The evening times., 1900-09-21

BALTIMORE, Sept z1.-Isaac Lobe
Straus. general counsel to the Board of
Supervisors Of Elections. will advise the
board that DR.. Francisco del Vale and
other natives of Porto Rico are citizens of
the United States, and that if they have
been residing within the State Of Maryland
for year and within a given legislative
and Congressional district for six months
they are entitled to be registered and to
vote.
Mr.. Straus has prepared an elaborate
statement of the law upon the subject. in
which all the questions which are raised
are exhaustively discussed.
In my opinion" says Mr. Straus, DR..
Francisco del Vale, ST., and his son are
citizens of the United States, and having
resided in the State of Maryland for more
than one year, are entitled TO be registered
and to vote il that legislative and Con-
gressionaI district in which they viii have
resided six months prior TO the next cleo
ton.
This opinion is based upon the theory
that Porto Rico by its cession and de!iy-
cry TO the United States, became a part Of
the United States, 10 which the appropriate
and suitable provisions OF the Federal Con-
stitution and laws extend proprio yigore
and that accordingly by the act of anneXa-
tion its natural-born citizens became eiti-
Zens of the United States
This view, / know, IS Numerically at
variance with that entertained by the
present Administration of the United
States and by the majority of Congress,
which passed the act OF April L, 1900.
ganizing a government and providing tar
if laws for Porto Rico.
The legal theories of the Administra-
tion in reference to this subject were an
nounced by Mr.. Root, Secretary of War,
il recent report, as follows:
That the United States has all the
powers in respect TO the territory which
it has acquired and the inhabitants of that
territory which any nation in the world
has in respect TO territory which it has
acquired; that, as between the people of
the ceded islands and the United States,
the former are subject to the complete
sovereignty of the latter, controlled by no
legal Limitations except those which may
be found in the treaty of cesssion; that
the people of the islands have no right
to have them treated Safes, or to have
them treated Territories previously
held by the United States have been treat
ed, or to assert a legal right under the
provisions of the Constitution, or to as
sert against the United States any legal
The Treaty OF Paris provides that the
civil rights and political status of the na-
tive inhabitants of the territories hereby
Ceded to the United States shall be deter
mined by Congress- Therefore accord
ing TO Mr. Roots opinion, the power of
Congress over the territories in question,
being without any limitation by the terms
Of the treaty, is forever absolute and IN
bounded.
The report of the Committee of Ways
and Means of the House of RepTEs N a
tives which recommended the passage o.
the Porto Rican Government and Tariff
bill enunciated the following dcctrine Of
constitutional law as authorizing that
measure:
. That Congress has power to gov
ern Porto Rico and the Philippines IN
dependent OF the limitations Ct the Con-
sJitution.
Upon its theories of the c. institution
the recent act of Congress was passed
organizing a government for Porto Rico
to be known by the corporate name OF
The people OF Porto Rico and designa-
ting the inhabitants of tae island a cit
liens Of Porto Rico. and as such en-iti q
to the protection of the United S a ses.'
The power Of Congress over the sub
jeCt being held to be unlimited by the
Constitution. the provision CT the IT aty
being absolute and not even the Four
teenth Amendment applying in favor OF
the CeGed territories. congress maE-lf
the above doctrines constitute the law
upon the subject-deny the status and
rights of citizenship to the natives of
Porto Rico to their children. and their
children's children perpetually.
The subject presents the most mo-
mentous constitutional question which
this country has ever faced Il is with
unavoidable difidence that one is
constrained to differ from the opinion
of 81 distinguished a lawyer as Mr.
Root. or from that upon which the
executee and legislative dspartmt
of the Government, ia regard to a mat
ter CT such deep and lasting import
ance. have deliberately acted Yet. Il
am firmly of the opinion, after an ex-
animation of the decisions Of the Sd
preme Court, of the utterances of the
representative statesmen of our history
and the precedents of the Government
that the propositions asserted BY Score
tary Root and by Congress, as above
cited. are erroneous. and that the Porto
Rican act of Congress, above referred
to, is unconstitutional and void.
"A citizen or subject of a State is an in
dividual member of the body polite. ow-
ing ii allegiance and entitled to its protec-
ton in person and property. The terms
citizen and subject, as used in intarna-
tional law, have the same meaning The
term citizen is usually applied in States
having republican forms of government
tne term SUBJECT IN those having monar-
chical institutions. II Is not essential to
citizenship that an individual citizen should
have any share in the government of a
State. The right of suffrage is municipal
in character and is granted or withheld
BY a State in accordance with its constitu-
ton and laws. Citizens are either native
born or naturaliZed.
THE first is one born within the terri
tory of State and subject to its iurisdie-
ton A naturalized citizen is one who has