All property which may have been acquired in Puerto Rico by the United States under the cession of Spain in the treaty of peace entered into on the 10th day of December 1898, in any public bridges, road houses, water powers, highways, unnavigable streams and the beds thereof, subterranean waters, mines or minerals under the surface of private lands, all property which at the time of the cession belonged, under the laws of Spain then in force, to the various harbor works boards of Puerto Rico, all the harbor shores, docks, slips, reclaimed lands, and all public lands and buildings not reserved by the United States for public purposes prior to March 2, 1917, is placed under the control of the government of Puerto Rico, to be administered for the benefit of the people of Puerto Rico; and the Legislature of Puerto Rico shall have authority, subject to the limitations imposed upon all its acts, to legislate with respect to all matters, as it may deem advisable. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as used in this section "control" includes all right, title, and interest in and to and jurisdiction and authority over the aforesaid property and includes proprietary rights of ownership, and the rights of management, administration, leasing, use, and development of such property.
(Mar. 2, 1917, ch. 145, §7, 39 Stat. 954; May 17, 1932, ch. 190, 47 Stat. 158; Pub. L. 96–205, title VI, §606(b), Mar. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 91.)
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