For the complete financial report of the University of Porto Rico for the fiscal year 1914-15, see Exhibits Nos. 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the consolidated financial exhibits. Respectfully submitted. ALLAN H. RICHARDSON, Acting President Board of Trustees University of Porto Rico. To the GOVERNOR OF PORTO RICO INSULAR LIBRARY. The long-hoped-for library building is under construction, work having been started in March of this year. There is every likelihood of the completed building being turned over to the board of trustees in June, 1916. Plans for the efficient administration of the library in its new quarters are now being considered, but unless the next legislature gives the additional help required no great advance in serving the readers can be made. With a new department-children's room-an efficient woman assistant becomes necessary. The question of vigilance has always been somewhat of a problem and with two floors to oversee in place of one, as now, another assistant is needed. In the other departments of the government hours are from 8 a. m. to 12 m. and from 1 to 4 p. m., but the library is open from 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. continuously. This means a force at work all of the 13 hours, and to conform to civil service rules and give each clerk 6 hours two shifts, or a double force, is required. At present there are four clerks and the librarian. They all work in the morning hours, two being relieved at noon and returning at night, making a total of 7 working hours for each shift. Two more clerks should therefore be added to the personnel of the new library. The work of improving and adding to the card catalogue has gone on very satisfactorily. The collection of "Puertorriqueña" continues to increase, but no large or important addition may be made until a special appropriation is provided for this purpose. A very valuable addition to the library came during the year through the generous gift of the Hispanic Society of America of nearly $1,000 worth of books and charts, mainly its own publications, facsimile reproductions of rare editions of Spanish books and documents, or more modern works on Spanish literature and art. This fine gift of material, under ordinary circumstances far beyond the library's means, is very much appreciated. A number of the patrons of the library have given books, mainly fiction, the additions from this source amounting to over 200 volumes. The total accessions during the year have been: Spanish books, by purchase, 513 nonfiction, 350 fiction; by gift, 57. English books, by purchase, 435 nonfiction, 325 fiction; by gift, 150. The usual financial statement is appended. J. L. DUNLEVY, APPENDIX VII. REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the department of justice of Porto Rico for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915: The most outstanding feature of the work of the department of justice for the fiscal year 1914-15 was the large increase of work in practically all branches of the depart ment. This was especially true in the office of the attorney general, notwithstanding that the appropriations and personnel of this office have been so seriously decreased that the attorney general in his report for the last fiscal year was obliged to report: "In spite of all legitimate restriction, however, the work of this office is already going behind and will fall daily farther behind unless the legislative assembly sees fit to extend to it further financial assistance." And the governor in his annual report for the same fiscal year, after reviewing the work of the office of the attorney general, stated, on page 44: * * which has taxed to the utmost the limited personnel provided for by the appropriation act. With the still smaller force allowed for the coming fiscal year much difficulty is anticipated in properly carrying on the work of the department, so far as the office of the attorney general proper is concerned." So far from this condition having been remedied by additional appropriations and additional personnel, the legislative assembly in carrying out its program of economy has decreased the total appropriation for the office of the attorney general from $46,370 in the fiscal year 1913-14 to $37,120 for the fiscal year 1914-15 and to $32,900 for the fiscal year 1915-16. The legal personnel of the office of the attorney general consists of the attorney general, assistant attorney general, two law officers, and the special fiscal at large. In addition to the above-mentioned lawyers the fiscal of the supreme court devotes such of his time as is not required in the handling of criminal appeals in the supreme court to the general work of the office of the attorney general. The work of a large law office can never be completed up to date, inasmuch as there are always many cases and subjects of investigation which require long study and preparation, and before these are completed others have to be given attention. But the office has been able to prevent any severe congestion of law work only by the most strenuous efforts, with much overtime and night work. Every man has devoted himself willingly to the extra work which he is called upon to do, and there is an unusual spirit of cooperation and helpfulness. The general phases of the work of the attorney general have been so often discussed in previous reports of attorneys general that I will not attempt to more than outline it here. By the provisions of the organic act the attorney general has the powers and duties provided by law for an attorney of a Territory of the United States in so far as not locally inapplicable and such other duties as may be imposed by law. The Political Code of Porto Rico (secs. 63 to 78) specifically enumerates many of the duties of the attorney general, and in addition to this enumeration many further duties are placed upon him by special laws-such, for example, as the judiciary laws, notarial law, the law in regard to registrars of property, and the civil-registry law. The large part of the work is divided, however, into the following classes: 1. Opinions. 