PORTO RICO CAPITAL SAN JUAN POLITICAL STATUS Porto Rico was ceded to the United States by Spain December 10, 1898. Civil government was established May 1, 1900. According to a United States Supreme Court decision rendered December 2, 1901, the citizens of Porto Rico are not citizens of the United States. The present form of government is determined by an act of Congress dated April 12, 1900. The Governor and the chief executive officials are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. These officials with five other reputable citizens of Porto Rico, also appointed by the President, constitute an Executive Council, with powers similar to those of the upper house of a state legislature. Then there is a lower house, known as the House of Delegates, consisting of 35 delegates elected biennially by the citizens of Porto Rico. The Legislative Assembly has the usual law making powers but the enabling act provides that "all laws enacted by the Legislative Assembly shall be reported to the Congress of the United States, which hereby reserves the power and authority, if deemed advisable, to annul the same. By an act of Congress approved July 15, 1909, the President is required to designate an executive department of the government of the United States to which the Governor and other officials shall report. President Taft by executive order dated July 15, 1909, designated the War Department to receive such reports and all matters pertaining to the government of Porto Rico are placed in the jurisdiction of that department and especially assigned to the Bureau of Insular Affairs. The people of Porto Rico have the right to elect every two years, a resident commissioner to the United States. This commissioner has a seat in Congress but not a vote. A new organic act for the government of the island has been pending in Congress for several years. Students of the Porto Rican political status feel that action should be taken to grant American citizenship to those Porto Ricans desiring it. At present they are men without a country, as Porto Rico is merely a ward, a “possession" of the United States. LOCATION, AREA AND POPULATION Porto Rico is one of the West Indies. It is located 800 miles due east of Key West, Florida. It is about 1,500 miles south from New York and about the same distance east from New Orleans. The island has an area of 3,606 square miles, or say 2,300,000 acres. The Bureau of the U. S. Census estimates the population for January 1, 1917, at 1,223,981, say 339.4 to the square mile. The island is quite mountainous, but there are large areas of level or rolling country. The southerly side is subject to severe droughts to remedy which, an extensive system of irrigation has been installed. INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCE The principal industries are agricultural. The leading crops are sugar, coffee, tobacco and fruits. The fortunes of the island are to a marked degree dependent upon the sugar crop. The reduction of the tariff on sugar was a great blow to the commerce of Porto Rico in 1914, reducing the value of sugar exports in that year by nearly one-third, as compared with the banner year, 1912. The high prices for sugar brought about as the result of the European war again raised the value of the exports in 1915 to the highest value theretofore known, except that of 1912; while in 1916 the value of the sugar exported reached the phenomenal figure of about $46,000,000. Tobacco in the leaf and manufactured, coffee, fruits and nuts are the other important exported products. The most important imports are bread-stuffs, meat products and general merchandise. The per capita purchasing capacity of the island is greater than any of the Latin-American countries with the exception of Argentina and Cuba. If the area of the country is considered it is far above all the others. Porto Rico's exports in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916, were valued at $66,842,660, which makes over $18,500 per square mile. In Cuba, the next largest, exports in 1915 amounted to $219,447,000, with an area of about 46,000 square miles, or less than $5,000 per square mile. In Argentina the proportion is $550,000,000 of exports in 1915 for an area of 1,153,000 square miles, or less than $500 per square mile. Material development in Porto Rico is taking place steadily, and within a few years when its railway system is completed and modern improvements have been adopted in all its cities and agricultural establishments, it may claim to be one of the richest countries in the world in proportion to its size. There are 12 recognized banks on the Island reporting to the Treasury Department. Nine of the 12 banks are owned and controlled by local capital, one is an American institution and the other two are Canadian. The total resources on June 30, 1916, were reported at $23,195,766. The bulk of the trade of the Island both in exports and imports is with the United States. This is largely due to the fact that American goods pay no duty in Porto Rico. The following tables are of interest: 1901...$5,581,288 1902.. 8,378.766 1903...11.051,195 1904...11,722,826 1905... 15,633,145 1906...19.142,461 1907...22,070,133 1908...25,891,281 Total 4,055,190 12,433.956 2,326,957 13,209,610 10,882,653 12.245,845 2,203,441 14,449,286 1,958,960 13,169.029 2,562,189 16,536,259 2.602,784 21,827,665 3,580,887 29,267,172 22,677,376 3,148,289 25,825,665 23,618,545 2,925,781 26,544,326 4,037,884 15,089,079 4,543,077 16,265,903 3,076,420 18,709,565 4,115,069 23,257,530 4,926,167 26,996,300 4,753,209 30.644,490 1909...26,394,312 3.996,913 30,391,225 1910...32,095.645 5,864,574 37,960,219 1911...34,765,409 5,152.958 39,918,367 1912...42,873,401 6,832,012 49,705.413 1913...40,538,623 8,564,942 49,103,565 1914...34,423,180 8,679,582 43,102,762 1915...42,311,920 7,044,987 49,356,907 1916...60.952,758 5,889,902 66,842,660 35,892,515 The finances of Porto Rico are carefully handled. The general government furnishes the capital required for municipal improvements, taking the bonds of the municipalities and then borrowing on its own credit the moneys required. This arrangement permits the municipalities to borrow on the basis of the credit of the general government. Relatively large amounts have been expended on education, sanitation and good roads since the control of the Island passed to the United States. The budget has steadily grown as is the tendency nearly everywhere. Much larger expenditures should be made for education. The percentage of illiteracy is about 66.5. The insular revenues are unfavorably affected by the steady growth of the business with the United States with a corresponding reduction in the imports from foreign countries and therefore in the customs receipts. The large population, the relatively low average wealth and the dependence of the business of the Island to so great an extent upon the sugar crop, makes the problem of raising sufficient revenues to meet the growing needs of the Island a difficult one. Unless the de |