " " " 24.62 " + Yauco " " " " 24.14 " + Mayaguez " " " " 27.50 " + Vega Baja " " " " 28.74 " + Humacao " " " " 27.31 " + San Lorenzo " " " " 30.66 " + Ciales " " " " 31.07 " + Fajardo " " " " 31.40 " + Juana Diaz " " " " 33.00 " + Cáguas " " " " 33.01 " + Yabucoa " " " " 33.24 " + Añasco " " " " 36.29 " + Ponce " " " " 36.92 " + Manatí " " " " 37.89 " + Arecibo " " " " 38.23 " + Cayey " " " " 38.29 " + Lares " " " " 40.83 " + Rio Grande " " " " 40.90 " + Barros " " " " 41.09 " + Bayamón " " " " 43.87 " + San Germán " " " " 44.70 " + Adjuntas " " " " 44.97 " + Coamo " " " " 45.19 " + Camuy " " " " 47.13 " + San Sebastián " " " " 48.55 " + Aguadilla " " " " 50.22 " + Utuado " " " " 54.61 " + Carolina " " " " 57.63 " + Cabo Rojo " " " " 64.99 " + +The great proportion of crime in San Juan, as compared with the rest of +the Island, is of course largely due to social conditions, inasmuch as +it is the largest city in the Island and to a great extent the resort of +undesirable characters for this reason. In the second place, as a coast +town and the most important shipping and commercial center, it has a +more or less shifting population, and a population composed to a great +extent of an uneducated type among the working classes. Every seaport +town offers opportunities for criminal classes which inland towns do not +possess. The second town in the list, Rio Piedras, is the natural outlet +between San Juan and the rest of the Island, which undoubtedly accounts +for its large percentage of crime. The rest of the towns where crime is +found in large proportion will be discovered to have a large floating +population, people who are day laborers and who have no particular +interest in the community, except as it provides them with an +opportunity for earning daily wages. This class of population is always +unfavorable to a community and is always to be found where large +industries exist which employ a great number of men; and this is +especially true when little attempt is made on the part of the employer +to render the permanence of the job desirable by furnishing +well-provided living facilities for the employee. It is noticeable that +in Cabo Rojo, where the percentage of criminal cases is lowest, the +population depends chiefly upon the hat-making industry for its support. +This is added proof of the value of small industries from the point of +view of community welfare. + +It is noteworthy that there was an immense increase in the number of +crimes committed in the following districts: Ciales, where the number of +cases increased from 431 in 1912 to 754 in 1915; Lares, where the +increase was from 352 to 853; Vieques, where the increase was from 341 +to 684; Yabucoa, where the increase was from 589 to 831; Yauco, where +the increase was from 867 to 1,490. In the rest of the districts the +number of crimes did not vary greatly from year to year, even decreasing +in the case of Rio Piedras from 1,101 in 1912 to 911 in 1915. Of course, +the difference in crime percentage might depend upon the efficiency of +the police force or upon the severity of the Municipal Judge, but +undoubtedly it will be found more often to depend upon local conditions +such as strikes, or the introduction of large numbers of workingmen from +another district to take part in agricultural or industrial work. The +change of location and the resulting necessity of accommodation to local +surroundings is apt to be dangerous to the morals of the individual. + +The great majority of the arrests were for crimes which would be termed +city crimes. The average countryman of Porto Rico is a man who has a +great deal of respect for the law and is inclined to obey it unless led +into trouble in a moment of passion or while under the influence of +alcoholic drinks. Throughout the country districts premeditated crime is +rare, and from the standpoint of improvement of the community, the +cities and large towns should be the chief points of attack. A great +deal of carelessness exists as to complying with local laws and +municipal ordinances, and it is estimated that on June 30, 1915, there +were confined in the Insular jails and detention houses, prisoners in +the relation of one to every 7.17 inhabitants of the Island. The chief +work of the schools along the line of prevention of crime should be the +explanation of laws, both Insular and municipal, and the explanation of +the reasons for such laws, in order that the individual may be led by +his own volition to avoid lawbreaking. Parents should also be impressed +with the necessity of inculcating in their children a respect for +constituted authority and the necessary obedience to it in order that as +the children develop into men and women they may have the proper respect +for the laws and those who have been appointed to enforce them. + + + + +INTEMPERANCE + + +IT is unnecessary to say anything about the evil effects of the use of +alcoholic drinks, whether it be from the physical, moral, or economic +point of view. The recent agitation in favor of the prohibition of the +manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in Porto Rico, however, has +caused more discussion regarding the situation here than has ever before +been the case, and a brief statement of facts may not be unwarranted. + +The Porto Ricans are not given to the overconsumption of alcoholic +drinks. They are not heavy drinkers, and drunkenness is not at all +common. Probably every village has its unfortunate inhabitants, few in +number, who live usually under the influence of intoxicants. But the +great majority of the people are not given to the excessive use of +alcohol. The use of wines is common, a custom characteristic of most +Latin peoples. + +Porto Rico produces a great deal of alcohol, it being one of the +by-products of the sugar cane. Data are not available to show just how +much of the rum and alcohol produced is used in the Island, and how much +is exported, or how much is used for drinking purposes and how much for +commercial uses. During the fiscal year 1915-16, a total revenue of +$1,111,834.30 was paid to the Insular government on alcoholic liquors +manufactured in Porto Rico or imported into the Island. This gives a +per capita revenue of nearly one dollar, and this revenue was paid on +3,886,705 liters of alcoholic liquors either manufactured here or +imported--a per capita allowance of more than three liters for every +inhabitant of the Island. It is probably true that a great deal of the +alcohol manufactured in Porto Rico was exported, but even granting that +one half was not used here, the amount of one and a half liters for +every inhabitant is excessive. + +The average grocery store carries a complete line of bottled drinks, and +often beer in the keg, as well. This is one of the first things which +impresses the visitor from the States when he enters a grocery store and +sees the shelves packed with all kinds of bottles. There is a constant +sale for goods of this sort, usually to the workingmen and poorer class +of people, who purchase in small quantities, a drink at a time, for +three or five cents; many of them, no doubt, attempting to keep up their +physical strength by the use of such a stimulant, since a more +noticeable stimulating effect is produced by five cents' worth of rum +than could be obtained through the consumption of five cents' worth of +food. When this custom becomes as prevalent as it is in Porto Rico, it +involves serious evil effects. + +There are few drug users in the Island, and the strict enforcement of +the Harrison Drug Law will prevent drug using from becoming the menace +to health and morals to the extent that we find to be the case in many +of the cities of the United States. There is, however, a large quantity +of patent medicines used, many of which have a sufficient amount of +alcohol or narcotic drug element to render them dangerous from the point +of view of habit formation. + +Many of the poorer people do not have the money to pay the fees of a +doctor and to purchase at a drug store the medicine which he prescribes. +Moreover, many medical men do not listen with as much patience as they +might, to the detailed list of complaints which the countryman has to +offer. As a consequence, the countryman buys a bottle of medicine which +has been recommended to him by a friend, or perhaps by the druggist, who +often serves as a consulting physician in the smaller towns. If the +medicine makes him feel better, he becomes a firm believer in its power +to cure. Whether the result produced is actually a bettering of his +physical condition, or merely a deadening of the nerves by means of a +narcotic, he does not stop to ask. He recommends the medicine to his +friends as a sure remedy for all their illnesses, and probably makes of +it a household remedy, to be used by all members of the family when they +feel indisposed. The author has known