The New York herald., 1921-09-18
Porto Rican Affairs.
A Letter From Senor Barcelo, Presi.
dent of the Senate.

my arrival in Washington / have rea<
the editorial article in your paper or
September 6 entitled porto Rico ar&
Governor Reilly" Appealing to your
generosity and tho reputation for fair
play which your paper has always en-
1oyed. ask you to correct certain state
ments which appeared in that article.
and which were. no doubt, due to mis-
Information Of the writer rather than
any intention to misrepresent the facts.
am the President OF the Porto Rrcan
Senate to whom you refer. have just
come to Washington from Porto Rico,
by way OF Cuba, for the purpose Of deal
Ing with matters discussed in that arti-
Gle. I have just had long conference
with President Harding, at which were
also present the Secretary OF War, the
Resident Commissioner from Porto Rico
and General Mcintyre, chief of the Bu-
reau OF Insular Affairs, but must not
speak of what transpired as there Is
to be another conference within a few
days with q view Of arriving at a solu-
ton Of the affairs OF Porto Riao
For seventeen years the party / repre-
sent has held great majority over all
other political parties in Porto Rico,
and during the last election 1t elected
fifteen out Of nineteen Senators and
twenty-seven Representatives out OF a
possible thirty-nine in the lower house
so there were left only four Senators
and twelve Representatives for the NIL
nority parties. That Is the best indica-
tion of the opinion that backs the Presi-
dent of the Senate Of Porto Rico.
What my party demands is regime
election Of the Governor by the vote of
the people. and never, never have wo
asked anything else.
Porto Rico has never been rebell,ous
and has never shown hostility toward
the United States or Its flag, and such
an accusation is ridiculous Every one
knows that even II we should SO de-
sire we could never In fact separate
ourselves from the United States against
Its will.
The motive that has prompted Gov
ernor Reilly can be deduced from his
own words in his letter, when he men
tions the fact that ! worked in favor
Of Governor Yagers reappointment and
that opposed Mr. Reilys appointment
to the Governorship.
1t is true that came to Washington
as member of 81 committee soon after
President Harding was elected and be-
fore knew anything about Governor
Reily's aspiration for the nomination.
At that time we asked that Governor
Yager be allowed to continue among US
whilo longer. and when he should re-
sign that Porto Rican be named as
his successor.
We did this out Of appreciation that
we felt for a Governor who was very
efficient and for whom our people felt
debt OF gratitude. We also asked for
the selection of Porto Rican for the
Governorship as matter OF principle.
Without clear understanding of the
motives that had prompted Us and inf1u-
enced by our political enemies. who lost
no opportunity before and after his ar
rival to misrepresent the situation. the
Governor formulated his policy accord
| ingly. He seized upon Independence"
and THE Flag to displace the majority
party from power under the erroneous
assumption that the members OF our
party are disloyal to the nation.
The flag question is somewhat similar
tc the issue OF independence which has
been explained above. Porto Rico has
q State flag which some Of her citizens,
exiled In New York during the Spanish
regime. designed and consecrated to the
cause Of freedom. 1t has the same COLI
ors as the American flag. with lono
star set in a blue triangle During the
Spanish-American war, when the Amer
lean troops under General Miles landed
in Porto Rico, they wore these minia-
ture flags pinned to their biouses as a
message of hope for our people. The
flag has always figured in our ceiebra-
tions and public meetings together with
the American flag, and in our school
exercises the girls have recited dialogues
dressed in the Porto Rican and Ameri-
can flags as embematic OF the mutual
love and the hope Of solidarity among
both peoples. Covered by It's folds many
OF our illustrious dead have been buried,
and Porto Rico aspires to preserve her
flag and its traditions, just as the Lone
Star Of Texas and the flags Of other
States OF the Union have been pre-
served by those who cherish their his
toric traditions.
The Porto Rican flag has never been
used as symbol OF hostility against
the United States. To say anything to
the contrary, not to use a stronger term,
Is to do US a great Injustice.
The Porto Rican flag is always shown
at our entertainments side by side with
the Stars and Stripes, and IL ever our
people in their patriotic fervor have
been tempted to raise their State colors
on high It has been as a sign of pro-
test against those enemies who are al
ways ready with insults and with prop
aganda to efface the individuality OF
Porto Rico.
| Recently Chief of Detectives Mcclure,
who was taken to Porto Rico from Kan
sas City by the Governor. violently
wrested Porto Rican flag from an
automobile. tore It to shreds and tram.
pied It beneath his feet
In many other quarters OF the globe
this act would have been sufficient to
have produced a revolt against the au-
thority permitting such an indignity that
! would have ended in victory or death.
Porto Rico has contentcd herself with
an orderly protest against this outrage