On the 48th Anniversary

Until last week Puerto Ricans felt no urge to celebrate the anniversary (July 25) of the landing of U.S. troops on their island in 1898. Then Harry Truman gave them reason. On that day he chose a native Puerto Rican as their governor, the first to hold the post. He was burly 49-year-old Jesus Toribio Pinero, since 1944 Puerto Rico's elected Resident Commissioner in Washington.

In his choice of William Henry Hastie to be Governor of the Virgin Islands, the President had sent a Negro to govern a predominantly Negro population. In picking Jesus Pinero, he said that he was giving an earnest of the U.S. desire for U.S. colonials to have a greater voice in their government.

If he was aware of the anniversary, Harry Truman did not mention it. But he had plenty of good reasons for his choice. U.S.-trained (University of Pennsylvania), Jesus Pinero had been an able spokesman of Puerto Rico's problems. He was a popular man at home. He was a close friend of the island's most powerful politician, Luis Munoz Marin; with him Pinero had founded the now dominant Popular Democratic Party in 1938. The Insular Legislature had recommended his appointment.

But there had been heavy pressure in Washington against him. The Democratic National Committee wanted the $10,000-a-year plum for its own choice, New Hampshire's ex-Governor Francis Murphy. From party politicos to the White House went protests about Luis Munoz Marin's bossism. Harry Truman stood firm; he wanted a native, and Interior Secretary Julius Krug agreed that Sugar Farmer Pinero should be the man. So did most Puerto Ricans.

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