588 



PORTO RICO. 



wages could be earned by the idle men in improv- 

 ing the roads of the island, to which nearly 

 $1,000,000 were allotted by the Secretary of War. 

 For the seacoast defense of the island the mili- 

 tary authorities made provision lor emplacing 309 

 heavy guns, 308 rapid-fire guns, and 372 mortars. 

 Local officials were properly elected in September, 

 1899, and before the middle of February, 1900, 

 mayors, town councils, municipal judges, and 

 boards of education had been chosen and installed 

 in all the towns. The military commander de- 

 termined the qualifications of voters, which were 

 the ability to read and write Spanish, English, or 

 any other language, or the payment of $1 in taxes 

 during eighteen months preceding the elections. 

 Under these conditions the number of votes polled 

 reached 51,179, equal to 5.375 per cent, of the 

 population. Although no armed soldiers ap- 

 proached the voting places, the elections were 

 held under strict army supervision, and the re- 

 turns were unquestionably honest. A tariff law 

 was passed for Porto Rico by Congi-ess, applying 

 the rates of the Dingley tariff on imports from 

 the United States and on Porto Rican produce 

 into the United States 15 per cent, of those 

 rates. Another bill, signed on March 25, devotes 

 to the aid and relief of Porto Rico all the revenues 

 collected from imports from the island into the 

 United States under the Dingley tariff since the 

 Spanish evacuation until otherwise provided. An 

 act of Congress approved by the President on 

 April 12, 1900, provided for the civil government 

 of Porto Rico. On May 1 the military governor 

 turned over to Gov. Allen the direction of civil 

 affairs. The machinery of civil government was 

 already in charge of experienced public officers, 

 and in every municipality were officers chosen by 

 the electors and exercising practically autonomous 

 government. The insular treasury contained a 

 balance of $300,000. Much had been done to im- 

 prove the sanitary conditions of the island. Com- 

 pulsory vaccination saved the people from an epi- 

 demic of smallpox, and sanitary boards with 

 large powers were established everywhere. Gov. 

 Allen appointed a Cabinet. An Executive Coun- 

 cil consisting of 6 Americans and 5 Porto Ricans 

 is the upper house of the Legislature. Courts 

 were established and worked satisfactorily ex- 

 cepting in regard to acts of violence growing out 

 of political passions, in which cases the party 

 allegiance of the judge often influenced his deci- 

 sion. The municipal police was likewise influ- 

 enced by politics in dealing with offenders, and 

 the insular police of the country districts, which 

 was under the direct control of the central au- 

 thorities, was much more efficient in preserving 

 order. A general election was held on Nov. 6 

 for members of the Legislature, which was con- 

 vened for the first Monday in December. There 

 were two parties the Republicans, led by Dr. 

 Jose Barvosa, who supported the American ad- 

 ministration upon the tariff and other measures, 

 and the Federals, led by Mufioz Rivera, who de- 

 manded more autonomy. The island was dis- 

 tricted by the Executive Council. Each district 

 elected 5 of the 35 members of the House of 

 Deputies. The same qualifications were provided 

 sis in the municipal elections, in which the Fed- 

 erals had a popular majority of 6,111. 



The building of roads to bring the products of 

 the interior to market \vas the most necessary im- 

 provement, undertaken by the Americans in con- 

 nection with famine relief, and carried on until all 

 the important towns have communication with 

 the seaports. Except the military road from S;in 

 Juan to Ponce and the three railroads running 

 along the coast, the only means of transport, 



even from the important coffee districts around 

 Utuado and Ad juntas, was by pack mules over 

 bridle paths. The longest of the new roads runs 

 across the island through those towns from Are- 

 cibo to Ponce, 52 miles, with branches from Arecibo 

 and Utuado to Lares, and roads from Lares to 

 Aguadilla through San Sebastian and Moca and to 

 Mayaguez through Las Marias. From Ponce a 

 road passes through Guayanilla, Yauco, Sabana 

 Grande, and San German to Mayaguez. Another 

 road runs from the port of Humaco to Caguas 

 on the military road and on to Comerio, to be 

 followed by one running north from Comerio to 

 Bayamon. Another goes from Morobis through 

 Ciales to the railroad at Manati. Others connect 

 Corozal with Bayamon and Toa Baja and Gua- 

 yama with Arroya. A road from Comerio to Bar- 

 ranguitas and Barros and connecting with the 

 road from Utuado to Jayuaya will complete the 

 chain of new roads traversing the island from 

 end to end, and crossing at right angles the old 

 military road and the new road from Arecibo to 

 Ponce. The new roads have a maximum grade of 

 7 per cent., and in the mountainous parts they 

 cost $25,000 a mile, 10 per cent, more than the 

 Spanish military road, though most of them are 

 built for $10,000 a mile. Many schoolhouses have 

 been built by the Government, which intends to 

 have a school in every barrios. A normal school 

 at Fajardo has been completed. Criminal bands 

 that once infested the mountain districts have 

 been driven out entirely by the insular police, and 

 many of the leaders brought to justice. The ad- 

 ministration of justice has in general been freed 

 from political influence. The insular police, which 

 has freed the land from bandits and maintains 

 perfect order throughout the island, which the 

 Spanish civil guards never did, because they were 

 under political influence, was organized by a Ger- 

 man-American soldier, Lieut. Frank Techter, ex- 

 cept whom all the 19 officers and 440 men ait- 

 Porto Ricans, and many of them belong to the 

 most intelligent and cultivated classes; for with- 

 out a strict examination no one is admitted, and 

 only young men of courage seek the service. Porto 

 Rico has been made a judicial district of t In- 

 United States, and the organization of the judi- 

 ciary is the same as in the United States. The 

 sanitary condition of the island was formerly 

 horrible, the people ignorant and careless of clean- 

 liness and the rules of health. Filth, diseases, and 

 epidemics were common. The military author- 

 ities, when they took hold, set the convicts in the 

 jails to cleaning the streets of Ponce and S;in 

 Juan, and native health officers induced the people 

 to cleanse their premises and keep them clean. 

 The general vaccination of the people was enforced 

 by the insular police, with the result that not a 

 single death from smallpox has since occurred, 

 although there were 242 in the preceding six 

 months. Markets, bakeries, and milk depots 

 must now be kept clean, and a system of food in- 

 spection has been introduced. Schools, jails, and 

 hospitals are for the first time kept in a sanitan 

 condition. Anamia, the most debilitating and 

 fatal disease in Porto Rico, has been found to be 

 due to a parasite, the ravages of which have 

 already been lessened and will cease when filth H 

 abolished. Under Spanish rule not 15 per rent. 

 of the children went to school at all, and only 

 10 per cent, learned to read and write. A graded 

 system of public schools has been introduced l>y 

 the present Government, which has taken hold 

 of the whole system of public education, and d> 

 votes to it 12 per cent, of the public revenue, t wic ' 

 the proportion assigned by the Spanish Govern- 

 ment, and diverted in part to other purposes. In 





