Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-23
AT
MOKONK ADOPTS
LONG PLATFORM
SAYS ISLANDS SHOULD SHOW
FITNESS FOR HOME RULE
GENERAL G. w. DAVIS TELLS OF
AFFAIRS IN PORTO RICO
Declares InsuIar Province Ruled Bet
ter Under "organlc Act" Of United
States Than Under Spanish
Reinforcement
Try Associated Press.l

X Porto Rico, Hawaii and the Mo-
AVA honk Platform" were themes un-
der review today at the Mohonk confer
ence.
Speakers of the morning who dis
cussed the present and future of Por-
to Rico were Maj. Gen. George w
Davis, U. S. A., formerly governor Of
Forto Rico and later governor of the
Panama canal zone; Regis H. Post,
former governor of Porto Rico; VIII
liam F. Willoughby, former president
Of the executive council Charles Furt-
zell, formerly secretary of state, and
Calexicano Colly Cuchi of San Juan,
member of the Porto Rican house OF
delegates.
General Davis declared the present
system by which the United States
ruled the island under the organic
act" was far more favorable to Porto
Rico than the so-called Spanish selI-
government. Territorial government,
he said necessarily was withheld be-
cause it was desirable that the Porto
Ricans should prove their fitness for
self-government.
The homogeneous character of the
Porto Rican people, he said, made fu-
ture statehood of doubtful propriety
"Citizens of the United States,' said
General Davis, "cannot reasonably and
consistently be denied ultimate partlcl-
patton in federal affairs, but to the
citizens of Porto Rico, all of foreign
race and tongue, there could and should
be such denial until it is shown by ex-
perience that they are fitted for part1-
cipation 1t seems evident such was
the intention of congress, and recent
events have shown that there was JUS
tification."
Platform Presented
DR.. Lyman Abbott presented the fol-
lowing platform, which was adopted on
motion of Vice President Sherman:
"Twenty-seven years have passed
since the first Lake Mohonk Indian con-
ference was assembled. Then 1t was
the policy of the nation to push the
Indians aside when they were an irS-
pediment to national progress; now 1t
Is the national policy to incorporate the
Indians in the nation, and enable them
to contribute to the national progress.
1.-THE most important of the reforms
advocated by the conference have been
accepted by the nation, especially the
abolition of the reservation system, the
establishment of a federal public school
system for the education of the Indians
and the application to the Indian SER
vice of the civil service rules.
w t dIuIDl Gel ldlll III III
ciples, which the nations failures and
successes in the Indian service have il
lustrated and enforced The duty of
the American people to establish liberty
and Justice Is the same toward all its
non-citizen subjects.
To Give Protection to All
"Keeping this end ever in mind, 1t is
the duty of the nation to give to all un-
der it's authority adequate protection
of person and property, whether per-
sonal or communal; government by
law, not by the will of personal ruler,
military or civil; courts of law accessi-
BILE to the poorest and humblest; pro-
cesses of law prompt, economical and
equal in their operations; taxes no
heavier than the expenses Of their gov
ernment economically administered re-
quired; sanitary provisions for the pre-
vention of diseases; schools that shall
furnish Industrial and moral as well
as academic instruction, and the in
spiration of a religion founded not on
fear, but on the love Of God
This means to the great North
American Indian the abolition of the
tribal relations in which the funda-
mental right of the individual are de-
MED; the substitution of personal for
tribal property; the recognition of the
Indians right to travel freely and
peaceably and to buy and sell in the
open market, and his ultimate admis-
sion to American citizenship. 1t means
for the Filipino opening to him the
American market, as It has been
opened to the Hawaiian and the Porto
Rican.
Must Maintain Local Government
ut means for the inhabitants of the
insular possessions the maintenance of
local self f-government as preparation
for future insular self-government and
the complete development of an Anglo
Saxon system of courts and procedure.
And 1t means for all North American
Indians, native races of Alaska, Porto
Ricans, Hawaiians and Filipinos, the
vigorous prosecution and condign pun
ishment of all men engaged in lawless
endeavors to deprive the people of
their public or private property, the
establishments by law of efficient po-
lice regulations to safeguard the peo-
ple against the vices of civilization,
and the improvement of their indus
tries by providing industrial training,
developing their resources and promot-
ing easy access to profitable markets.
FINALLY, 1t means securing well paid
agents of unquestionable integrity and
proved capacity to represent that nation
in its work for the betterment of these
people. 1t does not necessarily mean
either eventual statehood or eventual
independence for our island possess
sions. 1t may mean self-government
under American protection and subject
to American sovereignty
"But whatever relationship may be
established between America and her
insular possessions in the future, just
government must mean for all peoples
under her protection and subject to
her sovereignty government for the
benefit of the governed now-that is
iustice-and eventual self-government,
which is the consummation of liberty"