notice to the individual concerned and to the municipal council of the municipality in which the real property to be reassessed or revalued is situated, and the representatives of the municipal council and all other persons interested shall be entitled to be heard by the board of tax appeals before any reassessment or revaluation is made. Any interested person, or official, dissatisfied with the action of the provincial board of tax appeals may appeal to the Executive Secretary, whose decision shall be final. The Executive Secretary may also, by direction of the Governor-General, make such revision or revaluation as in his opinion the circumstances justify."

SEC. 11. Section sixty-three of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 63. The board of assessors shall meet in November of each year, after ten days' notice posted at the main entrance of the municipal building and in a public and conspicuous place in each barrio, for such number of days as may be necessary and shall

"(a) Assess the value of all improvements placed upon real property during the preceding year.

(b) Reduce the assessment against any taxpayer whose improvements, already assessed, have been destroyed during the preceding

year.

"(c) Declare, or have declared, and assess the value of real property which has not theretofore been declared.

(d) Recommend to the provincial board of tax appeals the reduction in value of any real property already assessed which shall have suffered a permanent loss of value by reason of storm, flood, or other casualty during the preceding year.

"(e) Recommend to the provincial board of tax appeals, in case more than one declaration has been made of the same property, the cancelation, with the approval of the declarants, of all declarations but the one properly made: Provided, That if any declarant shall object to the cancelation of his declaration such declaration shall not be canceled, but shall have the facts noted on its margin, and similar notation shall also be made on the margin of the duplicate declaration.

"(f) Recommend to the provincial board of tax appeals, in the case of real property declared which has changed ownership, the cancelation of the declaration in the name of the original owner and the substitution therefor of a new declaration in the name of the new owner: Provided, That no such change shall be made except upon the written consent of both parties concerned, or their legal representatives.

"(g) Recommend to the provincial board of tax appeals the removal from the taxable list of such property included therein as is exempt by law."

SEC. 12. Subsection (b) of section sixty-five of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"(b) All licenses and privilege taxes shall terminate on the thirtyfirst of December of each year, and anyone beginning a business or exercising a privilege upon which a tax is levied by the council after the thirty-first of December shall be required, before beginning such business or exercising such privilege, to pay the license or tax for the quarters of the year which remain, to and including the thirty-first of December following. But all licenses and privilege taxes may be

paid in quarterly installments without penalty during the first ten days of the quarter, at the election of the licensee: Provided, That the provisions of this subsection shall not be effective until July first, nineteen hundred and eight, and that the licenses and privilege taxes due for the month of June, nineteen hundred and eight, shall be payable, without penalty, during the first ten days of the following July."

SEC. 13. Section sixty-five of said Act is hereby further amended by adding a new subsection to be designated (d) and to read as follows:

"(d) The cart and sledge tax imposed by subsection (j) of section forty-three hereof shall be due and payable in one annual payment on or before the tenth day of January of each year for that calendar year: Provided, That new carts or sledges which shall be acquired during the calendar year shall be liable for the whole year's tax, but shall be exempt from the payment of the delinquent penalty for that year: And provided further, That the proportionate part of the tax for the period from June first to December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and eight, shall be paid in one installment, and if paid during the first ten days in June no penalty shall attach."

SEC. 14. Section sixty-nine of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 69. No taxes, imposts, or other revenues of the municipality shall be leased or farmed except as provided in Act Numbered Sixteen hundred and thirty-four. All imposts, taxes, revenues, fines, penalties, rents, debts due the municipality, license and privilege fees, and money or funds payable to the municipality for any reason or from any source whatsoever shall be collected and received by the provincial treasurer or his authorized deputies: Provided, That when the municipal treasurer is also a deputy of the provincial treasurer all such collections shall be made by him as such deputy: And provided further, That when the municipal treasurer is not a deputy of the provincial treasurer he may as such municipal treasurer make such collections as are in this Act specifically provided."

