BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-01-04
SAN JUAN, JANUARY A
Holiday Reflections.
Dear Editor;

AlUlluov NSlISSSAOuo'
Dear Editor;
With sweet "reminiscences OF happier
Christmas days Of former years rather rudely
disturbed to-day by the abominable noisy
way in which this the grandest fsmily holi'
day of the year ia being celebrated here,
thus causing pardonable homesickness,
and being aware Of the approach Of the
second assembling of our Legislative
bodies, who provide rs the means by which
We live:-This may bs q fitting time to
speak publicly and specially of the status
Of those employees OF the government who
are compelled to live on this island to teach
the intricacies of new government and TO
spread the great principles embodied in tee
American Constitution.
/ rurpesely do not refer to those Ameri-
cans who came here to.pursue their mater
ial betterment in commercial and industrial
enterprise, who with their vigor and push
and daring form only an infnitesimal but
important portion of that grand army Of
smart business men who have lately invad
cd nearly every country on the globe, and
who BY thsir audacity have pushed aside
and are destroying tho fossil iconoclasts in
the temple Of industry which it has tsk6n old
Europe hundreds of years to erect. Nor
shall I refer to the Army and Navy men
located here. who came from tho States.
The majority of the former will in due
time. after smassing affluence, return to
Wall street. The latter are by their pro-
fession compelled to 60 where they are or
dered and, having no choice, cannot
growl, they are certain, however, if they do
not die before retirement, to bring up in
beastiful Washington. or near by, at the
md Of their lils. These iihss are written
only fer the benefit Of the small battalion Of
Government employees, insular aud natio-
nal, who came from the States, or who
were sent here, to form the iron frame, as
It were, of the new structure vhich is being
erected upon this small and neglected island
for the worship of American Liberty.
/ have often wondered, whether the peo-
Tle ct home were ever aware and appre-
ciated the fact that all these men are mis-
sionaries of civilization in the true sense Of
the word, from the Governor down TO the
lowest paid teacher or clerk. Il would be
foley to deny that the former possessors Of
this island were cultivated, and there 10 no
more polished gentleman in the world than an
educated Spaniard. But the cultivation and
what we call civilization permeated the
upper classes only; it was only skin-deep, 90
70 speak, and the majority Of the people
lived, and would hsve continued to live, .
stupid, animal.like existence, bare Of oil
higher aims in body and soul. The first
shot that Sampson fired across San Juan
caused the frst rsnd In the deadly pail
wkioh had been spread over this islsnd
during fourhundred years ofnon progressive
rule By church and state. The booming OF
that gun, occurring - it did early In the
morning. was truly revsills, announcing
that hsnesfsrth The massss Of the people
we're 90 rule and net the kw; that the Eu-
ropsan bondage wss ~ an end, and that .
young nation buadsd and grown strong
upsn prineiplss oi true hun snity and rieht
vss coming 70 take care ei ihsm and 10 lin
thsm eas q the fsadal mirs Aad % place
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