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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1901)
rf?flRFm T," y '"vr" T"' The Commoner. 5 The Commoner. ISSUED WEEKLY. lAilliam J. Bryan. f2d!tor and Proprietor! f Terms Payable In Advance. X?ne Year $1.00 Fix Months .."! S Tlirce Months 25 in(fc Copy At Newstands or at this Office 5 Sample Copies Free. No Traveling Canvassers are Employed. Subscriptions can be sent direct to The Com moner. They can also be sent through newspapers which have advertised a- clubbing rate, or through' precinct agents where such agents have been ap pointed. All remittances should be sent by postoffice order, express order or by bank draft on New York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps, or money. Advertising rates furnished upon application. Address all communications to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb. Entered at the postoffiqc at Lincoln, Nebraska, as second class mail matter. Porto Rico Case Opinions. As the majority and minority opinions in the case of Downcs vs Bid well present the issue between those who favor and those who oppose imperialism, these opinions, so far as they relate to the merits of the case, are re produced from the columns of the Washing ton Post. . They will become campaign docu ments in the great struggle now before us and the reader will find it worth while to preserve them for future reference. Majority Opinion. . (Delivered by Justice Brown, Justices Gray, .Shiras and McKenua - concurring Justice White joined in the conclusion but read a sepa rate opinion.) Justice Brown, after declaring that the oxception to the jurisdiction was not well taken, said: "In the case of De Lima vs. Bidwell, just de cided, we held that upon the ratification of the treaty of peace with Spain, Porto Rico ceased to be a foreign countryi and that dufies were no long er collectible upon merchandise brought from that island. We are now asked to hold that it became a part of the United States within that provision 01 the constitution which declares that 'nil duties, Imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout tho United States.' (Article I, section 8.) If Porto Rico be a part of the United States, the Foraker act imposing- duties upon its products is uncon stitutional not only by reason of a violation of the uniformity clause, but because by section 9 'vessels bound to or from one state' cannot 'be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.' NO ANSWER IN THE CONSTITUTION. "The case also involves the broader question whether the revenue clauses of the constitution ex tend of their own force to our newly acquired ter ritories. The constitution Itself does not answer the question. Its solution must be found in the nature of the government created by that instm ment, in the opinion of its contemporaries, in the -practical construction put upon it by congress and in the decisions of this court. "The federal government was created in 1777 by the union of thirteen colonies of Great Britain in 'certain articles of confederation and perpetual union the first one of which declared that 'the stile of this confederacy shall be the United States of America.' Each member of the confederacy was denominated a state. Pro vision was made for the representation 01 each state by not less than two nor more than seven delegates; but no mention was made of territories or other lands, except in Article XL, which au thorized the admission of Canada, upon its 'acced- ing to this confederation and of other colonies if such admission were agreed to by nine states. At this time several states made claims to largo tracts of land in the unsettled west, which they wore at first indisposed to relinquish. Disputes over thoso lands became so acrid as nearly to defeat the con federacy before it was fairly put in operation. Sev eral of the states refused to ratify the articles, he cause the convention had taken no steps to Bettlo the titles to these lands upon principles of equity and sound policy; but all of them, through fear of being accused of disloyalty, finally yielded their claims, though Maryland held out until 1781. WITHOUT DELEGATES FROM TERRITORIES. "The confederacy, owing to well-known his torical reasons, having proven a failure, a now constitution was formed in 1787 by 'the people of the United States for the United States of Ameri ca as its preamble declares. All legislative pow ers were vested in a congress consisting of repre sentatives from tho several states, but no provision -was mado for the admission of delegates from the territories, and no mention was mado of territories as separate portions of the union, except that con gress was empowered 'to disposo of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the terri tory or other property belonging to the United States.' At this time all of the states had ceded their unappropriated lands except North Carolina and Georgiai "It is sufficient to observe in relation to these fundamental instruments that it can nowhere be inferred that the territories were considered a part of the United States. The constitution was created by the people of the United States, as a union of states, to be governed solely by representatives of the states; and even the provision relied upon hero that all duties, imposts and excises shall 00 uni form 'throughout the United States is explained by subsequent provisions of the constitution, that 'no tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state and 'no preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the porta of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one state he obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another In. short, the constitution deals with states, their. peoplo,yand , their representatives. ' -'. $? "The thirteenth amendment to the constitu tion, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servi tude 'within the United States, or in any place sub ject to their jurisdiction Is also significant 'as showing that there may be places within the juris diction of the United States that are no part of the union. To say that the phraseology of this amendment was duo to the fact that it was intend ed to prohibit slavery in the seceded states, under a possible interpretation that those states "were no longer a part of the union, is to confess the very point in issue, since it involves an admission that if these states were not a part of the union, they were still subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. LIMITATIONS ON CITIZENSHIP. "Upon the other hand, the fourteenth amend ment, upon the subject of citizenship, declares only that 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside Here there is a limitation to persons born