"In the natural and regular course of events the military government should be followed by a territorial government established by act of Congress, and this in time should be followed in a few years by a government which shall make Porto Rico a sovereign State of the great Republic, and give it all the rights guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. "Permit me to add, before concluding, that you are likely to meet with delay in the realization of your hopes from two principal causes. "It is well known in the United States that Porto Rico is a Roman Catholic country, and there is grave objection on the part of many good people against the admission of a purely Roman Catholic State into the Union. This is based not so much on opposition to that particular religion as on the feeling that the domination of any sect would be prejudicial to our principles of government. We have, perhaps, ten millions of Roman Catholics in the United States, but they are scattered throughout the various States, and intermingled everywhere with the Protestant sects, so that no one has a majority. We have no established Church, and under our policy Congress can pass no act concerning religion or limiting the right of any citizen to worship God as he pleases. "The result is that all the churches are absolutely free, and none concerns itself with politics. Each watches to see that the other does not get control of the State. "Now that the Spanish government has been expelled, it can no longer support the Church in this island, hence the Church will necessarily have a hard struggle till it can establish itself on the basis of voluntary parochial support. Meanwhile the Protestant denominations in the United States will have the right to send their missionaries into this inviting field, where they will doubtless receive a hearty welcome, but still the advantage will remain with the Roman Catholic Church, in which the people have been born, married and buried for the last four hundred years. "Besides, it must not be forgotten that the Church, like every other institution of the island, will surely realize its full share of the benefits arising from the union of the island with the great Republic. It will, therefore, become more liberal and independent, as well as more powerful than it has ever been. "Fortunately for you, however, every other Christian denomination will from this time forth be free to make converts, establish churches, open schools and circulate religious books and newspapers, and generally to show that it is a worthy teacher and guide to a higher and better civilization than ever prevails where one Church holds undisputed sway.