Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-19
THE PORTO RlCANS
What Commissioner Carroll Says of
the Islands People.
how THEY HAVE BEEN GOVERNED
Public Charities Poorly Supported
and Poorly Organized.

| anu 0OiiJ SiSoiiZCO.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Henry K. Carroll, who was President Nc
| Kinleys special commissioner to Porto
Rico. speaks at length of the island and
| its people and affairs in his report, which
| has just been made public.
Porto Rico was discovered by Columbus
on his second voyage to this country. This
was in 1893. The Spaniards worked gold
mines in the island for hundreds Of years.
The Civil Government.
The civil government has nearly always
| been vested in a governor general, with all
power, and accountable only to Madrid
| He was absolute master of everything. A
| treasury department managed the finances,
| the sources Of revenue being from taxes
and imposts, custom houses, monopolies
state property and incidentals. Under the
| first head were territorial taxes, levied on
urban and rural estates; taxes on industry
and commerce, levied manufactures and
on the income of merchants, doctors, law
yers, etc; royal dues and dues on transfers
| Of property; mining imposts, cedulas per-
sonales or passports; a 10 per cent tax on
the business of railroads. and the consume
tax on petroleum. Under the second head
were customs duties, fines and confiscations,
warehouse dues, 10 per cent transitory tax
and special duties on loading and unloading
OF freight and the embarkation and disem-
barkation of passengers Under the third
head were the monopoly revenues, such as
ecclesiastical bulls, stamped papers for in
struments of Indebtedness and other legal
purposes, postage stamps, forms for nav
ments to the state, for receipts and ac-
counts, drafts insurance policies bank and
company shares, drafts for the of the
press and custom house stamps and docu-
ments. In the fourth division which was
insignificant, were included rents and sales
OF public lands, tax on quarries mines etc
The fifth division, incidentals embraced
various small Items. The lottery yielded
large sum each year to the revenues. Gus
toms duties were levied both on imports
and exports.
The Codes and Courts.
There are three Spanish codes-the penal,
IN three books, with twenty-five titles and
elghty-four chapters: the civil, in four
DOCKS, with forty-two titles and 1876 chap
ters and nine appendices, and the COM
mercial in four books, with twenty-seven
titles The graver crimes of murder and
homicide are set forth in the penal code
with very great brevity. The chapters on
parricide, murder and homicide are ex-
tremely brief. Parricide is considered the
graVeSt crime and is punishable by SEN
fences ranging from "cadena perpetual "a
term usually Of thirty years. to death
Murder when committed under any of the
following circumstances, a by treachery
CD for money or promise of reward, CD by
means of drowning, fire poison, "a with
generalization aforethought, 90 in a pas
sion. with elaboration and inhumanity In
wolves penalties ranging from "cadena tenn
poraf' twelve to twenty years. to death.
Slaves or freedmen committing this crime
bs snf S snt fes IS It will
in the list of aggravating circumstances.
The Spanish law is especially severe in pun
fishing abuse of confidence or betrayal on
the part of slaves domestic servants.
For example, a servant who steals s25
from his employer could be sentenced, ac-
cording to Senior Casalduc, judge of first
instance in Utuado, to six years imprison-
ment. The crime is considered aggravated
by the element of treachery. Homicide Is
punishable by terms of imprisonment; in
fanticide with the penalties of parricide.
Distinctions are made between delitos, or
crimes, and faltas, or faults. The differ
ence was thus illustrated by Senior Fulla-
dosa Judge Of first instance in Humacao:
If peon, passing through field Of sugar
cane, cuts stalk of cane and sucks 1t that
is falta. If. after having eaten one stalk,
he cuts others and takes them away he
would be guilty, not of a falta, but of the
delito of larceny. The former would be
punished by thirty days Imprisonment, the
latter by a heavier penalty. The reason
first case the man takes a single cane on
the spur of the moment and from sense
of immediate need; in the second the ele-
ment Of immediate need is absent, and he
appropriates the property Of another for
his future use. The penal is the briefest OF
the codes.
The civil code is characterized by great
attention to minute details, as is also the
commercial code. Marriage. ownership and
disposition of property, laws of inheritance.
nature of contracts, etc, are treated in the
mercantile life in the commercial code.
which gives in the fullest detail the law CT
mercantile firms or companies. mercantile
contracts and the like.
The drawing of deeds, wills and all kinds
of legal contracts and documents is in the
hands of notaries of which there are only
twenty-five for the island The fees were
eXorbitant until cut down by the American
military governors.
Church and Church Property.
The Catholic was the state religion, and
at the time of the American occupation
there were but two churches Of any other
faith in Porto Rico. There was a Pro-
testant church in Ponce and another at
Isabel II, in the Island of Veuues, both
under the auspices of the Church of Eng
land. The governor general was the civil
head of the church.
Control of the Cemeteries.
In this connection the question of control
of the cemeteries has been raised. 1t is not
disputed that these cemeteries were bought
ana Dulll by municipal lunuS- but tuey
were consecrated by the priests as burial
grounds for Catholics. and while the secu-
lar owners have rented and sold graves and |
inches, issued through municipal judges |
permits for burial, and kept the grounds |
in condition, the priest was allowed to ex-
ercise the right to indicate who were en- |
titled to ecclesiastical burial. Those notsl
Catholics were buried in unconsecrated |
ground, generally a small plot outside the |
walls. After American occupation one or |
two ayuntamientoS took action in favor of (
the secularization of the cemeteries, but |
the military government has not conceded |
that right On the contrary, General Hem
ry issued an order confirming to the priests |
the right of prohibiting the interment of |
non-Catholics in consecrated ground, and |
at the same time requiring the municipal |
authorities, from the proceeds of rentals |
and fees which they collect, to pay for the |
maintenance of the. cemeteries.
Public Charities and Prisons.
The public charities of Porto Rico are |
few, poorly supported. and poorly organ |
lied as a rule, The municipalities make