the same relations to the provincial officers of the Province of Ilocos Sur as are prescribed for the municipal officers of the municipalities of said province by the Provincial Government Act and by Act numbered Two hundred and five, and the amendments thereof.

SEC. 4. The government heretofore established for the non-Christian residents of the Province of Abra by Acts numbered Four hundred and forty-five and Five hundred and forty-six shall continue in effect and is hereby extended to the nonChristian settlements of the Province of Ilocos Sur; Provided, That with respect to the non-Christian tribes of the subprovince of Abra and of Ilocos Sur the lieutenantgovernor of the subprovince of Abra shall exercise the powers conferred and perform the duties imposed upon the provincial governor of Abra by Act numbered Four hundred and forty-five, entitled "An Act providing for the establishment of civil governments in the settlements of the non-Christian tribes of the Province of Abra:" Provided further, That the powers and duties prescribed by Acts numbered Four hundred and forty-five and Five hundred and forty-six for the provincial secretary-treasurer, the provincial supervisor, the provincial fiscal, and the provincial board of Abra, respectively, shall be conferred upon and discharged by the provincial secretary, the provincial treasurer, the provincial supervisor, the provincial fiscal, and the provincial board of Ilocos Sur, respectively: and provided further, That in case of vacancy in the office of the lieutenant-governor of Abra, or the absence of the lieutenantgovernor from the Province of Ilocos Sur the governor of Ilocos Sur shall discharge the duties of such lieutenant-governor during such vacancy or absence. It shall be the duty of the provincial governor of Ilocos Sur to attend the annual meeting of the presidents of the several settlements of non-Christian tribes of the Province of Ilocos Sur and the subprovince of Abra which shall be held at Bangued in the subprovince of Abra on the first day of January of each year and shall be presided over by the lieutenant-governor of Abra.

SEC. 5. All property and assets of the Province of Abra, including uncollected taxes, and all contracts and obligations except such as are hereinafter specifically referred to as canceled, are hereby transferred to the Province of Ilocos sur.

SEC. 6. The loans of two thousand dollars and three thousand dollars, United States currency, respectively, made by the Insular Government to the Province of Abra, under the provisions of Acts numbered Five hundred and forty-one and Seven hundred and sixty-one, are hereby declared canceled, and there is hereby appropriated, out of any funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an amount sufficient to pay any and all salaries and wages which may be due to the officers and employees of the Province of Abra up to the time of the taking effect of this Act, the amount due from said province to the Insular Purchasing Agent, and al other outstanding liabilities of the province except the loan of six thousand pesos made by the Insular Government to the Province of Abra from the Congressional relief fund under the provisions of Act numbered One thousand and seventy-six, for the construction of public schools, which shall be assumed by the Province of Ilocos Sur upon the terms provided by said Act.

SEC. 7. Act numbered Two hundred and six, entitled "An Act extending the provisions of the Provincial Government Act and its amendments to the Province of Abra," and all other Acts or parts of Acts in conflict herewith, are hereby repealed. SEC. 8. 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. 9. This Act shall take effect on April first, nineteen hundred and five.

It is believed that there will be a further reduction in the number of provinces within the next few weeks by the consolidation of the province of Masbate with that of Sorsogon.

Upon the recommendation of the Philippine committee on geographical names, the name of the island and province of Paragua was changed by Act No. 1363, enacted June 28, 1905, to Palawan.

Under the provisions of Act No. 1331, passed on April 19, 1905, the subprovince of Catanduanes of the province of Albay was created. Catanduanes is an island, lying off the east coast of Albay, the main port of which-Virac-is about 50 miles from Legaspi, and can not be reached from the mainland during the greater part of the year, except in steam vessels. Before its creation into a province its nine municipalities, according to a statement of the provincial treasurer, contributed about P50,000 each to general provincial funds. As most of the local revenues were expended for the benefit of the mainland portion of the province, although without serious objection on the part of the inhabitants of Catanduanes, it was deemed advisable by the

Commission to give the island a local government, subordinate to that located at the capital, Albay. The act creating this government carried a proviso that the taxes collected from the inhabitants of Catanduanes, less a fair proportion for the maintenance of the general provincial officials, should be expended in the island. The act creating this subprovince is as follows:

An Act To amend Act Numbered One hundred and sixty-nine, entitled "An Act annexing the Island of Catanduanes to the province of Albay," so as to create the subprovince of Catanduanes of the province of Albay.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Section one of Act numbered One hundred and sixty-nine, entitled "An Act annexing the Island of Catanduanes to the Province of Albay," is hereby amended by adding at the end of section one thereof the following words: "and shall hereafter be known as the subprovince of Catanduanes of the Province of Albay."