of many instances in which +medicine has been purchased from patent medicine firms in the States, +because of advertisements in the newspapers, and of several cases, where +the money was returned by federal authorities with the statement that +the company addressed had been closed by the post office authorities +because it was found that their claims were not legitimate and that +their medicines were valueless. The average Porto Rican places a great +deal of confidence in what he reads in the newspapers, and the papers +are not as careful as they should be regarding the question of admitting +advertising matter. + +There is no great amount of public opinion against the use of alcohol in +Porto Rico, and until, through the schools, the press, or some other +agency, the people as a whole can be brought to see the disadvantage of +its use, there can be but little accomplished in the direction of +temperance and prohibition. The prohibition movement in the United +States is not a matter of the moment alone, it is a movement which has +been growing for years, and at the present time seems to have the +majority of the population behind it. This is not the case in Porto +Rico, and it is doubtful whether an abrupt change, unless backed up by +strong public opinion, and the authority of the great majority of the +people, would accomplish much in the way of betterment of conditions. + + + + +JUVENILE DELINQUENTS + + +ONE of the most difficult problems that faces organized society to-day +is the disposal of delinquent children, and in order to meet this +problem, the Juvenile Court system has been established in the United +States, and by a law approved March 11, 1915, the Juvenile Court system +was introduced into Porto Rico to take effect on June 1, 1915. + +Up to within recent times juvenile offenders have been subjected to the +same laws and the same penalties as hardened criminals, and there is no +doubt but that a great many boys and girls who had broken some law or +local ordinance, often through carelessness or ignorance, were placed in +detention houses with older criminals and in this way became accustomed +to the criminal classes and frequently were induced to enter upon a life +of crime. + +The prevailing idea of criminal law is to punish the offender for the +offense committed against the laws of the state. Modern social science +teaches that it is unfair to boys or girls of tender age to visit a +punishment of this sort upon them, especially when it may lead to a +continuance of crime, rather than to an avoidance of it in the future. +Consequently, with the introduction of the Juvenile Court system the +cases are taken out of criminal procedure and placed under the +jurisdiction of courts of equity. The trials are usually informal, +although the child has a right to a trial by jury in case he is accused +of a serious offense, and he has the right to legal counsel, if he so +desires. These rights, however, are very seldom exercised, inasmuch as +it is coming to be recognized that the judges represent an actual +attempt to do what is best for the child and do not represent in any way +the prosecuting power of the state. + +The principal figure in a Juvenile Court is the judge of the court, and +wherever it is possible to do so, men especially trained in juvenile +psychology should be appointed to this office. A knowledge of children +and an understanding and appreciation of their feelings is necessary on +the part of the judge, and he should be a person of sufficiently +magnetic personality to win the sympathies of the children and to enable +him to gain their confidence. To what an extent the influence of a +single man may reach in the case of juvenile offenders and how far his +influence may prevent crime among children, is well seen in the case of +Judge Lindsey, of Denver, Colorado. + +The second official in the court is the probation officer, who is under +the authority of the judge, makes the necessary investigations when +cases are reported to him, and presents the facts in the case to the +judge of the court. He also must look after the children who have passed +through the court to see that the sentences of the court are carried +out; and if the children are placed on probation under the guardianship +of relatives or friends, he must make visits sufficient in number and +often enough so that he can be sure that the best interests of the +child are being safeguarded, and if he finds the case to be otherwise, +to report the facts to the judge of the court. + +As the financial situation in Porto Rico did not permit the +establishment of a completely new judicial system, it was decided to +appoint the judge of each of the seven district courts of the Island to +act as judge of the Juvenile Court. The prosecutors and municipal court +judges are also probation officers _ex officio_, and the justices of the +peace and others appointed by the district judges may be asked to serve +as special probation officers. The Juvenile Courts in Porto Rico have +original jurisdiction over juvenile offenders, and any case appealed +from the Juvenile Courts may go directly to the Supreme Court of the +Island. The courts are courts of record and the judges have authority to +set the dates and places when and where sessions of the court will be +held, to summon witnesses and compel them to appear in court. The +jurisdiction of the Juvenile Courts in Porto Rico extends to all +children under 16 years of age who are accused of any crime whatsoever, +and it also applies to all people under 21 years of age, if they have +ever been under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court before they were +16. The Juvenile Court also has jurisdiction over adults who have been +responsible for the abandonment of children or who have contributed in +any way to the delinquency of the child. + +Of course, this situation is not an ideal one for the best working out +of the problems that confront a Juvenile Court system. In the first +place, it is practically impossible for men who act as criminal judges +or criminal prosecutors to adopt the attitude so necessary for the +fulfillment of the work of a juvenile court officer, as their training +has been such as to influence them to believe that the prisoner is an +offender and that violations of the law must be punished with sufficient +severity to prevent a repetition of the offense on the part of the +prisoner, and to serve as a warning for others who might be tempted to +commit the same offense. The Juvenile Court officer, on the other hand, +should regard only the best future interests of the child, and the +question with him should not be as to whether a proper punishment may be +inflicted for what the child has done, but as to how the future conduct +of the child may be bettered after a due consideration of all the +influences of heredity and environment in each particular case. + +From July 1, 1915, to January 1, 1916, a total of 164 cases came before +the Juvenile Courts. Of these, three cases were girls accused of petty +larceny, and two were charged with being abandoned. The remaining 159 +cases were boys. The cause given in nearly every case for the bad +conduct of the children was one of the four following: + + 1. Lack of parental authority. + 2. Bad environment. + 3. Ignorance. + 4. Poverty. + +Of the total number, 83 boys were accused of larceny, 25 were abandoned +children, 18 were accused of fighting, 9 were accused of gambling, 7 +were accused of breach of the peace, 4 were accused of attempts at +larceny, 3 were accused of stoning buildings, and the rest were accused +of various minor offenses. + +An investigation of the home conditions of these boys brings out some +pertinent facts in connection with the influence of a broken home upon +the actions of the children. Of the total number of cases presented, 21 +lived with their parents, 54 lived with their mothers, 23 lived with +their fathers, and 22 lived with relatives, 13 lived with guardians, 13 +had absolutely no homes and existed as best they might, with no +permanent dwelling place, while 8 lived with friends. Thus we see that +in the great majority of cases the children came from homes where they +lacked the guidance and authority of at least one parent. Only 50 of the +164 had attended school, and only 15 had succeeded in passing the third +grade in the public schools. Of the total number, 85 were illegitimate +children, and 15 did not know whether their parents were married or not. + +It is estimated that the city of San Juan alone has 500 homeless +children and that there are at least 10,000 children in the Island who +have absolutely no home and who are entirely without the influence of +parental control. Doubtless, a great majority of these children are the +result of illegitimate unions. What that means to the future of Porto +Rico can very easily be imagined when