The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-01-23
PORTO RICO'S SCHOOLS.
Woful Lack Of Educational Faoili-
ties on the Island.
THE WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION

THE WORK OF REOONSTRUOTIO1
Declares Captain Gardner, in an Intel
esting Report, Must Be Done by Me
OF Disinterested Motives-Many 81
Country Districts without School.
Washington. Jan. Eff Porto Rlc
is to become credit to the Unite
States says Captain Augustus T
Gardner. assistant adjutant general o
volunteers, in an interesting report +
Assistant Secretary of War Meikeljohl
upon the educational and other affair
OF the Island of Porto Rico, land no
continual thorn in her side, 1t Is q
| certain as the rising of the sun tha
the work Of reconstruction must b.
done by men of disinterested motives.
In considering, says Captain Gardner
the various elements which go to make
up the social system of Porto Rico thu
most worthy of detailed examination
Is the method Of education. 1t is or
this branch that the fruits which it i.
hoped may be gathered in the future
must all ripen.
IL
island Is taken every ten years. But
the only one ever published appar-
emily. was that of 1887. In this the
population was given at S06,8 of
whom l11,3SO, or 16 per cent, could
neither read nor write. A comparison
OF these figures with those of So
called rectification of the census for
1883 reveals gross blunder some
where, as according to the returns for
that year 23S, 294, or over twice as many
people as four years later, could neither
read nor write.
For the city of Ponce there Is an ex-
cellent census for the year 1897, well
compiled and to all appearances ac-
curate. According to that the city
Jurisdiction covers a population Of 49,
600. The percentage who could read
and write was 29.37-100. Captain Gard
ner believes this percentage Is very
much too high.
Captain Gardner says 1t Is safe to
estimate the number of schools in the
island at 600 at the outside of which
less than 40 are private or religious
schools. In the larger townships there
Is one school to about every 1000 in
habitants. But education is laid on a
great deal thinner in many parts of
the island, large country districts be.
ing without schools entirely. notwith-
standing a compulsory school attend
ance law. AS each township pays for
its own schools it is impossible to es-
innate the amount spent on educa-
tion annually in the island. But the
states contribution amounts to about
5000 pesos per year, out of which is
supported certain institutions.
Summarizing the situation as
whole there exists on the island a
fairly good skeleton on which to con-
struct school system. The difficulty
arises from the scarcity of competent
and reliable teachers. In the nature
of things, for the present. but little
progress can be made by American
teachers sent to the island. Their
sphere of usefulness will not include
Porto Rico until such time as a knowl- |
edge of the English language has be-
gun to permeate all classes.
With regard to the religious ques
tlon Captain Gardner says it does not
appear that the inhabitants Of the
island have ever taken their religion
with any degree of seriousness, prob
ably owing to the fact that the church
is regarded as one of the means by
which Spain undertook to maintain her
sovereignty over the island and to pro-
vide for the maintenance of such Of
her clergy as could not be supported
at home. Altogether the clerical es-
tablishment maintains about 240 priests
and assistants, the sum total Of whose
salaries amounts to about $50, 900 pesos
annually. The salaries of all these
priests, which have heretofore been
paid by the state, have now been cut
off, state of affairs which seems to
be viewed with perfect equanimity by
all except the priesthood itself
That the population of Porto Rico c
as whole has serious grounds Of COM
plant on account of excessive taxation a
is not proved. But that this taxation
was so distributed and administered as
to seriously interfere with the small. "
and especially with the native merch- $
ants or planters, cannot be doubted q
The total amount raised by national t
taxation has been of late years rather I
more than 4,50O,0O0 pesos, a sum equal =
to a little over four and a half pesos
per inhabitants. To Americans, who n
are accustomed to national taxation =
If some 81 per capita, the Porto Rican :.
igures seem exceedingly small. Con-
rary to the belief which has been II
trenuously engendered the fact Is that
,ut of this 4,5OO,0OO pesos but $50 900 go /
lirectly to Spain in the form of pen. II
lions. As in all governments. the ex- 3
,enses are largely for salaries, and the r
Indignation of the Porto Ricans Is vast II
hat these salaries are for the most =,
'art paid to citizens of Spanish birth. =,
Concluding the report says: THE re- u
rganization of all these various ele-
nents In the Porto Rican social sys- In
EN- Is an undertaking of enormous OF
If the best men are not put
0 this understanding, but the island h,
; allowed to become political play n,
hing. the Porto Rican will be worse !
n than he was under Spain"
u