=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.