Report of the secretary of public instruction-Continued.

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Summary of statistics for the fifteenth annual report of the director of edu

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION TO

THE SECRETARY OF WAR.

JULY 1, 1913, TO DECEMBER 31, 1914.

MANILA, July 23, 1915.

SIR: The Philippine Commission has the honor to submit its fifteenth annual report, covering the fiscal year 1914 (the period from July 1 to December 31, 1913), and the new fiscal year 1914 (the period from January 1 to December 31, 1914).

On December 19, 1913, the Legislature enacted Act No. 2305, making the fiscal year uniform for all branches of the government and coincident with the calendar year. Formerly the fiscal year for the insular government ended on June 30 of each calendar year. Attention is called to the fact that the part of this report which refers to legislation also embraces part of the fiscal year 1915, for the reason that the Legislature was in session on December 31, 1914, and did not adjourn until February 5, 1915; consequently data with respect to the work of the Legislature, to be of any value, must cover the entire period of session. If that part of this report which refers to legislative matters were closed as of December 31, 1914, it would show no more than the status of bills on that date, which, in many cases, would be changed on the following legislative day.

LEGISLATION.

EXCLUSIVE LEGISLATIVE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION.

Acting within its exclusive legislative jurisdiction over all that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other nonChristian tribes, the Commission enacted during the period covered by this report 48 acts, of which the following are perhaps the most important:

No. 2280. An act appropriating the sum of $50,000 for the establishment, in that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes, of colonies and plantations for the cultivation of rice and other food cereals, for the better distribution of the population, and for other purposes. No. 2287. An act prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, with certain exceptions, in the Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan, except in certain districts.

No. 2309. An act changing the name of the Moro Province to the department of Mindanao and Sulu, placing the province of Agusan under the jurisdiction and control of the governor of the said department, and for other purposes.

No. 2396. An act making extensive to the department of Mindanao and Sulu the provisions of the provincial government act and other acts relative to the cedula tax and increased cedula tax, under certain conditions, and repealing 3

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act No. 306 of the Legislative Council of said department and all other acts inconsistent herewith.

No. 2399. An act extending the provisions of Act 2300 to the territory inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes and penalizing the taking away of any uncivilized person or member of any non-Christian tribe for the purpose of exploiting or exhibiting such person as a spectacle, and for other purposes.

No. 2402. An act making applicable to that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other non-Christain tribes Acts Nos. 2339 and 2347 of the Philippine Legislature.

No. 2403. An act making applicable to that part of the Philippine Islands inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes certain acts of the Philippine Legislature.

No. 2404. An act to aid in the harmonizing of the non-Christian and the Christian inhabitants of the Philippine Islands, creating the position of delegate of the secretary of the interior for the non-Christian people and making appropriation therefor.

No. 2406. An act appropriating P35,000 to aid the non-Christian people of the Mountain Province and to promote their union with the Christian people of the Philippines.

No. 2408. An act providing a temporary form of government for the territory known as the department of Mindanao and Sulu, making applicable thereto, with certain exceptions, the provisions of general laws now in force in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes.

No. 2409. An act extending to the department of Mindanao and Sulu the provisions of general laws providing for the organization, jurisdiction, procedure, and fees of justice of the peace courts, with certain exceptions, and for other purposes.

No. 2417. An act making applicable to the department of Mindanao and Sulu all laws relating to the bureau of agriculture now in force in provinces and municipalities organized under Acts Nos. 83 and 82, and their amendments, and for other purposes.

No. 2418. An act extending to the Mountain Province the provisions of general laws providing for the organization, jurisdiction, procedure, and fees of justice of the peace courts, with certain exceptions, and for other purposes.

No. 2429. An act providing a procedure for the first election of third members of provincial boards in the various provinces of the department of Mindanao and Sulu, and authorizing the governor of the department to fix the date for the holding of the first municipal elections therein, and for other purposes.

No. 2441. An act providing that the property tax in the province of Nueva Vizcaya shall be assessed against real property only and that the rate of levy shall be increased from one-half to seven-eighths of 1 per cent, and for other purposes.

No. 2513. An act making appropriations for the maintenance of a hospital ship for use in the department of Mindanao and Sulu, and for other purposes.

AS A CHAMBER OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGISLATURE.

