Last week, in the Studies on the Field, the lesson was on Porto Rico. We have received a copy of a letter written by a gentleman in Porto Rico to a friend, a doctor, in Indiana. This letter will give a good understanding of the condition and needs of the people of Porto Rico; and will go well with the lesson, in last week's REVIEW, on the field. This brother writes:— The condition is not ameliorated a whit. Giving occasional mouthfuls of bacon, rice, and beans to an anæmic, half-clothed, shelterless wretch only prolongs the torture. The government and its officers have the best of intentions, and have spent much time, money, and labor in the relief, so that one can not put real blame on them; still one who sees the real suffering that still exists can not help but realize that there is something wrong somewhere. The officers' wives and other American ladies have formed societies to aid this work in San Juan, Mayaguez, and Ponce, and are genuinely helping hundreds; but after all, I am sure that they would be among the first to acknowledge that the peculiar conditions existing here prevent many from receiving or from giving when willing to do so, and that often they are baffled in this work. Imagine, if you can, a planter, with a hacienda of four hundred acres of coffee, bananas, pineapples, tobacco, and a lot of other crops, having to beg rations from the government to support his family! Yet such cases are not so very uncommon in this or other parts of the island. Can you wonder that a family once accustomed to live in luxury among a host of peons, are ashamed to go barefooted among their peons, and beg for a mouthful of food? As to the lower classes, they are dying by the hundreds for lack of nourishing food and proper treatment. They are intensely ignorant in many respects, and often full of vices, so that their way of living, and their vices, make them an easy prey to disease and starvation. My work is almost entirely among them. I was sent here the fifteenth of last December, and since then I have been engaged almost continuously in this work. There are twelve thousand persons in this “jurisdiction,” and no doctors. Between constant appeals for medicines, etc., and the charge of the city hospital, my hands are full. The latter is a lumber building, without beds or bedding, no surgical appliances or conveniences, no funds except such as I create, and yet only twelve have died in three and one-half months. Patients arrive here in the last stages of disease,—often complications of diseases,—and never a person lends a hand, or gives me a cent to help in the work. The government authorizes me to draw such rations as I may need, but—such rations! especially for a crowd of patients so debilitated that often they can not keep milk on their stomachs! I have to sell a certain quantity of rice, beans, or bacon each day to buy milk, eggs, bread, etc., etc. I have no trained nurses, and no cook who is worth her salt. I have to receipt for any trash (I say trash because it is only too useless for my needs here, though valuable elsewhere). Though I have had wonderful success, I feel myself so deficient in knowledge that at times I feel like quitting in despair! Meanwhile, the natives are dying by the hundreds weekly from causes that are all preventable. Congress has disgusted us all! Our government has disgraced itself by going back on the authorized proclamation made by General Miles when landing here. We, who came here with the General in 1898, re-echoed his words joyfully to the poor, ignorant poor class, as well as to the better class, only to have these words thrown back in our teeth with scorn by the Spanish element, who now are confirmed in their opinions of our so-called disinterestedness (?) in declaring war! Oh, the477shame of it! What can we say in answer? We can only hang our heads and preserve silence. When Speaker Henderson and others openly declare that Congress was influenced by the monopolies in passing the Foraker bill, what can we say? We are in conscience bound to feel that the whole affair is a disgrace and a shame, unworthy of a nation that declared its actions to be most worthy, in such loud tones of voice. During two and one-half years of military service I have served Uncle Sam faithfully, and without any discredit to him or myself, as my record of service can prove, pluming my faith in the righteousness of the cause; but now I can see that they are “out-Englishing the English” in the treatment of the natives here. Would to God that some of the pro-Boer papers in the States would send honest representatives here to see the truth as it is. They would, for very shame, cease to talk about England's maltreatment of the Boers or—even the Irish! A few days ago this town of Las Marias was favored with a flying visit of two Presbyterian ministers. They preached one sermon in a schoolhouse, though they do not speak Spanish perfectly, to a crowded house of all classes. The people voted almost unanimously inviting these gentlemen to return. This proves to me more than ever how ready the Porto Rican people are to receive the gospel, pure and simple. A colored colporteur was here, selling Bibles and Testaments, and sold out all his stock. But where are our canvassers and colporteurs? Are they stocked with less faith or energy? Would to God we had a few at work here who knew something of Spanish! My knowledge of the Seventh-day Adventist canvassers is such as to make me believe that it would be good work if our publishing houses would pick out a few good men and women, and educate them in Spanish. At the same time, “Great Controversy” ought to be translated into Spanish, together with “Two Republics,” for sale here. Any kind of a wedge, with which to break open the block of ignorant superstition, is better than none. Also a good work on Spiritualism, such as “Modern Spiritualism,” by Elder Uriah Smith, would sell like the proverbial hot cakes, as that deception permeates this island through and through. Doctor, if you desire to start in practice, right here in this town is an excellent opening. The town itself is small, but the “jurisdiction” includes twelve thousand persons. There is no doctor here, and the city council is willing to pay a fixed stipend of from sixty to one hundred pesos for the charity work one does here. Doctors here do not furnish medicines, but prescribe only. Living is cheap, and one can do well after a year or two, when he understands the language. Do you know of one who is able to come, who cares enough for the truth to do so? Other denominations are stepping in, supporting themselves right here, and gaining converts. What are we doing? I am the only one on the island, and am so tied by the army restrictions that I can only give Bible talks and a few studies wherever I can create or find an interest. The Seventh-day Adventists are letting an unequaled opportunity pass to sow the seed; and surely God will say to us, “Where is . . . thy brother? . . . The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.”