THE housing of a people is always a matter of prime importance in their
social life and development. There is little progress until the housing
conditions are comfortable and hygienic, and the development of the home
and the family life depends to a great extent on the conditions under
which a people lives. The housing conditions in Porto Rico, especially
for the poorer classes, are far from satisfactory. The dwellings of the
country people are described as follows, in the Report on the Housing
Conditions in Porto Rico, published by the Insular Bureau of Labor in
1914:
"There are five general problems which the laborer or employer in
tropical countries, who is anxious to build cheap but proper houses, has
to meet. The first is to provide adequate protection against the heat.
As in northern countries it is necessary to shut out the cold winds and
generate and conserve artificial heat within the house, so in tropical
countries it is equally important to let in the breezes and to clear out
any artificial heat that may arise.
"The second problem is to provide protection against the frequent
tropical rains. This is especially important in tropical countries that
have a protracted rainy season, as it is often difficult to shut out the
rain without also shutting out the fresh air.
"The third problem is the provision of adequate sanitary facilities. Due
to the heat in southern countries and to the humidity that prevails
during certain seasons of the year, this problem is more difficult of
solution and likewise more important than in countries farther north.
"The fourth problem is that of securing cheap and durable building
materials. In a land like Porto Rico where tropical shrubs and the palm
are practically the only woods that the laborers are able to obtain, we
must not expect the same solid, commodious habitations which are found
in northern countries where the pine and hemlock abound.
"The fifth problem, perhaps as important as any of the preceding and
certainly as difficult to remedy, arises partly from the generosity of
nature herself. People can live in tropical countries in almost any form
of habitation. Cold winters have not obliged the poorer classes to be
adepts in house construction. Poverty has forced them to live as cheaply
as possible. Naturally, the laboring classes engaged in tilling the soil
still make their homes in the cheapest forms of huts. This problem has,
therefore, three aspects--an over-indulgent climate, poverty, and a lack
of opportunity by the poorer classes to learn better methods of house
construction.
"In Porto Rico we have, in addition to the problems mentioned above, two
special conditions which have influenced the form and quality of our
laborers' houses. The first is that the seasonal character of many of
our agricultural industries forces the laborers to migrate from one
section to another in order to find work and, naturally, they are not
inclined to go to the expense and exertion of building substantial
homes. The second, and more important, arises from the fact that the
greater part of our laborers do not own the land their houses are placed
upon and, being subject to ejection at the will of their landlords, they
have no incentive to beautify or improve their homes.
"According to the census of 1910, the urban territory of Porto
Rico--that is, the places of 2,500 inhabitants or more--contained
224,620 inhabitants, or 20.1 per cent of the total population, while
893,392 inhabitants, or 79.9 per cent, lived in places of less than
2,500 inhabitants, and of these, 837,725 lived in strictly rural
territory. Needless to state, the greater part of the rural inhabitants
belong to the laboring classes and live in the types of rural homes
described in this section.
"We have divided the habitations of rural laborers, according to their
construction, into the following types: (1) Single houses of thatch, (2)
single houses of wood and zinc, (3) tenements of wood and zinc.
"Most of the thatched huts in the rural sections have been built by the
laborers who live in them. The land upon which these houses are built
is, however, usually the property of some plantation or landowner. Only
in the more inaccessible sections inland do the laborers who have built
these thatched houses also own the land they are placed upon. It is the
custom among the landowners to allow laborers who work for them to take
the necessary materials--grass, sticks, palm-bark, etc.--from the land
and build their huts. This is done, of course, with the consent of the
landowner, and the huts so built are legally attached to the land and
become the property of the landowner. As a matter of fact, the laborers
who have built these huts claim them as their property and are allowed
to live in them without charge or molestation so long as they work for
the landowner when their services are needed. When a laborer who has
built a hut leaves it and moves to another's land, the hut is claimed by
the landowner and some other laborer is allowed to move into it. There
are also some of these huts that have been built by the landowners at
their own expense, but the plantation owners and other landowners who
have gone into the business of building houses for their workmen usually
construct a better type of house. The thatched hut, therefore, while it
is legally a plantation house, is not usually so considered, either by
the landowner or the laborer.
