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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1900)
6 "Cbc Conservative. Because of the SENTIMENT OK , . . . RICANS.fondly assurances PORTO RICANS. ances , authorita tively given by General Miles , the Porto Ricans welcomed his army and were delighted - lighted with the transfer of sovereignty. Their present attitude is indicated by the following from Porto Ricau news papers and private correspondence of Porto Rican citizens. The San Juan Diario says : "Force , oppression , exploitation , can keep a race in servitude , but can never create happy and contented citizens , un less their sense of dignity and of justice is totally extinguished. " The San Juan Correspondeiicia makes this comment : "Our disillusionment has been cruel. Wo trusted in a wise and just govern ment , and wo see it conquered by trusts. And the nation which bases law upon the consent of the governed has a mil lion souls under its sovereignty , yet does not consult their wishes , against which it imposes burdensome fiscal laws. * * * Our only comfort is in knowing that , against a blundering government , a people like the American will surely rise , always just and gen erous and magnanimous , and even with out knowing us , will become our cham pions , saying : 'Our flag floats over free peoples only ; and If Porto Rico is to be held in the condition of a sub ject colony , let that flag first be hauled down. ' " A merchant of Mayaguez , P. R. , writes the following letter to a New York friend : "Very painful has been the reading of the paragraph in which you show what this island may expect from the differ ence of opinion existing among the senators and representatives in Wash- > M iugton , as evinced by the various propo * > sitions of the committees of congress."We must reluctantly admit that we have been deceived ; yet it seems impossible that these freemen of a free country wish to place us in a worse condition than we were in under the Spanish domination. M Sad as it is to confess it , the majority * 1 of the people who witnessed with en thusiasm the annexation of the island to . bu. & the United States , and even rejoiced at the defeat of Spain , would welcome with pleasure the renewal of the yoke of their former masters. Indeed , if at this moment a vote were taken in Porto Rico to resolve the question of its future nationality , the great majority > * l of its inhabitants would vote for a re i * turn to Spain , and this without count ing the votes of the resident Spaniards. The situation of this dear land is * ' i fatal , both from an economical and political standpoint. I cannot see the end , unless we can effect a complete change. Up to this time we have re ceived nothing but sympathy and hope from the United States , but upon sym pathy and hope alone we cannot live. " The following is another letter writ ten by a resident of Porto Rico : ' Since the American occupation we have gone back 100 years in progress and civilized ways , good manners in cluded , and although it looks very bad , and we have been horribly disappointed , you know lam American to the back bone , and have still faith in American institutions , above all , in the mighty will of the American people , who will make its traditions good , necuriug free dom and progress for this island. Its a fact that Porto Rico never before suffered in any way as it now suffers. We have neither American nor Spanish law , but a general confusion of every thing , and a thorough disorganization of all services. The post , telegraph , schools and police are far worse than in times of the Spaniards ; nay , theirs were good compared with the present. We have seen American soldiers bath ing from the piers at noon wearing ex clusively Adam's dress , without the grape leaf. That was just after occu pation. We want some definite civil govern ment , American style. All sympathies for Americans are fast wearing out on account of the military government , which is deemed a very unjust punish ment on this-island , who received them with open arms , and now finds itself worte off than in the most distressing times of the Spaniards. Under such circumstances , aggravat ed by the hurricane , we are all going fast to ruin. A sugar estate worth a hundred thousand dollars mortgaged for ten thousand , of which two thousand are now due , will have to be sold at public auction or turned over to the mortgagor to satisfy the debt , as there are no buyers , owing to the lack of money , nor lenders to make new ad vances on the.property. This situation , which is that of the majority of the land tenants in the island , can only be solved by prorogation of the execution of mortgages , and loan at the same time , so that planters and laud-owners could borrow on their property at long time , pay part of their old mortgages , thus relieve merchants and bankers , and obtain at the same time the neces sary funds to carry on their plantations. Such measures would give agriculture and commerce a new start , which , with free trade with the States and a good civil government , would accomplish what everyone expected from American occupation : Progress and Liberty. You may imagine how we are striv ing to save our property , spurred by the knowledge that in five years' time it will be worth at least three times more than at present and is it just that such benefits be reaped by adventurers and only ruin left to us , the original holders ? I hope that my next letter will carry you more cheerful news , which will be creditable to our government , so far a failure and an utter deception to us. " . The Omaha IIAI/F TOT/D. . World-Herald of March 11 , 1900 , makes history untruth fully , by halving facts. It says : "Grover Cleveland said : 'I will com pel a co-ordinate branch of government to bow to my will' and he did it , with a bludgeon , and boldly bore the blame. Ho said : 'I will override the constitu tional rights of a sovereign state and dispatch my troops thither despite the protests of the executive' and he did it. He offered no paltry excuse he made no attempt to shift the blame. He was a man though a dangerous one. " The World-Herald fails to tell the whole truth ; namely , that the senate and house of the congress of the United States each passed resolutions endorsing the putting down of riot in Chicago with federal troops and thanking Presi dent Cleveland for his over-ride of Altgeld. The World-Herald also omits the fact that the supreme court of the United States without a dissenting voice confirmed that act of "over riding constitutional rights" among the Chicago anarchists. OUR MEDICINE. Germany is putting - ting up the bars to keep out the American hog. The swine of Germany cannot compete in ham , bacon and sausage form , with the sweetly-fattened-ou-Indian-maize pork ers of the United States. To protect the Teutonic pig from competition with the Yankee hog , pro tective tariff statesmen , in Germany , now devote all their energies. Who taught them to make artificial prices on pork by prohibitory taxes ? The protectionists of the United States who have always been making higher prices by shutting out compe tition. Germany is administering to the United States their own republican brand of protection , by shutting out our hogs from competition with German hogs. hogs.Who Who cares ? The Boston Home Market Club will protect American swine. PATRIOTIC GENEROSITV. New York , March 6 , 1900. To THE AMERICAN PUBLIC : Brig-Gen. Guy V. Henry , of the U. S. Army , died October 26 , 1899. His career as an army officer covered a period of forty years of uninterrupted service , including the Civil War , num erous Indian campaigns , and , more re cently , the Spanish-American war. He was absolutely fearless in the face of danger , and in his death the country lost one of its most distinguished offi cers. cers.He He was appointed Military Governor of the Island of Porto Rico , and served as such until May , 1899. While in charge of the affairs of that island , he
