Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1899-08-31

preston under~whieh they have been la
boring for hundreds of years. a horde
OF oticeholders is eating up the substance
OF the people; the taxes gathered from
every possible source are not used 1oT
their benefit. but for their oppression ana
they are receiving nothing in return iof
the: great bonds imposed upon them.
we have materially reduced the mum
Der of officeholders throughout the islano !:
at the same time. We have given them
system of greater efficiency.
The commission then outlines plan
and, whereby the people may md work;
As 10 the character of the Porto HI
cans, the letter says:
THE people of Porto Rico are industri-
Gus and are ready and willing to work
If given an opportunity. There Is a great
field upon this island for the employment
an invitation and permission to enter, and
with its entry will come a day OF pros
perity for the Porto Rican people. do
As to franchises, the laws submitted 40
away with all necessity for the sale OF
franchises or special grants therefor by
permitting any persons to incorporate un
der the general Incorporation law ana eSI
tending the right of eminent domain TO all
quasi-public corporations.
The code does not provide for elections
and on this point the letter says:
I'VE have not provided for any elections,
as We are abundantly satisfied that the
people OF Porto Rico are not ready to eX-
ercise the elective franchise. Not over ~
per cent of the Inhabitants read and write
and own property. No one advocates max
ing suffrage universal to the ignorant and
improvident as well as to the intelligent.
To give control to 10 per cent over the
other 80 is not establishing a government
by the consent of the governed, and is not
according to our system.
After these laws have been in force for
few years and the schools have afforded
opportunities for the people to learn, they
will be better fitted than now to enter up
on the work of territorial or state govern
ment.
This applies to municipal governments
as we'll as to the whole island. There Is no
place to draw the line, in our opinion, at
present; all officers should be appointed,
and firm hold aSept on the government
of each city and municipality by the gen.
eral government of the island"
There ought, in the opinion of the COM
mission, to be general revision of the
tariff rates on articles imported by the
island from the United States, and reduc-
tions made on articles of prime necessity
and total release on some articles This
new revision, it is argued, should be made
at once and put in force. Following this,
IT is suggested that congress grant author
ity to the president to arrange a schedule
of reciprocal tariff duties with Porto Rico.
The commission lays stress on the need
of civil reform in the island and says:
''All the complications growing out of
the currency in Porto Rico can be remedied
until congress shall place a sufficient fund
in the hands of the president in the shape
of, silver certificates or treasury notes, all
a legal tender for their face value, to en-
able him to take up all the Porto Rican
silver and authorize him to have it re-
coined into American silver dollars or GER
ttfcates to replace those used in the pur-
chase or taking up of the Porto Rican sill
yer, the difference between the bullion
value and the 60 cents paid for them being
charged to the island, and, when practic-
treasury =
Tha for
chtses, etc. in Porto Rico are turned over
by the commission to the secretary of war
without action, with the statement that
there has been no need for considering
them. Similar applications as to Cuba
also were returned. congress having for
pidden the grant of such franchises in
some of these applications, and the COM
mission says that the welfare of the island
would be advanced by the building of cleo
and by the building of the gaps in the
present Porto Rican railway system.
As showing the immediate need of legal
tribunals, the fact is cited that ia prfs-
oners at San Juan are held awaiting trial
In this list eleven prisoners have been con-
hned from ten months to nearly five years
without trial and in some instances with
out charges of any kind against them. One
man has been confined four years, nine
months and fourteen days awaiting trial,
and one woman has been confined in this
same jail for three years and twenty-four
days without trial, and no charges of any
KIND are placed against her.
As to future action by congress, the let
ter says:
1.-THE adoption of this code will in no
manner interfere with any action congress
may see fit to take. To await the action
of congress is simply to delay for an in
definite period the relief which these peo-
pie have been SO long expecting and for
which they are daily becoming more and
more clamorous.
After more than years occupancy of
the island by the United States. they are
so far as courts prisoners. taxes, district
ana municipal extravagance are concerned.
no better off than when under subsection to
Spanish rule"
In support of the plan of buying Porto
Rican coffee for the army and navy, the
commission says:
THE spectacle is now presented of the
government of the United States actually
sending coffee produced in foreign coun-
tries to Porto Rico to supply its own SOL
dfers while the coffee fields of Porto Rico
are languishing for want of the necessary
market to consume their productions and
the laborers in these fields are on the
verge of starvation for want of the labor
and employment which should come from
this most important industry"
The letter says in conclusion:
I'VE submit this report with our most
earnest appeal for immediate action so
that there may come and may come swift
ly. day of relief and rejoicing to those
who are now under our flag and entitled
to our protection