HOUSE OF DELEGATES. SEC. 27. That all local legislative powers hereby granted shall be vested in a legislative assembly which shall consist of two houses; one the executive council, as hereinbefore constituted, and the other a house of delegates, to consist of thirty-five members elected biennially by the qualified voters as hereinafter provided; and the two house thus constituted shall be designated "The legislative assembly of Porto Rico." SEC. 28. That for the purposes of such elections Porto Rico shall be divided by the executive council into seven districts, composed of contiguous territory and as nearly equal as may be in population, and each district shall be entitled to five members of the house of delegates. ELECTION OF DELEGATES. SEC. 29. That the first election for delegates shall be held on such date and under such regulations as to ballots and voting as the executive council may prescribe; and at such elections the voters of each legislative district shall choose five delegates to represent them in the house of delegates from the date of their election and qualification until two years from and after the first day of January next ensu ing; of all which thirty days' notice shall be given by publication in the Official Gazette, or by printed notices distributed and posted throughout the district, or by both, as the executive council may prescribe. At such elections all citizens of Porto Rico shall be allowed to vote who have been bona fide residents for one year and who possess the other qualifications of voters under the laws and military orders in force on the first day of March, nineteen hundred, subject to such modifications and additional qualifications and such regulations and restrictions as to registration as may be prescribed by the executive council. The house of delegates so chosen shall convene at the capital and organize by the election of a speaker, a clerk, a sergeant-at-arms, and such other officers and assistants as it may require, at such time as may be designated by the executive council; but it shall not continue in session longer that sixty days in any one year, unless called by the governor to meet in extraordinary session. The enacting clause of the laws shall be, "Be it enacted by the legislative assembly of Porto Rico;" and each member of the house of delegates shall be paid for his services at the rate of five dollars per day for each day's attendance while the house is in session, and mileage at the rate of ten cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled each way to and from each session of the legislative assembly. All future elections of delegates shall be governed by the provisions hereof, so far as they are applicable, until the legislative essembly shall otherwise provide. SEC. 30. That the house of delegates shall be the sole judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members, and shall have and exercise all the powers with respect to the conduct of its proceedings that usually appertain to parliamentary legislative bodies. No person shall be eligible to membership in the house of delegates who is not twenty-five years of age and able to read and write either the Spanish or the English language, or who is not possessed in his own right of taxable property, real or personal, situated in Porto Rico. SEC. 31. That all bills may originate in either house, but no bill shall become a law unless it be passed in each house by a majority vote of all the members belonging to such house and be approved by the governor within ten days thereafter. If, when a bill that has been passed is presented to the governor for signature, he approves the same, he shall sign it, or if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objections at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider the bill. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be considered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered upon the journal of each house, respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislative assembly by adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law: Provided, however, That all laws enacted by the legis lative 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. SEC. 32. That the legislative authority herein provided shall extend to all matter of a legislative character not locally inapplicable, including power to create, consolidate, and reorganize the municipalities, so far as may be necessary, and to provide and repeal laws and ordinances therefor; and also the power to alter, amend, modify, and repeal any and all laws and ordinances of every character now in force in Porto Rico, or any municipality or district thereof, not inconsistent with the provisions hereof: Provided, however, That all grants of franchises, rights, and privileges or concessions of a public or quasi-public nature shall be made by the execu tive council, with the approval of the governor, and all franchises granted in Porto Rico shall be reported to Congress, which hereby reserves the power to annul or modify the same. THE JUDICIARY. SEC. 33. That the judicial power shall be vested in the courts and tribunals of Porto Rico as already established and now in operation, including municipal courts, under and by virtue of General Orders, Numbered One hundred and eighteen, as promulgated by BrigadierGeneral Davis, United States Volunteers, August sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and including also the police courts established by General Orders, Numbered One hundred and ninetyfive, promulgated November twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, by Brigadier-General Davis, United States Volunteers, and the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico and the municipalities thereof in force, so far as the same are not in conflict herewith, all which courts and tribunals are hereby continued. The jurisdiction of said courts and the form of procedure in them, and the various officials and attachés thereof, respectively, shall be the same as defined and prescribed in and by said laws and ordinances, and said General Orders, Numbered One hundred and eighteen and One hundred and ninetyfive, until otherwise provided by law: Provided, however, That the chief justice and associate justices of the supreme court and the marshal thereof shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and the judges of the district courts shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the executive council, and all other officials and attachés of all the other courts shall be chosen as