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  SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN
  PORTO RICO

  BY
  FRED K. FLEAGLE
  DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF PORTO RICO

  D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
  BOSTON      NEW YORK      CHICAGO




  COPYRIGHT, 1917,
  BY D. C. HEATH & CO.
  1 E 7




FOREWORD


IT would seem presumptuous, even after ten years of residence in Porto
Rico, to attempt to classify the social problems of the Island and offer
suggestions as to their solution, were it not for the fact that this
work does not claim to be a complete and final analysis of the
situation, but is designed merely to gather up the material available,
and present it in such form that it may be made the basis of class-room
study. The absence of such a collection of data was a handicap to the
author in his work in rural sociology in the University of Porto Rico,
and this book represents, in a somewhat abbreviated form, the material
covered. The fundamental principles of sociology are touched on but
lightly, since there are already available many excellent books
presenting this phase of the subject. It is expected that the instructor
will supplement by references and discussions, using the facts presented
here to bring out the general principles of theoretical sociology.

It is to be understood that the facts and data presented here are not to
be taken as a criticism of Porto Rico or of the Porto Ricans. They are
merely an exposition of the social situation as it exists, and do not
differ greatly, either in quantity or character, from similar facts
which could be gathered relating to any country. It is necessary,
however, to know our troubles if they are to be corrected, and we
deceive no one if we claim a state of human perfection which does not
exist. Neither do we relieve ourselves of responsibility for our own
mistakes by calling attention to the fact that other people have made
greater ones than we have. A frank facing of the situation, the
acknowledgment of whatever there may be that is unpleasant in a social
situation, and a sincere desire and attempt to make corrections, is the
only honest thing to do.

I have always been optimistic for the future of Porto Rico. It is an
island endowed by Nature with more than the usual amount of beauty and
brightness. My relations with the people of Porto Rico have been such as
to convince me that they have absorbed much of the natural atmosphere of
brightness and sunshine which is their heritage, and I believe them sons
and daughters worthy of such a beautiful and pleasant island home as
Porto Rico.

It will be noted that the emphasis in the following pages has been
placed on rural problems. This does not mean that there are more social
problems in the country than in the towns, but so little has been done
regarding country problems, and the course for which this material was
used as a basis being devoted to rural social problems, no attempt was
made to take up a discussion of the many topics which might be found in
the urban situations.

Special acknowledgment is made for the material used from the reports of
Drs. Ashford and Gutierrez, and for the data from the reports of the
Insular Bureau of Labor while under the direction of Mr. J. Clark Bills,
Jr. Some of this material is quoted verbatim from the reports, and the
author does not wish to claim it as his own.

   FRED K. FLEAGLE,
   _University of Porto Rico_




CONTENTS


                                                PAGE
  POPULATION                                       1

  THE JIBARO                                       6

  OVERPOPULATION                                  19

  THE FAMILY                                      28

  RURAL HOUSING CONDITIONS                        37

  WOMAN AND CHILD LABOR                           50

  INDUSTRIES                                      56

  THE LAND PROBLEM AND UNEMPLOYMENT               61

  POVERTY                                         68

  SICKNESS AND DISEASE                            76

  CRIME                                           84

  INTEMPERANCE                                    93

  JUVENILE DELINQUENTS                            97

  RURAL SCHOOLS                                  105

  THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY                   112

  RELATION OF THE TEACHER TO THE COMMUNITY       119

  PRESENT-DAY RURAL SCHOOL MOVEMENTS             125

  PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND LONGEVITY             130




SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN PORTO RICO


POPULATION


THE Island of Porto Rico, covering an area of about 3,500 square miles,
had in 1910 a total population of 1,118,012. The population was divided
between the towns and country as follows: Urban population 224,620, or
20.1 per cent of the total number, and rural population 893,392, or 79.9
per cent of the total number. From these figures it is evident that the
greatest problems of Porto Rico--those which affect nearly 80 per cent
of the population--are problems connected with rural life. Of course,
many of the people classified as rural inhabitants do not fall strictly
within this class, as by urban centers we mean towns with a population
of 2,500 inhabitants or more, and thus many of the smaller towns, which
really have the advantages of town life, are classified officially as
rural centers.

