Hayman'a Tourxxt Shov, Mayayuez, Porto Rico 
 
 America’s Debt to the West Indies 
 
 SAMUEL GUY IJilMAN 
 
 \ Secretary, Committee on Cooperation in Latin America 
 
 J^ . 
 
 - O ,, VV\ 
 
 (cop. v) 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/americasdebttoweOOinma 
 
 
AMERICA’S DEBT TO THE WEST INDIES 
 
 Samuel Guv Inman, 
 
 Secretary, Committee on Cooperation in Latin America 
 
 THE POLITICAL SITUATION 
 
 ORLU readjustments and economic difficulties liave not failed 
 to have their effect on the West Indies along with the rest of 
 the world. The old proposal for European countries to trans¬ 
 fer their island possessions in the West Indies to the United 
 States has been revived, largely because of the financial de¬ 
 pression in the islands and in Europe. In mission matters this 
 transfer of responsibility is going forward. The English Baptists re¬ 
 cently asked the American Baptist Home Missionary Society to share 
 with them the responsibility for work in Jamaica. The political domi¬ 
 nance of the United States in the West Indies has been challenged very 
 sharply during the year. After a general discussion of the occupation of 
 Haiti by the United States and the eruelties of the expeditionary forces, 
 the United States Senate appointed a committee to investigate these 
 charges. The State Department recently announced the impending 
 withdrawal of the United States military government from Santo 
 Domingo. Difficulties have been encountered, however, and the republic 
 continues to be governed by the Navy Department of the tinited States 
 Government. Porto Ricans have protested strenuously against the 
 activities of Governor Riley, who was recently appointed to that post. 
 
 Industrial Conditions 
 
 Industrial conditions in most of the West Indies islands are more 
 tlian ever depressing and urge solution. Some economists point out 
 that these tropical islands are the next logical part of the world to be 
 exploited by capitalists. The difficult situation in which the popula 
 tions of these crowded islands already find themselves has forced a large 
 emigration to the United States. There is great need of a thorough 
 study of the economic and spiritual problems of this part of the world. 
 Practically no data exist which are reliable. With modern agricultural 
 inventions and the development of sanitation, the tropics are no longer 
 uninhabitable for tbe white man, but may be looked upon as an open 
 field for his future activities. In spite of these pressing industrial 
 prol)lems, the missionary societies of the world have onlj’ one adequate 
 
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iluiustrial school, the most needed type of education, in all of the 
 W'est Indies. 
 
 Our Far-Flung Battle Line 
 
 The responsibilit}' of the t'hristian churches of the United States 
 toward the countries of the Caribbean Sea is made imperative by the 
 large political iiiHuence we have recently assumed in those countries. 
 Few North Americans realize how extensively and with what rapidity 
 our “far-flung battle-line” is growing. Our conception of our native 
 land is generally limited to the forty-eighty states represented in our 
 national congress. It is a j)ositive shock therefore for the ordinary 
 North American to travel through the various Carribean countries, as 
 I have, and come face to face with the predominance of the influence of 
 the United States in these little C’aribbean republics, so-called. This 
 influence has increased gradually but steadily. As the result of the 
 Spanish-American War we came into complete possession of Porto 
 Rico. While Cuba was turned back to her own ])eople, by means of 
 the Platt Amendment, we still maintain virtually a protectorate in that 
 country and own outright a naval station at Cuantanamo. 
 
 In 191.5, after one of the worst of Haiti’s many disturbances, we 
 landed marines on that island, directed new’ elections and proposed a 
 treaty w'hich gives us practical control of the country. A year later 
 a revolution in Santo Domingo was the cause for our landing marines 
 there and when the government then in power w'ould not agree to the 
 kind of treaty that the United States desired, martial law was declared 
 and Admiral Knapp was made Military Governor. Since that time the 
 government of the Dominican Republic has been carried on by decrees 
 of the Military Governor. In 1916 the United States Government })ur- 
 chased for twenty-five million dollars the Virgin Islands in order that 
 our strategic ))osition in the West Indies might be still more secure. 
 
