The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-30
DAVIS. A MERE PARTISAN.

DAVIS, A MERE PARTISAN.
The most interesting feature OF the
present situation regarding the island of
Puerto Rico is the wonderful variety of
expedients which are being evolved by
the imperialists to get out of their pres
ent difficulty. Neither the ingenuity of
Senator Davis nor the concessions which
solve the difficulty. That difficulty is
radical. 1t is a difficulty which involves
the entire policy of imperialism in re-
cent Spanish territory. Senator o Davis,
like the others. is radically wrong in
his contentious He. like the rest. Is
merely looking for a way out of the po-
lltical difficulty. lis appearance in the
controversy savored at the outset of the
action of statesman intent on meeting
the requirements of public sentiment,
while leaving the constitutional issues -
Yolved to settle themselves when their
settlement was demanded. His later APP
pearance is that of a mere partisan. en-
titled to no more consideration than any
of his fellows.
What did the house have in mind in
levying that % per cent tariff In the
first instance? The answer to this ques-
ton reaches the kernel of the imperiallsts'
hobbe That object was to protect" our
infant industries" The later PROPOSE
ton, that the object is to help the Puerto
Ricans out of the poverty and misery
which the change in government has i'm
posed on them. is subterfuge. The To-
bacco Growers Association of New Eng
land was the first to be heard. 1t took
the initiative In the work which has
brought down public obloquy on the ad
ministration. Was it pity for the Puerto
Ricans which animated that body? Was
it pity for the Puerto Ricans which caus-
ed the majority of the house to set itself
up IN antagonism to the recommendation
Of the presidential message? Was 1t pity
for the Puerto Ricans that induced the
president to swallow his own recommen-
dalton and urge the congressman of his
party to sustain the Puerto Rico tariff
measure?
If the Puerto Ricans are not to be
treated and regarded as citizens of the
United States in the sense in which we
have always treated -Ae people of our
territories, to be consistent, aside from
tariff on them. Not only Is per cent
tariff, but the full measure Of Dingleyism.
If the island is outside OF political sys-
tenn, where do We derive the power to i'm
pose any internal revenue tax upon it's
people? If it is not outside our political
system, where do we find the warrant
for levying impests other than those
which prevail throughout the country, I'M
der the constitution and laws?
Senator Davis is wrong when he de-
clares that sufficient to the day is the
evil of Puerto Rico. 1t is not the diff
Guilty of Puerto Rico alone How does it
matter that the Philippines are 5000 miles
away While Puerto Rico Is only 800?
That is a difference of degree, not of
kind. The kind is the same in each case.
What the people are demanding of the
imperialists is that the island shall be
incorporated in our political system, if 1t
is not already. They believe it to be al
ready SO Incorporated The supreme
court alone can determine the question
involved. If Senator Davis had stood bv
his guns in the first instance, and not
given the appearance of his sanction to
the dishonest plea that the scheme was
designed for the relief OF the poor Puerto
Ricans, as he does by his proposal for an
internal revenue tax, he would have CON-
tinued entitled to the confidence of the
people, and he might have rendered some
service in the direction in which he is now
plainly aiming-to save his party from
the wrath that seems about to fall upon
1t. His Imperialism is plainly of the same
stripe as that of the olners If the prin-
ciple Of his contention, lat the constitu-
ton does not in propria vigore extend TO
the island, be correct, as long as his pro-
posal to extend it by law, assuming that
is constitutional undertaking. is not
adopted, he is merely compromising with
his own convictions in proposing his in
come tax nOstrum.