Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-09-09

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nag which was already flying. When
President Mckinley came into office
the Republic of Hawaii renewed its
request to be annexed to the United
States, and, responding to the over
whelming sentiment of the country.
, annexation was consummated. 1t
came about as naturally as the acaui-
sition of Louisiana or California, and
belongs with us quite as properly; and
how has Hawaii been governed?
Not arbitrarily, not tyrannically, not
like a dependency of an Empire, hav-
ing no rights the ruler was bound to
respect, but it has been created a ter
ritory of the United States, and has
been given precisely the same govern
ment in effect, if not in all its details.
that all our territories enjoy. Nobody
in Hawaii is conscious of any imperial
istic exercise Of power or trend of
events so far as those islands are CON
cerned. They are all rejoicing that
they are under our flag and in the en-
joyment of our free institutions.
Would Mr.. Bryan undo all that and
haul down the flag again? If so, for
what purpose? Except only to re-
store monarchy.
CUBA.
What are the facts as to Cuba? Most
reluctantly the President consented to
go to war with Spain to secure the in
dependence of the people of that ISL
and. The war was brilliantly success
ful and Spain was elected. We were
in "a position to do as we liked; we had
possession with an army and navy
flushed with victory and irresistible,
but they were there only to protect and
help the weak-not for empire.
When we entered upon the interven-
tion we gave a pledge to the Cubans
and the whole world that as soon as
the islands could be pacified we would
withdraw and leave the Cubans to a
government of their own selection. AL
ready under our guidance and with our
help, municipal governments of their
own choice have been established and
are in operation throughout all that
country. and an election has been or
dered to choose delegates to frame a
constitution and establish an ndepend-
ent republican government, which this
country will not only recognize but in
every way strengthen and support. In
both spirit and letter our promise will
be kept, and that people will soon real
ize and enjoy the independence fcT
which they have struggled so long and
so bravely. Surely this does not look
like land grabbing or a greedy grasp
ing for power, but rather that the Pres
ident is, in safe, steadfast way try
ing to carry OUT the wish of the Ameri-
can people and promote the highest
good of the Cubans.
PORTO RICO
Porto Riao was acquired in Response
to the universal sentiment of the
whole American people, and of tha
people as well. The time had come fol
Spain to quit the Western Hemis-
phere, and Porto Rico naturally fell tc
us as a provision of the treaty of peace
The people of that island are, however
of the Latin race. They have a differ
ent system of jurisprudence, they are
acquainted only with the civil law
their codes of procedure are unlike
ours They do not know what free
popular government is They are tot
al strangers to trial by jury, and the
writ cf habeas corpus and never heard
of the Rill of Bights.
Not more than ten to fifteen per cent
> of the population can either read OF
write. Although their island is fertile
we found them in utter poverty and
despair. Not hundreds or thousands
but tens of thousands of men, women
and children were without work ant
without food and starving. They haC
no system of education and no system
of property taxation to support the
; government. When we acquired Leu
isiana and Florida, and other territory
including Hawaii, it was expressly
stipulated that the territory should be
come part of the United States ant
that the inhabitants should be incorpo'
rated into the Union, but in the case oi
Porto Rico and the Philippines, 1t was
not so stipulated, but on the contrary
it was provided that The civil and poll
tical status of the inhabitants should
be determined by the Congress of the
United States. This was done in rec
ognition OF the fact that the people OF
these islands We're not yet fitted tc
govern themselves or to help govern
= us The Congress therefore legislated
for Porto Rico unrestrained by treaty
: stipulations. Much has been said in
criticism of that legislation. All such
criticisms are unwarranted.
r The government we gave Porto Rico
: instead of being harsh and ungener-
Gus, is the most generous and least
burdensome government that has ever
been provided by the United States fol