The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-21
A MILITARY sATRAPY.


A Washington dispatch. apparently In
spircd, says that. on the report Of his
commissioner paramount to Porto Rico.
the president Is of the opinion that
military government must be maintained
in Porto Rico for two or three years.
The island Is now; by virtue Of the treaty
of Paris and by general assent, an inte-
grail portion of these United States, as
much a territory of 1t as is Arizona or
New Mexico. There is no state Of war
existing in the island. Its people are sub
missive to their new masters; In fact our
advent was hailed by Porto Ricans with
delight. and the flag Of this country on
many occasions greeted our troops as
they entered its cities or villages. Con-
gress was in session when the treaty
that transferred the island to this coun-
try was ratified by the senate, and con-
gress adjourned without making any pro-
vision for civil government. And now
we are told that the president contem-
plates the maintenance of a military gov
eminent there Tor per1Ou peyoH0 HIS
present term of Office.
In October, 1893, the senate ratified the
treaty that transferred Louisiana from
France to the United States. On March
&c following congress enacted a law erect
ing the portion south Of the sd parallel.
the present northern boundary Of the
u+ota iDta q tarritoru and Orovidpd for
its government by civil authorities. The
Inhabitants within the District Of Orleans.
as the territory was named, were mostly
Spaniards, of the same race that now
Rico, minus whatever progress a CEN
fury may have produced among the peo-
pie Of the island. The same congress
enacted law for the civil government
of the city Of New Orleans. Certainly the
Spaniards of. New Orleans. then no
toriously hostile to the AMERICAS. were
not more capable of self-government than
are the Porto Ricans Of today.
The difference in the treatment accord
ed the peoples annexed by two administra-
lions, separated by nearly a century, is
the difference In the concepts Of govern
ment held by their heads and backed
by their parties. Jefferson was Demo
crat and an indiyidualist, believing in the
principles Of government he wrote into
the Declaration Of Independence; Nc
Kinley is, unconsciously, perhaps, q col
lectivist with the Hamiltonian dfstrust
of the capacity Of the people for self
government. That Is the basis of his
great policy of protection, and 1t is the
basis of the present decision to maintain
military satrapy IN Porto Rico, a policy
permitted by his congress In its avoid
ance of the duty of providing form of
civil government for the island
The first Republican president did not
hold the same ideas of government evil
IDENTIFY held by the latest, and, let us pray,
the last. mo man." he wrote, lis good
enough to govern another man without
that mans consent. When the white man
governs himself that is government
but when he governs himself and also
another man that is more than self-gov-
ermnet-that is despotism. go Those who
deny freedom to others deserve 1t not for
themselves. and under just God cannot
long retain it" It will not do to reply
that Lincoln was referring to the negro
unless it is also asserted that the average
Porto Rican Is, morally and Intellectually.
on the same plane with the Southern
plantation negro. If Jefferson deemed the
Spanish Of Louisiana century ago fit
for self-government. the Spaniards In
Porto Rico today are filter. If we start
military government there. how long will
it be, in this growing industrial ferment.
before we will have military government
at home?