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As soon after the close of each fiscal year as the accounts of said year may be examined and adjusted, the auditors shall submit to the governor an annual report of the fiscal concerns of the government, showing the receipts and disbursements of the various departments and bureaus of the government and of the various municipalities, and make such other reports as may be required of him by the governor or the head of the executive department of the Government of the United States, to be designated by the President as herein provided.

In the execution of his duties the auditor is authorized to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and to take evidence, and, in the pursuance of these provisions, may issue subpoenas and enforce the attendance of witnesses.

The office of the auditor shall be under the general supervision of the governor and shall consist of the auditor and such necessary assistants as may be prescribed by law.

SEC. 21. That any person aggrieved by the action or decision of the auditor in the settlement of his account or claim may, within one year, take an appeal in writing to the governor, which appeal shall specifically set forth the particular action of the auditor to which exception is taken, with the reason and authorities relied on for reversing such decision. The decision of the governor in such case shall be final, subject to such right of action as may be otherwise provided by law.

SEC. 22. That there shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico, an executive secretary at an annual salary of $4,000, who shall record and preserve the minutes and proceedings of the public service commission hereinafter provided for and the laws enacted by the legislature and all acts and proceedings of the governor, and promulgate all proclamations and orders of the governor and all laws enacted by the legislature, and until otherwise provided by the Legislature of Porto Rico perform all the duties of secretary of Porto Rico as now provided by law, except as otherwise specified in this Act, and perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Governor of Porto Rico. In the event of a vacancy in the office, or the absence, illness, or temporary disqualification of such officer, the governor shall designate some officer or employee of the government to discharge the functions of said office during such vacancy, absence, illness, or temporary disqualification.

SEC. 23. That the Governor of Porto Rico, within sixty days after the end of each session of the legislature, shall transmit to the executive department of the Government of the United States, to be designated as herein provided for, which shall in turn transmit the

same to the Congress of the United States, copies of all laws enacted during the session.

SEC. 24. That the President may from time to time designate the head of an executive department of Porto Rico to act as governor in the case of a vacancy, the temporary removal, resignation, or disability of the governor, or his temporary absence, and the head of the department thus designated shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of the governor during such vacancy, disability, or absence.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 25. That all local legislative powers in Porto Rico, except as herein otherwise provided, shall be vested in a legislature which shall consist of two houses, one the senate and the other the house of representatives, and the two houses shall be designated "the Legislature of Porto Rico."

SEC. 26. That the Senate of Porto Rico shall consist of nineteen members elected for terms of four years by the qualified electors of Porto Rico. Each of the seven senatorial districts defined as hereinafter provided shall have the right to elect two senators, and in addition thereto there shall be elected five senators at large. No person shall be a member of the Senate of Porto Rico who is not over thirty years of age, and who is not able to read and write either the Spanish or English language, and who has not been a resident of Porto Rico for at least two consecutive years, and, except in the case of senators at large, an actual resident of the senatorial district from which chosen for a period of at least one year prior to his election. Except as herein otherwise provided, the Senate of Porto Rico shall exercise all of the purely legislative powers and functions heretofore exercised by the Executive Council, including confirmation of appointments; but appointments made while the senate is not in session shall be effective either until disapproved or until the next adjournment of the senate for the session. In electing five senators at large each elector shall be permitted to vote for but one candidate, and the five candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected.

SEC. 27. That the House of Representatives of Porto Rico shall consist of thirty-nine members elected quadrennially by the qualified electors of Porto Rico, as hereinafter provided. Each of the representative districts hereinafter provided for shall have the right to elect one representative, and in addition thereto there shall be elected four representatives at large. No person shall be a member of the house of representatives who is not over twenty-five years of age, and who is not able to read and write either the Spanish or English language, except in the case of representative at large, who has not

been a bona fide resident of the district from which elected for at least one year prior to his election. In electing the four representatives at large, each elector shall be permitted to vote for but one candidate and the four candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected.

SEC. 28. That for the purpose of elections hereafter to the legislature the island of Porto Rico shall be divided into thirty-five representative districts, composed of contiguous and compact territory and established, so far as practicable, upon the basis of equal population. The division into and the demarcation of such districts shall be made by the Executive Council of Porto Rico. Division of districts shall be made as nearly as practicable to conform to the topographical nature of the land, with regard to roads and other means of communication and to natural barriers. Said Executive Council shall also divide the island of Porto Rico into seven senatorial districts, each composed of five contiguous and compact representative districts. They shall make their report within thirty days after the approval of this Act, which report, when approved by the governor, shall be final. SEC. 29. That the next election in Porto Rico shall be held in the year nineteen hundred and seventeen upon the sixteenth day of July. At such election there shall be chosen senators, representatives, a Resident Commissioner to the United States, and two publicservice commissioners, as herein provided. Thereafter the elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, beginning with the year nineteen hundred and twenty, and every four years thereafter, and the terms of office of all municipal officials who have heretofore been elected and whose terms would otherwise expire at the beginning of the year nineteen hundred and nineteen are hereby extended until the officials who may be elected to fill such offices in nineteen hundred and twenty shall have been duly qualified: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit the right of the Legislature of Porto Rico at any time to revise the boundaries of senatorial and representative districts and of any municipality, or to abolish any municipality and the officers provided therefor.

