[No. 1564.] AN ACT Refixing the weight and fineness of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation thereof as a result of an appreciation in the price of silver, providing for the recoinage of existing silver coins of the Philippine Islands at the refixed weight and fineness, to have the same value in gold as those of the corresponding denominations authorized by the Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, and prescribing a method for expediting the ready circulation of the new coins. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Pursuant to the authority given in the Act of Congress approved June twenty-third, nineteen hundred and six, entitled "An Act to amend an Act approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, entitled 'An Act to establish a standard of value and to provide for a coinage system in the Philippine Islands," and with the approval of the President of the United States, it is hereby enacted that for the purpose of preventing the melting and exportation of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands as a result of the high price of silver, the weight and fineness of the silver coins of the Philippine Islands hereafter coined shall be as follows: The peso shall contain twenty grams of silver eight hundred thousandths fine; The fifty-centavo piece shall contain ten grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine; The twenty-centavo piece shall contain four grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine; The ten-centavo piece shall contain two grams of silver seven hundred and fifty thousandths fine. The alloy of the above-mentioned coins shall be copper. SEC. 2. From time to time, in the discretion of the Philippine Commission, the existing silver coins of the Philippine Islands shall be recoined at the weight and fineness established by this Act when such coins are received into the Treasury or into the gold-standard fund of the Philippine Islands, and all such coins shall have the same value in gold as those of the corresponding denominations authorized by the Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, hereinbefore cited, and all the provisions of existing law applying to the silver coins authorized by said Act of Congress approved March second, nineteen hundred and three, shall apply to the coins authorized by this Act, except as herein otherwise provided. SEC. 3. The recoinage shall be effected at one or more of the United States mints, and all expenses connected therewith shall be chargeable against the gold-standard fund. SEC. 4. For the purpose of expediting the ready circulation of the aforementioned coins, the Insular Treasurer shall prepare a circular. which shall be translated into the various languages and dialects of the Philippine Islands and distributed throughout the Islands. Said circular shall explain the reason for the recoinage and shall inform the public that the new coins will be received in payment of all taxes and Government dues, and will be legal tender for private debts as the equivalent of the old coins; that they will be receivable in Manila for the purchase of gold drafts on the same terms as the old coins, and that they may be exchanged on demand at the Insular Treasury in Manila and at the various provincial treasuries throughout the Islands for silver certificates, and if desired for nickel and copper coins. The Insular Treasurer is hereby directed to supply the various provincial treasuries with sufficient funds out of the gold-standard fund to enable them to comply with the requirements of this section, and all expenses connected therewith shall be a proper charge against the gold-standard fund. SEC. 5. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect on its passage. CIRCULAR On recoinage in accordance with sec. 4, Act 1564 of the Philippine Commission. OFFICE OF THE TREASURER OF The Philippine ISLANDS, Manila, P. I., April 8, 1907. When the present silver coins of the Philippine Islands, which have a declared gold value by law, were placed in circulation, their weight and fineness were so fixed, it was thought, that their value would not be affected by the fluctuations of the price of silver. The value of the silver in the coins was about ninety per cent of their face value. The unprecedented rise in the price of silver within the past three years has made the bullion value of the coins ten per centum more than their face value. The danger of exportation of our coins as a commodity for sale in other countries at their bullion value, thereby contracting our currency to the injury of the business and industrial interests and to the individual hardship of all the inhabitants of the Islands, prompted the Commission to pass Act 1411, making the exportation of the silver currency of the Islands or attempt to export in excess of twenty-five pesos a criminal offense in addition to forfeiture of the money. A large amount of the coin was smuggled out notwithstanding the law. In order that a stable currency system might be maintained regardless of the fluctuations of silver, the Congress of the United States, by Act of June 23, 1906, authorized the Philippine Commission to refix the weight and fineness of the Insular coins, and on December 6, 1906, the Commission passed Act No. 1564 fixing their weight and fineness as follows: The Silver Peso to contain 20 grams of silver, .800 fine. The purchasing power of the peso and the sub-divisions thereof has not been nor will not be reduced in any way, and all coins of the new weight and fineness will continue to be received by the Insular Government and all Provincial and Municipal Governments in payment of all duties, taxes, dues and imposts due such Governments in the same manner as heretofore. The legal tender value of such coins also remains unchanged, and they will be received at the Insular Treasury in payment of demand drafts or telegraphic transfers on the Gold Standard Fund in New York. The new coins will be exchanged for the old coins at the Insular Treasury and at all Provincial Treasuries at par, the latter coins being retained, and when sufficiently large amounts accumulate, forwarded to the United States Mints to be recoined into coins of the new weight and fineness. The hearty co-operation and assistance of the people in the prompt retirement of the old coins and in the circulation of the new coins is urgently requested. FRANK A. BRANAGAN, Treasurer, Philippine Islands. 64 [No. 1565.] AN ACT Amending section seventy of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, The Corporation Law," as amended by Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and six, by extending the time within which foreign corporations shall comply with the provisions of said Act. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-nine, known as "The Corporation Law," is hereby amended by striking out in section seventy, as amended by section two of Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and six, the words "ten months" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "thirteen months." SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of " An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 3. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1566.] AN ACT Regulating the free entry of certain railroad material imported into the Philippine Islands. Whereas section five of the Act of Congress approved February sixth, nineteen hundred and five, provides "That material imported into the Philippine Islands for the construction and equipment of railroads therein may, in the discretion of the General Government of said Islands, under rules and regulations to be by it prescribed, be admitted free of duty." By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. All material imported into the Philippine Archipelago for the construction and equipment of the railroads granted conces sions by Acts Numbered Fourteen hundred and ninety-seven and Fifteen hundred and ten, which material shall, in fact, be so used, shall be admitted free of duty under the following rules and regulations. SEC. 2. All such materials shall be imported through some regular port of entry in the Philippine Islands, and there shall be presented to the collector of customs of the port through which such materials are imported a free entry in duplicate, similar to the form prescribed for Government importations. There shall be filed with such free entry a commercial invoice in the usual form, specifying in detail the kind of materials imported and the value thereof. There shall also be filed with each free entry for railroad material a certificate in writing signed by the representative or agent of the railroad company to the effect that the material for which free entry is sought is to be used in the construction and equipment of a line of railroad chartered by an Act of the Philippine Commission, giving the number of the Act, that no other use or disposition of the material will be allowed or permitted, and that if any other disposition is contemplated immediate notice thereof will be given to the Insular Collector of Customs, and the material held subject to his order, until the duties thereon have been assessed and collected. SEC. 3. These provisions for the free entry of railroad material shall apply only to such material as is imported for the purpose of construction and equipment, and shall not extend or apply to any portion of such lines, or to any material or supplies therefor, after the same shall be constructed and equipped as provided for in section one of this Act. SEC. 4. In case the Insular Collector of Customs shall be in doubt as to whether any article sought to be imported free of duty under this Act is entitled to said exemption, he may submit the question in writing to the Supervising Railway Expert, who shall thereupon examine the same, and certify to the Insular Collector of Customs whether the expenditure by the railroad for said article will, in his opinion, be allowed as a proper item in the cost of construction under section one, subsection numbered nine of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and ninety-seven, and section four, paragraphs (c) and (d) of Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and seven, in case the road is one upon which interest on bonds is guaranteed by the Government; or, in case of nonguaranteed roads, the Supervising Railway Expert shall certify to the Insular Collector of Customs whether, in his opinion, said article is a proper charge against the construction and equipment of a railroad. SEC. 5. The exemptions provided by this Act shall not be construed to extend or apply to articles of any kind purchased from funds other than those of the railroad company, or of one of its contractors or subcontractors; nor to articles which are intended for the personal use of officers or employees of any such company, whether the same are purchased from funds of such company or not. SEC. 6. All material, supplies, or articles of whatever kind and nature, imported and passed free of duty under the provisions of this Act which shall not be used in the construction or equipment of a line of railroad, and all used construction machinery and equipment above that which can be reasonably used in the maintenance 11027-WAR 1907-VOL 10- 3 and operation of the road shall be inventoried and assessed for duty upon the completion of the construction and equipment of the line of railroad for which such material, supplies, articles, or machinery were imported: Provided, That used construction machinery and equipment shall be assessed for duty at a valuation to be fixed thereon by the Insular Collector of Customs. SEC. 7. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect, repeal, or amend the existing laws or regulations in regard to protests against and appeals from adverse decisions of the Insular Collector of Customs. SEC. 8. Whenever free entry is requested for any materials or articles which, in the opinion of the Insular Collector of Customs, are not entitled to exemption from duty under the terms of this Act, that officer is authorized, after making due examination and appraisement and ascertaining the amount of duties found to be due on said materials or articles, to admit the same without payment of the duties, and to deliver the same to the railway company or its representatives, notifying them, in writing, that said materials or articles are found to be dutiable, that the duties thereon amount to a certain sum, stating the sum, that the same have been passed and delivered without payment of the duty, in accordance with this section, and that due report of his decision and the amount of duties found to be due will be made to the Governor-General, in order that the question of their dutiability may be adjusted and decided by him in conformity with subsection numbered nine of section one of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and ninety-seven. It shall thereupon become the duty of the Insular Collector of Customs. promptly to notify the Governor-General in writing of the above facts and to hold the free entry and invoice and all other papers connected with the case in his office subject to the orders of the Governor-General and until final adjustment of the question is had. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to alter or amend the rights of the Insular Auditor under the Accounting Act or any amendment thereto, or under any other Act of the Philippine Commission. SEC. 9. The Insular Collector of Customs is hereby authorized to prescribe suitable and necessary regulations for carrying out the purposes of this Act, not inconsistent with the terms hereof, and collectors of customs at subports of entry in the Philippine Islands are hereby authorized to grant free entry of railroad materials and supplies, the exemption of which from duty under this Act may be questioned by them, under the general direction and supervision of the Insular Collector of Customs. SEC. 10. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twentysixth, nineteen hundred. SEC. 11. This Act shall take effect on its passage. Enacted, December 7, 1906. |