Chapter V: Resources

It is somewhat difficult to tell exactly what is the commercial value of the new colonial possessions which the Spanish-American war has placed at the disposal of the United States. The figures are naturally based upon the conditions which prevailed under Spanish rule.

But, all for all, it may be said that Porto Rico, taking into consideration its area, has been the most valuable of all Spain's colonial possessions.

For some reason, which seems to be inscrutable, Spain has given the inhabitants of Porto Rico far better treatment than she accorded to the natives of Cuba. She dealt with the island more as if it were a Spanish province than a colony to be bled to the fullest extent possible for the financial benefit of Spanish officials and the mother country. Quite the contrary has been the case in Cuba and the Philippines.

It may be stated that, as a matter of fact, Porto Rico has been, in a political sense, a province of Spain for the past twenty years.

Spain has paid but little attention to internal improvements, but this has been an advantage. For with her heavy hand relaxed, the people have had a certain opportunity to develop such spirit of enterprise as they possessed.

Porto Rico, in proportion to its size, is immensely wealthy. It is very doubtful if the Philippines can equal it in richness, square foot for square foot.

With the island in the possession of the United States and with the abolishment of the differential duties in favor of the Spanish government, its geographical position will undoubtedly cause most of its commerce to flow to and from the ports of the United States.

There will be a market furnished for great quantities of food products, textile fabrics, iron, steel and coal. From the island the United States will chiefly receive coffee, tobacco and sugar. Indeed it may be said that in the line of coffee cultivation, the greatest development of Porto Rico may be expected in the near future.

Mr. John Beggs, whom we have quoted before, says that Porto Rico is one of the finest pieces of property on the earth's surface. May it prove so in the hands of the United States!

The soil of Porto Rico is of remarkable fertility. Its dominant industries may be said to be agriculture and lumbering.

In the elevated regions, most of the vegetable productions of the temperate zone can be grown.

More than five hundred varieties of trees can be found in the forests of the island, many of which are very valuable, and the plains are full of palms, oranges and other fruit-bearing trees. There are several very interesting trees, especially a beautiful _Talauma_, with immense white odorous flowers and silvery leaves. This tree is exceedingly ornamental. It is used for lumber and called Sabiuo. A _Kirtella_ with crimson flowers is also rather common. A tree which is called Ortegon by the natives is found at high altitudes, but chiefly near the coast. It has immense purple spikes, more than a yard long, and is very striking. It seems to be confined to Porto Rico and Hayti. There are many varieties of cabinet and dye woods, including mahogany, ebony, lignum vitae, cedar and logwood. Plants valuable in the arts and pharmacy abound. Tropical fruits grow everywhere to perfection.

The chief products of Porto Rico, outside of lumber, may be said to be sugar, coffee, tobacco, rice, honey and wax, and these have greatly enriched the island, making many of the people well-to-do.

Sugarcane is cultivated on the fertile plains, yielding three hogsheads on an average per acre without any manure.

An excellent grade of coffee is produced, and it does not appear that as yet any blight has perceptibly affected the shrubs.

Rice is very commonly cultivated on the hills in the Sierra. It must be a kind of mountain variety, as no inundation or other kind of watering is used.

Rice and plaintain are in fact the staple food of the natives.

Cotton and maize are also raised to a certain extent.

There should in the future be an industry from the manufacture of tannin extracts from the bark of Coccolala, Rhizophora and the pods of various acacias, the latter of which are a great nuisance on account of their rapid growth.

There are a long number of fruits on the island, such as cherries, guava plums, juicy mangoes and bell apples.

