only for the protection of our Church.
The Archbishop of Porto Rico is now in Spain, and the Vicar General of
San Juan is acting head of the Church in the island. But we no longer
look to him as our ecclesiastical head; but as soon as possible we shall
communicate with Cardinal Gibbons and we await his wishes.

"Should any American soldier desire the administrations of a priest,
they always shall be at his service. We have determined to become loyal
Americans."

Moreover, on September 23, Captain Gardner, in company of General
Wilson, called upon the President and made a report in which he
elaborated upon the relation of the Church to the government. He stated
that while a large majority of the Porto Ricans were Catholics, by
profession, they were not offensively zealous. He placed the number of
priests at 240, and the annual cost to the public treasury of their
support at about $120,000 in American money.

Colonel Gardner, in addition to his report, also presented to President
McKinley, an address signed by many of the leading Porto Ricans. The
signers expressed their pleasure at the prospect of becoming citizens of
the United States, and announced their hope that the Porto Rican people
might some day become worthy to organize a State of the Union.

In this hope we are sure all Americans will most heartily join.

CHAPTER XI.

OUR CLAIM TO PORTO RICO.

One great question raised by the recent war was that of territorial
expansion, and this question called forth many expressions of opinion
both for and against.

There is no doubt, however, but that Porto Rico is ours by the right of
conquest, and that it would be a crime from every point of view for us
not to retain it.

That we shall retain it, too, now seems certain.

Let us now, in the first place, look back and see what two of our most
prominent statesmen have said in the past. They may be looked upon
almost as prophets.

The idea of territorial expansion is not a new one. In fact, it dates
back half a century, and the thought of this expansion has been silently
hatched ever since.

In 1846, William H. Seward, afterward Secretary of State under the
administration of Abraham Lincoln, published an open letter under the
title, "We Should Carry Out Our Destiny."

To carry out that destiny, said Mr. Seward in this letter, the United
States should prepare themselves for their mission by getting rid of the
Old World which still continued with ideas