SEC. 2. Section two of said Act numbered One hundred and sixty-nine is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words: "except as hereinafter provided."

SEC. 3. Sections three and four of said Act numbered One hundred and sixty-nine shall become sections five and six, and new sections three and four shall be inserted as follows:

"SEC. 3. There shall be a lieutenant-governor for the subprovince of Catanduanes, to be appointed by the Governor-General, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission. He shall have his office in the municipality of Virac, and shall receive an annual salary not to exceed one thousand four hundred and forty pesos, payable monthly from funds of the subprovince hereinafter provided for; he shall represent the provincial governor in the subprovince and shall carry out the directions of that official as transmitted to him from time to time; he shall inspect the municipalities of the subprovince at least once every six months and shall make report to the provincial board, through the provincial governor; he shall from time to time make such recommendations to the provincial board, through the provincial governor, as he shall deem necessary for the best interests of the subprovince; he shall employ and discharge, with the approval of the provincial board, all subordinate employees of the government of the subprovince that may be authorized by the board; he shall be the custodian of the public records and documents of the subprovince; and, in general, he shall exercise, subject to the supervision of the provincial governor, the powers and duties conferred upon a provincial governor by the Provincial Government Act.

"SEC. 4. Seventy per centum of all taxes, imposts, or fines collected in behalf of the Province of Albay in the subprovince of Catanduanes, under the provisions of existing law, or of laws which may hereafter be enacted, shall remain in the provincial subtreasury at Virac for the sole use and benefit of the inhabitants of said subprovince; and the remaining thirty per centum of such collections shall be transmitted to the provincial treasury of Albay and shall inure to the general funds of the province. The funds thus provided for the subprovince of Catanduanes shall be expended by resolution of the provincial board of Albay and the deputy of the provincial treasurer in charge of the subtreasury at Virac shall make payments from funds of the subprovince only by direction of the lieutenant-governor of the subprovince accompanied by a certified copy of the resolution of the provincial board authorizing the expenditure. The salary of the deputy of the provincial treasurer in charge of the provincial subtreasury at Virac shall be paid from the funds of the subprovince of Catanduanes."

SEC. 4. 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 prescrib ing 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.

The acts under which the provinces of Benguet, Lepanto-Bontoc, Mindoro, Nueva Vizcaya, and Palawan, were originally created have been repealed, and these provinces are now organized under the new special provincial government Act No. 1396, enacted September 14, 1905.

On the same date the Commission passed Act No. 1397, entitled "the township government act," providing a new system of local civil governments for the townships in the foregoing provinces, and a more simple form of local government for the settlements of non-Christian tribes located therein and elsewhere in the islands outside of the Moro Province.

The greater part of the two acts consists of those provisions of the general provincial government act and of the regular municipal code (Acts Nos. 82 and 83) and their amendments, which were considered best adapted to the local conditions in the provinces, townships, and settlements, together with many of the special provisions of the acts under which the provinces were formerly organized, and incorporating also the provisions of a general character suggested by the governors and the provincial boards, and a plan is provided for the advancement of townships to organized municipalities when they shall have made suitable progress in the administration of their local affairs.

Since the date of my last report the organized municipalities of the islands have been further reduced through consolidation from 706 at that time to 597 at the present date. There are 54 pueblos and rancherias in provinces organized under the special act mentioned above, such as Benguet, Lepanto-Bontoc, Mindoro, Moro, Nueva Vizcaya, and Palawan, including 5 rancherias in the subprovince of Abra. A very considerable portion of the time of this bureau is devoted to answering questions of provincial and municipal officers regarding the construction of laws. On July 12, 1905, the Philippine Commission passed Act No. 1374, amendatory of Act No. 314, to remedy a very undesirable state of affairs. Before the enactment of this measure municipal officials and justices of the peace, suspended either by the governor-general or the provincial governors under Acts No. 83 and No. 314, were compelled to await a final decision in their cases by the chief executive of the islands. This very often entailed hardship, especially in cases where the accusations were found to be groundless, or disproven, by reason of the length of time elapsing between the suspension and final decision. Provincial boards have been universally slow in conducting investigations of charges, and there have been more than a few cases where officials have been suspended for two years before final determination of the charges against them. The number of this class of cases reaching this bureau every year is very large, as will be seen by reference to the report of the law clerk, and as they entail a very thorough examination into the facts and often the law, delay in the governor-general's action thereon is obviously unavoidable.

Act No. 1324 provides, among other things, that "In cases where the provincial board shall recommend to the governor-general the reinstatement in office of the suspended official, the board shall have power, by resolution, to reinstate such suspended official pending the determination of the case by the governor-general.

