Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-05-01
PORTO RIGGS FAKE FAMINE.

The man who had Travelled much in the
tropics looked bored when the conversa-
ton d"ifted to the condition in Porto
Rico, and Wien the impressionable men,
her of the party began to rave eloquently
OF the horrors of starvation in the island
the man frcm the land of the palm felt
constrained to take the bridge for a time
and SIT the course of the conversation.
The inclination of the sensational
press to worry Us readers with skllfully
concocted horror stories is the worst
feature of that class of journalism he
remarked. When Weyler was starving
to death the re oncentrados in Cuba. they
paid little attention to the conditions eys
isting in the island until after over a hun
bred thousand of the population of that
fertile bit of land had laid their atten-
tuated frames upon the ground for the
last sleep. Then they became enthusiasts
tic and really accomplished something,
There was occasion for a display of IN
disnation in that case. But this Porto
Rican affair is different.
In Cuba thou sands of human beingu
We're frequently crowded within the con-
fines of barbe1 Wire inclosed circle of
less than mile in extent and We're not
permitted to go outside these bounds OF
course many starved to death. In Porto
REQ the case is different 1t is now two
years since the great cyclone, and any
statement that the PEOPLE of that little
square of concentrated fertility are
starving is rank nonsense
You folks in this country cannot un-
derstand how little it takes to keep from
starvation a man of the tropics 1t Is
true the people of Porto Rico have been
spoiled by the wholesale distribution Of
''indigent rations," but those who want
food can get it easily enough. Starvation
is a thing unknown in the tropics.
There a plot of ground quarter of an
acre in extent will support a family of
large size in rotous elegance. 1t is true
these folk see little money, but they do
not need it. When they have money they
use it principally for gambling, betting
on cockfghts and purchasing lottery or
Chinese policy slips. Squatter sOver-
eighty prevails everywhere, and it is easy
for man to cut out Square of land
large enough to support himself and fam
lily. 1t is true he may have to go to the
hills to obtain it, and therein lies the
trouble. The average Porto Rican is as
averse to, locating away from the proxi-
nifty of the large towns as is Broadway
soubrette. He would rather lie around
hills and cultivate his little patch of land
The liberal giving of aims also has taken
away his independence and self-reliance
and he seems to think that under the new
order of things he has but to ask this
government for food in order to obtain it.
"Great stress is laid upon the fact tina,
many of the men of Porto Rico are be-
ing paid only IS cents a day. OF course
to a man in New York this would mean
starvation, but in Porto Rico man can
support a family on this sum without
seeing the grinning snout of the wolf
pushing through the crevices of his door :.
IF he cares to go out into the hills
he can get along without difficulty. The
Porto Rican can build a house in day
without a cent OF expense. using the
leaves and 'yaguas.' Or bark of the palm
tree. 1t is as good a house as he needs
and the sort that many farmers live in
that have money enough to procure
much better. A single banana plant viii
keep starvation off a long time. and il he
have a half dozen of these around his
place there is no reason why he should
starve oniatos. the big yellow potatoes
of the tropics. will reach fair eating size
in less than two months, and the yams,
yampis and yuccas grow fully as rapidly.
I'm fact in the fertile island nature Is
80 prodigal that this cry of starvation