The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-10-07
Suffering of the Islanders De-
sCr.bed BY Ex-Governor
Robert {. Pdttison of
Pennsylvania.
THEY BELONG TO NO NATION.
The Native, tie Says, Is Now
Neither an American, a
Spaniard Nor a Porto
RiCan.
THEY BELONG TO NO NATION.

No stronger indictment. Of the Mckinley
adninistrati"n has been written than that
which is presented to-day hy Robert +.
Pattisun. twice Governor of pennsylvania
who returned yesterday from Porto Rico.
where he has been Investigating the results
of American colonial government.
The uaupIe % the United States are now
given an opportunity to judge of tn" cuiH-
NAL policy Of President Mckinley upon un-
Iuu,urHahle American cvi -eUce.
Governor Pattison Travelled from city 70
city and hut TO hut. He saw the horrors
of Imperialism In all their nakedness.
Mr.. Tattison to-day presents the picture
of the present moral and physical diSfs'er
which our colonial experiment has hr"usht
tn Porto Rico. Tomorrow he VIII suggest
the remedies.
EY ROBERT Z. PATTIsON.
New York, oct. s-Portn Rico. p jewel in
IN. sea an island comprghrnding within
lis small area n diversity of climate. seen
cry and resource greater than many ma
tions Of the earth, Is to-day q wilderness of
poverty. misery. heart-burning and con-
fictinE interests.
Its ~pr.atcst resources are PROSTATE; its
Io,rast Industries are at a standstil: Its
c,ffce hills and tobacco fslds lie fa!low.
and It's people, the most patient, doclie anu
Industrious people I know. are dying OF
huu-cr.
m, United States cannot escape responsi-
lii,v for this condition. our stewardship
has been a series Of experiments anu Il
sequence of failures. The apoiosists Tor
tho administration of Porto iiican affairs
saw the famine and the depression are due
to the cyclone.
The cyclone occurred n year and two
months ago. "A period long enough IN II
country of such fertility To have enutely
srtiicntcd the traces ~ disaster. Thsy
tad cyclones in Porto Rico before American
cccIpatinn was dreamed of: yet. even uii-
6cr the halting, l~agGard. lazy Government
az SpaIu- the country rose from It's runs
In less time and prosperod again.
The land Is as fertile as ever. the ole-
ruerts OF recuperation are unchanseL; the
or,v difference is that American misruIe
raS haen substituted for Spanish despotisn
and the people are dying by ~luni.eds or
h.5ue driven TO neigh5oring Islands
Wit, A commentary II is on the American
that tie people VINO cdHe IL
dor on, flag should have TO seek asylum IN
,,-irJert primitive Santo pominso! They
ar, GENERATING as fast as they can ind tho
,,c.,. to 20. There Is even now IN abciit
I'm Port, Rico gathering lu.evo iaDo''ts 10
ut II the Hawaiian cancfields. aid he
VIII have no difficulty In getting the luh
quota.
o,l, ono industry has survived an Porto
pc The sugar crop VII be eX~CeptIHnaay
~ IA -
&c and there is some measure % IoIcI
Ia that. but the plantations that produteu
IT,. best coffee in the world and tic tobac
co f.1ss ML..tE really gave Havana ITS
fame. are liie and in many cases "na'-
doucd.
end her. cuba bought her VINO . crop OF
81. tobacco and sent It on to the IEi;eu
state in Havana cigars Now Ecfto
Rico is foreign country TO both Spain anu
1870 Har h.r r-Rflntf.
Cuba and the customs paf her PIouu'NS
fr IN their old markets
ultimately il must be that we Of the
I-nited States will recognize the virtue OF
PORTO Rican coffee and Will buy our cigars
art free directly from the land where the
tobacco Is grown
There are fortunes to be made in inrto
Rico when this comes about. The island
I-,r.es no small Gowry with her union 10
o,r country. Her wealth of material re-
sGrrres. natural beauty and salubrious ell
mate are enough TO pay her way.
we can be no loser in admitting her to
fuIl partnership. hut apart from and above
uerccnary considerations, beyond the ac-
uIiremert OF the rich fields, stupendorS
gorces, beautiful cataracts and roaring
rivers. is the question of our duty To the
rcppIe Of the ~island-S"0.y) of them-whom
we took from the darkness Of mediaeval
despotism and permitted TO look from aIar
on the freest and best government on earth
spectators at the Table Of liberty. but not
partakers Of the feast.
The only argument against giving the
peopIe OF Porto Rico such territorial rights
as are enjoyed b. New Mexico. Arizona
and other States in the embryo is the i'm
pUted ignorance OF the inhabitants IF this
island. This mputat ton is not justified. as
| can testify, after cOnversing with the pro-
fessional men and merchants of San Juan
and Ponce. the cigarmakers OF Cayey, the
doctor and business men of Coamo, the
storekeepers OF .Ayhonito. the school teach
er and the Alcalde of Barranquitas, the
parish priest and the planters OF Adjuntas.
the municipal officers of EDUARDO and a
hundred others-men Of the cities and men
of the towns far from coast or highway, to
which the only access Is by bride path.
The people of Porto Rico want territorial
government. such government as New Mex