[Illustration: Lower Quarter of Mayaguez.]

The promises set forth in this document were kept to the letter. Indeed,
Justice sat up so straight for the people of Puerto Rico that she often
toppled over backward and crushed the American soldier. To steal anything,
from a kiss to a cow, was almost a capital offence; while houses and
churches might have been lined with gold and jasper, or infected with the
small-pox, so stringently were we kept out of them--at least during the
hostile period.

This was all a mighty good thing for somebody, no doubt, but it detracted
in large chunks from the glamour of war for the soldier-boy; and I fear
that the majority of us felt hurt, if not sorely cheated. Nor is it at
all certain that the average inhabitant of Puerto Rico is worth coddling,
protection, prosperity, "and the immunities and blessings" accorded him by
his new rulers. A thick, stout cudgel or a bright, sharp axe will be more
effective than honeyed words in helping him cheerfully to assimilate new
ideas; though no one will believe it here at home until the hurrah is all
over and some of the truth gets into general circulation.

[Illustration: A Mid-section of the Calle Mendez-Vigo, Mayaguez.]

About one-sixth of the population in this island--the educated class, and
chiefly of pure Spanish blood--can be set down as valuable acquisitions to
our citizenship and the peer, if not the superior, of most Americans in
chivalry, domesticity, fidelity, and culture. Of the rest, perhaps one-half
can be moulded by a firm hand into something approaching decency; but the
remainder are going to give us a great deal of trouble. They are ignorant,
filthy, untruthful, lazy, treacherous, murderous, brutal, and black Spain
has kept her hand at their throats for many weary years, and the only thing