"If we judge the importance of a type of house from the number of people
who live in it, this thatched hut is far more important than any other
rural or urban type. The great mass of the rural laborers live in houses
of this type and, as has been shown, fully three-fourths of the total
laborers of the Island live in rural sections.
"The homes of the wealthy in all parts of the world are constructed to
conform to the standards of the age and place in which they are erected,
and to the personal desires of the occupants, regard being taken only of
the absolutely necessary conditions of environment. The houses of the
poor, on the other hand, are the direct product of local environment.
The hut of the inland laborer of Porto Rico, the _jíbaro_, is a striking
illustration of the effect of environment upon the type of house in
which the poor live.
"The problem of obtaining cheap and durable building materials is a very
difficult one for the poor laborers of Porto Rico. Hard woods are
extremely scarce, and the poor inland laborer cannot afford to buy
imported lumber, and, therefore, he has been obliged to utilize the
coarse grasses and the products of the palm trees that are accessible at
little or no expense except the labor necessary in their preparation.
Furthermore, many of these people have not the skill nor the necessary
tools to use materials such as stone and clay which they might be able
to obtain. Also, the migratory character of many of these inland
laborers, and the fact that they do not own the land their houses are
built upon, have been fundamental influences in preventing the
development of better house types. The principal agricultural
industries, _i.e._, coffee, sugar, and tobacco, have a busy and a dull
season, and many of the inland laborers are obliged to migrate from one
section to another in order to find work. For this reason hundreds of
laborers pass annually from the inland hills where coffee is grown down
to the sugar plantations on the coast, and then back again to the hills,
the busy seasons of sugar and coffee being at different times of the
year. Of course, these laborers cannot move their houses with them about
the Island, and they naturally tend to build the cheapest kind of
temporary structures. Also very few of them own the land their houses
are placed upon. They are mere squatters, or tenants at will, and the
land owner may eject them at any time for little or no cause, so that
there is no incentive to build substantial structures, and there is no
chance of developing that pride in the home which is so essential to the
building of good houses.
"The inland laborers who live in these huts have been their own
architects and builders, and they model their homes after the old type
that has prevailed among the hills for centuries. The framework of these
huts is of poles and small sticks cut from shrub trees and nailed or
tied together at the corners with native fiber ropes. The roofs are
generally thatched with a long, tough grass, and the walls are
constructed by binding leaves of the royal palm (_yaguas_) with sticks
and fiber. The floor is of boards or slabs and is raised from one to two
feet above the ground. In some sections _yaguas_ are also used for the
roofs, and in the inland there are many huts with walls of slabs from
the trunk of the palm trees. These huts are usually divided into two
rooms by a flimsy partition of _yaguas_, one room being used as a
bedroom and the other as a combined living and dining room. The kitchen
is a separate room or shed at the rear, and, probably because of the
danger of fire, is usually without floor. The furniture consists of
hammocks, boxes for chairs, a rough table, and a few dishes, all made
from gourds, except the iron pot used in cooking. The value of such
furniture is usually from $4 to $6, and the value of such a house from
$10 to $20.
"This hut of the inland laborer with its thatched roof and open
construction is, in many respects, a much better house than the casual
observer is likely to believe. A well-constructed thatch roof, when it
is new, offers sufficient protection against rain and excellent
protection from the heat of the tropic sun. New palm bark walls are also
adequate to keep out the rains. Furthermore, almost without exception,
the floors are raised above the ground, so that the surface waters after
a shower run freely under the hut and wash away any refuse that may have
accumulated, and then the sunlight and winds quickly dry the remaining
dampness. In other words, a new well-built hut of this type is a
properly ventilated, cool, and reasonably sanitary habitation, and
represents the best effort of the laborers to adapt themselves, in their
poverty-stricken condition, to the circumstances of their environment.
