Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-09
CURSED BY POLITICS
End of an Acrimonious Cam
paign in Porto Rico.
ALL SORTS OF TRICKERY
PARTISANS STANDING IN THE
PATH OF PROGRESS.
Reports Disseminated Re-
garding Disorder-Great Results
Accomplished-Exact Conditions
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

Porto Rico Is cursed by politics Of the
nastiest, hanging about her neck like the
old man of the sea. The biennial elections
are simply a struggle for petty offices and
for supremacy devoid Of honor. There
is no difference in the platforms of the par
ties and both factions claim an American
ism that they neither understand nor feel,
judged from the standpoint of the native
American. To bring them to clearer COM
prehension Is one OF the problems the
Americans In Porto Rico are now trying
to solve. 1t will be necessary to convince
many Porto Rican politicians that they,
joining with dsgruntled Americans. are
posing obstructionists in the path Of
American progress with the same probable
result to themselves as happened to the
bull which tried to stop an express train.
The train will continue it's journey to the
end. carrying its passengers safely, while
the bull, unwept. unhonored and unsung,
will have accomplished nothing but his own
death.
A Bitter Campaign.
The smoke of the election battle having
cleared in Porto Rico 1t is now possible to
observe true conditions for the first time In
six months The campaign just ended, and
which resulted in a republican victory, was
an acrimonious one for Porto Ricans have
not yet learned how to eliminate personal1-
ties and bitterness from a political fight
Federals and republicans are alike liable
to this Indictment, and both parties nave
proved the inability Of Porto Rico to adapt
itself readily to American standards and
the necessity for a continuance OF Uncle
Sans paternal care for some years.
The future state of Porto Rico with
her senator's and representatives in Con-
gress. and with proud place in the con-
stellation of "Old Glory" can only now be
pictured as a shadowy something in clouds
spanned by rainbow of promise. How
soon the realization will come, recent events
have shown, depends largely upon the ma
tiyes of the island. l cannot agree with
optimists who say seven years nor with
pessimists who say seventy-seven. Nor can
I conscientiouSly strike an average between
the two and say forty-two. Time will tell.
Density, Duplicity and Deviltry.
One unfortunate truth. however, was
made evident in the working Of election
machinery and the recent campaign, viz,
that the Porto Rican does not realize the
virtues of American political laws. and the
Porto Rican politician will, If he can by
evasion or perversion of the statutes, serve
his party, do SO without conjunction. To
him party is paramount to all else. This is
a personal conclusion, drawn from close
daily observation, while serving for Two
months as the independent chairman of
district election board. I found myself
continually contending with political den
sity. duplicity and deviltry. The admins
tration insisted upon absolute fairness and
did it's best to insure it. Every district
board numbering seven in the island, had
an Independent American chairman. whose
associates were a republican and federal.
AS the two latter rarely agreed, 1t became
the duty of the American to decide Impair
TALLY nearly every question. AS he had
no axes to grind or party boss to serve, his
task as a presiding judge was comparative
ly easy. and he likewise gained eight weeks
tuition in a practical school of diplomacy.
The law was his guide and his orders. as
well as his inclination made him follow it.
This attitude his native colleagues either
would or could not understand. They
wanted a republican or a federal law and
not a general and fair one, and when they
felt sore over an American decision they
would appeal to lneir respective party lead
ers for protection and for Justice"
Resorted to Any Trick.
Many members of precinct election boards
did not hesitate to resort to any trick to
gain advantage over opponents Some OF
the subterfuges were so transparent that
they were quickly discovered and a warn
ing was sounded by the superior election
authorities that punishment would surely
follow dereictions. On election day, in
every district where it was deemed neces-
sary to insure fair play, Governor Hunt sta
toned personal representative. To do this
he utilized Americans of uudoubted stand
ing and integrity all over the island. Later
these men made d detailed report to the
governor as to all differences that arose in
their respective districts One result Is that
there are now in the attorney generals
hands seventy cases of alleged violations of
election laws by judges and others. These
cases are to be thoroughly investigated
and where prosecutions are warranted they
viii be vigorous.