170 CUBA AND PORTO llICO 



human nature, that the foundations were laid of a code of 

 laws, both for slaves aiid for the native Indians, the spirit 

 of which has ever prevailed among the Spanish Creoles, 

 and which shames nations that arrogate to themselves the 

 title of enlightened. Shallow thinkers have often enter- 

 tained the paradox that free states show less humanity in 

 their colonies than is shown in those under absolute mon- 

 archies. Of all West India annals, those of the French 

 islands before the revolution were perhaps the most darkly 

 stained with cruelty, and their quondam slaves, the Hai- 

 tians, are now the lowest of the West Indian negroes. The 

 free states of South America, on the other hand, have 

 not only followed, but have still further extended, in the 

 midst of their anarchy and factional righting, those prin- 

 ciples of Christian mercy and justice toward the black man 

 which Spain alone, until recently, knew and practised. 



By the Spanish laws, the hours of labor, the amount of 

 food and clothing, and various other particulars in the 

 treatment of the slaves, were minutely and humanely 

 specified. Owners were obliged to have their slaves 

 instructed in the elements of Christianity, so that they 

 could be admitted into the church by baptism within a 

 year after their importation. Twenty-five stripes formed the 

 maximum of punishment. The regulations for the encour- 

 agement of marriage were so favorable to the slaves that 

 they often proved burdensome to the owner. These are 

 only a few items of a clement code which seems to have 

 been so seconded by the natural humanity of the people as 

 to have left as little of misery and shame attached to ser- 

 vitude as was compatible with its miserable nature. 



Finally, when emancipation was given (in 1873), the in- 

 dustry of the Spanish islands, alone of all the West Indies, 

 survived the effects, the planters being able to continue 

 their agricultural operations without financial ruin and 

 social disorganization. 



The prosperity of Porto Rico is shown quite as much in 

 its increased population as its general material progress. 



