The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-10-16
More LIGHT On Porto Rico.

| Following upon mo illuminating eXposi
zion OF Porto Rican affairs contributed
10 AZ monthly review by the late Hay
| stone there appears In the current IIar'
pcr,s Weekly the first ola series OF
special Porto Rlcan letters by Mr.,
Chaales w. Tyler. whom this periodical
ms sent to the island with q view TO
| Investigating conditions there. MT.
,rvlcr's report, so far Us It has yet
gone fully substantiates tho discourag-
mo statements of General Stone. He
| finds that thousands Of tho inhabitants
! have been plunged into Il condition OF
poverty If not Of actual destruction IN Q
bursts Of Joy with which the adoption
OF their country by ours was halled by
the natives have long since died aWay.
Fine hopes have given place to hopeless
moss, not unmixed with contempt and
disgust, the Spanish rule. which they once
SO gladly threw of would now no doubt
be hardly less gladly welcomed back
What has brought about this remark
able and complete change of sentiment!
Tho answer lies Of course, in the coun-
trN ODVlOuS iSlCIN VI ~ ooPSAaNSt sN-A>> N'-''
in turn, is to be explained In several
ways. Mr.. Tyler points out the great
hurricane following shortly on American
control Of tho island wiped out large
number OF coffee plantations, which
their owners, mortgnge-rdden and I'M
i poverlshcd, were not In position to start
afresh. Very soon afterward came the
drop in the price of Porto Rican coffee,
and the virtual loss Of the market for such
coffee as was still grown for export. AS
the coffee industry was the very back
bone OF the islands commercial prosper
ty, these two misfortunes brought
deadly after effects. Money was scarce,
and foreign capitnl which was both
ready and able to do great things for
Porto Rico, has been kept out by the
crring wisdom Of American Legislators.
General stones article had already
called attention to the fatal results of
the act restricting the amount Of land
ownnble by a single corporation. and the
other absurd and preposterous regula-
lions devised by q. mistaken congress.
OF the coffee market are inexticably as
ISOLATED in the minds Of most Porto
Ricans with the coming Of the Amor
leans. This may be unfair. but 1t Is not
unnatural In any case. we can hardly
dodge the responsibility for tho unwise
legislation which has In the long run
proved oven more ruinous perhaps than
either or these other causes. And we are
no loss responsible for the character or
the mon whom wc send out rs our OIL
cial representatives. whose worse than In
efficiency. Mr.. Tyler finds as having been
a prime cause for the existing contempt
| for things American among tho Islanders.
| In another letter he promises disclosures
| in this connection of sort to be any
| thing but fatterlng to American pride"
| In ylcw Of these rather mortlfynts
statements, 1t Is pleasant to note that
the island is. In some respects. enjoying
n fair prosperity. The sugar and tobacco
industries are advancing along strong
lines, and fruit growing Is now on a
moro encouraging basis than over before
in the history OF the Island,
These facts, however. only serve to en-
phasize by contrast how far tho develop
mont OF the natural advantages of tho
island have been neglected or oven ham
percd The ant!cipatons with which the
natives greeted our coming may have
been, us Mr.. Tyler suggests. unneccs-
sarlly exubernnt. but II Is even less
doubtful that We might have done. and
should now do, far moro toward justify
Ing them.