Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-05-01
PAYNE ON PORTO RICO
NEEDED FOR iNSU-
LAR POSSESSIONS.
Wisconsin Republican Talks of the Ire
mcndous and Lasting Consequence of
the Constitutional Question Involved
Follows Lincoln and Webster.

Hon. Henry G. Payne, of Milwaukee,
the Wisconsin member of the Republi-
can National Committee, has been in
Los Angeles, where he was interviewed
by the Los Angeles Times, of which
Gen. Harrison Gray Otis is president
and general manager. Speaking Of the
Porto Rican question, Mr.. Payne said:
1T is momentous question, but the
great body Of the people has confidence,
/ fiud, in the ability and good faith of
the administration, and is resting con-
fident in the belief that the President
and the Republican majority in Con-
gress will do what is right by Porto
Rico.
president McKinley's declaration In
his message thaat it was our plain duty
to have free and unlimited trade with
Porto Rico was an attractive program,
and met with a sympathetic response.
But it is the Presidents duty to change
his mind, just as it is any other mans,
when he sees, after a careful study Of a
question, that another policy Is de-
manded by wisdom and justice.
The fact is that the President and
nearly all his advisers in Washington,
Il great maj ority OF the Republican Sen
ators and Representatives, arrived at
the conclusion that the first legislation
with regard to our insular possessions,
if we may call them such, should be in
the line of setting forth a principle, and
that principle should be that these new
possessions shall not hold the same re-
lation to the country as do the Terri
tories that have become incorporated
and are incipient States.
Il think the more thoughtful people
of the country are opposed to any plan
to bring these islands in as integral
parts of the nation. Call it what you
please, we must come down to q colo
NAL policy of some form. There is
great anxiety on the part of the admin
istration to get started right on this
matter. Certain newspapers declared
that the Presidents change Of front
was due to the pressure Of the tobacco
and sugar interests. That charge seems
to me ridiculous in view Of the fact
that these interests want absolute free
trade with Porto Rico.
II was born and brought up in Massa-
chusetts and | always believed in Dan
iel WebSter's Interpretation of the Con-
stitution, instead of that Of Mr.. Cal
houn Some Republican newspapers
seem inclined to line UP with Mr.. Cal
houn and the bred Scott decision, in
considering this Porto Rican matter,
shouting that the Constitution follows
the flag but ] believe the country can
more safely follow the teachings of
Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Webster.
Underneath the trifing tariff
charges proposed there lies this old con-
stitutional question, which is Of ire
mendous and lasting consequence. You
remember that John c. Calhoun and
the champions Of slavery maintained
that the Constitution went with the flag
into all territory acquired by the Uni
ted States, and therefore the slavehold-
err had the right to carry his slaves and
keep them in any territory. This view
was maintained by the Infamous bred
Scott decision Of the United States Su-
preme Court, to the effect that the Uni
ted States can acquire territory only
for the purpose Of forming States, and
that all acquisitions must be treated as
integral parts of the Union. Webster
and Lincoln took the opposite view
that new territory, acquired in one
way or another, is not an integral part
of the Union till it has been duly incor-
pOrated, and until then the government
has constitutional power to regulate
it's affairs. Here is the real issue in
volved in all this Porto Rican discus
sion, and / firmly believe the thinking
people of this country, after careful
consideration, will prefer to follow Lin
coin and Webster, whom history has
indicated, rather than Douglas and
Calhoun.
This little furry about Porto Rico
will soon be over. 1t will not affect the
result Of the Presidential election. The
administration stands well with the
people. It has fulfilled its pledges to
them, and more, too. On the money
question it has done better than it
promised. 1t has builded better than
the Republican platform. 1t has re
stored confidence and has revived bust
ness to the extent that we have more
prosperity even than we had in 1892
which was high tide. [ cannot doubt
that such an administration will be
sustained"
Expansion and Business.
Consul General Haywood has sent tC
the State Department the returns OF
Hawaiian trade for 1899. They show
total exports and imports Of $41, 700,