The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-05-27

dLlOH OF Lfe 1nhaDltailS WilIlll the Cil
ion. as there has always been in prio
treaties. On the contrary, their ''ciyi
! rights and political status shall b.
determined by the congress- Span
iards who renounce their allegianc
have the same status as natives. In thu
!; determination of civil rights and polit
ical status must be comprehended the
determination of the internal relation
ship of the Porto Ricans to our organic
law. Before cesson under conques
Porto Rico was part of the United
states as to foreign nations; the de fac
! to title to the soil was in the United
States. but its Inhabitants were for
eigners to the Constitution, and the
provision for uniformity of duties had
no application there (Flening vs.
Page supra) BY session the title be-
comes de jure, but In the status of the
islanders as foreigners and so In the
status Of Porto Rico as a foreign coun-
try no change was to be made until
congress should determine its character
The treaty vests the sovereignty over
the island in the United States, but
postpones changes in the relations OF
It's people, and in it's relations to the
body polite, until congress shall deter
mine what relations shall be best suited
to the conditions of its inhabitants aud
to the welfare of the United States.
Since congress, at the time of this i'm
portation, had not performed this con-
dition of incorporation, the status of
Porto Rico, except as to other nations
remains unchanged
Counsel for the appellants, however,
interpret the treaty as having effected
q complete Incorporation of Porto Rico
with the United States. They reject
the provision, which leaves the civil
rights and political status of the inhab-
itants to be determined by congress as
an unlawful attempt to grant to con-
gress certain powers over the territory
after it has become Incorporated in our
Union and, therefore, as immaterial ana
Intellectual for any purpose. Iaklns
the phrase Spain cedes Porto Rico TO
the United States" as making Porto
Rico part of the United States under the
Constitution, they contend that the pro-
vision that 1.-The civil rights and politi-
cal status Of the inhabitants shall be
4 determined by congress-" Is either an
attempt 10 GRANT W NpiiS C1S uRiNoiASti-
tutional rights or sis merely harmless
and superfluous, as 1t certainly is so far
as political status is concerned, for 1T
only declares what would be the law
without it."
The treaty is a contract between two
nations and under familiar rules 1t
must, If possible, be so construed as TO
give full force and effect to all it's parts.
ut is rule in constituting treaties as
well as laws to give sensible meaning to
all their provisions If that be practical
BILE. The Interpretation, therefore,
saws Vattel, which would render
treaty null and inefficient can not be
admitted and again It ought to be in
terpreted in such manner as that IT
may have it's effect and not prove vain
and nugatory'' Ode Godfrey VS. Riggs,
1873 IT. s. 25S.)
The construction cont tended for by the
appellants not only fails to give sensi-
! Bile meaning to all the provisions of the
| treaty but does violence to the natural
and ordinary meaning of its language.
When one nation "cedes" territory to
another it hands over the title and SOW
4 ereignty, good as against all the world.
\ But this does not necessarily determine
in what way itshall be held by the new
sovereign As,was said by Chief JUS
tice Marshall in American Insurance
Company VS.. Canter ! Pet. Sal
THE usage of the world is, if nation
be not entirely subdued, to consider the
holding of acquired territory as mere
military occupation until its fate shall
be determined at the treaty of peace.
If it be coded by the treaty the acauisi-
ton is confirmed and the coded treaty
becomes a part of the nation to which
| It is annexed either on the terms stipu-
lated in the treaty of cession or on
such other as its new master shall i'm
pose"
In determining the meaning to be at
tributed to the words "cede" and for
eien'' herein, we must not confuse the
principles of international and consti-
I tutional law. From the standpoint OF
international law, as regards other ma
tions, Porto Rico is annexed to the Uni
ted States The title to the soil Is in us
as exclusively as is that to any portion
of this continent. Its political status
is determined by the treaty; 1t is now
part of our dominion, undistinguisha-
BILE from any other part of the United
States so far as other powers are con-
cerned, But this International relation
does not affect the status Of the island
from the standpoint of constitutional
law The soil became part Of the Uni
ted States by conquest. The treaty of
cesson only confirmed on the part of
Spain a title already good against all
the rest of the world. We have the au
thority of Fleming VS.. Page that ac
curing the title to soil, making 1t part
of the United States as regards foreign
nations, does not bring it within the
sphere of the Constit ution. If then it
is not acquisition of soil which extends
our constitutional boundaries, what
does accomplish this result? In order
to extend boundaries recognized by 9TH
err nations the extension of dominion by
conquest is sufficient To extend consti-
tutional boundaries there must be some
extension of the organic law to the in
habitants or of institutions over the ter
ritory.
The sphere of application of the Con-
sttution is determined not by consid-
erations of title to land, but by recog-
milton of the status of the inhabitants.
New territory is not brought under the
Constitution by acquisition of the soil;
otherwise Fleming vs. Page could not
ry-