The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-31

For him there was neither motive nor
rational hope Why should there be great
clothed. with beEEaTiY pay and more beg
carly treatment. there has been neither
physical mental nor moral stamina To
hearten or TO build upon
Along with the changed conditions of
trade with the United States new sugar
enterprises are starting on every hand, old
sugar lands long lying in pasture. because
1t would not pay to work them are be
ing reclaimed. greater prosperity prevails
and wages have been raised to 81 cents
gold a day Poor cane bad rItivatiou
ana Obsolete methods Of sugar making
/: have been far more responsible than the
price Of sugar or the tax upon it in lin
luHg profits to figures that paid only the
bareSt cost Of Subsistence to those who
produced the crop
CHANGE or CURRENCY.
The recent change Of The insuIar coin
age for the United States currency has 50
far done the wage-vorker some harm. for.
/ though the law of supply and demand will
speedily regulate market prices of com
modities. wages are always much slower
in adjusting themselves to changed cOndi-
! tons. The price of nearly every article
of common consumption is now, il gold.
But in the change of Governments the
lOng-OppTesSed Uage-woTker of Porto Rico
has received Il new and q larger lease of
| life Never until now has the Iaboring
{ man, of every grade, known what it was
] to think, act, vote, travel and grow as
| he liked, to learn. plan. hope, strive
struggle, and thrive as he pIeases, though
| he still is under some Of the TepressioRs
of Spanish law. and he vet lacks knOwI-
/ edge, courage, and initiative These are
! on the way to him and he to them. and
! time, patience, and intelligent endeavor
/ are rapidly bringing them together
As yet the slow recovery from the eff
| feCtS of former bad government of bad
( crops. and worse management. of poor
/ cultivation. lavish living. and consequent
/ heavy mortgages, from the later ante
/ bellum sta ZuatiOn and loss, from the re-
/ cent change Of government. from military
/ to civil rule, and one currency to dHOth-
| err and from the widest of hurricanes, re
! broader civilization, and general prOSperi-
! ty- Wages and prices are not Yet dd-
JUsted, the new values of lands, labor, and
! commodities are not yet fixed. The work
( of education Is only begun. and govern
/ meut has not yet CrystalHZed into its per
! manent form. So great a work must take
/ thought. time, patience. and labor. but 1t
progresses steadily and percePtibly, and
/ to none viii il surely bring greater re-
/ suits than to the wage-worker-
| 1t IS true that il sugar planting the
/ tendency is to CentcaliZe and control large
| acreage. At the same time the small su-
| gar proprietor is rapidly giving up the
manufacture of sugar, leaving that part
! OF the work TO the great cer-traIs- yet fur
| nishing them his cane. Under good man
agement and where profits are fairly dis
/ tributed. he does this. not at a loss. but
at considerable gain Hence improve
n5euts of this kind. while they may lessen
the chances and numb of small sugar
! producers will certainly improve the pc
! Ons pay and conditions. Moreover, con
1 ditiOns have changed and already under
/ Government of the United States and its
/ owl. civil authority the conditions. social.
sanitary. educational, and material, OF all
classes, in Porto Rico, have begun 10 I'M
/ prove very perCeptfbIy- Again, while Su-
! gar and few other crops demand large
| acreage and capital, with expensive cen
| tralized machinery, other poorly develop
ed lands adapted to other crops, are be
| ing as never before. divided into small
| holdings, and tobacco, citrus fruits, early
vegeta bles. yucca. poultry, etc, Will &C
! cupy them with profitable industry
FIELDS FOR INVESTMENT
governmental stimulus, object lessons,
training. better facilities for transporta-
ton. agricultural schools. and expert
ment stations, quick transit to great mar
Icets for perfsha bic products the develop
| meut of new rural industries, such as bee
culture daiTying, the growth Of medi-
cinal and cOlOriHg herbs, and roots, tapi-
| oca. ginger, auuotto, indigo, etc, which
have been little studied or exploited hith-
| erto but in which only small capital ana
! little land. but numerous hands, are re
| quirsd, VIII vastly change and Improve
/ the earning capacities and social coudi-
tions Of all classes. OF wa ge-eaTneTS-
Remarkable mutations Of prosperity, Of
the rapid and profitable development of
| agriculture and its decline, Of feverish
/ ambition at times Cor the ownership of
large areas Of land; and succeeding re
7 verses, debt, and abandonment Of high
/ prices for staples and their overthrow. Of
the destruction Of property values by huT-
| Ticanes and war and their restoration. OF
/ plenty and famine of the insUiar CurreTl-
I Cy, OF commercial conditions. and OF Gov
! ernmentaI policies and control, have char
I acterized and constituted the economic
/ history of the island 4 Few factors nave
I been constant and steady, but of these
most have been burdeBsone- They IN
/ cIude the heavy taxation. the uliteTaCJ
I poverty and depreciation OF the masses
/ he. difficulties Of transportation. the re-
( teutiOn Of the land in large bodies and
( few hands the Ieech-IIHe hold OF the
Z merchant upon the planter, the STOWI
/ of mortgage indebt ednesS On the part OF
Z the native planters, and the contrasting
/ thrift of the merchant class and the for
eign planters, and, as brighter features
the wonderful resources ard fertility, the
/ marvellous bUTdel-bearing capacity, and
] the freedom of interneCine strife and
/ from insular Indebtedness.
If under the TIgCTS and Tapacity Of
/ Spanish rule and the waste and democrat
/ ( ization of slavery. with sore burdens OF
/ taxation, home and foreign. amounting
( in recent years to over $i,ZtJ,b3 annually
( with the added cost of emancipation
CsOme $l3.0eo,o0o), with the losses and
[ stagnat{On OF defensive war and periodic
/ hurricanes, and the. Disadvantages Of IL
IiteracY and State Church; if, with
I these burdens. and only its natural re
sources and an agriculture represented OS
: a single-Stick ploW for revenues. the isl
/ and Of Porto Rico could as il has done
maintain itself free from iasular indebt-
! edness and lend millions to the mother
country and it's AntiIi4an nnighbOTS. what
may not rightfUIIy be expected under tht
stimulus of American control and WIFI
/ int>lUsent development
OCCUPATIONS OF The PEOPLE
Agriculture is 50 absorbent and inclu
sfve as practically to comprise directly OIL
indirectly the body of the working popu
Iation OF the island. while fishing anC
mining are so feebIy represented as Il
/ hardly constitute division of a class
| Domestic and personal service occupy 81
cUrupa ratively few as to scarcely warrant
I separate classification Manufacturing
land mechanical industries, with few eX
ceutions have almost no existence exCep
as unOFganized and primitive accessorie:
I of agriculture Trade Is the only class
( besides agriculture, of proportions war
{ ranting the dignity OF such designation
! TRANSPORTATION barely exists and Is OF
the poorest and most inchOate description
/ while professional service in rumerICa
strength or importance hardly constitute:
a class division.
The general titles Of the most promi
nent and profitable Of the agrlCultu
raj pursuits of the island eiChel
actual OF possible. as attested bI
experience here, or under like conditions
no better or more favorable. elsewhere
and including the chief staples, are as FOL
lows:
The growing of the auuoth seed from
. which IS extracted the harmless yellow
| CoIoring matter with which buteer, cheese
and many fabrics are colored- Its re
! ! quirement of grade labor is consider
able.
The cultivation of the honey bee 70