"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."
CHAPTER VI.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
Let us examine briefly in the first place what has been the management of Porto Rico under Spanish rule, or, rather, perhaps we should call it mismanagement, for no one of Spain's colonies has ever been properly directed.
Porto Rico has been governed under a constitution voted by the Spanish Cortes in 1869. The government has been administered by a captain-general, assisted by an administrative council appointed at Madrid.
The revenue has been about four millions of dollars a year, considerably more than half of which has been derived from customs, and the rest from taxation, direct and indirect.
The captain-general was president of the superior tribunals of justice and of the superior juntas of the capital; but the fiscal administration had a special chief called intendant. The supreme judicial power lay in a royal audience. Justice was administered in the cities and in the country by judges of the first instance and by alcaldes. There were nine special tribunals: civil, ecclesiastical, war, marine, artillery, engineers, administration, probate and commerce.
Ecclesiastical affairs were presided over by a bishop chosen by the crown and approved by the pope.
For administrative purposes the island and its dependencies were divided into nine districts: Porto Rico, Bayamon, Arecibo, Aquadilla, Mayaguez, Ponce, Humacoa, Guayama and Vieques.
The Spanish administration in Porto Rico, although not so bad as in other colonies, has, nevertheless, been one of cruelty and oppression. The Spaniards, as will be remembered, began by exterminating the native Indian population in less than a century.