nistrative standpoint, Porto Rico is
not considered as a colony, but as a province of Spain, assimilated
to the remaining provinces. The Governor-General, representing the
monarchy, is at the same time Captain-General of the armed forces. In
each chief town resides a military commander, and each town has its
alcalde, or mayor, appointed by the central power. The provincial
deputation is elected by popular suffrage under the same conditions as
in Spain. The regular peace garrison is composed of about 3,000 men,
and the annual budget amounts to some 20,000,000 pesos.

Education.--In 1887 only one-seventh of the population could read and
write, but of late years progress in public instruction has been rapid.

Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce.--In 1878 there arrived in the
harbors of the island 1,591 vessels of different nationalities and
1,534 departed. The value of products imported was 14,787,551 pesos,
and that of articles exported was 13,070,020 pesos. The following
are the relative percentages of values:

Flags. Relation.
Per Cent.
Spanish 49.91
American 13.47
English 21.43
Various Nations 15.19
=======
Total 100.00

Navigation is very active, but the part the inhabitants take in
the commercial fleet is small. The Porto Ricans are not seagoing
people. The eastern part of the island offers less advantage to
commerce than the western, being to the windward and affording less
shelter to vessels.

Porto Rico has more than seventy towns and cities, of which Ponce is
the most important. Ponce has 22,000 inhabitants, with a jurisdiction
numbering 47,000. It is situated on the south coast of the island,
on a plain, about 2 miles from the seaboard. It is the chief town of
the judicial district of its name, and is 70 miles from San Juan. It is
regularly built, the central part almost exclusively of brick houses,
and the suburbs of wood. It is the residence of the military commander,
and the seat of an official chamber of commerce. There is an appellate
criminal court, besides other courts; 2 churches, one Protestant,
said to be the only one in the Spanish West, Indies; 2 hospitals
besides the military hospital, a home of refuge for old and poor,
2 cemeteries, 3 asylums, several casinos, 3 theaters, a market, a
municipal public library, 3 fir