WHEN we say that a country is overpopulated we speak in relative terms,
inasmuch as the overpopulation of a country does not depend upon the
density of the population alone, but also upon the ability of that
country to produce a sufficient amount of foodstuffs to maintain its
population. Thus a country which has a relatively small population and a
still smaller ability to produce foodstuffs would be more overpopulated
than a country of similar size with a larger population and a still
greater production of foodstuffs.
In considering the case of Porto Rico, we find that the Island contains
8,317 square kilometers of land. The estimated population at the present
time is 1,200,000. This gives about 140 persons to the square kilometer
as compared with 72 persons in France, 237 persons in Belgium, and 252
in Saxony. If the productive ability of the soil of Porto Rico is as
great as that of Belgium and Saxony, we must conclude that Porto Rico is
not overpopulated. If for any reason it is less, then the extent of
overpopulation increases directly as the soil grows less in productive
ability.
Porto Rico has about ten times as many inhabitants per square acre as
the average throughout the United States; but the conditions of climate
do a great deal to equalize this difference. In the first place, the
soil is available in Porto Rico for the production of crops throughout
the twelve months of the year, whereas in parts of the United States and
in northern Europe the soil is usable for only a portion of the year on
account of its unproductive condition during the winter months. Another
matter that must be taken into consideration in the question of
overpopulation, is the severity of the climate. Where the climate is
severe, the country will maintain in comfort a much smaller population
than where the climate is as friendly to the human race as we find it in
Porto Rico.
Of the population of Porto Rico in 1910, about 75 per cent lived in
communities that had less than 500 inhabitants, showing conclusively
that the great majority of the people of Porto Rico should be classified
as rural inhabitants and that the problems which affect the rural people
of Porto Rico are the problems which would affect, to a great extent,
the entire Island. Only two cities in the Island have a population of
more than 25,000, while only 30 would fall under the head of urban
territory, that is, towns which have a population of 2,500 or more.
The rate of increase of population in Porto Rico is far in excess of the
rate of increase in the United States, and this is one of the things
that must be taken into consideration in considering the question of
overpopulation. In the United States the rate of increase among the
class of people whose salaries range from $700 to $2,500 is from ten to
twelve per thousand. In Porto Rico, the rate of increase is about twenty
per thousand.
The following table shows a comparison between the birth rate, death
rate, and rate of increase in the United States and Porto Rico, the
figures given representing the birth and death rate for every thousand
of the population in each country.
UNITED STATES
Birth rate Death rate Increase
_Poor Class_: 35 to 40 25 to 35 5 to 10
_Intermediate class_: 25 to 30 15 to 18 10 to 12
_Well-to-do class_: 12 to 18 12 to 15 4 to 6
PORTO RICO (1914-15)
Birth rate Death rate Increase
39.12 19.72 19 to 20
In order to maintain the population of a country, there must be about
400 children between the ages of one and five years for every thousand
women between the ages of fifteen and forty-five. The following table
shows how Porto Rico compares in this respect with other countries.
United States 492 children per thousand women
France 409 " " " "
Germany 535 " " " "
England 429 " " " "
Sweden 522 " " " "
Porto Rico 725 " " " "
Thus we see that the rate of increase of the population of Porto Rico is
much greater than that of the United States. When we take into
consideration the advancement being made in sanitary science in Porto
Rico and in the elimination of disease, as well as the increased
facilities for caring for sickness, we may expect that the rate of
increase here will be augmented each year.
The general opinion is that Porto Rico is so thickly populated that a
crisis is inevitable, unless some means is found for remedying the
present situation. It does not seem, however, that we are justified in
coming to such a conclusion when we consider the much more densely
populated countries of Belgium and Saxony. Increased production of the
soil due to intensive agriculture, and modern methods of farming, as
well as the breaking up of the land into small farms, have been the
means of taking care of the vast populations of European countries where
climatic conditions are not as favorable as they are in Porto Rico. Of
the total acreage of Porto Rico about 94 per cent is in farms, and we
find that only 30,000 people are directly dependent upon these farms for
their support. Of the total number of acres included in farm land, about
75 per cent is improved and under cultivation, so that there is still
about one quarter of the land that can be devoted to agriculture when it
has been connected with markets, or by other means rendered available
for this purpose. There are in Porto Rico more than 58,000 farms, 46,779
of which are operated by their owners. These, in the great majority of
cases, are small farms and are of the kind which bring the greatest
amount of benefit to the Island. Some 10,000 farms are operated by
tenants, and these farms also are usually small.
