to meet the objections of the local judiciary, the order was finally completed and issued on the 27th instant. (General Orders No. 88, current series, these headquarters.)

Under the operations of this order the United States provisional court is to be installed to-morrow, the 1st of July. It is to consist of a law judge and two associated judges, one district attorney, one clerk, and the other necessary officers. Its jurisdiction is clearly defined, extending to all cases which would be properly cognizable by the circuit and district courts of the United States, and to common-law offences within proper limitations fully specified.

Members of the bar of Porto Rico are to be freely admitted to practice in this court upon certificate of their professional standing from the president of the insular supreme court. They are also to be permitted to use their own interpreter when addressing the court, and afforded every facility for acquiring an acquaintance with the law and procedure of American tribunals.

The influence of this court is, in my judgment, destined to be a potent agency in the work of Americanizing Porto Rico, and it will doubtless prove one of the wisest and best measures which has been instituted since the Spanish evacuation.

REFORMS IN ADMINISTRATION OF CIVIL AFFAIRS.

The department commander having been petitioned by numerous persons, representative of the commercial, professional, and industrial interests of the island, as well as by private citizens, for action regarding the reorganization of the judiciary and administrative departments, revision of the oppressive taxation system, facilities for public education, marriage and divorce laws, municipal elections, and many questions of like importance for the better administration of civil affairs in the island, the judge-advocate was charged with the consideration of these subjects and the suggestion of a plan by which the reforms desired might be begun.

In view of the grave and important nature of these questions, it was thought advisable to solicit the opinion and counsel of persons who, on account of their experience, knowledge of the customs of the country and ideas of the people, as well as their acquaintance with existing laws, might be able to lend valuable assistance to that end.

Accordingly, the judge-advocate proposed that these questions be submitted to a commission composed of an equal number of representatives of the two political parties (Republican and Liberal) and a like number of persons independent of party affiliations.

This plan having been approved by the commanding general, after a week or more of conference with the executive committees of the political parties, it became apparent that it was not feasible, the parties being unable to agree on the question of representation on the commission, one claiming greater partisan strength than the other and demanding majority representation. As this could not be entertained, it was finally determined to organize three committees of five members each, one committee from each of the political parties and the third from independents or persons not affiliated with either party. After some delay incident to selecting proper personnel, these committees were organized.

The following list of questions was then prepared and submitted to the commanding general for the consideration of the committees:

Administration.-1. Origin of the present system of secretaries.

2. In what respect is the present system identical with the old Spanish system? 3. What changes were made under autonomy?

4. Is it desirable to retain the present system and modify it so as to meet existing conditions, or should it be wholly abolished and a new system substituted?

5. If it is desirable and practicable to retain the present system, in what respect should it be modified? If this is thought desirable, please submit a plan complete. 6. If the present system of secretaries is retained, should the authority of the secretaries be more clearly defined and fixed within certain limits? At present it appears that the secretaries exercise powers that are unknown to Cabinet officers in the United States. It seems that the decrees of courts are suspended by the order of some of the secretaries. The judges appear to depend upon and be subordinate to the secretary of justice; salaries of the highest judges are less than those of the secretaries, etc., all of which seems to indicate that the secretaries hold rank and exercise powers which are not accorded to State secretaries in the various States of the Union. If the present system of secretaries should be retained, please indicate clearly what their authority and functions should be.

7. If the present system of administration by secretaries should be retained, it has been suggested that officers of the Army should be placed in charge of them, with such native assistants and clerks as may be necessary. Your opinion as to the desirability of this change is invited.

8. If the present system is continued, what reductions, if any, in the number should be made? Would it be desirable to consolidate two or more departments? Can the clerical force be reduced to advantage, and what reduction of salaries would be equitable and just?

9. If it is desirable to introduce a new system of administration, would it be wise to adopt the system now prevailing in all the States and Territories of the Union, having four departments, the heads of which are known as secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and attorney-general? A treasurer and auditor having already been appointed by the authority of the President, would it be desirable to retain the secretary of the treasury in addition to the attorney-general and secretary of state? The duties and functions of the secretaries and attorneys-general in the States of the Union are in general as follows:

(Here followed a brief outline of the duties of Cabinet officers.)

