some slight changes relative to the government of Alaska, such, for example, as providing for the collection of certain license taxes on manufacturers and dealers, the appointment of notaries public, the creation of the office of surveyor-general, who should also be ex-officio secretary, etc. Its most important provision relative to the government of the Territory, however, is that making it possible for settled communities to become incorporated as towns. The conditions under which this can be done are as follows: Any community, having not less than three hundred inhabitants, desiring to become incorporated, must file a petition with the judge of the United States district court presiding over the division within which it is situated, signed by at least sixty bona fide residents of the proposed corporation, setting out the number of its inhabitants, and such other facts as the court may deem necessary for the formation of an intelligent opinion. Upon the receipt of this petition it is the duty of the court to set a time for the hearing of any objections to incorporation that interested parties may desire to present. If satisfied that the public interests of the community will be promoted by incorporation, the court must thereupon provide for an election for the purpose of determining whether the community shall or shall not be incorporated. At this election the people are called upon to express their opinion regarding the question of incorporation and to elect a common council of seven members. If two-thirds of the votes cast are in favor of incorporation, the seven persons receiving the highest number of votes are declared councilmen of the corporation and the com

territory." Judicial power was vested in a district court presided over by a judge appointed by the President with the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the district and circuit courts of the United States. No provision was made for any special revenue system, but the clerk of the court was directed to collect certain fines, forfeitures and fees. Provision was also made for the appointment by the President of four commissioners, to whom were given the general powers of justices of the peace. As it was necessary for Alaska to have a system of law, the general laws of the State of Oregon were declared to be in force within its boundaries in so far as they were applicable. Finally, certain of the executive departments at Washington were given charge of those interests in the district that more nearly pertained to the scope of their duties. It was thus made the duty of the secretary of the interior to make provision for the education of the children; of the attorney-general to compile and publish laws in force in Alaska and to supervise the administration of justice therein; and of the secretary of the treasury to have charge of the collection of customs and other matters.

Sixteen more years elapsed before any further step was taken to give to Alaska a more complete scheme of civil government than this simple one, by which the administration of all of the affairs of the district, with the exception of those relating to justice, were placed in the hands of a chief executive and of the departments at Washington. On June 6, 1900, Congress enacted a civil code and a code of civil procedure for Alaska. The former of these codes made

some slight changes relative to the government of Alaska, such, for example, as providing for the collection of certain license taxes on manufacturers and dealers, the appointment of notaries public, the creation of the office of surveyor-general, who should also be ex-officio secretary, etc. Its most important provision relative to the government of the Territory, however, is that making it possible for settled communities to become incorporated as towns. The conditions under which this can be done are as follows: Any community, having not less than three hundred inhabitants, desiring to become incorporated, must file a petition with the judge of the United States district court presiding over the division within which it is situated, signed by at least sixty bona fide residents. of the proposed corporation, setting out the number of its inhabitants, and such other facts as the court may deem necessary for the formation of an intelligent opinion. Upon the receipt of this petition it is the duty of the court to set a time for the hearing of any objections to incorporation that interested parties may desire to present. If satisfied that the public interests of the community will be promoted by incorporation, the court must thereupon provide for an election for the purpose of determining whether the community shall or shall not be incorporated. At this election the people are called upon to express their opinion regarding the question of incorporation and to elect a common council of seven members. If two-thirds of the votes cast are in favor of incorporation, the seven persons receiving the highest number of votes are declared councilmen of the corporation and the com

munity is given its charter. When thus incorporated the council is given the power to provide rules for its own government, to elect one of its members as president, who is also ex-officio mayor; to appoint and remove at its pleasure a clerk, treasurer, and such other officers as it deems necessary for the administration of local affairs; to make rules for subsequent municipal elections, provided that no officer shall be elected for a longer term than one year; to provide by ordinance for necessary street improvements, water supply, police protection, etc., and to impose and collect a poll-tax on electors, a tax on dogs, a general tax on real and personal property of not to exceed one per cent. of its assessed valuation, and such license taxes on business as the council deems reasonable. The act further provides that there shall be elected a school board of three directors to have entire charge of public instruction, and school property, the treasurer of which shall be the treasurer of the corporation, and that fifty per cent. of certain license taxes must be paid by the clerk of the court collecting the same to the treasurer of the town for its use for school purposes.

It will thus be seen that though provision has been made for a system of criminal and civil laws for the district of Alaska and for the organization of local governments no serious attempt has been made to work out a system for its general administration such as is enjoyed by the organized territories.

CHAPTER IV

GOVERNMENT OF PORTO RICO: INSULAR GOVERNMENT

TURNING from the mainland and Hawaii to the territory acquired from Spain in 1898 as the result of the successful war with that country, we leave the field of history and enter upon a consideration of problems now actually confronting the United States. These problems are in every way more complex and difficult than those that have been presented in the case of prior annexations. The reasons for this lie, partly in the physical conditions presented by the new territories-their distant location, tropical climate but illy suited for permanent occupation by American men and women, and novel industrial and economic features-but much more in the fact that these islands, instead of being new and unsettled countries, are already thickly populated by races of foreign blood, speaking a foreign language, and in possession of complete systems of government, administration and laws, the principles underlying which are radically different from those upon which are based American institutions. Instead of an open field offering every facility for the building-up of American communities with American institutions and laws, the United States, in Porto Rico and the Philippines, thus, has to do with countries fully occupied and already completely equipped as regards public institutions.