The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-07

.STTIfAT is Uncle Sam doing as to
W. his sharo OF tho white mans
w burden?
lilo shouldorci 1t at the close OF our
m'ar with Spain and he hns now been
toting 1t for moro than thirteen yoarn.
What have we really accomplished In
Porto Rico. Hawaii. Guam and the
Philippines?
1Iavc tho Islands been bc.tcred?
And what Is tho present condition
OF our Little Brown Cousins?
These are some questions I hope to
answcr in tho short series OF letters
or which this Is tho beginning.
| know something OF all these coun-
tries. Travelled over Porto Rico
at the time we took charge. and went
from there across the Pacific to tho
philippines. and studied the islands
from l.uzon to Mindanno. while they
were st!ll under military rule. Later
on visited the Samoans, and later
sttll spent some time in Hawaii. /
know what tho peoples of these coun-
trios we're when we took charge of
them. l want to show you what they
are now. There arc men here in Wash
lngton who are just back from han
ding them. and tho Bureau of Insular
Affairs receives reports every week as
to tho existing conditions nave had
access to this information. and the
most OF It comes hot from tho tropics.
Porto Rico In 1912
This letter Is about Porto Rico. That
{. ls peach OF an island! 1t Ia 100 miles
tong. thirty-six miles wide, and Its soil
Is as fat as the garden OF Eden. II
has e climate like paradise. and the
orange. which many believe was the
apple that 30 tempted Eve. grows there
quito rs well.
however the condition Of the people
was noaror that OF hell than Of heaven.
They wore misernbly poor. There were
100000 OF them. and three ourths were
10 lean that the bones ~ their verte-
brae almost sawed through their
stomachs. /: was then popular say
Ing that one-third OF the people starved
for fully onc-third of the year found
besgars everywhere. and in San Juan.
the capital. Saturday was known as
BeRgars Day. and at that time the
hcssars cane around In single file
TO tho merchants. each OF whom put
n lot OF coins worth sin-tenths OF 4
cent on his desk The bcggars came
in one by one and took one coin only,
departing blessing tho siver.
To-day the besgers have dlsap-
pcarcd, and tho Governor reports that
there is no ono without work. The
population of 100000 or a little more
has increased TO over 100000. and the
whole atmosphere Ia full OF prosperity
san Juan has now $4,000. Ponce as
coo Mayaguoz 1890 and Cnguas 49,
o9o. Nevertheless the majority OF the
people still live out in tho country. less
than one-tonth Of them being IN cities
Of 10000 or over. The density OF popu-
lation is now 325 per square mile.
which ia an increase OF fortyseven
since 1899.
BusIneas IN Booming.
The business OF the island is grow
Ing faster than that OF any other OF
tho West Indies. and faster ttan most
PARTS o! tho United States The Porto
R,cans used 10 bug almost altogether
OF Europe. They now trade with US
and we have SIS per can't OF their com
;nerce. During the past year the for
eisn trade Increased 10 per cent. or
more than Sl0.00o,000 The Porto RI
cans bought from the United States
during that time more than $4,000. 900
worth OF American goods. and tacy sold
almost that much OF their home pro
duce TO us. AS 1t !s now there are
only six or eight countries OF the world
TO which we sell more than we do TO
Porto Rico. and these are the United
Kingdom. Germany. France. Belgium,
Holland and Italy. The Porto Ricans
buy from us more ;hnn does either
Russia, Spain. Austria, China Japan
o. Turkey.
Take out the Argentine. and they buy
moro than all South Anne RIGA. They
',uy three times as much as the Brit
ish East indies, aud far more than
either Japan or China Their trade is
worth about twice that or Africa and
n great deal moro than that of the
Philippines. Moreover. the business Is
steadily growing. ana II increased more
than 100000 in 1910.
As TO the home business or the coua-
try. that is exceedingly prosperous
Thirty-two new corporations were or
Eanized last year, ard the year before