The Foraker Act confirms Puerto Rico as an unconsolidated territory of the United States. The system that Congress confers on its new subjects is substantially the same as England had subjected her Crown Colonies to prior to 1763. The president, with the advice and consent of Congress, appoints a governor and an executive council. The executive council appoints those under it. The legislature is made up of two houses; the executive council as the upper house and 35 members in the lower house. The elective branch could refuse to appropriate funds, but other than that, the pUerto ricans have hardly a say in their government.
The Almanac of American History, by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., G.P. Putnam Sons, 1983, p. 395