Puerto Rico History - 1869 Baldorioty de Castro
Román Baldorioty de Castro was born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and studied in San Juan. He went to Madrid on a scholarship and completed studies in Physical and Mathematical Sciences. He then went to France and studied in the Central School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris. In 1853 he returned to Puerto Rico and became a teacher in Botany and Maritime Sciences at the School of Commerce, Agriculture, and Maritime Studies in San Juan as well as Physics and Chemistry at the Seminario Conciliar. From 1860 to 1865 he also was secretary of the Exhibitionary Fairs that were held in Puerto Rico for which he wrote reports. During those same years he began his political career by joining the Partido Liberal Reformista which he represented at the Universal Fair in Paris in 1867.
In 1870 he was elected to be a deputy to the Spanish Cortes, supporting abolitionist and autonomist causes. The concept of autonomy was not new to Baldorioty de Castro. In 1869 he had favored autonomy of the Canadian type as a resolution of the colonial problem of Puerto Rico, advocating free trade and the abolition of slavery in accordance with the position taken by the Puerto Rican liberals on the Commission of Madrid.
Baldorioty wrote : "In the question of the public interest as in an issue of private interests,compromises are frequently necessary. We seek solutions which are both practical and possible. However, we will never accept the colonial system, which places the province in humiliating conditions of inferiority in contrast with the harmony of equality enjoyed by other provinces of the nation ; nor will we accept a system based on slavery, whether overt or veiled, nor one which can permit, as has been the case up to now, the ruinous abuses of an irresponsible administration.
"Such is and continues to be the colonial system which reigns in Puerto Rico; contrary to the true interests of the nation, this traditional regime represents blind opposition to cultural, economic and political progress of the island. We have protested against the colonial system and we will continue to do so, accepting as an honor the calumny and vicious rumors perpetrated against our cause."
The following year, in 1870, Baldorioty again referred enthusiastically to the autonomous system of Canada as the definitive system of the future. In 1881, having been pressed into service as the director of the newspaper La Cronica, Baldorioty began a formidable campaign which favored the formula which British wisdom had devised for Canada, and supported the efforts of the Cuban paper El Triunfo, an organ of the Cuban Autonomous Party.
Baldorioty pointed out after reproducing an article from El Triunfo : "Insofar as we share the ideas presented in this article, we welcome it to our pages, while lamenting the censorship of this island which prohibits our whole-hearted support of this editorial. For this daily from our sister island is one of the most out-spoken and determined apostles of the system of government by which Canada was able to achieve liberty without tears or bloodshed, giving England the unprecedented glory of having its American colony reject her offer of emancipation."
Later, in a more concrete expression of his proposals, Baldorioty de Castro recommended the attainment of a type of self-government within which most of the vital elements of Puerto Rico might be incorporated with the greatest possible liberty. In the political sphere, this meant that the individual rights of man, characteristic of the liberal era, took highest priority.
With reference to the island's economy and administration, Baldorioty favored extensive decentralization, a budget determined by the island, direct taxation, and complete freedom in the areas of commerce, of industry, and of education. The prevailing historical sense of national unity, according to Baldorioty, would constitute an effective limitation on the abuse of such rights.
Baldorioty's campaign had an immediate impact on the liberals. Among the journalists to take up the banner of autonomy were don Luis R. Velazquez, editor of La Civilización of San Juan; don Bonociotió Segarra, editor of La Patria of Mayaguez; and don Hemeterio Colón Warrens, editor of La Abeja of Humacao.
The liberal group from Ponce quickly called a meeting, resulting in a declaration in favor of autonomy and naming Baldorioty as honorary president. A similar meeting was held in Mayaguez which included such liberals as don Salvador Carbonell Toro, don Bartolomé Esteva, don Pedro M.Ruiz, don José Rivera Rodriguez, don Emilio Castro and don Manuel Pagan. In Cabo Rojo and throughout the island, demonstrations were held in favor of the liberal cause.
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