TABLE NO. 30.-Monthly enrollment and average daily attendance. 1 Culebra school closed Feb. 12, 1915; pupils transferred to Empire. APPENDIX K. REPORT OF THE SPECIAL ATTORNEY. ANCON, CANAL ZONE, July 15, 1915. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report on the business of this office for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915: ORGANIZATION. Mr. Charles R. Williams, who heretofore held the position of attorney for the Panama Railroad Company and assistant to the special attorney, was appointed district attorney of the Canal Zone to succeed Mr. William K. Jackson, who resigned in June last. When Mr. Williams entered upon the duties of district attorney, the special attorney was assigned by you to act as counsel for the railroad company on the Isthmus, and Mr. Walter F. Van Dame was appointed assistant to the counsel for the railroad company and assistant to the special attorney. Therefore this report will also include the business of the Panama Railroad Company, which Mr. Williams had in charge until his appointment as district attorney. In all other respects the organization of the special attorney's office remains the same. REVISION OF THE LAWS. During the last fiscal year a number of Executive orders were submitted to the President for his approval and promulgation. Some of these contained new legislation, while others were amendments or modifications of Executive orders previously issued. The work of revising the laws of the Canal Zone so as to adapt them to the change from the construction period to that of operating the canal, was checked by reason of a decision of the Attorney General to the President, dated October 14, 1914, wherein it was held that the President was without power to alter or amend Executive orders issued prior to the passage of the Panama Canal Act. The opinion of the Attorney General was followed by one from the Judge Advocate General of the Army to the effect that the President was authorized to adopt rules and regulations for the administration of the canal, but that he was without power to enact penal legislation for the enforcement of those rules and regulations. A number of Executive orders, which had been drafted in this office, were issued by the President prior to the date on which the Attorney General rendered his opinion. The first of the Executive orders was issued on July 3, 1914, and is entitled "Executive order relating to certain duties of the clerk of the district court and his assistants." Under the old organization, the clerk of the circuit court at Ancon was ex officio registrar of property of the Canal Zone. When the circuit courts were abolished and one district court for the entire Canal Zone was substituted for them, the office of clerk of the circuit court at Ancon ceased to exist. It was thought that the clerk of the district court succeeded to the duties of the clerk of the circuit as ex officio registrar of property, but in my judgment that conclusion was extremely doubtful, and in consequence the Executive order above mentioned was drafted and submitted to the President for his approval and promulgation. The duties of registrar are ministerial and administrative, and the authority of the President to assign them to the clerk of the district court is unquestioned. An Executive order entitled "Executive order to require oceangoing vessels to be equipped with wireless apparatus" was issued on July 9, 1914. The order requires all ocean-going steamers carrying passengers, plying between the Canal Zone and other ports, to be fitted with wireless apparatus, and a penalty is provided against vessels failing to observe the requirements. The laws of the United States, which require ocean-going vessels to be fitted with wireless apparatus, had not been extended previously to the Canal Zone. An Executive order authorizing the board of admeasurements to administer oaths to witnesses and to compel their attendance was promulgated by the President, July 9, 1914. The purpose of the order was to authorize the compulsory attendance of witnesses before the board by means of court process. An Executive order of a purely administrative nature was issued by the President on July 30, 1914, setting aside a certain area of land in the Canal Zone for the purposes of the Darien Naval Radio Station. It was the desire of the Navy Department to obtain jurisdiction over this area, but, inasmuch as all civil and political jurisdiction in the Canal Zone is vested in the Governor by the Panama Canal Act, the request of the Navy Department could not be complied with, though the area in question has been turned over to that department for all administrative purposes connected with the operation of the wireless station. On August 3, 1914, the President issued an Executive order prescribing the duties of constables. This order was issued in conformity with section 7 of the Panama Canal Act, which empowers the President to prescribe the duties of magistrates and constables. There were no constables for the courts under the old organization, and consequently, when the office of constable was created by the Panama Canal Act, it became necessary to define the duties of constables. The board of health of the Canal Zone was reorganized by the President under an Executive order dated August 6, 1914. The board of health was originally created by act No. 8, enacted by the Walker Commission, on September 2, 1904. The various changes in the officials of the health department resulting from the Executive orders issued by the President subsequent to the expiration of the Fifty-eighth Congress, impaired the organization of the board. The purpose of the Executive order was to remove the imperfections in the organization of the board of health, and thus reestablish it as an efficient administrative unit. An Executive order was issued on August 8, 1914, which is, in effect, a customs regulation, and relates to ships' manifests. The customs service in the Canal Zone was established under the provisions of act No. 8 of the Walker Commission, enacted on September |