Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-06-11
Conditions in Porto Rico.


t:rely lacking in reason. 1t is there
fore only fair and just that the con-
ditions complained Of by the Porto
Ricans, should be fully considered
and measures taken to remedy them
wherever there is found just rea-
son for doing so. There is general
impression that many of the complaints
of the Porto Ricans are trivial and un-
called for, and they have preJudlced
their cause by the bumptious attitude
they have seen fit to assume. They
have vet to learn that Uncle Sam can
neither be scared nor driven, and that
the use of threats on their part Will
only serve to win his contempt. At
the same time the spirit of the Repub-
lie is a fair and generous one Our
government desires that the people
who live under the Stars and Stripes
shall have the fullest possible meas
ure of freedom and prosperity. The
Porto Ricans can feel assured that if
they have real grievances and present
them in a calm and patient spirit the
American people may be depended up
on, sooner or later to right them.
The assertion that Porto Rico was
better off under Spanish rule than she
is today is absurd on the face of it.
When the island came under the con-
troll of the United States it was prac-
tically without schools, and the ignor-
ance and illiteracy among it's inhabi-
tants was something appalling. Today
it has a comprehensive and modern sys-
tenn of education, and it's rising gem
Grafton will be vastly better equipped
to comprehend the spirit of our insti-
tutions, and exercise the duties and
of self-government.
Along industrial lines too, the people
of Porto Rico are today enjoying
greater measure of prosperity than
ever before in their history. Wherein
then lies any ground of complaint
On their part? To our mind it will be
found solely in their assertion that un
der American rule they have a
voice in the control of their
own affairs than was the case under
Spanish rule Their claims along this
line may be summarized as follows:
I. They We're recognized as Spain
iards and allowed a certain number
of seats in the Spanish Cortes.
2. Under the Spanish law local leg
islation was committed to two houses,
the upper house consisting of fifteen
delegates, of whom seven We're APP
pointed by the governor general and
eight were elected, while the lower
house was entirely elective. Under the
American law the entire upper house
is appointed by the president, with the
sole qualification that five of the men,
bers shall be natives.
3. Under the Spanish law the Porto
Rican legislature had control over al!
island franchises, and it's consent was
necessary to change the form of gov
eminent. 1t was also given the right
to make treaties, and the right to eN-
pend the island revenues. All these
rights are now exercised by the United
states Congress.
T. Under the Spanish law all of the
secretaries We're natives Of the island;
under the American law the RESPONSE
BILE administrative offices are filled in
the great majority of instances by
Americans sent in from this country
for that express purpose.
These, SO far as we can ascertain are
the principle complaints of the Porto
Rican people, and it must be admitted
that some of them at least are not
without a measure of justification.
In considering this matter in it's
broad scope, however, some facts must
be kept clearly in mind. In taking
over the island of Porto Rico, as a re-
suit of the treaty of peace with Spain,
the United States came into control
of territory rich in natural resources,
but inhabited by an alien population
entirely unfamiliar with the principles
and policies of our form of govern
ment. This population was for the
most part illiterate and poor. The
wealth and the education of the is
land were centered in a comparatively
few proud families of Spanish descent
who controlled both it's Industrial and
its political life. 1t was an oligarchy
pure and simple. Democracy as it ex-
lists in this country was practically I'M
known to the masses of the Porto
Rican people. From these favored
families came the men who repre-
scented the island in the Spanish Cortes,
who constituted the membership of its
local legislature, who controlled and
dispensed-among themselves-its fran
chises, who made it's treaties, and who
furnished it's secretaries. 1t was a