PORTO RICO

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 167, 18 July 1898, Page 5

PORTO RICO

WHICH ' AMERICA PROPOSES TO

: ANNEX.

THE ISLAND WOULD MAKE A VALUABLE- ACQUISITION. '

ITS POPULATION, PRODUCTS, AND

CLIMATE. ,

NEW YORK, June 6,

The New York 'Mail, and Express,' in the following- article,: calls atteii-tion-to the.factthat the Spanish Government never made a. survey of its important island, Porto Rico.,.' Such maps as it supplies to its own military and'naval officers are either poor re-, prints of ,the English and ' American originals or else are' the originals themselves. Both Great Britain arid the United States have made caref v] surreys and charts of the main island itself and also of its appanages. Beique Island, Gulebra, Pinero, and the dangerous group, of reefs,' islets, and islands on its north-east. The interior has been, mapped by slow degrees, but-even to-day there is no. firstclass chart of its territory. It is not' a large island, .being about 105, miles nong and forty miles wide. With its lependeneies it- contains about ,"v,3000,00Ch. sqpare miles of territory; and a mixed population 'of aboiit 300,000. There are.fewer Spaniards in PortoEico than in Cuba, in proportion to the .population. . This is.due,to the fact-that the island is much poorer and,-therefore, does not afford, so rich a harvest field to the politician and pffice-holder of Madrid. There is said to'be much Carib'blood in,the population, especially among the poorer clas-; ses. So far as can be seen,, the people are a. mixture of about, equal parts of white and black, the mulattos, quadroons,, octoroons, quinteros, and mestizos being apparently in the majority. The official figures on this subject are : not to be .relied upon in any way. They are made and altered to suit the convenience of the officials, or to further .some concealed motive or plain. Thus, in one Spanish report, the negroes are said to mlmber but 80,Q00,~ while in another ;the figures are put. at 400,000. :-,■ ',; "■ '..'..; [".;'■ , ." :' . \

, The'island possesses one large'and good harbour, San Juan, and several small ones, including Port Jobos, Port Guanica, Corona, Port Real,, and Culebra. From a.military or naval, point of view, the only port is the one which our fleet silenced under Admiral Sampson. The - island may therefore be regarded as a Valuable base of supplies and of martial activity, provided its .occupants ..render, San Juan impregnable to modern artillery,.and has a strong fleet to prevent a blockade. As against England, with its siirrpiin(ling islands, it would not be of much value, but 'as against Prance, which owns Martinique, Guadeloupe, Marie.Galante, He dcs Saintes, Petite Terre, St. Bartholomew, and St. Martin, it- would be invaluable.. In some far past* period the island' seems %o ha.ye been, the theatre of-volcanic disturbances, as many of the hills show an igneous origin and much of the soil is of the rich character wfiich is only found in volcanic lands. -It has also.been favoured,by the humble coral polyp, which. is still at work .upon the^ reefs aiid keys of its eastern coast. . ' i

There'is an .excellent. rainfall, although not so heavy as in Cuba, and: a very fertile soil. Its chief products are sugar, tobacco, coffee, guano, and rumv It also does a 'small trade in woods and tropical, fruits. Itsjcplii-: mercial importance, as well as ips political and pecuniary: value to Spain, has Been slowly decreasing for many years. This is due to heavier-taxation, corrupt administration, and stronger competition with' other' countries. Thus, its coarse tobacco, which was once quite popular, has been lessened in popularity by improved, cultivation of the weed in "the United States and other countries. Its sugar and molasses trade has been" rendered almost profitless r'by the ;bourity system of Germany'-and France,- while its ruin industries have likewise been damaged by aX superior product "from other communities, ' The entire commerce of ,the island is about. $30,000,000, of which the part enjoyed by the United -States'is abbiit one-fourth; There is also;a balance of trade in our favour, ..which is' usually; paid by.' exchanges. through Havana or London. ]?rom us ■they, secure most of their food supply. Of'?a total importation of $4,500;000, from this 'country provisions take up $2,7000,000. : , ; • .As their -merchants, on account of heavy, duties and. taxes, axe unable to "carry heavy stocks which in the Spanish system are the subject of a special tax, the opening of hostilities with this, country has. cut short their food supply and compelled them to import •iri small quantities .and at very heavy expense from San Domingo, St. Thomas, -Styproix, -neighbouring islands; CTh'e^ stock^ on %a4ld- at -the present moment, cannot be larger than I a ;two; .weeks' demand,: and] althoiigh ! prices have frori'e "tip two .arid three j times! what ~they .were in; March, the period of actual starvation canot be nlpre''than twenty■ctays'-Oistaiici l-" :^>& more' important "cities "arid towns are 'San.'Juanj the.capital, with,a popula■'tion of about '25i000, a -garrison of ..about 12,000; Ponce, its wealthiest and 'most-progressive city, .38,000; .San German', the chief city of the western coast, 31J000; Mayaguez, not far from San German, 12,000; Arecebu, on the [north -coast,, 11,000;_ Aguadijla, on the I nprth-west -coas€,?io',ooo'| Gifayama,' on i the sputhreast,.;7,Qpo,; and Toa Alta, on.' iiie^north, 4,000.^ :i

