New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-02
REVOLUTIONARY DOCTRINE"

The decision of the Ways and Means Com
mittee of the House of Representatives TO re-
gard Puerto Rico as distinct estate, TO be gov
erned according to It's needs, instead OF by
administrative rules made for and adapted 10
our conditions, is shock to some OF our anti
eXpansionist friends. OF course. it would have
been as great shock to find that the Treaty
of Paris had tied hand and foot and irrevo-
cably destined US to the company of sisterhood
Of West Indian and Asiatic States Their view
of the Constitution is that it is ruined anyway
by the mere floating of the United States flag
over Manila The possibility that the people
might be carried away by force of habit and
impulse into making these new possessions Ter
ritories in the common acceptance of the term
among us was once their bugaboo. Protecto-
rates, international guarantees, almost any
thing that would keep these lands which it had
fallen to our lot to deal with detached from the
United States were urged as works of states
manship. The sound Of one voice In particular
is now crying out with indignation because ito
"such pass has the lust for empire brought our
Republic that we are about TO declare that
the constitutional provision for uniform duties
does not apply 10 Puerto Rice Not many
months ago the same voice was raised to point
out that the Constitution did not of necessity
apply TO Territories, that there was no consti-
tutional difficulty in the way of the open door
in the Philippines. 1t declared that while it
opposed taking those islands, yet Congress had
full power TO deal with them wisely if it would
Now, however, that same doctrine, when ac-
cepted by Republican leaders, brings it face to
face with the horrible discovery that the Puerto
Rcans are not entitled to trial by jury to the
writ of habeas corpus, TO representation as the
basis of taxation; that, in fact, they have no
rights whatever except such as we may
graciously allow; that in dealing with them we
can wholly disregard the guarantees Of our own
Constitution and the sanction of our bill of
rights.
That Is indeed something terrible. How have
the people of the District of Columbia endured
for century TO be taxed like Puerto Rico at
the discretion OF Congress, with no representa-
ton the basis Of taxation! What an outrage
it was on the people of New Orleans to be de-
prived of the constitutional right Of trial by
jury as they were in bill drawn by Madison
and signed by Jefferson! To what a pass did
the lust for empire bring the Republic when
the Congress of 1922 deliberately refused to
give Florida the guarantees of the Constitution
as a right instead of a grace flowing
from its discretion Poor New-Mexico which
has been living these many years under the
Constitution a mere statute law subject TO
repeal by Congress, without ever rebelling al
the iniquity of our Government ruling over
people Of two grades. superior State kind and
an inferior Territorial kind
When we begin to look back our century
of iniquity we can clearly that Madison in
1904 must have been told there were States
which would be lost If Louisiana had consti-
tutional government. Before such danger to the
party as this the trifing matter Of repudiatlng
the Declaration of Independence, of ignoring
the Constitution, of changing our state from
republic to an empire. could not be allowed to
weigh with the author of that immortal docu-
ment of 1176. He threw overheard the Declara-
ton and made blank paper OF the COnsttu-
ton to establish a colonial government that
'evinced not single trait OF liberty"
then declared. To such pass did the lust for
empire bring the Republic Everybody now
understands that Monroe and Benton and John
Quincy Adams were the wretched servants OF
the enemies of human rights, who delighted to
look down on Florida from glory crowned
heights. And doubtless the whole Congress of
that time was collection of stock 1obbers. No
such opportunity for the display of statesman
ship has been presented to the Democratic party