1337 at- Av^. W.T, PROGRESS AND PROMISE IN PORTO RICO By Arthur James Pictures On Front Cover PORTO Rico’s SKYLINE A RURAL RESIDENCE Progress and Promise In Porto Rico By Arthur James I N the early seventies of the last century, the liberals of Spain overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. The republic lasted only two years. But before the reactionaries were again in the saddle, slavery was abolished in Porto Rico and religious tolerance was established in the Spanish Domain. The small group of English-speaking Episcopalians in the city of Ponce grasped the opportunity and erected for themselves an imposing church building. A few days after the dedication, however, the monarchy was restored and the law granting religious tolerance was rescinded. This group of Protestants received notice to close their church. They appealed to the English government and through the intervention of Queen Vic¬ toria permission was granted them to use the building with the condition that the bell should not be rung. For twenty-five years the bell was silent. For a quarter of a century it hung motionless in the belfry, forgotten by the general populace. One bright October morning in the year 1898, when both gloom and expectancy pervaded the city, when the bells of the Catholic Churches were strangely silent, this Protestant bell pealed out again. No move was made by the authorities to stop it, but its ringing was accompanied [ 3 ] by the rumble of gun carriage and the tramp of marching feet. A cloud of dust approached the city from the seashore, and out of the dust marched the boys in blue, the vanguard not only of the American Army of Occupation but also of the civilizing forces that had been withhelci from Porto Rico for four hundred years. The Evangelical Churches of the United States soon followed the Army. Long before the civil government was established the island was again occupied; this time in the name of the King of Kings. These early crusaders, finding conditions dark, were not daunted. They found that the great tropical diseases of hook¬ worm, malaria, and filariasis held more than ninety per cent, of the population in their grasp and that terrible scourges such as yellow fever and smallpox periodically swept the island. They found the people living under an economic system similar to the feudal system of the middle ages, a people of which the great majority were in dire poverty and the chosen few enjoying all the cultural advantages France and Spain had to offer. They found a people so grossly neglected educationally that eight out of every ten persons could not read and write. Above all, they found a people so completely sunk in superstition that Father Sherman, the Catholic chaplain of the Army of Occupation, reported that religion was dead on the island. Yet these people, so backward in 1898, advanced so rapidly under the new form of government that in 1917 they were given the full privileges of American citizenship. As the first demon¬ stration of their capacity for this new self-government they voted liquor from the island by a two to one majority,—a record in democratic development. What has been the contribution of the Presbyterian Mission to this development? Has the political progress been a result of and been accompanied by a deepening of the spiritual life of the people? Large questions? Surely! But questions it is fair to ask at the close of twenty-five years of missionary work. [ 4 ] I With the present beautiful Presbyterian Hospital one finds it difficult to think back to the beginnings of medical missions in Porto Rico. Yet these beginnings were simple, natural, and spontaneous affairs. Dr. Grace Atkins felt the call to go to Porto Rico. When she landed on the island she was appalled by the death and disease. She opened a clinic in connection with the newly-established Presbyterian Church. She soon felt that her clinic work was doing very little to solve the problem, so she returned to the States and appealed for funds to establish a hospital. The Woman’s Board of Home Missions heard her appeal and the first San Juan Presbyterian Hospital was the result. This hospital though a large plant in its time soon became too small for the demands made upon it and in 1917 a new building was erected—easily the best of its kind in the West Indies. Again the plant has proved too small and at present plans are being made that will double the capacity of the building. The test of popularity in Porto Rico for a person or institu¬ tion is to earn a nickname. Our San Juan Presbyterian Hospital passed this stage long ago. To the Porto Ricans the fact that in the remotest country barrio and in the crowded city it is known Presbyterian Hospital, San Juan as “El Presbiteriano"—“The Presbyterian"—is the sine qua non of success. More eloquent testimony to the northerner, however, are the facts that 42,000 patients were treated by the hospital staff in 1923, and that during the past quarter of a century 700,000 people—more than half the present population of Porto Rico— have been treated by this Christian Institution. The Presbyterian Hospital, together with the other healing agencies of the Protestant Mission, has completely changed the attitude of the people towards hospitals. It is now no longer necessary to send policemen to compel patients to attend the public clinics for hookworm and malaria as it was in the early days of [ 6 ] American occupation. I he Mission Hospitals have likewise com¬ pletely altered the nurse's status, so that today the nurse is respected and occupies a position of dignity and professional standing. II What can a score or so of Mission workers do for the economic advancement of a million and a half people? Measured by the new industries that the country so badly needs, very little, but from the standpoint of Christian neighborly service very much. In the neighborhood houses of Mayaguez and Aguadilla, babies of working mothers daily receive their chief nourishment in the day nurseries, thousands of poor people annually receive medical treatment in the clinics, scores of girls have become self- respecting members of the communities through the drawnwork Y. M. C. A., San Juan and lace classes and innumerable youngsters have benefited by the kindergarten and primary schools. Yet statistics, thrilling as they may be, cannot tell half the story. They say nothing of the influence of the neighborly contact of the Christian women who for the past quarter of a century have labored in these communities, of the young people whose lives have been changed as a result of this service, the many girls whose steps have been guided, often without their knowing it, into honorable vocations, and of the many who through the inspiration received at the neighborhood houses have caught the vision of a full education and have pursued their courses until they have obtained the prize. There is no record, for instance, of the young country girl entering the Mayaguez neighborhood house twelve years ago and of the Head worker discerning the latent character behind her timidity anci inviting her to stay as a companion. Neither do the records show how the same girl by the help and encouragement received from the workers of the Neighborhood