The population of Porto Rico is 65.5 per cent, or nearly two thirds,
white, 30 per cent mulatto, and 4.5 per cent black. It is 98.9 per cent
native and 1.1 per cent foreign born. During the period from 1899 to
1910 there was an increase in the total population of the Island of 17.3
per cent, which covered an increase of 25 per cent for the native
whites, a decrease of 14.5 per cent for the foreign born whites, a
decrease of 15.4 per cent for the blacks, and an increase of 10.1 per
cent for the mulattoes. The decrease in the number of foreign born
whites is due to the fact that in the census of 1899 this group included
persons born in the United States, while in 1910 these were classified
as natives. The decrease in the number of blacks is doubtless due to
intermarriage with other classes, and as a result we have the children
of such marriages classified as mulattoes. If the number of such
marriages were sufficiently great, the births of blacks would be
insufficient to offset the deaths, and the number of blacks would, in
that case, necessarily decrease. On this assumption we might very well
prophesy that within a few generations the black population in Porto
Rico will absolutely disappear, and that we shall have an increased
number of mulattoes who, in their turn, will tend to disappear, as they
mingle in marriage with people of less  blood, and in time the
black race will be practically absorbed by the whites.

Of the foreign countries represented, Spain, with 56.3 per cent of the
total foreign born, leads the list. Cuba and the other West Indies have
20.5 per cent to their credit, France 5.8 per cent, Italy 3.1 per cent,
England 2.9 per cent, Germany 1.9 per cent, Denmark 1.6 per cent, while
no other single country contributes so much as one per cent to the
foreign born population.

The total number of foreign born in 1910 was 11,766. The rural
population of 893,392 was divided among the races as follows: Whites
604,541, blacks 32,918, mulattoes 255,923. Thus we see that the great
majority of the rural population is of the white race, due no doubt, to
the fact that the colder climate of the highlands of the interior does
not agree with the hereditary love which the <DW52> race has for a warm
climate.

The population of Porto Rico comprises a mixture of bloods and races
that complicates the social problems of the Island. The French, Italian,
and Spanish elements have tended to mix with the descendants of the
Indians originally found here, and to this has been added in many cases
a mixture of the blood of the <DW52> race, introduced as slaves into
the Island. In some cases the races from the north of Europe have also
mingled, so that to-day it is inaccurate to speak of the Porto Ricans as
a people of one blood, and the characteristics of the people might be
called a composite of the various race elements which have entered into
the formation of the native population.

The geographical and geological formation of the Island renders it
chiefly agricultural. Little is found in the way of mineral deposits,
and manufacturing on a large scale will never be carried on, due to the
lack of fuel supply and water power. The climate is agreeable and has no
doubt tended to render the people less active than would have been the
case in a colder climate. The prevalence of anemia and malaria
throughout the Island has also weakened the productive ability of the
people and has caused the casual observer to classify the Porto Rican
countryman as unambitious and lazy. The loss of vitality caused by the
diseases just mentioned, together with others which have visited the
Island from time to time, is almost impossible to determine, but there
is no doubt but that the laziness with which the Porto Rican countryman
is credited, disappears with great rapidity when his system has been
freed from the effects of disease.

The Island imports a great part of its food supply, although food stuffs
of a vegetable nature are easily produced and might be raised in
sufficient quantity to maintain our present population. The Island is
too small to provide grazing areas for large numbers of cattle.

The problems of the rural population have been practically untouched up
to the present time, as the dominating element in the social and
political life of Porto Rico has come from the towns. The rural people
have consequently lacked stimulus for self-improvement, inasmuch as
there was nothing done to make them dissatisfied with their condition
and lead them to try to better it. A system of rural schools has been
established by the Department of Education, but not in sufficient number
to accommodate all of the children of the country. The solution of the
rural situation depends upon proper schooling, a system of instruction
which will fit the children for living better rural lives and which
shall not be simply the graded system of the towns transplanted to the
country. The special problems of the country should be taken into
consideration in working out the course of study for the schools, and
specially trained teachers should be provided,--teachers who will look
upon their work in the rural school as their profession in life, and who
will make every effort to adapt themselves to the needs of the community
in which they may be located. A continuation of the work which the
Government has already started to improve the sanitary and hygienic
conditions under which the country people live, the abolishing of anemia
and malaria through continuous effort, and instruction as to proper diet
and care of the body, together with instruction as to how to secure the
necessary kinds of food seems to be the only solution to the rural
situation. Certain other problems which relate to the rural family will
solve themselves as the educational and economic situation is bettered.




THE JIBARO


THE rural population of Porto Rico may be roughly divided into the
landowners, or planters, and the wage-earning countrymen. The planters
are usually people who in many ways closely resemble the country
gentleman or squire of England. They are people of considerable
importance in their communities, frequently well educated and widely
traveled, men who do not hesitate to spend their money freely for their
comfort and that of their families when the crops are plentiful and the
prices good. They exercise a sort of patronage over the country people
who work for them, many of whom live in houses on land provided by the
landlord. The laborers look to the landlord for guidance and for advice
in practically all matters pertaining to their economic life, and the
planter usually reciprocates by caring for the welfare of the countryman
to the best of his ability.

Many of the planters, especially such as are located in the coffee
districts, have been badly handicapped by the partial destruction of
their coffee plantations through cyclones, and by the low price for
their product, since they have had to compete with South American coffee
in the European and American markets. In addition to this economic
disadvantage, the planters are also handicapped by the infirmity of
their laborers, most of whom are sufferers from anemia, and few of whom
are able to work without the immediate direction of a foreman. The
economic and social condition of the planters is not a matter of
particular interest to us in this connection, inasmuch as they are so
situated that they enjoy all of the advantages of an advanced stage of
civilization. The problem that confronts the progress of Porto Rico is
to be found in the day laborer of the country districts. The following
is taken from the book on _Uncinariasis in Porto Rico_, by Doctors
Ashford and Gutierrez:

"Our patient has been in times past the _jibaro_ and will be in time to
come. As we have seen already, while all country districts furnish an
incredible number of sick, the great breeding places of _necator
americanus_ are the coffee plantations, and this is the home of _el
palido_ (the pale man) of Porto Rico.

"The _jibaro_ is a type to be well studied before we essay to interest
him in bettering his own condition. Many have written of his virtues,
many of his defects, but few, even in Porto Rico, have seen through the
mist of a pandemic the real man beyond.

"Coll y Toste says that the origin of the word _jibaro_ proceeds from a
port in Cuba (Jibara), and that it is composed of two words of Indian
origin, _jiba_, meaning mountain, and _ero_, man. We cannot see the
necessity of invoking this port of Cuba with the excellently applicable
philology he gives us.

"Brau says that the term is applied to-day to a laborer, but that its
true significance is 'a mountain dweller.'

"Our understanding of the term, as it is applied to-day, is a peasant,
a tiller of the soil, a man whose life is not that of the town, and who
lacks its culture. And when we say that a man is a _jibaro_, we put him
in a separate and distinct class, a class of country laborers. These
people 'live now as they lived 100 or 200 years ago, close to the soil.'
The _jibaro_ is a squatter and does not own the land upon which he
builds his modest house, nor does that house cost him anything save the
trouble of building it. It is a framework of poles, with walls of the
bark of the royal palm (the _yagua_), with roof of the same material or
of a tough grass which is used for thatching, and with a floor of palm
boards. Generally the floor is well raised from the ground on posts, and
the family is truly a poor and miserable one which is content to have an
earthen floor. As a rule, there is but one room for a family, which
rarely goes below five, and whose upper limit is measured by the
accommodation afforded for sleeping. The cooking is done under a shed on
a pile of stones. Weyl says that the house should be valued at about
$20.

"The food of the _jibaro_ is poor in fats and the proteids are of
difficult assimilation, being of vegetable origin, as a rule.

"He arises at dawn and takes a cocoanut dipperful of _cafe puya_ (coffee
without sugar). Naturally, he never uses milk. With this black coffee he
works till about twelve o'clock, when his wife brings him his breakfast,
corresponding to our lunch. This is composed of boiled salt codfish,
with oil, and has one of the following vegetables of the island to
furnish the carbohydrate element: banana, platano, name, batata or
yautia.

"At three in the afternoon he takes another dipperful of coffee, as he
began the day. At dusk he returns to his house and has one single dish,
a sort of stew, made of the current vegetables of the island, with rice
and codfish. At rare intervals he treats himself to pork, of which he is
inordinately fond, and on still rarer occasions he visits the town and
eats quantities of bread, without butter, of course.

"Of all this list of country food there are only three elements that are
bought--rice, codfish, and condiments. Rice is imported from the United
States and codfish from Nova Scotia. The bread he eats on his visits to
town is made of American flour.

"This is a normal _jibaro_ diet. With the wage paid him he can get no
better, but aside from this he is wedded to cheap bulky foods, chiefly
for reasons to be stated, and is completely ignorant of the importance
of certain foods which any hygienist would like to add to his bill of
fare. If the normal food of the _jibaro_, as stated, were his usual
food, it would not be so serious a matter, nor would the _jibaro_
complain so bitterly of his wretched ration, but the fact is he does not
get the menu detailed above save when he can be said to be prosperous.
Only a few cents difference in wages will cut out the small proportion
of animal proteids he obtains, the codfish, and a cyclone will drive him
in sheer desperation to the town.

"Aside from all this, if wages were better, it is said, he would leave
his ration as it now is and spend his surplus otherwise. This has not
been given, however, a very earnest trial. He takes also more rum than
he is given credit for by those who have accepted the formula that the
_jibaro_ does not drink, but it is true that he is not usually
intem