"-' There are three small railways on; the island built and 'owned chiefly by British capital. The largest.connects San^Juan bn the north : with' Guay-

ama,' on the south,., thus traversing the island, and is about sixty miles in length. The second, follows the west coast, connecting Aguadilla with San German, and is about forty miles in length., The third/is; on the southern coast, connecting Ponce 'with Coamo, and is about twenty-five miles long. The eastern province of Porto Rico, Humacao, is subject to hurricanes, and is the poorest- district. Of■;.,the island. It was on \ account of its beauty a favourite with its Spanish occupants during many years, biit after, many visitations of these storms they gave up the- strug-g-le and moved to safer communities., It, .therefore, presents the sombre picture of a land which ha 3 gone through a war and had all its industries ruined. The interior of Porto Rico may be called mountainous. Although few if any of the ranges exceed 3,000 feet in height, they afford great variety to the climate and make many districts natural sanitariums. San Juan is of more .than ordinary interest, as it is probably the best example of a Spanish style city in the new world. The architecture is largely of the hybrid type, known as His-pano-Moorish, in- which sunlight, and fresh air are excluded from buildings by using .narrow ..windows and small doorways. The, -houses in the' city have handsome iron -balconies, and those in tile suburbs are often set in very pretty gardens. There are practically no sewers, and during the wet season the odours "or inalodours are numerous and very perceptible. There is also much malariaand fever-during this season. The city itself is built on what was formerly a series of hilly islands, coTal reefs and ' low lands sometimes submerged in stormy weather. It is connected with the mainland by a long, peninsula and with the island proper by 'a railway bridge which runs from Cangrejos, a suburb across the bay>/to the town of Roble. The old fortifications are of the medieval type, and remind one of the Moorish strongholds of Andalusia or the robber • barons'- castles of the Rhine. The Morro Fort was perched upon a high hill and had walls so thick and high -that the place was considered impregnable in the last century. The GoVernor-General's palace is a good type of the municipal architecture of Madrid, the Cathedral is rather a handsome 'building.' There is a gloomy but attractive-looking convent, one or two picturesque city gates and a timber of large.and.massive houses built in the oldenl time when the place was frequented by Spanish warships and galleons." , y Some of the streets'are paved in a curious fashion, the stone being flaked so .as to resemble small wedges in shape. These are driven into the earth of-the roadway and aftenvards hammered by heavy paviors until they form a smooth and rather concave surface.| This is opposite to our "ideas of'paving, but is intended to use the centre of the street or alley as a channel for water during heavy rains. There is a strong revolutionary sentiment in Porto Rico, but it has never found much expression on acount of the ■hopelessness, of a successful revolt. The island is ,small and a; brigade of cavalry could ;i-id it of a sraall-siz.ed insurrection in, sixty days. There hay e been a number "of small unprisings in the present century, each one of which has ' been ■ suppressed., with.. great promptness and ferocity.' : ■ ' . tinder a /just and honest government which would foster and not burden enterprise, the .island * would become one of the richest of its size in the world. Winter is unknown, the soil will sustain three or four crops a year, and all of the conditions exist which make the Vnelta Aba'jo )n Cuba world famous of its Havana tobacco. ' f ' Experiments have'shown that lemons and limes, annotto,' bay oil, tamarinds/indigo; fine coffee, hemp, cinnamon and quinine can be raised' with great1 ease. Ml of these experiments came to an untimely. end: through- the pernicious activity, of -the Spanish assessor'arid. tax gatherer.1 ......... < .;•■• ■■" ■:,■.;•': ;■ it- i: : ••-. viv'- ~a-i ~.