would be prosecuted. At the time the work of prosecuting these cases was commenced, seditious dramas were being presented almost every night in the week in all the native theaters in Manila and in some of the provincial towns where the spirit of insurrection was running high, and they created great interest and excitement among the ignorant native population. About a year ago some Tagalog dramatists produced a number of so-called dramas in which the burden of their complaint was against Spain and the friars. These authors sought protection against the sedition law by having Governor Dancel read their dramas and issue a certificate that he found nothing in them subversive of the United States Government, and that he recommended their presentation to the public. The authors sought to have me approve these certificates, which I declined to do upon the ground that nobody had authority to issue them or to approve them. About the time of the arrival of Artemio Ricarte in the Philippines some of these authors put their dramas upon the stage, and in their presentation they used insurrecto emblems and uniforms, and their most exciting lines were quite as applicable to the American as to the Spanish Government; they were clearly intended, in connection with the scenery and costumes, to incite the people against the existing government. The members of two or three of these theatrical companies were arrested by the constabulary during their performances. In each case the author produced Governor Dancel's so-called "authorization." Some communications passed between Señor Dancel and myself, commencing with a protest by him against the arrest of one of these companies, and the result was that Governor Dancel recalled all his "authorizations" and returned to the authors a number of dramas then in his possession for censorship, stating that he would not " censor" them. There has been no further trouble as to seditious dramas, and the excitement caused by them has apparently subsided.

In the month of August I made a short trip to Biñan, Laguna Province, at the request of the civil governor, to investigate the distribution of the free rations sent by the government for the sufferers from the Biñañ fire, and at the same time, at the request of General Allen, to investigate the troubles between the municipal presidente of that town and the lieutenant of scouts stationed there.

All my spare time in the months of July and August wast spent in the preparation of briefs in the Thomas P. Coates and the Charles H. Osborn cases pending on appeal in the supreme court. This work was done upon the request of the acting attorney-general.

In conclusion I desire to state that in my work in the provinces I have observed that the "bond of union" between the provincial fiscal and the officers of the constabulary is not always as strong as it should be; in fact, their misconception of their respective duties leads each to wrong conclusions as to the conduct of the other, and often brings them into open conflict. This is largely true also as between the constabulary officers and the justices of the peace. On the one hand, the constabulary officers are usually more accustomed to the military procedure in criminal matters and often do not understand the requirements of the law under a civil government; on the other hand, the fiscals and the justices of the peace, if they have any training at all, are accustomed to the Spanish methods of procedure, and it is difficult for them to become acquainted with the new way of doing things. In view of these facts and many others incidental thereto, I am of the opinion that one assistant attorney-general should have supervision of the work of the provincial fiscals and the work of advising and directing the officers of the constabulary in legal matters.

I therefore have the honor to recommend that the positions of supervisor of provincial fiscals and deputy supervisor of provincial fiscals and that of assistant attorney-general for the Philippine constabulary be abolished; that a new position of assistant attorneygeneral be created, and that it be provided that such official shall supervise the work of the provincial fiscals and justices of the peace and shall be the legal adviser for the chief of the Philippine constabularly and all other constabularly officers in official matters, and that he shall perform such other duties in the bureau of justice as may be required of him by the civil governor or the attorney-general; and further, that provision be made for a district attorney in each constabulary district to take immediate charge of said work with a view to the training of the provincial fiscals in the performance of their official duties and assisting local constabulary officers in legal matters, and to take special charge of important civil and criminal cases arising in their respective districts.

In my opinion this plan, when worked out in detail and put in practice, would bring about an efficient organization of the provincial fiscal system, systematize the procedure in the investigation and trial of criminal cases, expedite the work of the courts and reduce their expenses, and, generally speaking, it would result in more harmonious cooperation among those officials in the provinces upon whom depends, in a large measure, the maintenance of law and order.

Very respectfully,

Hon. L. R. WILFLEY,

Attorney-General, Manila, P. I.

WAR 1904-VOL 13--28

GEO. R. HARVEY, Assistant Attorney-General, Philippine Constabulary.

EXHIBIT G.

.

