The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-13

since given up every attempt to com pete in commerce. Harrassed on every side by government officials, subject to open and prejudiced discrimination in the settlement of tariff adjustments, accused of revolutionary intentions if patronized by their friends, they have abandoned the unequal struggle, and have turned their attention to the libe- ral professions, graduating in our uni versailles and taking back with them to their country new ideas of civic rights and progression which have made them still further objects of suspicion of their vulgar insular masters.
 To evade absolute ill-treatment and, in some cases, even torture, many have taken out papers of American citizen ship, and in the States to-day are Por- To Ricans whose success and the esti- nation in which they are held by all who come into contact with them bear witness to their mental and moral fiber. That these men will play large part in the regeneration of the island under it's new conditions is a foregone and logical conclusion, and it is equally cer- tain that their experience of republican iiiolitullOliS anu lilt llllluClSC tliCy poS
 sess over their countrymen will enable them to lend most effective aid to this government when it decides to institute reforms foreign to the customs of the island and which the natives might, at first sight, suppose to be inimical to their interests.
 The personality of the Porto Rican is very charming one. Generations of ill-treatment have developed in them patient resignation which has about it nothing of cowardice. Even now, with liberty within grasp, nothing is heard of recrimination, and none will be prac- ticed The same hospitality will be of fered to the Spaniard as to other rla- tions, and that hospitality is proverbial The social life of the cities is identical With that of most all other tropical l Spanish American countries. The mass in the cool of the morning, at which 1t is to be feared religious thoughts are not the only ones which fill the heads of the youth of both sexes: the retreat af- ter sundown, where slim -waisted, dainty senoritas glide up and down the plaza I to the sound of fine military band; | shopping by gasight, which develops | into a series of skirmishes between l buyer and assistant, dear to the hearts of the fair sex and an occasional ball at the captain-generars palace, where costumes may be seen which have the undeniable stamp of Rue de la Paix, and faces which have a beauty which is at once touching and enchanting. Small features, large, black, lustrous eyes and perfect oval outlines make the criolla distinct improvement on the sensual-faced Spanish woman, and she l is of more refined instincts and gentler disposition. As mothers they are unex- celled and literally sacrifice themselves | for the welfare of their children. The
 capital, San Juan, being the seat of government, is, of course, the social
 center, while Ponce Is commercially of
 more importance and is of more mod
 ern construction and advanced ideas. A visit to the rural districts intro- 1 duces us to a class of peasantry ground l down by unjust taxation, but simple, l thrifty and hard-working. lying in g
 hut constructed of palm branches i matched with palm lea4s, his only
 clothing a cotton duck suit from the i New England looms, and surrounded
 by numerous family, usually in g
 state of nature, he passes his day work ing in his patch of corn or sugar-cane
 and his evenings dancing the native danzas to the sound of the guiro and tiple. He can neither read nor write
 (Continud on Fifth Page.)