Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-12

I
SENATOR HIRAM BINGHAM.
has been very striking contrast to
| that in the Virgin Islands. where until
! recently we have not only maintained
| a naval establishment and paid the
salary and expenses Of officers, men
and nurses, but have also contributed
more than a quarter OF a million dol
| lars a year toward the other expenses
of government, including roads and
| schools.
Transferred Virgin Islands.
Shortly before his visit to the Virgin
Islands President Hoover transferred
them from the Navy Department to the
Interior Department most logical
move and one which might well be
made with regard to all of our insular
possessions, no matter how well they
have been governed by the Navy De-
partment or the War Department.
After all, the primary business of the
War Department and the Navy De-
partment is the national defense. The
officers and men of the Army and Navy
/, have as their principal work the duty
of learning how to kill and destroy our
enemies and how to prevent our enc
mics from killing and destroying us. 1t
may be that this is a relic of barbarism,
but the history of the human race
shows that any nation which neglectS
to practice the art of self-defense and
| neglects to prepare adequately for the
national defense is inviting disaster AS
long as human nature Is what it Is We
shall need policemen, Texas Rangers,
the militia and a keen, alert Army and
Navy. 1t seems to me logical that the
departments which must attend to
making the Army and Navy keen, alert,
efficient and effective are essentially
untitled to conduct the affairs Of civil
government. No one would want to
elect the active general who is the
ranking officer of the Army or the ac-
tive admiral who is the ranking officer
of the Navy to be also President of the
United States. We do not elect pro-
feSsional soldiers TO be Governors of
our States, at least not while they are
in command Of troops. Similarly, it
seems to me contrary TO wise policy to
appoint naval officers as governors of
our island possessions. And 1 am glad
to see that President Hoover has taken
a step in the right direction by appoint
ing as Governor of the Virgin Islands
not a naval officer, as he had a right
to do and as his predecessors had done
ever since We acquired the Virgin
Islands by purchase from Denmark dur
ing the World War, but distinguished
civilian.
In the early days Of our possession Of
the Philippines and Porto Rico the
President. through the War Depart
ment, appointed Army officers as COVER
nors, but this practice was given up
years ago and all recent gubernatorial
appointments in Porto Rico and the
Philippines have been from civilian
life.
Difficult and Extensive.
The government of ths Virgin Islands
Is difficult and expensive About 95
per cent of the population are Negroes
Several thousand of their most ener-
getic and efficient relatives have gone
to New York, where they are frequently
employed as domestic servants. There
are some 10000 remaining in the Virgin
Islands. The two principal islands of
the group, st. Thomas and st. Croix,
are separated by very rough ocean
and are far enough apart so that they
have very little intercourse. Each island
has its own little legislature, called the
Colonial Council, consisting of some
representatives appointed by the Gov
ernor and some elected by the citizens
under franchise laws passed by their
own little councils. Their tax laws are
antiquated and ought to be revised
Their export duty on sugar ought to
until the tax laws of st. CroiX are
changed so as to raise an equal amount
Of money from taxes on real and per-
sonal property. Even So the money
which has been raised has only paid
about half Of the expenses of govern
ment, not to mention the very con-
siderable amount contributed through
the services Of Navy personnel The
problem which confronts the new Gov
G~1a # ~ ITs
IN TACT confrontS the Congress is a
very complicated one. even though it
only concerns 10000 people. During the
Is years that we have been there we
nave greatly improved the schools and
hospitals and spent far more on
the government than Denmark ever
thought of doing. We have done things
In the American way, which is another
way Of saying we have done things
in nice, sentimental and expensive
way We have been spending more
than 100000 year on a government
OF 10000 people. They themselves con-
tributed another $25000 This makes
the government Of these very poor
people cost $3.50 for each man, woman
and child No city or county of the
United States would think of support
ing government as expensive as that.
What are we going to do about it?
1440N 10 t1S qucsblOA OH WHICH tHe new
Governor and the Secretary of the
Interior will have to advise the Con-
gress and to which we must give at
tention before very long.
No Legitimate Excuse.
Finally there is Porto Rico, a beauti-
iul island, more densely populated than
any State OF the Union except two, in
habited by hardworking descendants Of
Spanish immigrants. They have taken
advantage of American ideas of health
and sanitation to more than double the
population since we took possession Of