La correspondencia de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 1890-1943, 1905-07-28
MISTAKEN
OPLNI0NS.
The Lack Of Understanding Be.
tween The Native Element
Ind The SO-Callsd GnntlRoR-
tails Is DE To Injustice.

Two fundamental errors are st the
bottom cf the atrsined relations which
appear to exist in Porto Rico betWeen
tha iChs bitants IF thas island snd
United States government. Oae of the
errors, Notwithstanding all tie propg.
gsnda that has been carried cn and tbs
sources Of information readily acceg.
sible to the Administration 81 Wssh.
ingsnn, still persists snd one would
thirk that the very laws Of Nature
we're set Rgainst these twol people
coming harmoniously teQethRr. rot.
withStRndiDg the fact. on 1ha otht r
hand. that they are really striving TO
move along the lines Of their manifest
comm0n destiny.
There has been q disappointment
al around. Ga the one side VIE Porto
Ricsns have had TO realize the bitter
truth that wa ware misled in regard to
the government which now controls
as. inasmuch as it seems to beDutteFIy
Indifferent to the accusations atpresent
incrimiustipg many Of its depart rtments.
and equally Indifferent in its Fiue of
p9iicy toward our island. The ppipion
VS. were laboring under in regard to
the humanitarian tendency of the new
regime, proves, in actual practice, to
ba kbaoInteIy unfounded. B fore the
American army ever reached Porto
Rico, her sons had reRd-ana thay
upheld the idea and defended IL at any
Cost-that the Uoited States republic
represented the highest developments
in the shape { organized liberty and
p pular sovereignty We firmly believ-
ed that is liberal Institutions would
satisfy our sspirRtionEs and that "
would come to share It's advantages, =
nay, our COnvinctiOn and defense of
those political ideals went 90 fur that
many Porto Ricans incurred the enmity
of the Spanish government lib their
uphoiding f these doctrines.
Ga the other side, there hRa been
an Cb1tAcle in tha way Of d coed
understanding between the rulers and
the governed, and this obstaoleHia th4t
chesnutty twaddIe which the Amer
ican government keeps harpinQ on. io
spite of the prOofs Porto Ribo has
given f ita faIsity, that qUe dye not
fitted for sit government and Mat eCe
be 'ong to q race an aOh5ch no con.yGde1ace
can be placed. This mistaken notion
ia at the bottom of the persistBnt re-
fusAl. or rather the supine indiff 4renCe,
of the Administration ut WsshIr gton
in responding to the earnest entries tier
Of she Porto Ricana to have their poll
ticaI status defaed and to hAVa ths
American Congress grant then what
tha Treaty Of Paris never contemplated
putting eff till Judgment Day.
So far as appearances show, both
parties made sSd mistska. Those or
the island made it in greeting do pre-
cursors of liberty the troops who Gel
up in Guanica the beautiful fsg we
had learned to love in the austere pa
triotism of Washington end the glo
rious life of Lincoln. The s0-Cslle6
Gcontinenta's1 meda it in suppOsing
on no batter grounds thsn hsCk X news
paper articles, that wa were half.civil
lied negroes who would have to bI
trained in the very rudiments cf mo
derns. civilization. Unfortunately
while wa are getting over our delusiOl
and are about to dismiss optimisti
ideag. the rulers in Washington ksel
on obstinately CIingiDg to their ez
plOded theory about the Ninferio
races; and here wa fad. ourSelve
t0.dsy after seven yeras-not tn
slightest Pre- gress has been made i
the matter Of settling our citi8 snshir
And yet. sad as the disRppoiDtmen
has been. wa must not let this delusio
continue to prevail, wa must not Ae
the hard feeling become further en-
bittered. now that representatives c
the Washirgton government in Port
Rico are h0nest men f3f whom or
people have 3 sincere regard. Ii
easy enough to see. by the k1t win
and cunning smiles Of these off ce.h no
diuR gentlemen, that they YerfeCtl
realize they are not in their element
that they would far Fathsr belmessel
gers of the equity and pr0btty ia
republican institutions demand tb'
sleek Se0nCiliators2 who feal themse
YES bound to ward eff protests whit
they know in their hearts to be juG
D. COLLAZO.