2. Litigation. 3. Special investigations and direction of criminal prosecutions. 4. Recommendations on applications for pardon or parole. 5. Recommendations as to appointments and removals. 6. Legislative and committee work. 7. General administrative matters. The work of the attorney general's office can not be classified as easily as that of the courts, and there is no adequate basis of comparison to show that the work is constantly increasing; but the following facts show the scope and extent of that work. But a brief summary will be given of the work done in each of the above general classifications. 9489°- -WAR 1915-VOL 3- -29 397 1. OPINIONS. During the fiscal year 1914-15 the attorney general rendered 154 official opinions, 89 of which were rendered to the governor, the Executive Council, or the heads of departments respecting questions directly concerning their work. The other 65 were rendered to various boards and branches of the insular government, such as the sanitation service, chief of the insular police, civil service commission, irrigation service, San Juan Harbor board, supervisor of elections, board of medical examiners, board of pharmacy examiners, and the University of Porto Rico, and in certain cases to municipalities when requested by the Governor of Porto Rico. Before any official opinion is rendered a careful and as nearly as possible an exhaustive study is made of all statutes and decisions upon the questions involved, and the opinions are preserved for publication. In many cases the attorney general renders advice informally, acting as counselor in the same manner that a lawyer advises clients. The reasons for this are manifest. Often advice is needed before an official opinion can be prepared. Sometimes there are doubtful points which should be left for the court to decide and the attorney general, instead of giving an opinion in his judicial capacity where an opinion might be prejudicial in subsequent litigation, advises as to the course of action which will best protect the government. Further, it is believed that the highest service can be rendered by giving services freely when requested, in drafting of contracts, outlining of policies where questions of law are involved, and mediation between conflicting interests. Often much litigation can be and has been avoided by such services. Besides official opinions, many opinions are rendered to subordinate officials of the department of justice, which are not published or included in this report. 2. LITIGATION. There is one feature of the work of the department of justice which has not heretofore received the efficient and careful consideration which it has deserved, and that is the conduct of civil cases in which The People of Porto Rico has an interest. This does not apply to the more important civil cases involving principles or policies of great importance to The People of Porto Rico, which have been conducted directly by the office of the attorney general. But there is an ever-increasing amount of litigation in which The People of Porto Rico is a party defendant by virtue of the consent of the legislative assembly authorizing suits against the people in special classes of cases, or in which The People of Porto Rico sues as plaintiff for recovery of possession of real property, condemnation of lands, collection of taxes, collections on official bonds, etc. These cases are usually handled by the district fiscals under the supervision of the attorney general. The limited legal personnel of the office of the attorney general and the large amount of other work has prevented the direct supervision of this work except in the most important cases. The district fiscals, especially in San Juan and the larger districts, where the greatest number of these cases are instituted, are invariably extremely busy with the criminal work pertaining to their offices. Moreover, they are lawyers who have had more experience in the handling of criminal cases than in civil cases. An earnest endeavor is now being made to dispose of these cases as soon as possible and to guard against any future falling behind in this important branch of work. A summary of the more important cases decided during the preceding fiscal year and of cases pending is dealt with below under the heading "Civil cases affecting The People of Porto Rico." 3. SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS AND DIRECTION OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS. The attorney general does not purport to be in any direct sense a prosecuting attorney. But under the law he is the responsible head of the prosecuting branch of the judiciary, and as such it is his duty to superintend prosecutions when supervision is necessary or advisable. In many