Woodruff County news., 1901-08-01
AN ECHO OF PLAIN DUTY.
After Three Years of QuibbIinE Re- publicans Make Good Their
 Boast.

Boast.
 Republican partisan newspapers can swallow quite 8 dinner of crow when they have to for the good of the party. They make few wry faces, but always end up by advising their readers to stand by whoever may be the candidate or however unpalatable the platform.
 In commenting on this peculiarity, the Washington Post says: Among the most influential of the great mass of republican papers that stood for our plain duty and against the re- publican ma jority in congress was the Chicago Times-Herald, now the Rec ord-Herald. Referring to the action of the Porto Rico assembly by which free trade with the United States is now ushered in, that paper says: It brings the situation around to what Porto Rico ought to have had as a matter of right by the circuitous route of 16 per cent. concession to expediency.'
 '"The Inter Ocean, a republican or gan of approved fidelity, treats this subject at some length. 1t says that thus, after three years quibbling and evasion, does the ''plain duty" of the United States to Porto Rico promise to become fact Going into the his tory of the great feud, the Inter Ocean speaks it's mind with charming frank ness. It recalls the fact that Gen. Miles promised the Porto Ricans Amer ican rights; that the president said that to grant to them free trade was our plain duty and that in response all the people said 'Amen.' Then, it says, the beet sugar lobby came to Washington with the Oxnard and Myrick in charge, and there was a panic. And the Inter Ocean continues in this refreshing manner: The ways and means committee rallied around the lobby and demanded a Porto Ricau tariff as warning precedent" against Philippine sugar. They declared the Porto Ricans too poor to support their local government in the usual way. How men too poor to pay taxes on their luXuries could pay the OXnard tariff on their necesSaries they could not explain, but they insisted on the tariff
 "'Then the Porto Ricans proceededto give the lie to the OXnard lobby and it's congressional helpers. With the aid of American experts they reor ganized their finances and spent great sums on schools and public works They will spend this year nearly $2,000,000. And they have done and are doing all this without touching one dollar of the Oxnard duties collected at our custom houses. That money nearly $500, ,000-lies Untouched in the treasury at Washington.
 "'Thus have the Porto Ricans them selves proved the folly as well as the bad faith involved in congress- dis avowal of ''our plain duty" Thus have they demonstrated to all future con- gresses the futility of course that would ignore national duty and honor at the behest of a few greedy inter- ests.'
 'All this is worth recording, be- cause of it's bearing on an extremely interesting chapter of history. And it has other values, for the 'OXnard lobby or it's equivalent, is still in busi- ness. The same influences that brought about the abandonment of 'our plain duty toward Porto Rico are to give Cuba a kick when she asks the United States for annexation. Meanwhile, they meant to do unpleasant things in various directions, especially to- ward the Philippines"