nine hundred and seventy dollars ($12,970) in money of the United States are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the insular treasury, not otherwise appropriated, for the payment of the current expenses of the insular government in the department of Mindanao and Jolo, for the purposes and objects hereinafter expressed, viz: For rents and repairs to buildings, for salaries and subsidies, for pay of crews and purchase of coal, waste, oil, etc., for small gunboats, and for contingencies for the period embraced between November 1 and December 31, 1900. SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this appropriation bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section 2 of "An act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September 26, 1900. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 44.] AN ACT providing for the service of process in provinces where civil courts have not been organized. By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Whenever, in any action, civil or criminal, now pending, or that may hereafter be pending, in any court of the Philippine Islands, it is necessary and proper in accordance with existing law, that an attachment, or execution, or summons, or other process, should be served within any province in which civil courts have not yet been established, or shall not have been established when the occasion may arise for the service of such process, it shall be the duty of the judge, or justice of the peace, before whom the action is pending forthwith to make application in writing to the chief justice of the supreme court, requesting the appointment of a special officer authorized to make service of such process. The application shall state the names and residences of the parties to the action, and the facts, showing the necessity for the application, and the character of the process to be served. SEC. 2. Upon the receipt of such application it shall be the duty of the chief justice of the supreme court to issue a special commission under the seal of the supreme court, to some discreet and disinterested person, authorizing such person to serve the process named in the application. SEC. 3. The person so officially authorized, shall make service of the process in the province in which he is authorized to make such service by his commission, in the same manner as though he were a regular officer, proceeding under the action of a court of that province; and shall make return under oath, in writing, of all his proceedings on the process, to the court from which it issued, and shall be in all respects treated as an officer of that court, to the same extent and with the same liabilities as though the process had been one to be served within the province in which the court is situated. He shall at the same time return his commission to the custody of the court from which the process issued. SEC. 4. This act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 45.] AN ACT imposing a customs tax upon exports of Mexican money. By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. An export tax of ten per cent is hereby imposed upon all Mexican money hereafter exported from the Philippine Islands, provided that this act shall not apply to any sum not exceeding twentyfive dollars in Mexican money carried by a person departing from the islands. SEC. 2. All Mexican money exported, or attempted to be exported, from the islands, in violation of this act, shall be forfeited to the Government in the manner hereinafter provided. SEC. 3. It shall be the duty of the customs officials to seize all Mexican money attempted to be exported without payment of the tax herein. imposed, and to hold the same until disposed of by order of court. The collector of customs for the islands shall immediately cause proceedings to be instituted, in a provost court of the city of Manila, organized under General Order, No. 64, of the Headquarters Division of the Philippines, issued August 10, 1900, against the money so seized, to enforce the forfeiture herein prescribed. If the owner of the money is known, and is within the islands, he shall be summoned to show cause in said court why the forfeiture should not be decreed. If he is unknown, or is not within the Philippine Islands, he shall be notified of the pendency of such proceedings by publishing a notice once a week, for three successive weeks, in two daily papers published one in the English language and one in the Spanish language, in the city of Manila, which notice shall state the amount of money seized, the time and place and cause of seizure, and the time nd place of the trial. If upon trial it shall be established that the money was being exported, or that the attempt was being made to export it, without payment of the tax herein imposed, a decree of forfeiture shall be entered. If these facts are not established, a decree shall be rendered for the return of the money to its owner. SEC. 4. Any person exporting, or attempting to export, Mexican money without payment of the tax hereby imposed, shall also be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or to an imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, in the discretion of the court. All proceedings for the enforcement of the penalties herein prescribed shall be in the provost court mentioned in section three of this act. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect on its passage. Enacted, November 12, 1900. [No. 46.] AN ACT authorizing the designation by commanding generals of military departments of civilians to perform ad interim the duties of inspectors of customs and to fix temporary compensation. By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission that: SECTION 1. Whenever, through the withdrawal of garrisons from towns of the archipelago open to coasting trade, the office of inspector of customs becomes vacant, commanding generals of military departments are authorized to designate civilians, preferably the chief officers of towns, to perform ad interim the duties of said office. SEC. 2. Civilian incumbents of said office, designated under section 1 of this act, shall, during the period of their service as such, be compensated therefor at a rate to be fixed by department commanders and not exceeding forty dollars ($40) gold per month. SEC. 3. This act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 47.] AN ACT amending the civil service act by extending the benefits of section 22 of said act to certain persons discharging the duties of civil positions in the military government by detail from the military or naval service of the United States. By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission that: SECTION 1. The civil-service act is hereby amended, by adding thereto the following section to be known as section 30: "SEC. 30. A person who, when the civil-service board informs the Military Governor and the Commission of its readiness to certify an eligible list as provided in section 25, is performing the duties of any of the executive positions described in section 5 by detail from the military or naval service of the United States shall, upon receiving an honorable discharge therefrom, become a civil servant holding the position, the duties of which he has been performing, with the same immunity from competitive examination as that secured to certain civilian employees by section 