consent of Senate. Has general appointing power; general supervision and control of all the departments and bureaus of the Government, and commander of the local armed forces and militia; pardoning power; submits annual budget. Judicial.-Existing courts continued. Appeals from Supreme Court of the Islands to United States Supreme Court. Bureau of Insular Affairs—

See under Porto Rico, page 75.

PORTO RICO.

INTERNATIONAL STATUS.

Autonomous dependency.

1. Military government.

1898, July.-Military occupation of the island by United States.

1898, October 18.-Full possession formally assumed. The military government, organized and controlled by the War Department, lasted until May 1, 1900. Little effort made to reorganize machinery of civil government. 2. Civil government (Foraker Act of Apr. 12, 1900; amended in minor matters May 1, 1900; Mar. 2, 1901). See Appendix 9. In force May 1, 1900. Provides a civil government for the island, in outline as follows:

a. Executive.--Governor and six heads of administrative departments (secretary, attorney general, treasurer, auditor, commissioner of interior, commissioner of education) appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for terms of four years. The treasurer given authority not only of custody and disbursements of public funds, but direction of assessment and collection of taxes, of banks and corporations, and (by a municipal law) supervision and control of finances of local bodies (municipalities) of the island, including power to prescribe and enforce uniform accounts, reports, etc. Law did not direct that these administrative heads should be Americans, but in practice only Americans were appointed. When possible, however, inferior offices were filled by Porto Ricans.

b. Legislative.-Two Houses: Executive Council and House of Delegates. Governor has veto power. Executive Council: Consisted of six heads of executive departments, already mentioned, and five other persons appointed by President. Of these

eleven members, not less than five to be native Porto Ricans. In addition to acting as upper chamber, the council to sit throughout the year as a general ordinance-making and supervisory administrative body; grants franchises and concessions, subject to approval of the governor. House of Delegates: Thirty-five members elected biennially by an electorate to be determined by the insular legislature itself.

c. Judicial.-Old Spanish codes replaced by new political, civil, and criminal codes. Act makes provision for United States District Court, with jurisdiction possessed in United States by both district and circuit courts. Other courts to remain same as already in existence, but power given to the legislature to establish such system as it might see fit, except that justices and marshal of the supreme court to be appointed by President of United States and judges of lower district courts to be appointed by Governor, by and with the advice of the Executive Council.

Porto Rico to send a "Resident Commissioner " to United States, whom Congress has since give the rights of a territorial "Delegate" to Congress. d. Finances. Until act of April 12, 1900, Porto Rico treated as a foreign Government so far as customs upon articles imported into the island from foreign countries or the United States, or exported from the island to United States. All revenues so collected at Porto Rican ports on imports accrued to the benefit of the insular treasury. All duties collected in United States on imports from the island paid into United States Treasury. March 24, 1900, act of Congress, however, provided that all revenues thus collected in United States should be at disposal of President, to be used by him for benefit of Government of Porto Rico, and for public education and public works in the island.

Organic act of April 12, 1900, provided that on and after its passage the general customs laws of the United States should continue to apply to Porto Rico in respect to all merchandise entering it from foreign countries, and the duties collected in Porto Rico, less the cost of collection, should accrue to the benefit of the insular treasury as ordinary income; but that in respect to

merchandise imported into the United States. from Porto Rico or imported into Porto Rico from the United States, duties of only 15 per cent of those paid on similar articles imported from foreign countries should be paid; and that as soon as the Insular Government had notified the President that the island had created a revenue system sufficient to satisfy its needs, complete free trade should be declared between the two countries; and that in any event this should not be deferred beyond March 1, 1902. Furthermore, the act provided that the gross collections made in the United States and the net collections made in Porto Rico on account of such trade should be for the benefit of the island until the civil government provided for by the act were organized.

July 25, 1901, the President was notified that the island had established an adequate revenue system. Since then the United States continues to collect the regular customs on goods entering Porto Rico from foreign countries, and pays over the net receipts (i. e., less expenses of collection) to Porto Rico.

In addition to assigning to the island all customs receipts, the United States also, by the act of April 12, 1900, provided that the island should not be subject to the internal-revenue system of the United States but could organize its own. excise system and receive the proceeds thereof. Also insular government given general authority to impose such other taxes as it might see fit. United States monetary system extended to the island.

