is appointed by the mayor of the municipal district, who can also suspend or remove him. He is required to keep a register of the horses, mules, and cattle in his ward, and to discharge such administrative duties as the deputy mayor of the subdistrict in which his ward is located may direct.

Each council has a secretary, who is appointed by the Military Governor of the island on the recommendation of the council. The council also appoints from among its members one or more fiscal attorneys (procuradores syndicos), whose duty it is to represent the council in all legal suits which may be instituted, and to revise and audit all local accounts and budgets. After the council is fully organized the councilors who are not appointed to other offices in the council are called aldermen. The mayor and secretary are the only salaried municipal officers, the office of deputy mayor, fiscal attorney, alderman, associate member of the municipal board, and mayor of a ward being described in the law as "gratuitous, obligatory, and honorary.” The mayor, deputy mayors, and fiscal attorneys have the same right to speak and vote as the members of the council, and, in fact, the first two are obliged to vote on every resolution.

The duties and responsibilities of the municipal council are those which usually devolve on such bodies in European countries. The mayor is president of the council and represents it on all occasions. He presides at the meetings when the governor of the province is not present. He votes by right of membership, and in case of a tie casts the deciding vote, but has neither the veto nor the appointing power. As a result, there is no division of responsibility between the mayor and the council in administrative matters, the council, as a whole, making every appointment and deciding every question of municipal administration as far as the laws and the provincial and insular governors will permit, distributing the work of departmental management to permanent committees of their own number, which they organize and constitute as may seem best. These committees have associated with them such experts and specialists as may be necessary, and take the place of the several independent departments and boards which are features of municipal government in the United States.

The sessions of the municipal council are determined by that body, but can not be less than one each week. Every member is required to attend punctually or pay a fine. Neither the mayor, the deputies, aldermen, nor ward mayors can absent themselves from the municipal district unless they receive permission as follows: The mayor from the governor of the province, and if the latter does not appoint a temporary mayor the senior deputy acts; deputy mayors and aldermen require the permission of the council; ward mayors of the mayor. The gov ernor of the province can suspend the mayor or the deputies and aldermen, as well as the resolutions and decisions of the council, while

the Military Governor can remove all municipal officers and appoint others to their places, and modify or annul the proceedings of the council.

The municipal board is composed of the municipal council and an equal number of associate members elected from among the taxpayers of the district, who hold office during the fiscal year. It is the duty of the board to revise the annual budget of municipal expenses prepared by the council and to establish the taxes according to law.

By a royal decree of November 25, 1897, municipalities were granted the power to frame their own laws regarding health, public education, public highways by land, river or sea, and municipal finances, and freely to appoint and remove their own employees. Municipal councils were empowered to choose their own mayors from among the councilors, and provision was made for a minority representation in the councils. Owing to the war this decree did not become operative.

General Wood, the Military Governor of Cuba, under date of March 24, 1900, intrusted to the municipal authorities, without any intervention on the part of civil governors, the maintenance of public order, the execution of municipal ordinances, the administration of the municipal police, the regulation of public amusements, and the granting of permits for public parades, assemblies, and meetings within their respective districts.

By a civil decree of April 18, 1900, the power to elect mayors, councilors, treasurers, municipal judges, and correctional judges, to hold office for one year, was conferred on municipalities. This decree further provided for the registration of voters, the nomination of candidates, tickets, boards of election, voting, methods of challenge, and penalties for all kinds of election frauds.

The qualifications of voters at municipal elections were established as follows:

1. The yoter must be a native male Cuban, or the son of a native male Cuban, born while his parents were temporarily residing abroad, or a Spaniard included within the provisions of article 9 of the treaty of Paris, who has not made declaration of his decision to preserve his allegiance to the Crown of Spain, as provided in said article.

2. He must be of the age of 21 years or upward on the day preceding the day of election.

3. He must have resided in the municipality in which he intends to vote at least thirty days immediately preceding the first day of registration, and in addition to the above he must possess any one of the following qualifications: (a) Ability to read and write; (b) ownership of real or personal property to the value of $250, American gold; (c) service in the Cuban army prior to July 18, 1898, and the honorable discharge therefrom, whether a native Cuban or not.

Disqualifications.-No person shall be qualified to vote who is insane or an idiot, or who is a resident in, or supported by, any public charitable institution, or who is deprived of or suspended from the exercise of his political rights by sentence of a court, except in cases where the conviction is for a crime of a political character.

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.

Under the laws of Spain, a province is composed of the municipal districts within its limits. Up to the 8th of October, 1607, Cuba formed a single province, but by royal decree of that date, it was divided into two provinces, the Oriental and Occidental, the capitals of which were the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Habana, respectively. The Governor-General resided in Habana and a provincial government was established in Santiago. Over the Occidental province he had immediate supervision, and over the Oriental through its

governor.

This continued STO

to the provincial division of the island until July 17, 1827, when by foyalitas divided into three departments, to wit: The Occidental, Central, and Oriental, with capitals in Habana, Trinidad, and Santiago, respectively

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The departments were further divided into districts, the Occidental having 11, the Central 5, and the Oriental 4. To each department a lieutenant-governor was appointed-a general officer of the Spanish army-and to the districts military officers of subordinate rank. The officers were appointed by the Governor-General, to whom they were directly responsible for the administration of civil and military affairs. within the territorial divisions to which they were assigned.

In 1850, on the recommendation of the Captain-General, the Central department was discontinued, and the municipalities of Puerto Principe, Neuvitas, and Trinidad were all annexed to the Occidental department; the far eastern part of its territory was incorporated with the Oriental department, which now constitutes the province of Santiago.

By a royal decree of June 9, 1878, Cuba was divided into the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Habana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, and Santiago de Cuba, with capitals in the cities bearing the names of the provinces. The provincial government was vested in a civil governor, a provincial deputation, and a provincial committee. The governor was appointed and removed by the Governor-General and received a salary of from $4,000 to $8,000 in Spanish gold, according as the province was first, second, or third class.

The provincial deputation was composed of deputies elected for four years by the qualified voters of the municipalities. The number of deputies depended on the number of electoral districts in the province. as determined by the provincial deputation, and approved by the Governor-General. In the same way the judicial districts of the province were allowed to elect twelve deputies, more or less, depending on whether the number of deputies elected by the municipalities exceeded or was less than twenty. The deputies served without pay.

The provincial committee and its vice-president were appointed by the Governor-General from among the members of the deputation and consisted of five deputies who received a salary of from $1,200 to