GUPPY — EDUCATION. 
319 
the square mile. Several European countries have a less dense 
population than this. Only a few of the oldest settled parts of 
America, such as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and -New Jersey, 
"'here there are important manufactories and seaports, have such 
a population. The average for the United States (excluding 
Territories) is 25 to the square mile, and no other American 
couutry has a population anything approaching to this. It was 
suggested a short time ago that we should take some of the 
Chinese off the hands of the Cubans. But the population of the 
island of Cuba does not exceed 36 to the square mile as 
compared with our 115, and they have in that island an ample 
area of the most fertile soil to allow of the development of a 
population ; while at least one half of our countryi s too sterile 
to bear a crop, and of the remainder only one-half can be said 
to be really fertile.” f 
I think our population is rather denser than stated being 
over 120f to the square mile. Having traversed and retraversed 
the Island in every direction year after year and having 
studied its'Geology for more than thirty years I can affirm that 
the statement above made is not far from the truth. As the 
writer of it truly remarks “it can do us no good to live in Fool’s 
Paradise” and I may add our good old English saying “Fine 
words butter no Parsnips.” 
IV. School Organization. 
In the Elementary School it is in the infant class that the 
foundation and basis of education is laid. This is the most im- 
portant class in the school and scarcely behind , t comes the first 
standard class. No school is a good school where these classes 
or departments are not efficiently taught and organised. It was 
the daily struggle of my life when m office to get this fact 
recognized 8t I found a constant tendency on the ^ of fers 
to shirk the instruction of these classes, upon 
the whole efficiency of their schools depends. Any one who will 
glance over my printed general reports on eduration^dl^ 
with what persistence I called attention o i * p ; ;d 
of the Government in the matter was of epu^e to provide proper 
accommodation and efficient teachers or » - t bub 
aver that the teaching staff was most] y Je °w^m.er ne ,n 
in some schools where it was not so, the teachers co 
their' work for want of the proper accommodation. A he im p _ 
•The large extent of poor Soil is faintly indicated in the Geological 
port, pages 8 o, 82 and elsewhere. 
t It: 
IkvJ 
. stated at 145 in Ellens’ Almanack for 1898 , page 9 . 
