T""1
"
The Commoner
10
W-m r-" r i r
Despotism In Porto RIpo.
1 Luis Munbz Rivera, who was presi
dent of the autonomic government of
Porto Rico under Spanish rule, has
written a long letter to President Mc
Klnley on the subject of the tyranny
of American rule in that island, from
which tho following Is taken:
In the days of what many in Ameri
ca called Spanish - despotism Porto
.Rico sent her deputies to the cortes
at Madrid, passed her own laws, was
a province of Sjpain, tho equal polit
ically of the peninsular provinces by
the constitution, which protected them,
making them equal before the law and
oven granting to tho island in tho At
lantic tho autonomy which it refuses
to the provinces of tho peninsula. It
had also a council, but what a differ
once between the. council of that time,
of popular origin and parliamental
character- and the council of tdday,
official in its origin and bureaucratic
in its character!
The' writer has the honor of presid
ing over that tody, which governed
without restriction and without reser
vations, and he can affirm that not
once wore tho ministers opposed to
their measures by the veto of Spain.
We were ourselves responsible for our
decrees and we framed them with the
utmost prudence, but also with an
independence which was neither ques
tioned nor curtailed by the metropolis.
In a word, self-government was un
folding itself without obstacle and Por
to Rico was beginning to feel herself
mistress of her present and of her
future.
When the historic edifice of the col
onies, crowned by the gift of auton
omy, disappeared, destroyed by your
squadrons1, all the hopes of 'their peo
ple, turned to that other edifice which
was to be erected on the broad, basjs.
of a democracy which is,,.tbe aston
ishment of the world. "Even tho most
pessimistic believed that in no case,
under no pretext, would it curtail the
liberties conferred by the former rule.
Ah, sir, not' only "does it curtail, it
annihilates and destroys them. In
Porto Rico popular suffrage is a farce.
The , order of the governor tho only
law .in the case-f or the conduct of the
elections?-) oxe.ates a board of inscrlp-'
tion in San Juan and various subordi
nate boards throughout tho island. All
are alike appointed by the governor
himself. And they have thQ power of
Inscribing or not inscribing the elec
tors, according to their caprice and
without any furtherv.r.esponsibility.
Thus it wasEha't;at the election of
the chamber only one:iarty cast thoir
votes, the party vtiich flattered the
government, seconding its plans, bow
ing to its acts of injustice and accept
ing in shameful silence or with' in
comprehensible applause the death of
their country. And, therefore, it is
that the chamber in which only one
shade of political opinion exists, rep
resents not the Idea or the interests
of the country, but the" ideas and the
Interests of the government whiqh im
posed and sustains it by. force. Those
who in Porto Rjco represent the
wealth and the intellectuality of 'the
island remain proscribed by. the ad
ministration, doubtless for the enor
mous crime of .desiring for their, coun
try American liberties under the Am
erican flag.
Those liberties do not exist In Porto
Rico'. Tho municipalities cannot ap
point the , teachers in their schools,
for in their appointment the commis
sioner of education intervenes, nor tho
physicians In their districts, for the
health commissioner must be con
sulted; nor the watchman in their
wards, for tho governor appoints all
the members of- the insular police ;md
the towns are not permitted to have
their own, police force, nor can they
impose or collect their taxes, for tho
treasurer of tho island has entire
charge of this function so that In
Porto Rico there are no municipalities
and even the vacancies in the offices
of mayors and councilors are filled by
tho governor.
The judicial body, from the judges
of the supremo court down to tho
justices of the police courts, are ap
pointed in the same way.
And they are appointed exclusively
in tho interests of one party, so that
the tribunals are not the highest guar
anty of society in the island, but the
docile instruments of political pas
sions. Not long ago, in the month
of April, all of the judges who were
not appointed by the republican party
were deprived of office. Among them
were jurisconsults of great distinction
and of unblemished reputation. They
were replaced by young men just grad
uated from the. universities, the admin
istration of justice being ' tliua x in
trusted to ineptitude and inexperience.
Tyranny siicli as. this is known -bhly
in the steppes of Russia!, he "domin
ions of the Ottonian gtfrteJor among
the despotic mandtlriiisf dt the celestial
empire. Chicago ClirohicleV10 ' ' k lv
(..,!
