Memorandum on Puerto Rico

Paeto Rica On several occasions, since our conversation in Washington last October, I have been tempted to write to you with reference to many things that have happened and are happening down here under the combined leadership of two men who seem to be determined to eradicate the last vestiges of democracy remaining in this Island. I resisted the temptation because knowing as I do how busy you are with matters of national and universal interest, I thought that I should not impose on you the additional burden of listening to our local troubles. The situation has become SO critical and unbearable that I feel that I would be guilty of a dereliction of my duty as a loyal American citizen should I fail to present these facts to the best friend that the decent and responsible people of this Island have in the National Capital. The two men in control of the local government have succeeded in establishing a perfect system of mutual rubber-stamping of each other's actions, between the executive and the legislative branches of our government. The legislature has ceased to be a free acting body, all proposed laws being approved or rejected by a SO called "caucus" of the majority, presided by the President of the Senate, whose orders are blindly obeyed. The laws are passed without any opportunity of publicity or debate and the public knows nothing about them until the news of their passage is published in the press. The Judicial Branch of the Government with the exception of a few judges especially appointed for the purpose--has refused to take orders and has SO far lived up to its obligation to interpret the laws fearlessly and without favors to anyone. The guns of the dictators are now trained on the courts. And they intend to destroy their power and their efficiency by the enactment of legislation tending to curtail their jurisdiction or permitting the "packing" of the Court through the appointment of additional judges, who will be subservient to their political masters. Before entering upon a statement of the facts, I should state that the District Courts and the Supreme Court have been most liberal in the interpretation of all the SO called "social legisla- tion" enacted by our local legislature as part of the Polular Party's Program of Social Justice. We have upheld the constitution- ality of the 500 acres law; the minimum wage law; the land authority Act; the law declaring the Sugar Mills public utilities, and many others. Our troubles began with our interpretation of the War Emergency Fund Act. These are the facts: In order to provide employment during the war emergency, the Legislature passed a law appropriating 16,000,000. This fund was to be disbursed by a Board constituted by the Governor as Chairman, and by most of the heads of the departments, all of them members of the same political party. No intervention was given to the minorities. The fund was spent during the pre-election period of 1944 and became exhausted a short time before election day. The -1-