The National tribune., 1906-04-19

grades TO form the so-called 'famil,
coffee" which is so marked a feature
of the modern grocery.
Sugar Cane.
| The Porto Ricans. however, regard
! the better qualities as the best coffe,
| in the world. They prepare il in n way
very different from that familiar Il
most American households. The frs
| difference is in the roasting, which !:
carried far beyond our standard, an6
| the result is n fluid which, after peinl
strained. is perfectly clear and trans
parent despite it's dark color, and which
has a richness of flavor and perfume
which cannot be too highly praised. II
is said upon good authority that nc
other coffee is now used in the White
House.
The most important product of the
island is, however, the sugar cane
which has been raised there since 1850
The only difference between the cul-
ture of the cane in Porto Rico and the
United States IS that the machinery is
as a rule, more out of date and the
methods more crude. Practically nc
sugar is refined. and in all the families
and in nearly all the hotels, the sugar
for table use is of 4 cream color, with
the smell of molaSSes still plainly evil
dent. 1t is, however. more pleasant
comes accustomed TO ii.
Tobacco.
Tobacco raising is third in impor-
tance in the industries of the island.
The tobacco has been introduced into
the United States, but has not met with
much favor. Previous to the Spanish
American war large amounts of the
leaf were sent TO Cuba, where they
were manufactured into cigars and
cigarettes, but there is a difference in
quality which seems puzzling. The
same leaf is used in both islands; 1t Is
grown, cultivated and cured in the same
way and by the same class of laborers.
The climates are very much alike, eN-
a trife drier and more equable. But
the difference exists, nevertheless, and
the Porto Rican tobacco will never, in
all probability, become popular in this
country.
a peculiar feature of the population
OF the island is that the white race,
even before the occupation by the Unit
ed States troops, outnumbered the COM
bined black and colored people, prov
ing that Porto Rico, at least, has not
become Africanized, as have all the 9TH
er West Indian islands with the single
exception of Cuba. About rs per cent
of the people are illiterate, but this
condition is becoming rapidly anchor
ated through the establishment of
American schools, which have large
and enthusiastic attendance.
The Natives.
The native people may, as a whole,
be divided into four classes: The better
class of creoles, who called themselves
Spaniards and who in point of fact are
the descendants of military men who,
when the island was owned by Spain
and garrisoned by Spanish troops,
formed alliances and settled there.
These people maintain their pride of
birth, as do the old Spanish grandees,
and most of them are well-to-do, some
even opulent. They are good-looking,
happy and prosperous set of people, and
have, as rule, taken the trouble to
acquire a considerable education, many
school in the United States.
The ladies are, as a rule, handsome
and refined, and are as strictly seclud-
ed as in other Spanish-American coun-
tries. Their goodness of heart and un-
affected frankness with their friends
are most charming.
The other three classes comprise the
peasantry, known as gibaros; the col
ored people, or those of mixed blood,
and the blacks, who, with the peasants,
form the laboring classes. There is,
however, little or no race prejudice, and
the white or even darker mixtures of
the two races pass muster as whites,
and not, as in the United States, as
blacks. The Moorish type is quite COM
mon, especially where there is a dash
of African blood. This serves to make
the eye darker, to give the so-called
white u blush tinge, and to change
the Spanish pearly teeth into the
Ethiopian worries. Many of the lower
class are, through lack of proper food,
of complexion which undoubtedly ex-
presses physical degeneracy. 1t is a
sodden brownish gray which suggests
ecru color in some faces and mouse
color in others, and is invariably ac-
companied by small muscles, hollow
shoulders and a bowed-in waist. 1t is
from this class that consumption, the
curse of the island, selects its victims.
Political Conditions and Aspirations.
AS to the aspirations and political
conditions now prevailing in the island,
Senor Tulio Larrinaga, the Porto Rican
Delegate TO the United States Congress,
may well be quoted as an authority.
He says:
The Porto Rican people have not
been, and never will be, satisfied with
the Foraker bill. 1t Is true that the
evils attending ii have been to a great
uii'hieittu, Jul IL Is DuIy DtCduSt
of the country's great resources and
great recuperative powers, and also to
some extent to the wise policy of the
present Government.
Section 7 of the bill did not provide
for citizenship, and section IS provides
for an appointive Senate instead of an
elective one. Every member of the
Senate, the judiciary, and, in fact, all
civil officials, have 10 take a solemn
oath 10 protect the Constitution of the
United States, and many Porto Ricans
nave sworn to protect the flag of our
country Would such a right be given
to a Chinaman? We believe that the
duties imposed upon US also carry a
right, and we are assured that the
great American people, the greatest Ma
tion on the globe, will not deny to an
enlightened people the privileges which
belong to them.
Under the Spanish rule our people
were ridden by the military, by the
clergy and by the judiciary, yet we
found a ready market for our tobacco.
our coffee, and our sugar in Spain,
France, Italy and Cuba. To-day it is
true that We have free trade with ;ne
United States, but our products are
not bringing us the returns they did
before the Spanish-American war. and
the people have not recovered from the
hurricane of 1899, which DESTROYED
most of the coffee trees on our estates.
we do believe, however that the
injustice that is being done us is