Y'
A CHANGE KK13AKFAST
v
Getting: ltendy for Warm Weather.
As the warm days approach, it is
well to give some thought to an easy
way to prepare breakfast. A food that
is already cobked and simply needs
to be treated with a little cold milk
or cold cream, is ideal on. that point,
and such a food can be found in Grape
Nuts, at 15 cents per package.
It Is sold by all grocers, and is so
highly concentrated that not more
than three or four teaspoonfuls are re
quired for the cereal part of the meal.
This makes the food very economical
mm uues not overtax the stomach with
ka great volume
The Practice of Dueling.
sThis curious 'paragraph, has been
adopted by tho Alabama constitutional
convention: "The legislature shall
pass such penal laws as they may deem
expedient to suppress the evil prac
tice of dueling." That such a provi
sion in a state constitution is deemed
necessary will surprise most North
erners. It is well known that the
code survived in the south long after
it had been abolished in the north,
but a formal recognition of the exist
ence of this anachronism today was
not expected. I i' , "p :
Missouri has not, known an affair
of honor of iraportance"since Septem
ber. 4, 1875, when Major John N. Ed
wards fought Colonel-E. S. Foster six
miles north of Rockford, 111. The dif
ficulty" arose over a criticism made
by 'Major Edwards In the St. Louis
Dispatch, on those who 'opposed invit
ing Tefferson Davis to make an address
at "the Winnebago county fair. Colonel
Foster replied in an editorial in the
St. Louis Journal, ,and Major Edwards
asked satisfaction for personal refer
ences in the article. Colt's thirty
eight calibre pistols at twenty paces
were agreed -upon. - The men fired
simultaneously, and neither was in
jured. Then wthey shook hands arid
expressed! regrets over the quarrel.
"A cehtUfy ago the practice of dueling
was common Jn this country and in
England. It had arisen in Europe as
a .judicial process about the sixth cen
tury. . In France the legal duef lost its
prestige 600 years ago as the result of
an encounter in which a man who was
afterward proved innocent was de
feated and hanged. After this the duel
then ceased to be an appeal to heaven
and became merely a means for satis
fying wounded honor.
England retained the obsolete law
allowing an appeal to tho judicial duel
until 1818. Tho year previous a de
fendant had Glaimed the1 right to chal
lenge the plaintiff. As his offer .was
declined ho escaped punishment. This
led to the repeal of the statute. The
practice of dueling still continued in
the army and among politicians. Fdx,
Pitt, Canning, O'Connell and the Duke
J of Wellington all had called out thoir
men. In 1843 Colonel , Fawsett was
killed by his brother-in-law in a duel
and the Prince Consort seized the op
portunity to crystallize public senti
ment against the custom. As the re
sult of his efforts the duel was ban
ished from the British army and from
civil society. -
In the United States the practice
received a severe blow from the death
of Hamilton in his duel with Burr in
1804. This did not prevent Henry Clay
from, fighting John Randolph twenty
two years later, or Andrew' Jackson
from killing Charles Dickinson or Ben
ton from causing the death of Lucas.
During the last half century the duel
has almost disappeared from America
except in unenlightened communities
In Germany it. is contrary to law, but
only a few years ago an officer was
expelled from the aririy for refusing
to challenge another who had insulted
him. . France still clings tenaciously
to the code, but fortunately most of
Its duels are bloodless. Kansas City
Star.
Jackson and the Taylor's Bill.
A gentleman in Pennsylvania "has a
queer document which came into his
family's possession many years ago,
and shows an Interesting phase of An
drew Jackson's character as well as a
glimpse of the simple times of his pres
idential term.
It appears that a clerk in the state
department contracted a tailor's bill
for $64.50, and the tailor, finding him
self unable to collect the amount, laid
the matter before the -president in an
appealing letter. '
t Ja'cksori promptly decided that this,
.wasta'ttriatter to which he must attend
personally; so- he transmitted the
tull6r'")letter. to 'the secretary of state-,
with -this, strong recommendation: . a
''Referred to the 'secretary of state.
