Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-06
CARIBBEAN POLITICS.
V-PORTO RICO AND THE FUTURE.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

States. they believe that 1t is destined to
new world.
Two things only are needed to fit it
out as land for the tourst-good hotels
| and good
Good Hotels Needed st Gamers.
to Benefit the Tourist. n .ns s .s,,,
probably not long be wanting. At San
Juan large tract of land has been &C
CURED for the erection of hotel to
measure up to American ideals of COM
tort and convenience. In many other
ways Porto Rico is fitting itself to reap
the golden harvest of the tourists money.
With the completion Of the Panama
canal the necessary steamer accommo-
cations Will not be wanting to make
travel to Porto Rico comfortable and at
tractive.
AS pointed out in a previous article
Porto Rico. by reason of it's immense
pIonts from sugar caused by free trade
Win the United States. has made the
economic mistake of centering the major
portion of it's wealth in one industry.
Inc sugar business is essentially a bust
ness Tor the rich. The masses must be
growing. With coffee It is different The
man with an acre or two Of ground in
the conee country can work as an in
dependent farmer and find market for
his crop. Likewise the fruit and truck
grower can farm his own little tract of
land. While injury to the sugar business
would have disastrous immediate eff
feet in Porto Rico. it probably would
industries which would bring more money
into the pockets OF the people than the
sugar business now does.
Fruit growing and trucking are things
ing beyond the southernmost region of
frost, bananas, pineapples, grapefruit,
oranges and other fruit crops can be
grown in surprising quantities. With
satisfactory steamship service, Porto
Rico might be made one of the truck
gardens and fruit-growing communities
of the new world
The affairs of Porto Rico are under the
supervision OF the insular bureau of the
War Department presided over by Gen.
Clarence Edwards. who takes great pride
in the development Of the island. 1t is
the ambition of the government to make
It the. banner island Of the Caribbean.
Gen. Edwards wants it to stand as an
example of what good government will &C.
cOmplish for people who were for CEN
turtles under the blighting control of
Spain.
One of the principal hopes of the future
Of the island is that the system Of edu
cation, now
Future Hope Of Island being devel-
Centers in Education. tpeu WIN u,-
transform the masses from day laborers
leading hand-to-mouth existences into
| small farmers. who will gain that SUBJ
StQntiQ1 cfffZonohfr
ownership of property. More than three
feurths Of the people of the island now
live directly on its agricultural industries.
Yet the number Of them who make their
living otherwise than as wage-earning
day laborers is exceedingly small. The
system of instruction in agriculture is
laid out with view to teaching the peo-
pie the dignity Of labor, and in awakening
ing living out Of land owned and
farmed by themselves, instead of working
for wages for other people. It is hoped
that this result. in that wider distribution
for the general welfare.
Porto Rico already Is one Of the most
densefy populated regions of the earth
According to the census Of 1910, IL the
as Porto Rico our population would be
nearly q billion souls. This large popu-
lat.on has grown up in spite of the fact
that nowhere else has the hookworm dis
ease had f1rmer hold on the people 1t
is conservatively estimated that over 3OO,-
COO cases OF this wasting disease already
have been cured, and that there are still
900 cases in the island. It is the
hope Of the insMar authorities that ulti-
mately the tremendous economic loss that
has resulted from the prevalence of the
hookworm disease may be entirely over
come.
With this result accomplished, the pop
ulation of Porto Rico must continue to
grow. If it Is to find satisfactory con-
dition of existence Porto Rico must be
made a veritable garden spot of intensi-
fled farming, and the authorities believe
that they will be able to bring about this
condition.