The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-07

SELF for IL own profit. This was a
fruitful source OF !lricyme. producing
nearly 10000 pesos yearly 80
II has been Spains custom to pre-.
vent fishing In all lakes and rivers OF
Porto Rico unless the fisherman paid q
good round sum for a iiceHse. or course
mitch fishing was dore without q IL
icense. because the government could
not'watch water Waya sufficiently close
10 punish all 2offenders,l still the neas.
ure was n hardship for the poor man,
and he il better off now that Il has
been removed. Also IN tax called the
Territorial tax" which amounted z to
five per cent on all agricultural produce
lions. has been removed, and in these
two last mentioned acts one can gee
the governors purpose OF tightening the
burden for rich and poor alike.
e 1t Is the purpose OF DR.. Coll to pre-
pare statistics upon food consumption
In Porto Rico, and he vii recommend
10 General Henry tina: flour and dried
meats beiRdmHted from the United
States without payment OF duty. DR..
Coll Will also recommend that material
for the clothing of the poorer classes
and shoes for tho country workers be
admitted free OF duty. He considers
that the people would be greatly bene-
flied X n certain kind OF pump. which
permits them easilySto obtain good
water anywhere In tho IowiaHds conld
be supplied at a reasonable cost. and
he will recommend that these also be
placed on the free list. His idea In
10 inr To- To,
poor man. and IN this he will surely
find a willing chief In General Henry.
The commanding general IL fully aware
OF the aenemic. half nourlshed Condi-l
ton OF the poorer Porto RIcans. and he
also rcnllzes that men and women In
this condition cannot make good clti-
Zens. He Ia disposed to do all In his
power to aid them. and IL he cannot
get food to them unreasonable prices,
prices Mt which they can buy It. he will
seriously consider the ACCESSIBILITY Of
issuing them ratlons until such time as
proper and necessary nourlshment Is
placed within their reach.
The Porto Rican business man is OF
keen intelligence and OF quick pereep-
.tIons. His relations In the past have
been largely with old established and
reliable European concerns and to-day
he is making comparisons between the
pioneers of American commerce" who
with baggage and sample trunk are
daily landing upon the shores OF his Is
land home, and the business men OF the
continent whom he has known In the
past. The result OF this keen scrutiny
II linn
favorable to the American pioneer, II
has. in fact, brought Into life the; old
Spanish word buscones. Buscar. 10 hunt,
to Seek buscones, hunters. seekers, ad-
vcnturers and some even say the term
means cheats and pilferers
The Porto Rcan Is hard to fool. Be-
cause his island is In n far away corne:
OF the West Indies, the location OF which
has only lately become known to the
majority of Americans not In schools
ard because lie has lived quietly at
home and attended 10 the business and
pleasures Of n community Of some eight
hundred thousand people. he Is none the
less pretty good Judge OF men and
manners. The Americans who. are to-
day In evidence upon this island, have
been weighed and found wanting.
Commercially we are making the
same mistake here that we have al
ready made In another Latin American
country and that has been to underes-
innate the intelligence. the perceptions
and the culture OF the business men
thereof.
As the Porto Rican is quick 10 detect
the roughness, the bad manners. the
lack of courtesy. the receptions and the
guile OF some Of his recent visitors, SO
Is he equally quick. to perceive contrary
qualities in others among them. On the
first points he Is perhaps over sensl-,
tive and may be said to fail In apprc-
citation Of the rough diamond. On the
other hand there are qualities present
In the Anglo-Saxon gentleman OF
breeding That are as incomarchensible
to the men OF this capital as is the idea
OF cold and snow to the ignorant laborcr
OF this tropical island.
In the beginning, the Porto Rican
overcstimatcd us. and part Of the
awakening he is now experiencing is n
natural reaction. In the beginning the
word American stood for all that was
best In The way OF government, civilizl-
ton. advancement. education. manners
and commerce. Gu" country and Its
institutions was looked UP to by the
masses In n way that is difficult to un-
dcrstund to-day. Americans fresh
from the states were regarded as ai-
most superior beings; when we landed
here before the war. the islanders in
vested us with glamor OF the won
ders in Washington and New York that
we had but recently gazed upon. AnS-
thing and everything American was
considered ID be pre-emlnently the
best OF its kind. In the beginning OH:
welcome was based upon these conccp-
lions. It was thought that the passing
of Spain and the acceptance Of the
Stars and Stripes would carry with II
some magical influence from the great
country up rorth. sufficient In itself to
put an end to all that was unjust and
wrong anu to straighten out the affairs
OF this unhappy island as with n farS's
wand. From this unreal mental atti-
tude there has come the consequential
awakening. which has been furthered
and forced to the other eytcetIe bS the
representatives OF the United States
who are now In evidence In Porto Rico.
The misbehavlor OF the American
troops came first. II was disappointing
to discover that the slvlors OF the conn.,
try behaved with unmistnkable rowdy-
ism. this was hardly In accordance with
prcconcelved- ideas. But the misde-
mennors seemed TO continue. ana al
though we found many staunch de-
tenders. men and women too. who said
that 1t was unfair to Judge IN army By
ln rttn Of -, 80