Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1906-12-11

granting them full American, citizen-
ship. 2;@'' +
Under the wise administration OF
the present governor and council,
marked progress has been made in the
difficult matter Ot gra1ftnE to the
people OF the island the largest meas
ure Of self government that can with
safety be given at the present time.
n would have been, very serious
mistake to have gone any faster thar
we have already gone In this direc-
tion. The Porto Ricans have conn
piete and absolute autonomy in all
their municipal governments, the only
power over them possessed by the IN
sular government being that Of re-
moving corrupt or incompetent muni-
cipal officials. This power has never
been exercised save on the clearest
proof of corruption or of Incompetence
such as to jeopardize the interests
of the people Of the island; and under
such circumstances IL has been fear,
,lessly used to the immense benefit of
the people. 1t is not power with
which 1t would be safe, for the sake
of the island itself. to dispense at
present. The lower house is abso-
lutely elective, while the upper house
Is appointive. This scheme is work.
ing well; no injustice of any kind re-
SultS ITOIIl anu GREAT pCI0ht " eiiS
island, and it should certainly not be
changed at this time. The machinery
of the elections is administered en-
tirely. by the Porto Rican people them
selves the governor and council keep
ing only such supervision as is neces-
sary in order to insure an orderly
election. Any protest as to electoral
frauds is settled in the courts. Here
again it would not be safe to make
any change in the present system.
The elections this year were abso-
lutely orderly, unaccompanied by any
disturbances; and no protest has been
made against the management OF the
elections, altho three contests are
threatened where the majorities were
very small and error was claimed; the
contests Of course, to be settled in the
courts. In short. the governor and
council are cooperating with all OF
the most enlightened and most pa
triotic of the people Of Porto Rico in
educating the citizens of the island in
the principles Of ORDERLY liberty. They
are providing a government based
sipon each citizens self-respect, and
the mutual respect of all citizens;
tGnt js, based upon a rigid observance
0f the principles Of justice and homes
~. 1t has not been easy to instil INTO
the minds of people unaccustomed 70
the exercise Of freedom, the two basic
principles of our American system;
the principle that the majority must
rule. and the principle that the min
ority has rights which must not be
disregarded or trampled upon. Yet
real progress has been made In hav-
ing these principles accepted as ele-
mentary as the foundations Of sue
cessful self government.
transmit herewith the report OF
the governor of Porto Rico. sent to
the president thru the secretary of
state.
All the insular governments should
be placed in one bureau. either In the
department of war or the department
of state. It is a mistake not so to
arrange our handling Of these islands
at washington as to be able to take
advantage Of the experience gained in
one. when dealing with the problems
that from time to time arise in an
other.
In conclusion let me express my ad-
miration- for the work done by the
congress when it enacted the law un-
der which the island Is now being ad-
ministered After seeing the island
personally. and after Ave years ex-
perience In connection with its ad-
II Is but fair to those
who devised this law to say that 1t
would be well-nigh impossible to
have devised any other which In the
sctuaI working would have accom-
pJlshed better results.
S rEUoDoRE ROOSEVELT.
! THE white House.
December II, 1905 s5s.s.
49, q <-E