Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-11-05
The Island
OF Porto Rico
By Frederic j. Haskins

/ welcome TO their tnSular paraulSe Ool.
George r. Cotton. the fifth American
governor of the territory. Occupied by
the military forces of the United States
during the war with Spain in 1898, Porto
/ Rico was restored to civil government in
I 1900. Thus 1t has been nine years IN the
! family of Uncle Sam, but 1t must be ad-
! mitted that its treatment has been that
/ of a stepchild Althoug the American
| flag floats over Porto Rico and the Ameri-
J can congress legislates for the island. It's
J people are not American citizens ana re-
| ceive no protection whatever from tne
| Washington government when they leave
! their native land. Commercially, Porto
Rico was given tardy justice, but even
now it's business is threatened with dis
aster as the result of the probable tariff
retaliation of France against the United
| States. France is the principal market
for Porto Rican coffee, and a tariff war
between the United States and that coun-
try would very seriously affect the for
tunes of Porto Rico.
| At the same time the American rule
! in Porto Rico has been of vast benefit to
the people, and there is no disposition
on their part to be disloyal. They appre-
ciate the educational and sanitary ad-
vantages which came with the American
flag, and they would not return to the
Spanish regime. Yet they are very natur-
ally chagrined when they realize that
! practically the only reason they are not
given the rights they demand is that the
people of America are too busy and too
careless to pay any attention to Porto
Rican affairs.
Porto Rico is, with the exception OF
Barbados, the most thickly populated
part of the Americas. It has an area OF
little more than 1900 square miles and
population of a million Its population
| of 300 to the square mile compared TO
| the 200 TO the square mile In New Eng
( land indicates how we'll the country Is
settled. Its soil is cultivated more gem
orally than is usually the case In the
tropics, and its natural fertility and beau
| ty make 1t a veritable paradise. About
one-third OF the population Is negro and
mulatto, while the other two-thirds Is
almost entirely of Spanish origin. The
unanimous testimony of Americans who
have lived in Porto Rico is that the peo-
pie are gentle, lovable, honest and loyal.
The pleasant traits of the warm FLOODED
Latins are to be found, and there is al
most an entire absence of those turbulent
characteristics which have so disturbed
many Latin-American lands.
The people of Porto Rico are unit In
demanding that the United States do them
the simple justice of granting them citi-
zenship They are no longer Spaniards,
| they are not yet Americans They have
no status whatever in international law
and every Porto Rican is in fact a man
without a country. Venezula, under the
rule Of Castro, imprisoned Porto Ricans
without cause, deported them unceremo-
niously and violated their property rights.
The victims Of Castro's cruelty were who'll
| ~ without hope Of succor, because they
had no nationality. Spain and the United
States both repudiated them. They were
political orphans in the international
world A Porto Rican cannot travel
! abroad with any guarantee of safety or
protection, for there is not nation ur-
der the sun that will give him pass
port.
| Every governor Of Porto Rico, every
American connected with it's government
and every official representative of the
Porto Ricans themselves. have pleaded
I with the washingten government for re-
| lief from these i.tvlerable conditions.
I President Roosevelt and President Taft
have declared that 1t is simple justice to
4 grant the Porto Ricans citizenship. No
specific arguments have been advanced in
opposition. Congress has simply refused
10 answer the Porto Rican plea. Speaker
! Cannon is opposed to the citizenship law.
|
Many able lawyers hold that the Porto
Ricans are citizens Of the United States
by reason OF the transfer of sovereignty
| from Spain to the United States. The
| Washington government, however, has
! consistently refused to take this view of
| the matter, which would operate to place
| Porto Rico entirely under the constitution.
| frna fnuOIxytno he
of citizenship have come before the Unit
| ed States supreme court, but In each in
/ stance the court decided the main ques-
/ ton without reaching the collateral issue
/ of citizenship. A mandamus suit to COM
| pei the department of state to issue a
passport to a Porto Rican is now on the
program, and If this is carried to the SUI
preme court there must be ruling on
the question.
| If Americans knew more of Porto Rico
| they would soon become much better ac-
quainted with the Porto Ricans. The is
| land is one of the most beautiful spots in
| the world. II is only five days from New
| York even by the slow ships which now
ply between Porto Rican ports and the
American metropolis. II the Americans
who annually make winter trips to the
Bermudas or to other semi-tTopical lands
| would turn their attention to the Ameri-
| can island of Porto Rico 1t would would
result in pleasure and profit to everybody
concerned. Porto Rico rejoices in a great
number of excellent roads and It is an
ideal country for motoring It's climate
is not surpassed in the tropic belt in the
! world. 1t is out OF the beaten track of
the worlds travel, and offers many unique
| attractions to the American driven from
the north by Jack Frost II the tourist
travel should increase, II would be easy
to cut down the time at sea from New
York from five to three days.
When the United States embarked IN
expectedly in the business of colonial
government a decade ago. Europeans
complained that the Yankees were fool
ishly imprudent because they did not
slavishly copy European colonial meth
DDS. Two things have differentiated the
American colonial policy from that pur-
seen by any other nation-the education
al and sanitary projects. 1t is a fact
that the Americans have done much
more for their insular possessions in
| these two lines than they have done for
themselves at home Everybody knows
how the Americans stamped out yellow
fever in Cuba by waging relentless war
upon the mosquitoes. And the result was
that Havana at one time was forced to
quarantine against the United States be-
cause the American ports had not taken