BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1902-09-15
sArlJUAN, SEPTEMBER IS
Is There Any Difference Between
The Food For The IDgI|QT Goose
And The FeIeTlI G0!der 5?
Office Holders In Politics.


To the minds of those urlversed in
American law and the devious and in
consistent interpretations Of any parti
cular proposition therein, it will indeed
cause thought, most of 1t unsatisfactory,
as to what Interpretation or what Jug
CLING with honest dictum will permit
the nomination and candidacy of a Fed
era1 office holder, and will at the same
time stop and label as biased interest
the aspirations of insular or municipal
employers.
The only answer to this question is
and must be, that the Federal law
which permits it is unconstitutional,
that civil service is unconstitutional and
that the General Order formulated by,
and the result of, the jurisGic wisdom of
Military Governor, who probably
never saw The inside OF law book J; is
legal or that the Federal Ia VS. are all
legal il every way but that the Gene
raj Order, originally devised for tempor-
arr purposes has long since outlived its
usefulness and should be taken off the
statute books. These two are the only
possible solutions Of this question.
OF course there is still another SIDE
to the argument, and that is the inc9n-
sistent position occupied by those people
who have all along howled end scream
ed with the vigor Of desperation against
the idea of any Office holder running
for Office, or taking any part in a politi-
cal campaign. AS a result of this SO
called righteous indignation, it is only
several weeks since tnat an oIder was
issued, or a letter containing dictum,
requiring all insular officials TO refrain
from entering into active politics.
TO the Porto Rican mind it viii be
impossible TO see how Federal official
can enter politics and be entirely free
from any suspicion Of bias, or attempt
TO use his office to gain political power,
when an Insular official by reason OF
the more fact Of very existence, without
any overt act, is sare to be biased and
politically impartial, There are also a
great many American minds which will
tail to grasp this idea in the way that
the Customs officials desire it should
be taken up.
The files of the government Offices
ore to-day filed withe complains made
against insular and municipal officials
for being politically interested, for per
mitting their official acs to be induenc-
ed by political motives, and for entering
active and hostile politics. In every
case where charge OF active particlpa-
tion has been made and proven the ac-
cused has been ordered to cease his acti-
vity at once and where it has not been
proven, employees has been advised to
do SO under any clrc instances. Every.
consis .ent AMI earnest effort has been
made by the ins;llar officials to remove
this political activity from participation
in the government OF the island.
Now then from out of What is prac:i u
cally clear sky comes the participa-
ton of Federal office holders in active
politics. The example is set for the
lnsular offici;,l. and the insular authori-
ties and heads of departments have a
proposition confronting them which will
require more than mere suggestion. A
Just ans wer to all requests to cease from
political activity will be Well have MT
I as much rigat to be IN politics as so
and SO who works in the Federal
Court
The insular authority will answer
q No. yol1 work for the InsulaT govern
nent and he works for the Federal go
veInment Ard the righteous and1
far ans = er of the. subordinate should |
be Yes and the appropriation bills
show tllat the insular government pass
his salary as well as mine, that De
draws more than dc and can there
fore afford better to keep ont Of poll
tics When told by an Inslalar official
that this is none of his business the In
stlar subordinate will not be able 10
grasp the idea.
ae result will be alQsller act Of IT,
ranny added by the oppressed natives
to the book of terrific aud terrible IN
jus ices committed by the government
of the United Safes agsinss the people
of Porto Rico While Of course, the in
sular insistence will not mount to this
It will amount to a proposition that the
average Porto kican WlIl uot be able to
understand
WHAT'S law for the Federal Official
il Porto Rico should be law i0F tie IN
sll1ar one and vice versa Both shpuld /
be ke st out of p9li les, oz bon Should |
be per rizait.ed 10 eater Ihis isa mas
ter Of pure justice and nothing nore.
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