This would seem to be plainly enough expressed, but as an instance of the inability of the lay mind, particularly the provincial lay mind, and this applies equally to Filipinos and Americans, to cope with the problems of statutory construction, or, perhaps it were better to say, of the tendency of the lay mind to create problems of construction where none exist, the many requests received by this bureau from provincial boards for explanations of this act may be cited. These requests cover a broad field. It has been repeatedly asked whether a majority vote was sufficient, when the reinstatement took effect, and even, in one case, what was to be done where there were but two members of the board present and they disagreed. Several boards have asked whether this required unanimous action by the board, although the same boards constantly transact other business on the strength of majority resolutions. One board inquired whether this reinstatement would take effect before or after the papers were sent to the governor-general, in apparent obliviousness of the evident purpose of the act. The act clearly states "The board shall have power to reinstate such suspended officials pending the determination of the case by the governorgeneral," and it would seem that all these questions are unnecessary and could be avoided by a little consideration of the act itself.

There is a tendency on the part of some provincial governors to work an injustice upon suspended municipal officials by failing to report the fact of the suspension to this bureau as required by law. Instances have come to my notice where officials have been suspended for many months, to the utter disregard of their rights, without informing the bureau of the fact.

Another matter which engrosses the attention of this bureau is the question of firearm permits to the citizens of the provinces under the laws to that end enacted by the Commission. Very often a decided difference of opinion exists between the provincial governors and the senior inspectors of constabulary. These differences of opinion have to be submitted to this bureau, acting for the governor-general, for decision, which it is not always easy to arrive at. As an illustration of what has been said above, the provincial governor of Iloilo in July last forwarded to this bureau several applications for permits to purchase firearms. The applications were referred to the chief of constabulary for remark. He returned them with the statement that as the arms were not yet purchased it was not deemed expedient to authorize the

same at the present time. This indorsement was referred to Governor Melliza, of Iloilo, who returned the application with the following indorsement:

ILOILO, July 18, 1905.

Respectfully returned to the governor-general with the following information: I believe that the problem of brigandage in the province of Iloilo has a completely distinct aspect from that in the provinces of Cavite and Batangas. The origin of brigandage in the province of Iloilo lies in very remote times and is due to different causes. It completely lacks political color and is made up of lazy people, who hate work and prefer to live at the expense of other people. I believe that the best manner of extinguishing brigandage in this province would be to give the property owners and industrious inhabitants, of which there is certainly an abundance in this province, an opportunity to repel successfully the attacks of the outlaws who may endeavor to deprive them of the fruits of their work.

I am therefore in favor of granting permits for firearms to those persons who make application for them, because, they being people who have something to lose, the extermination of the outlaws is more to their interest than to that of anybody else. The policy not to grant firearms permits to these property owners and industrious citizens compels them to abandon their fields and live in the cities which are protected by the soldiers, the result being that the brigands remain masters of the situation and great injury is done to the only source of wealth, which is agriculture. RAYMUNDO MELLIZA ANGELO, Provincial Governor.

Upon referring this indorsement to the chief of constabulary he returned the papers, stating that as there were already 239 revolvers, 77 rifles, and 124 shotguns in the hands of private individuals in Iloilo Province, it was hoped that the honorable provincial governor would assist in preventing the growth of this large number. The matter is now in the hands of the governor-general for decision.

Much of the time of this bureau is employed in passing upon direct communications from municipal councils or officials. In a very large majority of the cases these communications have to be referred to the provincial boards for recommendation. In view of the meager transportation facilities, especially in the southern islands, and the slow action of provincial boards as a rule, much valuable time is lost before final action on the communications. To obviate this a circular letter was sent by this bureau, under date of August 2, 1905, to all provincial boards. It is as follows:

"This office is constantly in receipt of petitions by telegraph or by mail from the various municipalities in the islands requesting an extension of the time for the payment of the land or cedula taxes, making suggestions or requests in respect of fusion with other municipalities, and upon other subjects requiring the comment and recommendation of the provincial board before administrative or legislative action can be taken thereon.

"In view of the fact that time and expense are saved by all such communications being sent originally through the provincial board, which should make its recommendations thereon and forward these and the original document at the earliest moment possible, I have the honor to advise you that in future such petitions sent by telegraph will not receive consideration unless they are forwarded to this office through the provincial board in the first instance.

"You are directed to send a copy of this letter to all municipal presidents and councils in the province, requiring that receipt thereof be acknowledged, and to advise this office of compliance therewith."

REPORTS OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS.