ZAMBOANGA, P. I., October 1, 1904. SIR: In compliance with the requirements of section 9 of Act No. 787 of the Philippine Commission, I have the honor to submit a report as to the conditions of public and private litigation in the courts throughout the Moro Province for the period from September 1, 1903, the date upon which I took charge of my office, to September 1, 1904:

While the Moro Province comprises territory almost equal in extent to the island of Luzon, it has very little population. According to the late census, the civilized population is, in round numbers, but 70,000 all told. The number of non-Christian inhabitants is not known and can not be calculated with any degree of certainty, but it is now believed to have been greatly overestimated in the past. It is safe to venture the statement that the entire population of the province is not in excess of that of a single one of the more populous provinces of Luzon, such as Pangasinan.

The Christian inhabitants are grouped in small and widely separated settlements along the coast of Mindanao. The greatest number are to be found in the vicinity of the municipality of Zamboanga, while the remainder live in the vicinity of Iligan, in the district of Lanao, Dapitan, in the subdistrict of Dapitan, and in various small communities in the district of Davao. The Christian population in other parts of the province is insignificant. For the purposes of the present report it is not necessary to consider the Moros and other non-Christian inhabitants of the province. They range in development from absolute savagery to semibarbarism, and as yet the courts have scarcely been brought in contact with them. The act organizing the province provides for a system of local courts in which these non-Christian inhabitants are to be permitted to administer their own customary laws to as great an extent as possible, but up to the present time these courts have not been organized.

Living as they do in small and widely separated groups, the Christian Filipinos are, in general, a primitive and unprogressive, but peaceful and law-abiding people. * Brigandage is unknown. Few have acquired wealth, and education has never made the progress among them that it has among the inhabitants of the other provinces of the Philippine Islands. There has been little private litigation in the courts of the province during the past year, and in no case have large property interests been involved. Indeed, in a province of this kind, which has never been developed and which remains practically uninhabited and virgin territory, it is natural that there should be few property holdings of importance. The business of the province is at present largely in the hands of Chinese, of whom there are considerable numbers at Zamboanga, Cottabato, and Jolo. The opportunities for development offered by the virgin soil of Mindanao are attracting many American settlers, who are entering into agriculture on a large scale, and it is expected that their number will be greatly increased when the public land laws of the Philippine Islands shall have been extended to the province. Unless a tide of Filipino immigration sets in, which is not probable, it seems likely that in a few years the province will contain several thriving communitics of Amerieans, and that in the future the business and wealth of the province will be largely in the hands of Americans and Chinese. Until the province is developed by immigration of some kind private litigation will continue to be of little importance.

The number of criminal cases brought before the courts in the past year has been small, and with a few exceptions the offenses charged have been minor ones. As in other provinces the unusual and unsettled conditions incident to a change of sovereignty were productive of an epidemic of crime, and the more serious offenses which have been brought to trial in the past year were the result of such conditions. The indications are that in the future, at least in so far as the civilized inhabitants are concerned, the criminal business of the courts will not be increased.

The principal difficulty encountered by the courts in administering justice is one of transportation and distances. The population, while very small, is scattered over a vast extent of territory and is in most cases very difficult to reach. Were all the inhabitants of the province with whom the courts are brought in contact grouped in a single settlement it is believed that one competent justice of the peace, sitting continuously, and one court of first instance, in session for a period of three months each year, could easily dispose of all the business coming before the courts. As it is, the province includes the entire fourteenth judicial district and a part of the thirteenth. One judge spends his entire time and another a part of his time in traveling through the various districts of the province holding sessions of court. There are in the province seven places for holding regular sessions of the court of first instance, all of which are to be reached only by sea. The greater part of the time of the courts of first instance and of this office, which, with the writer and one assistant, attends to all criminal prosecutions before such courts, is consumed in traveling or in waiting for transportation from one place to another. Even under thes conditions many of the inhabitants are practically without access to the courts of first instance. In nearly every district there are small settlements of Filipinos from 30 to 200 miles distant from the place where

regular sessions of the court for the district are held-not as the crow flics, but as it is necessary to travel in order to reach the court. In the greater part of the province roads are unknown and traveling through the interior an impossibility. Transportation from the settlements mentioned to the place of holding court is necessarily by sea, in small native crafts. In some instances the commission of crimes justifies the holding of special sessions at these distant settlements, but ordinarily they are left as much without a court of first instance as if such courts had never been established.