or naturalized in the United States which is not extenned to persons born in any place 'subject to their jurisdiction " Justice Brown went exhaustively into the his tory of the purchase of the Louisiana territory and the subsequent legislation by congress, and drew the conclusion that congress then believed "that territory may be lawfully acquired by treaty, with a provision for its ultimate incorporation into the union; and, second, that a Discrimination in favor of certain foreign vessels trading with the ports of a newly acquired territory is no violation of that clause of the constitution (Art. I, sec. 9), that de clares that no preference shall be given to the ports of one state over those of another. It is evi dent that the constitutionality of this discrimina tion can only be supported upon the theory that ports of territories are not ports of states within the meaning of the constitution. "The same construct!on was adhered to in the treaty with Spain" for the purchase of Florida," added Justice Brown, "the sixth article of which provided that the inhabitants should 'be incor porated into the union of the United States as soon as may be consistent , with the principles of the federal constitution and the fifteenth article of which agreed that Spanish vessels sailing di rectly from Spanish -ports and laden with produc tions of Spanish growth or manufacture should be admitted for the term of twelve years to the ports of Pensacola and St. Augustine 'without paying other or higher duties on their cargoes, or of tonnage, than will be paid by the vessels of the United States and that 'during the said term no other nation shall enjoy the same privileges within the ceded territories.' PROVISION REGARDING HAWAII. "So, too, in tho act annexing tho republic of Hawaii there was a provision continuing in effect tho customs relations of the Hawaiian islands with the United States and other countries, the effect of which was to compel tho collection in thoso Isl ands of a duty upon certain articles, whether com ing from tho United States or other countries, much greater than tho duty provided by tho gen eral tariff law then In force. This Was a discrimi nation against tho Hawaiian ports wholly incon sistent with the revenue clauses of the constitution, if such clauses were thcie operative. "Tho very treaty with Spain under discussion in till? caso contains similar discriminative provi sions, which are apparently Irreconcilable with tho constitution If that Instrument be held to extend to these lr'ands Immediately upon their cession to the United States. By Articlo IV. tho United States agrees 'for tho term of ten years from tho date of tho exchange of tho ratifications of the prcsont treaty, to admit Spanish ships and merchandise t6 tho ports of the Philippine Islands on tho same terms as ships and merchandise of tho United States' a privilege not extending to any other ports. It was a clear broach of the uniformity clause in question, and a manifest excess of au thority on the part of tho commissioners, if porta of the Philippine islands bo ports of tho United States. - "So,. too, by Article XIII., 'Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works shall bo continued to be admitted fre of duty In such territories for the period of ten years, to be rcckonod from the date of tho exchange of tho ratifications of this treaty This Is also a clear discrimination in favor of Spanish literary productions Into partlcr nlar ports. COURT DECISIONS AT VARIANCE. "Tho decisions of this courtr"upon this subject have not been altogether harmonious. Some of them are based upon tho theory that the consti tution does not apply to tho territories without legislation. Other cases, arising from territories where such legislation has been had, contain lan guage which would justify tho inference that such legislation was unnecessary, and that tho consti tution, took effect Immediately upon the cession of the territory to the United States. It may bb remarked, upon the threshold of an analysis of these cases, that too much weight must not bo given to general expressions found in sevoral opinions that tho power of congress over terri tories is complete and supremo, because these words may be Interpreted as meaning only su preme under the constitution; nor upon the other hand, .to general statements that the constitution covers the territories as well as the states, since in such cases it will bo found that acts of congress had already extended tho constitution to such ter ritories, and that thereby it subordinated not only -its own acts, but those of the territorial legisla tures, to what had become the supreme law of tho land' Justice Brovn cited tho cases of Hepburn vs. Elljey, Loughborough vs. Blake, and others to show the power of congress over territory not in cluded In tho states. Loughoorough vs. Blake tested the right to impose direct taxes in the Dis trict of Columbia. It was held that such taxes could be imposed here, and Justice Brown's com ment, which follows, is Interesting, as compar ing the local status with that of Porto RIcans: 'There could bo no doubt as to the correctness of this conclusion, so far, at least, as it applied to the District of Columbia. This district had been a part of the states of Maryland and Virginia. It had been subject to tho constitution, and was a part of the United States. The constitution had attached to it irrevocably. There are steps which can never be taken backward. The tie that bound the states of Maryland and Virginia to the con stitution could not bo dissolved, without at least the consent of the federal and state governments to a formal separation. Thq mere cession of the District of Columbia to the federal government relinquished tho authority of the states, but it did not take it out of the United States or from under the aegis of tho constitution. Neither party had ever consdnted to that construction of the ces sion. . If,. before the district was set off, congress had passed an unconstitutional act affecting Its inhabitants, It would have been .void. If done after the district was created. It would have been "equally void; in other words, congress could not do indirectly by carving out the uistrict what It could not do directly. The district still remained a. part of the United States, protected by the con stitution. Indeed, it would have been a fanciful construction to hold tat territory which had been once a part of the United States ceased to be such by being ceded directly to the federal government REPUBLIC OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. "In delivering the opinion, however, the chief justice made certain observations which have occasioned some embarrassment in other cases. A &Jf-tf ' -M- iiZ4 i tfrU&rm