BoletiÌn mercantil de Puerto Rico. (San Juan, P.R.) 18??-1918, 1901-12-18

the vast areas of so.called public lands. The
extent Of the new public domain can only
be guessed at, for the distinction betweeen
private and public ownership is lost in the
indefinite character Of deeds, grants and
surveys.
The insulsr bureau of the War Depart
ment, under whose jurisdiction comes
much of this territory, contesses to an
apparently hopeless lack of information,
and the Interior Department, having Porto
Rico in its care, declares that thorough
preliminary investigation only makes con.
fusion more apparent.
From the day the United States assumed
control of Spanish territory in 1898 Amer
lean investors, promoters, homeseeEers
and speCulators have besieged the govern
ment at Washington for information,
privileges and concessions in the matter
of land, timber and minerals in the new
possessions. These demands have been so
numerous and persistent that circulars
have been issued with which to reply to
queries. The information contained there
in amounts simply to the statement that
the hands of the executive department are
tied pending congressional action or that
such chaos reigns until new surveys are
made and old titles determined that it
will be many months before the govern.
ment will know just where its land juris.
diction begins or ends.
In the Philippines, Porto Rico, Hawaii,
Tutuila, and Guam there are in round
numbers 100,OOO,0O0 acres of land, of
which approximately thirteen fourteenths
are in the Philippines. 1t is impossible to
even make guess at what proportion Of
this land is government property as dis
tinct from private ownership. The Spa.
niSh and local titles are terribly indefinite
and involved, and the records of surveys
and boundary lines are even worse. Land
was laid out for sale or grant BY natural
boundaries or by given measurements from
natural or artificial landmarks. Stakes were
often driven in the ground and lsud grant
ed in a circle Of certain diameter about
such stakes. This naturally resulted in
conflicting grants and in odds and ends
of territory of irregular shapes sdll remain
ing in public ownership.
/ Porto Rico is the only country in which
formal investigation of the status of the
public lands has been made. This is due
to the fact that Porto Rico is under civil
administration and the secretary of the in.
terror, as soon as he qcas given authority,
appointed special commissioner to look the
matter up. The commissioner has made
two reports, one of them recent, and in the
latter report he raises another insular ques.
tion for the Supreme Court of the United
States whcih is of great interest and impor.
tance,
The commissioner asks Whether the public
lands of Porto Rico belong to the United
States government or to Porto Rico as
state. He calls attention to clause of the
Paris treaty which provides that the cession'
of Porto Rico, Guam and the Philippines
shall not impair the property rights of pro.
vinces and municipalities as well as OF pri-
vate or corporate ownership Under Spanish
rule Porto Rico was province and as such
owned all the lard upon the island not held
in private ownership. Public land in the
territories OF the United States belongsto
the United States government, and nice
question arises as to Whether Porto Rico
when in transition retained q sufficiently
tangible political existence to keep the title
to public lands under the Paris treaty or
whether these lands become the property Of
the national government by reason of the
expiration OF any island government until
congress created one.
AS elsewhere in the new possessions the
question Of the public lands is veratious
and annoying problem. To arrive at any
definite status thorough survery must be
recorded and the boundaries of land decided
and granted must be resurveyed and reesta-
blished. Porto Rico is comparatively 9
small territory there being approximately but
2,304 900 acres in.the entire island. While
it is populous and intensely cultived, 1t is
also true that in the more mountainous dis
tricts there ale many acres Of wild lands
the title to which undoubtedly rests in the
public domain.
A partial list Of public lands has been
made and includes great variety, ranging
from town lots of great value to mountain
peaks apparently worthless for purposes Of
cultivation. The courts will be called upon
to decide whether the old the national 60.
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