The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-03
PORTO RICO IS
SEEKING RIGHT
TO CAST VOTES
Citizenship Foremost Ques-
tion on Island Today and
Freedom is Soon Expected
When Suffrage is Granted

| San Juan, Porto Rico, Jan. 8
Whether Porto Ricans are to be sue
cessful this year/in getting the United
| States Congress to admit them to
American citizen ship is the question
uppermost in the minds of most Porto
Ricans at present. Although citizen
zenship has been promised since the
| days of the Spanish-American war and
American occupation, II years ago,
each Congress since that time has fail
ed to pass the necessary laws. The
islanders are now hopeful that the
first Democratic administration since
1898 will act favorably and give them
a definite political status. At present
Porto tRicans are merely ''o1tizens of
Porto Rico"
In the hope that favorable 1egisla-
ton may be obtained, Governor Ar
thur. wager will spend the month of
january in Washington urging Con-
gross to act. A bill providing a new
Organic Act to take the place of the
| temporary Foraker Act, which went
into force in 1901 establishing" civil
government and which has been in
i force ever since. have already been in
troduced in Congress by Chairman
Jones of the House Committee on In
sular Affairs, and by Senator Willard
| Salisbury, of Delaware.
s'The new, Organic Act should grant
to the people Of Porto Rico collective
citizenship in the United States said
| Governor Wager before sailing. 81
know of no simple gift that would go
-so far toward removing dissa tisfaction
and difficulty in Porto Rico this
simple grant of citizenship, and none
that would be attended with so little
| cost and risk.
| People speak of citizenship as a
| privilege To my mind it is not a
privilege at all, but a right. It is the
4
! should go with the flag. The people of
Porto Rico must obey all the laws of
the United States, pay taxes, are liable
to military services, and-yet they are
not citizens.
| "Cftizenship does not at all imply
suffrage or the power to vote for any
officer of the government OF anything
else. In the United States there are
now many more citizens who have not
the privilege of the Suffrage than
those who have. The people OF the
district of Columbia, never have had
the privilege to vote for anybody or
anything and yet they are citizens.
Most of the negroes of the South, the
minors Of both sexes, and yet an
immense majority of the women of
the country are not permitted to vote
and yet no one would think of exclud-
ing these classes from the rights of
citizenship
The chief features of the bills to be
considered by Congress, it is expected
here, will provide both for blanket
citizenship and a greater degree of
home rule. The most important home
rule feature is the provision for an
elective Senate of 10 members. The
present lower house of the legislature
is already elected, while the present
upper house or Senate is composed of
IL members, all of whom are appoint
Of ed
States, and six of whom are heads of
executive departments of the Insular
Government.
Those most interested in the pas
sage of a new Organic Act for Porto
Rico have been much encouraged by
the Presidents message to Congress,
in which he recommended new legis-
lation for both Porto Rico and the
Philippines.
At the same time Porto Ricans point
out that reference to legislation for
them is SO closely associated with that
urged for the PHILIPPINES that they
fear the two may become confused
and that in the fight which they ex-
pect will develop over defining a pol
icy for PHILIPPINES Independence Porto
Rico may again be disappointed.
Here in the island it is said that all
difficulties which heretofore have de-
veIoped over legislation by Congress
IN behalI} OF Forto flco nave peeH
cleared away. The most Important
single step which has been taken re-
Gently was the adoption of a new
platform by the Unionist party, the
majority party in the island, renounc-
ing its independence platform and
combining itself to~a policy of home
rule. Almost invariably in the past
when legislation for the island has
been under consideration at Wash
in ton and Congress seemed about
ready-to grant American citizenship
to the people of the island, long pro-
tests were forwarded to Washington
setting forth objections to any 1egis1a-
ton that did not provide for the ulti-
mate independence of the island. It
is admitted here that these protests
have to a very large measure caused
Congress- to. delay any definite action.