may be directed by the legislative assembly, which shall have authority to legislate from time to time as it may see fit with respect to said courts, and any others they may deem it advisable to establish, their organization, the number of judges and officials and attachés for each, their jurisdiction, their procedure, and all other matters affecting them. SEC. 34. That Porto Rico shall constitute a judicial district to be called the district of Porto Rico." The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint a district judge, a district attorney, and a marshal for said district, each for a term of four years, unless sooner removed by the President. The district court for said district shall be called the district court of the United States for Porto Rico and shall have power to appoint all necessary officials and assistants, including a clerk, an interpreter, and such commissioners as may be necessary, who shall have like power and duties as are exercised and performed by commissioners of the circuit courts of the United States, and shall have, in addition to the ordinary jurisdiction of district courts of the United States, jurisdiction of all cases cognizant in the circuit courts of the United States, and shall proceed therein in the same manner as a circuit court. The laws of the United States relating to appeals, writs of error and certiorari, removal of causes, and other matters and proceedings as between the courts of the United States and the courts of the several States shall govern in such matters and proceedings as between the district court of the United States and the courts of Porto Rico. Regular terms of said court shall be held at San Juan, commencing on the second Monday in April and October of each year, and also at Ponce on the second Monday in January of each year, and special terms may be held at Mayaguez at such other stated times as said judge may deem expedient. All pleadings and proceedings in said court shall be conducted in the English language. The United States district court hereby established shall be the successor to the United States provisional court established by General Orders, Numbered Eighty-eight, promulgated by Brigadier-General Davis, United States Volunteers, and shall take possession of all records of that court, and take jurisdiction of all cases and proceedings pending therein, and said United States provisional court is hereby discontinued. SEC. 35. That writs of error and appeals from the final decisions of the supreme court of Porto Rico and the district court of the United States shall be allowed and may be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in the same manner and under the same regulations and in the same cases as from the supreme courts of the Territories of the United States; and such writs of error and appeal shall be allowed in all cases where the Constitution of the United States, or a treaty thereof, or an Act of Congress is brought in question and the right claimed thereunder is denied; and the supreme and district courts of Porto Rico and the respective judges thereof may grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases in which the same are grantable by the judges of the district and circuit courts of the United States. All such proceedings in the Supreme Court of the United States shall be conducted in the English language. SEC. 36. That the salaries of all officials of Porto Rico not appointed by the President, including deputies, assistants, and other help, shall be such, and be so paid out of the revenues of Porto Rico, as the executive council shall from time to time determine: Provided, however, That the salary of no officer shall be either increased or diminished during his term of office. The salaries of all officers and all expenses of the offices of the various officials of Porto Rico, appointed as herein provided by the President, including deputies, assistants, and other help, shall also be paid out of the revenues of Porto Rico on the warrant of the auditor, countersigned by the governor. The annual salaries of the officials appointed by the President, and so to be paid, shall be as follows: The governor, eight thousand dollars; in addition thereto he shall be entitled to the occupancy of the buildings heretofore used by the chief executive of Porto Rico, with the furniture and effects therein, free of rental. The secretary, four thousand dollars. The attorney-general, four thousand dollars. The auditor, four thousand dollars. The commissioner of the interior, four thousand dollars. The commissioner of education, three thousand dollars. The chief justice of the supreme court, five thousand dollars. The associate justices of the supreme court (each), four thousand five hundred dollars. The marshal of the supreme court, three thousand dollars. The United States district marshal, three thousand five hundred dollars. SEC. 37. That the provisions of the foregoing section shall not apply to the municipal officials. Their salaries and the compensation of their deputies, assistants, and other help, as well as all other expenses incurred by the municipalities, shall be paid out of the municipal revenues in such manner as the legislative assembly shall provide. SEC. 38. That no export duties shall be levied or collected on exports from Porto Rico; but taxes and assessments on property, and license fees for franchises, privileges, and concessions may be imposed for the purposes of the insular and municipal governments, respectively, as may be provided and defined by act of the legislative assembly; and where necessary to anticipate taxes and revenues, bonds and other obligations may be issued by Porto Rico or any municipal government therein as may be provided by law to provide for expenditures authorized by law, and to protect the public credit, and to reimburse the United States for any moneys which have been or may be expended out of the emergency fund of the War Department for the relief of the industrial conditions of Porto Rico caused by the hurricane of August eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine: Provided, however. That no public indebtedness of Porto Rico or of any municipality thereof shall be authorized or allowed in excess of seven per centum of the aggregate tax valuation of its property. SEC. 39. That the qualified voters of Porto Rico shall, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, anno Domini nineteen hundred, and every two years thereafter, choose a resident commissioner to the United States, who shall be entitled to official recog |