RELIGION. The predominant religion is Roman. Catholic, but all faiths have complete toleration. A Protestant church is maintained in Ponce, and a few others in smaller towns. The bishopric of Porto Dim founded in 1504, was the first to be established in the New World.
G0vFRNaFEST. After the cession of Porto Rico to the United States the island was governed_ chiefly by the military authorities under the direction of the President of the United States until May 1, 1900, when the scheme of govern ment prepared by Congress went into effect. Shortly after the transfer of the island to the United States, the President appointed a com mission to investigate conditions in Porto Rico and draft a code of laws for the island. It recom mended a separation of Church and State in the island, an improved system of taxation, a revised tariff schedule, the establishment of a public school system, and the encouragement of indus trial enterprise by the grant of liberal charters. About the same time the civil government of the island was reorganized order of General Davis. Bureaus of State, of internal revenue, and of agriculture were created and placed under the management of natives, subject to the super vision of the civil secretary to the Military Gov ernor. An advisory board, known as the Board of Insular Policy, consisting of nine members, was created. At the same time the judicial system was reorganized and the island divided into five iudieial districts under the jurisdiction of a Supreme Court at San Juan. By act of April 12, 1900, COTIgTeSti provided a civil government for the island. but did not raise it to the status of a Territory. no• extend the Constitution and laws of the United States thereto. The inhabitants of the island were declared to he "citizens of Porto Pico and as such entitled to the protection of the United The form of government provided consists of a Governor appointed by the President by and with the -advice and eonsent of the Senate, at an annual salary of 85000: an executive council of eleven members, five of whom must be natives of Porto Rico, appointed in the same manner as the Governor: and a legislature, consisting of the Council as an upper chamber and a House of Delegates popularly elected fur a term of two sears. There is a small property qualification and a low educational test fur the exercise of the suffrage. The judges of the Supreme and District courts are appointed by the President. There are also a treasurer, a com missioner of education, and an attorney-general, appointed in the same manner. The island is represented in Washington by a resident com missioner, although he has no seat in Congress. In /902 comprehensive codes of law and of legal procedure for the island were prepared by a commission representing native Porto Ricans and Americans. By these the Spanish law and pro cedure are partly supplemented and partly super seded by the American system of jurisprudence. Pul)lie order throughout the island is maintained by an insular police force of 670 men. The cap ital is San Juan.
HisTony. The island of Porto Rico has from the beginning played a secondary part in the his tory of the \Vest Indies. Overlooked by Colum bus on his return from Hispaniola or Ilaiti in the spring of 1493, its southern shores were coasted by him on his second voyage in the winter of that year, when he gave it the name of San Juan Bautista. in 1508 Juan Ponce de Leon crossed the Nona channel from Hispaniola to investigate the reports of a rich and fruitful laud in the island of San Juan. Ile was hospitably enter tained by the native chief Agueynada. 'whose power seems to have extended over most of the island. Two years later, having secured au thority to conquer and govern the island. Ponce de Leon returned thither with a large military force. He followed the northern coast till he discovered the spacious bay on which he estab lished his headquarters, founding a city which he named San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, whence conies the modern name for the whole island. Juan Ponce devoted himself for ten years. except (luring his first expedition to Florida, to the pacification of the island and the extirpation of the hostile ('cribs from the islands toward the southeast. After his death in 1521,
successive Spanish administrators continued to rule the island. which had a peaceful, uneventful history for nearly two hundred years. Under the system, by which the Indians were forced to work on the Spanish plantations, the natives gradually decreased in numbers, and the consequent dearth of laborers resulted in the abandonment of many of the outlying estates. The ('arils in turn reentered the island and occupied largely the eastern portions, so that for many years the Spaniards appear to have been restricted to the districts immediately de pendent upon San Juan. Ponce. and one or two other towns. The corsairs and West Indian pirates also visited the island, using various places on the coast for more or less temporary headquarters. In 1595 Drake, after trying induce the inhabitants to ransom the town with money Nvhieh they did not possess, sacked San Juan, and three years later it again suffered similarly from the Duke of Cumberland. Hein rich. a Dutch sea captain, undertook to do the same thing in 1615. hut was beaten off. losin_• his life in the assault. About the middle of the eighteenth century negro slaves and colonists from Spain began to be introduced in consider able numbers, and by 1780 the population had risen to nearly eighty thousand. In 1797 San .Juan successfully withstood a three days' attack from the English under Lord Abercrombie. Dur ing the first quarter of the eighteenth century the island became a popular resort for large numbers of those who desired to escape from the turmoil and disaster incident to the revolu tionary movements in South America. As a re sult, the population came to have a large prepon derance of whites over the black and colored elements. Another consequence was the marked aversion of the populace to strife of any sort. An attempted rising against Spain in 1820 made headway for two or three years, but had no popular support. In 1867 another revolt was attempted by those who were engaged in the plots to free Cuba, but this was speedily suppressed. In 1869 Porto Rico was created a province of Spain, with representation in the Spanish Cortes by delegates elected by popular vote under the same suffrage as in Spain. The Governor-General was made the resident repre sentative of the Crown. and in practice all ad ministrative power was in his hands. In 1873 the Spanish Cortes passed an act for the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico. During the Spanish American War the fortifications of San Juan were bombarded by a fleet under Admiral Sampson. On .July 20. 1898, an expedition under General Miles landed on the island. Ponce surrendered on the 28th, and the American forces met with no effectual resistance until hostilities were termi nated by the peace protocol of August 12th. On October 18th the United States flag was raised over San Juan. By the Treaty of Paris, signed December IO, 1898, Porto Rico was ceded to the United States. Following the establishment of a civil government in 1900, elections were held for the choice of a commissioner to Washington and members to the House of Delegates of the Porto Rican Legislature. With the beginning of repre sentative government party lines were sharply drawn, the Republican and Democratic parties in the United becoming the models for similar organization in the island.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Hill, Cuba and Porto Rico Bibliography. Hill, Cuba and Porto Rico New York, 1898) ; Davis, The Cuban and Porto Rican Campaigns (London. 1899) ; Dinwiddie, Porto Rico, Its Conditions and Possibilities (New York, 1899) ; Norris, Our Island Empire Philadelphia, IS99 ) ; Ha ram, Porto Rico and the West Indies (New 1899) ; Carroll, Report on the Island of Porto Rico (Washington, 1899) ; Ober, Puerto Rico and Its Resources (New York, 1899) ; Robinson, The Porto Rico of To-day (New York, 1899) ; Fiske, history of the Islands of the West Indian Archipelago (New York, 1899) ; Griffin, List of Books an Porto Rico (Wasbington, 1901).