BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-09-25


membership of 155 representatives, a
majority of Is votes authorized the
enactment of the bill. That was the
greatest error ?tl5s of Spain nd in m1sor:y 1 3
votes legaiziag the injustice prac:acalJg '
undermined the integrity OF the Spanish
Nation, and primarily caused the
bloody contests in Cuba tnat recently
Tended with the Treaty of Paris. In
the discus sion Of the i,!ll It's arieacl-
ing effec;s were clearly forcscen by
some of the representatives wno oppos-
ed the measure One of them, Senior
Neflez, es ;ccia'ly insisted on Tic rational
influence of lie Seductive example
for the Inhabitants CT the Antilles, Of
New Orleans and New York, with
which they ,sore iii close contact. Then
Porto Rico Ike Cuba. a~aiti19 ibis
Exclusive Legislation remained !naer
the claws &c Ir1;cG c-71 he Royal
Orders and DEGREES" enacted for them.
The municipalities lost their old prer-
ogatives and became bodies merely
vested with faculties to propose 10 the
'superiority" the measures that the
Governor approved or not, according to
his own judgment. Nevertheless, it IS
not exact that the Governors could not
be held responsible for their acts,
because they had to account for the
manner in which they used their powers
in the kind of trial called "Juicio de
1~--4-a~---.-," ~ t1IUy We're ouI-
ject
This period, from 1887 to 1868, is,
perhaps, in the history Of Porto Rico
the one which proves better the high
political sense of the people. The Porto
Rican leaders clearly understood that
independence was not Synonymous with
liberty, and practically demonstrated
their faith in the power of the ideas,
They concentrated the public attention
on the great social question that they
thought was the first to be settled-the
abolition of slavery. They were so
energetic in the diffusion of the truth,
some years afterward happily formulat-
ed by Our great Lincoln, that "a people
cannot be half free and half slave" that
in every home they created strong
sentiment for the immediate abolition
OF slavery. Secret societies were form
ed to free the slaves. The first of these
was organized in the city of Mayaguez.
The members paid their contributions
secretly, and DR. Betances, its founder
bought with these contributions, chill
dren just born in slavery and freed
them. The work for emancipation was
general throughout the Island. In
S1,a;..- e--e-~f I>errv- ret-ssrl,, Jsiao
Vizcarrondo, founded a society for the
abolition of slavery (Sociedad Abolition
ista), which held public meetings and
profusely circulated literature on the
subject. Thus when the abolition Of
slavery was officially accomplished
through the efforts of the people it was
in fact abolished to such an extent that
only about $1,000 slaves remained, out
of total colored population of 257.7o0
This does not mean that in Porto
Rico the need of other political reforms
was not greatly felt and that they were
not earnestly sought. The propnecy of
the representative in the Cortes of 1887,
to which | have alluded, began to haunt
the Spanish authorities. In reserved
communication of the Governor of the
Island to the Secretary Of War and
"Ultramar," dated January a. 1862,
referring to two of the leading men of
the preceding generation aldorioty
Castro and Acosta-he accused them of
their Yankee ideas" of their democra-
tic tendencies through which the youth,
fascinated by the new American school,
born and nourished in the United
States, are irresistibly drawn"
To be continued tomorrow.