PRISONS, ASYLUMS, AND HOSPITALS.1

PRISONERS CONFINED IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS.

Reports were received from 30 penal institutions, in which 3,898 prisoners were confined on September 30, 1907. The numbers of such institutions and of persons under confinement in each province on the given date were as follows:

This classification by provinces has, however, no significance as to the distribution of crime throughout the island, inasmuch as many criminals are confined in the presidio, in Habana, for crimes committed in other provinces.

The total number of prisoners is 1.9 in each 1,000 of the population, or 50 per cent more than the corresponding ratio for the United States, and two and one-half times that for the Philippines in 1903.

As is elsewhere the case, males are overwhelmingly in the majority among the delinquent classes. Of the prisoners, 3,722 were males and 176 were females, the proportion being 95.5 and 4.5 per cent, respectively.

The following table gives the number and percentage of prisoners of different races, or colors:

The proportion of white criminals is much less than the proportion of whites in the total population, and the proportion of the black and mestizo prisoners is much greater than the proportion of these races in the total population.

'The data regarding prisoners under confinement, the sick and insane in hospitals, and inmates of asylums, have been obtained through the courtesy of Col. E. St. J. Greble, Adviser to the Department of Government. The figures, in all cases, relate to the date September 30, 1907.

ASYLUMS FOR ORPHANS, FOUNDLINGS, AND AGED PEOPLE.

Eleven asylums of various sorts, for orphans, foundlings, aged people, etc., were reported, four of the institutions being in the province of Habana, four in Matanzas, one in Camagüey, and two in Oriente.

The largest institution, the Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad in the city of Habana, contained more inmates than all of the others combined.

The total number of inmates in these asylums on September 30, 1907, was 1,595, of which 805 were males, and 790 females. The classification by color shows 1,155 whites, 232 blacks, 151 mestizos, and 57 yellow, or Chinese. The proportion of blacks in these asylums is below the proportion of blacks in the population, and that of mestizos is far below their proportion.

The classification of the inmates, by ages, is as follows: Under 1 year, 32; 1 to 4 years, 131; 5 to 9 years, 289; 10 to 14 years, 364; 15 to 24 years, 202; 25 to 34 years, 35; 35 to 44 years, 51; 45 to 54 years, 64; 55 to 64 years, 90; 65 years and over, 333; and unknown, 4, making a total of 1,595 inmates.

Of those shown as 65 years of age and over, no fewer than 60 were reported as 90 years of age and over, and of these, 19 were said to be 100 or more. Indeed, such extreme ages as 108, 110, 114, and 115, were reported. It is extremely improbable, however, that the correct ages were stated in these

cases.

As to birthplace, 1,296, or 81 per cent, were born in Cuba; 142, or 9 per cent, in Spain; 66 in Africa (all negroes and formerly slaves); and 64 in China, the few remaining being widely scattered or of unknown birthplace. Very few indeed were born in other islands of the West Indies, or in Central or South America.

The occupations of 1,067, or two-thirds of the total number, were unknown. Of the remaining 588, 142 were reported as at school, 95 as at home, and 71 as beggers, all of these classes being dependents. The others were scattered over a long list of occupations.

Elementary education, as indicated by ability to read, was possessed by 972 inmates, while 472 were unable to read, and the condition of 151 was unknown. Since most of these institutions maintain schools for the instruction of the young, most of those between the ages of 5 and 24 years (96 per cent) are able to read. Of those of greater age, the proportion is much smaller, being only 20 per cent.

HOSPITALS.

The reports show that there were in Cuba, on September 30, 1907, 56 hospitals with a total of 5,906 patients. One hospital was for the insane and cared for 1,782 insane patients. In the 55 hospitals in which the non-insane sick are cared for, there were 4,124 patients, or one-fifth of one per cent of the population.

The discussion which follows relates only to the non-insane sick in 55 of the 56 hospitals. The following table gives the number of these hospitals and of the patients therein, in each province: