The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-28

sessions 1t is unnecessar,, 70 .,r.,.,,- 20
sTaf feG cases sG IN detail or to point out Sep,
orfieT ~ Inc ne diferent points set forth in
has held u what the court
lin order that the decision NAV 2 bs
NY IN; ul1u9TSlcod 1t is necessary to bear
t ~ miro mat Porto Rico has D1sscg1
through three distinct periods To- pI So,
Ieiatlon to this case. In the first c 1.o,
I Hac+o 20 the Spanish-American var
orto RicO was a province OP ST., -
as Such foreign territory i'm eJ,s,c,- s 80
y! the word. The island remained foro
81 etsn ziierrltory IN legal sense. n0twifb-
c1tnatiIs our conquest and military oc-
G@L1Cloh ana government until the rafi-
Eeatlon OF the treaty of peace when r.
c 10 ne foreign possession and he
~ d posstSSlon or dependency of the
Sn!teV ,oluIeS, but not q part Of tho
Ghited states. Being a dependency Of tbc
ChlCed states 1t was domestic TERRITORY
as as cohtradlstinSUished from foreign TER
tilCry. 1t is domestic terrfto-v etiii L,,t
1t underwent d further change in its ieorai
IeIationS TO this country when c0uprese
lated lne law OF April y, 1900, prOvid-
f fIS a q clvlI government and tariff duties
TOT the support Of the same
since April r. 1900, it is territory he
lolglnS TO the United States. in which
Iaespect congress has enacted legislation
nNlhs the status Of the inhabitants. MAX
lnS a government for them and Dr0vidI1p.
GIso Tor new revenues to SUPPORT tbe
same between the ratification Of the
treaty of peace and this act of ADriI 70
1900, 1t was territory of the ITDited So
To-
~ WhlcA congress had eXerciseS NJ DOUye,
Whatever by legislation or Otbe1.trri,,c
What the court decided was that whIio
we were occupying Porto Rico prior 10
Jhe RATIFICATION OF the treaty Of ba9ca n
vas foreign territory, and our occlDa-
tlTh ana government was military, and
IiI4c was zone was in the nature Of
military necessity, and valid on that
account; that from and after the ratffi~
caIlOn OF the treaty Of peace il was no
! longer foreign territory, but domestic ter
h44 mo
law, according to which tariff duties can
CHIy be collected on impOrtatiOns from
iorelSn countries and consequently du-
ties collected on imports from Iw,rt0 T2Ico
after the ratification of the Ftreatv of
peace and prior to the act Of April -
Iy01 Wnen congress first Iegisluted We're
HhlsSally collected-hlegalIy collected.
nov ever not DE congress, which was
without constitutional power to funDOse
9utleS on imports from Porto Rico but
curing that period congress had not so
The third proposition decided by the
court, and the one of supreme import
a,ace, was that Porto Rico being a ter
ritory of the United States. is not Il
part of the United states. but 0rIV ter
rltQry belonging to the United States.
and IT. IS, therefore. within the cOnstitu-
tlonal power of congress to legislate for
II, including what tariff duties III may
sec fit for it, and congress has so legfs-
lated on April Il. 1900 the provisions of
th2t law are valid and to be upheld and
GHIoIceQ. IN Olher words, the effect OF
the decision is that the constitution does
not follow the flag, and that congress
has plenary powers under the constitu-
ton to govern our insular possessions acc
cording to their requirements The SUI
preme court goes even further and saws
that even if there We're no constitutional
provisions sting cor gross with thi5 p wv.
er 1t would however, Eek necessitato.'
nave this power. since the states acting
IN their statal capacity could not provide
the necessary legislation and political
sovereignty can be exercised only by the
political department Of the government.
THE decision is a complete vIndica-
ton Of the position held by the Repub-
Hcan party with respect to the mower Of
congress to legislate for Porto Rico and
the Philippines. and settles it once and
for all, that the United States Is the
equal i'm sovereign power or any other i'm
pOrtant government"