SEC. 30. That the term of office of senators and representatives chosen by the first general election shall be until January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, and the terms of office of senators and representatives chosen at subsequent elections shall be four years from the second of January following their election. In case of vacancy among the members of the senate or in the house of representatives, special elections may be held in the districts wherein such vacancy occurred, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, but senators or representatives elected in such cases shall hold office only for the unexpired portion of the term wherein the

vacancy occurred, and no senator or representative shall, during the time for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office under the government of Porto Rico, nor be appointed to any office created by Act of the legislature during the time for which he shall have been elected until two years after his term of office shall have expired.

SEC. 31. That members of the Senate and House of Representatives of Porto Rico shall receive compensation at the rate of $7 per day for the first ninety days of each regular session and $1 per day for each additional day of such session while in session, and mileage for each session at the rate of 10 cents per kilometer for each kilometer actually and necessarily traveled in going from their legislative districts to the capital and therefrom to their place of residence in their districts by the usual routes of travel.

SEC. 32. That the senate and house of representatives, respectively, shall be the sole judges of the elections, returns, and qualifications of their members, and they shall have and exercise all the powers with respect to the conduct of their proceedings that usually pertain to parliamentary legislative bodies. Both houses shall convene at the capital on the second Monday in February following the next election, and organize by the election of a speaker or a presiding officer, a clerk, and a sergeant at arms for each house, and such other officers and assistants as may be required.

SEC. 33. That the first regular session of the Legislature of Porto Rico, provided for by this Act, shall convene on the twenty-eighth day after the first election provided for herein, and regular sessions of the legislature shall be held biennially thereafter, convening on the second Monday in February of the year nineteen hundred and nineteen, and on the second Monday in February of each second year thereafter. The governor may call special sessions of the legislature or of the senate at any time when in his opinion the public interest may require it, but no special session shall continue longer than ten days, not including Sundays and holidays, and no legislation shall be considered at such session other than that specified in the call, and he shall call the senate in special session at least once each year on the second Monday in February of those years in which a regular session of the legislature is not provided for.

SEC. 34. That the enacting clause of the laws shall be as to acts, "Be it enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico," and as to joint resolutions, "Be it resolved by the Legislature of Porto Rico." Except as hereinafter provided, bills and joint resolutions may originate in either house. The governor shall submit at the opening of each regular session of the legislature a budget of receipts and expenditures, which shall be the basis of the ensuing biennial appropriation bill. No bill shall become a law until it be passed in each

house by a majority yea-and-nay vote of all of the members belonging to such house and entered upon the journal and be approved by the governor within ten days thereafter. If when a bill that has been passed is presented to the governor for his signature he approves the same, he shall sign it; or if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the house in which it originated, which house shall enter his objections at large on its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of all the members of that house shall agree to pass the same it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the members of that house it shall be sent to the governor, who, in case he shall then not approve, shall transmit the same to the President of the United States. The vote of each house shall be by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and against shall be entered on the journal. If the President of the United States approve the same he shall sign it and it shall become a law. If he shall not approve same he shall return it to the governor so stating, and it shall not become a law: Provided, That the President of the United States shall approve or disapprove an Act submitted to him under the provisions of this section within ninety days from and after its submission for his approval; and if not approved within such time it shall become a law the same as if it had been specifically approved. If any bill presented to the governor contains several items of appropriation of money, he may object to one or more of such items, or any part or parts, portion or portions thereof, while approving of the other portion of the bill. In such case he shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the items, parts or portions thereof to which he objects, and the appropriation so objected to shall not take effect. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the legislature by adjournment prevents its return, in which case it shall be a law if signed by the governor within thirty days after receipt by him; otherwise it shall not be a law. All laws enacted by the Legislature of Porto Rico shall be reported to the Congress of the United States, as provided in section twenty-three of this Act, which hereby reserves the power and authority to annul the same. If at the termination of any fiscal year the appropriations necessary for the support of the government for the ensuing fiscal year shall not have been made, the several sums appropriated in the last appropriation bills for the objects and purposes therein specified, so far as the same may be applicable, shall be deemed to be reappropriated item by item; and until the legislature shall act in such behalf the treasurer may, with the advice

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