Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-26
REF ORM IN PORTO RICO
Some Recommendations of the IusuIar
Commission.
Trusts to he Kept Out-Abu.es of the
Prisons The Question
of a Tariff.

The insular commission has begun the
which has already been made public. The
commission makes the following brief hut
interesting reference to the subject of trusts
and combinations in the island:
BY the recommendations already sug-
gested, the national law forbid6ing certain
trusts and combinations In matters of in
terstate trade win be in force In the island
as elsewhere: but in addition we shall sug-
gest a law forbidding and furnishing the
formation and operation of such concerns
In the islands in accordance with the laws
of the states, with perhaps some additional
features not yet embodied in any statute.
in our endeaVors to keep these evils from
lettering the business of the Island Of
Porto Rico in its infancy
One of the most rema rkab bic chapters of
the report deals with the prison conditions
in the islan6. The record of prisoners con-
fined on charge of larceny for months and
even years, without trial. when the whole
value of property involved amounts to
only few cents, is almost unbelievable.
Abuses of the Prison System.
A report is quoted from Major A G.
Sharpe OF the inspection of the San Juan
prison. He found siXty-four prisoners i'm
the institution whose detention he charac-
terized as an outrage. They had been I'M
prisoned for from four months to six years,
some of them charged with thefts of from
, cents TO 81 or So in silver. In twenty Of
theSe cases the inspector recommended the
immediate release Of the suspects. In the
more serious cases he urged a speedy trial.
In the Jail at Ponce there We're 212 mel.
of whom only iifty-one had been tried One
man had been imprisoned SIX years ana
nine months awaiting trial. In the prison
at MayagueZ the commission found 1SS
prisoners, of whom l46 We're still awaiting
trial.
General Henry. at the instance of the
commission, took up the matter during his
term as military governor, and out Of 222
prisoners in the Jail at Agundila 800 were
released at once.
At Humacao sixty out of eighty were at
once released, the reason in all these cases
being that either there had never been any
specific charge made against the prisoners
or that their period OF incarceration was
already far in excess of any Legitimate
sentence that could have been imposed on
them had they been tired. The frauds and
abuses in the prisons under the Old regime
were found to be as fragrant as was The in
justice of imprisoning a man for year
without trial on charge Of stealing half a
bunch of bananas.
Recommendations 10 the reform Of the
whole SYSTEM OF courts and judicial proceed
ure are now being formulated by the COM
mission for present alton TO the Secretary Of
War, and probably will be in shape in the
course OF a month.
The Tariff Question.
On the very important question of tariff
reform to relieve Porto Rico from the bur-
den Of tariff discrimination the commission
takes the ground that since the cession of
the island to this country has been recog-
nized there is no longer any excuse for re-
garding ii as foreign territory and that
the President, as the commander-in-chef of
the army, is at liberty to formulate special
customs legislation pending the final action
of Congress.