SEC. 15. Section seventy-four of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 74. The Governor-General shall, by executive order, upon recommendation of the provincial board, fix a term of three months in each year within which land taxes due the municipalities of the province shall be payable. Such executive order shall be issued before the thirty-first day of December of each year and at least three months before the beginning of the term during which such taxes shall be collected: Provided, That in case no action is taken by the provincial board and by the Governor-General the date fixed for the preceding year shall be held to be the date upon which the taxes shall be collected for the ensuing year. After such term is so fixed the provincial treasurer shall select a period of not less than one or more than three weeks during such term, within which said taxes shall be payable at the office of the provincial treasurer in the municipality, and such treasurer, or his deputy, shall attend and be present at said office during the usual office hours of each week during such period, exclusive of legal holidays, to receive payment of such taxes. The provincial treasurer shall fix the time of collection in the municipality with a view to economy in the administra

tion and discharge of his duties and the convenience of the taxpayers of the municipality: Provided, That in municipalities in which the municipal treasurer is a deputy of the provincial treasurer the collection period for each year shall cover the entire three months ending the day before the tax becomes delinquent. Notice of the dates during which said taxes may be paid in each municipality shall be posted by the provincial treasurer at the main entrance of the provincial building and of all municipal buildings and in a public and conspicuous place in each barrio. Failure to pay the aforesaid taxes within the period specified shall subject the delinquent taxpayer to a penalty of twenty per centum of the amount of the original tax due, if paid within the first six months of delinquency, and a penalty of forty per centum of the original tax due if paid thereafter, to be collected at the same time and in the same manner as the original tax, and the notice shall so state. The penalty shall be accounted for by the collecting officer in the same manner as the tax."

SEC. 16. Section seventy-five of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 75. Fifteen days after the tax shall become delinquent the provincial treasurer, or his deputy, shall prepare and sign a certified copy of the records of his office, showing the persons delinquent in payment of their taxes and the amounts of tax and penalty respectively due from each of them. He may proceed at once to seize a sufficient amount of the personal property of each delinquent, and, after due advertisement by notice stating the time, place, and cause of the sale, posted for ten days at the main entrance of the municipal building and at a public and conspicuous place in the barrio where the property was seized, unless redeemed as hereinafter provided, to sell at public auction, either at the main entrance of the municipal building or at the place where such property is seized, in his discretion, so much of the same as shall satisfy the tax, penalty, and costs of the seizure and sale, to the highest bidder. The certified copy of the provincial treasurer's record of delinquents shall be the warrant for his proceedings, and the purchaser at such sale shall acquire an indefeasible title to the property sold.

"As soon as possible after the sale the provincial treasurer, or his deputy, shall make return of his proceedings and spread it upon his records. Any surplus resulting from the sale, over and above the tax, penalty, and costs, shall be returned to the delinquent

taxpayer.

SEC. 17. Section seventy-seven of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 77. Taxes and penalties assessed against realty shall be a lien thereon, which shall be superior to all other liens, mortgages, or incumbrances of any kind whatsoever; shall be enforceable against the property whether in the possession of the delinquent or any subsequent owner, and which can only be removed by the payment of the taxes, penalties, and costs. Said lien shall attach to the real property from the first day of January of the year in which the taxes were due."

SEC. 18. Section seventy-eight of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 78. Each person delinquent in the payment of real property taxes, and all persons known to have liens thereon or to be tenants thereon, shall immediately be notified of the delinquency by the provincial treasurer by a notice deposited in the post-office, postage prepaid, and addressed to him at his last-known place of residence, or to the municipality and barrio in which his delinquent property is situated. Such notice shall clearly state the amount of taxes due and the penalty which will be added if payment is made within six months from delinquency and the penalty which will be added if payment is made thereafter, together with a statement that at the expiration of one year from the date of delinquency, unless the tax and penalties be sooner paid or the tax shall have been judicially set aside, the delinquent real property will be forfeited and escheat to the Government of the Philippine Islands, and that he will be dispossessed of such property and all occupants and tenants thereon will be ejected, and thereafter the full title thereto will be and remain in the said Government."

