"The great Republic, unlike the governments of Europe, has no subjects. It extends its rights and privileges freely and equally to all men, regardless of race or color or previous condition, who reside within its far-reaching dominions. It makes citizens of all who forswear their allegiance to foreign Powers, princes and potentates, and promise henceforth to bear true faith and allegiance to the United States. "The expulsion of the Spanish power from your beautiful and long-suffering island and the hoisting of the American flag will be followed shortly, let us hope, by the establishment of a stable civil administration, based on the American principle of local self-government. "The government now exercising supreme authority in the island, you will understand, is a government of conquest, in which the will of the military commander is substituted for that of the Spanish king and Cortes. It does not pretend to interfere with the local laws, except in so far as may be necessary to protect the army of the United States and maintain peace and good order among the people of the island. It looks to the local courts to do justice as between man and man, and to the moderation and good sense of the people themselves for the maintenance of public tranquility, and for the cultivation of that perfect respect for the rights of persons and property which constitutes the foundation of the American system of government. "It has been wisely said by one of the fathers of the republic that 'That government is best which governs least,' and this is the principle which Porto Rico should keep constantly in view. Government interference is necessary only when the people, instead of confining themselves exclusively to their own particular affairs, presume to interfere with the affairs of their neighbors. "If every one, high and low, rich and poor, Porto Rican and Spaniard, devotes himself strictly and exclusively to his own private or official business, eschewing politics and public affairs, for the next year, everybody will find at the end of that time that the island has been well governed and prosperous, and your American fellow citizens will proclaim you worthy of the good fortune which has united your destinies to those of the great Republic. "Permit me to add that as soon as the Spaniards have evacuated the island, and the sovereignty of the United States is fully established, a military governor will be appointed by the President, and he will govern in the main in accordance with the principles I have indicated. How long this military government will last must depend largely upon the people of Porto Rico themselves.