House was able to go to the States and after eight years' study graduate from High School and College, to return to her own country, and to teach mathematics in one of the largest High Schools in the island, where she is a positive source of Christian influence in the school and in the community. [ 8 ] Polytechnic Candidates for the Ministry The work of the neighborhood houses is more difficult to esti¬ mate than any other kind of Christian activity. Oftentimes the most lasting service is purely incidental—outside the regular chan¬ nel of work. It is a fact, however, that no missionary work in Porto Rico has been more efficiently and cheerfully done than that done by these Neighborhood Houses, and on the Great Day it may be confidently stated that none will hear a greater “well done good and faithful Servant" than these consecrated workers. Ill A few years ago a girl from Santo Domingo was admitted to a Porto Rican Mission school. On her physical examination she was found to be suffering from the seven-year itch, a disease preva¬ lent in these tropical countries. She was of course given treatment, but it was some time before she was better. In the meantime the malady was not only a source of physical discomfort, but it seemed to make her most irritable of temper. She constituted a tremen¬ dous discipline problem. The matron was distracted and finally tried to supply some additional incentive for good behavior. “Maria," she said, “if you are not reported for a week, I will give you a present. What do you want?" Without a moment of [ 9 ] hesitation Maria replied: “A nutmeg grater!" Not many of the students of mission schools are Marias, but it is taking the raw material from the towns and country recesses of Porto Rico and the nearby countries and developing them into educated Christian citizens that constitute the “apologia" of these mission schools. The greatest progress of the Porto Rican people since the American occupation is in their educational life. In spite of this fact the present Commissioner of Education recently declared in a public address that he would like to see Presbyterian schools in every town of the island. The illiteracy rate of a country cannot be changed much in a generation. All the schools built since 1898 and all the teachers employed have only brought the rate down from 79.9 per cent to 54 per cent, that is, even today one person out of every two persons you meet in Porto Rico cannot read and write. It is no wonder, then, in view of these facts that the Com¬ missioner welcomes the help he receives from the Mission Schools. The Presbyterian Mission has been careful, however, not to duplicate the work done by the Insular Department,—here a kindergarten for a group of needy youngsters, there a primary class for another group of children crowded out of the public schools. It was this principle of cooperation with the public authorities that was responsible for the development of the Poly¬ technic Institute of Porto Rico, an institution generously supported by the Carnegie Foundation. The story of the Institute has been told so many times before that it only remains to say that today with its 340 students, working, playing, praying, and studying together, it forms one of the most significant groups in the educa¬ tional life of Latin America. IV To what extent has the missionary work enabled the Porto Rican people to experience the Christian spirit behind the money and effort of the past twenty-five years? Has the evangelistic effort kept pace with the medical, community, and educational activities ? [ 10 ] It is the pride of the mission workers in Porto Rico that in talking of the evangelistic work it is impossible to separate the different churches laboring in the island. There is no overlapping of territory and in their educational programs, evangelistic cam¬ paigns, distribution of literature, and social reform activities, there is full cooperation. They also support the same periodical, and Theological Seminary. Twenty-five years ago there was but one Protestant church in the island; today there are over two hundred evangelical churches with four hundred eighty-eight preaching stations. These churches have an active membership of 12,377 and a Sunday School mem¬ bership of 24,717. To the support of this work the Porto Rican Christians gave during 1923, $55,221,—in many ways a record for a missionary work. Let the work of the Presbyterian Mission, however, illustrate the evangelistic activities of the Porto Rican Christians. During the last four years, 1,903 members have been received by the Presbytery. In 1917-18, $4,977 was contributed by the local Pres¬ byterian churches to the support of their work. Last year these same churches gave $13,005. During the past five years, nine country chapels have been erected by the Porto Rican Presby¬ terians, all of the money being collected in Porto Rico. During the busy war years, thousands of Porto Ricans left their over-crowded country and went to the neighboring country of Santo Domingo to work in the sugar cane fields. Except for some isolated communities Santo Domingo was virgin missionary territory. Many members of the evangelical churches of Porto Rico were among the immigrants there. These folk banded together wherever they went and organized themselves into Chris¬ tian Endeavor societies. The largest of these groups sent an urgent call to their Porto Rican brethren for help. The mem¬ bers of the United Brethren, Congregational, and Presbyterian Churches taxed themselves three cents a member a month, and [ 11 ] with the money paid the full salary of a minister at this center. The Committee of Cooperation in Latin America soon saw the opportunity in Santo Domingo and planned a much bigger piece of work. Of course the Porto Ricans gave their full cooperation. With funds on hand they bought the equipment in the Mission Hospital in Santo Domingo City, and with the money they con¬ tinue to raise they pay a large share on its operating expenses. The missionary interest the Porto Rican Christians have shown for this neighboring country is the greatest testimony of the depth of their evangelistic zeal. What of Promise? What does the future hold for the Pres¬ byterian work in Porto Rico? Will the need continue? Several prominent Porto Ricans of all political and religious affiliations were asked these questions before this pamphlet was written. Their answers were along three lines: I. Continue, because the work of the past twenty-five years is but the foundation of a much greater work in the years to come. II. Continue, as the need is so tremendous, “because it would be a crime to abandon our people when they have caught a glimpse of the vision the next few years hold for us.” III. Continue, because you can depend on the enthusiastic cooperation of the Porto Rican people. To these reasons let us add the greatest. The fact that the bugle of our Captain never calls retreat, and that while we still have the great Commission to inspire us the work begun should be continued until Porto Rico—the “Pearl of the Caribbean”—becomes one of the most precious jewels in His diadem. 11-24-II-5M—AKA BOARD OF NATIONAL MISSIONS of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y.