Another drawback to the proper administration of justice in the province is due to the inability to secure competent justices of the peace. Except at Zamboanga there is no one continuous settlement of Filipinos sufficiently populous to justify the organization of a separate municipal government for the settlement, and at Zamboanga it has been necessary to include several distant settlements within the municipal limits. The municipalities of the province are very extensive, including more territory than is usually included in an entire province in other parts of the islands, but, save for small settlements scattered here and there, this territory is uninhabited. These settlements are often many miles distant from the seat of municipal government and very difficult of access. In view of these conditions, the Philippine Commission has provided by legislation for the appointment of justices of the peace for such settlement without regard to municipal limits, in order that the inhabitants thereof may not be compelled to travel prohibitive distances in order to appear before a justice. The inhabitants of these remote hamlets are primitive and ignorant, and it is usually impossible to find among them a man of sufficient education to qualify him for the position of justice of the peace, nor is the position so lucrative as to tempt better educated natives from Zamboanga or the other provinces to reside at such places. The result is that litigation in the justice of the peace courts of the province is in a very chaotic and unsatisfactory condition, nor does there seem to be any immediate remedy therefor. A handbook of instructions for justices of the peace, with printed forms for the transaction of all legal business coming before such courts, would be of aid in placing them upon a sounder basis. Because of the conditions above set forth, the sparseness of the population, the vast distances, insufficient transportation, the undeveloped condition of the province, and the ignorance of the inhabitants, the administration of justice in the Moro Province can not be expected to be as satisfactory as it is in other parts of the islands where the population is dense and many of the natives have attained a high degree of civilization. In time, however, as education progresses, as the great natural wealth of the province is developed, and as the population increases it is natural to expect that conditions will steadily improve. Very respectfully,

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, Manila, P. I.

JOHN E. SPRINGER, Attorney for the Moro Province.

EXHIBIT 3.

REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE INSULAR COLD STORAGE AND ICE PLANT.

INSULAR COLD STORAGE AND ICE PLANT,

Manila, P. I., July 11, 1904.

DEAR SIR: I have the honor to hand you herewith a report of the operation of this plant for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904.

By the terms of the contract with the Army for the fiscal year 1904, three cold rooms-in all, 127,254 cubic feet of space-were vacated. The plant was thus turned over to the undersigned with a revenue of P106,893.38 less than preceding years. In order to, as far as possible, overcome this reduction in the revenue, the working force of every department was materially reduced, except the engineers'. This I deemed it advisable, in the interest of the plant, to increase. Other economies were also practiced, but, on account of long accumulated leaves which had to be paid, and previous requisitions of the insular purchasing agent which could not be canceled, I regret to say I was unable to entirely overcome the large reduction referred to above.

During the month of May, 1904, room No. 5 was divided into three rooms-frozen room, chill room, and issue room-to meet the requirements of the sales commissary, and contracted for by the quartermaster May 21, 1904, at an annual rental of P30,000.

By authority of the honorable Civil Commission I have installed an additional freezing tank, which adds 18 tons of ice to the daily capacity of the plant. This tank meets the increased demand for ice and obviates the necessity of at times drawing ice which has not been properly frozen.

By authority of the honorable secretary of finance and justice, I have transferred to the bureau of coast guard and transportation one small steel lorcha, which was not needed for the plant's business, and, in compliance with Executive Order No. 10, have transferred to the bureau of architecture all building material not needed at the plant, a list of which is attached hereto.

During this period I have had the entire rolling stock of the plant rebuilt, every machine overhauled, and the main building repaired and painted inside and out.

It gives me great pleasure that I am thus able to turn the entire property over to your honor in the best possible condition.

Very respectfully,

CHAS. G. SMITH,
Superintendent.

Manila, P. L.

The SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND JUSTICE,

Articles of agreement for furnishing cold storage to the Subsistence Department, United States Army, by the insular government of the Philippine Islands.

