BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-06-01
EDITORIAL.

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irremediahle
Our eommcrce j. sicoTeaaug ~ al
alarming rate, merchants are ~ sisni
ly rc,inng from business here. CLOSING
their establishments because the s.o;es
which they formerly supplied have
been forced 10 cluse
The consequence of ell this is dis
coursgins and depressing. for il n
dicstes marked de crease IN The con
sumption Of merchandise as well as a
falling off IN the population Of the
island.
As VIC have state hundreds Of
times. the culliva;i n Of ne cannot.
with advantage 10 our people. be subs
tituted for the cultivation of coffee
There is the proof Of what we have
been affirming although the contro
llers of the situation have not wished
TO be convinced of i; before being
brought face to face with the painful
reality.
That coffee is Our frst product is an
indisputable fact; in its cultivation lies
the sole solution of our economic
crisis. because it is the support and
maintenance of more than half of our
population.
The dwellers in the hills are living
miserable life. whose hardShips and
distress we have described times wit
hout number. and il is q comm on
sight to see them over run the towns
and cities in their endeavor to escape
the agonies of hu1ger.
1t is true hat the cultivation of su-
gar supports a number of day laborers.
but only during part of the year, and
the results of their labor are appro
priated by the trusts and certain
privileged coterie of large proprietors.
AS an auxilisry industry, sugar is
beyond question Of great value, but it
has not and will not. as some misgui-
ded ones assert, be able 10 replace
coffee, whose cultivation is of para
mount necessity in lifting up the eco
nomic condition Of the Country. not
withstanding the false information
and sophistries INDUCED in by some
men who are inca pablo Of understan
ding and appreciating the true state of
affairs
The sugar crop has been satisfactory
and it has brought good prices, the
cultivation has been Increased, and
still the crisis continues as grave as
ever; he misery among the agricultu
raj workers is pitiful the population is
decreasing and our commercial i'm
portance is rapidly becoming reduced;
in short, all the signs indicate immi
nent ruin, which with each day is
acquiring greater significance.
And still we hear talk Of prosperity.
of progress and Of the con te ntment of
our people. as if there were no such
things as forced sales which are made
for account Of the insular trt asury. and
what is more eloquent than all the
discourses, the fatal statistics, which
demonstrate the increase f MOI tality
and the growth Of Criminality and
vice, the natural and inevitable effect
of the abnormal condition engendered
by the economic crisis.
This new data has confirmed the
opinion already formed that there is
no possible salvation for our agricultu
re save in tariff protection for our cof-
fee, and we invite the agriculturists,
the city governments in those locali
ties where there are coffee interests,
the Chambers of Commerce here esta
bljshed and our colleagues who have
indicated their sympathy in the cam
paign of life and death tor public |
wealth, to ask with more supreme in
sstence for tariff protection. SO that |
the ports and markets Of the nation |
may be thrown open to our grain and |
we be saved from the mortal crisis
which is no " enguliug us.
We have hopes, based on reasons
and evidences expressed at various II
mes, that at the fall session of the
Congress Of the United States, tariff |
protection will be given US.
We have confidence that this will |
be So because it will be advantageous
to the nation as well as to ourselves,
(possibly more to the former) and it |
would enable it to make just repa
ration on which depends its credit as
a colonizin2 nation.
But should our hopes once again be
not realized and North America ig-