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Show Porto Rico Wants to Elect a Governor! WASHINGTON. Porto Rico will have almost complete control over Its affairs If a hill now before the house is enacted. The bill would permit the Island territory to elect Us governor in 1028. Governor Towner and leading men of Porto Itleo appenred in Washington recently to argue in Its favor. They Impressed congressional committees with the belief that the granting of more autonomy was Justified by conditions, con-ditions, and that it would lead to a better feeling among the people of the Island, who In 1917 became citizens of the United States and enrolled 400,000 men for the World war. In 1917 the people were Intrusted with the power to make their own laws, and the only evidence of American Ameri-can rule In the island today is that the governor and the members of the Supreme Su-preme court are appointed by the President of the United States. "In my Judgment the Porto Ricans are entitled to the proposed extension of self-government," said Governor Towner. He has presided over the affairs of the Island for a year, and before that he was chairman of the house committee on insular affairs. "Personally I think that the island will In time become a state in the Union. They are not asking for Independence. They want to continue as part of our territory; so their desire for extension of self-government is not for the purpose pur-pose of becoming an independent republic. re-public. That is not in their minds. But as our states elect their governors, govern-ors, so they ask to elect theirs. To grant their prayer will bind Porto Rico closer to us as a friendly neighbor. neigh-bor. "Education In Porto Rico has been a difficult task. But let it be remembered remem-bered that in the last twenty years Illiteracy has been reduced from 90 per cent to 50 per cent ; that now there are about 2,000 buildings for school purposes, with about 200,000 pupils enrolled en-rolled and 3,000 teachers employed, and that the government spends annually annu-ally $4,000,000, or about 37 per cent of its budget, for educational purposes. "In sanitary progress Porto Rico has made great strides. The total mortality rate In 1898 was 41 per 1,000. This has been reduced to 18.6. Better conditions and better methods will undoubtedly un-doubtedly result In still greater reduction." |