THE WOMEN OF PORTO RICO.
By Mrs. A. M. Fischer
Since coming to Porto Rico, I have been deeply interested in the women, especially those of the middle and lower classes. The wealthy are surrounded with luxury; and altho they have not the freedom that their American sisters enjoy, they have need of nothing so far as the pleasures of this world are concerned. Porto Rico is very Oriental in its ideas of women, tho they are not so strict with those who are married as with the young ladies and children. It is an every-day sight to see servants walking behind the children as they pass to and from school; and when young ladies wish to call on their friends only a few doors away, they must be attended by a servant, either a man or a woman. We were somewhat amused one evening about eight o’clock, to see our next-door neighbor coming home from her sister’s alone. This was no doubt her first experience on the street alone at night, and she came almost on a run. But the people are becoming less particular in this respect. The middle and lower classes are the ones to suffer most. Many of the middle-class people know nothing about work. They are trained to look upon work as only fit for the peons or for their mothers or grandmothers. The girls spend their time in working on lace or fancy work of some kind, planning all the time to dress themselves so as to be attractive. Since the invasion of Americans, the Porto Rican girls, wealthy or poor, see in the Americans possible future husbands. Many of the soldiers have married Porto Rican girls. Some have proved faithful; others have shipped off to the States, leaving their wives to earn a living and support their children. Many of these women know nothing about work, and they are thrown as outcasts upon the public. One day a girl of seventeen came to the house, asking for help. She appeared modest, and was attractive. She was white, and we supposed she was a Spaniard. We saw that she was not very strong. She claimed to be the wife of an American soldier, who had gone to the States and left her. She could not sew, never had washed or ironed for any one; in fact, knew nothing about work. After helping her, we took her address; and when she came again for help, my little girl and I went with her to her room. And such a place to live in! It was evident that she tried to be clean; but her room was a dreadful place from a health standpoint. Since her husband left her, two years ago, she has been living with a well-to-do Porto Rican. Her baby was only six weeks old when she came to us for help. The Porto Rican has left her now, and does not support her or the child. The child’s grandfather gives her her room free, and since our first visit she has moved into a better room. This is only one among a thousand or more cases. I asked this young woman if she was married to the Porto Rican. She said, “No.” I asked her if she did not know that it was wrong for her to live that way. She said, “No, it isn’t wrong for Porto Ricans; but it is wrong for Americans, and for a Porto Rican and an American.” I said, “It is wrong for all nations; the Bible, the Word of God, says so.” Before Porto Rico became United States territory, it cost just $20 for a marriage with any kind of ceremony, and for some ceremonies $40 and $50. The more ceremony, the greater the cost. We can readily see one of the reasons for so much adultery and fornication in the island. Many of the women, in fact the majority of them, are true to the fathers of their children. When the fathers leave them, the mothers cling to their children. Some toil early and late to supply their needs; others are careless, indifferent, and wicked at heart. But I have never heard of a woman casting off her children; she may leave them in care of the people, yet she seems to love them dearly. The lower class appeals to my sympathy much, from the fact that no class of people loves them. The Americans care nothing for them, and in the eyes of the Porto Ricans they are nothing more than brutes. They are descendants of the slaves imported from the western coast of Africa by the Spaniards from about 1600 to 1873. Many of the descendants of these slaves have had Indian or Spanish fathers. During the “fiestas” many of the girls sell themselves for gold. Fornication abounds on every hand and nothing but the religion of Christ can make a change in the lives of these people. It is something appalling to see so many souls for whom Jesus shed His blood on Calvary’s cross, selling themselves for the paltry sum of a few dollars, yes, even cents. Many of these souls know nothing of the right and wrong way. Often the Americans have failed to be living witnesses for the Gospel. What more can we expect of these people, when our own people fail to live moral lives? There are many things too dreadful to write on this subject. All we can do is to work and pray. When these awful things are brought before me, I can not help thinking that for the people’s sake it were better that the work should close soon; but I am glad that God will give all who are willing a chance to be saved. Remember the work here. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”