The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-03-15
Colonel Hitchcock Answered.

@HE THEORY under which
President Mckinley is pro-
ceeding, to quote ]. s. Tuck
er. of Washington. a cor
respondent Of the New York Sun, ere
cognizes that the United States as
sovereign power has the right to legis-
late as 1t may deem best for the In
tercsts of it's own citizens and for the
welfare of the people who are not its
citizens but who have been trans
ferred to it's allegiance by the righc
OF conquest and cession. 1t holds that
the constitution of the United States
does not extend to conquered or cedei
territory as an incident Of conquest or
cessior; but that congress. as repre-
senting the sovereignty of the country
for legislative purposes, may govern
these territories in it's discretion. CIV
ing them such rights as they are fit
to use and withholding such as they
cannot intelligently exercise"
Colonel Hitchcock to the contrary not
withstanding, this is not a new theory
but is in effect the theory which has
controlled our past acquisitions Of ter
ritory. In the case of the Louisiana
purchase, our first and greatest expe-
rience in expansion, had during the
lifetime of many trainers of the con-
stitution, it had been expressly stipu-
lated in the treaty of cession that
the inhabitants of the ceded territory
should be incorporated in the Union
of the United States and admitted as
soon as possible, according to the
principles of the Federal constitution.
to the enjoyment Of all rights, ad-
vantages and immunities of citizens
of the United States,' yet for ten
years following the ratification of this
treaty congress vested the government
of the new domain in the hands of
the president and during that time a
tariff was in force at the port of New
Orleans different from the tariff en-
forced at the port Of New York. This
could not have been the case had the
constitution, as Colonel Hitchcock con-
tends, Immediately followed the flag.
In the treaty Of Paris, by which we
acquired Puerto Rico and the Philip
pines, no promise of statehood was
made, but on the contrary our COM
missioners contented themselves with
saying that "the civil rights and politi-
cal status of the native inhabitants
of the territory hereby ceded to the
United States" should "be determined
by congress-" II the Democratic con-
tention We're correct, the words "by
congress- in this treaty would have
been unnecessary, inasmuch as the
civil rights and political status of these
native inhabitants would have been
determined de facto, by the extension
over them of the Federal constitution
coincident with the uplifting of the
American flag. Yet this treaty was
ratified with the aid of Democratic
votes and has the force of sovereign
law.
The second paragraph Of the third
section of Article w of the constitu-
tion gives congress unlimited power to
deal with territory by saying that
"The congress shall have power to
dispose of and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting the terri.
tory or other property Of the United
States" This grant of authority is
absolute. 1t carries with it the power
of alienation as well as the power OF
government of territory. as distin.
guished from the actual area of the
several states, whose limits congress
alone cannot change: and it as,
sumes and -supposes. of course, the
power to acquire territory. 1t is thi.
clause In the constitution which clothe!
with: full sovereignty the people of tn,
UniQns otherwise there would be pre-
sehte6 the strange spectacle of an in
elastic government fenced within
certain fixed space and left derelic
upon the ocean of circumstances, with
out power to fit itself to new condi
tions.
AS to the immediate application O
tation to the inhabitants of Puert
Rico, Colonel Hitchcock can hardly be
lieve that 1t Is as ungenerous as hi
letter in yesterdays issue would seen
to indicate. In the words of Henry L
Stoddard, "let us see what 1t Is actual
ly proposed to do" Two bills hav
passed the house and are before tn
senate. One appropriates for the us
and benefit Of Puerto Rico the s2,Os5, 90
thus far collected under the Dingle
law on her imports in this country. TIL
second bill provides that only Is pc
cent. Of the, tariff levied against i'm
ports from other countries shall b
levied on Puerto Rican products: am
that the same rate shall apply to ou
exportsto Puerto Rico. After two year
all duties cease. The revenue collecte
at our: custom houses and in Puert
Ri1 is.austosgg to Puerto Rico for us
on that island. In other words. eX
listing duties are reduced IS per cent
all revenue thus far collected and ye
to be collected. is to be turned over t
=. $500