Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-23
TASK IN PORTO RICO
Captain Gardner Describes the Diff
cult Problems.
SCHOLARSHIPS POLITICAL FOOTBALLS
Need to Enforce Attendance of
Pupils.
THE STATES CONTRIBUTION


| the United States" says Capt. Augustus p
| Gardner, assistant adjutant general of vol
| unteerS, in the concluding portion of his
! interesting report to Assistant Secretary
| of War Meiklejohn upon the educational
| religious and other affairs of the Island of
| Porto Rico, land not q continual thorn II,
| her side it is as certain as the rising OF
| the sun that the work of reconstruction
| must be done by men of disinterested mo-
| tives."
| In considering, says Capt. Gardner, the
| various elements which go to make up the
social system of Porto Rico the most worthy
| of detailed examination is the method of
| education. 1t is on this branch that the
fruits, it is hoped, may be gathered in the
| future must all ripen Laws and schedules
| OF taxation may be changed at WILL but a
| long and tedious journey lies ahead of the
| people of the United States before the ISL
| and can be emancipated from the chains of
ignorance and the customs and habits of the
| people change to enlightenment. The first
| difficulty which is met with by the investi-
gator of the school system or of anything
| else of an official nature in the island is
| the impossibility of obtaining exact infor-
| nation One must proceed very warily in
accepting facts as he receives them, always
| bearing in mind that there is the widest
difference in the world between what the
| oretfcally exists and what practically
! be found.
| Investigation carried on by the eXamina-
| ton of official reports statistics and rec
| ords is one thing; investigation by ques-
| uoning mayors. school teachers and public
| officials and by personal observation is quite
| another. The unsupported possibilities of
| official arithmetic constitute the leading
| feature of the public compilation. Columns
| are incorrectly added. figures do not tally
| percentages are wrongly calculated and re-
! suits are tabulated on data which are alb
| surd on their faces. No one seems to care
when these inaccuracies pOiQfFl
| the consensus of opinion evidently being
| that figures are not to be considered seri-
| ously.
| What purports to be a census of the isl
| and is to be taken every ten years But
| the only one ever published apparently was
| that of 1887. In this the population was
| given al St6,1GS. of whom III $50. or 1G per
! cent. could neither read nor write. A com
| parisOn of these figures with those of a So
| called rectification of the census for 1883
| reveals a gross blunder somewhere, as. ac-
| cording to the returns for that year. 23S 29l
| or over twice as many people as four years
| later could neither read nor write. 1t is
scarcely conceivable that 1910 could in
flour years have lost that faculty.
IIIiterncy in Ponce.
For the city of Ponce there is an excel
lent census for the year 1897, well compiled
and to all appearances accurate. Accord
ing to this census, the city jurisdiction COW
ers a population of 5000. 1t is divided
which five, with a population of 1929 con-
sttutes the city proper, and three, with
population of 9,412, constitute the port and
suburbs, the rest being country districts.
In the city proper over "a per cent could
read or write. In the country from per
cent in some wards to 81 per cent in others.
The percentage for all twenty-eight wards
was 29.37. Captain Gardner believes this
percentage is very much too high. He saw
a few of the lists of registered voters for
the last election. Twenty per cent, h
says would be a high estimate for those
who could sign their names. Don Manuel
Hossy, secretary of public instruction for
the island, stated in his opinion that nearly
80 per cent of the population could read or
write. On questioning him, Capt. Gardner
says that he could not see that the gentle
man named had any reasonable ground for
his opinion.
The School System.
With respect to the system itself. differ
ent official authorities give different figures
in their enumeration of schools. But it is
safe to average the number in the island
at 600 at the outside, of which less than
forty private or religious schools. The
common schools are divided into superior
elementary, auxiliary and rural, with
teacher to each school, whose salary ranges
from 1,20O pesos, or say $500 per year in a
superior school of the first class to 300
pesos per year in a rural school. The su-
perior schools exist only in the seven de-
partmental cities, in each of which there
are supposed to be two superior schools,
one for each sex. AS a matter of fact,
there are but nine sex schools on the island
altogether with a total enrolment of GJ7
pupils, large proportion of whom 90 not
attend.
The superior schools are supposed TO pre-
pare for the Institute of San Juan. But a
large number of the students entering that
establishment come from private schools,
where the education obtainable has been
better than in the public schools ever since
1885, the year in which Captain Eulogio
Despujols was recalled to Spain. This dis
interested governor had kept up the stand
ard of the schools. But since his time
schoolmasters have become political foot
balls, and were awarded to henchmen for
services rendered. In view of the fact that
a graduate of the Institute of San Juan is
not sufficiently advanced to be a candidate
for our American colleges it is surmiSa ed
that the amount of learning acquired at
superior school is limited Some Of lhe
studies have high-sounding Names But
reading, writing and arithmetic are the
staples. In the elem entary schools the
course is still more Juvenile, and when the
grade of rural school is reached the pre-
tense of teaching is almost abandoned, the
teacher being apo to devote himself entirely
to the enjoyment of his salary.
In the larger townships there is one
school to about every Zoo inhabitants But
education is laid on great deal thinner in
a great many parts of the island large
country districts being without schools en-
tirely, Notwithstanding a compulsory
school attendance law. This law which
is not enforced, requires regular attend
ance, often an impossibility in the country
during the rainy season. The schools are
open for six hours daily for nine months
of the year, and for two hours daily during
July, August and September
Schools in San Juan.
The city of San Juan, being the seat of
government is comparatively favored In the
number and quality of its schools Besides
its twenty-nine common schools, it has a
normal school for each sex, a manual train
ing school and the institute. There are said
TO be about fifty pupils at each of the nor
NAL schools, and about 200 at the manual
training school, which, although only in
existence for six months, is pronounced
success. The principal educational estab-
l1shment of the island is the Institute and
de Scgulda Euseuanza de Puerto Rico
in which, according to the catalogue of
1862, there were 1913 pupils enrolled, clas-
sified as follows: Official 81; private Dos;
domestic, IL; and advanced, 13.
Only those classified as official and adj
vanced attend the lectures OF the institute
itself. The private pupils attend private
or subsidized schools in other cities afiIi-
ated with the institute, and are examined