Porto

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Portrait

 

lent university. School affairs arc in charge I
of a centralized Department of Education. |
Government.—The government of Porto
Rico is based upon the 'Organic Act' passed
by the U. S. Congress in 1917 and known as
the 'Jones Act/ which conferred American
citizenship upon the Porto Ricans and gave
them a new system of government. Under
its provisions the executive authority is vest-
ed in a governor appointed by the President
of the United States. The six department
heads form a council to the governor, known
as the Executive Council. The legislature
consists of two elective houses—the Senate
of 19 members (2 from each of the seven
senatorial districts and five members at
large), and the House of Representatives of
39 members (i from each of the 35 repre- !
sentative districts and four members elected |
at large). Porto Rico has, as its rcpresenta- !
tive in the Congress of the United States, a j
Resident Commissioner elected by the people.!
The judicial system comprises a supreme
court, eight districts, thirty-five municipal,
and various inferior courts. Under the Or-
ganic Act there is also provided 'The District
Court of the United States for Porto Rico,'
which has jurisdiction over all cases cog-
nizable in the district courts of the United
States. The chief justice and four associate
justices of the supreme court, and the judge,
together with certain other officials of the
United States District Court, are appointed
by the president, while the officials of the
other courts are named by the governor.
There are three political parties, the Union-
ists, who favor independence; the Republi-
cans, who advocate statehood; and the So-
cialists,
Porto Rico was discovered in 1493 by Co-
lumbus, although it was not occupied until
1508, when Ponce de Leon subdued the In-
dians and founded the city of San Juan. An
autocratic system of government was estab-
lished by the early Spanish settlers, and the
natives, subjected to a rigorous system of
forced labor, diminished so greatly in num-
bers that negro slave labor was introduced
about 1775. In 1869 Porto Rico was made a
Spanish province; in 1873 slavery was abol-
ished; and in 1897 an autonomous form of
government was granted. Before this could
be put into effect, however, the United States
declared war on Spain. As a result of these
operations^1 Porto Rico was ceded to the
United States by the Treaty of Paris, signed
on Dec. 10, 1898. Since the American occu-
pation, the cities have provided pure water

supplies and modern methods of sewage dis-
posal; roads have been built; yellow fever
and smallpox have been eliminated; bubonic
plague has been controlled; and an active
campaign has been waged against hookworm.
Education has been fostered and illiteracy
greatly reduced, especially in the cities. In
Sept., 1928, Porto Rico was visited by a ter-
rific hurricane with a wind which attained a
velocity of 130 miles. Vast groves of palm
and fruit trees were uprooted, buildings were
overturned, crops were totally destroyed and
many lives were lost. During the persistent
economic depression Porto Rico suffered from
continuing low wage scales. There was con-
siderable agitation for admission to the Union,
and some sentiment for independence. In
April, 1934, the Insular Legislature adopted
a resolution petitioning Congress to grant
Statehood with a large measure of autonomy.
A bill was introduced into the Senate in
1936, calling for a popular referendum on in-
dependence, a transitional commonwealth,
and the ending of American financial aid_v
but it was not enthusiastically received on
the island, and the bill was not pressed.
Porto Rico, University of, a co-educa-
tional institution of higher learning located
in Rio Piedras, Porto Rico. It was created
by Act of the Legislature, March 12, 1903.
Portrait Painting. Portraiture absolute
would be a life-size colored statue, and the
closest actual approach to this is the wax
figure. But the difficulties and unsatisfactori-
ness of this form, both artistic and practical,
are prohibitive, and it has never borne any
rank in art. Uncolored portrait statuary has
engaged far abler hands, and in ancient
Egypt and imperial Rome the portrait bust
was a favorite, and rose to a high level of
merit; but its limitations are too great to
compete with painting.
The present art is entirely modern. The
early Egyptian form was conventional fig-
ures in flat tints on mummy cases; later pan-
els of true and expressive portraiture prove
that it was not for lack of ability. Greece
of the fifth and fourth centuries b.c. had por-
trait art as famous, and therefore beyond
doubt as masterly, as any other branch; but
no works survive. With Greek freedom went
its art; Rome cared little for it, and mostly
copied the Greek poorly; early Christianity
was against art, and Lter took it up only to
sink it to Byzantine conventionalism.
The living system begins with Giotto
(1266-1337), who places some real portraits^
including Dante_? among his 'citizens.' Ma