The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-02-27

Maine. vas the feature of the day Inc
kept the house in a Juror for an hour.
Mr.. Littlefield won his spurs by his
speech on the Roberts case. Today he
added to his laurels in a speech against
the bill, which for b~rilliancy. wit and
logic rivals the best efforts of the rec
OgniZed orators of the house.
Mr.. Jones, democrat, of Virginia. a
member of the insular committee, was
the first speaker today. He discussed
the conditions which existed upon the
island of Porto Rico which led to the
presidents recommendations of free
rad for her goods and quoted from
the testimony before his committee to
prove that the conditions were far
worse now than when the president
made his recommendation. He pic
tured the distress that prevailed on
h island and declared that only i'm
mediate relief could prevent the actual
starvation of many of the inhabitants.
Mr.. Maddox, of Georgia, followed in
opposition to the bill. In the course
of mis- remarks he had read a long let
ter from former Representative Tur-
ner, Of Georgia, who was for a
years upon the ways and means COM
mlttee, ~denouncing the new theory of
the constitution upon which the
pending bill was based.
Mr.. Russell, Of the ways and means
CoIIltIl4IICe- OSICDUeu the Dill on DOIn
commercial and legal grounds and as
serted that the Connecticut tobacco
growers had no interest in excluding
Porto Rican tobacco.
Mr.. Littleield, republican, OF Maine,
followed. He oppoed the bill. he said,
because it is u~n-republican, un-Ameri-
can, unprecedented, unwarranted and
unconstitutional. He advocated regen-
Grating Porto Rico by a Dan the United
States could authorize it to make,
three or four million being sufficient.
He reviewed the old Porto Rico loans
to Spain and Cuba and Jamaica, and
pointed out that in 1878 the island
manumitted $4,000 slaves without tu-
multi or bloodshed.
Il say" said he, that it lies in the
mouth of no man to say that Porto
Rico could not repay a loan of $10,-
| 600, 900, if operating under free trade in
free markets. l assert that this bill is
drawn against the advice of General
Davis, governor general of the island;
against the protests of the people of
| Porto Rico, against the counsel of
| Secretary Root, against the recommen-
datiOn of the president and against the
| original recommendations of the chair
man Of the ways n means commit
tee. The greatest calamity which
overshadows the republican party is
Il NtC GlillllAN III LIN fSAANAAAS
bill" (Applause.)
He said it was un-republican n he
asked when before a it been pro
posed to place a duty on American
capital and American abor.
He argued that if the industries OF
the United States were to be protected
against the Industries of Porto Rict
and. later, against those of the Phil.
ippines, the industries of those sland:
could never prosper.
May our flag" he concluded, float
over the whole republic, in the occident
and the orient, over the Pearl of the
Antilles and the 10, 900 stands near fal
off Cathay, Upon land and sea, over
school, home and church, the emblem
of our integrity and good faith, of lib
erty and of freedom, of the inestima
BILE blessings of a Christian civiliza
ton, of human rights guaranteed b!
the constitution, not dependent upoI
the ~evanescent will of state or ma
tional legislatures, too often alright
ed at their own shadows; Of rights i'm
bedded in the constitution, not fioatin,
as empty bubbles on the perturbet
surface of eloquent p~eroration; o
rights that are eternad and world
wide, not ephemeral and circumScriD
ed; of opportunity, not oppression, an
of regeneration, not repression"
Mr.. Payne asked unanimous consen
for a vote Tuesday.
Mr.. Richardson, the democratic foo
! leader, consented to this, and tn
agreement was formally entered into
1t was a part of the agreement thu
committee amendments and a substi
tute could be presented.
The house al ass o'clock p m. too
a recess until S o'clock.