The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-09-02

20 HE aborigines OF Porto Rico have
long since disappeared from the
face of the earth. When Columbus
discovered the Antilles he found the Is
lands peopled by race which In all prob
ability was an offshot of the Carib In
dams of the mainland. The great navt-
gator was impressed by the timid friend
Illness of the naked savages, whose peace
full tendencies were proclaimed by the
fact that they possessed no sort of
weapon. Their country was a terres-
trial paradise. blessed with a soft,
saIubrious climate, free from wild beasts
and venomous reptiles, and abound
ing In the fruits of the earth. Needless
to say, the inhabitants of such region
knew nothing of labor or hardship. They
lived the lives of happy. careless children
until the white gods in the Flying
ships" came to them from over the sea.
Then life changed for the unfortunate In
dams. The Spaniaris forced them to dig
for gold where 1t did not exist, and slew
them when they failed to find 1t. They
were put to unaccustomed labor In the
field. and when they rebelled Spanish SOL
diers slaughtered them like sheep in the
shambles. They were slain to give eclat
to the ceremonies Of a saints day; they
were harried by hounds to afford sport
for their conquerors. In short, the pro-
cess of .'pacifeation." as pursued by the
first colonists, was, in fact, deliberate
system OF determination, that the ma
tives OF Porto Rico. who, according TO
Las Casas. numbered 600, 600 at the time
OF the discovery. disappeared with such
terrible rapidity that the Bishop of San
Juan reported to the king in 1913 that
there were but 60 Indians in the island.
These figures undoubtedly applied to the
pitiful remnant of males, for large num-
bers OF women We're preserved as concu-
bfneS, from whoIn sprang a race of half
breeds, which has beer gradually alb
sorbed and lost In the later population.
Traces OF the miscegenation may occas-
fonally De seen ut the present day, but
they are few and so slight that they
do not constitute contradiction of the
statement that the aboriginal stock Is en-
trely extinct.
The present population of Porto Rico is
composed OF the descendants of two dis
tinct classes of Spaniards-of negroes and
of half castles With the exception of
Cuba and Porto Rico, every sugar produc-
ing island of the West Indies contains at
least ten times many colored persons
as whites. In Porto Rico the latter rep
resent 81 per cent. of the total popula-
ton. and all but one-sixth of the re-
mairder have more or less white blood in
their veins. Porto Rico was never an ex-
tensive slave-owning colony. principally
because there were few capitalists in the
island. In fact, until the introduction of
the sugar industry by refugees from
Haiti and Jamaica. the number of
groes In Porto Rico was insignificant.
The humane laws promulgated by the
Spanish crown for the protection OF slaves
were widely disregarded in the colonies.
but they appear to have been strictly
quence. the negroes In that island en-
joyed ienient treatment, and were per-
mitted TO secure their freedom upon easy
terms Thus have In Porto Rico
negro element quite satisfied with their
lot in life, and. In some respects. supe-
rior to their kin OF the ueighboring ISL
ands. They are fairly Industrious. CHEEKY
and respectful. They have none OF the
inconsequent vanity of the Santo Domingo
black. and are less simple and supersti-
tious than the Jamaican negro. 1t could
not be expected that the Porto Rican
negro should be Inclined TO hard work
Every kind OF stimulus is lacking TO him.
and he has never had an example of en-
ergy, for the innate Incidence of the we'll
TODD Spaniard is only exceeded by that
of the white peasant cultivator. How
ever. the proportion of pure negroes In
the population of Porto Rico is only
about the same that of the colored TO
the total inhabitants OF Philadelphia, and
they will not be important factor IN
the future development of the island.
The muiattoes present an entirely diff
ferent proposition. Their numbers &C