The National Geographic Society 



469 



cise taxes collected on the island, while in 

 other territories in the United Slates the rev- 

 enue from these sources was turned over to 

 the federal government. Mr Willoughby re- 

 plied that it was impossible to raise sufficient 

 funds from the island to develop and build up 

 the country. Unless the revenue from excise 

 taxes and custom duties was turned over to 

 the insular government, there would be no 

 funds available for the improvement of the 

 island by schools and roads. 



Mr H. M, Wilson directed attention to the 

 fact that the interior of Porto Rico had no 

 roads. The agricultural resources of the inte- 

 rior were not opened because pony paths and 

 trails were ihe only means of communication 

 with the commercial centers. He would like 

 to know what was being done for the devel- 

 opment of a highway system. Mr Willoughby 

 replied that road-building was going on in ten 

 or fifteen sections of the island. Each road 

 was part of a general plan to open up indus- 

 trial centers and to make a system of thorough- 

 fares that would be most serviceable. The 

 insular government expected much from the 

 law which compelled municipalities to devote 

 a certain percentage of their taxes to the im- 

 provement of the highways, especially as this 

 money was expended under the general super- 

 vision of the insular authorities 



Mr Amos W. Hart inquired as to the gen- 

 eral danger in Porto Rico from hurricanesand 

 tornadoes. Mr Willoughby replied that the 

 danger was slight. The hurricane of 1899 was 

 exceptional. There had been nothing like it 

 in hundreds of years. 



Mr Hart inquired as to the general direc- 

 tion of the trade winds. Mr Willoughby re- 

 plied that his impression was that the trade 

 winds were from the northeast. The trade 

 winds made the climate comfortable at all 

 seasons of the year. 



Mr Theodore L. Cole wished to know how 

 the experiment of intrusting legislative power 

 to the executive heads of the departments was 

 working. Mr Willoughby replied that the ex- 

 periment was working admirably, as thus the 

 executive heads had the opportunity of intro- 

 ducing and explaining measures which they 

 thought of importance to their department. 



Mr Richard U. Goode inquired as to what 

 was the extent of the public lands and the 

 nature of land tenure in the island. 



Acting President McGee stated that before 

 Mr Goode's question was answered he would 

 like to direct attention to a very interesting 

 fact about Porto Rico, namely, that the land- 

 teuure system in Porto Rico had come up in 

 slow and steady development from the abo- 

 riginals, who had no individual ownership. 

 We have in Porto Rico an epitome in four 

 centuries of the development of land tenure, 



a development which took two millenniums 

 in Europe. He was especially glad this ques- 

 tion was raised, and hoped Mr Willoughby 

 would answer it in full. 



Mr Willoughby replied that when the United 

 States Government took charge of Porto Rico 

 there was doubt as to whether the public lands 

 went to the insular or federal government. 

 This doubt had considerably retarded the de- 

 velopment of the island, as there were consid- 

 erable public lands waiting development near 

 the cities. The extent of the public lands 

 would not be known until an adequate survey 

 was made. The last Congress passed a law 

 stating that all public lands that the President 

 does not select for military or naval purposes 

 shall be turned over to the insular government. 

 As to land tenure, private property was held 

 there as in the United States, except that it 

 was unusual to have land conveyed by deed. 

 Land had been conveyed chiefly by descent, 

 the result being that titles and boundaries 

 were very much involved. A survey of the 

 island, followed by a land-registration system 

 something like the Torrens system, was much 

 needed. Conveying of land was now very ex- 

 pensive. 



Mr Theodore L. Cole inquired as to the dif- 

 ference between the political parties. Mr 

 Willoughby replied that there were two par- 

 ties, the Federals and the Republicans, both 

 of whom accepted unhesitatingly American 

 sovereignty and only differed as to the extent 

 of authority to be left to the United States 

 Government. The Federals wanted the Ex- 

 ecutive Council, which is now an appointive 

 office by the President, made elective, thus 

 taking it out of the hands of the American 

 authorities. The insular government does not 

 approve of such a course, as Porto Rico has not 

 yet developed a sufficient sense of political 

 toleration. The Republicans in general are 

 satisfied with the existing system, though hold- 

 ing that in time the management of affairs 

 should more largely be intrusted to natives of 

 Porto Rico. 



Mr Richard U. Goode asked whether the 

 spelling of Porto Rico as Porto Rico (with- 

 out the u) was generally accepled. Mr Wil- 

 loughby said he could not answer definitely. 

 The Americans all use the abbreviated form, 

 but the people probably do not. 



Mr J. P. Granger asked what was the 

 opportunity in the island for the investment 

 of money as loans. . Mr Willoughby replied 

 that though the general rate of interest was 

 9 per cent., only a limited amount of monev 

 could be safely placed in 'that way. Almost 

 the only security the people could offer is land. 

 As Ihe matter of straightening out titles and 

 boundaries proceeds the opportunity for loan- 

 ing money will increase. The best openings 



