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PORTO RICO'S POLICE NO LONGER RELY ON PULLS BY POLITICIANS
Brigands Promptly Disposed Of —The American Methods Criticised. Suffering From Storms
New York, Sept. 20.—Lieut. Frank Techter, superintendent of the Porto Rican police, arrived on the United States transport Kilpatrick. He was a first lieutenant in Company C, Forty-seventh regiment, but was appointed to organize the Insular police force by General Henry. He found the native force cursed by politics, so he established a new body consisting entirely of natives with the exception of himself and two clerks.
These men are armed with Springfield rifles and Colt revolvers, furnished by the government. The island was overrun by brigands, but Lieut. Techter says he has cleared them out, killing four and imprisoning 200 others. His men also captured Ortez, who butchered Private Burke of the Forty-seventh. Lieut. Techter says that public sentiment in the island is much opposed to the government continuing some of the heads of departments. Much fault, he says, is found with the educational system, the people saying they don't want the American system. The federal courts, he says, are also severely criticized. The insular commissioners recently recognized this state of affairs in a report to the government.
Chief Techter says the country is in a bad condition. The hurricane brought great suffering and there is no money to bring relief. He is not in favor of sending provisions there, saying that as long as the people they will not work. He thinks that money to loan the planters to enable them to restock would give better results If loaned on mortgages. Then the natives could find employment. Lieut. Techter says the natives will only patronize Americans when they cannot procure what they need from their countrymen. An American dry goods store recently started in Ponce is receiving good support, however, but the goods are sold at lower prices than In the native stores.
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