first therein stated, until in its opinion the conditions in the Philippine Islands may warrant the higher rates therein provided; and Whereas it appears to the Philippine Commission that the existing conditions in the Philippine Islands do not warrant the higher rates of duty therein provided to take effect on and after January first, nineteen hundred and seven: Therefore, By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The existing rates of duty upon rice unhusked, husked, and in flour, imported into the Philippine Islands, are hereby continued in force until May first, nineteen hundred and eight. SEC. 2. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedíted 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. 1575.] AN ACT So amending Act Numbered Eleven hundred and forty-eight, entitled "The Forest Act," as to provide but one scale of taxes on timber for all provinces. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Section eleven of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and forty-eight, entitled "The Forest Act," is hereby amended by striking out of said section the first three paragraphs thereof beginning with the words "For the purposes of this Act "and ending with the words "Samar, Surigao, and Tayabas." SEC. 2. Section twelve of said Act is hereby amended in the following particulars: (a) Paragraph three of section twelve of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "On all timber included in the first group, two pesos and fifty centavos." (b) Paragraph four of section twelve of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "On all timber included in the second group, one peso and fifty centavos.' (c) Paragraph five of section twelve of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "On all timber included in the third group, one peso." (d) Paragraph six of section twelve of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "On all timber included in the fourth group and on all nonenumerated timber, fifty centavos: Provided, That the taxes imposed in this section on ebony and camagon shall be charged on said timbers when presented for measurement and appraisal with the sapwood still attached; and the number of cubic meters in each piece of timber so measured shall include the sapwood attached to the same, and when ebony or camagon timber from which the sapwood has been stripped is presented for measurement and appraisal there shall be assessed and collected the following sums: (e) Paragraph seven of section twelve of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows: "On each cubic meter of ebony, six pesos. On each cubic meter of camagon, four pesos and fifty centavos." SEC. 3. 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. 4. This Act shall take effect on January first, nineteen hundred and seven. Enacted, December 14, 1906. [No. 1576.] AN ACT To amend Act Numbered Three hundred and fifty-five, entitled "An Act to constitute the customs service of the Philippine Archipelago and to provide for the administration thereof," as amended, by providing a more expeditious method of dealing with small seizures and by defining the term "officer of the customs." By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Sections three hundred and thirteen, three hundred and thirteen (a), and three hundred and thirteen (b) of Act Numbered Three hundred and fifty-five, entitled "An Act to constitute the customs service of the Philippine Archipelago and to provide for the administration thereof," as amended by Acts Numbered Eight hundred and sixty-four and Fourteen hundred and five, are hereby so amended as to make the decision of the Insular Collector of Customs final and conclusive in all seizure cases in which the appraised local value of the goods in controversy is less than two hundred pesos: Provided, That in such cases an appeal to the court may be had in the following manner: Notice of an adverse decision shall be served in the manner prescribed for the service of notices in section three hundred and thirteen (a), as nearly as may be, or, when practicable, by actual personal service on the owner or person in possession at the time of seizure. Any person claiming a right to the possession of the merchandise may, within thirty days after such service of the collector's decision, make claim for all or any part thereof, and pay whatever fine may be assessed thereon; or in cases where forfeiture is adjudged and the goods are other than prohibited importations, pay the local appraised value of such goods, in either case under protest and subject to the conditions prescribed for "rate and amount of duty cases," in section two hundred and eighty-six of Act Numbered Three hundred and fifty-five; whereupon the collector shall certify up the record to the Court of First Instance, and the action shall proceed as in section two hundred and eighty-seven of said Act Numbered. Three hundred and fifty-five: And provided further, That if no claimant shall appear within sixty days after service of the collector's decision, as above prescribed, the goods shall become absolutely forfeited to the Government, and without further proceedings shall be sold for the benefit of the Government at the first convenient opportunity at public auction in the manner prescribed by law. SEC. 2. Section three hundred and thirty-three of said Act Numbered Three hundred and fifty-five is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words: "The expression officer of the customs' and like terms shall be construed both in this section and in all other sections of this Act, and in all Acts or laws enforcible in whole or in part by the Insular Collector of Customs or any of his subordinates, so far as the same relate to crimes committed by or upon such officers, to include all persons whose compensation is paid out of customs appropriations or arrastre or other funds controlled by the customs authorities; also storekeepers in private bonded warehouses and persons in charge of Government coal piles." SEC. 3. 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. 4. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1577.] AN ACT To provide for the execution in Bilibid Prison of criminals sentenced to death. