The sun., 1903-11-19
COMMERCIAL CONDITIONS IN
Porto RICO.
Advance Under American AdpaIn'sSrs'i01
In Production and Finance


In Production and Finance.
To TIM En,ror M THE SuN-Sir: Those
who hnvs watched the progress thai v oo'ns
made under American administration IN
Porto Rioo will be agreeably surprised ~
the present state Of Porto Rican commerce
with the United States and other countries.
with the change Of government there ioi-
lowed a change of market. Formerly tne
pal markets for the insular products
were France and Spain. To these malhet'
were shipped all the coffee and oy-proauc,s, ~.
and from them were imported hear'y an WIG
articles Of home consumption.
By the terms Of the treaty OF peace between
the United States and Spain. signed az paris
In December. 1893. five months after tne iaho-
ing Of American troops on the island unoer
command of Lieut.. .-Gen. Miles. Porto H'co
became part of the United States
Upon the establishment or civil govern
ment. with Hon. Charles II. Allen a. cover
nor. the Foraker act went into erect, whereoy
Porto Rican products were allowed entry
into the United States at is per cent. OF
the rates Of the Dingley tariff regulating the
importa on Of commodities from foreign
countries. BY previous enactment OF Con,
gress, March IL, 1900 all customs coileoteo
In this way from Porto Rican products, In
stead of entering tho Federal Treasury. were
returnable to the tnsular treasury OF forto
Rico for the maintenance.of the insular GOV.
ernment In accord with provision oi
the Foraker act the levy OF is per cent.
on goods imported from Porto Rico was to
cease by proclamation Of the President e.
soon as he should be informed by tho Clvi
Governor that the insular Legislature nao
enacted effective laws Of taxation guarantee
ing suficlent revenues for the maintenance
Of the insular Government.
This proclamation establishing free trade
between Porto Rico and other parts Of the
United States was made by the late Presi-
dent Mckinley. July rs. 1900.
In three years the trade with the United
States has increased over 7.OO0.00o. and
instead Of balance Of trade between the
island and the adopted mother country
Of sio2 1876 In the islands favor. there is
balance Of 81. .Ose ,ss7 In favor of the United
States market.
There has been remarkable gain In sugar
In raw and manufactured tobacco and In mo.
lasses and fruits. The sugar industry has ex'
tended very rapidly and is paying very high
dividends to cultivators. Formerly Porto III
can tobacco was cultivated on very limited
scale and was shipped in raw form to Cuba
where it was manufactured and distributed
to the world Q markets as Havana topacco
Even the cigars ana Rea ses.
from Cuba. To-day that industry = paynl
the island nearly s7'ooo'ooo annually and II
rapidly lnCreastn8. -, 49,
Orange cultivation. too. promises thl
| greatest success, and 1t is certain that IN
| few years the annual expectation OF this frui
! will be estimated in the Millions Hundredt
| of thousands of these trees have been planted
| and budded during the last four years. anc
| this work il, being continued at present on
| gigantic scale. Even coffee Is meeting witt
| Increased favor In tho United states, as y
| Is becoming better known. so that tts future
market Is indeed promising.
To-day the rice alone exported from
| Louisiana or the cotton manufactured IL
Massao ohusetts and shipped to Porto Rico has
| a higher value than the total OF American
| products exported to the island previous te
| 1890
The exports Of Porto Rico for the past
| year exceeded it's imports by S6S7 ,0os:
To any one acquainted with the fertility
| and productivity OF the soil Of Porto Ricc
! this review of trade conditions is but shadow
| ing forth of the value which the island WI
| have in the future TO its country. GeneralI
| epeaking its wealth is unknown. inestimable
| Its products have been In most cases tn
result OF natural. spontaneous and luxurian
growth. The methods OF cultivation hav,
been most primitive, and IL is only now tha
| cultivation modern ideas and modern Inn
| plements, while the interior OF the tslano
| Is being opened to communication by CHI
| construction Of first class roads, and the popu
| iation is being educated by the establish
ment Of a fres public school system.
IN