Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-07-11
GOV. REILLY To
OCCUPY PALACE
IN PORTO RICO
Built in 1915 and Has IS
Rooms; Is One of the
PerquiSiteS That Goes
With the Position.
tBy The Associated Press.)

Kansas City, Mo, July 10
From a. residence on quiet
street in Kansas City, E. Mont
Reilly is moving to a palace in
the tropics. a palace built in the
year 1915, with thirty-five rooms,
twenty-one servants, throng
room where once Spanish gov.
ernors ruffled it in armor and
bright silks, and courtyard gar
dens bright with flowers.
The palace is one Of the per-
quisites that goes with being gov
ernor of Porto Rico, a position
to which President Harding ap-
pointed his friend Mont" Rely
a few weeks ago. Governor
Reilly sails for his new domain
July 10 to take up the task of
colonial administration that has
been assigned to him. He has
already devoted considerable time
and thought to the problems of
Porto Rico and has tentatively
formulated a number of policies
which he hopes to carry out.
Discusses His Plans.
~ want to see Porto Rico as
truly and completely American as
any state in our union" the gov
ernor said in discussing his plans
for the island, "and l have no
sympathy for the movement for
making Porto Rico independent.
] do not believe that the rank
and file of Porto Rlcan voters
want it, either; the independence
propagandists are professional ag.
itators many of whom were not
even born on the island. To the
Porto Ricans who desire inde-
pendence, l would say: Make
Porto Rico a full-fledged state of
the union; elect your own gov
ernors then, and you will have
all the independence you want,
and be infinitely better off than
If the island were an Independent
nation. And the thoughtful men
of Porto Rico, looking around
them at some of the nominally
Independent countries of the West
Indies, struggling with debts and
other handiCaps, appreciate the
advantage of belonging to Uncle
Sam.
81 don't know what the teel-
ing OF the president and Secre-
tary Weeks would be in regard
to statehood for Porto Rico, and
while l should like to see it,
whatever their views are, are
mine.
"In line with this, l favor max
ing the English primary Ian
guage in the Porto Rican schools,
and Spanish secondary. l want to
see the Stars and Stripes the
only flag In Porto Rico. There
Is a movement in the island for
a Porto Rican flag. The Ameri-
can flag, under which our fore
fathers won their liberty, is the
flag which brought liberty and
self government to Porto Rico.
don't think we need try and i'm
prove upon 1t. ..
FayOrs Woman Suffrage.
II want to see woman suffrage
in Porto Rico and mean to work
for 1t,
Porto Rico passed prohibit
ton law in 1917. l understand it
has been rather laxly enforced. !
mean to enforce It. 1t passed by
a very large popular vote. If it
can't be enforced. 1t ought to be
repealed.
II should like to see a subsidy
on Porto Rican coffee, which
would put the industry on its feet
without inflicting hardship on the
American breakfast table. A sub
sidy of a quarter of a cent a
pound-not enough to be noticed
in the retail price of Coffee
would bring in rs million dollars
a year to Porto Rican coffee
growers, and 60 far toward put
ting the industry solidly on its
feet.
There is another condition on
the island that needs remedial
legislation, and that is the con-
dition of children, who have been
abandoned by their fathers. There
are literally thousands of such
children in Porto Rico. born in
lawful wedlock and then aban-
doned by their fathers. l should
like to see a law, such as We
have in Missouri, compelling
fathers to support their children
and providing heavy penalties for
the man who runs away from his
duty"