10. The judiciary in the United States and in the several States of the Union is absolutely independent of all executive interference or control. Judges are subject only to impeachment for grave breaches of duty. It is highly important that some modifications be devised in the existing system, or a new system established which will elevate the judiciary to the high and independent plane which it occupies in the United States. Judges and courts must be absolutely removed from political, religious, and personal influences. This can only be accomplished by making them independent of all executive supervision, and accountable to a higher court or to the commanding general for misconduct in office, after due proof of the same. The committees are therefore requested to direct their efforts toward this desirable end, in connection with the subject of revision of the judicial system.

Taxation.-1. The present system of taxation will demand a share of attention to ascertain wherein, if possible, it may be simplified and better adapted for existing necessities.

2. A brief statement of the system under the Spanish Government may be of value-its advantages and disadvantages.

3. Wherein can the present system be improved?

4. Is the existing system of classification and appraisement of lands susceptible of improvement?

5. What are the advantages of farming out the collection of taxes?

6. Can taxes be collected as readily and cheaply and be less burdensome to the taxpayer by requiring the payer to bring his money to the office of the local treasurer, instead of having a tax gatherer to collect the taxes?

7. If it is considered better to retain the tax collector, is the percentage allowed excessive or unduly burdensome?

8. Is the present system of description of real property sufficiently clear? If not, can it be improved, and how?

Judicial system.-1. The present system of courts seems to be susceptible of improvement.

2. Can a more expeditious method of court procedure be devised, so that parties litigant can be afforded more simple pleadings and more direct methods of reaching an issue, so that criminal cases of minor importance can be summarily disposed of and the more serious cases tried without unnecessary delay?

3. A prompt and speedy trial being no less desirable than a fair and just hearing, can better methods be devised for procuring the prompt attendance of witnesses, in order that the evidence may be taken while the events are yet fresh in the memory? 4. Is it desirable and practicable to reduce the number of courts of first instance, to reduce the number of audiencias, to provide for a circuit court, sitting one term in each of the cities of San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, with additional terms in Arecibo and Utuado (as has been suggested), and to provide a tribunal for the impeachment of judges charged with official misconduct?

All these and kindred matters should be considered and embodied in a separate report.

Election of alcaldes, town councils, and municipal boards.─Is it desirable to resort to the election of the above-named officers, or should they be appointed as heretofore? If elections are desirable, please present a scheme of election which will afford full guarantee of a free ballot and a fair count. If it is found desirable to resort to elections, would it be better to hold them in a few towns at a time, experimentally, and the defects, if any, in the system thus detected, corrected before proceeding to further elections.

In providing a plan for elections, it will, of course, be necessary to determine in an equitable way the qualifications of the voters.

Reduction of municipalities.-Does the number of municipalities now existing appear to be susceptible of any reduction and saving in expense? If so, a plan showing how this can be most judiciously done should be prepared, with a map. School system.-Public education being a question of deep concern to all, it is important that this matter should continue to receive fostering attention and care. Much has already been done in this direction, and it is deemed desirable to continue consideration of this matter, with the view of reaching the most perfect system attainable. The suggestions of the committees on this most important subject are therefore invited and will receive earnest consideration.

Public expenditures.-The wise expenditure of the public funds and the suppression of all unnecessary outlay are questions of utmost concern to the taxpayer. An examination into the insular and municipal expenses may be found beneficial. Are they susceptible of some reduction? Can the salaries of the municipal officers be justly reduced? Any suggestion which your committee may be able to submit regarding this important point will be most acceptable.

Marriage and divorce.-Family life being the recognized basis of true civilization, the attention of your committee is requested to the subject of marriage and divorce. Following the custom of the United States, priests and ministers of religious societies, as well as judges, should be authorized to celebrate marriage, unnecessary restrictions should be abolished, and legal requirements and expenses should be placed within the reach of the poor. The courts should be empowered to grant divorces or legal separation in proper cases, but these powers should be exercised with the utmost discretion, and to this end your committee may find it desirable to suggest a revision of the existing law on this subject. The code of New York is commended to your consideration as being in harmony with the most advanced thought in this matter. I hand you herewith a copy of the "Ray bill," recently introduced into Congress relating to this question, which is similar in its provisions to the New York code.

