REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND JUSTICE.

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND JUSTICE,

Manila, P. I., November 15, 1904. GENTLEMEN: I hereby submit a report on matters, legislative and executive, pertaining to the department of finance and justice in the Philippine Islands during the period from September 1, 1903, to September 1, 1904.

Some of the data contained in this report are brought down to a date later than September 1, 1904, but unless otherwise stated this report will cover the year from September 1, 1903, to September 1,

1904.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

Prior to the date of the second annual report from this office to the Commission, November 6, 1903, new legislation had been enacted covering the subject of leaves of absence of judges, changing the times and places of holding the supreme court and rearranging the judicial districts and times and places of holding the court in each province, creating two additional judicial districts, revising certain provisions of law as to special terms of court, and making more adequate provision as to traveling expenses of judges, fiscals, and clerks.

Under the partial reorganization of the courts, as above stated, the administration of justice has been conducted throughout the islands in a manner on the whole satisfactory. The larger number of judges authorized by the legislation referred to has enabled the courts substantially to keep abreast of all litigation. Indeed, in some of the districts the judges have not been fully occupied and have been available for temporary transfers to other fields of labor. The liberal provisions of law for leaves of absence for judges enabled six of the judges, after three years' continuous service, to be absent from the Philippine Islands, in the United States or elsewhere, for practically five months each, from May 1 until October 1. But by temporary assignment of judges at large to special districts and by detailing judges of the court of customs appeals for duty in the courts of first instance the regular July, August, and September terms of every court of first instance have been held at the proper time and the dockets finished. The return of the absent judges, together with the utilization of the judges at large, will enable the regular subsequent terms to be held at the times fixed by law.

In the supreme court the situation has not been so fortunate. At the close of the court year, May 1, 1901, two of the judges of the

supreme court, the Hon. Charles A. Willard and the Hon. John T. McDonnough, much to the regret of the government, tendered their resignations, which were accepted. Both were able judges, and Judge Willard, by several years' service, had acquired a thorough knowledge of the Spanish language and of the law prevailing in the islands. His retirement from the insular service was a distinct loss to the judiciary. Judge McDonnough served for a shorter period, but had proven himself to be an able and upright jurist. At the same time that Judges Willard and McDonnough retired three other judges of the supreme court availed themselves of their five months' leave of absence, authorized by law after three years' service, and went to the United States, leaving but two judges of the supreme court on duty. The law requires five judges to constitute a quorum, and consequently the supreme court has been unable to hold sessions since the 1st day of May, 1904, the vacancies created by the resignation of Judges Willard and McDonnough not having been filled. This fact has resulted in a large accumulation of business in the supreme court, to the great detriment of the litigants and particularly to alleged criminals whose cases are pending in the supreme court. The court will probably be able to reconvene some time in December, with a bare quorum, should all the judges who are now holding office be in Manila and ready for service. It is not believed that this unfortunate condition will soon again arise.

On the 25th day of October, 1904, there were pending in the supreme court

Civil cases

Criminal cases

Total_

242

591

833

The number of cases disposed of by that court in the court year, from July 1, 1903, to May 1, 1904, either by trial and decision or otherwise, was 339.

No cases have been disposed of since the 1st of July owing to the want of a quorum in the court. The situation, therefore, is that if cases are not disposed of more rapidly by the supreme court in the future than in the past year it will be more than two years and a half before a case entered in the supreme court at this time or subsequently can be disposed of. This condition of affairs is most disastrous, and results in a practical denial of justice in many cases.

The difficulties arising from the want of a quorum during the first half of the court year of 1904 and 1905 will be corrected if the Philippine bill now pending in Congress is passed, one of the provisions of which is that in the absence of a quorum one or more judges of the court of first instance may be detailed to sit with the supreme court to constitute a quorum. This provision, however, does not strike at the root of the difficulty.

It is possible that the supreme court may be able to expedite the work which has accumulated by having longer hours for the hearing of cases and by restricting the length of time allowed for argument. Probably, however, some legislation may be necessary to furnish temporary relief and enable the court to get abreast of its business. The desired relief might be obtained by creating a supreme court commission for temporary service, which should take the burden of hearing, and recommending to the court for decision all civil cases where the

amount involved does not exceed $2,000 United States money, and all criminal cases where the penalty provided by law to be imposed does not exceed two years' imprisonment. The effect of such a provision would be to relieve the supreme court from the drudgery of hearing a large number of cases in which comparatively small interests are involved, the smaller cases receiving not only the careful consideration of the courts of first instance, but also that of a commission of good lawyers or judges appointed for that purpose.

The amount of criminal business has during the past year, as for many years before, been largely in excess of the civil. Great numbers of people have been convicted of "bandolerismo," or robbery in hands, and much of the time of the court has been occupied in disposing of criminals of this character. The greater degree of good order that now prevails throughout the archipelago renders it probable that this branch of judicial duty will be much less in the coming year than in the past. The judges, native and American, have justified their appointments by the character of their work, and little criticism is made as to the administration of justice in the higher courts, aside from the delay in the supreme court. The prosecuting officers are substantially all Filipinos, and they, differing in efficiency, have on the whole performed their duties well.

The justices of the peace are all natives. In many of the smaller municipalities it has been difficult to find persons competent to perform the duties of this office, and consequently many changes have been necessary.

Under the policy adopted by the Commission of reducing the number of municipalities by consolidation some hardships have been imposed upon people living in remote portions of consolidated municipalities, who reside many miles from the office of the justice of the peace. To meet these difficulties it will probably be necessary to make some slight modifications in the law, so as to provide for more than one justice of the peace in certain of the consolidated municipalities, so that the local tribunals may be easily available to all the people. Under the new code of criminal procedure which is about to be adopted, as hereinafter stated, the labors of justices of the peace will be made more simple and can be more easily performed by men of limited education.

NEW LEGISLATION RELATING TO COURTS.

Comparatively little new legislation has been necessary in relation to the courts. Such legislation as has been enacted has been mainly for the purpose of meeting minor defects found in existing laws.

By Act No. 1019, passed December 3, 1903, the judge of the sixth judicial district was authorized to reside in the city of Manila and to exercise in that city certain interlocutory jurisdiction with respect to causes pending in his district.

By Act No. 1056, passed February 20, 1904, provision was made for court vacations for the courts of land registration and customs appeals and for leaves of absence of judges of those courts substantially on the same basis as had been previously provided with reference to judges of the courts of first instance.

By Act No. 1108, passed April 5, 1904, authority was given for the designation of any judge at large of the court of first instance to

perform the duties of a judge of the court of land registration in any province or in the city of Manila; authorizing the secretary of finance and justice to direct any register of deeds or provincial fiscal of any province to perform the duties of examiner of titles in his province; increasing the salary of the associate judge of the court of land registration after January 1, 1905, from $4,000 to $4,500 per annum; providing for the review of any order, decree, or decision of the court of land registration by the supreme court in substantially the same manner as orders, decrees, and decisions of the court of first instance are reviewed; giving the court of land registration power to issue a writ of possession placing an applicant for registration in possession of property covered by a decree of the court in his favor; authorizing the Government of the United States or of the Philippine Islands or of any province or municipality thereof and foreign corporations to apply for and secure registration of titles to lands through the court of land registration, and making minor provisions as to the proceedings in the court of land registration, including adequate arrangements for the employment of surveyors and the apportionment of their fees.

By Act No. 1123, passed April 27, 1904, authority was given to any court of first instance to conduct its proceedings in the English language or in a native dialect only, when all the parties or counsel so stipulate in writing, providing that in case the proceedings are in the English language only in the trial court the English record alone shall be used by the supreme court, the briefs being accompanied by a translation into the Spanish language; that in case exceptions are taken in courts of first instance, the original bills of exceptions and all documents which by the bills of exceptions are made a part thereof shall be transmitted to the supreme court instead of certified copies; providing for appeals to the supreme court by paupers without fees and without printed record; directing that when the supreme court may, under the law, review evidence taken in the court below, the testimony shall not be copied, but the original testimony on file and all documents constituting a part of the files in the case shall be transmitted to the supreme court and referred to on hearing. It has been found that great expense and delay were incurred by reason of the requirement that in all cases the record should be translated into the Spanish language before a case could be transmitted to the supreme court and that cases should be tried wholly in the Spanish language, although the judge and all the counsel and parties were accustomed to use the English language only, and desired its use. In many cases criminals who had been convicted in the courts of first instance were compelled to wait many months before the record could be transcribed into the Spanish language and transmitted to the supreme court. It has also been the rule of the supreme court that whenever the evidence taken in the court below was to be reviewed in the supreme court it must all be translated into the Spanish language and printed. In many cases these requirements resulted in a practical denial of the right of appeal, because the expense of translation and printing exceeded the ability of the parties. Printing bills of $1,000 or more in a single case were not infrequent. In fact the expense of getting cases in readiness for trial in the supreme court often exceeded the whole value involved in the controversy. The relief furnished