ONE of the most difficult problems to solve in the case of a small
country such as Porto Rico, and one which has a definite bearing on both
the economic and the social life of the people, is the land situation.
This is especially true when the chief industries are such as lend
themselves more readily to large plantation farming rather than to small
industries or crops which can be raised profitably on small areas. The
most important products of Porto Rico to-day are large-farm products,
and they naturally tend to develop a small number of large landowners
and a large number of landless citizens. There were in 1910, 46,799
farms operated by their owners, and it was estimated that 600,000 people
or 117,647 families in rural sections belonged to the landless class. An
equally large proportion of landless citizens is found in urban centers.
Of the 10,936 people in Puerta de Tierra in 1913, only 178 or about 30
families owned the land on which their houses were located. It is
estimated that there are at least 800,000 people or 156,860 landless
families in Porto Rico.
In addition to the tendency toward lawlessness that is always found
where there is an overproportion of landless citizens, the systems of
land rental in Porto Rico have certain unfortunate economic aspects
which call for consideration. Part of the renters live in houses which
are owned by the proprietor of the land upon which their houses are
located, and here the case resolves itself simply into the ordinary
relations of renters and householders. This system does not differ to
any great extent from the ordinary rent system in the States and has the
same disadvantages, both economical and social, which are to be found
wherever the rental system is in operation.
A second system which has been known as the "Land Rent System" is
somewhat different. Under this system a man rents a lot from the owner
of the property and proceeds to erect his own house upon the land. He
then owns the house but not the land upon which it is located. Usually
he rents from the proprietor from month to month or from year to year
and has no definite lease of the land, and there is nothing to prevent
the owner from raising the rental price or from demanding the house of
the renter whenever he feels so inclined. As a matter of fact, it
frequently happens that the land is rented to householders at fifty
cents or a dollar monthly for the purpose of building houses, and within
a short time after the completion of the house the owner of the land
advances the price of rent, so that the house owner finds himself unable
to meet the increased cost. He then has no choice except to move out and
leave his house, together with the amount of work and invested money
which it represents, or to sell the house to another person. Usually the
house is sold to the owner of the land himself, who thus comes into
possession, at a very reduced price, of a house which he, in turn,
rents to another individual. This system is extremely unfortunate for
the renter and should be abolished by the passing of legislation which
would require the granting of a lease for a certain definite period to
every person who builds upon land owned by another.
A modification of this system is frequently found in the cases where
employees build their houses upon the land which belongs to the
plantation. In many cases the employer does his utmost to make the life
of his tenants as pleasant as possible, granting them garden plots and
trying to make them permanent employees by offering them certain
advantages. In many cases, however, the employer maintains a company
store and requires his employees to purchase all their provisions from
the store, thus making a double profit from them, and frequently
charging them higher prices than they would have to pay elsewhere. In
other cases the employer guarantees the credit of his workmen at a given
local store, and on pay day he turns over to the local storekeeper the
amount due the workmen and the storekeeper deducts from this the amount
which is owing him for provisions and hands over to the workmen what may
be left. As the average countryman has little idea of business and is
lacking in knowledge of how to keep accurate accounts, and, moreover,
since a credit system always tends to extravagance, it frequently
happens that the workman is never entirely out of debt. There is a law
approved in 1908 which makes it unlawful "for any corporation, company,
firm or person engaged in any trade or business, whether directly or
indirectly, to issue, sell, give or deliver to any person employed by
such corporation, company, firm or person, payments of wages to such
laborers, or as an advance for labor not due, in any script, token,
draft, check or other evidence of indebtedness payable or redeemable
otherwise than in lawful money." Section 2 of the same law provides that
"if any corporation, company, firm or person shall coerce or compel or
attempt to coerce or compel an employee to purchase goods or supplies in
payment of wages due him from any corporation, company, firm or person,
such said named corporation, company, firm or person shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor." In this way attempts have been made to protect the
laborer from exploitation, but violations of the law are not uncommon.
There is need for legislation to provide opportunity for the man of
small means to purchase sufficient land to establish a home. In Porto
Rico there are about 121,346 acres of government lands located in
various parts of the Island which might well be opened to settlement at
a nominal price. Legislation should also be passed which would provide
that private land which is not used for produce for a given term of
years might be opened to settlement and sold to people who would occupy
it and use it for production. There are many acres of private land in
Porto Rico which are not used at all and have not been used for years.
The accumulation of land by an individual or a corporation for purposes
of speculation or for purposes other than cultivation and use for the
production of crops should be discouraged, because the limited amount of
land in the Island does not permit such accumulation except at the
expense of the poorer class of people. There is at present a law
preventing the accumulation of more than 500 acres of land by any
company or corporation, but no penalty has been provided for the
violation of this law, and it is practically useless as it stands at
present.
In addition to providing means by which people would be encouraged to
own and manage small farms, coöperative organizations for providing a
market for the products of these farms should be established.
Undoubtedly, the government should start such a movement. The spirit of
coöperation is not strong in Porto Rico at the present time, and the
small farm holder finds himself at a disadvantage when he has to compete
with the larger producer and when he is obliged to find a market for his
goods. Some such system as exists in Denmark, where the farmers of a
community have joined themselves into coöperative associations for
selling their products and the purchase of necessary supplies, might
very well be introduced into Porto Rico. This would tend not only to
improve the economic situation by bringing better prices and a steady
market for the farm products, and by making possible the purchase of
necessary supplies in larger quantities, but it would also help to
encourage a sense of unity and mutual confidence among the people of a
given community, which would be of immense value in raising the standard
of citizenship. Community pride and a definite desire for improvement
would necessarily follow such a movement.
Farming is one of the few occupations which is not influenced by
seasons, so far as unemployment is concerned. Practically all of the
trades have their busy seasons and their idle seasons, and any movement
which would tend to make employment more permanent by providing small
farms for a larger number of people, would be of immense benefit to the
Island as a whole. The Bureau of Labor of Porto Rico in an investigation
which covered the last five months of the year 1913, found that of the
total number of union men reported, 27 per cent were unemployed during
the month of August, 26 per cent during September, 38 per cent during
October, 34 per cent during November, and 46 per cent during December.
The men reporting were engaged in various occupations. It was estimated
that 28 per cent of all the laborers who reported were unemployed on
account of lack of work and not on account of not desiring work. The
different trades represented are as follows: among the dock laborers 62
per cent were unemployed, 56 per cent of the carpenters, 47 per cent of
the agricultural laborers, 23 per cent of the cigar makers, and 10 per
cent of the typesetters reported that they could not find employment.
Thus it will be seen that when the individual workman is at the mercy of
the employer, he has no independent status such as he would have were he
the owner of even a very modest piece of property, and it is inevitable
that he will find employment only part of the year. Part time
employment tends to low standards of living, because during the period
of reduced financial income the standards of living are lowered, and
when it is found that the family can exist on the reduced income there
is little inducement for seeking work since the desire for economy and
saving is not greatly developed among the working classes of Porto Rico.
We find a gradual lowering of the moral standard as the necessary
accompaniment of low standards of living, and if continued long enough,
this low moral standard gradually leads to moral and social
degeneration. The necessary steps should be taken by the legislature to
provide for the relief of the landless and unemployed classes, as
otherwise these people will constitute a serious handicap for the
economic and social development of a competent body of citizens.