The sun., 1916-12-19

IN behaIf OF the peOpI OF Porto ftlCO
I now want to make particular refer
ence to the constant failure Of Con-
gress during the last few years In re-
gard to framing a law as to the status
Of the people Of Porto Rico. There Ia
now pending before the Senate a bill
which, II II becomes law. certainly will
define forever the status OF the peo-
pie Of Porto Rico. The bill itself con-
tains several clauses Of a reactionary
character to which the Free Fedora
ton OF Workingmen of Porto Rico en-
phatically protests.
Before entering into the presentation
Of the features of the bill to which the
labor people as well as. 1t may be said,
the people Of Porto Rico protest. let me
quote the Hon. John j. S%hafroth, chair
man of the committee of the Senate
on the Pacific Islands and Porto Rico.
In an address to the Senate:
Mr.. President. In the formation Of our
! republic We put forth to the world new
principles Of government which seemed
80 plain TO us that We declared them to
be self-evident truths. We declared that
all men are created equal. not In intel
lcct. not in height. not In strength. not In
color. and not In many other respects. but
equal In rights. We declared that man Is
entitled. as an unalienable right. to life.
liberty and the pursuit. of happiness. We
said In that declaration that 80 sacred are
these rights against tyranny that they not
only shall not he invaded by others but
they cannot be bartered away. even by
ourselves.
The working people OF Porto Rico
wonder why the policy outlined by
Senator ShafrotiS in the above splendid
remarks has not been followed by him.
self In the framing up of the Porto
Rican bill.
Section 26 of the Jones bill. with
amendments by the Senate committee
% which Senator Shafroth is chair
man. says:
No person shall be a member OF this
Senate Of Porto Rico who does not own
taxable property in Porto Rico. to the
value Of no less than $1,000.
Section 81 of the same bill says:
No person shall be a member OF the
House OF Representatives who does not
own and pay taxes upon property OF tho
assessed value OF no less than $500.
The only argument which Governor
Wager advanced in advocating the
ohhu it NthaNN
is that he has proof hat the corpora
tions practically control the votes OF
large groups of the working people.
In regard to this statement I wish
to say that the labor movement OF
Porto Rico. as expressed through the
Free Federation Of Workingmen. afiili-
ated with the American Federation OF
Labor. has been and Is now the mos,
potential m influential factor in the
island tha. Is trying to .Amcricanize
the people of Porto Rico to the Ameri-
can standard of political action and
freedom. and they have succeeded in a
great measure in freeing them from
the influence OF the employers. polit.
ically as well as economically. II is q
dangerous proposition at this time &c
impose "a property qualification OF
members to be elected for the Senate. a.
well as for the House OF Legislature OF
Porto Rico. To give the property quail.
fication only the right to rule the AT
fairs of the people Of the island will
have a tendency to strengthen anC
encourage the agitation and propa
ganda of those who are already
preaching anti-Amcrican sentiments
and striving for the independence OF
the island.
Section 81 of the bill states:
That no person shall he allowed TO res
lister as a voter or to vote In Porto Rice
unless hr is able to read and write or n
Is n bona hdc taxpayer.
This has been amended by addins
these words:
That all legally qualified electors o
Porto Rico Mt the last election shall h
entitled to register and vote at election
for ten years from and after the passsg
OF th!' act.
clause it will disfranchisc three out o
every four voters OF Porto Rico: it vii
practically d~isfranchisc $4,000 work
ingmcn out Of a total OF eos 900 voter.
of the whole island. BESIDES. 1t woul,
10 n great political mistake and
national wrong imposed upon the PEG
pie of tho island. The people of Port,
Rico have been exercising such n fran
ohisc for the last sixteen years. an,
even in the Spanish monarchy sucl
rights were recognized to our pcopl
by Congress of Spain and our loca
Legislature, and now the Congress u
the United States is being advised :
take away those rights that our pcopl
enjoy and possess.
II is indeed a very serious question
that tho same bill which I
grant American citizenship To ,hc poo