 The influence of the United States has also been extended over most 
 of the other countries of the Caribbean area by the new’ Caribbean 
 policy, begun during the Roosevelt administration and continued and 
 develoj)ed during that of Taft and Wilson. This })olicy is marked hy a 
 tendency to force peace and order by establishing fiscal and jjolice 
 control, hy denying recognition to revolutionary governments and by 
 blocking the securing of financial aid from abroad. These me.ans w’ere 
 used to restrain violence and irregularities and to maintain ))rogress, .as 
 the United St.ates understood that w’ord. It amounted to the est.ahlish- 
 ment of protectorates over these small, disturbed lands, although that 
 term has been, as far as j)ossible, avoided. In subjecting them to gu.ar- 
 di.anship or tutelage, we h.ave claimed that our aim was not to deprive 
 
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them of their sovereignty or independence, but to extend needed help in 
 insuring stability, solvency, sanitation, protection from foreign creditors 
 and general welfare. 
 
 'I’liis altruism has not been altogether appreciated by the Caribbean 
 countries. They seem to think they had rather be rowdy cbildren in 
 their own house than orderly children in that of someone else. On 
 the other hand the United States believes that we have come to a time 
 in the world’s life when continued disorder cannot be allowed, both 
 because of its dangers to tbe peace of the United States and to the 
 ecpiilibrium of all international relations, economic as well as political. 
 
 The Attitude of the Church 
 
 Missionary forces are not the ones to decide this difficult and delicate 
 problem. But it is very clear that if the actions of our Government 
 toward these little countries do not square with our Christian profes¬ 
 sions, our missionary work among those people will meet with a hope¬ 
 less handicap. As a committee representing the churches and mission 
 boards recently said to the Senate Committee investigating relations 
 with Santo Domingo and Haiti: 
 
 “We believe that moral and humanitarian considerations rather than 
 })urely j)olitical and financial should hold the dominant place in the 
 determination of our relations to the Republic of Haiti and to the 
 Dominican Republic. 
 
 “We are deeply concerned because, as is generally admitted, citizens 
 of the United States have given occasion for the criticism of American 
 justice and considerateness in the treatment of the people of these two 
 countries. 
 
 “We desire to state to the Special Committee of the Senate that we 
 believe the Christians of America are watching the attitude of our 
 Government towards those Republics with deep concern, feeling that 
 the f air name of America, her high traditions and her treatment of 
 neighbors are involved.” 
 
 Political Unity Desire of Great Leaders of Past 
 
 Before the S])anish-American War, which marked the practical 
 control of the West Indies by the United States, the political unity of 
 the West Indies had been a favorite topic among the great men of 
 those islands. A distinguished group, including Dr. Betances, of Porto 
 Rico; A. Firmin, of Haiti; Torres Caicedo, of Colombia, Jose Marti, 
 of Cuba, and P'. Carvajal, of Santo Domingo, with Paris and Havana 
 as centers, w'orked toward this unity with great enthusiasm during the 
 last quarter of the nineteenth century. A study of the lives of these 
 
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great men would be most helpful to all who desire to understand the 
 aspirations of the people of the Antilles. 
 