During the period covered by this report, there were held two regular sessions and one special session of the Third Philippine Legislature; namely, the second session, which convened at Manila on October 16, 1913, and adjourned on February 3, 1914; the special session of 1914, which convened at Manila on February 6, 1914, pursuant to proclamation by the Governor General, and adjourned on February 28, 1914; and the third sessions, which convened at Manila on October 16, 1914, and adjourned on February 5, 1915.

During these three sessions there were introduced in the Commission, as a chamber of the Legislature, 174 bills, of which 108 were passed by the Commission and sent to the Assembly for concurrence, of which 83 were enacted. One of the first resolutions adopted by the new Philippine Commission was that providing that all of its sessions except those necessarily executive should be open to the public and to the press. The Commission received from the

Assembly for concurrence 290 bills, which had been passed by the Assembly, of which 106 were enacted. The total number of bills enacted by the Legislature during this period is 189. Of these acts the following are perhaps the most important:

No. 2288. An act appropriating the sum of $175,000 Philippine currency for public schools.

No. 2300. An act confirming existing legislation prohibiting slavery, involuntary servitude, and peonage in the Philippine Islands, subject to modifications as provided in sections 268, 269, 270, and 271 of the act of the Congress of the United States approved March 4, 1909, entitled "An act to codify, revise, and amend the penal laws of the United States," and adopting measures for preventing violations of said laws.

No. 2305. An act to make the fiscal year uniform for all branches of the government and coincident with the calendar year, and to fix the time for making annual reports for officers of the different branches of the government, and for other purposes.

No. 2307. An act creating a board of public utility commissioners and prescribing its duties and powers, and for other purposes.

No. 2308. An act abolishing the bureau of navigation and transferring to other bureaus certain property, equipment, functions, and duties hitherto appertaining thereto; providing for the sale of certain property, authorizing the sale or lease of the marine railway and repair shop, and repealing certain provisions of law relating to the bureau of navigation.

No. 2333. An act relative to untrue, deceptive, and misleading advertisements. No. 2339. An act revising and consolidating the laws relative to internal

revenue.

No. 2342. An act regulating the labeling, sale, and advertising of patent and proprietary medicines, fraudulent therapeutic appliances and devices, and for the protection of the people of the Philippine Islands against the exploitation of such articles.

No. 2347. An act to provide for the reorganization of the courts of first instance and of the court of land registration.

No. 2352. An act providing for the taking of a census of the Philippine Islands, making an appropriation therefor, and for other purposes.

No. 2360. An act providing for the sale of the land known as the San Lazaro Estate, in the city of Manila.

No. 2380. An act providing for the inspection, grading, and baling of abaca (Manila hemp), maguey (cantala), sisal, and other fibers.

No. 2427. An act revising the insurance laws and regulating insurance business in the Philippine Islands.

No. 2432. An act amending Act No. 2339, the internal-revenue law of 1914, by imposing increased and additional taxes, and for other purposes.

No. 2436. An act creating the fidelity fund and repealing Act No. 1739, as amended.

No. 2451. An act amending paragraph 8 of section 12 of Act No. 1148, by providing that all timber cut in public forests shall be measured in the round, and specifically authorizing a reasonable deduction for certain natural defects, except as herein otherwise provided.

No. 2462. An act providing new regulations for the examination of dentists and the practice of dentistry in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes. No. 2465. An act to amend Act No. 2083, as amended, entitled "An act to fix the amount of the gold-standard fund, created under Act No. 938, authorizing the deposit of the excess of the amount so fixed to the credit of the general fund of the treasury and authorizing the investment of a portion of the said goldstandard fund" so as to authorize additional investment.

No. 2468. An act reorganizing the Philippine health service, and for other purposes.

No. 2473. An act to facilitate to laborers the exercise of their rights in all cases falling under the provisions of Act No. 1874.

No. 2479. An act creating a central sugar board for the purpose of promoting and assisting in the establishment of sugar centrals in the Philippine Islands, providing for the repayment of the funds advanced by the government in connection with sugar centrals, and for other purposes.

No. 2486. An act fixing a tax upon every person or entity engaged in recruiting or contracting laborers in the Philippines, and amending subsection (a) of section 53 of Act No. 2339.