Public morality.-Any suggestions which your committee may feel disposed to submit relating to public morals, the regulation of the liquor traffic, the restriction of the exposure and sale of obscene literature, the suppression of prostitution, legal restraints upon Sunday work and Sunday amusements, such as exist in all the American States save two, and the observance of social decency and decorum in public places, will be of value and will receive careful consideration.

In addition to these questions, copies in both English and Spanish of numerous letters from private citizens, petitioning or suggesting public reform, were prepared in this office and forwarded for reference to the three committees.

At the date of closing this report (June 30) the committees have already rendered a partial report upon the reorganization of the judiciary, recommending many radical changes.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

The foregoing is necessarily a brief and partial review of the innumerable questions which have been urgently pressing for solution or calling for reform from the day of the American occupation down to the present hour.

In these eight and one-half months a most encouraging beginning has been made and much has already been accomplished.

It is gratifying to note the eagerness with which every substantial reform is received by the people-the opposition, where opposition is encountered, coming from the small conservative element who are thoroughly saturated with Spanish ideas, and are enjoying the fruits of the bad system heretofore prevailing.

If the methods which have been so wisely inaugurated by the present department commander are patiently and persistently pursued, and a just measure of relief afforded by Congress to open American markets to Porto Rican trade, there can be no misgiving as to the future development, prosperity, and happiness of this beautiful island.

Differing in many respects from any territory heretofore acquired by the United States, I believe Porto Rico will also be found to differ in her capacity for absorbing and assimilating American ideas and American institutions.

Unlike the sparsely settled regions of New Mexico and Arizona, over which wild animals and tribes of savage Indians were roaming at the date of their acquisition, Porto Rico has many alert, intelligent people who, though bowed down by centuries of oppression, still retain the spirit and capacity for higher and better conditions. This capacity and these conditions can be developed only under a system which will wisely control, guide, and support them until they attain sufficient vigor to support and control themselves. Such a system is found in the military government now prevailing.

If this government is prematurely withdrawn and a territorial form of government placed in control, as some of the Porto Rican newspapers are now demanding, it

would in my judgment be the most unfortunate measure that could possibly befall the island.

Under the present system and the further reforms now under consideration by the department commander every administrative department or bureau will have the benefit of American influence and advice.

Under a territorial system this leaven would be wanting, the legislature would consist exclusively of Porto Ricans, and the laws, the courts, the bar, and the institutions and customs of the country would remain for an indefinite period Spanish and un-American.

Intimate daily association for several months past with many of the most cultured professional gentlemen and public-spirited citizens of the island has only served to confirm me in this opinion, which I find is also entertained by many of the most intelligent and patriotic Porto Ricans themselves.

Continued military control, therefore, for a reasonable time, aided by wise advisory councils, can not fail to secure gradual but steady and ultimate assimilation by the people of our best American thought and methods of administration.

EXTRACT FROM REPORT OF MAJ. EDGAR S. DUDLEY, JUDGE-ADVOCATE, UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS, JUDGE-ADVOCATE DIVISION OF CUBA, DATED HAVANA, CUBA, JUNE 30, 1899.

The duties of this office have been chiefly those connected with civil affairs, or pertaining to the military government of the island, its methods of government under military occupation, and its preparation for future, stable, self-government. The following are some of the principal questions considered, in addition to questions relating to administration of military affairs:

1. Construction of the Spanish laws.

2. Construction and application to particular cases of the terms of the protocol and treaty of peace with Spain.

3. Questions relating to naturalization, citizenship, etc.

4. The relation of Cuba to the United States and to foreign governments.

5. Reorganization of courts and methods of procedure.

6. Opinions as to property rights, etc.

7. Opinions as to concessions, grants, claims, etc.

Such questions have not only involved construction and application of the principles of Spanish and American laws, but of constitutional and international law. The present situation here has no exact precedent, in that, during a time of peace, we are in temporary military occupation of a friendly territory, not our own land, pledged to discharge the obligations that may, under international law, result from the fact of such occupation, for the protection of life and property, and to withdraw from the island so soon as a stable government of its own shall be established.