Edwin Emerson, Jr., a war correspondent, speaks of some of the fruits as follows:

"The most astonishing and the best of all was a fruit called pulmo--in our language, sour-sap. It is about as large as a quart bowl, and so nourishing and full that a single fruit was enough for a good meal, although that did not deter my horse from eating four. Later I found that they are also relished by dogs. Of springs and streams there were so many that I had no fear of dying of thirst. If water was not handy, I could always climb a cocoanut tree and throw down the green nuts, which were filled with an abundance of watery milk, more than I could drink at one time. Other nuts there were in plenty; but many were more curious than edible, even to my willing appetite. One had a delicious odor. I tasted a little, and thought it ideal for flavoring candy. But it soon dissolved in my mouth in a fine dust, absorbing all the moisture, so that I had to blow it out like flour. Nothing ever made me so thirsty in my life, and even after rinsing out my mouth I felt for a long time as if I were chewing punk or cotton. The fruit of the tamarind only added to my torments by setting all my teeth on edge. When we reached the next spring I fell off my horse for fear he would get all the water. Only after I had satisfied my thirst would I let him drink."

The poverty of the fauna and flora is remarkable, there being scarcely any wild animals, birds or flowers.

There is a great deficiency of what may be called _native_ animals of any sort.

The most troublesome quadruped is the wild dog, which chiefly attack pigs and other small domestic animals. Mice are probably the greatest pest of the island, but they are considerably kept down by their natural enemies, the snakes. The latter not infrequently reach a length of from six to nine feet. There are a good many mosquitoes, but they are no worse than they are in New Jersey. Numerous species of ants and bees exist as well as fireflies. The latter occasionally fly in great masses, producing beautiful effects in the tropical nights.

It may be stated that, on the whole, Porto Rico is singularly free from those noxious reptiles and insects which seem to inherit the rest of the West Indies as their peculiar possession.

Immense pastures occupy a part of the lowland, and feed large herds of cattle of an excellent quality. St. Thomas and the French islands all obtain their butcher's meat from Porto Rico. Even Barbadoes comes there for cattle. Sheep always thrive in a hot country, and they grow big and fat in Porto Rico. Fresh lamb and mutton are constantly shipped from there. A very numerous class of the people are shepherds, and these live upon mutton and the kind of highland rice, already alluded to, which is very easily prepared for food.

Poultry is most abundant, and the seas and rivers are full of the finest fish.

Agriculture has hitherto been almost exclusively in the hands of the natives, but most of the business and commerce have been controlled by foreigners and Spaniards from the Peninsula.

Although the island is certainly well developed agriculturally, it certainly admits of considerable expansion in this direction. Under a different political system, and when it is freed from the oppressive and vexatious taxation, Porto Rico will certainly become far more productive and prosperous even than it is now.

There is no question but that the island, richly endowed as it is by Nature, has been miserably governed.

But agriculture in the near future will certainly not be the main industry of the island. For there are known to be gold, copper, iron, zinc and coal mines, which have never been developed. In fact, strange as it may appear, none of these valuable mines is worked at all. The vegetable productions have been considered so valuable that in order to cultivate them the minerals have been neglected. There are also extensive sponge fields, which are very valuable, but which have not been touched, owing to several causes, chiefly the lack of capital. The same can also be said of the quarries of white stone, granite and marble.

Then there is the question of salt, which is sure to be of importance. There are large quantities of salt obtained from the lakes. Salt works have been established at Guanica and Salinas, on the south coast, and at Cape Rojo, on the west. This constitutes the principal mineral industry of Porto Rico.

Hot springs and mineral waters are found at Juan Diaz, San Sebastian, San Lorenzo and Ponce, but the most famous are at Coamo, near the town of Santa Isabella.

It is now interesting to see what the trade of Porto Rico has been with other countries, and especially the United States during recent years.

A very large part of the island's trade has been carried on with the United States, where corn, flour, salt-meat, fish and lumber have been imported in return for sugar, molasses and coffee.

The natives are not a sea faring people, and care little or nothing for ships of their own. Therefore, by far the larger part of their trade with other countries has been carried on by the means of foreign ships.

Porto Rico has paid into the Spanish treasury about 4,000,000 pesos annually, which is equivalent to about $800,000.

In normal years, that is, when no war was going on, the total value of imports into the island amounted to about $8,000,000, and the exports to about $16,000,000.

The latest Spanish statistics, that is, during 1896, give the importations into Porto Rico as amounting to $18,945,793, and the exports to $17,295,535.

The average entrances of ships into the ports have been 1919 vessels of an aggregate of 327,941 tons, of which 544 of 81,966 tons were British. Articles of import have been distributed by countries as follows:

From Spain come wines, rice, oils, flour and textiles; from England, machinery, textiles, salted provisions, rice and coal; from France, a small amount of textiles, some jewelry and perfumery, and some fine wines and liquors; from Italy, wines, vermicelli and rice; from Germany, glass and porcelain wares, textiles, paper, cheese, candied fruits, beer and liquors; from Holland, cheese; from Cuba, rum, sugar and tobacco; from the United States, petroleum, ironware, glassware, chemicals, textiles, paper, lumber, barrels, machinery, carriages, dried and salted meats, butter, grease, codfish, flour, coal, fruits, vermicelli and cheese.

A commercial arrangement was entered into between the United States and Spain in 1895, in consequence of which the following proclamation was issued by the Spanish Government:

PROCLAMATION:

The executive is authorized to apply to the products and manufactures of the United States which coming from the ports of the United States be admitted into the ports of Cuba and Porto Rico, the benefits of the second column of the tariffs in said islands; provided that the United States, in their turn apply their lowest rates of duty to the products of the soil and of the industry of Cuba and Porto Rico.

This modus vivendi shall be in force until a permanent commercial treaty between the two parties concerned is concluded, or until one of them gives notice to the other, three months in advance of the day on which it wishes to put an end of it.

Therefore, I command all the courts, justices, chiefs, governors and other authorities, civil, military and ecclesiastical, of all classes and dignities, to observe and cause to be observed, obeyed and executed this present law in all its parts. Given in the palace, February 4, 1895.

I, the Queen Regent.

Alejandro Groizard, Secretary of State.

The above is translated from the Gaceta de Madrid of February 6, 1895.

This agreement, if so it can be called, is of course now at an end. Hereafter Porto Rico will enjoy all the privileges of a colony of the United States.

But still it is interesting to note the duty on the leading articles of export from the United States to Porto Rico, as expressed in the second column of the Spanish tariff.

This was as follows:

Wheat flour, rice flour, buckwheat flour, cornmeal,
oatmeal, barleymeal, ryemeal, per 100
kilograms, gross, $4 00
Pork, per 100 kilograms, net 9 90
Beef and all other meats, per 100 kilograms, net 6 50
Sausage, per 100 kilograms, gross 20
Hay, per 100 kilograms, gross 80
Pig iron, per 100 kilograms, net 50
Bar iron, per 100 kilograms, net 2 15
Barb wire (for fencing), per 100 kilograms, net 40
Coal, per 100 kilograms, net 60
Patent medicines, including weight of container
and wrapper 35

One hundred kilograms amounts to something over two hundred pounds.

The people on the island are rather luxurious, so much so that in one year five million dollars worth of goods were carried there. These goods consisted principally of manufactured products, such as clothing and household wares.

The principal exports from the United States have been flour, pork, lard, lumber and shooks.

But, of course, all this will be largely increased now that Porto Rico is practically a portion of the United States, and the increased commerce will be to the advantage of both.

During the five years from 1893 to 1897, the trade of Porto Rico with the United States has been as follows:

Imports
Exports to from
United United
States: States:

1893 $4,008,623 $2,510,007
1894 3,135,634 2,720,508
1895 1,506,512 1,833,544
1896 2,296,653 2,102,094
1897 2,181,024 1,988,888

Whatever disadvantages Porto Rico may possess, and when all is said and done, they are beyond question few, it is certainly lovely enough and prolific enough to make one forget them all.

A writer in Ainslee's Magazine concludes his very clever article as follows, and undoubtedly every word he says is true:

"Unfortunately for the development of Spanish countries the mental activity of the people is principally manifested in an exuberant imagination which finds expression in superlative and poetical language. If there were any corresponding creative genius and executive ability in material affairs such a fertile and well-watered land as Puerto Rico would be the home of one of the richest communities on the globe. By her situation she is adapted to become the centre of a flourishing commerce whose goods might be carried down dozens of navigable rivers from the interior of the island. Under a good government, with enterprising colonists, the natural resources of the island, some of which have been scarcely touched, would bring comfort and wealth to a large population."