Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-12

best step to facilitate a change i'm the sys-
TEN of education and to enable the rising
generation to become Americanized. The
Catholic colleges both in San Juan and
Ponce, have such falling off of support
owing to the war, that he can form no es-
innate OF the work they did and are capa-
BILE of do:ng.
The organized charities in Porto Rico
are defective. There is no asylum for the
blind, who are met on the roadside begging
Tor bread. There Is much more public men
deity than is deemed advisable to permit
in the United States and while individtIals
are KIND ard benevolent they seem to lack
the principle of association in their efforts
to relieve the unfortunate. There is a
great deal of poverty on the island The
malforma ton of so many Of the children
is due to imperfect nourishment The great
excess of infant mortality is probably due
IN part from the same cause and some
stringent public measure should be inau-
gurated TO ameliorate the condition of the
lower classes.
Barbarous system of Burial
Father Sherman says the system Of bur
ial in Porto Rico has been barbarous. In
places corpses are thrown into shallow
graves, sometimes. without box or casket.
The cemetaries are too small and frequent
ly crowded. Small vaults are rented for q
time and then the bones are gathered and
thrown INTO a common receptacle This
should be promptly corrected. cemeteries
enlarged and permanent and proper burial
insisted upon
There has been some friction owing to the
fact that the cemeteries are partly eccle-
siastical and partly civil in Character They
seem to be intended only for those who die
in communion with the Catholic Church.
but at the same time they are under the
control OF the municipalities
The state of morality can be inferred
from the fact that the number of illegiti-
mate children exceeds that of the legiti-
mate Concubinage IS said to be common
ana rs not sufficiently dscountenanced
either legally or socially. The eradication
of this great evil presents one of the most
difficult problems in Porto Rico, owing TO
the mixture of races there. II is often as
serted that the Catholic clergy are partly
TO blame for this deplorable state of af-
lars. because marriage is said to be eN-
pensiVe. This, says Father Sherman, is
calumny. No charge has been imposed for
ordinary marriage ceremonies and no OBJ
stacles thrown in the way of legitimate
unions save the ordinary ecclesiastical i'm
pediments recognized by Catholics all over
the world.
Our Obligations.
In closing, Father Sherman says:
"A million of people differing from us IT.
language, literature, tradition, customs and
manners welcome us by reason of political
symrNthy and sentiment of confidence in
our desire TO govern for their good to en-
large their liberties and to increase the
substantial blessings they enjoy without
imposing on them any new burdens. Porto
Rico is not to be judged by the trimming
excitement and manifold tendencies to IN
rest due to a vast political and moral ap-
peal, nor by the AK of a few cunning ma
RAIDERS who avail themselves of excep-
uonal circumstances to wreak private ven
geance or indulge in the barbarous instinct
of destruction. Nor are we to argue their
political incapacity from factional differ
ences, but remembering that the have cities
towns and villages and are not waste lands
were California and New Mexico in 1S4S.
They are highly civilized, have thousands
of educated men, able lawyers, excellent
doctors and clever merchants, and manu-
facturers. whose establishments aggregate
MANY rnillinns ~ animal output