22, subject, however, to the proviso of that section." SEC. 2. This act shall take effect on its [No. 48.] passage. AN ACT providing for the establishing of local civil governments in the townships of the province of Benguet. By authority of the President of the United States, be it enacted by the United States Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Whereas the inhabitants of the province of Benguet are at present almost entirely Igorrotes, and a large amount of control and direction by officers appointed by the insular government is deemed best suited to present conditions there, the following simple form of municipal government is adopted, to remain in force until such time as the Igorrotes develop greater capacity for self-government, or the civilized population becomes sufficiently numerous to require new and more liberal provisions. This act shall apply to all the townships of the province, namely, Baguio, Trinidad, Galiano, Itogon, Tublay, Átok, Kapangan, Balakbak, Palina, Ampusungan, Loo, Baguias, Kabayan, Adaoy, Bokod, Daklan, Sablan and Ambuklao. SEC. 2. Each of these townships shall be divided into barrios. For the purposes of the first election, the barrios as established under Spanish sovereignty shall be recognized; but when local civil government shall have been established in any township, this government shall readjust the division of the township into barrios, definitely fixing the boundaries of these barrios, as provided in section 25. The barrio of the township in which the "tribunal" was formerly situated shall be known as the chief barrio. SEC. 3. All property vested in any pueblo under its former organization shall continue to be vested in the same township after its organization under this act. SEC. 4. The government of each township established under this act is hereby vested in a president and a council composed of one representative from each barrio of the township, who shall be designated "councillor." SEC. 5. In addition to the officers provided for in section 4, there shall be in each township a secretary, a constable, a messenger, and such other nonelective officers and employés as the council shall deem necessary and provide for and the provincial governor shall authorize. SEC. 6. The salaries of all officers and employés, whether elective or appointive (except councillors, who shall receive no salary), shall be fixed by the council, subject to the approval of the provincial governor, provided, that no secretary shall receive less than fifteen dollars ($15) Mexican per month. SEC. 7. The term of office of the president, secretary, councillors, constable and messenger, shall be for one year, and until their successors shall have been duly chosen; provided, however, that those first elected shall hold office until the first Monday in January, 1902, and until their successors shall have been duly chosen. SEC. 8. The president and the vice-president shall be elected at large by a plurality vote of the duly qualified electors of each of the several barrios. The secretary, the constable and the messenger shall be appointed by the president, by and with the consent of a majority of all the members of the council. SEC. 9. A person elected by the people to fill any municipal office shall not be permitted to decline the same, but shall discharge the duties thereof, unless before election he shall claim exemption on the ground: (a) that he has discharged the duties of the same office for two previous terms; or (b) that he is physically disabled. Any person who shall violate the foregoing provision or who shall wilfully misrepresent his physical condition in order to secure exemption from holding municipal office shall, upon conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, suffer imprisonment for the term of three months. SEC. 10. The electors exercising the privilege of choosing elective officers shall be male persons eighteen or more years of age, who have had a legal residence in the township in which they exercise the suf frage for a period of six months immediately preceding the election, and who are not citizens or subjects of any foreign power. SEC. 11. Each elector shall, before voting, take the following affirmation, which shall be administered by the provincial secretary: I, ELECTOR'S AFFIRMATION. do solemnly affirm that I am a male resident of the township of in the province of Benguet, and shall have resided therein for the period of six months next preceding the next township election; that at the date of said election I shall be eighteen (18) or more years of age; that I am not a citizen or subject of any foreign power; furthermore, that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that I will obey the laws, legal orders and decrees duly promulgated by its authority; and that I impose this obligation voluntarily and without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. SEC. 12. The following persons shall be disqualified from voting: 1. Those who are delinquent in payment of public taxes assessed subsequently to December 1, 1900. 2. Those who shall have been deprived of the right to vote by sentence of a court of competent jurisdiction since August 13, 1898. 3. Insane or feeble-minded persons. SEC. 13. The first election in each township shall be held in its chief barrio at the time which the provincial governor shall designate, and the officers elected thereat shall immediately enter upon their duties. Subsequent elections shall be held in the chief barrio on the first Tuesday in December of each year, beginning with 1901, and the officers elected thereat shall enter upon the discharge of their duties on the first Monday of the January following. SEC. 14. A president, vice-president, councillor, constable or messenger shall be a duly qualified elector of the province, and shall have had a legal residence therein for one year prior to the election. SEC. 15. A secretary shall be able to read, write and speak intelligently the Ilocano and the Spanish or English languages. He need not be a native of the province or a resident therein at the time of his appointment. SEC. 16. In no case shall there be elected or appointed to a township office ecclesiastics; soldiers in active service; persons receiving salaries from provincial, departmental or government funds; those who are delinquent in the payment of public taxes assessed after December 1, 1900; or contractors for public works within the province. SEC. 17. The president shall be the chief executive of the township. 1. He shall cause the local ordinances and the orders of the provincial governor to be executed, and shall supervise the discharge of official duties by all subordinates. 2. He shall receive, receipt for and keep in the town house or presidencia all moneys accruing from taxes, license or other fees, and fines. 3. He shall pay on the last day of each month the salaries of all regularly appointed local officers and employés, and, upon an order passed by a majority vote of the council and approved by the provincial governor, shall make such other payments as may be thus duly authorized. 4. He shall render to the council during the first week of each month a true account of all collections and disbursements made during the preceding month. If said account is approved by the council, a true copy of it shall be forwarded to the provincial governor for his infor |