TABLE NO. 9.-School section-Continued. EPITOME OF MORE IMPORTANT STATISTICS FOR THE YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 1914, 1915, 1916, AND 1917. 1 Increase in expenditures due to erection of school buildings at Balboa, La Boca, and Gatun. ? Does not include value of new concrete school buildings under construction. Holidays: Panama Independence Day, Nov. 3; Thanksgiving Day and the Friday following, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1; Christmas holidays, Dec. 23 to Jan. 7, inclusive; Washington's Birthday, Feb. 22; Easter Holidays, Mar. 31 to Apr. 8; Memorial Day, May 30. TABLE NO. 10.—Number of summons, writs, citations, subpœnas, etc., served by the United States marshal for the Canal Zone from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1917. Writ of scire facias.. Number of receipts made for paymaster in payment of witnesses and jurors. 119 Number of receipts made for payments revenue and trust funds.. 152 Number of days attendance on court at Cristobal.... 27 Number of days attendance on court at Balboa.... 101 The following summons, writs, citations, subpoenas, etc., were delivered in the marshal's office and service attempted, but parties could not be found and the service was not accomplished: Subpoenas for probate of will.. Summons to jurors.. 59 Citations to defendants to show cause.. 1818316 TABLE NO. 10.-Number of summons, writs, citations, subpœnas, etc., served by the United States marshal for the Canal Zone from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1917-Continued. Witness and jurors fees cash on hand, as above, $100. Keeping civil and criminal dockets, juror and witness fees book and cash book. APPENDIX H. REPORT OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE CANAL ZONE. ANCON, CANAL ZONE, August 1, 1917. SIR: There is attached a tabulated statement of all criminal prosecutions in the district court. of the Canal Zone for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917. There was a total of 353 cases disposed of in the district court, 89 of which were appeals from the magistrates' courts. Of the total number disposed of, 245 resulted in convictions. Eight defendants requested jury trials, and of these 3 were convicted and 5 acquitted. There have been no appeals in criminal cases to the Circuit Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit at New Orleans. At the end of the fiscal year no criminal cases were pending in the district court except such as had arisen since the last term of court in June. There was pending one case of disbarment against an attorney of the Canal Zone, in which the court had filed a formal notice of disqualification. For the fiscal year 1915-16 a total of 427 cases was disposed of in the district court, and the number this year shows a considerable decrease. This decrease in the number of cases corresponds very closely to the ratio of decrease in population of the Canal Zone since the close of the last fiscal year. There have been no suits against the Governor of The Panama Canal under the Panama Canal act for injuries to vessels while passing through the canal locks. During the fiscal year four civil cases of importance have been finally disposed of. Two of these, Dixon et al. v. Goethals et al. and Anderson et al. v. Goethals et al., were of a similar nature and were referred to in the last annual report. They were bills for injunction against the Governor of The Panama Canal and other officials, which sought to prevent the taking over of lands near Mount Hope for the purposes of the canal. The district court here decided in favor of the defendants, and this judgment has been affirmed both in the circuit court of appeals and in the Supreme Court of the United States. This final decision of the Supreme Court of the United States will prevent any further attempt at resistance through the court to the taking over of all the lands within the Canal Zone. Another case which was also referred to in the last annual report was a mandamus sought by a clerk on the silver roll to compel the auditor of The Panama Canal to pay him his monthly wages. When the case was brought to a hearing it was dismissed upon the demurrer filed in behalf of the auditor. The suit filed by Edmund M. Sinclair against the Y. M. C. A. for $5,000 damages for removing him from one of the clubhouses was also dismissed upon demurrer. One of the cases referred to in my last annual report, that of mandamus brought by Judge William H. Jackson, of the district court, against the auditor of The Panama Canal, is now pending in the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Henry D. Clayton, of the Middle and Northern Districts of Alabama, who presided upon the trial here on account of the disqualification of Judge Jackson, rendered a decision in favor of the complainant. By direction of the Secretary of War the case was carried to the Circuit Court of Appeals by writ of error and the decision of Judge Clayton was affirmed. On account of the importance of the legal questions involved the Secretary of War directed that an appeal be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it is now pending. The failure of a bank in the city of Panama some months ago has caused considerable losses to depositors residing in the Canal Zone. An examination of the affairs of the bank showed a remarkable mismanagement of its affairs, probably without precedent. The bank operated for about three years and at the time of its failure owed. depositors $245,000, and .only some $400 in cash was found in the bank. More than $100,000 of its capital stock had been subscribed for and only about $14,000 had been paid in upon the subscriptions to capital stock. The bank operated entirely upon the money of the depositors, and this money was invested in doubtful enterprises and wasted upon impracticable schemes. The bank was continually insolvent almost from its inception. A few days prior to the failure of the bank nearly all of its assets were transferred to one creditor in settlement of an alleged prior debt. Our Criminal Code provides in section 400, page 146: Every officer, agent, teller, or clerk of any bank, and every individual banker, or agent, teller, or clerk of any individual banker, who receives any deposits, knowing that such bank, or association, or banker is insolvent, is guilty of a felony. Section 408, page 147: It is no defense to a prosecution for a violation of the provisions of this chapter that the corporation was one created by the laws of any other or foreign State, Government, or country, if it was one carrying on business or keeping an office therefor within the Canal Zone. The local manager of the bank E. F. Bataille, came into the Canal Zone in August, 1916, and accepted deposits for the bank from soldiers at Corozal, Las Cascadas, and Fort Grant. The banking house was located in Panama, but there was no prosecution of Bataille there, and he left here and went to the United States and located in New Jersey. The facts were not made known to the officers of the law in the Canal Zone until after Bataille had gone. Affidavits were prepared charging Bataille with the commission of a felony under section 400, and his extradition from New Jersey was sought. The governor of New Jersey declined to honor the extradition request on the ground that the "evidence of criminality was insufficient." I am of the opinion that the affidavits clearly showed the commission of a felony within the Canal Zone and that the request for extradition should have been granted. In this connection it might be of some advantage hereafter to amend section 408, page 147, of the Laws of the Canal Zone. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that one isolated act of doing business is not carrying on business, and since this decision was rendered some States in the United States have provided by law that one act of doing business is sufficient to render an individual or corporation amenable to the laws against carrying on business, etc., and I recommend that section 408 be amended so as to read: Any one act of doing business by an individual or corporation constitutes a violation of the provisions of this chapter. Respectfully, CHARLES R. WILLIAMS, Col. CHESTER HARDING, United States Army, |