Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-20

dren Where something like rational prin-
ciples are followed the results are uniform
ly good.
of the educated and well-to-do classes on
the island to have their children know En-
gish. 1t does not require any compulsory
law. In Ponce the public school. IN which
English is the language OF teach,ng, SHOWS
marked progress. There are several nun
dred pupils and they are learning from
English text books. In San Juan the model
school Is also giving good results, and III
two or three of the other larger towns the
prospect is fair. 1t has been stated to me
that in all these schools where English Is
the language of instruction the attendance
is considerably larger than in those in
which Spanish is the teaching language
and English instruction is simply Incl
dental. In the seaports especially there Is
a universal desire among the youth TO
learn English and ii is possible to follow
more closely American school methods.
Generation Distant.
With this promising outlook it seems
heresy to hint that the great mass OF Porto
Rican children are generation or even
two generations distant from talking En-
glish as their everyday language. 1 have
heard statesmen in Washington telling how
the island is to be Americanized at once by
the use of English and have been told
here in Porto Rico. when making inquiries,
that since English is becoming the univer-
sal language it is in bad taste to ask how 1t
is going to be taught and other details.
Nevertheless these are practical questions.
Enthusiasts have explained to me that II
Is at least possible to drill every child IN
the island In his or her A, B, Cs. so that
within a year there will be no one who does
not know the English alphabet. On the
outskirts of Ponce there are a number Of
neat little cabins. over which the flag flies,
and it is pleasant experience TO drop into
these and hear the urchlns recitius their
English primers. on the military road there
ole Or three ''cScuelaS ruraloS.
or country schools. where the same thing
may be heard, but this does not change one
staggering fact, which Is, that 1t Will be
years before anything like school facilities
NAV be provided for the vast majority Of
children of what would be called in the
United States school age. There are now
three hundred thousand Of them, and when
fifty thousand are receiving instructions 1t
will be a very great advance.
There are sixty-five municipal districts
in the island. General Davis, in the rough
plan he drew up. sought to provide CEN
tral school for each district. That may
be feasible in the course of time, but if
such schools can be provided for twenty or
twenty-five of the larger towns within the
ne KIT year, 1t will be every hing that should
be asked.
The Little Red School House.
An imaginary picture of the little red
school house appeals powerfully to the
| American mind. 1 have heard much in the
states of plans for planting an immediate
system of country schools. The notion
| takes no account Of the fact that there is
practically no such thing as country in
Porto Rico. The rural population is too
depsely distributed In most sections of
| tho island a stones throw covers a radius
| sufficient for country school. The popu-
| lation of a dozen of the huts within the
radius supplies pupils enough for one good
| sized school. Then there is the economic
| fact that the problem of existence for these
| poems. or agricultural inhabitants, is more
| pressing than the need of school books.
| An American educator, who is not much
given to enthusiasm, told me that the gov
| eminent would do better teaching them to
| plant Irish potatoes than to dig up English
| roots. Notwithstanding that the poems are
all Spanish-speaking and know no other
| tongue he thought 1t would be possible to
| teach them to forget that tongue and speak
| q dialect of patois, which might be called
| Porto Rican-American-Eng He based
| this idea upon the belief that their ordinary
| vocabulary did not exceed 400 or 800 words
I and that they had no sentimental ties bind
| ing them to Spain. its language and litera-
| ture. OF course. there could be no litera-
ture for a people who are so densely igno-
| rant.
| From my own observation I should say
| that the eduactor was wrong in his esd-
| mate of the poems vocabulary. l think 1t
| is considerably larger, and while they have
| no special attachment for Spanish ideas and
| Institutions, nevertheless Spanish traditions
| and customs are deeply rooted among them.
| The Natural Process.
The natural process seems to be to en-
courage the education Of the children in the
towna and Villages IL Ensilsh. and as they