On the other hand, these huts deteriorate very rapidly. Within six
months or a year, a dozen varieties of insects have made their nests in
the thatched roof, the palm-leaves have cracked, and the floor sags.
"One who stands on some projecting point high up on a mountain side in
the interior of the Island and carefully scans the hillsides about and
the valley beneath, will be amazed at the number of small huts of this
type that lie within his view. There are hundreds of them. Every knoll
is crowned by its hut; every hillside is dotted by them. No two are ever
placed together; each family seeks its own free life. It is practically
true that one cannot shout in any part of our Island and not be heard
by the occupants of one or more of these huts.
"To say that these people are contented and prefer to live as they do,
is not true. Customs clinch themselves upon a people so that they appear
contented, and these inland laborers have lived under the same
conditions for three centuries. Their standards of living are modest,
and their desires are few. In this sense they are contented. Yet there
is a deep and powerful change coming over them. They are going to the
cities in greater number than ever before; their children are attending
the little schools in the hills. New ambitions are awakening. When the
dull season comes, they cannot find work. There are times when many of
them are hungry. They are not contented.
"That the Porto Rican laborer is of cheerful disposition is especially
true of the so-called _jíbaro_. He has been obliged to find his joy in
simple things. He greets you with a smile; he welcomes you to his house
and cheerfully divides his cup of coffee with you; he dances with a show
of gayety on a Sunday afternoon. He is ever cheerful, but not happy.
There may be some customs and prejudices of minor importance that he is
loath to change, but in the main he prefers to live as he does because
he is obliged so to live. Those who adhere to the _laissez faire_ policy
and believe that conditions are good enough as they are, do not know the
real heart of these people. They need and deserve and must ultimately
receive the opportunity to improve their living and working conditions.
"There are two important causes for the erection of plantation houses:
(1) For the employer, the practical advantage of having a resident
supply of labor on his land; (2) for the laborer, the necessity of
living near his work. Laborers who live in plantation houses are more
largely dependent upon the plantation than are laborers who live in
their own homes. One of the conditions of occupying a plantation house
is that the occupants will work for the plantation whenever their
services are required. Laborers living in plantation houses, can,
therefore, be depended upon by their employers, and this is a great
advantage to the plantation owner. Furthermore, such houses are usually
much better than the laborers who live in them could afford to build for
themselves. Frequently, also, the holdings of the plantation are so
extensive that it would not be possible for the laborers, even if they
had the money, to buy land upon which to build their houses within
walking distance of their work.
"There are great differences between the single houses of wood and zinc
erected by the various plantations. The better types have been built by
employers who wished to provide healthful and comfortable
quarters--increase the efficiency of their laborers as well as to hold
their labor supply. Unfortunately, at present, such houses are not being
erected by the plantations in all parts of the Island. The majority of
these houses have been built with the sole purpose of holding as large a
labor supply as possible at the least expense.
"The houses of this type are usually roofed with large strips of zinc,
nailed directly upon the rafters. These roofs are low, unceiled and, as
a result, the houses are extremely hot. The walls are of imported
lumber, sometimes the boards being matched and in other cases
clapboarded. The better houses are painted to diminish the depreciation
and to awaken the pride of the occupants in their homes. The walls are
six or seven feet high. The floors are of boards and raised from one to
two feet above the ground. The houses are set upon posts so that there
is a clear space under them that can be easily cleaned. On the interior
they are divided by half partitions into two or three rooms and are
usually provided with separate kitchens, frequently one kitchen serving
for from one to four houses. These houses cost from $70 to $150, the
average being about $80, according to their size and construction. This
description refers to the better houses of this type and, unfortunately,
the majority of the single plantation houses are not so well
constructed.
