THE INSULAR TELEGRAPH

is of great importance, and it is discussed at some length in the report of the commissioner of the interior, which will be found in the Appendix, Chapter V. Under Spanish rule there was a telegraph station belonging to the Government in every town and in almost every village on the island. On the American occupation the whole system was placed in charge of the Signal Corps. Under the military government the lines were repaired at some considerable expense and operated until the hurricane of San Ciriaco, which destroyed many of the lines and rendered a reduction in the number of offices necessary.

The cost of maintenance while under military control was very great. A reference to the report of the Chief Signal Officer will show that during the greater part of this period, from October 18, 1898, to November 30, 1900, the total receipts amounted to $37,872.97 and the expenses to $141,990.03, showing a total deficit of $104,117.06. The average monthly cost to the Government during the first twenty-five and six-tenths months in which the telegraph lines were operated by the Signal Corps amounted to $4,067.67 over and above receipts. During sixteen months, from January 1, 1899, to April 30, 1900, the average monthly cost of maintenance was $6,314.26, or $4,606.54 greater than the monthly income. There are no figures available for the period from December 1, 1900, to February 1, 1901, but it is reasonable to infer that they were much the same as those given.

In compliance with an order from the Secretary of War the whole system was turned over to the civil government on February 1, 1901, and was accepted and assigned to the Department of the Interior. It forms there the Bureau of Insular Telegraph. On transferring the lines the military department asked for and was accorded the free use of the lines for public business. There were not more than a dozen of the telegraph instruments which had been received from the Spaniards on hand when the system was delivered to the civil government. No invoice could be obtained of the property received from the Spanish Government, and it was stated that no inventories had been made and no receipts had been given for the property. It is stated that the cost of American instruments amounted to $4,428.90. The military authorities valued the telegraph lines as they stood on October 31, 1899, at $33,086.40.

The telegraph system for the first month since its transfer to the insular authorities has been a great expense, and a regular monthly deficit is likely to show an annual one much too large at the end of the year. For the month of February the salary list amounted to $1,555, while the receipts were only $1,116.90, showing a clear deficit of $438.10, excluding the cost of repairs and incidentals. The value of official messages sent free during the month amounted to $210.73, which would have reduced the deficit to $227.37, which is still on the

wrong side of the ledger. However, this is only an experiment for the first month, and experience will cause many improvements in the immediate future. Whatever loss has been sustained by the Government on account of this service is not chargeable to the civil administration. The system could be enlarged, however, and extended and so regulated possibly as to make it self-supporting, and it is intended by close economy and judicious extension and contraction to approximate that end at the earliest possible date.

ROADS.

The crying need of the island is above all things roads. The peculiar configuration of the insular surface and the frequent and continued rains which fall in all parts of the country render intercommunication impossible for weeks at a time except where military roads have been constructed. Schoolhouses may dot the hills and valleys to the north and south of the great central cordillera, the coffee tree may put forth its fragrant blossoms on every mountain side, the sugar cane may clothe every plane with perennial verdure, the tobacco plant may brighten and beautify every landscape, and all the forests, fields, and meadows may offer their stores of wealth to the horny hand of the industrious farmer, but of what avail are the means of education or the sources of wealth if communication is cut off between the neighboring farms and villages and the markets and seaports for lack of roads passable in all seasons and in every state of tropical weather? It is an imperative necessity to devote every dollar which can be spared from the surplus revenue to the construction of permanent roads.

It is understood that nearly a million dollars was allotted to the military authorities for the building of roads throughout the island. Plans were prepared and 20 contracts made for the construction of roads and bridges. In addition four Spanish contracts were continued in force, making altogether 24 contracts for the building of 86 miles of road, and two bridges of the aggregate length of 674 feet. But these works were scattered over the island, and the roads were built in detached sections, so that the entire amount of money would be expended and scarcely a single highway completed, thus necessitating the expenditure of much more money to connect the roads already constructed. Evidently the plans were laid with the expectation of a further appropriation to carry on the work to completion; or, perhaps, the distribution of the funds to the different sections of the country may have been the principal object, in view of the plans adopted.

The money heretofore allotted for this purpose to the civil government has been carefully expended in carrying out contracts already made by the military government, and the $200,000 recently set aside for that purpose from the accumulated customs will be zealously hus

banded and devoted to the filling up of the intervals between the portions of roads heretofore completed under the military contracts. With these gaps remaining the benefit of those portions constructed would be to a great extent lost, and their completion is almost absolutely necessary to the country traversed.

IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION.

The movement in the population in the island of Porto Rico during the last year has been inconsiderable in proportion to numbers. In the absence of any official means of collecting statistics on this snbject, all figures are necessarily mere estimates. Of course when the Spanish forces left the country a goodly number of persons for various reasons returned to the Iberian Peninsula, and when the American army came in it brought in its train a large number of civilians more or less connected with it by business relations or otherwise. A small number of American business men also came to the island, following the flag, and some of them have determined to make it their permanent home. But their numbers would make up a very small fraction of a per cent when compared with the total population. The census shows a little over 1 per cent of foreign-born people on the island, and a majority of these are Spaniards remaining over from the old régime. There are not in the whole island more than 1,000 Americans outside of the military service. The dense population of Porto Rico is almost entirely native.

Heretofore emigration has been almost unknown. These islanders are essentially a home-loving people, and remarkably attached to their native land. But particularly since the hurricane of San Ciriaco some of the poorer class of laborers have found it difficult to procure the means of a livelihood.

The Government has expended large sums of money on roadmaking in various parts of the country especially to give employment to the needy. But in many cases they have declined to avail themselves of it, sometimes alleging that they could not leave their homes to go 10 miles away. If for any reason the particular sugar plantation or coffee farm on which they had been accustomed to labor did not longer need their services it would not seem to occur to these simple peasants that by moving over to the next township they might find employment. Many of them would prefer to remain in idleness until someone solicited their services. A few potatoes and bananas will sustain life, and clothing is a luxury in this climate. In this state of affairs the emigration agent found an excellent field for his enterprise. He penetrated the rural districts and offered golden inducements to these simple folk to travel and see foreign lands. Laborers are wanted in Hawaii to work in the sugar fields and in Cuba for the iron mines. Good wages are offered, and many are persuaded to emigrate. So