e civil and religious marriage
ceremonies are equally legal and valid.

In order to protect the island against undue exploitation by American
speculators and "promoters," a law of the American Congress in February,
1899, forbade the granting of franchises or concessions of any kind
during the period of American occupation and control. It was not
pretended that there was no need of any such grants, but it was
prudently contended that they should wait until the Cubans themselves
had full control of the insular government. The wisdom of this was
apparent, and the law was generally approved, even by those who most
clearly saw the desirability of developing the resources and industries
of the island by the building of railroads, tramways, telegraph lines,
etc. It was better for these to wait for a year or two than to incur the
suspicion that an American administration had granted Cuban franchises
to American promoters on terms which a Cuban government would not have
approved.

A most important enterprise during the Brooke administration was the
taking of a thorough census of the island. This was ordered by President
McKinley on August 17, 1899, and was taken early in the ensuing fall.
The island was divided into 1,607 enumeration districts, and the work of
canvassing was given chiefly to Cubans. Among the canvassers were 142
women; the first women ever employed in government work in Cuba. The
census was not a mere enumeration, but comprised a multiplicity of
details concerning the age, nativity, citizenship, conjugal condition,
literacy, etc., of the people, and also concerning agriculture and the
other occupations in which they were engaged. The populations of the
provinces were as follows, compared with the figures of the census of
1887:

Provinces 1899 1887

Pinar del Rio 173,082 225,891
Havana 424,811 451,928
Matanzas 202,462 259,578
Santa Clara 356,537 354,122
Camaguey 88,237 67,789
Oriente 327,716 272,379
-------- -------
Totals 1,572,845 1,631,687

These figures are significant. There should, of course, have been a
considerable increase in population in those twelve years. Instead,
there was a considerable decrease. The entire numb