Evening star., 1936-05-10
BY JOHN L. COONTZ.
altruism, the sine
-. qua non Of our colonial policy,
/ has now been extended to


has now been extended to
Puerto Rico This hapless lit
tie island has been proffered freedom
in a congressional act advanced by
Senator Tydings of Maryland.
The term "hapless" is used because
no other word so fittingly describes
the condition Of this gem of the Carib-
bean, its past fortunes and the future
that it faces apparently, whether
given its freedom or kept at the
apron string ends Of the Federal Gov
ernment. A cross-section view Of the
social and economic life Of the island
will bear out what Is meant.
It is customary in making q study
of a country to go to the top for the
picture. The accepted person to in
terview is the President, the Cover
nor, the Premier. But this Is not the
case with Puerto Rico. The study Of
the life and times Of this little spot
in the globes conglomeration Of
islands and continents begins ct the
other end. In fact, to be specific
and paradoxical again-it begins not
at all in Puerto Rico, but in a mod
est ONCE quarter in the heart Of down.
town Washington.
The heart of Puerto Rico today Is
the Puerto Rican Relief Administra-
ton. From this organization, sup
piled with funds from the Federal
Government. there emanates today the
life blood that is pouring through the
little islands veins.
Abject Poverty Seen.
Economically Puerto Rico Is ex-
hausted, nat. And this condition is
reflected in abject poverty and help
lessness. It is evidenced In the
squalid quarters Of thousands Of ma
tives on the outskirts Of the urban
centers of the island. It Is evidenced
in the health, in the undernourish-
ment of women and children by the
thousands. It Is evidenced In the rags
and the diseases ravishing the popu-
lation. It is evidenced in the listless-
ness, the hopelessness and the accept
ance Of any fate that may come to its
victims.
How did the island drift to such a
condition? It was not in such bad
case when the great free America
wrested 1t from the ineptness Of Spain.
The answer lies, to a great extent, in
exploitation of the islands resources
by American capital.
The story of Puerto Rico, economi-
cally, is written In the story Of sugar.
1t is true that the island produces cof-
fee and tobacco. cotton and other
staple crops that grow In tropical
ATTITUDES. But sugar is its great crop.
And sugar Is its downfall.
Four great sugar companies, 100 per
cent American owned, control and
produce so per cent Of the sugar
grown on the island. The concentra-
ton Of the sugar production of the
island In the past SO years-since
American occupancy-has been ter
rife. Then 500 small mills through
out the island ground all the sugar
produced. Now less than half . hun
dred mills care for the crop. In 1898
the sugar production of the island was
scarcely more than $4,000 tons. In
1894 the total production was over
1,000, 900 tons.
Landlords Live Elsewhere.
Through the intervening years this
figure has been stepped up. Through
the intervening years absentee land
lordism has taken possession Of the
most fruitful sugar valleys Of the ISL
and. Through the intervening years
the small sugar grower has gradually
been dispossessed Of his land as 1t
drifted into the hands of the great
centrals, until today more than 100,-
900 acres Of sugar-producing land In
Puerto Rico Is foreign owned, with .
foreign capital investment In TIE ISL