The evening times., 1900-03-31
CIRCULATION STATEMENT.
SATURDAY, MARCH 81 1900
Mr. Proctor, speech.

In the course Of his speech iu the Ssnate
yesterday in opposition 20 the proposed
Payne Foraker outrage upon Porto Rico,
Senator Proctor had read from the Sec
retary's desk a letter received f. the
Honorable George F. Edmunds, in which
the latter takes strong grounds on the
constitutional question involved in the
legislation which the Administration is
attempting to force ON the. country.
Whatever may be said i'm criticism Of
Mr. Edmunds. there is not a shadow of
doubt that he is one Of the very greatest
of living American constitutional lawyers.
nor that his principles and views are al
ways sound and patriotic in cases where
they are free from the QUal flying effects
Of self-interest. The letter sent to Seurtor
Proctor is an apt Illustration az this What
We wonder at is that it's author should
have been left free 20 write it, One would
naturally expect that some trust would
have retained him if only to keep his
mouth and pen quiet al the present juno
ture. Since that has not been done there
is nothing to prevent the Old Roman from
speaking his mind and he has spoken il
with force and logic that the country
viii feel and heed.
Mr. Edmulis argues that the Constitu-
tion lis not subject to the control OF. Con
gress. either TO enlarge or diminish. 20
expand or to contract. or to be applied to
or Withdrawn from any people OF place"
He asserts that law passed by Congress
is merely the creature of the Constitution.
If the extension OF the Constitution to
Porto Rico depends upon an act OF Con
grezs. then it would, in the island. De only
astatutory Constitution and repeal OF the
statute would repeal the Constitution it,
self Tie says that no one doubts that IL
American citizens or subjects iu Porto
Rico were To- rebel against tho authority OF
the United States or ccuspire with its enc
mics they would Doe guilty Of treason.
But treason is an exclusively defined con-
stitutional crime. and it cannot exist on
the island unless the Constitution that de-
fines it is i'm force there"
With the forceful speech of Senator Proc
tor the useful portion Of the Porto Rican
debate ON the part OF the few Republican
cOnstiyuti0nalists in the Senate has about
come TO an end. and that end finds the Ad-
ministration without leg TO stand on It's
insincerity in claiming that the Consti,u-
ti0n Of the United states does not extend
ex prOprio vigore beyond the confines of
the several component States Of the Union.
has been thoroughly exposed by the rcyr-
lations concerning the Nagoou reports. r.
is charged and not denied that Judge Ma
goon prepared a careful opinion holding
that the Constitution covered our insul5r
possessions from the moment the Treaty OF
Peace and cession with Spain became op-
erative. and that this opinion guided Pre-i-
dent Mckinley in his ''plaiu duty" rec
concentrations to Congress. Il also has
been charged that when the trust mag
mates came over from New York and
threatened Mr. Hanna and Mr. Mckinley
with a Withdrawal of their campaign sup
port unless ihe persecution Of Porte Rico
was continued. Judge Magoon was order
ed 20 prepare another opinion diametrical-
ly in opposition to the first.
The Adminisirati7L has squirmcd and
wriggled under daily lashings by the press.
which. without regard TO politics. has de
uounced the sudden and abject surrender
to the oil. sugar. tobacco. and rum trusts
gs an act Of perfdy ana total depravity.
Speaker Henderson in his desperation has
descended to the TN quoque line Of argu-
ment. and asserted that the very trusts
which bulIied the party into the perpetra-
tion Of Dugleylsm in Porto Rico. have been
and are now trying TO secure free trade
with the island. How much truth there is
IN this Saint Elizabethan proposition is in
dicated by what is reported TO have hap
pened between one Of the trusts and the
Administration. The staff correspondent OF
the New York Journal in Porto Rico ca
bles the following TO his paper. under date
OF March 30:
''The Standard OIL Company got the President
20 remove the ,arn on crude oil entering Porto
Rico, but to retain the tariff on refined OIL The
Standard oil Company has refinery here. and
having arranged matters 10 its own satisfaction
with tine Mckinley Administration. it immediately
proceeded 90 pot up the price oi its product"
That must strike everybody as a most re-
markable instance Of a trust seen in the
act OF lighting for free trade, The debate
in the Senate has been not only interest
ing, hut highly instructive. It has result
ed in popular knowledge regarding the Is
sue which is destined to dominate and OBJ
scure every other in the Presidential cleo
tiOn, and when the people go to the polls
next November they will be perfectly GER
tain what they are voting for. or against.
II is the trusts or the Constitution,