 One. of the greatest of these leaders was Kugenio de Hostos, who 
 was born in Porto Rieo^ educated in Spain and^ after traveling in all 
 parts of the worlds especially in South America^ gave the last fifteen 
 years of his life to education in Santo Domingo. De Hostos is an 
 illustration of the kind of man the West Indies are able to produce. 
 H e is one of those Latin geniuses that seem to be capable of doing any 
 amount of intellectual work in any number of different spheres. He 
 wrote one of the best treatises on constitutional law that has ever been 
 published. An edition in English is seheduled for the near future. His 
 educational principles, wdiich w'ere given through his years of teaching 
 in the normal school in Santo Domingo, show some of the most modern 
 pedagogical theories. A volume called “Meditando” shows the remark¬ 
 able intellectual grasp of the man. First there is a long essay on 
 Hamlet, a splendid critical study of Shakespeare’s play; then there 
 follow short essays on several of the great men of South America; a 
 criticism of various authors in Santo Domingo; a treatise on the laws of 
 teaching, on political themes and a literary criticism. This remarkable 
 man was educated in Spain, and eame to be recognized as an authority 
 in literature and politics in Argentina, Chile, Santo Domingo, Cuba and 
 Porto Rieo, in all of which coimtries he lived for a more or less brief 
 period of time. Before Europe had opened scientifie careers to wmmen, 
 Hostos had persuaded the Chilean Government to open its courses in 
 medicine and law to women. He was also the first man to urge the 
 importance in Argentina of the construction of the Trans-Andean Rail¬ 
 road. In Santo Domingo he edited the first laws concernmg education 
 and directed for nine years the public education of that country. While 
 in Peru he began a campaign in favor of the protection of the Chinese 
 there and aided the national government in its controversy concerning 
 the Oroya railroad. He w'orked most arduously for the independence 
 of Cuba and offered to earn by means of his pen a million pesetas for 
 the Liberal Cause. 
 
 CHRISTIAN UNITY 
 
 Present conditions, w'ith the preponderant infiuence of the United 
 .States, intimates that the dream of })olitical unity of the West Indies 
 will not be realized. Some of the younger Christian leaders are now- 
 dreaming of a united Christian church for all of the West Indies, as 
 better than a united political state. This is a vision which w'e can well 
 afford to encourage. The unity of the Evangelical church in individual 
 countries of the West Indies is ])rogressing encouragingly and there are 
 
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not lacking signs of a spread of this unity throughout the region. The 
 Kvangelical 'J'lieological Seminary of Porto Rico, in which six different 
 connnunions are coo})erating, is already spreading its influence into 
 Santo Domingo, the V’^irgin Islands, Venezuela and Cuba, and has even 
 sent one of its students as a minister to the union Spanish-speaking 
 congregation in New York City. Three of its graduates, members of 
 three different communions, were sent to Santo Domingo immediately 
 on the opening recentl}'^ of the union evangelical program in Santo 
 Domingo. 
 
 Porto Rico 
 
 Porto Rico presents one of the best organized cooperative movements 
 in any mission field. When the Island was awarded to the United 
 States by the terms of the peace treaty signed by the United States and 
 Spain, at the close of the Spanish-American AVar, the representatives of 
 home mission boards in the United States decided to enter the Island 
 with a clear division of territorial responsibility. From that day until 
 the present the zoning system has been adhered to by the following 
 denominations: Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian U. S. A., Congre¬ 
 gational, Baptist (Northern), United Brethren, Disciples of Christ, 
 Christian Church. These same bodies have formed the Evangelical 
 Union of Porto Rico, which has an annual meeting with an Executive 
 Secretary, allocated by one of the missions, giving all of his time to 
 interdenominational work. The denominational names are very little 
 used, congregations being generally known as “La Iglesia Evangelica 
 
 de -” (the Evangelical Church of - location). 
 
 'I'he first large development of this Evangelical Union was the Union 
 Press, paper and bookstore. In the old days there were six small 
 papers published by as many different denominations. Gradually these 
 h;ive been united until now Protestantism speaks in a united voice 
 tlirough the one magnificent weekly journal, “El Puerto Rico Evan- 
 gelico.’’ This paper has the largest circulation of any periodical on 
 the Island. Its influence is widely felt, not only among the evangelical 
 constituency, hut also among tlie people at large, including government 
 officials. It has been especially powerful in advocating social reforms 
 (luring the last few years. This began with the fight f or prohibition. 
 