This agreement, entered into at Manila, Philippine Islands, this first day of July, nineteen hundred and three, between Colonel E. B. Atwood, U. S. A., chief quartermaster, Division of the Philippines, of the first part, and the insular government of the Philippine Islands, of the second part,

Witnesseth, That the said Colonel E. B. Atwood, chief quartermaster, Division of the Philippines, for and in behalf of the United States of America, and the said insular government of the Philippine Islands, covenant and agree to and with each other as follows:

I. That the said insular government of the Philippines Islands shall, and by these presents does, hereby demise, let, rent, and lease to the United States of America rooms numbered 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 in the insular cold storage and ice plant, Manila, P. I. (two hundred and ninety-nine thousand one hundred and nineteen cubic feet), to be used by the Subsistence Department, U. S. Army, for the storage of fresh meats and subsistence supplies, to have and to hold the same from the first day of July, nineteen hundred and three, to the thirtieth day of June, nineteen hundred and four, inclusive.

II. That the said insular government of the Philippine Islands agrees to maintain at all times in each of the rooms aforesaid such temperature as is required by the Subsistence Department, not less than eighteen degrees Fahrenheit, and to keep at all. times in serviceable condition the loading and unloading devices, carrying rails, elevators, and scales appertaining to said plant, and to furnish the use, as well as the necessary mechanics to operate the same, free of charge whenever the devices can be used to facilitate and expedite the movement of stores in and out of cold storage.

III. That the insular government of the Philippine Islands shall furnish the insulated lighters and steam tug of the said insular cold storage and ice plant to receive ex-ship, Manila Bay, all fresh beef and mutton to be kept in cold storage for the Subsistence Department, but the said insular government shall not be required to furnish the labor, checkers, etc., necessary to bring the same to the scales or elevator at the outer doors of the cold storage side of the plant or to move the same from one room to another whenever necessary for the convenience of the Subsistence Department.

IV. That the insulated lighters and steam tug of the insular cold storage and ice plant shall be used to deliver fresh meat to transports in the harbor of Manila and to the Subsistence Department depot on the Pasig River; but the said insular government is not to be required to furnish the checkers and labor required for such services; the insular cold storage and ice plant to deliver the fresh beef, mutton, and other stores at the scales or foot of elevator, at the outside door of the cold storage rooms: Provided, That the insular cold storage and ice plant shall not be compelled to furnish its steam tug or insulated lighters for the transportation of beef or mutton to the U. S. transports or other Government vessels in the harbor of Manila when the quantity to be transported is less than one (1) ton.

V. The superintendent of the insular cold storage and ice plant shall receive from and give receipts to the Subsistence Department for the subsistence stores and fresh meat to be placed in cold storage when delivered at the scales or foot of elevator at the outer doors of the cold storage side of the plant, and the unit specified therein shall be the quarter of beef, specifying whether fore or hind quarter, the carcass of mutton, the box, and the crate. The receipt for boxes and crates will state their gross weight and the name of the stores "said to be contained therein."

VI. The Subsistence Department, through its authorized representative stationed at the insular cold storage and ice plant, shall receive from and give receipt to the insular cold storage and ice plant for all subsistence stores and fresh meat taken out of cold storage and delivered by the plant at its scales or foot of elevator at the outer door of the cold storage side of the plant.

VII. The management of the cold storage rooms aforesaid, the regulation of the temperature required by the Subsistence Department, and the operation of all machinery and plant used for producing cold and for transporting meat and other supplies from the river front to the rooms where they are to be stored, and for returning the same to the river front when needed, shall be under the control and management of the superintendent of the insular cold storage and ice plant.

VIII. That in case any beef, mutton, or other stores belonging to the Subsistence Department shall be lost by perils of the sea or marine disaster within the harbor of Manila while being transported to or from the insular cold storage and ice plant, the insular government shall not be liable for any loss or damage so sustained by the Subsistence Depart

ment.

IX. That in case the building belonging to the insular government, in which the cold storage space hereby leased is contained should be destroyed by fire, earthquake or typhoon,