SEC. 19. Section seventy-nine of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 79. After the expiration of one year from the date the delinquency began, the provincial treasurer, or his deputy, shall issue to the municipal president his certificate describing the parcel of land upon which said taxes are delinquent, stating the date upon which and the persons to whom the notice required by the preceding section was sent and the amount of the taxes, penalties, and costs due thereon, and requiring him to eject therefrom all tenants or occupants thereof. Such president shall immediately cause the tenants or occupants thereof to be ejected and kept therefrom by the municipal police, and to that end may employ such force as may be necessary. Within ninety days after ejectment the owner or his legal representative or any person having a lien on said property or a lease thereof may satisfy said taxes, penalties, and costs and redeem said property by paying the amount thereof then due, and such payment shall constitute a lien upon the property and such person shall be entitled to recover from the original owner the amount so paid by him, or he may retain the same from any rent due or owing from him to such person for the real property on which such taxes were paid. Such redemption shall operate to relieve said property from the lien of said tax and to divest the Government of its title to the same. In case such redemption be not made within the time above specified the Government of the Philippine Islands shall have an absolute, indefeasible title to said real property. Upon the expiration of the said ninety days, if redemption be not made, the provincial treasurer shall immediately notify the Director of Lands of the forfeiture and furnish him with a description of the property, and said Director of Lands shall have full control and custody thereof to lease or sell the same or any portion thereof in the same manner as other public lands are leased or sold: Provided, That the original owner, or his legal representative, shall have the right to repurchase the entire amount of his said real property, at any time before a sale or contract of sale has been made by the Director of Lands to a third party, by paying therefor the whole sum due thereon at the time of ejectment together with a penalty of ten per

centum. The gross proceeds of such sale shall be divided equally between the Bureau of Lands and the governments of the province and municipality in which the real property is situated. All deeds, certificates, blanks, and forms, except those pertaining to accounting, shall be prescribed by the Executive Secretary."

SEC. 20. Section eighty-five of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 85. No court shall entertain any suit assailing the validity of a forfeiture under this Act until the taxpayer shall have paid into court the amount due thereon, together with the penalties and costs. If he fail in his action he may elect to receive back his deposit or to treat it as a payment of taxes, penalties, and costs as of the date of deposit and to have possession of the land restored to him."

SEC. 21. Subsection (g) of section twenty-two, and sections fortyeight, eighty-one, eighty-two, and eighty-six of said Act are hereby repealed.

SEC. 22. 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. 23. This Act shall take effect on its passage, except sections twelve and thirteen, which shall take effect as therein provided. Enacted, October 12, 1907.

[No. 1792.]

AN ACT Providing, with the consent of the Secretary of War first had, for a system of money and property accountability for the government of the Philippine Islands and its subordinate branches, and repealing acts numbered ninety, one hundred and forty-five, two hundred and fifteen, three hundred and twenty-eight, nine hundred and nine, fourteen hundred and two, and all acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith.

By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the "Accounting Act," and shall not be considered as amended or repealed in any part by subsequent legislation, unless specifically so stated in the amending or repealing Act.

THE AUDITOR.

SEC. 2. There shall be an Auditor for the Islands, who shall be Director of the Bureau of Audits, and who shall be appointed by the Secretary of War, with the concurrence of the Governor-General and the approval of the Philippine Commission. The duty of the Auditor shall be to examine, audit, and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenues and receipts from whatever source of the Insular Government and of the city of Manila, including trust funds and funds derived from bond issues; and to audit, in accordance with law and administrative regulations, all expenditures of funds or property pertaining to or held in trust by the Insular Government and the city of Manila. He shall, through a corps of district auditors, per-. form a like duty with respect to the revenues, receipts, and expendi