The following table shows the number of farms of various sizes in the
Island to-day:
Farms under 5 acres 20,650
Farms from 5 to 9 acres 11,309
Farms from 10 to 19 acres 10,045
Farms from 20 to 49 acres 8,872
Farms from 50 to 99 acres 3,728
Farms from 100 to 174 acres 1,726
Farms from 175 to 499 acres 1,502
Farms from 500 to 999 acres 332
Farms of 1000 acres or more 207
Of the owners and tenants of these farms 44,521 are white and 13,850 are
colored. About 95 per cent of all the owned farms are free from
mortgage. The average size of the farms in Porto Rico is about 35¾
acres.
The experience of European countries has been that large farms, in a
densely populated country are detrimental to the community welfare,
because the holding of such farms by a few condemns a large percentage
of the population to a dependent condition. As the number of farms
decreases, the number of salaried laborers must increase, and as this
floating population increases, there is also a tendency for crime to
increase, as the man who has no responsibilities as a proprietor of land
often lacks the fundamental stimulus to make him observe the laws of his
country. The landowner, having obtained even a small parcel of land, has
an incentive for hard work, wishing to better his financial condition,
while the dependent salaried man, with no visible stimulus for saving,
tends to spend his money as fast as it is earned and seldom accumulates
any property. To such an extent is the possession of land regarded as a
benefit to the individual and an incentive toward good citizenship, that
in some European countries the government has made arrangements to loan
money to worthy young men for the purchase of small farms on the ground
that the government gains a desirable citizen every time that it creates
a landholder. The Government of Porto Rico might well take some steps to
encourage dependent laborers to accumulate property, either by means of
loans to those who desire to purchase property, or by opening up
government land for settlement under the Homestead Act.
The rise in the price of land and the fact that the greater part of the
land of Porto Rico is devoted to industries which are most productive
when conducted on a fairly large scale, has tended to the accumulation
of large tracts of land, and legal measures should be enacted against
the accumulation of tracts of land of more than 100 or 200 acres, and
providing for the distribution of any large tracts in case of the death
of the present owner:
At the present time a good deal of the foodstuffs of Porto Rico is
imported into the Island while if there were more widely extended
division of the land into a large number of small farms, the production
of these foodstuffs could be greatly increased, although, of course,
this would tend to decrease the production of certain other crops which
at present claim the chief attention of the people of Porto Rico.
According to the Report of the Governor of Porto Rico for 1914-15, the
division of land among the various industries, as well as the average
value per acre of land for each of the industries, is shown by the
following table:
Average value
Crop Acreage per acre
Cane 211,110 $106.95
Coffee 165,170 61.60
Tobacco 18,040 80.81
Pineapples 3,761 105.24
Citrus fruits 5,274 121.78
Coconuts 6,088 118.33
Minor fruits 102,274 27.53
From this table we see that certain industries, such as the cultivation
of pineapples or citrus fruits, which can be carried on successfully on
relatively small farms, bring practically as high a return per acre as
does the production of sugar cane, which is essentially a large farm
product. This argument would not necessarily do away with the
cultivation of sugar cane, but would tend to increase the cultivation of
other crops wherever and whenever the soil and climatic conditions would
permit.
An increase in the number of owned farms and a consequent decrease in
the number of dependent wage earners, together with the increased
production of foodstuffs which such a system of land management would
necessarily bring as a result, providing the management of the farms was
carried on under modern scientific methods, would, to a great extent,
relieve the situation of overpopulation which we now face. Porto Rico
can support twice the population which she now has with comparative
ease, providing some means is found to relieve the economic situation of
the greater part of the people and to prevent the accumulation of wealth
in the hands of a comparatively small number. It is estimated at the
present time that the wealth of Porto Rico is in the hands of less than
15 per cent of the population, and the remaining 85 per cent are
dependent for their living upon daily or monthly wages. Such a situation
must be changed or else the question of overpopulation will become
indeed serious. There is no particular reason to fear that the
population will increase to such an extent that we shall be unable to
support ourselves on what the Island may produce; but with the increase
of population under present conditions, trouble between capital and
labor and between workmen and their employers cannot be avoided.
Emigration as a means of relief to the overpopulation of Porto Rico will
not solve the question. In the first place, the Porto Rican people are
essentially a home-loving people, clinging closely to family ties and
not at all disposed to migrate to other countries. A few cases of Porto
Rican families who have moved to other countries have shown that in the
majority of instances the migration was not successful. In the second
place, in order to relieve the situation at all it would be necessary to
provide for the emigration of a large number of families. The removal of
100 or 500 families from Porto Rico would not make any appreciable
difference in the economic situation that we find to-day. The average
family consists of five people, and the removal of 5,000 unskilled
laborers from the Island would not tend to relieve the situation.
The only means of meeting the situation of overpopulation is through
increasing the food production of the Island by means of division into
small farms, intensive cultivation, and modern methods of farming. The
school must do its share in the teaching of small-farm and garden
farming, and the Government should assume the responsibility for
fostering the increase of the number of small farms as well as for
assisting in the educational work to improve the methods of
cultivation.