La correspondencia de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 1890-1943, 1902-05-27
A WRONG
that should be righted.

Cr9@b9u LOE L OEGO CSlCO Oy Jig OG&~
ker Act, is elected by popular vote,
it cannot be denied that it represents
the Porto Rican people. But rs the
other Chamber or Council ia not
constituted by virtue of the free will
of the people, it is evident that it
represents the Federal G overnment,
and by no means the people of Por
to Rico. We have two chambers,
then, contradictory in their origin,
and similar to those which, durirg 6
the latter days of Spanish sovereign
ty, ware devised by the unfortu.
nate CAnovas del Castillo.
Aud what are we to thir k Of
this legislative machinery? Porto
Ricans have been excluded from one
cf these chambers, since they figure
in it only in o specially prescribed
minority, and this by designation
tf the Federal Government. Porto
RICO, consequently, has not in said
chamber that legislative representa-
ton which is derived from the free
suffrage Of the people And iuasmuch
rs in the chapter of charges formu,
lated against the King of Great Bri-
tain by the illustrious ancestors of
the present Am sric&n Government,
wnen, weary of spfftance, they pro
claimed the independence OF the
United States, thare WAS q declar&-
ton to the eff 9ct that the right of
the O )lonies WAS q right i1aeStjna0ble to
them, and .torneMabye to tyr0nts only;
Porto Ricans should ask: WAC were
those to fear, had the full raprssen-
tation in the higher chamber, res
tricted by the ForAk.r Act, baen
vested entirely in the natives OF
Porto Ricof
Aud if the founders of Ameri.
can indepen lence charged the King
with having made judges dependent on
his ocW alone for the tenure Of their
QB5ces, and tile amount and payment Of
their saiar5e8 va are at q loss to
explain what reasons the Federal
Government had for sanctioning
laws which place in its Cwa hands
the power Of appointing cfti ,ials FIR
thu public service of Porto Rico,
which Officials are called upon, ut
the same time, to exercise le gislative
fdnc ions, baiog allowed @ seat,
with voice &nG vote, in q chamber
which legislates for the Island, and
placed in spffi 3ient majority, so that,
ut given times, the opinion of Porto
Ricans may not prevail in Porto Ri
co, bat only that Of the Federal Co.
vernment, represented by the legis
lative flee holders it has seen fit to
assign US.
The other House, the genuinely
Porto RicAn one, watch WAS created
in AccordSn 20 with thu true d .mCa
cratic principles upheld by the foam
ders of American indep -ndenc9, is
irreproachAble. InAsmu 3h as its crea
ton was not vetoed by the Federal
Government, it is to be presumed
that it WAS considered good, just
and worthy. And if this was the
case with regard to one House,
what reason had the Government
for contradictipg itse!f in the for.
nation of the 0thsr House? WHAT
mysterious cause could have inspi
red two such opposite criterions
upon the same subject?
1t should be remembered that
an eExecutive PoWers, vested in o
Civil Governor, appointed by the
President, is necessary snd proper,
since our Island is not State of
the Union. This is in perfect accord
with American traditions and thu
science of government, for it goes
without saying that American sOye-
reignty must needs have q repre-
sentative here. Bat beyond this,
inasmuch as the Governor ex 9rcises
the veto power, why shut, US out
of . House without whose concur
renee wa cannot enact D sir gle law?
The philosophy Of the Fora k Or
Act calls for o thorough analysis
The founders of American indepen-
deuce charged the King With rajSing
the conditions Of nee0 appropriations Of
lands. We have lands, wealth, and
resources which balopg to US. Even
af5er peace was declared and sane
toned, the movement of our public
and qu&si-pUblic works WAS sus-
pended because the military govern
ment w~u,d not take upon itse f"the
risk of deciding as to matters that
are our exclusive province. We had
cherished the hope Of { if sripg, by
our own fcee will, to American Ca
pitalists desirous cf dealing with as,
the concessions of the pubic works
Of the country. We waited one year,
two years, and meantime o crisis in
all the spheres f activity and q de-
vastating hurricane, brought power
ty to the Island, thus intensif yirg
the secular misfortune of our public
Sff airs.
And nov, after such pAtier
visiting, the Fotsk9 Act has
deemed it wise and just that our re-
sources should be placed under the
control Of guardian; that our pu.
bic works sshould not depend on
US; that their concession should be
rendered more difficult through mono
polizirg provisions which invest n
= chAmDer, where thu natives are
not directly represented, the power
to dispose cf them; that they are
further controlled by being sub.
jected to thu final intervention { f
The United States Senate, o body
whose members W sre not elected for
the purpose f granting franchises
and contracts outside the imit d
jurisdiction of the District OF COlum.