Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-01-07


IXAYI Uncle Sam doing as to his
share OF the white mans
burden?
NSNfEElH He shouldered it at the close
tSszzsey OF our war with Spain and
he l.as now been toting It for more than
thirteen years.
What have we really accomplished in
Porto Rico. Hawaii. Guam and the Phil
ippines2
Have the islands been bettered?
And what is the present condition of
our Little Brown Cousins9
These arc some questions hope to
answer In the short series OF letters OF
which this is the beginning
know something OF all these ccun-
tries. l travelled over Porto Rico at the
time We took charge, and i went from
there across the Pacific to the Philip
pines. and studied the islands from Luzon
to Mindanao, while they were still under
military rule. Later on / visited the
samoans, and later stil spent some time
IN Hawaii l know what the people Of
these countries were when we took
charge OF them. / want 20 show YOU
what they are now. There are men here
in Washington who are just back from
handling them, and tho bureau OF lnsuar
affairs receives reports every week as
20 the existing conditions. ! have had
access TO this information and the most
OF II comes hot from the tropics.
Porto Rico in 1912.
This letter Is about Porto Rico. That
Is "A peach Of an island! II is 100 miles
long. thlrty-six miles wide, and it's soil
is as fat as the garden of Eden. IL has
climate like paradise. and the orange,
which many believe was the apple that
so tempted Eve. grows there quite as
well. AZ the time | was in Porto Rico,
however. the condition of the people was
nearer that OF hell than OF heaven. They
were mlserably poor There were 10000
Of them. and three-fourths were so lean
that the bones of their vertebrate almost
sawed through their stomachs. II was
then a popular saying that one-third OF
the people starved for fully one-thlrd OF
the year. / found beggars everywhere.
and in San Juan, the capital, Saturday
was known as Beggars day, and at that
time the beggars came around in single
file 20 the merchants, each Of whom put
lot of coins worth six-tenths OF cent
on his desk The beggars came in one by
one and took one coin only, departing
blessing the giver.
Today the beggars have disappeared
no one without work. The population OF
$4,000 or a little more has increased
TO over 10000. and the whole atmosphere
is full OF prosperity and progress The
cities are growing. San Juan has now
5000 Ponce 5000, Mayanguez 1900 and
Caguas 1900 Nevertheless the majority
OF the people still live out In the country
less than one-tenth OF them being In
81 N
population is now S5 per square mile.
which IS an increase OF forty-seven since
lsgs
Business IL booming.
The business Of the island is growing
foster than that OF any other Of the
West Indies. and faster than most parts
OF the United States. The Porto Ricsns
used 10 buy almost altogether OF Europe.
They now trade with us and we have IS
per cent OF their commerce. During the
last year the foreign trade Increased IS
per cent or more than SlO,OOO.OO0. The
Porto Ricans bought from the United
states during that time more than SS4-
100000 worth OF American goods and they
sold almost as much OF their home pro-
duce 20 as. As Il is now there are only
six or eight counties OF the world to
which We sell more than We do 10 the
Porto Rioans, and these are the United
Kingdom. Germany. France. Belgium
Holland and Italy. The Porto Ricans buy
from US more than does either Russia.
spain, Austria. China. Japan or Turkey
Take out the Argentine. and they buy
more than all south America. They buy
three times as much as the British East
Indies, and Tar more than either Japan
or China. Their trade Is worth about
twice a. much as that OF Africa and a
great deal more than that OF the Philip
pines. Moreover. the business Is steadily
growing. and Ia Increased more than
S1.oOoooo 10 pie
As 10 the home business OF the country
that y exceedingly prosperous. Thirty