156 CUBA AND PORTO RICO 



to the remarkable prosperity of the island as the excellent 

 climate and soil. The government has been generally 

 placid and tranquil. 



The supreme local authority is vested in a governor- 

 general, also designated as military governor. For the 

 government of the troops he has one deputy or military 

 governor. There is also a diputacion provincial, or elective 

 council, which constituted a kind of consultative body con- 

 cerning the welfare of the island. A naval commandant, 

 who is attached to the department of Havana, resides in 

 San Juan ; and there are various captains of the ports. 

 The ordinary military forces of the island consist of three 

 battalions of infantry, one of artillery with two mounted 

 sections, fourteen battalions of volunteers, and four of the 

 guardia civil, or military police. 



There are four courts the territorial or supreme court, 

 and three criminal courts, one each in San Juan, Mayaguez, 

 and Ponce. There are also various minor justices; each 

 department has a military commandant, and each village 

 an alcalde, representing the government. There is also an 

 intendant-general of hacienda, and a central administra- 

 tion for collecting taxes. 



For administrative purposes the island is divided into 

 seven departments, including seventy villages. These 

 departments, named for the chief city of each, and their 

 population, are as follows: Bayamon, 131,116; Arecibo, 

 124,835; Aguadilla, 86,551; Ponce, 160,140; Guayama, 

 98,814; Humacao, 82,251; Mayaguez, 116,982. 



In 1897, when the so-called system of autonomy was 

 offered to Cuba, Porto Rico received the same. Under it, 

 the island has a premier and House of Representatives, and 

 the other forms of a republican government, but they are 

 all in the hands of a Spanish oligarchy, which controlled 

 the island when it was still a colony. 



The official religion of the island is the Roman Catholic, 

 but others are tolerated; there is one Protestant church 

 in Ponce, and one each in a few of the smaller towns. 