we consider that they are growing +up absolutely without control and without respect for authority of any +sort. In very few cases do they attend the public schools, and they +must remain in this homeless condition, living as best they can, +stealing or begging, when honest means of obtaining food do not avail. +Thus they grow up learning the vice that can be found among the most +poverty-stricken and criminal classes with whom they associate, and +forming a group of people with criminal tendencies, and in their turn +causing to be produced another generation of children who will be +handicapped by the environment and the training which their fathers have +received. The Government should colonize these homeless children on +government lands where they may be taught a trade and where an attempt +should be made to give them some idea of what life may mean to the +educated, industrious citizen. The results would more than justify the +necessary expenditure of money. + +The Juvenile Court in Porto Rico has three means at its disposal for +taking care of children that fall under its jurisdiction. It may send +them to the Reform School at Mayaguez, in case they are boys. (There is +no Reform School for girls in the Island.) It may also send them to one +of the two charity schools in existence, or it may place them under the +supervision of a friend or relative who must respond to the probation +officer for their good conduct. The Reform School at Mayaguez will +accommodate only 100 inmates, and as these are usually required to +complete a rather long term of years in the institution, the number of +vacancies occurring in the school each year is very small. The charity +schools, both for boys and girls, are also overcrowded, and there is +very little chance of the Juvenile Court being able to send any of its +cases to either of these institutions. As a result, special wards have +been prepared in the Insular penitentiary, and the most serious cases +are assigned to these wards until such a time as there is a possibility +of their being placed in the Reform School. An attempt is made to give +the inmates of these special wards industrial work and some academic +instruction, and they are kept absolutely separate from adult prisoners. + +Of the 164 cases mentioned, the following disposition was made of the +children: 34 were sent to correctional institutions (most of these were +sent to the special wards in the penitentiary), 38 were placed under the +care of their mothers, 24 were placed under the care of their fathers, 9 +were placed under the care of both parents, 8 under the care of friends, +12 under the care of guardians, 17 under the care of relatives, and 6 +were sent to the charity schools. + +The problem of juvenile offenders is more acute in Porto Rico than in +the United States, due to the fact that there are more opportunities +open in Porto Rico for juvenile offenders than are to be found, possibly +with the exception of the largest cities, in the United States. The +early physical development of the tropics adds to the difficulties of +the situation, and also the temptations that surround homeless children +even at a comparatively early age. In addition to this, we have many +instances of consensual marriages, which offer a temptation to even the +very young to lower the standards of morality and to become careless +regarding the marriage relation. The large number of poverty-stricken +and homeless undoubtedly contributes a great deal to physical as well as +mental and moral degeneration, and the combination of these factors may +perhaps account for the large number of weak-minded and insane that we +find at large in the majority of the towns of the Island. In addition, +promiscuous sexual relations undoubtedly contribute to this degeneracy, +and if active steps are not taken to prepare these homeless children for +better living and to enable them to earn an honest living, they will +serve as the propagators of another generation of equally homeless, +pauperized, and degenerate citizens. + + + + +RURAL SCHOOLS + + +ONE of the most perplexing problems which the Department of Education +has to face in Porto Rico is the problem of the rural schools. In +addition to a school budget too small to provide the number of rural +schools necessary for all of the children of school age, there are added +difficulties in the way of poverty and sickness among the country people +which lead to irregular attendance on the part of the children, poor +roads, and the keeping of children out of school in order to help earn +money to support the family, especially in districts where child labor +may be used profitably; and above all these difficulties is the great +difficulty of furnishing the rural schools with teachers who are +adequately trained and who have a comprehensive view of their mission as +teachers and of the duty of the school to the community in which it is +located. + +The rural school problem will never be solved until we are able to +provide teachers who are thoroughly prepared for the work which they +have to do, and who look upon this work as being as important as any +other profession. At present the rural school teachers fall into two +rather large classes: first, the young, inexperienced, and often +untrained teacher; and, second, the old, often out-of-date teacher, who +has been unable to keep step with the progress of the town schools and +has been pushed out into the country. Neither of these classes is +fitted to give the best instruction in the rural schools; neither of +them considers the position of a rural teacher as a permanent one, and +in order to accomplish his best work the rural teacher should be +expected to live in one community for a term of years so that he may +fully understand and appreciate the problems of that community and +become thoroughly acquainted with the patrons of his school. + +The wages of the rural teacher should be such as will enable him to live +in comfort, and as part of his wages the Government might very well +assign him a parcel of land, together with living quarters, which would +tend to make his residence in the district more permanent and which +would enable him to carry on experimental work in agriculture at his own +home. + +There is no doubt but that the time will come when consolidated schools +will be established in each _barrio_ for the benefit of the children of +the community. In this way, better teachers, better school buildings, +better equipment, and a better arranged schedule of studies can be +provided, as an untrained teacher who works with poor facilities and who +has to handle two different groups of children in the day and who may +have six grades to teach, is working under a disadvantage which greatly +handicaps the work. This is especially true when the teacher has no +permanent interest in the rural school problem and regards his term of +office there simply as a stepping-stone to a place in the graded school +system of the town. In the annual report of the Commissioner of +Education for 1914-15 we find the following data in regard to the rural +schools of Porto Rico: + +"The rural schools are located in the _barrios_ or rural subdivisions of +the municipalities. Of the 1,200,000 inhabitants which comprise the +total population of the Island, about 79 per cent live in this rural +area and about 70 per cent of them are illiterate. At the present time +there are approximately 331,233 children of school age (between 5 and 18 +years) living in the barrios. Of these only 91,966 or 27 per cent were +enrolled in the rural schools at any time during the past year. This +shows a decrease from the figures reported last year, but the fact is +accounted for by an order issued from the central office prohibiting +rural teachers from enrolling more than 80 pupils. In some of the +populous barrios the teachers were enrolling 150 pupils and sometimes +more. Inasmuch as neither the material conditions of the school +buildings nor the professional equipment of the teachers justified such +a burden, it was deemed wise, even in the face of an overwhelming school +population for which no provision is made, to limit the enrollment to a +size compatible with a semblance of efficiency. The average number of +pupils belonging during the year to the rural schools was 76,341. The +average number of teachers at work in these schools was 1,243. This +figure includes a number of teachers whose salary was paid by the school +boards from their surplus funds. The corps of teachers for the entire +Island is fixed by the legislature each year when the appropriations to +pay their salaries are made, the commissioner being charged with its +distribution among the various municipalities, but the school boards +may, within certain limitations, increase the number allotted to them +provided they pay their salaries from any surplus funds at their +disposal. The average number of pupils taught by each teacher was about +63. The average daily attendance was 69,786, or 89.7 per cent, which +gives an average of about 58 pupils receiving instruction daily from +each teacher. About 59 per cent of the pupils were boys and 41 per cent +girls. The average age of all pupils in the rural schools was 10.1 +years. + +"The above figures show, in a way, the magnitude of the problem to be +solved before the people of Porto Rico can assume in full the duties and +privileges of self-government. That enormous mass of illiterates, in its +primitive, uncured condition, is not safe timber to build the good ship +of state. We realize that there are serious social and economic problems +to be solved before the people of Porto Rico reach the desired goal. But +the pioneer work must be done by the rural school. Those people must be +brought to a realization of their condition and to wish to improve it. +The rural school, adapted more and more to actual conditions, is the one +agency that can bring this about. At present, we are making provision +for less than one third of the rural school population. It is as if we +had an enormous debt and our resources did not permit us to pay the +interest on it. The problem calls for heroic measures. + +"Of the 1,243 teachers in charge of the rural schools during the past +year, 1,217 or 91 per cent had double enrollment, i.e., one group of 40 +pupils or less in the morning for three hours, and another similar +group in the afternoon for the same period. The distribution of time +among the various subjects of the curriculum depends, of course, on +whether the school has double enrollment or not, as well as on the +number of grades grouped in any one session. + +"The course of study of the rural schools extends over a period of six +years. Of the 91,966 different pupils enrolled during the year, 49.1 per +cent were found in the first grade, 25.7 per cent in the second, 15.9 +per cent in the third, 8.4 per cent in the fourth, and the remaining 0.9 +per cent in the fifth and sixth grades. Of the total enrollment 93.2 per +cent were on half time, the remaining 6.8 per cent receiving instruction +six hours daily. + +"Any enrichment of the rural course of study has been necessarily +conditioned by the meager professional equipment of the rural teaching +force, many of whom entered the service with nothing more than a +common-school education and a few scraps of information about school +management gotten together for the examination. Up to the present the +academic requirements for admission to the examinations for the rural +license have been limited to the eighth-grade diploma or its equivalent, +and the examinations for the obtention of the license have covered the +following subjects: English, Spanish, arithmetic, history of the United +States and of Porto Rico, geography, elementary physiology and hygiene, +nature study, and methods of teaching. It has been announced already +that in all probability candidates for the rural license will have to +present four high-school credits for admission to the examinations. The +excess of teachers now obtaining and the increasing output of the Normal +School will afford opportunity for selection and will raise the standard +of efficiency of the force. At its last quarterly meeting the board of +trustees of the University of Porto Rico voted to raise the entrance +requirements of the Normal Department from four high-school credits to +eight. In view of this, the Department of Education will probably +increase the requirements for admission to the examinations for the +rural license sufficiently to bring them up to the standard established +by the board of trustees for admission to the Normal Department of the +University. + +"The rural teachers are elected by the school boards, subject to the +approval of the Commissioner of Education, who pays their salaries from +an Insular appropriation. The teachers are divided into three salary +classes, as follows: First class, $40; second class, $45; third class, +$50. All rural teachers begin at the $40 salary, and after three years +of experience pass to the $45 class and after five years to the $50 +class. Last year all rural teachers received a salary of $38 only, due +to financial embarrassment. + +"The rural schools were housed in 1,193 separate buildings, containing a +total of 1,250 classrooms. Of these 1,193 rural buildings, 320 are owned +by the school boards and were especially constructed for school purposes +from plans approved by the Department of Education and the sanitary +officials. Most of the rural school buildings contain but one room, +although not a few have two, three, and even four, the tendency toward +the centralized school growing steadily. In all, 24 new rural school +buildings have been erected during the year. Most of these are frame +structures, but some are built of reënforced concrete and have a very +pleasing appearance." + + + + +THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY + + +THE movement toward using the schoolhouse as a center for the social +activities of the community is gaining ground every year and through +this movement the school, as an organization consisting of the teacher +and pupils, is rapidly coming to have much more influence in the +community life than was formerly the case when the school was considered +as merely an organization for the teaching of academic subjects. The +need of a social center in the country districts is especially marked, +inasmuch as there is a decided tendency among the country people to +gather in small groups, based upon relationship or intimate friendship, +to the exclusion of the wider interests of the community. Little attempt +is usually made to direct in any way the outside activities or the +recreation hours of the young people and often their activities take a +direction which is distinctly unsocial. + +The school in adapting itself to the community in order that it may +serve as a social center must make certain investigations, because the +need of social service and the kind of service which shall be +instituted, depends upon existing local conditions. Some of the most +necessary lines of investigation to be made by the teacher and pupils +before the most effective aid can be rendered, are those which follow: + +First.--The number of farmers who own the farms upon which they live and +the number of tenant farmers. + +Second.--The average size of the farms; the number of well-arranged +homes; the total number of acres devoted to each of the important crops. + +Third.--The distance to the nearest market, and the number of miles of +well-kept roads. + +These three points will determine largely the direction which any social +movement must take, because upon them is based the economic situation of +the community. In addition to considering the community from the +economic point of view, we may also consider the sanitary conditions +that prevail in the district, and the teacher and pupils should make a +survey of the district with the following points in mind: + +First.--The sources of water supply. If water is from open wells, where +are they located, and what is the distance from barns and outhouses; are +they built in accordance with specifications from the Department of +Sanitation? + +Second.--How is garbage disposed of in the neighborhood; are common +drinking cups and the common towel prohibited in the schoolroom? Is the +school furnished with a covered water tank, and does it have facilities +for washing the hands and face? Do the people of the neighborhood know +the regulations of the Department of Sanitation in regard to sanitary +conditions; is there much preventable illness in the district, and to +what extent are patent medicines used by the patrons of the school? + +Third.