The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-13
GUBA,S REAL CONDITION.
Facts REVEALED bay the American
Census Agents.

AESaths
From thes rscentIy issued volumes On
the Cuban census. one of the most inter-
esting publications. that has come from
the Government Printing Office in many
year, It appears that the instruction
against Spanish Euie and the reconcentra-
ton policy which followed cost the island
So0,o0o lives This figure is reached by
taking the decrease in the birth rate for
the four years from 1895 to 1893. and the
increase in the death rate during that
period above what would be accounted fcr
From these vital statistics it appears that
the births fell or about So GOO, while the
deaths were about 200, goo more than they
ought to have been: to this sum was add
ed an estimate, OBJ the same basis, Tor
that part OF the Province OF Havana out
side Of the city where no vital statistics
haze been kept
But in case anybody should think this
an Enthusiastically way OF getting at the
less OF life since 1895, very interesting
eoTTObOratfYe testimony is furnished By
the present American count OF the chill
dren. In any civilized community there
are more children under five years of ege
tam between Eve and ten. for obvious
reasons. The English life tables sor stand
ard population show that 80 per cent OF
the population of any community should
be under five years, and ST per cent he
tween the ages of five and ten. What are
the records for Cuba, as determined by
this American count? The children Lucer
five constitute s.3z per cent, and those be-
tween ave and ten, 14-3S per cent. This
reveals either greatly 1esSened birth
rate or a tremendous infant mortality;
probably both factors contributed 10 It
during the period OF recommendation.
The number OF widows bears interest
ing testimony also. The proportion of
widows to married persons IS about
double that in the United States. or in
practical terms there is one widowsP Tor
every six husbands and one widow Tor
every two wives. These peculiaTities IN
regard to children and widowhood vary
in the different provinces, according TO
the extent they respectively 9sured In
the recent troubles, the western Prov
inces showing peculiaritjes the most.
thus indicating that the pitiaDle col ci-
lions which oceasioned American inter
ference we're by no means Mythical, al
though they may nave been greatly e.
aggerated.
The total population of Cuba-1,sI2.-
e00-is rather small so= SO fertile lrop-
zeal island, and one n whica the ton
derry is toward rapid multiplication
Especially is this notable in comparison
with Porto Rico which IS rs hickiy set
tied as Massachusetts, although II has
only two cities Of 25,oGG population and
a great deal of mountain country. This
means an actual density Of population
very much greater than That OF Nassa-
chusetts. whose average s KEEP. up BY
its large cities. Cuba, on The Other hanc,
is only about as densely settled as Iowa
This disparity is possibly due 20 the TACT
that Spain, for some reason, governed
Porto Rico less.
Another interesting result OF Spanish
rule revealed in the American count is the
small number Of people who are returned
as married. The number wko are at least
technically unmarried is larger than in any
country Of the wcrld OF which We have sta
tistics, except perhaps one or two Of the
smaller West India Islands. About two
thirds Of the people Of Cuba, above the age
of ffteeh. 5are unmarried, whereas in the
United States, only about cne-third are so
recorded This is. of course. due to the
formal and expensive church ceremony re-
Iuired by Spanish laws, Such obstacles
have resulted In a low marriage record, in
which respect Cuba but repeats the expe-
rience OF all other countries that have tried
to make marriage difficult by legislation
In most Of the United States people who
are publicly living together as husband and
wife are treated as married, even though
no ceremony be proved This is always the
case in enHmeFattng former slaves. The
War Department accordingly determined
Ia this Cuban census 10 consider persons
living together in such relations as in ef-
feet married. and so a table has been made
for this special class, between those who
are single" and those who are formally
married
Spain was making some progress in ed
Ucating the people of Cuha. In 1861. ac-
cording to her census. only one-fifth OF the
population of the island were able to read
Thirty eight years later. when the Ameri-
can count was made, one-third OF the to-
tai population had some of the radimeuts
Of an education On the basis on which
We compute such things here. two-ffths
of the population above the age Of ten are
able to read. But statistics on this point
vary greatly between the city and the
country and 10 q lesser extent. between
the races. Only % per cen Of the eolored
population can read against 81 per cent Of
the others.
In Porto Rico there is much less differ
ence between the whites and blacks In this
regard and q greater miRsliHg of races in
all ways The fact that fve-six1hs OF the
eolored OF Porto Rico reported as coIored
are Of mixed blood shows that tie white
race on that island is hardly fanatical in its
insistence upon the color line This
barrier is less rigidIy drawn in Cuba than
in the Southern States. although consider
ably more in evidence than in Porto Rico.
The illiteracy Of the rural Cubans is very
great Learning seems to go in such com
munities to the cities first Just as the
Christian religion in its spread over the
world made so much greater headway in
the centres Of population that the very
words heather" and pagan" bear Wit
ness by their derivation that the countre
folk were slow and reluctant in accepting
the new faith