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Hereafter the execution of all criminals finally sentenced to incur the death penalty shall take place inside the walls of Bilibid Prison in the city of Manila, and within an inclosure to be erected or arranged for that purpose, if none suitable exists, under the direction of the Director of Prisons, which inclosure shall be higher than the gallows, and be so constructed as to exclude entirely the view of persons outside. For the purpose of carrying into effect all such executions of the death sentence the Director of Prisons shall perform the duties prescribed by existing law for sheriffs of the Courts of First Instance; the order of execution shall be directed to him instead of to the sheriff of the court, and he shall return to the court the order of execution, duly certifying thereon that he has complied therewith in the manner prescribed by law for sheriffs of the courts. Hereafter it shall not be necessary for the clerk of the Court of First Instance to witness the execution, nor to certify said act to the court. Such executions shall be conducted by the persons prescribed by existing law for the conducting of executions at said institution or by such law as may be hereafter enacted. SEC. 2. The following persons only may be present at an execution: Officials and employees of Bilibid Prison and such persons as may be necessary, in the opinion of the Director of Prisons, to assist in conducting the execution; members of the medical profession, including the prison doctor; the spiritual adviser of the condemned; the chaplain, or chaplains, of the prison; the counsel of the condemned; and any of the relatives or friends of the condemned, not exceeding ten in number. SEC. 3. All provisions of the Spanish Penal Code, of Act Numbered Four hundred and fifty-one of the Philippine Commission, and of any other statute, rule, regulation, or order in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed: Provided, That the terms of this Act shall not apply to the Moro Province, in which province the laws in force with respect to executions at the time of the passage of this Act shall continue in full force and effect. SEC. 4. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedíted 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. 5. This Act shall take effect on its passage. [No. 1578.] AN ACT Authorizing the refund of moneys received at land tax sales and interest thereon upon conveyance of such land to provincial treasurer as trustee by purchaser, extending the time for the redemption of realty by the delinquent taxpayer and the re-conveyance to him of such real estate by purchaser, providing for the confiscation of such real estate in case it is not redeemed, and for other purposes. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The provincial treasurers of all provinces organized under the Provincial Government Act, Numbered Eighty-three, are hereby authorized, with the approval of the Governor-General first had, to refund to holders of all deeds or certificates of purchase of real property sold at public auction for delinquent taxes due thereon, the amount paid by such purchaser at the said tax sale and the amount of any taxes, penalties, costs, or interest legally paid by him on said real property subsequent to the sale, together with interest thereon at the rate of fifteen per centum per annum from the date of actual payment of any or either of such sums, to the date of the refund hereby authorized. The holder of any such deed or certificate of purchase, before receiving the refund hereby authorized, shall convey by proper conveyance, sufficient under the law, to the provincial treasurer as trustee, all his title and interest in and to the land described in such tax deed or certificate of purchase; and the provincial treasurer shall cause the said deed to be recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the province where the land is situated. No fees for the registration of such deeds shall be charged or collected by such register of deeds. SEC. 2. As soon as practicable after the conveyance of any such interest from the holder of any tax deed or certificate of purchase as provided in section one of this Act, the provincial treasurer shall notify the former owner of the real estate so redeemed, or his legal representative, by a notice deposited in the mail and addressed to the municipality and barrio in which the said real property is situated, setting forth the status of said property and that he will be allowed to redeem the same within six months from the date of the mailing of said notice by paying to the said provincial treasurer the amount paid to such purchaser, together with interest thereon at the rate of fifteen per centum per annum from the date of such conveyance from said purchaser to the date of redemption by such former owner or his legal representative: Provided, That in the event that any taxes, penalties, costs, or interest have become due since the sale of the said real property and have not been paid by the purchaser and included in the refund made to him by the provincial treasurer, then, the owner in addition to the payment of the amount refunded the purchaser with interest as provided above shall also be required to pay the tax, penalties, costs, and interest which may have become due subsequent to the sale of the said real property. Upon the redemption by the former owner or his legal representative of said real estate in the manner above provided the provincial treasurer, as such trustee, shall convey by proper conveyance, sufficient under the law, the said real estate to the said former owner or his legal representative. SEC. 3. All real property conveyed in accordance with the provisions of section one of this Act, which shall not be redeemed by the original owner or his legal representative within six months from the date of the mailing of the notice by the provincial treasurer as prescribed in section two hereof, shall be considered as confiscated as provided in section eighty-one of the Municipal Code, and the provincial treasurer as such trustee shall forthwith convey by proper conveyance, sufficient under the law, the said real estate to the municipality in which the same is situated. SEC. 4. All conveyances of real estate as provided in this Act shall be acknowledged by the clerk of the Court of First Instance of the province in which such land is situate, free of charge, and it shall not be necessary to affix to such deeds the stamps required by section one hundred and sixteen of the Internal Revenue Law of nineteen hundred and four. SEC. 5. In making the refund authorized by section one of this Act, the provincial treasurer shall charge against the municipality in which the real property is situated such part of the refund as will equal the amount received by it on the original distribution of the proceeds of the sale. SEC. 6. Sections one, two, three, and four of this Act shall apply to the city of Manila: Provided, That the duties therein prescribed for provincial treasurers shall be performed by the City Assessor and Collector of the city of Manila under the direction of the Munici-. pal Board, except that refunds shall be made by the disbursing officer of the city of Manila, subject to the approval of the Municipal Board and of the Governor-General. Refunds in the city of Manila shall be made out of any funds in the Insular Treasury to the credit of the city of Manila, and an indefinite appropriation is hereby created for the amount of such refunds, which shall be charged wholly to the city of Manila. SEC. 7. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with |