If on inquiry the fact stated be true,
unless the clerk"pays hisrdebt let him
be forthwith discharged
"This- government would become a
party to such swindling provided it
permitted its officers to become in
debted for necessaries and not see that
they paid their debts out of their sal
aries. "Honest men will pay their debts;
dishonest men must not bo employed
by the government. A. J."
"This case is referred to Amos Kenr
da'll, Esqr., on '$10 per month being se
cured to C. E. Kloff, MV. Gooch to be
continued in his office. A. J."
Youth's Companion.
Salute to Mount Vernon. -
The TJnited States dispatch boat Dol
phin was making her way up tho Po
tomac from' tho sea to Washington. A
winter's cruise in the tropics was1 just
ended and the exchange of the bril
liant scenery of the West Indies for the
softer atmosphere of the home shores
was a welcome one to her crew. The
captain, navigator and officer of the
deck were on the bridge piloting the
vessel carefully through the m'anj
turns and bends of the river, keeping
a sharp lookout for the landmarks and
buoys and following the course of tho
ship on the chart spread out on its
stand on the starboard end of the'
bridge.
The navigator, looking up from his
BELTING AT A SACRIFICE !
We bought at salei 600 now, perfect, reft
h inch 4 piy; prier;jiioa"
nimi
fcayo all kinds of netf rubberleathor
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Btapfrcrspoko. Can PIT YOUlt
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Nodrylaiout. No resetting tires. Clicnp
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Box 38 Qulrtoy, Ills.
a
ELI" Baling Presses
mi yiiu gajMyim
ARE THE EASIEST Tu FFFn
haying a large feed opening. Thbmakeathem correspondingly
or steam power. They are thus beet united to the wonts of the
Individual farmer or the man who make baling a business.
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We wall Urgro Illustrated catalogue free.
COLLINS PLOW CO. 1193 Hawpghire St.?Qalncr. Ills.
WANTED AfiENTC ,n T ountj to sell "FAMILY MJi.
WAIlUll AUEfll J MORIALSt" tool proflU and lUidf
woik. -Addrtu
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Month, and ExponBos; no ozperlenco
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TRENHAM tho PRINTER. Alexandria, Minn.
observation of the chart, turned to
ward the. captain, who was gazing fix
edly throvlgh his binoculars, trying to
malco out or, to make use of the nau
tical term, to "pick up" a buoy which
I the ship was rearing. - .
"Mount Vernon is just ahead, sir,"
h6 an id.
"Very well; call all hands to quarters;"-
was 'the reply;-
"Sound to- quarters, sir." This tb
the officer of the deck from the navi
gator. '"'
"Aye, aye,' sir." ' Bugler, sburid' to
quarters!" rang out the voice of tho
young officer who then had the deck.
He was but lately graduated from
the naval academy and the hardships'
of sea life had not yet roughened the
youthful freshness of his voice. .
A moment's pause and the assembly
call rang over the silent current of
the river and echoed back from the
heights above its banks, The whitd
pillars of Washington's b'eautiful
home flashed out through the deer)
green of the trees high up above the-
ShiD as the offir.firs nnrl ttipti 1111!!!!'
from all parts of the vessel, ..range
tnemseives at their quarters. ,
"Form on the port side, facing out
board!" came the sharp order from
the bridge, and later, "Sound atten
tion!" The bugle' again broke the stillness.
The Dolphin, was now abreast of the
historic home of the first chief magis
trate of the country; all hands, were
lined up along the port side of the
ship, standing at attention and facing
the shore. As the order, "Salute!'-'
came sharply cut and abrupt from the
bridge the right hand of every officer
and man was raised to his cap and
remained there while the ship's bell
rang out twenty-one slow, solemn
strokes, one for. each gun or a national
salute. With the last stroke of the
bell came the; .orcler, "Sound the re
treat!' The bugle answered and as the last
note came back from the shore Mount
Vernon disappeared behind the green
of the trees. .... )
Every vessel" of war of the United
States passing the home of Washing.
ton observes this impressive cere
mony." Youth's Companion. '
Great Stock Country. '
No bettor cattle and sheep country
in America. Cheap lands, pure running
water, and flowing wells, fine climate, no
malaria, plenty of hay. Write for infor
mation to
J. O. MORROW, ,
O'Neill, Nob. .
.tei