The principles of jurisprudence relating to the two ancient systems of law, the ancient Roman and the English common law, meet here in laws derived from them as their origin, the Spanish laws which govern the island descending from the former, and the American laws, which we bring here, based upon the great principles of the latter; the former coming from Spain with its monarchical form of government, and the latter through the representative nation of self-governing people of the world, with its broad recognition of personal rights.

The results of the meeting of these two systems upon this ground will be very interesting; but the development will be slow, because the Cuban lawyers, being acquainted with the Spanish law-accustomed to present methods of procedure and Spanish customs-are averse to change to any system new to them, even though they may acknowledge that some of the principles of the law, and particularly the methods of procedure, are better. This opposition to a complete change of the spirit, methods, and technicalities of the Spanish law, as now maintained in the system of "incommunicado," for example, is especially surprising. But though slow in coming, the assertion of such personal rights and liberties as are already enjoyed by Americans under American law will come sooner or later, as being essential to a free, self-governing people, such as the Cubans desire to be.

EXTRACT FROM ANNUAL REPORT OF MAJ. GEORGE M. DUNN, JUDGE-ADVOCATE, UNITED STATES VOLUNTEERS, JUDGE-ADVOCATE DEPARTMENT OF SANTIAGO AND PUERTO PRINCIPE, DATED CRISTO, CUBA, AUGUST 12, 1899.

Touching the administration of military justice in this department, the restrictions imposed by the fifty-eighth article of war, "in time of war, insurrection, or rebellion," upon the trial by general court-martial of military offenders charged with crimes therein set forth is a serious and insurmountable obstacle to the administration of justice and the maintenance of discipline.

In the cases of murder and rape it is impossible to inflict the only penalty that will put a stop to those crimes, the penalty of death. The result of our impotency in this respect will have a most unfortunate effect upon the people we are supposed to protect during the time we remain here as the governing power. The Cubans are victims when murder or rape are committed, and they will surely charge our failure to execute such criminals, as they should be executed, to indifference on the part of the Americans to offences against their lives or persons.

I would therefore recommend that every effort be made to have such legislation enacted as will repeal the fifty-eighth article of war in so far as it applies to an army of the United States serving in a foreign country, not "in time of war, insurrection, or rebellion."

The sixty-third article of war should be given full power and effect over camp retainers and all persons serving with the armies of the United States in the field, in time of peace as well as in time of war, when that army is serving in a foreign country remote from the jurisdiction of American courts.

The civil employees of the Government have established for themselves a most enviable reputation in this department. Their conduct has been orderly in all but two or three instances. However, in the event of a crime being committed by one of them, the military tribunals have no jurisdiction.

It would be repugnant alike to our laws and principles of justice to permit of the trial of an American officer, soldier, or employee of the Government by the civil courts established in Cuba. These courts are presided over by aliens who speak a strange tongue and administer Spanish laws. Article VI of the Constitution of the United States secures to an American citizen charged with committing a crime the right to trial by jury, the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him, the right to have compulsory process to obtain his own witnesses, and to have the assistance of counsel in his defence. Practically all these rights are unknown to the Spanish law.

The supreme law on the island of Cuba is that of the supreme power, the United States, and will be so long as an American army remains here under existing circumstances, be that for one month or forever. The United States has established for the people of Cuba certain courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction for the administration of justice for the people of Cuba, and the United States can disestablish these courts to-morrow. It can not be held that American employees who came to Cuba to serve their Government can be stripped of the most sacred rights that American citizenship represents and become subject to the processes of these courts, for the reason that in these courts the above-cited guaranties of the Constitution are taken away.

These employees are not in the case of American citizens who in foreign countries, where governments exist, subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the existing courts. Cuban courts were a thing unknown before the United States established courts here, and there was never before, and is not now, a Cuban government, except as maintained by the United States. Spain owned and ruled Cuba and administered law for the people of Cuba, and when Spain left, the United States took all that over, and the citizen employees of the United States now in Cuba are under the protection of the laws of the United States and of the Constitution of the United States, just as was a citizen of Spain under the protection of the laws of Spain before our occupation of the island.

Therefore we have no legal tribunal before which civilian employees can be tried. I would most respectfully recommend that every effort be made to have such legislation enacted as will remove the restrictions now imposed upon the sixty-third article of war, in so far as they apply to an army of the United States serving in a foreign country in time of peace.