Government in the United States, National, State and Local

by James Wilford Garner

The Organized Dependencies.—Porto Rico and the Philippines, acquired from Spain in 1898, were formerly, and are now to a certain extent, regarded more as colonies than as territories, although they are governed much like a territory. For many years they were classed as "partly organized" because in their legislatures only one house was elective. They now have legislatures in which both houses are elective; but unlike the territories they are inhabited by a foreign race, and had been at the time of their cession to the United States for centuries governed by an entirely different system of laws and administration from that to which the people of the United States were accustomed.

Porto Rico.—By an act of Congress in 1917, the supreme executive power of the island is vested in a governor appointed by the President, for an indefinite term. He has the usual powers of a territorial governor. There are six executive departments, namely, justice, finance, interior, education, agriculture, and health. The attorney-general and the commissioner of education are appointed by the President for a term of four years; the heads of the other four departments are appointed by the governor for the same term. The department heads collectively form an executive council charged with the performance of such duties as the governor may prescribe.

The Legislature.—Formerly the legislature was composed of an upper house, known as the council, the members of which were appointed by the President, and a house of delegates, popularly elected. The act of 1917, however, provided for a legislature, both houses of which are elected by the voters. The upper house is called the senate and is composed of nineteen members, elected for a term of four years. The lower chamber, called the House of Representatives, consists of thirty-nine members, elected for a term of four years. The legislature is required to meet biennially and the governor may call extraordinary sessions. Laws vetoed by the governor and passed over his veto by the legislature must be transmitted to the President for his approval or disapproval. All acts of the legislature are required to be laid before Congress which may annul the same. To prevent deadlocks in the administration of the government, as several times happened in former years, the law provides that whenever the appropriation bills for the support of the government fail of passage the amount appropriated for the past year shall be considered to have been appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year.

Suffrage and Citizenship.—Practically all citizens over twenty-one years of age who can read and write are qualified voters. Formerly a source of complaint among the inhabitants was that they were denied the status of United States citizenship. They were designated as citizens of Porto Rico and were entitled to be protected by the United States and were eligible to receive passports for travel abroad, but they were not citizens of the United States. The law of 1917, however, removed this grievance by providing that all citizens of Porto Rico should be deemed to be citizens of the United States. The act also contains an elaborate bill of rights similar to those in the state constitutions.

Judiciary.—The elaborate system of Spanish courts and the Spanish legal system generally have been done away with, and in their place a system of law and procedure and a judicial system modeled upon those of the American states have been substituted. There is a supreme court consisting of five judges appointed for life by the President, and of these, three are Porto Ricans and two Americans. Below this court are a number of district courts each of which is presided over by one judge appointed by the governor with the consent of the council for a term of four years. There are also twenty-four municipal courts, and in the several towns there are courts held by the justices of the peace. The act of 1917 provided for the establishment of a District Court of the United States for the island.

Resident Commissioner at Washington.—The interests of the island are looked after at Washington by a resident commissioner who is elected by the qualified voters for a term of four years. Unlike the delegate from an organized territory he has no right to a seat in the house of representatives, but the house has granted him the courtesy of this privilege. He is, however, entitled to official recognition by all the executive departments whenever he wishes to discuss with them matters of business affecting Porto Rico.

The island has its own internal revenue system for raising taxes, and the receipts from all customs duties on goods imported into the island are turned into the insular treasury. Unlike the Philippines, however, the island does not have its own monetary system, but uses that of the United States.

The Philippines.—The problem of governing the Philippines has proved much more difficult than that of governing Porto Rico. Instead of a single island inhabited by a fairly homogeneous population, the Philippine archipelago consists of several hundred islands inhabited by various races and peoples representing almost every stage of development from savagery to fairly complete civilization. It has been a difficult problem to develop a system of government adapted to the needs and capacities of so many different elements. In addition to the difficulties presented by these conditions, the Filipinos in various parts of the archipelago have resisted American rule, and no small amount of effort and expenditure of money has been directed toward the suppression of outbreaks and the maintenance of order.

Organic Act of 1902.—In 1902 Congress passed an organic act for the government of the islands, and shortly thereafter William H. Taft was inaugurated civil governor. This act continued for the most part the form of government that had been created by the Philippine Commission. The organic act provided, however, that as soon as the insurrection then existing was suppressed, a census of the inhabitants should be taken and if the islands were in a state of peace, steps should be taken toward the establishment of a legislative assembly, the lower house of which should be popularly elected. This provision was duly carried out, and in 1907 the assembly was chosen. The upper house was a commission of nine members, including the governor, appointed by the President; and members of the commission also served as heads of executive departments.

In 1916 the government was altered by abolishing the commission and creating a legislature in which both houses are elective. The governor general, at the head of the executive department, is appointed by the President, as are also the vice governor and the auditor. Acts of the Philippine legislature may be vetoed by the governor general (or finally by the President if passed over the governor general's veto), or may be annulled by Congress. The act of 1916 declared it to be the purpose of the United States to grant the Philippines independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein.