SEC. 2. The appropriation of funds by the provincial board and municipal councils for the purposes of section one of this Act shall be subject to approval by the Governor-General in the case of provincial funds and by the provincial board in the case of municipal funds. 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. 1561.] AN ACT Authorizing the Governor-General to parole prisoners and providing for the enforcement of the conditions of such paroles. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The Governor-General may, whenever he thinks best, authorize and direct the discharge from custody of any person convicted of crime under the laws of the Philippine Islands and suspend the sentence of such convict without granting a pardon, and prescribe the terms upon which a convict so paroled shall have his sentence suspended. SEC. 2. Upon the failure of any convict to observe the conditions of his parole, to be determined by the Governor-General, the GovernorGeneral shall have authority to direct the arrest and return of such convict to custody, and thereupon said convict shall be required to carry out the sentence of the court as though no parole had been granted him, the time between the parole and subsequent arrest not being taken as a part of the term of his sentence in computing the preriod of his confinement. 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 its passage. [No. 1562.] AN ACT To prevent the failure of military justice, to authorize the swearing of witnesses before a military investigation, and to punish perjuries therein committed. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. Any officer or clerk of any of the Departments lawfully detailed to investigate frauds on, or attempts to defraud, the Government, or any irregularity or misconduct of any officer or agent of the United States, and any officer of the Army detailed to conduct any investigation, and the recorder, and, if there be none, the presiding officer of any military board appointed for such purpose, shall have authority to administer an oath to any witness attending to testify or depose in the course of such investigation. SEC. 2. Any witness so testifying, who shall willfully, corruptly, and falsely testify as to any material fact relative to such investigation shall be guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished with a penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum degree to presidio correccional in its medium degree and a fine of from six hundred and twenty-five pesetas to six thousand two hundred and fifty pesetas. 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 its passage. [No. 1563.] AN ACT To amend act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-four, entitled "An Act creating the entry port of Sitanki, amending Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and sixteen, and for other purposes," by increasing the compensation of the deputy collector of customs and authorizing the employment of two boatmen at Sitanki. By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that: SECTION 1. The last line of section four of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty-four, entitled "An Act creating the entry port of Sitanki, amending Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and sixteen, and for other purposes," is hereby amended to read as follows: "Deputy collector of customs, class seven; one clerk, Class I; two boatmen, at twelve pesos per month each." SEC. 2. Payment of the salaries above authorized shall be made from the appropriation for the Bureau of Customs under Act Numbered Fifteen hundred and twenty-seven. 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. Enacted, November 10, 1906. [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. [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 |