Evening star., 1900-04-12

hungry Porto Ricsp TO BE told by some gen
tieman with HarveyiZed lungs that the Con
stituuon was there and had brought with
1t the beneficent operation of an interna
revenue system with which to collect GU,
wheh tn rsvs aaa and aa
tress.
Mr.. Lorinser AppIauded.
Mr.. Lorimer Qlle delivered ten-minute
speech in opposition Eto the bill which
brought out frequent APPLAUSE from the op-
position. Il have always favored civil gov
ernment for Porto Rico" said he, ''but I
nave only thought Of giving the people of
that island such government as free men
shouid give to those who come under their
eoh.rol oy conquest or otherwise. I will
only vote for chill gDyernment bill when
II Will give them such government as we
would accept for ourselves. 1 am sure this
measure would not be accepted by any mah
!aVor1ng 1t, on the floor of this House, if
the conditions were reversed and were it
IN MS power to resist 1t. I assure YOU 1
would never accept it. 1 am protectionst
ana an expansonist. I favor protecting
pedtlon' put do not favor protecting. the
commercial interests of one or more Of
our own states or territories against an
otner. And when 1 find that we cannot
expand assimilate and extend to our new
territories the same rights and privileges
tnat we insist upon for ourselves, then
Will no longer favor expansion. Demo
cratic applause)
Il am convinced that we can treat the
people of Porto Rico as we do the people
OF New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma
without in any way affecting our industry
will be mutual
therefore, l favor retaining the island
ana extending to 1t all the rights and privi-
reyes OF american citizenship as enjoyed by
the people in our other territories and
adcp do fn hn
PIE OF the island by General Miles. The
people OF the United States rightfully ex-
pect and demand that this shall be done.
Mr. Speaker" said he in conclusion "I
think We have reached the crisis in our his
tory L think We need liberty revival
II we are true to ourselves we must have
IL. II we are to be untrue. then the ult-
mate penalty will be dissolution of our re-
publican institutions. A nation which sur
renders its basic principles cannot survive
L am not an alarmist, I do not think the
aissoiuuon Will come in our day or genera
ton; such changes work slowly, but they
are none the less inevitable 1 doubt not
that as lmperialists we will have our dav
OF grandeur, and perhaps our imperial
sPiendor Will eclipse that of ancient Rome
Columbia if shamefully bedecked with
the precious pearl of the Antilles and the
gems of the Pacific and the orient may ex-
CITE LOT time such admiration as Is won
ny rlches and voluptuousness. But sir the
ilght OF liberty, which is to her what virtue
is 10 woman, will have faded from her eye
And all the riches of the world cannot MAX
up TOT that loss to those who really love
ner' TO those who look upon her starry en-
olem as the symbol Of God given rights
ana not as commercial asset"
Mr.. McCaIPs Protest.
MI Mccall (Mass) was the last repubIi-
can who antagonized the bill Mr.. Speak
er' SAID he, lit may be well to consider
Tor moment the course of events since
TINS Dill first came into the House. The
committee on ways and means, of which /
nave the honor to be member, apparently
mlsconstrulng the measure of the President
voted TO impose plain duty of 25 per
cent. Inc situation has materially changed
since that time. That duty has been de-
creased to 10 per cent. Instead of being
permanent In form, it is self-repealng in
sioe OF Two years, and may be repealed by
ehe territorial legislature in two months.
SO much, Mr. Speaker for what has been
conceded upon the question of the tariff.
w henaWe consider the arguments that were
advanced in support of the measure as il
was hrst presented here and compare it
with the constitutional situation today We
hnd an equally great change. The bill
was predfcated upon the proposition that
congress was acting under general powers
or sovereignty outside of the Constitution
and was subject to no limitations what
ever. 1t may have occurred to you who
nave been reading speeches recently de-
llVered that 1t is now sought to bring this
uuty SlIlcllE unuer the terms OF the Con-
sutution, and it is now maintained that it
Is constitutional. Some of my colleagues
who do not agree with me have decorated
the doctrine which I have asserted here
purely for ad captandum purposes as the
doctrine of John c. Calhoun. 1 have dis
puted the despotic power on the part of
Congress. That doctrine is the doctrine of
every justice who has spoken upon this
subject from our Supreme Court. 1t is the
doctrine of the republican platforms, and l
assert it here in the presence of the gen
tleman from Pennsylvania who today made
a contrary assertion, it is the doctrine of
the republican platforms of 1856 and of
1850, and it is the doctrine of Abraham
In conclusion he said that the proposal to
tax the products of Porto Rico had aroused
Indignation everywhere. 1t had transformed
the whole country into a Boston tea party
democratic applause.0
Messrs. Maddox (Ga), Williams 0n),
Swanson Va) and Newlands (Nev) op-
posed the bill in very brief but vigorous
speeches.
The Land Question Considered.
Mr.. Newlands took up those provisions re-
lating to the government Of Porto Rico out
side of the tariff features. He insisted upon
it that an organic act for the government of
any and all Of our new acquisitions should
provide for the obtaining of statistical in
formation relating to the system of land
tenure, the extent of the holdings the char
acter of the cultivation, the nationality of
the labor employed, the wages paid, the
hours of labor and the general conditions
from a sanitary and educational point of
view of the laboring classes.
The tendency in all these islands would
be toward an increase of land values, re-
sulting from a commercial union with the
United States and the vast markets af-
forded by this country for their products.
This tendency would lead to a centraliza-
ton of the ownership of these lands. in the
hands of wealthy syndicates and CORPORA
tons. The ownership Of the land would in
volve the absolute control Of the labor en-
ployed on the land and the tendency would
tropical countries. to the employment of
slave or of sem-slave labor, the laborer
being regarded as a mere machine for the
production of certain results 1t would he