--Are the houses, including the schoolhouses, well ventilated and +well located as far as distance from standing water or other +mosquito-breeding places is concerned? Is the floor of the schoolhouse +swept every night, and are foot scrapers and doormats provided? Does the +teacher inspect the outhouses, and are they built according to +specifications from the Department of Sanitation? + +A union of all the patrons of the district is necessary if any movement +is to be carried out with telling effect, and the teacher should find +out if there is or has been any organization of the men, women, girls, +or boys in the district of a social or civic type; has the school done +anything up to the present time to improve the social life in the +district, and has it ever encouraged local fairs or exhibits of school +or agricultural products, and has it founded boys' or girls' +agricultural or home economics clubs? + +How does the religious condition affect the community, and what is the +attitude of the community toward these matters and toward social +affairs? How do the young men and young women spend their leisure time? +Has the school any magazines or farm papers in its library, and how many +homes in the district have any library, or any musical instruments? + +What has been the attitude of the previous teachers in the district +toward the affairs of the community; how long has each remained in the +district? Are changes in the position of the teachers frequent, and if +so, what is the reason? Have previous teachers actually resided in the +community or have they lived in the nearest town? Have the previous +teachers been professionally trained, and have they taken any interest +in the affairs of the community outside of their regular school duties? + +When the school has succeeded in getting together the information noted +in the above paragraphs, it will then be in a position to determine what +lines of social activity will be best for the particular community. + +The organization of men's clubs and women's clubs for the discussion of +topics of general interest and for the purpose of arousing a feeling of +community interest should be undertaken as soon as possible, the teacher +always remembering that the management of these organizations should be +in the hands of the members who compose them, and that the teacher +should act only as an adviser in case advice may be necessary. The +people should feel that on them rests the responsibility of developing +the civic and social life of the community, and the teacher should not +allow them to shift this responsibility. The organization of boys' clubs +and girls' clubs will present no difficulties to the teacher who has +made a study of the situation and who is prepared for his work. The boys +and girls are in the most easily influenced period of their lives, and +whether or not they will develop a sense of civic and social +responsibility, depends very largely upon the attitude which their +teachers take in regard to these matters. + +Rural life in any community has a tendency to be monotonous and +deadening to the finer qualities. Uninterrupted and unduly prolonged +physical labor tends to the detriment of both the physical and the +mental abilities of the individual. The isolation of the country home +tends to narrow and restrict social intercourse, and the difficulty of +travel and communication increases the monotony of country life. These +circumstances do a great deal to offset the advantage of living in the +country and have contributed a great deal to the stigma that has always +been attached to the countryman. + +If there is to be any reform in this isolated social life of the +community, the reform must come about through the schools. The +Government can aid to a great extent through the provision of well-kept +roads and by the establishment of means of communication such as the +telephone and the telegraph. The man who is in touch with the large +affairs of life forgets his own petty annoyances in the contemplation of +problems of greater importance, while the man who has nothing to think +about except the annoyances of his own life tends to become +self-centered and narrow. + +Rural social center work in the United States has made great progress +within the last few years and has been successful in practically all the +places where it has been tried, especially if the teacher is a person of +tact and intelligence. A great deal depends upon the attitude which the +teacher has in this work, and it is not enough that the teacher should +undertake such work as a burden added to the already overcrowded +curriculum of the day, but the teacher should enter into the movement +with a sincere desire to improve the condition of the community and +bring the patrons of the district to a higher degree of efficiency as +workmen and as citizens. In every community there are many young women +and young men who are above the average school age who are compelled to +work during the day, and who are fast becoming fixed in the monotonous +life that has surrounded the older people of the community, who might +easily be interested by the teacher and influenced through the formation +of social clubs, so that they would form the nucleus for a better coming +generation of citizens. The meetings of young people should partake of +recreation as well as of serious study, and while the avowed intention +of new clubs formed by the school should be for the purpose of bettering +the social and civic condition of the people of the community, they must +be placed in as favorable a light as possible, for it should be +remembered that people will often undertake a movement which will have +decidedly beneficial results if it is disguised under the form of +recreation, when they would hesitate to give their continued assistance +to such a movement if it partook entirely of the nature of serious +study. + +The Department of Education in the Island of Porto Rico is making a +special effort at the present time to interest the older girls and the +women of the towns in social betterment through the medium of mothers' +clubs and girls' clubs, organized under the direction of the teachers of +home economics. These clubs have been organized in practically all of +the towns of the Island and are meeting with general success. In many +cases the girls' clubs assume an aspect of economic improvement in that +they undertake the production of certain salable articles such as +embroidery or handwork, and the teacher in charge of the group provides +the market for the articles produced. Little has been done up to the +present in organizing the men and boys into social groups. Boy scout +organizations were widely established through the Island several years +ago, but on account of the lack of some individual to devote his time to +the organizing side of the movement they have decreased in number and in +influence. Anyone who is at all familiar with the social situation in +Porto Rico, especially in the rural districts, will see at once the +necessity of organizations of the kind mentioned above and will be +impressed with the possibilities for good in a community which can be +exercised by the rural school under the direction of an efficient, well +trained, enthusiastic teacher. The democratic form of government which +the Island enjoys demands the highest possible development of civic and +social ideas and obligations, and in order to fulfill its highest +mission the school should undertake such lines of work as will tend to +develop not only better educated people of academic attainments, but +also better trained citizens in the social and civic sense. + + + + +RELATION OF THE TEACHER TO THE COMMUNITY + + +IN rural sections the school should be a factor of much more importance +than it is in the urban centers for the reason that the country people +are almost entirely shut off from other educative institutions such as +public libraries, free lectures, and association with their +fellow-citizens, privileges which the urban resident is able to use to +great advantage. To carry out effectively the mission of the rural +school in a community and to make it a center from which there may be +spread an influence for social betterment, as well as for intellectual +improvement, the teacher is the all-important factor. There are certain +duties which a teacher owes to his profession, in case he is working in +the country, which cannot be neglected if he is to obtain the results +which he should obtain. Following are some of the most important of +these duties: + +First.--The teacher should visit all homes and get acquainted with the +patrons. This is important in order that he may get an insight into the +conditions under which the people are living, and that he may know the +particular difficulties of the pupils with whom he has to deal. +Moreover, acquaintance on the part of the parents with the teacher will +often aid in avoiding disciplinary difficulties, inasmuch as the parents +come to have increasing confidence in him and his work as their +acquaintance with him increases. + +Second.--The teacher should study conditions from all angles so as to +adapt the school work to the needs of the community. Even in so small an +island as Porto Rico, we have distinctly different occupations centered +in different parts of the Island, and the teacher should remember that +the majority of his pupils will undoubtedly grow up to take a part in +the prevailing industry of the community in which they are born and +raised. The schedule and work of the rural school should not be an +attempt to imitate the plan of study of the urban schools, inasmuch as +the problems are entirely different, and until a teacher has convinced +himself of this fact and has made an attempt to model his work on the +needs of the community, the school will not accomplish its full mission. + +Third.