cases the fiscals are in doubt, or for personal reasons wish that the attorney general should share in the responsibility for certain prosecutions. And in all cases of great importance the attorney general keeps advised of the investigation and steps leading to prosecution. During the past fiscal year the investigation and prosecution of certain bribery cases and internal-revenue frauds have been conducted under the supervision of the office of the attorney general, and some noteworthy convictions have been obtained. In January, 1915, information was obtained that certain members of the board of pharmacy were conducting a wholesale system of selling licenses by means of giving out the questions and answers before the examination and substituting the set of answers prepared beforehand for the actual answers made by the students at the regular examination conducted by the board. The office of the attorney general cooperated with the detective bureau in outlining the preliminary investigation and obtaining the evidence which led to the arrest and conviction of three of the members of the board. The evidence in these cases was overwhelming, and two of the members of the board were convicted by juries and sentenced to four years each in the penitentiary, and these two and one other were sentenced on a conspiracy charge to one year in jail and $1,000 fine each. The trials in these cases were speedily and efficiently conducted by the district fiscal of San Juan. The record in this case is one over which Porto Ricans may well pride themselves, for the cases were speedily and efficiently conducted, and convictions were obtained of prominent persons, entirely by Porto Rican fiscals, judges, and juries. These cases are now pending on appeal to the Supreme Court. Upon the request of the Governor of Porto Rico a careful and exhaustive investigation was conducted during the last fiscal year into the causes of increases in prices of foodstuffs, to ascertain whether any of these increases were due to monopolies or illegal combinations of merchants. This question is dealt with in another place in this report under the heading of "Investigation of increases in prices of articles of food." Many special investigations were necessary during the last fiscal year arising out of strikes and disturbances resulting therefrom. This work received careful consideration and will be dealt with below under the heading of "Strikes." Special investigations have also been made, in all cases requested by the governor or the heads of departments, where there have been accusations of dishonesty or inefficiency or other charges against public officers of municipalities or of the insular government. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS ON APPLICATIONS FOR PARDON OR PAROLE. The attorney general passed upon 82 applications for pardon or parole during the preceding year, and as a result paroles were recommended in three cases. Before making a recommendation on an application for executive clemency all of the records of the case are collected, the judge of the court which tried the case reporting any unusual features, and new evidence, if any, is considered. Pardons are not recommended unless there are special circumstances showing that there has been a miscarriage of justice or some other unusual circumstance. On March 14, 1907, the legislative assembly passed a law providing: That the governor shall have authority, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to issue a parole or permit to go at large to any convict who now is, or hereafter may be, imprisoned in any of the prisons in Porto Rico, under a sentence other than a life sentence, who has not previously served two terms of imprisonment in any penal institution for felony, and who may have served at least one-fourth of the sentence imposed by the court, provided that no person shall be conditionally released from confinement under the provisions of this act who has not served at least one year in confinement." But the mere fact that the applicant may have complied with all these conditions is not deemed a sufficient basis for recommending a parole, nor is the fact that his conviction has worked a hardship on those dependent upon him. Nor is it sufficient that a prisoner or his friends have secured some person to act as his friend or guardian on parole. The recommendation depends on questions of public policy in each case. Are the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offense and the previous and subsequent conduct such as to make a recommendation of parole inadvisable? Is the person who offers to act as friend and guardian a suitable person? Will he be able to give employment, to counsel and guide the prisoner in such a manner that he can be made a useful member of society? The difficulty in deciding these cases is due to the lack of efficient cooperation of the persons petitioning for a parole. Sufficient evidence is not forwarded with each application to answer these questions. The lack of personnel in the office of the attorney general and the lack of time has made it impossible to give these applications the prompt attention which they deserve, and there has consequently been a great delay in passing upon them. There were at the end of the fiscal year 70 cases pending consideration. However, during the month of July, 1915, recommendations were made in 46 of these pending cases and they will be reported upon in the report of the fiscal year 1915-16. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO APPOINTMENTS AND REMOVALS. The success of the department of justice as a whole depends so largely upon the proper selection of its officials that a great deal of time and attention has been given to this phase of the work. There are comparatively few important appointments to be made each year in positions which are by law appointive. The mun.c.pal court judges, marshals, and secretaries, and the district court marshals and secretaries are all elected officials. The district court judges and the fiscals are all appointed for four years by the governor upon the recommendation of the attorney general, by and with the consent of the executive council, but there are comparatively few new appointments for these positions and the qualifications of the candidates are well known or easily ascertained. The greatest number of judicial appointments come by reason of vacancies caused by death, resignation, or removal in elective offices, and in the appointments of justices of the peace and subordinate officials. Although justices of the peace are appointed in the same manner as district judges, but for an indefinite term, they are customarily from the political party which won the last election in the municipality. Whenever a vacancy occurs in any elective position or in the office of justice of the peace, the political party dominant in the district or municipality insists that it has an inalienable right to recommend a terna or list of candidates, and that a person shall not be appointed unless recommended by the central board of the party. But the central board does not usually act on its own judgment but upon the recommendations of the local committee of the party. This system prevails not only in appointments to the department of justice but in appointments to positions of alcaldes (mayors) and other municipal officers and to school boards. Indeed the law is mandatory upon the governor in the cases of alcaldes and members of the municipal council to appoint a person of the political party which cast the greatest number of votes for the office of alcalde in the last municipal election in that municipality. The political parties, therefore, acting upon this system, make it difficult to appoint unbiased men for these positions. Therefore when a nomination is to be made, all of these circumstances have to be taken into consideration. A recommendation is never made of a man for a position in the department of justice who is not believed to possess the proper qualifications, and when it is deemed necessary appointments are recommended although not receiving the regular party indorsement. Before any removal is made of an official in the department of justice it must be proved that he is incompetent or guilty of such acts as make it improper for him to longer serve in the department. This involves much labor, for there are a large number of complaints (mostly unfounded) which have to be investigated. Often such investigations lead to voluntary resignations. There have been more than 40 such investigations including subordinate officials during the last fiscal year, and about 10 resignations or removals as a result of such investigations. As a rule no anonymous charges are investigated, nor are charges in writing when not coming from a public officer or official sources of responsibility, unless they are under oath, although in the latter class of cases the communication is often sent to the official charged for his explanation. 6. LEGISLATIVE AND COMMITTEE WORK. It is not intended here to review the work of the attorney general in his capacity as a member of the executive council or of the committees thereof, but to mention the work done by the office of the attorney general in drafting, revising, and analysis of bills introduced in the legislative assembly, and the special work done for the franchise committee of the executive council. During the fiscal year 1913-14 the executive council employed for the franchise committee a special investigator at a salary of $3,500, who was a lawyer and acted as counsel in preparation of franchises and reporting to the committee. Owing to the lack of funds that position was discontinued on June 30, 1914, and since that time the legal questions, of which there are many, have been referred to the office of the attorney general and are looked up and reported informally to the committee. But at the same time one of the positions of law officer in the office of the attorney general was eliminated. The result has been that this office has been unable to give to this work the attention which it demands and there have been many unavoidable delays, and some matters have not received the careful consideration from the legal point of view which they deserve. The franchise committee of the executive council is practically the public service commission of Porto Rico. Although the executive council, composed of 11 members, nominally is responsible for such matters, all the hearings and drafting of ordinances and preparations of reports are done in the franchise committee, composed of 5 members of the council. The legal work is further increased by the fact that the franchise committee does not have the assistance of counsel for parties interested except in a small portion of the cases coming before the committee, and often counsel appears only on one side. |