dispatched a total of 55,678 sacks of transit mail from New York and New Orleans. Of this total 47,770 sacks originated in the United States and 7,908 sacks in foreign countries. On October 1, 1916, arrangements were effected for the disposition of all local unclaimed mail, in accordance with the postal laws and regulations, by the director of posts, and the former practice of forwarding all unclaimed mail to the Dead Letter Office at Washington, D. C., was discontinued.

BUREAU OF CUSTOMS.

The bureau of customs has been conducted under regulations heretofore in force. This bureau is now charged with the duty of carrying out the provisions of the Executive order of February 6, 1917, relating to the exclusion of Chinese. During the fiscal year 480 prohibited aliens arrived at Balboa and 227 at Cristobal in transit to the Republic of Panama and other countries.

During the year there were 10 arrests for attempted smuggling of opium, resulting in 7 convictions.

The bureau of customs certifies invoices covering ordinary shipments from the Canal Zone to the United States, using forms identical with those prescribed for certification by American consuls at foreign ports. There were 1,169 such invoices certified during the year. There were 380 inspections of household goods and miscellaneous effects of American manufacture inspected and sealed before shipment to the United States in accordance with the agreement with the officials of the United States Treasury Department. Under authority of section 8 of the act of Congress of August 21, 1916, providing for the collection of fees for services performed by Canal Zone customs officers, the amount of $243.50 was collected at Balboa and $359.50 at Cristobal as canal revenue.

The total number of vessels entering Canal Zone ports was 3,718, and the total number cleared was 3,721, as compared with 2,130 entered and 2,123 cleared during the preceding year.

There were 3,745 seamen shipped on American vessels and 3,430 seamen discharged, as compared with 2,631 shipped and 2,375 discharged during the previous year.

One hundred and eighty-nine estates of deceased and insane employees of The Panama Canal and Panama Railroad were administered, and 22 estates were in process of settlement at the end of the year. The amounts involved were $8,568.14.

During the year 2,323 licenses and permits were issued, of which 1,862 were for motor vehicles. Under the Executive order of September 5, 1916, prescribing motor-vehicle regulations for the Canal Zone, license fees for motor vehicles were considerably reduced. The total sum collected for licenses and fees of all kinds issued by the division of civil affairs was $9,480.80.

POLICE AND FIRE DIVISION.

The number of first-class policemen was increased from 98 to 119 on July 1, 1916, in order to provide proper protection to canal structures; and on February 4, 1917, 39 additional first-class policemen were employed for the same purpose. These men were largely recruited from the military forces on the Isthmus who were furloughed or obtained their discharge upon the termination of their services.

On the eve of the entry of the United States into the war, the additional men were returned to the Army and a large part of the work performed by them was transferred to the Military Establishment. Motorcycle patrols, for the enforcement of automobile speed and operation regulations and for special emergency police service, were continued throughout the year at Balboa and Cristobal. Monthly patrols were made of the interior sections of the Canal Zone from time to time.

In addition to the usual police work, officers of the force conducted numerous and extensive investigations in connection with the protection of the canal.

During the year 4,881 persons were arrested, of whom 4,659 were males and 222 were females. Eighty-one persons were deported from the Canal Zone. Coroner's investigations were made in 68 cases of death, of which 30 were due to accidental drowning, 20 to accidental traumatism, and 18 to other causes. Thirty-eight convicts were received at the penitentiary during the year, a decrease of 21 as compared with the previous year. Fifty-four convicts completed terms of imprisonment and were discharged. At the end of the year 35 convicts remained in custody, as compared with 61 at the close of the previous year. The convicts were employed on the construction of new roads between New Culebra and Gamboa, on a small farm of about 20 acres adjacent to the penitentiary, and on labor inside the prison in the maintenance of prison buildings and grounds. The total value of labor performed by convicts amounted to $7,237, at the rate of $0.12 per hour. The total cost of subsisting and guarding the convicts was $17,030.05. The total value of labor performed by common jail prisoners amounted to $12,879.80, at the rate of $0.10 per hour, of which $4,940 cover labor performed on roads, $6,475 janitor services, and $1,464.80 miscellaneous work. Two convicts escaped and both were recaptured; two common jail prisoners escaped and were not recaptured. Four convicts were pardoned, and a part of the sentence remitted in four cases.

The organization of the fire-fighting force remained as heretofore. On June 30, 1917, there were eight volunteer fire companies in the service, with a total of 122 men, all being employees of The Panama Canal and Panama Railroad. One hundred and four fires and nine

false alarms were reported. The total loss from all fires amounted to $3,190.25, and the value of the property endangered from fires was $1,044,752.

DIVISION OF SCHOOLS.

