The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-07-07
4 CENSUS OF PORTO RICO
War Department Bulletin Shows
Excess OF Females Over Males.
The Two Departments in which the
RntIo of Males Is ihe Highest Are
Those Which Are Growing Most
Rapidly Indications Tint the
Cities Draw From Rural Districts


War Department shows that out of a pop
ulation OF 953. 249 there was an excess OF
| females over males Of S,7Z1. which is about
9 per cent Of the entire population. In 1857
the excess Of females in the de jure popu-
lation was only AIS. and in the de faeto
population the males were 523 in excess.
In 1865 the males outnumbered the females
| by 1868. or II CT the total population. An
excess OF females was found in six Of the
seven departments into which the island
was divided. The report says:
In no department did the excess Of fe-
males equal the average excess Of males
in the Island of Cuba (3-6 per cent? OF the
excess Of females found in many other
West India Islands. As a marked IL
equality of the two sexes is usually a re-
suit and evidence Cf considerable migra-
ton into or away from the district under
/ consideration, SO an approximate equality
In the number Of the two sexes. both in
| the island and as whole and in its sew
eral departments. is probably connected
| with the slight amount OF immigration
emigration, OF migration within the isl
! and and also with the small urban popu-
| contains decided excess o. females The
two departments in which the radio Of
males was highest are also the two which
| are growing most rapidly. This NAV point
to some immigration OF males TO Ponce anG
( Arecieo from other parts Of Porto Rico.
of the inland districts one-han and Of
| the coast districts only about One-fOurth
| had an excess of males
In the coast distT cts 4S5 per cent OF
the population were male. while in the
| inland districts 81 per cent were male.
| The three coast cities. San Juan, Ponce,
and MayagusZ, collectively, contained ass
! per cent Of males or the same for the
coast districts as a whole. The percentage
OF males. therefore. in the Inland dis
| tricts was perceptibly higher than along
| the coast
The population under ten years Of age
/ was 81 per cent Of the total For The
/ United States il was in 1890 only "a per
cent. and among the colOred population OF
/ the United States II was only 2S per cent
l In Cuba IL falls as low as 81 per cent.
I In Porto Rico the ratio for children was
I higher than that for any State in the
I Union. and was exceeded in the United
States only among the cOiOred population
/ OF Texas (3l6) and South Carolina (31S-D
/ The proportion was higher than in India
/ (-S per cent? or in any country Of western
Europe, and probably higher than n any
! other Of the West India Islands In Bar
/ bados the children under ten we're but
! little over p per cent OF the population
The proportion OF children Of an sge
TO go 10 school. namely. five 10 seventeen.
was also high, though not quite so high
as in Cuba. The population between these
ages was IN the United States 2S.5 per
cent. in Porto Rico 1913 per cent, and il
Cuba 35-2 per cent Of the population Of
all ages
The persons over forty-fve years OF age
in Porto Rico were only lis per cent OF the
entire population. This is In marked con-
trast to the United States. where persons
over fOrty-fye were l1-2 per cent OF the
total population. and also 20 other coun-
tries Thus in India this class was near
~ IS per cent and in Cuba l4-2 per cent OF
the total population There IS no State
east OF the Mississippi in which the pro-
portion OF elderly persons was so low, and
il is only in newly settled and very rapidly
growing States like North Dakota. and Wy
oming. that the figures for Porto Rico are
equaled.
This small proportion OF elderly persons
in Porto Rico is an Indication OF the sh orJ
average duration Of life. caused by infe rior
vitality and unhealthy and unsan;tary con-
ditions. Among the eolored population OF
Arizona more than half Of whom were
civilized Indians. and among whom similar
conditions exist. the persons over fOrty-Hve
are only 9 per cent Of the total.
The COIOred Population
Porto Rico had % $50 negroes. 9e4 $50
persons OF mixed blood. and 70
Chinese, making a total cOlOred
population OF 353.sl7. or $50
per cent OF the total population With re-
gard to the proportion of eOlOred. the con-
ditions in Porto Rico resemble those in
Cuba and the southern United States rath-
OF than the other West Indian Islands TIE
proportion OF colored was almost he same
as in Virginia (SS.4 per cent? or the South
Atlantic States 1858 per cent? in 1880.
somewhat higher than the proportion IN
Cuba IN 1889 (331 per cent?, and differed
widely from Jamaica. the LeewaFt Islands.
and the Barbados. in all of which the col
ored population at the latest censuses was
over 30 per cent OF the total.
"Of the population OF Porto Rico sS-5 per
cent was native and only Is per cent for
eign born There are few regions in the
Western Hemisphere in which the proper
ton Of natives is so high and the proper
ton OF foreigners so low Even the South
Atlantic and South Central States as
whole had q greater proportion Of foreign
born. although eight States in these dis
tricts had a proportion Of foreigners
slightly smaller than Porto Rico In the
other West Indies the percentage ranged
from in the Barbados 10 nearly IS in
Trinidad. and in Cuba it was about seven
times as great as in Porto Rico.
More than hSlf the foreigners in Porto
Rico were natives OF Spain. There were
few foreign born colored in the island,
doubtless from the other West Indies, con-
stituting about one-sixth Of the total for
eigners.
"Sixty-nine and seyen-tenths per cent Of
the people of Porto Rico were single. This
ratio is more than 10 per cent higher than
that Of the United States in 1890 (59.3 per
cent?. Scarcely anywhere outside OF the
West Indies can a country be found in
which the proportion OF single is so high.
In Spain in 1887 il was SAC per cent Yet
the proportion of persons in Porto Rico
lawfully married. under Spanish law. is
much smaller than these figures indicate.
for in the present census there has been
recognized class OF persons living to-
gether as husband and wife by mutual
consent. Under the censuses Of the island
taken by Spain all such persons wee
classed as single and for comparison with
prior censuses, therefore, this group SHOULD
be added to the single. On that basis the
per cent Of single IN Porto Rico by succes-
sive enumerations has been as follows
1850. 74.4; 1887. &c: 1899, 1876.
The increasing absteati0n from legal
marriage is probably due in part to in
creasing poverty and inability to pay the
fees. and perhaps also in part TO a slow
change OF social opinion regarding the ne
eessity Tor legal sanction upon the unions