be the requisition of such officer, accompanied with itemized estimates of the funds needed, which requisition must, prior to the issuing of the warrant, be approved by the Governor-General and allowed by the Auditor, and shall be attached to the warrant when presented to the Governor-General.

Settlement warrants.

The proper authority for the issue of a settlement warrant, in payment of a balance found due by the Auditor upon an account settled and certified by him, shall be a duly certified copy of the Auditor's certificate on such settlement, which shall be attached to the warrant when presented to the Governor-General.

Should the Governor-General require further information before countersigning any settlement warrant, he may make written request for the same of the Auditor, who shall without delay furnish the Governor-General a written statement of the case, with the reasons and authority for the allowance of the account and the payment of the certified balance.

Should the Governor-General be dissatisfied with the Auditor's explanations, and have good and sufficient grounds for holding that the action of the Auditor is unwarranted and open to grave objections, he may in such case decline to countersign the settlement warrant, and shall forthwith report the case to the Secretary of War for instructions, submitting the reasons for his action, together with the the papers in the case.

Transfer warrants.

The proper authority for the issue of a transfer warrant for the transfer of an amount from one fund or head of account to another upon the books of the Treasurer and Auditor shall be the approval and request of the Governor-General, made upon proper showing to him, and indorsed upon the papers, which shall be attached to the warrant when presented to the Governor-General.

The showing to the Governor-General necessary to his approval and request for transfer of funds on the Treasurer's books shall be a certificate from the Treasurer showing the condition of the funds on his books, and an official statement from the Auditor setting forth the reasons and necessity for such transfer, and the contemplated expenditures or payments which require it.

Designation of an Acting Auditor.

In case of the death, resignation, absence, or sickness of the Auditor of the Islands, the Governor-General shall, by writing under his hand, designate one of the Assistant Auditors to act and perform the duties of the Auditor until a successor is appointed or such absence or sickness shall cease.

Appeals from the action of the Auditor.

Any person aggrieved by the action or decision of the Auditor in the settlement of his account or claim by that officer may within one year take an appeal in writing to the Governor-General, which shall

specifically set forth the particular action of the Auditor to which exception is taken, with the reasons and authorities relied on for reversing such action.

If the Governor-General shall confirm the action of the Auditor he shall so indorse the appeal and transmit it to the Auditor, and the action of the Auditor shall thereupon be final and conclusive.

Should the Governor-General fail to sustain the action of the Auditor, he shall forthwith report his grounds of disapproval to the Secretary of War, together with the appeal and the papers necessary to a proper understanding of the matter. The instructions of the Secretary of War in such case shall be final and conclusive.

Title to be observed in the rendition and certification of accounts.

All accounts of the Treasurer of the islands, and of the various officers and agents authorized to collect the revenues, receive moneys, and make disbursements, and all other accounts subject to examination and settlement by the Auditor and Assistant Auditors, shall be with "The Military Government of the Island of Porto Rico and all islands in the West Indies east of the seventy-fourth degree, west longitude, evacuated by Spain," and all balances certified by the Auditor and Assistant Auditors shall be certified as due to or from said Military Government, as the case may be.

MILITARY ORDERS HAVING THE FORCE OF LAW PROMULGATED BY THE COMMANDING GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF PORTO RICO FROM OCTOBER 18, 1898, TO APRIL 30, 1900.

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PREFACE.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF PORTO RICO,

San Juan, December 1, 1900.

The act of Congress, approved April 12, 1900, entitled "An act temporarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Rico, and for other purposes," contains the following:

SEC. 8. That the laws and ordinances of Porto Rico now in force shall continue in full force and effect, except as altered, amended, or modified hereinafter, or as altered or modified by military orders and decrees in force when this act shall take effect, and so far as the same are not inconsistent or in conflict with the statutory laws of the United States not locally inapplicable, or the provisions hereof, until altered, amended, or repealed by the legislative authority hereinafter provided for Porto Rico or by act of Congress of the United States: Provided, That so much of the law which was in force at the time of cession, April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, forbidding the marriage of priests, ministers, or followers of any faith because of vows they may have taken, being paragraph four, article eighty-three, chapter three, civil code, and which was continued by the order of the secretary of justice of Porto Rico, dated March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and promulgated by Major-General Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, is hereby repealed and annulled, and all persons lawfully married in Porto Rico shall have all the rights and remedies conferred by law upon parties to either civil or religious marriages: And provided further, That paragraph one, article one hundred and five, section four, divorce, civil code, and paragraph two, section nineteen, of the order of the minister of justice of Porto Rico, dated March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and promulgated by Major-General Guy V. Henry, United States Volunteers, be, and the same hereby are, so amended as to read: “Adultery on the part of either the husband or the wife."

The "military orders and decrees" in force in Porto Rico, published from time to time by the department commander, were of two general classes; the first included the general orders, special orders, and circulars embraced in the regularly issued orders and circulars of the Department of Porto Rico, each of the three classes being separately numbered serially; the second comprised the orders that were published only in the Official Gazette of Porto Rico, a daily periodical published at San Juan in which, under laws in force in Porto Rico previous to the American occupation, all laws, orders, and decrees of the Government were required to be promulgated.

By General Orders, No. 10, Headquarters Department of Porto Rico, 1898, the official character of the Gazette was recognized and continued, and in it were published many orders of the military governor which did not appear in the orders and circulars numbered serially.

In these volumes will be found all orders having the character of laws which were published by the several military governors from the 75270-H. Doc. 1484, 60-2, pt 4—2

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