"The climate of Porto Rico is considered the healthiest in the Antilles. The heat is considerably less than at Santiago de Cuba, a degree and a half farther north. The thermometer seldom goes above 90 degrees. Pure water is readily obtained in most of the island. Yellow fever seldom occurs, and never away from the coast. The rainy season begins the first of June and ends the last of December, but the heavy downpours do not come on until about August 1st.
"In density of population also this island ranks first among the West Indies, having half as many inhabitants as Cuba, more than eleven times as large. Of its 807,000 people, 326,000 are colored and many of the others of mixed blood. They differ little from other Spanish-Americans, being fond of ease, courteous, and hospitable, and, as in other Spanish countries, the common people are illiterate, public education having been grievously neglected. The natives are the agriculturists of the country, and are a majority in the interior, while the Spaniards, who control business and commerce, are found mainly in the towns and cities.
"The numerous good harbors have naturally dotted the seaboard with cities and towns of greater or less commercial importance. San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, Aguadilla, Arecibo and Fajardo all carry on extensive trade. Intercourse between coast towns is readily had by water, but is to be facilitated by a railroad around the island, of which 137 miles have been built and 170 miles more projected. The public highways of the island are in better condition than one might expect. According to a recent report of United States Consul Stewart, of San Juan, there are about one hundred and fifty miles of good road. The best of this is the military highway connecting Ponce on the southern coast with San Juan on the northern. This is a macadamized road, so excellently built and so well kept up that a recent traveler in the island says a bicycle corps could go over it without dismounting. Whether it is solid enough to stand the transportation of artillery and heavy army trains we shall soon know. Of telegraph lines Porto Rico has four hundred and seventy miles, and two cables connect it with the outside world, one running from Ponce and the other from San Juan."
Mr. Alfred Solomon, already quoted as an instructive contributor to the Independent, writes:
"The population of Porto Rico, some 800,000, is essentially agricultural. A varied climate, sultry in the lowlands, refreshing and invigorating in the mountain ranges, makes possible the cultivation of almost every variety of known crop—sugar, tobacco, coffee, annatto, maze, cotton and ginger are extensively grown; but there are still thousands of acres of virgin lands awaiting the capitalist. Tropical fruits flourish in abundance, and the sugar-pine is well known in our market, where it brings a higher price than any other pine imported. Hardwood and fancy cabinet wood trees fill the forests, and await the woodman's ax. Among these are some specimens of unexampled beauty, notably a tree, the wood of which, when polished, resembles veined marble, and another, rivaling in beauty the feathers in a peacock's tail. Precious metals abound, although systematic effort has never been directed to the locating of paying veins. Rivers and rivulets are plenty, and water-power is abundant; and the regime should see the installation of power plants and electric lighting all over the island, within a short time after occupation. On the lowlands, large tracts of pasturage under guinea grass and malojilla feed thousands of sleek cattle, but, as an article of food, mutton is almost unknown. The native pony, small, wiry and untirable, has a world-wide reputation, and for long journeys is unequaled, possessing a gait, as they say in the island, like an arm-chair.
"Perhaps a third of the population of the island is of African descent; but, strangely enough, the colored people are only to be found on the coast, and are the fishermen, boatmen and laborers of the seaports. The cultivation of the crops is entirely in the hands of the jibaro, or peasant, who is seldom of direct Spanish descent, while the financiering and exportation is conducted almost entirely by peninsulares, or Spanish-born colonists, who monopolize every branch of commerce to the exclusion of the colonian-born subject.
"Coffee planting is largely engaged in, returning from ten to fifteen per cent. on capital. Improved transportation facilities, abolition of export dues and the consolidation of small estates would, doubtless, help toward better results. This crop is marketed in Europe—London, Havre and Barcelona—where better prices are obtainable than in New York. With the exception of a few plantations in strong hands, most of this property could be purchased at a fair valuation, and would prove to be a very profitable investment.
"Cocoa grows wild on the lowlands, but has not been cultivated to any appreciable extent. Small consignments sent to Europe have been pronounced superior to the Caracas bean. The tree takes a longer period than coffee to come to maturity and bear fruit; but once in bearing the current expenses are less and the yield far greater. The same remarks apply to the cultivation of rubber, which, although a most profitable staple with an ever-increasing market, has received no attention whatever.
"Corn is raised in quantities insufficient for home consumption. Of this cereal three crops can be obtained in two years; sometimes two a year. The demand is constant, and the price always remunerative.
"In Porto Rico, as in most other West Indian islands, sugar is king. In the treatment of this product the lack of capital has been sadly felt. Planters possess only the most primitive machinery, and in the extraction of the juice from the cane the proportion of saccharine matter has been exceedingly small. Great outlay is necessary for the installation of a complete modern crushing and centrifugal plant."