The New York herald., 1921-08-20

eign State OF our beloved American
Union. While serving as your Gov
ernor and trying to be equally fair
TO all, hope you viii understand that
/ shall steadfastly uphold and stand
for our national Government
] want you 10 be fully aware that
there Is no room in Forto Rico for
any foreigner who is not willing TO
support and uphold our established
Government. Neither is there any
sympathy or hope in the United States
for independence for Porto Rico, from
any individual or any political party.
Neither. my friends, Is there any
place in these islands for any flag
save the flag of our beloved and COM
mon country, the Stars and Stripes.
and there never shall be. So long as
Old Glory waves over the United
States 1t will continue to wave over
Porto Rico.
IF a majority of the people of
Porto Rico desire a change in their
Government would suggest that they
advocate Statehood and cease to pro-
mulgate forlorn hope"
1t was high time for such an utter
ance from place of authority, in
language no hearer could possibly
misunderstood.
The native party leaders in Porto
Rico are among the most adroit poll
ticians anywhere on earth. Their
powers of continuous and persuasive
eloquence are unexcelled. For sew
eral years they have been cultivating,
If not always avowedly at least prac-
tically and substantially, among their
less intelligent followers a spirit Of
opposition, Of sullen resistance, or a
more or less open demand for seces-
sion in the name of liberty and self
determination. We use the word Sc
cession because that is the right word
to express the ideal or ultimate goal
held up before the eyes of the people
in the shape OF Lone Star flag.
Whether the more enlightened of
the so-called Unionist or Indepen-
dista leaders have really desired that
the island should cut loose from the
American Republic may be a matter
OF doubt They have brains and to
spare, and are perfectly able to fore
k.s fr, hA .f
disintegration and Generalization
and decay of material prosperity in
Porto Rico. But there can be no
blinking Of the fact that these fine
politicians have nurtured the seces-
sion spirit and used it for all it was
worth in their campaigns for local
control. It has been foremost among
their political assets and there have
been increasing evidences, unpleas-
antly visible and audible, of the mis-
chief the Lone Star idea was capable
OF doing in Porto Rico.
The goal of Porto Rico is not inde-
pendence under Lone Star flag or
any other emblem of separate exist
ence. 1t is Statehood, as soon as
Porto Rico is ready. How soon
that will be depends largely on Porto
Rico's self-determination and SELF
help. Numerically, it Is worth re
membering, both there and here, that
the Census Bureaus preliminary
statement, issued few weeks ago,
shows Porto Rico actually in posses
sion of more Inhabitants than seven
teen States now in the sisterhood;
namely, Arizona, Colorado. Della
ware, Florida, Maine, Montana, Ne
braska. Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode
Island. South Dakota, Utah, Vermont
and Wyoming.
The insular population is almost
exactly thirteen hundred THOUSAND
souls. greater than that OF Nebraska
and nearly that of Connecticut. Gov
ernor RILEY points the right way.