INDEPENDENT OR NOT?

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 14, 16 July 1936, Page 20

INDEPENDENT OR NOT?

PUERTO RICAN ISSUE

PLEBISCITE SUGGESTED

Puerto Rico has much to think about, during the next few months, says a writer in the "San Francisco Chronicle." "To be or not to be" independent of the United:StateS;svill"give. it plenty to argue over.:- Already party lines are sharply drawn.' ;/•■ : \.'-\

The Spanish-American War o£ 1898 placed Puerto Rico.on ' Washington'.s lap. Since that time periodically the island has sought to climb down and stand upon its none too steady legs.'

Senator Millard.E. Tydings, Maryland, chairman of the Committee on Insular Affairs, has suggested a plebiscite on the independence issue. Repercussions are both interesting and enlightening. For example:

Rafael Martinez Nadal, president of the Puerto Rican Senate, predicts economic ruin. for the island if the people are cast adrift. ' ■

Antonio R. Barcelo, president of the Puerto Rican Liberal Party, demands independence, "even if the' people starve." . .

J. J. Osuna, head of the Univer sity of Puerto Rico, calls, independence a mistake, and looks for a "better solution."

Dr. Ernest Gruening, head of the United States ' Interior Department's Bureau of Territorial Affairs, would give. Puerto Rico an opportunity to vote on the question.

E. Mont Reily, former Governor of the island, describes the idea as "outrageous" and threatening to "undo thirty-eight years of Americanism." SINCE THE U.S. TOOK HOLD. Why the issue? Puerto Rico's political history has been influenced by a somewhat narrow conception of governmental functions. From 1898 to 1900 the island was a conquered province administered by an army. In 1900 the Puerto Rican people became. citizens of Puerto Rico, but not of the United States. In 1917 the inhabitants achieved, citizenship under such privileges as the American Constitution conferred from time to time. An elective Senate then took the place of an appointative Upper. House of the Legislature, and most of the heads of departments were made appointees of %h!e : Governor (sent there by- 'Washington): ,• rather than the United States "President. ; •. As stated, Puerto' Rico1 is governed- in accordance with an Act of Congress of March 2, 1917, and subsequent amendments. The law ' "is ' known as' the Jones Act, : making^, the -island" an organised territory, .with; the possibility of Statehood. ■ .The , Act was prefaced by a Bill: of Rights, similar to that of. State Constitutions, and it outlined the functions of the-; three branches of government—^executive, legislative, and judicial, tfaless excepted, all statutory Acts ;.rof '. the United States- nationally applicable are enforced. .■■-■ ■.■'■•■■;'.:''■■.;..'■■■■..,-. ./:;\'-V..'' Today, Puerto Rico wants • a change. But how much-of-a';.change? ;..'.■ , RELIEF AND TRADE. As one looks backi'over the island's conditions during the last. , severalyears, two ' facts v stand out:. ;(1) Dependence upon .the; United States for relief funds, now reported at 1,000,000 dollars (£200,000). a "month, plus '• a 26,000,000 dollars;.'< £''5;2u0,000) v Te'coirt struction programme'in-'1935; (2) dependence upon; ;the United«States_-as a customer and as-a source fprrvfrtually

everything the island 'requires for food, clothing, and luxuries* '"' The Tydings Independence. ■■■■■-'Bill would require Puerto Ricans. to vote in- November, 1937, on the question: ''Shall the people* of Puerto Rico be sovereign and independent?" If the verdict is "Yes," the island Legislature would call a Constitutional Convention in June, 1938. . ■:.'.'.:. :2; - ; i A Constitution would be drafted !including, among other things;, allegiance to. the United States pending; independence; and American , control of • debts, loans, currency, and .foreign affairs during the transition period. The President of the United States would then have to proclaim that the Constitution was in accord with the Independence Apt. Officers of: ;the Puerto Rico commonwealth wouldvbe elected. Four " years later full sovereignty would be granted to the commonwealth.' ■'*.'■ :'■ Thus far, the idea seems, .feasible. But in it lies the catch which thoughtful Puerto Riean business' interests ponder over. What actually happens, outside of setting up a commonwealth, is the imposition of a tax by the United States on the island's products entering American ports; 25 per cent, of the usual tariff rate, during the second year, 50 per cent, in the third year, and 75 per cent, in the fourth, year. From the above figures it is not difficult to. determine where Puerto Rico would land if it was shut off from a duty-free market in the. United States; especially since the main export is sugar. Sugar is of course not the only export crop shipped to the American market. Coffee cultivation prospered, for a while, only to be hit; by sucpessive hurricanes in 1926, 1929, and 1932. A citrus industry, making some head* way, requires American capital. THE CHIEF ABM. All in all, Puerto Rico does not appear too happily endowed for complete independence. However, there is another form of government strongly appealing to less nationalistically inclined citizens, namely, Statehood. Under Statehood, Puerto Rico would have some six members in the United States House of Representatives and two members in the Senate. -..[ They would represent a population/of about 1,500,000 persons. Commodities' would remain tax free and American citizenship, like that of all Americans, would be theirs. Statehood would provide, a long-sought autonomy and no harm to millions of dollars invested on :the island by American capital and. business. The Puerto Rican issue, boiled down, represents one more trouble spot of • the United States relations in the . Caribbean. Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, each in turn, have risen to plague Governments in Washington. If Washington 'could justly rid itself of this latest plague, undoubtedly it would do so and sigh contentedly. The Roosevelt good-neighbour policy; can stand much.;: stretching. But whether it can stand..: being , pulled from both ends and the. middle is other matter. Plunging; Puerto.. Rico into chaos would hardly be a'luridly and neighbourly act. In fact, it would be nearer an asinine! performance.! Oa paper it would free a highly illiterate rpeople; but in reality it- would subject them to the whims of.'a political minority. ; *■ v■ "'.:• ;-:'!-;'A '''•.■£ The United States Congress has: not adopted the Tydings ..Bill.' -Puißrto Rico, if present reberveratipns ■■., have ' any significance,- would-V probably throw it overboard/ if: given- iha chance to vote on'independence. ;'

■ Frog's legs are enjoying a> wave of popularity in the United Statesiiwhere as much as 5s will be paid fop a paif in quite moderate-priced restaurants.