Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-23

oVerseers and others who pretend they have
claims on the wages of the men.
Sometimes there is a planter who makes
demands for alleged debts and thus tries to
get a percentage Of the wages.
Many Of the men have never received real
money before and they hardly know what to
do with it. The government paymaster
told the men that the money was their own
and that no one else had any right to it and
they should take 1t home and spend it for
themselves. Following the crowd also were
%peddlers and gamblers, WHO hoped to get the
money of the poor poems as soon as it was
paid. The government is regulating these
things as far as possible and in time the
peon will be able to take care of himself.
The stores on the plantations are much
like the "touch-me' stores OF our coal
mining districts, save that they have no
goods to speak Of. Their stocks in trade
are made up Of Goldfish, jerked beef, ba-
nanas and Porto Rican rum.
Some of them have bread and some have
clothing. These stores should be abolished
and the planters forced to pay in cash rather
than In store orders. Methods should be
adopted by which every peon can have a gar
den and be taught to cultivate and accu-
mulate for himself. He should be allowed
to have al chance for a living and should be
protected in his rights. So far the Spaniards
have run everything for the rich. They
have done all they could to keep the poor in
Ignorance, and today nine out of every ten
people in Porto Rico cannot read nor write.
Education should be compulsory, and
schools should be everywhere.
They Have Banana Stomachs.
Speaking OF starvation in Porto Rico, this
Is the only part Of Uncle Sans dominion
where we can ever have a famine. The soil
here Is rich, but If there should be such
weather conditions as to cause a failure Of
the banana crop, many Of the poor people
would die OF starvation. The food OF many
Is made up OF bananas. Not one man in a
dozen has any meat to speak OF, and the
faces OF the people are bloodless. They look
aenemic, and are 30. AS it is, the mortality
Is very great. The poor have 80 little
strength, owing to insufficient and improper
FOOD that when they grow sick they die.
1t Is only the prolifcness OF the people
mat Keeps up the population. The babies
fairly swarm, And such babies. After they
have reached the banana eating age they
get what Is called here the banana stom-
ach." They have to fill their little bellies
full in order to contain enough to sustain
life. and the average child here has an alb
domen which protrudes like that of a beer
drinking alderman. 1t is as tight as a
drum and his legs below 1t are so weak that
they look like pipe stems walking around
with the great load above.
The majority of the poems are whites, al
though there are many mulattoes and not a
few negroes. They have good faces and are
naturally intelligent. They are very quiet
and peaceable. They are kim to their
families and are, on the whole, good citizens.
l am told by Americans who have employed
them that they are excellent workers and
That they are glad to do all they can to
earn their money. They work from sunrise
until sunset and are as reliable as the aver
age American workmen. Some trouble is
had as to the numerous holidays and feast
days, which have been customary, but the
most OF the men will do their work ire
spective OF these, asking for Sunday only.
FRANK @. CARPENTER.