Section 2 of Article VI says:

"This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land."

Our treaty with Spain made Porto Rico and the Philippines part of the United States; it is the supreme law of the land; duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; therefore the custom rates in Manila Harbor should be exactly what they are in New York Harbor.

Clause 5, section 9, Article I, says:

"No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties, in another."

Section 10 of the same Article says:

"No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws," etc.

The precise issue is as to whether Congress has the power to levy duties on products coming from Porto Rico and the Philippines into the United States, and vice versa.

Has Congress the power to levy duties on products passing between the territory of Alaska and the remainder of the United States? As regards commerce between the States, Congress has no such power, that is certain; nor have the States themselves such a power, for that is prohibited.

Congress is not specifically given the power to levy duties on products passing between territory of the United States and the several States; and the whole spirit of the instrument would seem to be against such power. In truth, duties levied at Manila on products coming from California amount exactly to the same thing as levying export duties on California products. Congress has only such power as is delegated to it by the Constitution, and the levying of duties on inter-territorial commerce is not among the powers delegated. If it is not directly prohibited, it is at least prohibited by inference, and it is unquestionably against sound public policy. However, it is for practical purposes unnecessary to discuss the power of Congress in the premises, as the Supreme Court has decided that it has such power.

It is very clear that if Congress has such power, it ought not to exercise it. Trade between all portions of our territory should be absolutely free.

PART II-A RATIONAL POLICY FOR THE

UNITED STATES

CHAPTER VII

INEPTITUDE OF AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN DEALING WITH LATIN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS

D'

How, in the name of soldiership and sense,
Should England prosper, when such things, as smooth
And tender as a girl, all essenced o'er

With odors, and as profligate as sweet,

Who sell their laurels for a myrtle wreath,

And love when they should fight, when such as these
Presume to lay their hand upon the ark

Or her magnificent and awful cause?

Time was when it was praise and boast enough
In every clime, and travel where we might,

That we were born her children.

To fill the ambition of a private man,

Praise enough

That Chatham's language was his mother tongue,
And Wolfe's great name compatriot with his own.
WILLIAM COWPER.

IPLOMACY may be defined as the art and science of "How not to do it!" A friend in the diplomatic service once said rather testily, "You don't understand this question of diplomacy." I replied that I did not, and was rather glad of it, but supposed it was related in some manner to that allied subject known in South America as Mañana !

American diplomats in South America may be divided into two classes, those who have their wives with them and those who have not. The prima facie presumption is that the former are gentlemen, and that they represent their country with dignity and in a decent manner. Unfortunately as much cannot in all cases be said for the latter. It is a country where la querida is universal, where a man's rank is largely determined by the number of them that he keeps. Much has been seen and heard of the peculiar doings of American consuls whose wives had remained in the States. It must be evident that if an American consul becomes compromised with one, or, as it often happens, a dozen of these South American women, his usefulness as an agent of the United States is to that extent undermined. It gives the local authorities a club over his head the force and power of which can well be understood by men who know the world.

Apart from this, no man can represent the United States with character and dignity unless he himself is a man of character and