 When the Porto Ricans, by the passing of the Jones Bill, were 
 given the right of citizens, after waiting practically twenty years for 
 it, the first important question that was settled at the poles was that of 
 prohibition. The Roman Catholic Church and many other strong 
 organized bodies were opjiosed to j^rohihition. Although the evangelical 
 forces numbered only about ] 2,000, so closely united were they that. 
 
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hacked with their magnificent press, the best equipped in Porto Rico, 
 they sowed tlie Island with literature and sent their speakers every¬ 
 where, brought to their side the aggressive moral forces and led the 
 cause of prohibition to victory by a two-thirds majority. 'Fliis is one 
 of the finest illustrations in all history of what a small body of Chris¬ 
 tians, thoroughly united and profoundly eonvinced of the righteousness 
 of their cause, is able to accomplish. Following this campaign the 
 evangelical churches decided to throw' their infiuenee on the side of law 
 and order and the imj)rovement of social and sanitary conditions. Theirs 
 was the strongest backing received by government officials who cleaned 
 out red-light districts and started many moral reforms. As an encourage¬ 
 ment to the Anti-Tuberculosis campaign, to cite onl}^ one example, the 
 churches presented the government with a cottage for tubercular 
 patients. One Sunday a year is given by all the churches to the advo¬ 
 cacy of social reform at which time not only do the pastors preach ser¬ 
 mons on the subject, but special literature is distributed and the 
 attention of public officials called to the w'ays that the moral and social 
 life of the people may be bettered. 
 
 At the present time the churches are engaged in a strong movement 
 for evangelization and self-support, know'ii as the “Porto Rico for 
 Christ Movement.” This is a spontaneous development among the 
 churches themselves, pressing for a deeper spirit of devotion and for 
 emphasis on evangelism, Christian stewardship, and some form of com¬ 
 munity work for each local church. One month a special effort was 
 made to promote family worship, tracts on Christian family life and on 
 prayer being circulated. Another, special prayer-meetings were held 
 and personal w'orkers’ classes organized. During the first three months 
 of 192!2 simultaneous evangelistic campaigns were promoted in all the 
 churches. The campaign next is directed toward building up the Sun¬ 
 day Schools and Young People’s societies. Stewardshij), Christian 
 literature and a drive for subscribers to the union evangelical j)aper are 
 other subjects to be stressed during a month devoted to their interests, 
 (ireat enthusiasm has been awakened over the camj)aign and reports 
 indicate that already there is quickened life among the churches. 
 
 'riiere is a strong feeling existent among the Porto Ricans for abso¬ 
 lute unity of the Church. Reference has already been made to the 
 F.vangelical Seminary, which, although its opening session was in the 
 fall of 1919, now has some thirty students and is doing high grade 
 work. It is located opposite the campus of the Insular University and 
 its students take their academic work in the University. Some of the 
 professors of the Seminary have also been teaching part time in the 
 University. The students have formed an evangelistic company which 
 
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goes tlirougli tlie Island, liolding public meetings, some of them preach¬ 
 ing and others ])laying instruments and singing. .Many people have 
 been brought into the churches through the evangelistic campaigns of 
 these students. 
 
 Because of the splendid educational system of the government, mis¬ 
 sionary societies have not organized many schools. Two outstanding 
 educational institutions, however, are the University of the Antilles at 
 San German, and Blanche Kellogg Institute, at Santurce. The school 
 at San German, while largely supported by the Presbyterians, has an 
 interdenominational Board of Trustees and students come from all 
 Protestant communions. Blanche Kellogg Institute is Congregational, 
 but the young women who are there preparing for Christian w'ork are 
 supported by six different denominations. 
 
 Another outstanding cooperative movement is that of the summer 
 conference. This is a kind of Northfield where all the evangelical 
 workers meet for ten days, engage in Bible study and discuss the 
 common problems of the Porto Rican church. 
 
