The evening times., 1900-10-08
PORTO RICAUS IN MISERY
Worse Off Under Mckinley Rule
Than Ever Before.
Ex-Governor Pattison. Of PennsyIva-
mia. Describes Conditions in the
the Natives Because of Unjust Tar
iR-Nevv Laws Causing Hardships.

ax-GoV Robert E. Pattison has returned
from that unfortunate island fully convinc
ed that the natives are much worse off
under the American rule than they were
under the dominion of Spain. The Foraker
law, he regards most unjust, and works
greatly to the disadvantage of the Porto
Ricans, who. he says, demand and are en-
titled to a territorial form of government.
In summing up the situation, Nj Pattison
says:
The natives of Porto Rico give the peo-
pie of the United States credit for good
attentions toward them. but they patheti-
calIy point to our blunders and ask why
we, who have shown ourselves incompetent
TO cope with their situation. should declare
them unfit to attack the problems for them
selves
Ex-Governor Pattison arrived at New
York on Saturday, after having spent two
weeks in Porto Rico, and was yesterday
resting at mis- OVerbrook home but he did
not hesitate TO express himself freely con-
eeTning the distress due to the unsettled
condition of affairs on the island under
the present Admins stration. He crossed
The island on horseback three times and
says.
Its great resources are PROSTATE, its
largest industries are at a standstill, its
coffee hills and tobacco fields lie falIow,
and its people, the most patient, docile,
end Industrious l know, are dying of hun
ger. The United States cannot escape
responsibility for the condition. Our stew
ardship has been a series of experiments
and i sequence of failures.
Every Interest Depressed
The apologists for the administration
of Porto Rican affairs say the famine and
the depression are due to the cyclone. The
cyclone occurred year and two months
ago, period long enough in a country of
such fertility to have entirely eradicated
the traces of disaster. They had cyclones
in Porto Rico before American occupation
was dreamed of. yet, even under the halt
ing, laggard, lazy Government of Spain,
the country rose from its ruins in less
time and prospered again.
THE island" continued MIR. Pattison,
contains about y COO plantations OF from
100 to 500 acres each, most of which are
owned by Spaniards, and on which the
natives work as laborers. The Spaniards
are still antagonistic to the United States.
but the natives are very friendly and anx-
ious to become American citizens. At
preseu- ::ey feel that they are neither one
thing no the other; their status is up-
certain and dependent upon Congress.
while tEeir Government is d mixture of
Spanish and American law, plus the For
aker law
sNjustiee of the Tariff.
"H"r, sny business Is being done in
the tohaeco IA coffee districts. A tariff
of Is per ss..5 nas practically closed Amer
lean mar'.,-ts u ohese articles, a cyclone
has devastated tie plantations and Gen
eral HenIy's law suspending the foreclos-
ure of mortgages has prevented the loan
ing of money necessary to operate the
farms, n the old days nearly all the
planters borrowed money from the Span
ish Agricultural Bank of San Juan in or
der to get capital enough to work their
lands. giving mortgages on their proper
ties to secure the loans
The profits on thei~ crops more than
amounted to the high interest and con-
sequently he plantations were operated
season after season, giving employment to
the native population. But now under the
Henry law, the capitalist Will not loan
his money, since he cannot enforce pay
ment by foreclosure; the planter does not
plant, and the laborer can get no work.
THE people of Porto Rico want terrific
rial SoVernment-such government as New
Mexico and Oklahoma enjoy. Whatever
may be the differences of local politics
among them, they are a unit on this sub
ject. And they ought to have it. reached
this conclusion after a close observation
Of the people during a journey which in
cluded the coast and not few of the iso-
lated huts the hillsides.
Without exception they pleaded for an
opportunity TO exhibit their capacity for
self-government, and they ought to have it
under the best and freest forms cur eoun-
try can give. and that is a territorial gov
ernment such as was vouchsafed the other
States that comprise our country during
Of iC hati to
observe with what eagerness they cherish
the hope of citizenship in the United States.
They realize that they are not American
Spanish nor Porto Rican; they have gov
ernment which Is an unblended mixture of
old Spanish law, military orders, and the
Foraker law; the ablest legal mind is una
Bile to formulate an opinion amid this con-
fusion. Every man there knows his wrongs, !
but no man knows his rights
Grent Scarcity of Money.
Governor Pattison noticed that the |
changerof the islands currency from Span
ish-Porto Rican to American had caused |
great scarcity OF money in the Interior |
Under Spanish rule the poor man had his |
eentavo, worth about half cent in our
money, with which he made his small pur-
chases, and which remained in the
country. This having been taken away
from him, the untt of value has been dou-
bled, and many prices have gone up, with
out a corresponding advance in wages
AT present" he says, "our bills and
coins dra from Porto Rico into the
United states and do nos return. If we
gave the island a half-cent il would re-
main there, and be a great help to the
very poor.
The school system was looked into
thoroughly. but Governor Pattison
thinks it inadequate, and run on entirely
too econoulical a basis.
The question of education is another
OF the great problems of the island" he
says. It was one of the first 10 enga ee
the attention of the military government
which succeeded the Spanish domination.
We viii educate these people, was the
enthusiastic cry of the Americans We
will reorganiZe the schools and the gem
Grafton that is growing up will imbibe
Americanism with their reading writing,
and arithmetic The process of reor-I
ganiZatfon has been going on ever since;
SO intent have the men this country has
sent down there been on reorganization
that they have had time for nothing else.
The children are bright and active;
all they need is a chance to learn. There
are no industrial schools for them, and
no poor houses for the beggars that in
fest the island. The ranks of the beg
gars, however, viii be radically tIiinned
out as soon as there is plenty of work
to be done"