--The teacher should live in the district seven days in the week +during the school term. More and more the idea is becoming prevalent +that rural teachers should be provided with a house and a small plot of +ground near the school in order to become permanent residents of the +district. The average farmer is very conservative and needs visual +demonstration of the merits of new ideas before he will accept them. No +amount of theoretical teaching will improve farming conditions to any +great extent, and unless the teacher is able to become a demonstrator of +his ideas by actually putting them into practice on the plot of ground +which he himself manages, he cannot expect to influence to any great +extent the agricultural movements of the community in which he works. +The school should aim not only for the education of the children who +are actually enrolled, but also for the betterment of the agricultural +and social conditions of the community. + +Fourth.--The rural teacher should be loyal to his pupils and patrons. +The teacher who feels himself an individual superior to the members of +the community whom he is serving and allows this feeling to express +itself in his attitude toward them, loses the greater part of his +influence through this action. The countryman likes to be met on equal +terms and does not enjoy a condescending attitude any more than does his +brother who lives in the town. The teacher should have in mind only the +benefits which he may bring to the community, and if he actually and +actively takes part in the social movements of the place he will come to +learn that human nature is the same in the country as in the town, and +he will be able to acquire a sincere liking for the people with whom he +works. + +Fifth.--The teacher should so conduct himself outside of the school as +to win respect for himself and for his profession. The idea that a +teacher's duty to the school ends with the closing of the actual school +day is a mistaken one. Any action on the part of the teacher outside of +his school work which would tend to lower him in the estimation of his +pupils or their parents, inevitably tends to reduce the amount of +influence which he can exert. A teacher is on duty constantly and cannot +limit his working hours or his working habits to certain defined periods +of time. + +Sixth.--The teacher should stay more than one year in a district, +unless a change means decided professional and financial advancement. +Short term teachers are often of more harm than benefit to the children +of a community. The advent of a new teacher means a change in plans and +usually a change in methods of work. These changes tend to upset the +minds of the children who naturally like to follow well-defined lines of +work. The constant change of teachers also means that none of them stays +sufficiently long to learn the needs of the community and the best +method of meeting these needs. School boards should offer inducements to +rural teachers in the way of increasing the salary for increased length +of service, and thus there would be less desire on the part of the +teacher to move from one district to another. + +Seventh.--The teacher should arouse an interest in the school and do his +part to convince the patrons of the need of a better school to meet the +demands of the present day. A great part of the teacher's work lies +outside of his actual teaching, and more and more we are coming to +conceive the school as a social as well as an educational institution, +and by means of parents' meetings, using the school as a social center +and making the schoolhouse a gathering place for the patrons of the +district, where they may meet and discuss the problems with which they +are confronted, the present-day teacher supplements his actual teaching +duties. There are few other ways in which the social needs of the +country people can be better met than through the rural school. +Moreover, by means of these meetings it is possible to show parents the +progress which is being made by their children in the school work and to +impress them with the necessity of regular and punctual attendance. One +of the surest ways to win the approval of men and women is by +interesting them in the progress of their children, and the wise teacher +will take advantage of every opportunity which presents itself, and go +to great lengths to make opportunities for cultivating the interest of +the parents in the school, through this means. + +Eighth.--The teacher in a rural school should have as the aim of rural +education "better men, better farming, and better living." The country +teacher who appreciates and realizes this is aware of the chief factors +in the solution of the farm problem. He must also remember that he is a +public servant and that the public has a right to expect him to put his +whole soul into the welfare of the community. The schools are held to be +largely responsible for ineffective farming and the low ideals of +country life. A great many of our rural teachers are not at all in +sympathy with rural ideals and rural customs. They regard their position +as merely temporary, and express, even though it may be involuntary on +their part, the idea that the town is much preferable to the country, +and in this way inculcate in the children a distaste for the life of the +country, when it should be their duty to present the best features of +rural life in order to persuade the children to remain on the farms. + +Ninth.--The teacher should be able to discriminate between essentials +and non-essentials and omit the latter, thus giving more time to the +problems of country life. He should get away from the formalism of +textbooks, using them only as tools, and adapt all his work to the needs +and interests of the community. He should not attempt to be too +scientific, but should teach in terms of child life. And even in his +intercourse with the patrons of the school he should put himself, in +manners and conversation, on terms of equality with them. The teacher +should learn to use his energy for better and more definite planning, +and in the schoolroom should do for the children fewer of those things +that may be done by the pupils themselves. There is no reason why pupils +should not be taught to study and work independently, and the school +that fulfills its highest mission trains children to become independent +workers. Especially is this true in the country, where pupils should +work as well as study and recite. Mere academic training in the rural +school will defeat the purpose of the school and will be very apt to +produce young men and young women who are dissatisfied with the +conditions under which they must live after leaving school. + + + + +PRESENT-DAY RURAL SCHOOL MOVEMENTS + + +WITHIN the last few years, rural education in the United States has +received a great deal of attention, and many plans have been suggested +for the betterment of rural teaching. Conferences of state and national +educators have been held for the purpose of discussing the rural school +question, and out of the mass of school movements, discussions, and +ideas which have been presented, there are some which might be made +applicable to the situation as it exists in Porto Rico. + +The following ideas seem to indicate the spirit which underlies rural +education of the present day. They are the result of a conference held +in Kentucky in 1914 by people who were especially interested in rural +school problems: + +First.--The greatest social need of the century is the organization and +consequent up-building of the rural life of America. + +Second.--This must be the outgrowth of the self-activity of rural life +forces. + +Third.--Outside forces can only assist in the work. + +Fourth.--There is a need of raising the general level of living in the +country in order to keep the brightest and best people from leaving the +country in too great numbers. + +Fifth.--To educate the young in the schools, to elevate their ideals, to +arouse their ambitions without raising the level of living and offering +them a broader field for the exercise of their talents, may do as much +harm as good. + +Sixth.--The school is only one of the agencies for community +up-building. + +Seventh.--There must be coöperation among the rural life forces, all +working together for a common end. + +Eighth.--The farmer, the country woman, the country teacher, the country +editor, the country doctor, and the country business man must all join +hands for better living along every line in the country. + +Ninth.--The community is the proper unit for rural development. + +Tenth.