 Cuba 
 
 Evangelical work in C’uba w\as not begun by a cooperative agree¬ 
 ment as in Porto Rico. Unity has been therefore more difficult to 
 attain. The Committee on C’ooperation has been working several years 
 on this problem, however. By the withdrawal of two mission boards 
 from the Island and the rearrangement of the territory among the 
 others, there has come to be very little overlapping. The long narrow 
 shape of Cuba and the division of territorial res|)onsibility })laees the 
 missions (juite a distance a])art, which fact has made cooperation among 
 them difficult. The Presbyterians and Friends have united in the })ub- 
 lieation of a weekly ])aper which has a wide eireulation among other 
 denominations also. A union bookstore has been maintained in the city 
 of Havana. I.ittle more than a year ago this bookstore, “La Nueva 
 .Senda,” wliile occupying a very inadequate room, was located near the 
 center of the city and not only had become a literature center for the 
 Island, having orders on its books at one time for a thousand hymn- 
 books and as many Bibles, but also found oj)j)ortunity for introducing 
 Christian literature to a large number of peoj)le who otherwise were 
 not in touch with the evangelical work. Because of its central position 
 as a shipi)ing center, this store was used to fill orders received from 
 various ])arts of the world and a large number of titles were available 
 at I.a Nueva Senda. It is unfortunate that the ffnancial backing of 
 this store has been so limited that it has been forced to give up the little 
 
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room rented in the center of the city and become simply a mail-order 
 house with its stock kept in the backroom of one of the missions. 
 
 'I'lie summer conference of Cuba has been widely attended by })rac- 
 tically all the evangelical workers and given splendid results. The 
 general Committee on Cooperation in l^atin America, headquarters in 
 New York, sends speakers yearly to this conference, as it does to the 
 one in Porto Rico. For some time the Friends Board allocated one of 
 their missionaries to the interdenominational work. Since that mis¬ 
 sionary left the Island no one else has been secured and cooperation is 
 suffering from the lack of such a secretary. 
 
 Santo Domingo 
 
 Those who look forward to the unity of the Church, while rejoic¬ 
 ing in cooperation through zoning systems like that in Porto Rico, 
 recognize that it is not perfect. When, therefore, it became evident 
 that several mission boards were planning to open work in the virgin 
 field of Santo Domingo, it was decided that a united front of Protes¬ 
 tantism should be presented in that field. The Secretary of the Com¬ 
 mittee on Coojjeration in Latin America was asked to visit the field and 
 make a study of the situation and report a jjlan for occupation of the 
 field to all the mission boards doing work in the West Indies. This 
 survey was made and four boards decided immediately to form the 
 Board for Christian Work in Santo Domingo and to enter the field 
 unitedly. A fifth board joined the enterprise a little later. These 
 boards subscribed to the budget, which is expended by the united com¬ 
 mittee. \\"orkers were chosen not because of their denominational 
 affiliation, but because of their suitability for the work. This not only 
 a[)pealed to those at home, anxious to go a step further in the develop¬ 
 ment of Christian unity, but it met an immediate response among the 
 C’hristian churches of Porto Rico. These churches were so impn'ssed 
 with the needs of Santo Domingo and the opportunities of this united 
 apj)roach that they not only surrendered three of their leading ministers 
 to go to Santo Domingo, but also contributed some $3,000 for the 
 purchase of the lease and equipment for a hospital, which the Board 
 later on opened in Santo Domingo City. 
 