"These tenements represent the older type of plantation houses and
fortunately very few of them are being built at the present time. Their
construction has been prompted by the same reason that has induced
employers to build the single type of plantation house--the desire to
hold a resident supply of labor on the plantation. They are, however,
far inferior to the single houses.
"The better rural tenements are built with zinc roofs, board walls and
floors, and are raised from one to two feet above the ground. They are
unceiled and have no windows. In the inland many of them have zinc
walls. The poorer ones are located on low, swampy land and are built of
oil cans, pieces of boxes, and other odds and ends. Some of them have
separate kitchens and sanitary facilities, but many have nothing except
such temporary and inadequate structures as the occupants have
themselves built. The first reason for building tenements of this type
has been, of course, to house the greatest number of laborers at the
least expense. They are long structures, one or two rooms wide, each
room an apartment, and crowded with people. Although these rural
tenements are not usually being built at present, there are still
hundreds of them in use.
"The worst housing conditions upon the plantations prevail in the
buildings, usually tenements of this type, set aside as sleeping
quarters for unmarried laborers. This type of labor is transient, coming
for a few months during the busy season and then passing on to another
section of the Island. Consequently, they are crowded into whatever
quarters may be available at the time. The leaky rooms of the old sugar
mills, the worst rooms in the tenements, single houses that have been
unused for six months and are out of repair and filthy, are usually used
for the emergency--an emergency that lasts from three to six months.
Six, eight, or ten hammocks are hung up between bare walls in a room 10
feet by 15 feet and are all filled each night. Conditions of ventilation
and general sanitation are frightful.
"There is one notable exception. One of the largest centrals of our
Island has constructed a large, well-ventilated, and comfortable men's
apartment. The floor is of matched boards, solid and clean. The walls
are also of matched boards, but there is an open space two feet wide at
the top of the walls extending around the building. Overhanging eaves
prevent the rain from beating in through this opening. The roof is of
heavy paper nailed to a thick wooden ceiling. Frames are arranged in the
interior of the building for hanging hammocks, and around the walls are
large individual lockers for the use of those sleeping there. Finally,
the building is cleaned thoroughly every day.
"No description of the housing conditions of rural laborers would be
complete without mention of the gardens cultivated by the occupants of
the houses. It is safe to say that nine out of every ten laborers in the
rural sections, with the exception of those who live in plantation
houses where there is no land that they are permitted to cultivate, have
planted some sort of garden. It is also true that these gardens are, in
most cases, of very little practical use. Well cultivated and productive
gardens belonging to rural laborers are hard to find.
"The average garden consists of two or three plantain or banana trees, a
few tubers, and some medicinal plants. Frequently, there are many and
beautiful flowers. Whatever vegetables there may be are poorly cared for
and do not produce more than a third of a proper yield.
"This subject is of tremendous importance. The soil and climate of Porto
Rico are such that it should be able, even with its dense population, to
produce most of its food. There are unused plots of ground around
practically every hut in the interior of the Island. The decrease in the
production of sugar is going to throw many laborers out of work and they
will be obliged to raise most of their own food or suffer. Many reasons
have been advanced to explain the absence of good small gardens. The
laborers themselves say that they do not plant and cultivate gardens
because they do not own the land and they are allowed to plant only on
condition that they give the greater part of their produce to the
landowners. They claim also that it does not pay to break up the ground
for one crop and that after they have got plantains, etc., growing they
may be obliged to move. It is also true that in most cases they have not
money enough to buy the seed or hire the oxen and implements needed for
breaking up the ground.
"Also, in some parts of the south coast, it is too dry for profitable
gardening. On the other hand, landowners frequently say that the reasons
why laborers in the rural sections do not plant gardens are lack of
knowledge of gardening methods, lack of realization of the benefits that
they could derive from good gardens, and custom. Without discussing the
relative merits of these reasons, there are two things that must be
faced--such laborers must be educated, so far as possible by example,
and they must be offered the opportunity to hold land with some fixity
of tenure, either by purchasing it on the installment plan or by
obtaining leases from the present landowners."