The Monticellonian., 1906-12-20

IHeFelOTe4 there was q0uDie the tfad9 that there was in the most prosper. ous year under the Spanish regime There were 210,273 tons of sugar ex- ported last year. of the value of s14,- 1S6,319; S3,555, 165 of tobacco, and 2S,290,322 pounds of coffee of the value of $3,4S1,102. Unfortunately, what used to be Porto Rieos prime crop coffee-has not shared this prosper. ity. It has never recovered from the disaster of the hurricane, and, more over, the benefit of throwing open our market to it has not compensated for the loss inflicted by the closing of the markets to it abroad I call your attention to the accompanying memo rial on this subject Of the board of trade of San Juan, and I earnestly hope that some measure will be taken for the benefit of the excellent and high grade Porte Riean coffee.
 There is matter to which I wish 1 to call your especial attention, and that is the desirability of conferring full American citizenship upon the people of Porto Rico I most earnest ly hope that this will be done I can not see how any harm can possibly re- suit from 1t, and it seems to me a mat ter of right and justice to the people of Porto Rico. They are loyal, they are glad to be under our flag, they are making rapid progress along the path of orderly liberty. Surely We should show our appreciation of them, our pride in what they have done, and our pleasure in extending recognition for what has thus been done. by grant ing them full American citizenship.
 Under the wise administration of the present governor and council, marked progress has been made in the difficult matter of granting to the people of the island the largest measure of self-gov- ernment that can with safety be given at the present time. It would have been very serious mistake to have gone any faster than we have already gone Tn this direction. The Porto Ricans have complete and absolute autonomy in all their municipal gov ernments, the only power over them possessed by the insular government being that of removing corrupt or in- competent municipal officials. This power has never been exercised save on the dearest proof of corruption or of ncompetence-such as to jeopar- dize the interests of the people of the island; and under such circumstances It has been fearlessly used to the i'm mense benefit of the people. It is not a power with which it would be safe. for the sake of the island itself, to dis pense at present. The lower house is absolutely elective, while the upper house is appointive. This scheme is working well; no injustice of any kind results from 1t, and great benefit to be changed at this time. The machin- cry 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 cleo tion. Any protest as to electoral frauds Is settled in the courts. Here again 1t would not be safe to make any change in the present system. The elections this year were absolutely orderly. un- accompanied by any disturbance; and no protest has been made against the management of the elections, although 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 CO., operating with all of the most enlight- ened and most patriotic of the people of Porto Rico in educating the citizens of the island in the principles of order ly liberty. They are providing a gov ernment based upon each citizens self respect, and the mutual respect of all citizens; that is. based upon rigid observance of the principles of justice and honesty. It has not been easy to instill into the minds of people unac- customed to the exercise of freedom the two basic principles of our Ameri- can system; the principle that the ma jority must rule, and the principle that the minority has rights which must not be disregarded or trampled upon. Yet real progress has been made in having these principles accepted as elementary, as the foundations of sue cessful self-government.
 I transmit herewith the report of the governor of Porto Rico, sent to the president through the secretary of state.
 All the insular governments should be placed Tn one bureau, either in the department of war or the department of state. It is mistake not so to ar- range our handling of these islands at Washington as to be able to take ad- vantage 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 con- gress when it enacted the law under which the island IS now being admin istered. After seeing the island per sonally. and after five years experi- ence in connection with it's admins tration. it is but fair to those who de- vised this law to say that it would be well-nigh impossible to have devised any other which in the actual working would have accomplished better re- suits. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
 The White House, Dec. Il, 1906.