The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-03-06
MEANS REPUBLICAN DEFEAT.

our lnunilOn 10 give lDenl Il 10TH ~
government suited to their needs. which
is small an, i'll short, to do rs We
blame please with them, maxim UP our
minds as We go along"
The Porto Rican bill was the first stat
ute that put US. on an inn erialisuc pot
icy. There had been evidence enough
before that the administration was apin2
England. but this was, 50 to speak, the
iIst overt act. 1t aroused the conscience
and patriotism of the Republic and
even stalwart Republicans cried out
against the bad faith which prompted it.
The President. who had pointed out our
plain duty" did the usual Hopping act
and secured its passage by personal APP
peals and the usual executive methods
of ''persuadinS" members of Congress.
bile" when the trusts want him to
change, "fopped" there are thousands of
Republicans who are unwilling to be
Il party to the breach of faith and de-
parture from right principles. Among
These is Mr.. Kchlsaat. editor OF the chi
| cago Timcs-Hcrald. one of the men who
inflated the Mckinley boom in 1895,
and his paper today contains a vigorous
arraignment Of the new policy. 1t states
the case so strongly that We make room
for it in full:
ut must be evident to the government
at Washington by this time that the
treatment of Porto Rico as alien to our
institutions. foreign to our markets. and
only entitled to our charity, contemplated
in pending legislation. offends the uni
versal sense of American justice and
honor. When such a coo-hcaded ana
conservative constitutional lawyer and
Republican as eX-President harrison
Harrison says. i regard the bill as 4
most serious departure from right rrin-
ciples.' it - time for the Republican
majority in Congress to face the sit
uation with the courage and wisdom that
dares to acknowledge n grave mistake
and undo Il grievouS wrong. Mr.. Har-
rson merely packed into one sentence
thc wcll-ni2h unanimous sentiment or
Republicans Of the Mississippi Valley.
In the popular mind Porto Rico oc-
cupics Il very different place from Cuba
or the Philippines. 1t came under the
protection Of the Stars and Stripes more
than willingly-G gladly. The people 90
not forget, if politicians do, that we sent
an army under Gen. Miles TO conquer
Porto Rico. That army went prepared
to meet the hcrCiest resistance, but only
from the soldiers of Spain, but from,
the inhabitants of the island. What
was the fact? From the landing at
the port of Ponce to the entrance into
San Juan the resistance was nominal
and the welcome was generous. Gen.
Miles and his soldiers were everywhere
greeted as deliyerers. When they en-
tered San Juan the children. dressed in
white. strewed flowers before the fee;
Of OUT marching host.
Our conquest of Porto Rico was 4
peaceful ovation. There was no hagging
over terms. no talk OF Independence. DO
QGibbling about relations. Gen. Miles
pledged The protection of the Stars and
Stripes and Porto Rico accepted the
pledge with all that it implied.
when we contrast the attitude of the
Porto Ricans, Loyalty accepting the sit
uaton and confding their future without
question or condition to the honor Of
the United States. with that Of the Gu
bans and E'ilpinos, we understand how
the American people feel bound To eN-
tend to the former ungrudgingly every
privilege and benefit that American in
situations afford This sentiment was
reelected in the report Of Governor Cen
eral Davis. of the Porto Rico Commits
sion, and of Secretary Of War RooT.
Il. III IL H.,
ley $ message Of last December in words
that met with instant approval through
out the Union. 1t seems little short or
Tovidential that the common vii! of
15.000.000 Americans to less than q mil
lion Porto Ricans should have found
such simple yet imperishable expression
in the very heart Of State document
of over $4,000 words long
But there it is, telling us our plain
duty il Il sentence that cannot and will
not down.
How came it that the President, NOV
ed by the same impulse that yet sways
the vast majority of his fcilow-country-
mon. has permitted himself to lend his
influence to the porretration of a political
bunder that has sent a Shuddcr of APP
prehension throughout the Union: 1t is Il
question that is being asked in every
hamlet and home in the United States,
and upon its answer depends more than
was dreamed Of i'll, the mysterious meet
ing from which the Porto Rico bill
came without Il father and without ii
Sponsor who would give to it his name.
To this day no man has acknowledged
the paternity of the bill. which. like 81
veritabe apple Of discord. threatens to
bring disruption to great party.
While we cannot trace the parentaSc
Of the Porto Rico bill beyond the doors
of The Ways and Means Committee il is
not difficult TO comprehend how. having
found its way into the House Of Repre-
sentativeS. it became a party fetch.
that has involved Congress and the
President in a serious conflict with Pop
uar sentiment Having become a party
measure, the Well-niGh irresistible infiu-
cnce Of party discipline and traditions
were enlisted en- its behalf But even
these were not strong enough TO insure
lis passage through the House. \ ma
jority of Republicans were opposed TO
the principle of the bill, and faithful to
the thought and purpose. Of the presi
dents message. The defeat of the b:ll
was imminent and the prestige of the
Republican majority i'm the House was i'm