The schools opened on October 2, 1916, and closed on June 30, 1917. The average daily attendance for the year was 1,709.2, of which 1,212.6 were whites and 496.6 colored. Corresponding figures for the preceding year were 1,501.4, 1,065.1, and 436.3, respectively. The total number of white teachers employed during the year was 52, as compared with 43 during the preceding year. There were 14 colored teachers employed; no increase over the preceding year. The usual physical examination of pupils in the white grade schools was conducted. Physical training in the white schools at Balboa and Ancon was continued, under the direction of the physical director of clubhouses. The teaching of Spanish was continued in the last five grades of white schools. To the industrial training branch there was added a course in domestic science for girls. The manual-training course consisted of instructions in woodwork, mechanical and architectural drawing, elementary metal work, and foundry practice. In the apprentice school the total enrollment as to trades was as follows: Boilermakers, 7; blacksmiths, 2; cabinetmaker, 1; coppersmith, 1; draftsman, 1; electrician, 1; machinists, 17; molders, 2; pipefitters, 4; plumber, 1; pattern maker, 1; shipwright, 1; and shipfitters, 3. The apprentices were given special technical instruction in the shops of the mechanical division, and a number of the students continued their work during the vacation period. Forty-seven girls in the high school and 120 in the grammar schools were given instruction in domestic science, including the teaching of sewing, cooking, and general household economy. Thirty-seven boys in the high school and 63 in the grammar schools were given manual training. Nineteen buildings were used for school purposes during the year.

- COURTS.

In the district court 126 cases were pending at the beginning of the year, 720 cases were filed, and 652 decided, leaving 194 cases pending on June 30, 1917. There were 128 sessions of the court. Seven hundred and fifty-six marriage licenses were issued by the clerk of the court and 84 deeds recorded. The sum of $3,997.25 was collected in fines, costs, and fees.

In the magistrate's court at Balboa 4 cases were pending at the beginning of the year, 1,750 cases were docketed, and 1,747 were settled, leaving 7 cases pending at the close of the year. Collections on account of fines and fees amounted to $6,489.64. In the magis

trate's court at Cristobal 4 cases were pending at the beginning of the year, and 2,732 cases were docketed; a total of $6,792.04 was collected in fees and fines. The report of the district attorney is printed as Appendix H. The marshal for the district court received 633 summons, writs, citations, subpoenas, etc., served 553, and was unable to accomplish 80, as the persons concerned could not be found.

RELATIONS WITH PANAMA.

Negotiations by correspondence or personal conference between the executive secretary and the secretary of foreign relations of the Republic of Panama included, outside the regular routine of office business, the following:

Removal of embargo on shipments of arms and ammunition consigned to merchants in the cities of Panama and Colon.

Preservation of neutrality of the Canal Zone and the Republic of Panama and treatment of vessels in the service of the entente powers arriving and departing from Canal Zone ports and passing through the canal.

Construction of a garbage incinerator for the city of Panama.

Police protection at Panama Railroad stables in the city of Panama, and the condemnation of certain private stables for sanitary reasons. Additional accommodations at Santo Tomas Hospital for persons suffering from tuberculosis.

Cooperation of the Canal Zone bureau of posts in expediting the delivery of mails for the Republic of Panama.

Cancellation of saloon licenses at Gatuncillo, in the Republic of Panama, because of being near supply department plantations and causing trouble among Panama Canal laborers.

The presentation to the Republic of Panama of an old French relief map of the Canal Zone and certain maps and models of the locks for use in the School of Arts and Trades in the city of Panama.

Revision of maritime regulations in force in Panaman ports. Ordinance respecting the registration of births, deaths, burials, and disinterments in the cities of Panama and Colon.

Reciprocal license fees on motor cars owned by residents of the Republic of Panama and operated in the Canal Zone, and on cars owned in the Canal Zone and operated in the Republic of Panama.

The importation of articles, for their personal use, by employees of The Panama Canal and the Panama Railroad Company and by the post exchanges operated by the United States Army in the Canal Zone.

Handling of Chinese passengers arriving at the port of Balboa and the exclusion of undesirable persons from the Isthmus of Panama. The lack of enforcement of sanitary regulations in the cities of Panama and Colon.

Amendment to Sanitary Rules and Regulations in connection with the issuance of building permits for buildings in the suburban or unimproved sections of the cities of Panama and Colon.

The question of commissary privileges for members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Republic of Panama, and the curtailment of said privileges for nonemployees.

The deportation of insane patients treated at the expense of the Republic of Panama at the Corozal Hospital for the Insane.

The selection of a site for a new slaughterhouse in the city of Colon, and the matter of slaughtering animals for Colon consumption in the Cristobal abattoir.

Arrests of Panamans for trespassing in restricted area of Balboa Harbor.

For further details see Appendix G.

LAW.

Judge Frank Feuille continued as special attorney, and as such represented the Government's interests before the Joint Land Commission, prepared drafts of Executive orders necessary to put into effect certain provisions of law, and in addition served as counsel for the Panama Railroad Company on the Isthmus. The duty of revising and codifying the laws of the Canal Zone, with which the special attorney is also charged, has not yet been completed, due in large part to a ruling of the Attorney General of the United States that the President is without power to revise presidential orders issued prior to the passage of the Panama Canal act without specific authority from Congress. Under the act of August 21, 1916, specific authority was conferred for certain revisions of former Executive orders, as follows:

1. To authorize the President to make rules and regulations in matters of health, sanitation, and quarantine for the Canal Zone.

2. To make and enforce rules and regulations for the use of public roads and highways in the Canal Zone, and for regulating, licensing, and taxing the use and operation of all self-propelled vehicles used on the public highways.

3. The act makes it unlawful for any person to make any breach of the peace or engage in or permit any disorderly, indecent, immoral, or unlawful conduct in the Canal Zone.

4. It provides that deposit money orders issued in the Canal Zone post offices shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed 2 per cent per

annum.

5. It authorizes customs officers in the Canal Zone to levy fees equivalent to those prescribed by the United States consular regulations for services performed by consular officers for all certificates, marine protests, or notarial services.