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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1901)
Conservative. POLITICAL STATUS OF PORTO RICO. The incongruities of the two decisions rendered by the majority of the supreme court affecting the political status of Porto Rico in its territorial relationship to the United States , are marked , and quite startling. In one case it is held , that , prior to the ratification of the treaty of cession Porto Rico was a foreign country. This is clearly sound , as determined by international law. In the next case , it is held , that , after the ratification of the treaty and pend ing the enactment by congress of the so-called Foraker law , providing a form of civil government for Porto Rico , that island was a domestic country , because a part of the United States. It is to be noted that the court does not declare Porto Rico to have been made by virtue of the treaty of cession an integral part in the sense that Ari zona is a territory , or as Alaska as a territory is an integral part of the United States ; but , simply a land pos session belonging to the United States. In other words , by the said treaty , Porto Rico was made territory of the United States , but not a territory there of. The latter status could bo given it only by a specific act of congress , ap proved by the president. This is the view which was advanced by the writer in the very beginning of the controversy which ensued from the transforming by congress of "plain duty" into customs duty as applied to Porto Rico. But , herein is the incongruity : Con gress did not , in the Foraker act define the status of Porto Rico territorially in relationship to the United States , but legislated a form of government there for outside the provisions , limitations and restrictions of the constitution. The effect of this , is to classify Porto Rico as a dependency of the United States. Under the constitution , congress has no power to hold and govern territory as a dependency. This is the dictum of the present court in the decision just handed down , which is in reaffirmation of all previous decisions bearing on that vital question. And yet , despite this , because , for sooth , congress has not elected to con stitute Proto Rico a territory of the United States by providing therefor a territorial form of government , consonant nant with the constitution , but has en acted a system of government foreign to the constitution , the court decides that such enactment is constitutional. Now , the writer has ever held and yet holds , that , with the treaty of ces sion ratified , Porto Rico became , if not a territorycertainly a territorial part of the United States. As such , constitu tionally there could be no levying by congress , of customs duties upon the imports and exports of Porto Rico that come into the markets of our federal union of states and territories. Why ? What the Constitution Provides. Because the provision governing this matter is clear , specific , emphatic ; namely , "all customs duties , imports and excises shall be uniform in all parts of the United States. " Mark it , "ALL PARTS , " not all states. The court has declared that Porto Rico is a part of the United States ; hence it ( the court ) , is incongruous in saying that the constitution is applica ble to and operative in Porto Rico , when the court upholds as constitutional , an act by congress which is in contraven tion of the constitutional provision cited. Congress has been derelict and recre ant in not enacting by specific legisla tion , Porto Rico into a territory of the United States , thus to bring it legally within the purview of the constitution , thereby to insure to the Porto Ricans the rights of citizenship as enjoyed by the people of Hawaii and all other United States territories. This would have precluded the possi bility of the imposition of customs duties upon Porto Rican products that come to the markets of the mainland. It is worthy of note , that the court's decision does not fix definitely the status of the people of Porto Rico in their political relationship to the United States. This was by design ; because , if they were declared to be citizens of the United States , it would have been at once established that the levying of cus toms duties upon their products is ille gal ; because , under the constitution no such levy can be made upon the products of citizens of one part of the United States coming to market in another part of the United States. Status of the Porto Ricans. Wherefore , to escape this dilemma , the court has left the people of Porto Rico in the air , so to say , in the matter of their status ; and all they can assert with certainty is , that they are Porto Ricans of Porto Rico , subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Query : How long will they be kept "in the air" in this regard , in view of the supreme court declaring that con gress has the power to legislate for Porto Rico as congress may elect ? To sum up , the effect of the court's decision is , Porto Rico is a foreign coun try for the purpose of taxing its exports , and a domestic country for the purpose of taxing its people and their property. Truly , here is a most extraordinarily anomalous situation , and one that is bound to breed much confusion. So much for adapting the Court's de cision to meet the requirements of po litical and commercial expediency rather than to conform to fundamental princi ples of our government as made clear by Chief Justice Marshall in his inter pretation of the constitution. JOHN AUBREY JONES in Oakland Tribune. THE TORRENS LAW. This useful improvement on the an cient methods of holding and transfer ring titles to real estate , which THE CONSERVATIVE has advocated for sev eral years , is being heard of more and more around the state. A recent issue of the Omaha World-Herald contains a lucid article in regard to it by Hon. H. H. Hanks , of Otoe county , the gentle man who secured the appointment , by the last state legislature , of a commis sion to investigate the subject with a view to the introduction of the system in Nebraska. It is particularly desirable that edi tors of papers in small towns should in form themselves as to what the Tor- rens system is , and then place it before their readers who are , in farming districts , nearly all land-owners , and therefore closely interested in having the best protection possible for their titles. "LEWIS AND CLARK. " THE CONSERVATIVE is indebted to Mr. William R. Lighten , of Omaha , for a copy of his book , entitled "Lewis and Clark. " This volume is one of the Riverside biographical series , published by Houghton , Mifllin & Company. It will be read with pleasure by all who are interested in becoming familiar with the self-sacrificing lives and marvelous deeds of the noble men who , in pioneer days , explored our vast country to aid in its settlement , to strengthen its government , and to make possible the progress of our civilization. The author says of this book : "In this brief narrative , we have just touched the hill-tops of the adventures of the expedition. " Yet from its pages one gains a satisfactory knowledge of all that is known of the lives of Merri- wether Lewis and William Clark , and learns to appreciate and admire the un selfishness , the bravery , the stern endur ance , which enabled these two men to carry on their famous expedition of 1804 and cross the continent in the face of overwhelming difficulties. We recommend Mr. Lighton's book to all students of our country's early his tory. REVISION OF FAITH. We observe in religious conferences frequent propositions for a revision of faith. The Age never revises either its religion or its democracy. Old time re ligion and old time democracy are good enough for the Age. Beaumont , Texas , Age.