Island authorized to borrow money for public purposes not to exceed 7 per cent of assessed value of property for taxation.

e. Appropriations.-Until 1909 it was possible for the Porto Ricans by their control of the elected house of delegates to bring the government of the island to a standstill by refusing to approve the necessary appropriation acts. A use of the power led, July 15, 1909, to the act of Congress which declared: "That if at the termination of any fiscal year the appropriations necessary for the support of government for

the ensuing fiscal year shall not have been made an
amount equal to the sums appropriated in the last
appropriation bills for such purpose shall be deemed
to be appropriated, and until the legislature shall act
in such behalf the treasurer may, with the advice of
the governor, make the payments necessary for the
purposes aforesaid." (36 Stat. L., 11.)

f. Local government.-With regard, generally, to the
government of dependencies it may be said that
where the desire is to fit the inhabitants for self-
government as rapidly as possible, the matter of local
government is of great importance, for here it is
usually possible, almost from the beginning, to place
control in the hands of the people subject only to a
central control sufficient to prevent the misuse of the
autonomous powers thus granted. With the expe-
rience in self-government thus obtained, it becomes
feasible to permit a gradual increase not only of the
autonomous powers of the central government of the
dependency, but to place that government to an in-
creasing extent in the hands of the natives. These
principles have guided the United States in Porto
Rico, that is to say, the Central Insular Government
whose statutes determine the forms and powers of
local governments in the island. It is impracticable
here even to outline these governments and their pow-
ers, but the following as to their general character
may be quoted from W. F. Willoughby's "Territories
and Dependencies of the United States " (p. 165).
After describing the local governments in detail the
author says: "The central Government [of the is-
land] reserves to itself merely the right to act as a
tribunal of appeal or superior authority to correct
abuses.
The municipalities have a definite
field of activity, and within that field can take such
action as they deem proper, so long as express pro-
visions of law are not violated, or manifest injustice
or inequitable treatment of taxpayers or others is
not committed. The authority of the Insular Gov-
ernment is thus one of control and supervision in the
proper sense of the word, instead [as under the Span-
ish régime] of intervention and interference."

*

*

3. Civil government under act of 1917 (March 2).

Act of Congress reorganizing the government of the island.
See Appendix 10. Up to this time Porto Ricans, although

under the sovereignty of the United States, were not
deemed its citizens within a narrow and special constitu-
tional sense.
By this act of 1917 they were given this
status, and a government provided for the island substan-
tially similar to that given in the past to "organized ter-
ritories" within the United States. The significant
changes in the government as provided in the act of
April 12, 1900, were the following:

Porto Ricans made "citizens of the United States." Sec-
tion 9 provides that "hereafter all taxes collected under
the internal-revenue laws of the United States on articles
produced in Porto Rico and transported to the United
States, or consumed in the island, shall be covered into
the treasury of Porto Rico."

a. Executive departments.-Justice, finance, interior, education, agriculture, labor, and health. The heads of departments of justice and education to be appointed by the President with advice and consent of Senate, and the other department heads to be appointed by the Governor of Porto Rico, with advice and consent of the Senate of Porto Rico.

b. Executive Council.-Composed of heads of departments to assist the Governor.

c. Legislature.-Bicameral: Senate and House of Representatives. Both houses elective. Governor has veto, which, if overridden by two-thirds vote in both houses, the measure is sent to President, who has an absolute veto.

d. Financial.-Governor may veto items of appropriation bills. If appropriation acts not passed, appropriations of preceding year continued. If revenues not sufficient to meet all appropriations, they are to be paid in a specified order of precedence.

e. Judicial. Established courts continued.

4. Bureau of Insular Affairs.

The United States has no colonial office, its place being taken in large measure by Bureau of Insular Affairs in the War Department. Made a permanent bureau by act of Congress of July 1, 1902. (Philippine Government act. See Appendix 7.)

Section 87 of that act reads: "That the Division of Insular Affairs of the War Department, organized by the Secretary of War, is hereby continued until otherwise provided, and shall hereafter be known as the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Department. The business as