As stated in my report of last year, on January 26, 1904, the Commission passed Act No. 1044, requiring that provincial governors should forward their annual reports "for the fiscal year ending on the thirtieth of June" to the governor between the first and the fifteenth days of July of each year. With but few exceptions the provincial governors have complied with this requirement. Their reports are hereto annexed, marked "Appendix H," and I invite attention to them, as the information they contain is valuable and interesting. Some of the notable features of these reports are the largely increased attendance at the public schools. From several of the provinces the cry goes up for more teachers and an increased number of school buildings. In one province, Cebu, 247 schoolhouses were erected during the year. The rice harvests, with a few exceptions, have exceeded those of any previous year since American occupation. In Nueva Ecija, Governor Santos states that the rice harvest is the largest in ten years and that the economic conditions have improved 25 per cent; that the construction of a railroad line through the province has greatly reduced the

expense of transportation, and has stimulated the exportation of products and reduced the cost of production from 25 to 75 per cent. The political conditions seem to have improved in the great majority of the provinces, and peace and quiet at this writing seem to reign throughout the Archipelago, except in the island of Samar, where the pulajanism is on the wane. Unfortunately carabao stealing and horse thievery have not been wholly eradicated from some of the provinces where they seem to have become a permanent industry. Road work has been stimulated and industry invigorated. A furniture factory with modern American machinery has been established at Paete, La Laguna, and an up-to-date mineral water bottling establishment at Los Baños. There have also been erected in the same province several steam and hydraulic power plants for rice cleaning and sugar making, as well as a large number of oil mills. The ravages of rinderpest and surra have not been so great in the majority of the provinces, although in some they have made considerable inroads on the farm animals.

Nueva Ecija seems to have advanced more than most of the other provinces. In a letter from Governor Santos, dated September 28, 1905, he states: "It can be asserted that this province has entered upon an era of prosperity greater than that enjoyed at any other time heretofore. The immigrating and useful population has increased at least 10 per cent along the railroad from Bigaa to Cabanatuan.”

STABILITY OF THE SERVICE.

I referred at the beginning of this report to the regrettable instability in the civil service personnel of the islands, and especially in the force of this bureau. Although it has been established but a little over four years, out of an office force of 137 there are now only 5 Americans, including myself, and 3 Filipinos who were members of the original office personnel, which is becoming constantly diminished by the separation from the service of capable clerks who see no future for themselves in the civil service of the islands. During the past year the bureau suffered a very serious loss through the resignation of Mr. Emil E. Weise, the most efficient and painstaking chief of the administration and finance division, who, during the absence on leave of the chief clerk, Mr. George M. Swindell, rendered praiseworthy service acting in his place for about seven months.

I am so deeply interested in the subject of a high-class, efficient, and stable civil service in these islands that I may be permitted before closing to express some ideas regarding it.

There have been a number of theories advanced as to how to secure improvement in the stability of the civil service in these islands. The principal theories are to offer higher entrance salaries and to improve the conditions of living for Americans, but it is not believed that any of the theories advanced, including the two mentioned, have yet struck at the root of the reasons for the present instability of this service. The civil-service board stated on one occasion that it believed "the service was not sufficiently inviting to induce a sufficient number of desirable men to enter it," and made the suggestion of changes mentioned above in respect of higher entrance salaries and improvement in conditions of living in the islands as a means to the establishment of a permanent civil service.

As stated elsewhere in this report, $1,200 or $1,400 per annum is believed to be high enough as an entrance salary, and in any of the larger bureaus the appropriation bill would seem to show there are a number of positions paying from $1,600 to $2,500 and even as high as $3,000 per annum; but many of the clerks, while admitting that such salaries are high enough, complain that they are not promoted to them; that in some instances the positions are even allowed to remain vacant. This is true in this bureau, and it is believed the same condition exists in other bureaus, but as a general rule the men in the lower grades have not demonstrated their fitness for the higher positions nor such ability as would merit their promotion thereto.

The suggestion to "improve the conditions of living for Americans" adjusts itself in the cases of the men who are now filling the higher positions. They are able to surround themselves with all the comforts the country affords, and it can not reasonably be expected that the Commission by legislation can further lessen the existing cost of living, which it is admitted is high. This brings one to the root of the trouble: Why do not more men of the right caliber enter the lower grades, men competent to master work from grade to grade, apply their ability and demonstrate their capacity for promotion to the most desirable positions in the service?

The one great stumbling block, and which no legislative body can eradicate, is the fact that very few Americans intend to make the Philippines their permanent home, or even stay here for any very extended period. This is doubtless due to the location of the islands, their isolation from centers of civilization and culture, the enervating climate, lack of entertainment and desirable companionship, and distance