The economic and social conditions of any people may be viewed from several standpoints. Its present situation may be compared, if data is available, with conditions in the past, or with conditions in other territories, or according to an absolute standard. In his letter of February 28, 1928 President Coolidge quoted a message from Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste who described the condition of the people of Porto Rico at the time of writing, 1897. He spoke of the Porto Rican laborer as "one of the most unfortunate beings in the world." His food is "only putrid salt meat, codfish filled with rotten red spots, and Indian rice, and the man who harvests the best coffee in the world, who helps to gather into the troughs the sweetest grains of nature, and takes to pasture in the fields and meadows the beautiful calves, cannot raise to his lips the bit of meat, because the municipal tax places it out of his reach, and almost duplicates the price of the tainted codfish; coffee becomes to him an article of luxury through its high price, and of sugar he can only taste that filled with molasses and impurities. . ."

The authorities in Porto Rico, under the

direction of the Bureau of Insular Affairs at Washington, have made strenuous efforts to elevate the educational and physical condition of the Porto Rican population during the last twenty-seven years. President Coolidge has declared: "We found the people of Porto Rico poor and distressed, without hope for the future, ignorant, poverty-stricken, and diseased, not knowing what constituted a free and democratic government. We have progressed in the relief of poverty and distress, in the eradication of disease, and have attempted, with some success, to inculcate in the inhabitants the basic ideas of a free democratic government."

From the standpoint of growth in trade Porto Rico has made great progress under American rule. The total external trade has increased from $17,500,000 in 1901 to about $207,000,000 in 1927. The trade of Porto Rico has probably increased more rapidly than that of any other territory in the Caribbean.

Ninety per cent of the external trade of Porto Rico is with the continental United States.65

It is estimated that wages paid to labor by the sugar industry have increased tenfold during the last 25 years. On the other hand, the average value of the products of all farms (large and small) has increased from a few dollars per acre in 1900 to nearly $100 per acre at the present time, due to the high returns from sugar cane, tobacco, citrus fruits and pineapple. The leading agricultural products are sugar, tobacco,

coffee and fruits. While most of the sugar and tobacco exports go to the United States, most of the coffee is sent to foreign markets, such as Cuba, Germany and Spain. The third largest export consists of needlework.

The sugar industry occupies a predominant place in the Island. "Of the total acreage under cultivation 34.5 per cent is

65. For the effect of the tariff policy, and for the profits of American corporations in Porto Rico, cf. p. 454.

devoted to sugar cane; 49.8 per cent of the aggregate value of agricultural products is sugar cane, and 25 per cent of the total number of workers in the Island earn their living in that industry. . ."66

Nearly 79 per cent of the capital invested in manufacturing industries is in sugar factories, and sugar and molasses constitute between 50 and 60 per cent of the exports of the Island annually. The sugar plantations and centrals employ annually about 85,000 men. Sugar exports have increased from 69,000 tons in 1900 to 575,000 tons in 1927.

Sugar cane is grown upon large plantations and during the cutting season laborers bring the cane into centrals. Here the cane is ground by metallic rolls and the juice boiled until crystallized; the product is then bagged. This process requires intricate and costly machinery representing such heavy investment that few if any native Porto Ricans are able as individuals to acquire centrals of their own. Of the 47 centrals in Porto Rico, more than half are owned by corporations representing for the most part foreign interests. To justify such large investments, it is necessary for these corporations to acquire extensive sugar lands.67

While sugar is grown upon a large-scale system, the production of coffee and tobacco has for the most part been in the hands of native Porto Ricans. Most of the coffee estates, which cover several hundred thousand acres and give employment to about 200,000 people, are located in the interior mountainous districts. It is estimated that coffee production has decreased one-third since Spanish times. The production is about 185 pounds per acre in comparison with 810 pounds in Colombia and 600 pounds in Guatemala. The coffee industry suffered especially from the 1928 hurricane." 68 About 40,000 acres in Porto Rico are

given over to tobacco cultivation. In 1927 the tobacco crop suffered from over-production and poor quality.69 About 150 continental Americans are engaged in growing fruit.

The agricultural development of Porto Rico has been materially assisted by an admirable Department of Agriculture. Its work has been especially effective in combatting mosaic diseases and in experimenting with the best types of sugar varieties.70 Largely as a result of its efforts sugar production in Porto Rico has increased about 40 per cent during the last ten years, although the acreage under production has remained fairly constant. Material aid to the small farmer in Porto Rico, has been given in recent years by the Federal Land Bank, a branch of which was established in San Juan in 1921. By means of this agency Porto Rican farmers have been able to borrow money at reasonable rates, and they have been encouraged to organize cooperative marketing associations. Porto Ricans state that many tobacco farmers have been saved from bankruptcy by means of aid from the land bank.

To promote the welfare of the laboring classes, the government has established a Mediation and Conciliation Commission which intervened in 38 out of 43 labor disputes in 1927, settling 36 upon a basis satisfactory to both parties. The government has also established a Workmen's Relief Commission which supervises a system of workingmen's compensation," and it maintains a labor bureau, having ten inspectors, who supervise the administration of the labor laws.

