BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1905-04-05
EDITORIAL.

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allcCssivus and shoi.lu acNGe no less
;ksn % ciuor. a. singing III pgAl
Scs - IN, economical wcl..helrs -
Porto ksco
Tie Cuban press can have no mote
credible evidence than ,As: Of the
press = Pono kloo aud ai,es reaDins
our pApcrS oui colleague. whiCn las
started ou; ~ r,of ieS>ly collecting all
tRe worthless lufoTmailon which may
rebound 10 lac orcan oi American
colonization. should rec;i;y such
absurd conclusions IS Il RaS innocent
" attempted 10 publish.
The colony u III critical condition.
I'll Nueyo Pal and the Cuban
people ought To know Il Porto RIco Is
= population without work. suffering
under the burden If ruin. which IS
emlgrating IN order not 10 perish, which
IS ;leelu . the island So fertile in recent
days, too recent for the memory OF
them 10 be erased, and which must
follow their wandering countr men
with lasting shame.
We are In the midst OF an cconomi-
cal crisis the most diff nit and insu-
pporta bic that people can ever ex
perience. Five hundred thousand III
habitants OF the nils are suffering
agonies which cannot be described IN
this article, and even in the towns
and within the confines Of The low
lands there is teit and reflected the ma
meless misery of the hills.
The Cuban edit rs know perfectly
well that the principal product Of
our Island is coffee and neither are
they ignorant Of the fact that tor this
product which is, as a distinguished
economist has said, the commercial
wealth of our people, We no longer
have the markets which the DlngIey
tariff SO brutally closed to US n
In order that a protest may help
us, We cannot ally ourselves with our
enemies who have no sympathy with
our mlstoltunes and not the talnlest
interest IN our ruin. Those statements
touching tobacco and sugar are
misleading and IA lse.
1he OdlOuS comparisons which The
defenders Of the present unnatural
and absurd situation attempt 10 esta0-
llsh proves nothing; more than forty
OF the munlclpa.ltls ot the island, out
Of the seventy which il contains, i've
directly from the coffee industry
and il may be SAID with equal tru th
ina | the same applles indirectly 10 the
whole Island. On this account II is
that the crisis is SO prot und and
serious, ON this account 1t ls that the
situation has become SO abnormal,
on this account II IS that the demOral-
lZatIOn is seen IN the increase Ct crime,
In tue growth ot All the VICES that
degrade and debauch a peofle. These
are the things SO plainly vlsible-thA It
is impossible 70 cover them up by any
methods however sklltul they may be.
Our crisis is ne thrse.
Sugar, tobacco and small fruits
make but a small difference when the
coffee growers see themselves lost and
the helplessness arlslng from the cod
deceptlOnS the fatal ptsslmISm which
misfortune engenders spread abroad
in the souls OF the people violence
which sometimes becomes prostration
but perhaps may terminate tragIcally. |
The tkingS which produce the
present unfortunate conditions and |
protests are not qUairels and political
controversies as "El Nuevo Pals says |
they are, but it is true that both causes
are united, that the political situation |
shows d brutal want OF consideration for
the natives hum1liatlng deprivation
which are an affrOnt to american de
mocracy; but the clamor which IS the
greatest Clamor OF all, the voice winch |
sounds above ali other voices, Is thc
cry Of hunger, II is the fearful voice Of
those who are una bic to live.
We are not playing with ruin as
others have made epigrams about pros
perity the press a s yet is giving little
attention To the problems. The munici
palities do II t arrange their work in
harmony with events in the desolated !
country, the picture painted in sombre
colors is the pallid example Of real
ity which has no precedent, which j.