BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1904-08-22
Hawaii as a Territory

A wave of sinister truth has passed
over the metropolis Of Porto Rico. Mr..
Carter the Governor of Hawaii have
said it, the RECOGNITION of Hawaii as
territory of the United States, has
brought its ruin. And the papers have
not been slow to coment and bring to
the debit side of Porto Rico and the
Philippines what would be the cost for
them of their ingress in the American
community.
However this time it is the Ha-
waiians that are at fault, they never
took into account that honors have a
high prise and their express desire to
enter the American metropolis was
confirmed by the people suffrage, and
accepted by the metropolis.
We wish to be Americans the is
1anders said. Come the continental
answered, come and you viii find out
your folly and how your geographical
situation is not favorable to you, nor
are you sufficiently wealthy to MAIN
tain you rank with people you are
going to join.
An those who thought the less offe-
red to the new participants all sort OF
happiness in the distributions OF ro-
yalAes.
But all has banished, the golden
promises of the cOntinentals and the
delusious of the islanders. Gorver-
nor Carter openly confess before sur
prided American and stupefed Euro
pc that Hawaii has been ruined by
the declaration of territory, we have
overburdened it with tazes, that go
not to benefit the country in any sort
of way.
And the meaning of all this is that
the American regimen, is complete
failure when applied to islands, far
away from the continent, and which
cannot be administered like the te-
rritories which are annexed to the
continent, because the far away colo
nies do not share in the benefits Of
the railroads, channels. telegraphic lines
etc. which reach the territories but
have to pay for them all the same, to
their own ruin.
And the american people ought to
have foreseem the circumstance as we
have done ourselves, before Governor
Carter hat the matter exposed.
Here in our little piece of land, out
side of an small group affected with
old sGkly notions, we are all convln :
ced that any form of territory or state
government would not suit.
Because it would be repetition of
the case as happened in Hawii. To get
into the rich house to be later put
away on account of our indigency
would be very sad, and that would be
the out come of it for Hawaii, and
would have been the case for Us also,
if we had not foreseen the circunstan-
CeS.
1t is worthy of our attention, what
lately has been the subject most i'm
portant for the American papers to
treat with respect to tha colonial pro-
blem, which with respect to Porto
Rico none of the two political parties
had deigned to mention The demo-
crat candidate, Mr.. Parke, has howe
yer some words to bear on the subject.
If the republican party, accepts that
the Nation can become Colonial po-
wer, these colonies can be administe-
red by system of self government,
or home rule, as Mr.. Todd has it, and
this opinion is gaining strength in the
people of the metropolis.
And it is endeed grating that the
American press and American promi-
nent men, are arguing in Our favor
that same manner of government that
some dare not to show out here, and
that men as Governor Carter had with
out vasilation let out the truth of the
condition of Hawaii as an American
territory not to permit that other po-
sessions will be lured into a hctlous
prosperity that leads direct to lrrevo-
cable ruin.