--The community must learn how to educate, to organize, and to +develop itself. + +In attempting to carry out the ideas expressed in the statements quoted +above, emphasis has been laid upon educational rallies, school farms, +farmers' Chatauquas, and other means which have as their aim the idea of +arousing community pride and community coöperation, not only for the +benefit and betterment of the school, but also for the benefit and +betterment of the members of the community who are not of school age. A +great deal of emphasis has been laid upon rural school extension work, +that is, work carried on under the supervision of school officers but +which really devotes its main efforts to adults who are living in rural +communities. One of the most recent steps in this direction was the +passing of the bill known as the "Smith Lever Act" by the Federal +Congress in 1914, which ultimately carries with it an appropriation of +over $4,500,000 for agricultural extension and rural welfare. Under this +bill, Porto Rico receives $10,000 per year for extension work among the +farmers, the work being carried out under the supervision of the Federal +Experiment Station located at Mayaguez. + +Another movement which is prominent in rural school affairs at present, +is the tendency toward a larger unit of organization for taxation and +administration. The rural schools of Porto Rico are already under the +municipal unit of school administration, which probably will not be +changed, as close supervision demands rather small units of +organization. In the report of the Commissioner of Education for 1915-16 +a suggestion is made that the appropriation of money for schools +throughout the Island be determined by the school population in a given +community and not by the taxable wealth of that community. It frequently +happens that the wealthiest municipalities are the ones which are least +in need of additional school facilities, and this recommendation tends +to make the unit for school taxation and appropriation of funds an +Insular rather than a municipal unit, as we have to-day. The idea, of +course, is based upon the fact that Porto Rico is small enough so that +every citizen should be interested in the education of all the children +of the Island, and that the movements in education should be Insular in +unit rather than municipal. + +Demonstration schools for rural communities have been organized with a +view to showing the people in a definite and concrete way what a school +can do for a community. These demonstration schools are usually placed +in a central location and put under the charge of the teachers of +greatest experience and ability. All of the children in the different +grades included in the rural school course have a course of study to +complete in the schoolroom, and another equally emphasized course of +study to complete in the home and on the farm. + +Experiments and studies are being carried on which involve the use of +every day throughout the year. To accomplish this end, the father and +mother have become the assistant supervisors of the home work and the +farm work, and they receive the advice, the suggestion, and the +instruction of the rural supervisors of schools. While working to get +the best possible results from the efforts made, and to establish the +facts by samples, by photographs, and by financial relations of cost and +return, these undertakings are accompanied by neighborhood meetings of +many kinds which have had the effect of enlarging community interest, +community support, and community improvement. Out of these efforts have +come better social conditions, more harmonious relations, a development +of better ideals, and a higher conception of life. + +These demonstration schools, in addition to being a force among the +people in the community where they are located, also serve as +educational centers which are to be visited by the other rural teachers +of the community in order that the inexperienced and untrained teacher +may receive the benefit of the teacher of more experience. In addition, +these schools also serve the purpose of experimental schools where many +ideas are worked out and put into effect, and new methods of teaching as +well as untried methods of farming are given a trial. + +The rural school situation is being studied more to-day than ever +before, for it is being realized that our country schools are not +functioning to the best advantage. The social side of the task, +extension work among the patrons of the district, consolidated and more +efficient schools, and better trained teachers are only a few of the +phases of this movement toward making the rural school a real force +throughout the country. The movement is gaining ground each year, and +though there are many problems to be solved and many difficult +situations to be met, yet there is every reason to believe that out of +this mass of experiments there will evolve the rural school of the +future, which will be a more vital factor in the community than has been +the case up to the present day. + + + + +PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND LONGEVITY + + +THE anthropometric examinations given in the University of Porto Rico +during the last two years have provided data from which to determine the +physical development of the Porto Rican. A total of 1,412 examinations +has been made, including 616 men and 796 women. These students ranged in +age from fifteen to thirty years. + +A comparison of the physical development of American and Porto Rican +boys and girls of the same age shows that the Porto Rican surpasses the +American in nearly every point, at the ages of fifteen, sixteen, and +seventeen. At eighteen the physical development is about the same, but +from that time there seems to be little additional growth on the part of +the Porto Rican, while the American continues to develop up to and +including the twenty-second year. This seems to confirm the generally +accepted theory that a person matures earlier in the tropics than he +does in a temperate climate. That the slighter physical development is +the effect of geographic or climatic conditions, and is not entirely due +to race, is proved by the fact that measurements of Chilean boys, who +are of Spanish blood, more nearly approximate those of North American +boys than they do those of Porto Ricans. The following tables show a +comparison of the development of the Porto Rican students with the +average development of American men and women. The measurements are in +pounds and inches. + + + TABLE I + + ==================================================================== + |Average measurements | Average + | of Porto Rican male |measurements of + |students from 16 to 28 | American men + | years of age |from 17 to 30 + | | years of age + ---------------------------+-----------------------+---------------- + Height | 64.94 | 67.6 + Weight | 110.67 | 138.6 + Chest, transversal | 10.26 | 10.8 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 7.92 | 7.5 + Shoulders | 15.06 | 16.1 + Neck | 13.05 | 13.9 + Chest, contracted | 30.63 | 33.7 + Chest, expanded | 33.25 | 36.7 + Waist | 27.92 | 29.1 + Right forearm | 9.33 | 10.4 + Left forearm | 9.20 | 10.4 + Right arm up | 9.61 | 11.9 + Right arm down | 8.45 | 10.4 + Left arm up | 9.42 | 11.8 + Left arm down | 8.22 | 10.3 + Right thigh | 17.97 | 20.3 + Left thigh | 17.83 | 20.2 + Right calf | 12.64 | 13.8 + Left calf | 12.66 | 13.8 + ---------------------------+-----------------------+---------------- + + TABLE II + + ==================================================================== + | Average measurements | Average + | of Porto Rican women | measurements of + | students from 16 to | American women + | 28 years of age | from 17 to + | | 30 years of age + --------------------------+-----------------------+------------------ + Height | 61.78 | 62.9 + Weight | 107.82 | 116. + Chest, transversal | 9.35 | 10. + Chest, anterior-posterior | 6.93 | 6.8 + Shoulders | 13.64 | 14.4 + Neck | 11.98 | 12.1 + Chest, natural | 29.19 | 29.7 + Chest, contracted | 28.57 | 29.6 + Chest, expanded | 31.29 | 32. + Waist | 25.14 | 24.3 + Hips | 33.76 | 35.7 + Right forearm | 8.71 | 8.8 + Left forearm | 8.61 | 8.6 + Right arm down | 8.44 | 9.8 + Left arm down | 8.40 | 9.7 + Right arm up | 8.99 | 10.8 + Left arm up | 8.82 | 10.6 + Right thigh | 18.79 | 21.1 + Left thigh | 18.65 | 21. + Right calf | 12.66 | 13. + Left calf | 12.64 | 13. + --------------------------+-----------------------+----------------- + +If it is true that the Porto Rican reaches the height of physical +development at the age of eighteen, then we may consider that an average +of the measurements of the men and women from and after that age will +give us what is practically the representative physical development of +the Porto Rican adult. These averages are found in the following table. + + + TABLE III + + _Representative development of Porto Rican students at the University + of Porto Rico, of more than 18 years of age._ + + =============================================== + | Men | Women + ---------------------------+----------+-------- + Height | 65.87 | 61.83 + Weight | 116.21 | 107.93 + Shoulders | 15.39 | 13.67 + Chest, transversal | 10.39 | 9.34 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 8.07 | 6.98 + Neck | 13.32 | 12.01 + Chest, muscular | 32.74 | 30.27 + Chest, natural | 31.87 | 29.45 + Chest, expanded | 33.84 | 31.30 + Chest, contracted | 31.36 | 28.23 + Waist | 27.96 | 25.08 + Hips | 32.13 | 33.45 + Right arm down | 8.62 | 8.49 + Right arm up | 9.79 | 8.95 + Right forearm | 9.53 | 8.61 + Left arm down | 8.43 | 8.36 + Left arm up | 9.61 | 8.83 + Left forearm | 9.46 | 8.29 + Right thigh | 18.38 | 18.76 + Left thigh | 18.15 | 18.61 + Right calf | 12.85 | 12.68 + Left calf | 12.90 | 12.64 + ---------------------------+----------+-------- + +For the purpose of comparing the Porto Rican boys with boys of Spanish +blood, but of another climate, Table IV, which shows the comparative +development of Porto Rican and Chilean boys from 16 to 20 years of age, +is given. The measurements for the Chilean boys were furnished by the +Museo Nacional of Santiago, Chili. + + + TABLE IV + + --------------------------+------------+---------- + Sixteen years | Porto Rico | Chili + --------------------------+------------+---------- + Number observed | 16. | 340. + Height | 64.42 | 64.49 + Weight | 105.44 | 123.64 + Chest | 31.01 | 33.09 + Chest, transversal | 9.69 | 10.34 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 7.79 | 7.66 + Waist | 27.28 | 25.11 + | | + Seventeen years | | + | | + Number observed | 75. | 248. + Height | 64.41 | 65.43 + Weight | 113.41 | 128.48 + Chest | 32.06 | 33.52 + Chest, transversal | 10.11 | 10.72 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 7.99 | 7.97 + Waist | 25.05 | 25.54 + | | + Eighteen years | | + | | + Number observed | 92. | 138. + Height | 65.72 | 65.86 + Weight | 118.43 | 133.32 + Chest | 32.61 | 34.33 + Chest, transversal | 10.36 | 11.04 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 8.14 | 8.09 + Waist | 28.08 | 26.09 + | | + Nineteen years | | + | | + Number observed | 107. | 65. + Height | 65.47 | 65.94 + Weight | 111.53 | 133.98 + Chest | 32.33 | 34.66 + Chest, transversal | 10.27 | 11.35 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 8.15 | 8.17 + Waist | 27.15 | 26.13 + | | + Twenty years | | + | | + Number observed | 78. | 18. + Height | 65.91 | 66.18 + Weight | 113.32 | 113.52 + Chest | 32.36 | 34.71 + Chest, transversal | 10.39 | 11.43 + Chest, anterior-posterior | 7.77 | 8.33 + Waist | 27.58 | 26.44 + --------------------------+------------+---------- + +A study of the census of 1910 showing the distribution of the population +of Porto Rico by race and by age periods gives some interesting +information. If the situation given there is taken to be typical of +general conditions, by considering the number of children of each class +under one year of age, we find that the highest birth rate is among the +mulattoes; next in order come the native whites of native parentage, +next the blacks, and last the native whites of foreign or mixed +parentage. The actual percentage of each class under one year of age is +as follows: mulattoes, 3.9 per cent; native whites of native parentage, +3.6 per cent; blacks, 2.5 per cent; native whites of foreign or mixed +parentage, 2 per cent. The percentage of the population under five years +of age in each class tends to confirm this statement. It is as follows: +mulattoes 17.9 per cent; native whites of native parentage, 14.7 per +cent; blacks, 12.2 per cent; native whites of foreign or mixed +parentage, 9.5 per cent. + +While the mulattoes have the highest birth rate, it is also true that, +as a general thing, they are the shortest lived of any of the classes +mentioned. The class which generally has greatest longevity consists of +the negroes; next in order come the native whites of mixed or foreign +parentage, then the native whites of native parentage, and last, the +mulattoes. Thus the order, as regards length of life, is nearly the +reverse of what it is as regards birth rate. + +It is observed also that while native whites of foreign or mixed +parentage have a comparatively great length of life and a comparatively +low birth rate, their children, who fall in the class of native whites +of native parentage, have shorter lives and tend to produce larger +families, than did the parents. In each class the females outnumber the +males, the proportion being 100 females to 99.4 males for the total +population, which, however, includes the foreign-born whites, where the +males outnumber the females. In the classes of native-born citizens, the +difference between the numbers of the sexes is greater than the ratio +for the total population would indicate, being the greatest among the +mulattoes, where the ratio is 93.6 males for every 100 females. In each +class it is found that the women enjoy greater length of life than do +the men. + +The following table shows what proportion of the total number of each +class of the population falls under the age groups designated. + + Transcriber's Note: The following abbreviations were used to keep this + table to a reasonable width: + + M = Males + F = Females + + TABLE V + + ===================================================================== + | | | | Native | + | | | Native | white | + | Negroes | Mulattoes | white | of foreign| Foreign + | | | of native | or mixed | born white + | | | parentage | parentage | + +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F + ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + Under | | | | | | | | | | + 5 years | 12.9| 11.6| 18.3| 17.4| 17.1| 16.4| 10.1| 8.9| .8| 2.1 + 5 to 24 | 42.3| 42.5| 48.2| 47.1| 46.2| 46.4| 45.6| 45.9| 18.8| 20.8 + 25 to 54 | 34.4| 34.8| 29. | 30.1| 31.7| 31.5| 36.6| 35.6| 64.6| 57.2 + 55 to 84 | 9.7| 10.5| 4.4| 5.3| 5. | 5. | 7.4| 9.3| 15.6| 19.2 + 85 years | | | | | | | | | | + and over | .7| .8| .1| .2| .1| .2| .1| .3| .2| .8 + ---------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + +It will be noticed that above the age of 55 there is a larger proportion +of women than men in each class. Judging the median age for each group +to be the year which divides the total number of that group into two +equal divisions, so far as number is concerned, we find the following +median ages: blacks, 23; mulattoes, 18; native whites of native +parentage, 20; native whites of foreign or mixed parentage, 22; +foreign-born whites, 37. These results correspond exactly with the +statements previously made regarding the longevity of each group. This +would, of course, only give the median age for each class at the time +the census was taken, in 1910, but as practically the same age +distribution is also found in the census of 1899, it may be concluded +that the results are approximately correct. This means that 50 per cent +of each group does not live beyond the age indicated, and is sometimes +known as the "mean length of life." Data for calculating the average +length of life are not available. + +A comparison of the age groups in the United States and in Porto Rico +shows that the proportion in the younger ages is greater in Porto Rico +than it is in the United States. + + +TABLE VI + + ==================+==============+=============== + | Native white | Colored + +------+-------+------+-------- + | Porto| United| Porto| United + | Rico | States| Rico | States + ------------------+------+-------+------+-------- + Under 5 years | 16.5 | 13.5 | 17.1 | 12.9 + 5 to 14 years | 26.3 | 23. | 27.1 | 24.4 + 15 to 24 years | 20. | 20.3 | 19.8 | 21.3 + 25 to 44 years | 25.4 | 26.5 | 24.2 | 26.8 + 45 to 64 years | 9.6 | 13. | 9.4 | 11.3 + 65 years and over | 2.2 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 3. + ------------------+------+-------+------+-------- + +Undoubtedly the work of the Department of Sanitation and of the +Institute of Tropical Medicine will do much to change the death rate +within the next few years, and to prolong life. We may well expect the +next census to show a much larger percentage of the population in the +higher age groups. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS + + + + +Education + + + ADMINISTRATION AND DISCIPLINE + + Chancellor's Our Schools: their Administration and Supervision $1.50 + Chancellor's Our City Schools: their Direction and Management 1.25 + Davenport's Education for Efficiency 1.00 + Hollister's High School Administration 1.50 + Morehouse's The Discipline of the School 1.25 + Stout's The High School 1.50 + + + EDUCATIONAL CLASSICS + + Ascham's The Schoolmaster (Arber) 1.25 + Franklin's Educational Ideal (Cloyd) 1.00 + Kant On Education (Churton) .75 + Pestalozzi's Leonard and Gertrude. Paper, .25. Cloth .90 + Rousseau's Emile. Paper, .25. Cloth .90 + Thompson's Day Dreams of a Schoolmaster 1.25 + + + HERBARTIANISM + + Adams's Herbartian Psychology Applied to Education 1.00 + Felkin's Introduction to Herbart's Science and Practice of + Education 1.00 + Herbart's Science of Education. 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