 'The five boards that have entered into this united program are the 
 Home Board, General and W'oman’s, of the Methodist Pq)isco])al and 
 the Presbyterian U. S. A., and the Mission Board of the United 
 Brethren, The budget for the first year’s work w'as $80,000. Head¬ 
 quarters on the field have been established in Santo Domingo City 
 where a large building was purchased for $50,000. This building pro¬ 
 vides a center for church and social work, bookstore and residence for 
 
 10 
 
some of the workers. The American workers are the acting- 
 Superintendent Rev. Nathan H. Huffman (United Brethren), Dr. and 
 Mrs. Horace R. Taylor (Presbyterian), and two American trained 
 nurses. Miss Violet Parker (Baptist), and Miss Katharine Fribley 
 (Protestant Episcopal). There are regular Sunday School, preaching 
 services and prayer meetings under each of the three Porto Rican 
 ordained ministers, who are working in the Capital City, I^a Romana 
 and San Pedro de Macoris. In little more than a year’s time two of 
 these congregations have become regularly organized church bodies and 
 tlie members are already manifesting a willingness to help toward the 
 support of the enterprise. All services, wherever they are conducted, 
 are overcrowded and the facilities for taking care of those who wish to 
 come into these meetings are already proving inadequate. 
 
 The hospital, maintained in a rented building near the mission, has 
 also met with phenomenal success. It was opened just six months ago, 
 and is now reaching about 1,000 patients a month. Besides the Amer¬ 
 ican staff there are some ten native helpers serving in the hospital, 
 among them two Porto Rican nurses and a licensed Dominican chemist. 
 The need for this medical work is tremendous and the commendations 
 and interest expressed lead to the belief that there is no limit to which 
 this hos 2 )ital may extend its service. 
 
 Haiti 
 
 The development of the influence of the United States in the Carib¬ 
 bean and Haiti, in particular, is such that this is evidently becoming 
 more and more home missions territory. The American Baptist Home 
 Missionary Society has been asked to undertake work in this country 
 and a recent investigation of the situation there by one of that Board’s 
 rej)resentatives reports that government officials there expressed their 
 eagerness for the American mission boards to undertake work there. 
 (Considerable evangelistic work has already been done which is worth 
 wliile, but little educational work by Protestants. ’Phe Episcopalians 
 have a strong work in one section of the country and a good deal of 
 Baj)tist work remains as the fruits of work of the English Baptist mis¬ 
 sionaries begun about 1842. The English Baptists gave up this effort 
 about 1900. 'I'he work has been carried forward and has grown to 
 where it is practically self-sup))orting. Except for primary schools in 
 connection with each of the missions, there is practically no educational 
 work. Such work is greatly needed for secondary education in general 
 and especially for the training of pastors. It is expected that the 
 Baptist Home Board wdll enter this field soon. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy, the Hon. Edwin Denby, recently made 
 
 11 
 
the following observation about the necessity of Christian work in 
 Santo Domingo and Haiti; 
 
 “It is my opinion that the missionary societies and churches of the 
 United States could not do better than to send representatives to that 
 field. They would not alone be conferring benefits upon the people, 
 but their kindly offices should do much toward bringing about a friendly 
 feeling between the people of that country and the United States. We 
 have a great and very practical interest in its condition and are vitally 
 concerned with its relations to the United States. Whatever can be 
 done toward encouraging friendly feeling toward us should be done 
 and the churches and missionary societies, in my opinion, can be of 
 very material assistance.” 
 
 'I'he outstanding needs for the cooperative work in the West Indies, 
 not to mention the many needs of the various denominational Hoards. 
 e\’erv one of which should be strengthened, are as follows: 
 
 Hospital building for the hospital already begun in Santo Domingo. 
 
 An Industrial School in Santo Domingo. 
 
 An iTulustrial School in Cuba. 
 
 I‘',nlarging of the Union Hookstorc and Literature ju’ogram in Cuba. 
 
 A Secretary for cooperative work in Cuba. 
 
 Summer conference grounds with rest homes for Tuissionaries in 
 Porto Rico and Cuba. 
 
 Better equipment for the University of the Antilles, San German, 
 Porto Rico. 
 
 Property for Evangelical Seminary of Porto Rico. 
 
 I'lidarged e(|uipment for Union Press of I’orto Hico. 
 
 607991422 
 
 Committee on Cooperation in Latin America 
 25 Madison Avenue, New York 
 
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