Moreover, the Department of the Interior has constructed an excellent road system and many public buildings; while the Insular Police, a force having only 700 men, or one for every 2,000 people, has been highly praised.72

69. Report of Governor of Porto Rico, 1927, p. 37. 70. Rosenfeld, A. H., A Monogram of Sugar-Cane Varieties, San Juan, 1927.

Perhaps the most notable work of the Porto Rican administration in advancing the welfare of the Porto Rican people has been in the field of education and public health. The work of the Public Health Department has been described by President Coolidge as follows:73

"There exists today in Porto Rico a department of health in all respects modern and including in its activities all branches of modern public health work. Not of least importance as showing the marked progress in health matters in Porto Rico in recent years is the fact that it is completely manned by Porto Ricans. The improvement in the health conditions of Porto Ricans is not fully indicated by the reduction in death rate alone, though this rate has been almost divided by two since the early dates of American sovereignty of the island. The practical eradication of smallpox which had existed continuously in the island for over 40 years prior to American sovereignty, the diagnosis of the so-called tropical anemia which affected the great bulk of the population of Porto Rico, the discoveries in Cuba in the method of propagating yellow fever were concrete benefits to the health situation in Porto Rico and have been of continuous benefit."

The Porto Rican service is preventive; it leaves actual treatment for the most part to municipal doctors and to private practitioners. One of the worst diseases in Porto Rico which at one time threatened the health of 90 per cent of the population is hookworm. The spreading of this disease can be prevented only by sanitation of the soil; and Porto Rico now requires every hut to have a sanitary latrine. Under the auspices of the Bureau of Rural Sanitation of the Department of Health, a total of 86,326 latrines had been erected by 1926.74

The Department of Public Health is also installing municipal health units, each equipped with a doctor and nurses. Half of the expenditures for this purpose is borne by the Porto Rican Government, a quarter by the municipality concerned, and a quarter by the Rockefeller Foundation. The Department also maintains a valuable Bureau of Vital Statistics. The University of Porto Rico has recently opened a school of tropical medicine, in cooperation with Columbia University.

73. Letter to Governor Towner of February 28, 1928. Report of Commissioner of Health, 1926, p. 41.

74.

The Education Department also has done important work. The number of children in school has increased from about 29,182 in 1899 to 213,321 in 1927. Illiteracy has declined during the same period from 83 per cent to below 40 per cent. About one in ten has a practical knowledge of English. School expenditures have increased from $288,098 to more than $4,000,000 annually. About 38 per cent of the total expenditures of Porto Rico go to education. The number of teachers has increased from 525 to 4,483. At present 178 of these teachers are from the continental United States. Most of the seventeen high schools have continentals as principals, while the University is also headed by a continental, Dr. Thomas E. Benner.

Until recently at least the educational system of Porto Rico has aimed at making the population literate, and especially in the English language. An Educational Survey Commission from Teachers' College, Columbia University, which studied the system at the request of the Porto Rican legislature, reported in 1926 that "the curriculum of the elementary school is now so completely a language curriculum that content subjects are almost altogether crowded out. Children who are to stay in school but a few years are now given instruction in English which will not be carried to a point that makes it a useful tool, while they receive no instruction in health, hygiene, the civic virtues and the world about. . . The time now given to English in the first three grades at least is needed imperatively for instruction in matters that are at the present time wholly neglected."75 It declared that "the extreme academic character of high school education" prepared young people for whitecollar jobs which do not exist. It recommended that the teaching of English be discontinued below the fourth grade and that emphasis should be placed upon instruction in agriculture, industrial work and public health. While the first recommendation was not adopted, the curriculum in the schools has recently been revised.

75. A Survey of the Public Educational System of Porto Rico, p. 30, 33.

Another effort to improve the social condition of the people has taken the form of prohibition. The Organic Act of 1917 provided for the enforcement of prohibition in Porto Rico at the end of one year, subject to a plebiscite held at the request of ten per cent of the voters. Such a plebiscite was held and resulted in a victory for prohibition. Enforcement difficulties have, however, arisen which are similar to those in the United States. It is estimated that there are at least 10,000 stills in Porto Rico today.76

Despite these efforts of the administration, the social and economic conditions of Porto Rico are still regarded in certain respects as unsatisfactory. In the first place wages are low. Ordinary agricultural laborers receive wages in some cases as low as fifty and sixty cents a day. At present sugar laborers receive as much as $1.25 a day. Between 1915 and 1925 the wages of a sugar laborer increased 26.5 per cent but the cost of the family diet increased 48.6 per cent.77

At a time when the average wage was from sixty cents to $1 a day the cost of a family diet in the sugar districts was 55.4 cents." 78 As a rule, the sugar worker is employed only five or six months out of the year, and his existence during the period of unemployment is very difficult. A workers' organization in Porto Rico has stated that three-fifths of the popu

76. Cf. the address of Mr. Frank Buckley, Prohibition Administrator, printed in Porto Rico Progress, July 12, 1928.

77. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor, 1925-26, p. 232. Informe del Negociado del Trabajo a la Asamblea Legislativa de Puerto Rico, 1927, p. 5.

78. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1925, p. 60.

20,525 1,400,000

lation is lacking in permanent employment79 A government report says: "In addition to the many hundreds of young men and women that are annually turned out by grammar schools, high schools and the University, the number of idle people in every municipality increases rapidly and makes unemployment a serious problem."80

In his 1920 report the Acting Commissioner of Agriculture declared that "out of 1,300,000 inhabitants, more than 300,000 are poor, barefooted people who live in huts without any comfort and even lack the means of securing the most elementary necessities of life."81

Although at one time Porto Rico produced quantities of foodstuffs and although there is still some land available for this purpose, Porto Rico today relies upon imports for about half of her food supply. At present about 35 per cent of the total imports of Porto Rico consists of food products. In 1927 rice was the leading single import, amounting to $8,149,443 in value; wheat flour amounted to $3,229,992, and dried beans amounted to $1,376,713. In 1927 the Island imported four and a half million pounds of condensed milk. Partly because of the high cost of imported food, the diet of the Porto Rican jibaro has been regarded by some authorities as defective. A recent writer states, "Porto Rico is raising at the outside only one-half the food she needs. This is much too small a proportion for any country to produce and is not only economically unsound, but has considerable bearing on the public health. Fresh foods are better

Although the public health service has made great progress in reducing the death rate in Porto Rico83 the infant mortality rate is still high. For Porto Rico as a whole the rate ranges from 148 to 150 per thousand annually, and in parts of the Island it reaches 314 per thousand.84 The highest rate in American cities is 97 per thousand. The Porto Rican rate has been attributed partly to the fact that people live in overcrowded conditions and that infants often do not secure adequate milk.85 About nine per cent of the deaths in Porto Rico annually are due to tuberculosis, a disease which is attributed in part to undernourishment.86 There are 20,000 people suffering from active tuberculosis in Porto Rico but only 250 hospital beds for them.87

Many of the statements purporting to show that Porto Rico is impoverished and that many Porto Ricans live upon a bare level of existence have been criticized as exaggerated. It has also been stated that while poverty exists in Porto Rico it is no greater than, if as great as, the poverty found elsewhere in the Caribbean and in other parts of the world. Those who hold this point of view declare that if Porto Rico imports food, this is partly due to the disinclination of the Porto Ricans to engage in agriculture. They declare that there is still land available in the Island for cultivation, and that foodstuffs may easily be grown, if the Porto Rican people have the energy to do so. Still others declare that

82. Cook, Dr. D. H., Porto Rico Review of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, August, 1927, "Some Aspects of the Food Problem of Porto Rico."

83. Cf. p. 450.

84. Report of the Commissioner of Health of Porto Rico, 1926, p. 105.

85. Bary, H. V., op. cit.

86. Garcia, The Book of Porto Rico, "The Solution of the Tuberculosis Problem," p. 359.

87. Pastor, Dr. J. R., The Most Important Bill before the Legislature, Porto Rico Progress, April 19, 1928. Legislation was introduced to meet this problem in the spring of 1928.

the present conditions in Porto Rico are due in large part to (1) overpopulation, and (2) the economic system which has grown up there under American rule.

Porto Rico is one of the most densely populated territories in the world. In 1925 the population was estimated at about 1,400,000 which would give the Island a density of about 400 per square mile. Porto Rico has seven times the population density of the Dominican Republic and six times that of Cuba.88

1925.89-90

The birth rate has increased from 20.5 per thousand in 1901 to 39.0 in 1925. The birth rate in the United States proper is about 22.5. The death rate on the other hand has declined from 36.5 in 1901 to 22.4 in The death rate in the United States is 12.2. Thus in 1925 the excess of births over deaths in Porto Rico was nearly 17 per thousand. As a remedy for this situation, the artificial limitation of population might be proposed. Any such suggestion would meet the opposition of the Catholic Church which is strong in Porto Rico and in any event it would not make provision for the existing population. Emigration as a solution also also been proposed.

EMIGRATION FROM

THE ISLAND

Already a number of Porto Ricans have emigrated. The number of Porto Ricans in New York City is estimated between 45,000 and 100,000. Others have gone to California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Santo Domingo. About 9,000 Porto Ricans emigrated to the continental United States in 1927.91

The Dominican Government has offered to grant Porto Rican emigrants free land and tools, and to provide such communities with schools, churches and dispensaries, if the Porto Rican Government will pay the expense of transport to Santo Domingo.92 Emigration is under the general control of

88. In 1899 the population was about 953,000; in 1910, 1,118,000 in 1920, 1,299,000. The increase in the last ten years was 16.3% in comparison with 14.9% for the continental United States. Fourteenth Census of the United States; Population: Porto Rico, p. 1.