THE IRRIGATION AGE 



225 



have "gone before," and then turning to 

 the crowds of merry sightseers, whose 

 flippant remarks such as. "he ought to get 

 a hair cut," referring to the portrait of a 

 great commander in the civil war, one 

 wondered what the thoughts must be of 

 those who suffered agonies within those 

 walls, if they were among the visitors. 

 Could they realize that it was the same 

 old building which held them prisoners, 

 years ago? 



It is to be hoped that a suitable loca- 

 tion may be found upon which the prison 

 may be permanently erected and become a 

 fitting museum for the relics of our coun- 

 try's conflict. 



Puerto Under Spanish rule and the 



Rico's tariffs framed by Spain, 



Puerto Rico was practically 

 compelled to buy most of her imports from 

 Spain, the duties upon articles from other 

 countries being so high as to give Spain 

 a monopoly of the trade. On Feb. 1, '99, 

 the manufacturers and merchants of the 

 United States, for the first time, had equal 

 access with other parts of the world to the 

 markets of Puerto Rico, and the people of 

 the island have now a chance to exercise 

 their own judgment as to where and what 

 they shall purchase. In the past few years 

 their imports have ranged from twelve to 

 fifteen million dollars' worth annually, 

 the greater part of which was supplied by 

 Spain. Statistics for the year 1896 (the 

 latest available) show the Spanish imports 

 received by Puerto Rico to have been 

 greatest in the manufactured articles of 

 cotton. Shoes and sandals come next in 

 value. The imports of playing cards from 

 Spain in '96 amounted to 69,085 pesetas, a 

 peseta being equal in value to 19-, 3 cents 

 of our money. As the natives become 

 familiar with our national game of poker. 

 this latter import will doubtless increase. 

 A Just a few short months ago 



there was a great hue and cry 



, , .. 

 about the strained relations 



between this country and Germany. At 

 the time of our late war it was even 

 prophesied that the United States vas 

 stirring up a great brawl in which all the 

 other powers would become leagued 

 against the eagle and the lion. Instead, it 

 seems to have cleared the atmosphere and 

 Germany, for one, is disposed to smoke the 



Change 



of Heart. 



pipe of peace with not only Great Britain 

 but the United States as well. While the 

 lion and the lamb do not lie down together, 

 all the animals have lost their desire to 

 stir up the eagle, preferring to let that 

 glorious bird alone. 



As an earnest of the change undergone 

 in Germany's feelings toward the two 

 countries mentioned, the German Emperor 

 received Mr. Cecil Rhodes at Berlin re- 

 cently, and also sent inquiries as to Kip- 

 ling's condition during his illness. Mr. 

 Rhodes and Mr. Kipling represent English 

 politics and English literature, two things 

 which Germany has hitherto regarded 

 with dislike. 



The cartoonists picture Liberty on the 

 mountain being tempted by Satan in the 

 guise of Imperialism, who shows to the 

 wavering damsel the world-wide empire, 

 of which the Philippines are but a small 

 part, which is to be hers if she will fall 

 down and worship him. 

 The A great deal is being said and 



Anglo-Saxon wr it, ten now-a-days about 

 ' 'Anglo-Saxon supremacy. " 

 Anglo-Saxon rot! It is time that some 

 impartial historian devotes his scholar- 

 ship and his energy to relegate this ab- 

 surd myth to the musty shelves of "for- 

 gotten lore.'* Who can read the stories 

 of the successive invasions and coloniza- 

 tions of Britain by practically every race 

 of Europe and intelligently maintain that 

 the most boorish, the least intellectual 

 and the most barbarous of these invading 

 anS colonizing tribes is entitled to the 

 grotesque laudation which it receives at 

 the hands of predjudiced and sycophantic 

 historians and narrow gauge philosophers? 

 The Anglo-Saxons were pirates, as treach- 

 erous, as superstitious, and as cruel and 

 barbarous as any which cursed the world. 

 We might as reasonably ascribe the su- 

 premacy of America today to the hypothe- 

 sis that we are descendants of the Bucca- 

 neers that terrorized our coasts once upon 

 a time. 



In their own country these anglo saxons 

 could not be distinguished from other 

 dirty, ignorant, savage brawlers. In 

 Britain they succeeded in terrorizing the 

 coast people, as did our buccaneers of old. 

 until they were driven inland by more 

 intelligent invaders and lost their identity 



